Download resource

Please enter your details to download this resource
Login
 

Enter your details to access this video

Or if you already have an account login to watch the video (if you don't you can register here).
Login
Bilingual world
Author: Caroline Scott, author and director
Download Bilingual adult questions
Email share link LinkedIn share link Twitter share link Facebook share link
Approximate reading time: 1 minute

If you have the opportunity to use a bilingual support partner to help families who have learners working from home, it may be useful to prepare a list of questions for this staff member to ask. Bilingual support is extremely useful when making contact with parents who speak little or no English.

General care

  • Is everyone in the family well?
  • Do you understand the rules about going outside?
  • Are you going outside every day?
  • Are you meeting up with friends and family?
  • Is there someone who can help you if you need anything?
  • Are you worried about anything?
  • Have you got enough food and/or medicine?
  • Do you know how to contact the emergency services?

Accessing school work

  • Is your child working at home?
  • Is this easy?
  • Does ____ have access to a computer or similar device?
  • Does ____ have access to WiFi?
  • Do you have access to email?
  • Does ____ have a quiet space to work?
  • Does ____ have their school books at home?
  • Do you have paper and pens at home?
  • Do you have any story books at home?
  • Is ____ working every day on school work?
  • Do you know how to contact your school?

We’ve created an easily downloadable list of these questions to ask parents when calling home, which you can download by clicking on the button below.

Download Bilingual adult questions
Email share link LinkedIn share link Twitter share link Facebook share link

More articles by this author

Family studying in mother tongue

Discussing learning in the mother tongue

Created: Wed 29th Apr 2020

We are all faced with very different learning situations at the moment and home learning has become the current norm. The challenges it poses are significant. Parents often have limited time available to support learners, limited understanding of where to start, sometimes a lack of technological know-how in accessing online classrooms - or even a lack of access to an online environment altogether. These issues are exacerbated amongst parents with limited understanding of the school language.

Can we help students to be better language learners?

Created: Mon 24th Feb 2014

How can the new-to-English language learners and their teachers work together to provide a successful language learning experience when curriculum content is the priority? Rubin & Thompson (1982) researched and found 14 characteristics of a good language learner.

If each characteristic of a good language learner can be developed for young learners into a ‘child friendly’  question, translated into their mother tongue (maybe orally) and unpicked, question by question, each characteristic can act as a guide for learners to try out new strategies.

Why should we use an EAL learning record?

Created: Fri 8th Jul 2016

Most schools with early stage learners of English will have some form of guided reading record. This record supports the learner, parents and the teacher in acknowledging, monitoring progress and rewarding good reading habits. We do this because we know the profound influence reading has on progress in literacy (not just reading alone. Try reading Krashen, the Power of Reading, 2004).

However, have you considered the impact of a similar record for learning EAL through the use of flashcard activities?

Back to Blog