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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.
What is a language profile? A language profile is basically ‘a picture’ of a new student’s language learning history. The profile can be used with all students (not just EAL students), and provides valuable information to inform good teaching practice.
The profile builds a picture of the student’s:
Crucially for EAL student’s, it contradicts that notion that a student is arriving with ‘no language’. This profile is an invaluable tool for teachers and TA’s to determine where a student fits in a learning continuum and which teaching strategies to use.
There is a second use for a language profile. Increasingly data is being used to guide our teaching as well as to guide ‘effective’ resource allocation and interventions. The onus is on schools to set up data collection that is useful and insightful. Creating a ‘School Language Profile’ is one such activity that provides teachers with information to directly guide their teaching, but also provides statistical data for the school to monitor it’s student body. The school where this approach was trialed was able to collect data on all of its students. This data was used to inform teaching and learning and it was also used to draw up statistical data to identify the need for additional EAL support in the school. Attached is an example of the data collected.
How does one set up a School Language Profile?
The following example was an effective ‘rolling’ programme to build up a language profile in a school.
(The attached ‘Language Profile’ template is an example that schools can use to build a more relevant profile for their individual situation.)
N.B. It was found to be more effective to collect this data after admission as sometimes it was creatively filled in prior to admission.
The lack of a common language between children can be frustrating so we often assign buddies who have a common language to help our learners. Someone who speaks the same language can help the new student feel less alienated by speaking the same language and recounting what is being said and explaining what is happening. Students are often used as interpreters in schools. However, as with any translation, it can result in unintentionally misinterpretation.
Transitioning successfully between extended home and school learning has been the struggle of every affected school, across the globe, since the onset of the pandemic. None of us could have predicted what was about to happen back in January of 2020 and we still struggle to comprehend the enormous scale of the struggle.
School closures, however your school has approached these, have had a huge impact on learner engagement. Even the most prepared schools have struggled to engage learners to the same extent as when learning in the classroom.
While learning new languages, a lot of information simply needs to be remembered, and we often have to combine new information with what we already know, using our working memory. For students with specific learning differences, such as dyslexia, retrieving information from the long-term memory can be slower or less effective, resulting in greater difficulties in learning. It is therefore vital to teach specific memory strategies.
Memory processes are complex, but in my experience, we remember better the things that we: