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Is it important for young English language learners to read dual language text?
It can be helpful for learners to read texts in both languages. It can provide a quick reference to aid comprehension and fosters an appreciation of the languages. It can be used creatively as a shared reading teaching tool in a bilingual setting. However, it is not a necessary part of learning the language. Often young learners will read one language and ignore the other. Additionally, if the majority language is English, this tends to reduce the desire to read in a minority language. Controversially, English quite frequently becomes the favoured language of choice due to its dominance/status in environments where English is widely used.
In September 2015, Lea Forest Academy took on an additional class of 16 Year 2 newly arrived EAL children. Eight of these children had never been schooled, while eight had had some schooling experience in their home country. The school had no specific EAL provision in place or trained staff.
What did they do?
Where did they start?
When striving to engage parents of EAL learners in an Early Years setting, we must be mindful to provide extra sensitivity and inclusivity. As well as potentially struggling with the language barrier, this may also be their own and their child’s first experience of a UK-style school, which may be very different to what they grew up with in their home country.
A School Language Profile is an invaluable tool!
In the previous article we looked at the thorny issue of EAL learners with specific learning differences (SpLD). We discussed how identification of SpLD in EAL learners could be a long and frustrating process. We looked at some possible, non-language based assessments. At the end of the article we discussed the possibility of using a ‘language profile’ to help identify possible concerns at an early stage.