Objectives for workshop

1. ‘EAL’ in initial teacher education – what do ALL teachers need to know?NALDIC 1813.11.10Jean Contehj.conteh@leeds.ac.uk

2. Objectives for workshop • To discuss the background to the project • To explain how the work has developed so far • To have a critical look at the ‘professional knowledge map’ • To try out one of the ‘language learning strategies’ activities

3. Who do we mean by ‘EAL’ learners? Advanced bilingual learners – learners who are usually second and third generation members of settled ethnic minority communities Pupils new to English - learners who are recent arrivals and new to English, some with little or no experience of schooling, others who are already literate in their first languages Isolated learners - Learners who are in school settings with little prior experience of bilingual pupils Asylum-seekers and refugees - learners whose education has been disrupted because of war and other traumatic experiences Sojourners - learners whose parents are working and studying and are in England for short periods of time (could also include migrant worker families and travellers

4. The TDA Project 2008-2009: developing a strategy for the ‘EAL workforce’ Key aims: • To build capacity for effective EAL provision across the whole school workforce, including senior leadership, in order to maximise the potential of all EAL learners. • Equip the non-specialist workforce to meet the needs of EAL learners. • Recognise specialist EAL roles at all levels including senior leadership, with accompanying role descriptors and roles in organisation of EAL provision. • Specify minimum levels of accredited training for each recognised EAL specialist role (to include minimum levels of personal English language skills required) – indicative content should also be identified at each level. …..

5. Structural issues arising from the case studies • Lack of specialised staff for EAL learners • Lack of management ‘weight’ among EMA/EAL staff • Strong structural links with SEN – e.g. a policy of withdrawal in many schools • Little sense of partnership with mainstream staff • Lack of ‘principled knowledge’ about language among EMA/EAL staff • No clearly-identified pedagogy or teaching resources

6. Issues related to English language teaching • Even schools which could be deemed as having ‘good’ EAL provision demonstrated greater sensitivity to cultural diversity than to language diversity • There was very little awareness of the language demands of the curriculum • Strategies were not modified specifically to match EAL pupil needs • Overall there was a lack of understanding of the linguistic demands which some activities entailed for EAL pupils • There was no mention of the process of second language acquisition

7. Issues related to bilingualism There was some evidence of innovative work with the use of the first languages of the children, e.g: • TAs are encouraged to allow pupils to use their first languages for learning • Use of a range of community languages in diverse displays around the school • The wide use of the ‘buddy system’ • Older new arrivals are encouraged to produce some of their written work in their first language BUT: It was all seen as ‘transitional’ – there was no real recognition of the role of bilingualism in the learning of the ‘advanced bilingual learner’ group. Bilingualism is seen in principle as an asset, but mainly in social and cultural terms, rather than pedagogic

8. Essentially, then: ‘EAL in school had become a sort of ‘grab bag’ of ideas and practices, anything goes as long as some thing is done and is seen to be done.’ Safford (2003)

9. The ‘professional knowledge map’ Questions: • What is the professional knowledge that EAL specialists need? • What is the progression in this knowledge? • How much of it can be developed in ITT, and how much in CPD? • What about teachers who don’t go down the ‘specialist’ route – i.e. what do ALL teachers need to know? • What can be done on ITT courses? • What about the standards?

10. The ‘EAL additional experience’ • A national pilot project – Leeds is doing the primary element, IOE the secondary • Funded by the TDA, for this year, for 15 students in each institution • Not a separate module, but an extra dimension to the existing programme • Not separately assessed, but needs to be assessed as part of the overall programme

11. Developing the experience • Common aims for primary and secondary, but different structure and organisation • Same overall aim – to ‘change perceptions of EAL’ • Same selection processes in each institution • Primary experience integrated into the whole course, secondary more separate

12. The PGCE Primary course • Has to comply with national structures and standards • One year full-time: 38 weeks – 19 in university, 19 in school • Generalist – all students cover all 10 NC subjects (+ PMFL) • At least 200 hours each of English (literacy), maths and science • Covers KS1 and KS2 (5-11 years) • 60 credits at M-level • 120 students (most with first degree at 2:1)

13. Teacher education – the standards for NQTs Confused models of learning and the role of language:Q18: Understand how children and young people develop and that the progress and well-being of learners are affected by a range of developmental, social, religious, ethnic, cultural and linguistic influences. • Q19: Know how to make effective personalised provision for those they teach, including those for whom English is an additional language or who have special educational needs or disabilities, and how to take practical account of diversity and promote equality and inclusion in their teaching.

15. What is the ‘EAL group’ at Leeds doing? • Attending extra meetings for teaching, planning, discussing, reviewing, etc • Developing an EAL dimension on PDR tasks (across the curriculum, e.g. tasks in science and maths as well as English) • Having at least one block placement in a school with a high proportion of ‘EAL learners’ • Developing an EAL dimension in the M-level assessed English assignment • Carrying out a small school-based project in the last week of the course

16. What is the ‘EAL group’ at Leeds gaining? • Extra work on an already busy course (+ a £300 bursary) • An introductory, theoretical/practical overview of language, bilingualism and learning • Additional insight, understanding and knowledge of EAL issues in schools • Some classroom practice with EAL learners • Acknowledgement of participation in references and a letter from the university

17. How is it going? • Some issues with arranging school placements • Raised the profile of EAL on the course as a whole • Student interest and enthusiasm strong, after some initial ‘culture shock’ • Integration of theory and practice working well • Positive response from schools

18. The ‘professional knowledge map’ for ALL teachers Does it reflect what you think all NQTs need to know? What would you miss out/ add to the map?

19. What are KAL and LLS? Learning objectives in the KS2 Languages Framework • Yr 3: ‘..foster interest in the similarities and differences between languages..’ • Yr 3: ‘.. Use context of what they see/read to determine some of the meaning ..’ • Yr 4: ‘..recognise and apply some simple patterns … begin to share knowledge about language ..’ • Yr 4: ‘make sensible predictions based on previous knowledge and language cues ..’

20. KAL and LLS (2) • Yr. 5: ‘ .. apply previous knowledge and language cues to help understanding ..’ • Yr. 5: ‘..further develop recognition of pattern and ability to manipulate language ..’ • Yr. 6: ‘ .. reflect on knowledge about language … develop greater independence in applying language learning strategies …’ • Yr 6: ‘ ..apply knowledge of word order and sentence structure to support the understanding of written text

22. Rooikappe: strategies for problem-solving unfamiliar language 1. Contextual (semantic): • Establishing what the story was, from words in the glossary and the text itself, e.g. ‘Wolf’, ‘Grandma’, ‘basket’ etc. • Using cultural knowledge, e.g. ‘rooibos’ tea = ‘redbush’ tea, so ‘rooi’ could mean ‘red’; ‘sing-sing’ is likely to mean ‘happily’ or ‘singing’ etc. • Noticing repeated words in the text and inferring their meanings, e.g. ‘sy’ from ‘Sy is siek’ and ‘sy’ in ‘Sy neem’

23. 2. Syntactic (grammar): • Guessing with confidence whole sentences that sounded very similar to English and which fitted in with the story, e.g. ‘Sy is siek’ = ‘She is sick’ • Noticing features of the text that gave grammatical clues, e.g. ‘se’ comes after direct speech at three points, so it is likely to mean ‘say(s)’ • Using grammatical knowledge from other languages, e.g. that ‘gebak’ could mean ‘baked’ because of the prefix ‘ge-‘ • Noticing when word order seemed to be different from English and guessing what it could be, e.g. ‘Ek het koek gebak.’ = ‘I have a cake baked (sic).’; ‘Waar gaan jy heen?’ = ‘Where go you today (sic)?’

24. 3. Grapho-phonic (words and sounds): • Recognising words from same roots (cognates) from other languages, e.g. ‘bos’ = ‘bois’ in French; ‘siek’ = ‘sick’ in English’; ‘blomme’ = ‘bloom’ in English or ‘blume’ in German; ‘groot’ = ‘great’ in English, etc. • Reading aloud a sentence in which you could identify words, so that you could work out the rest of the sentence, e.g. ‘Sy is …….’ at the end was the same as ‘Sy is (siek)’ at the start of the story.

25. Some principles for learning new language: • KAL in one language can be transferred to other languages • Language learning is supported by inferencing, drawing analogies and making educated guesses • Cultural knowledge plays an important role in language learning • Terminology and subject knowledge from other subjects are very important • Implicit language knowledge needs to be made explicit through discussion.

28. Full details on the Multiverse website: http://www.multiverse.ac.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?Keyword=Jean+Conteh&SearchOption=And&SearchType=Keyword&RefineExpand=1&ContentId=15571