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Supporting the learning of the new language is by no means the only aspect of helping a new arrival to feel ‘at home’ in their new country. However, as it can be one of the most stressful aspects of their life change and therefore a carefully tailored plan to accommodate for their language learning needs is essential. There are a wealth of resources available for supporting teachers in helping children in their first steps of learning English.
One notable tool for language learning that is particularly helpful for new arrivals includes a ‘Remember Book’. It is especially useful for 7 years old up who are able to write in their mother tongue.
A Remember Book is a notebook small enough to fit in a pocket (A6 size), but with enough space to write between the lines (depending on age). Throughout the sessions, the pupils should write, update and revise new learning in the Remember Book in order to practise new vocabulary and language structures learnt in both survival language sessions and in other contexts of immediate interest to the learner. The Remember Book has two functions:
The teacher or child should write the new learning for the lesson in the book. In cases where children are very young, it would be helpful to have the new language copied and ready for the children to stick into their Remember Books during the lesson. Unless children are very able, it is better to cut and stick the new language instead of writing. This is because writing can be slow and inaccurate, especially with younger pupils or for those in the early stages of learning, or for those who aren’t familiar with using the Roman script.
Children must take their Remember Book and a pencil with them everywhere and be encouraged to write words or sentences in the back of the book as soon as they learn useful language. If children are literate in a home language, then they should be encouraged to write the translations.
If not, they can draw a visual to remind them or just write the word on its own. It doesn’t matter about spelling at this stage – it’s the speaking, listening and remembering that is important. The attention to detail in the spelling can come later. Children use the back of the book to avoid mixing up their useful, independently learnt words with the lesson work positioned at the front of the book. Each page can be folded into two parts with one column for their mother tongue and the next column for English. This allows children to cover words by folding the page and then self checking their learning.
Children can use the Remember Book independently by:
Children can use the Remember Book with a parent or friend by:
The Remember Book can form a section of the children’s homework and can become part of the daily homework routine. The work they focus on in their Remember Book can ensure that they are surrounded by language in school and at home. This will motivate them, help them to identify what they need to learn and support progression.
Many researchers agree that note-taking is an important skill, as it facilitates learning from text (Kobayashi 2006, Rahmani and Sadeghi 2011, Wilson 1999). Siegel (2015) iterates that note-taking benefits second learners, as it provides them with an ‘external record’ which they can use for future tasks and review. Furthermore, Dyer, Riley and Yekovich’s 1997 study confirmed the effectiveness of note-taking in enhancing reading skills.
AI technology can offer adult learners of English or multilingual families a supportive, fun and engaging environment in which to learn and practise their English. Schools can play an instrumental role in guiding those families through this process and therefore home-school collaboration is always encouraged. Let’s look at four different ideas for school staff to encourage their multilingual families to engage in an enjoyable language learning experience through AI.
In English, there are 44 speech sounds. Creating speech sounds is a more complex process than you might think! It requires the coordination of different muscles and structures. The lips, tongue, teeth and other parts of our mouth all play an important role. Where learners have difficulties creating certain sounds, their fluency, ability to be understood and confidence in speaking aloud can all be affected.