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.
Learners with speech and language difficulties may find it difficult to order and sequence their ideas with a clear beginning, middle and end.
Tip or Idea: Ask your learner to tell you about something funny or exciting that they have done. Real life experiences may make it easier for them to describe.
Learning Village resource: Use the Adventure story dilemma flashcards and have fun making up a story together! You can add additional flashcards for settings and characters too!
As school teachers faced with EAL learners in our classrooms, we often push the teaching of phonics down the list, especially at secondary school level. Yet communication is dependent on comprehensive pronunciation when speaking, and on decoding graphemes when reading. Consider for a moment the impact mispronunciation can have on accurate communication. For example, if I ask for soap in a restaurant, I might be faced with a blank stare! This error is caused by confusing two very similar phonemes in soap/soup.
New Year is a time to take stock – and often to think about making changes. One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to try to eat more healthily. But how do you explain healthy eating to new arrivals who don’t have a firm grasp of English?
