Tag Archives: Language

Language Learning in Scotland: A 1+2 Approach – Activity

Scenario

You are a primary school teacher in charge of Modern Languages and the implementation of the 1+2 Approach proposed by the Scottish Government.  You have a school inspection in 6 months time, where they will be evaluating the successfulness of the policy’s implementation.  After reading the policy, it is your task to convince the rest of the staff at your school that this approach will be beneficial, as well as consider how this policy could be implemented in your school and some the issues that may arise as a result of the implementation.

Benefits/Advantages

  • Multilingualism opens up more opportunities later in life.
  • Learning a language improves a learners communicative skills, helping them to make more meaningful connections with others in society.
  • The skills and knowledge developed when learning L2 (foreign language) provide a deeper understanding of a learners L1 (native language).
  • Language learning coincides with cultural studies and helps build cultural awareness in learners so that they learn to appreciate and respect cultures that differ from their own.
  • Beginning languages from a young age provides more opportunity for the continuation of language learning to national qualification level.
  • With this new policy, individual schools and Local Authorities are given more say into which languages they teach, perhaps influenced by geography or culture.
  • The policy can provide equality for learners across Scotland, as well as creating more equal chances for Scottish children when compared with their European counterparts.
  • There are great opportunities for creating links with schools in other countries for more in-depth, contextualised learning.

How do you implement/incorporate the policy?

  • Introduce regular and consistent learning of the language throughout the school (e.g. the daily routine, assembly).
  • Produce an audit of the staff’s skill level and confidence in languages to determine which language will best suit the school.
  • Encourage use of Interdisciplinary Learning (IDL).
  • Support staff and encourage professional development by providing them with opportunities to learn and enhance their practice.
  • Ensure that planning and resources are exciting and stimulating for pupils so that they become interested in language learning.
  • Create links with the local secondary school to inform our practice and ensure there is continuation into secondary school.

Issues/Problems/Gaps

  • Catering for children with EAL, where there L1 is not English.
  • Lack of teacher competence and confidence in teaching languages.
  • Funding issues.
  • Lack of reliable resources readily available to the school.
  • Time constraints in the curriculum meaning that language learning is neglected and another subject is prioritised to meet the demands on the teacher.
  • Engaging pupils will be difficult if the teachers are not confident or enthused themselves.
  • No specific guidelines for pupil assessment.
  • There is a social stigma surrounding languages that children often pick up from adults.

Reflections on the Policy

It is a good concept but their are many issues regarding the physical implementation.  One issue with the policy is that it lacks clarification.  There are a number of recommendations, however, they are very basic and the policy provides very little elaboration or examples of how this recommendation might look when implemented in schools.  Plus, these are only recommendations and so there is no mandatory requirement to follow these.  This does give teachers a lot more freedom, in line with the ethos of CfE, though it does, again, raise the issue of clarification as many of these recommendations are open to teacher/school/local authority interpretation, which will result in mixed results and experiences for children across Scotland.  Lastly, the policy mentions a lot about the need for this type of language learning for Scotland’s future, but not a lot of focus on the reality of this policy today, particularly what language learning will look like in schools on a daily/weekly basis, from now.

References

Scottish Government Languages Working Group (2012) Language Learning in Scotland A 1+2 Approach.  Edinburgh: Scottish Government.  Available at: https://www.gov.scot/Resource/0039/00393435.pdf  (Accessed: 26 September 2018).

Reading Activity – Menu

Resource

Class

This resource could be used with Primary 3 for a reading activity as the vocabulary is fairly simple and there is no need for knowledge of complex grammar required when deciphering full sentences.

Questions

These are some key questions a teacher could ask the ask the class to determine their level of understanding regarding the general meaning and then the specific details of the text:

  1. Do you know what this is?
  2. Discuss the layout of this text?
  3. How do the numbers help you understand what this is?
  4. Do you recognise any of these words?
  5. Could you use your knowledge of English to predict what some of these words might mean?

Potential Difficulties and Differentiation

  1. There are no pictures in this text and so children are unable to associate the vocabulary to an image, which often helps with the memorisation process.  Adding some images to this text would differentiate it to make it slightly easier.
  2. The nouns in the text are accompanied by an article, which is necessary in French, but may be difficult for the children to comprehend.  Before this text is introduced, the children must have the grammatical knowledge about articles in French and be aware of genders in French and so I would differentiate by scaffolding.
  3. This is quite a lot of new vocabulary introduced in this one text.  The desirable amount of vocabulary to introduce at one time is around seven new words, therefore, some learners may require the text to be reduced in size so they can focus on learning new vocabulary effectively.  This text is structured in a way that one section could be the focus of one lesson.

Activities

Comprehension Questions:  These questions would be posed in English and would assess the level of understanding about the new vocabulary.  The questions would be centred on the numbers in the text (e.g How much is the fish? Which two items add up to £4?) which is also incorporating elements of Mathematics as well as encouraging the use of problem solving skills.

Create a French Menu:  The learners would use this particular text as a model to create their own menu.  They could follow a specific design brief when creating the menu, such as, the menu is for a healthy eating restaurant, which has potential cross-curricular links to Health and Wellbeing.  More advanced learners may be curious to learn more foods for their menu, which could be facilitated by encouraging dictionary work to complete the activity.

 

Immigration

In my school, there were a few children who had recently moved to the area from abroad.  Specifically, in the the CE2 class I was working in there were two young boys who had recently moved to France from countries in North Africa.  The teacher of the class explained to me that both these boys had a very poor level of French when they had first arrived and this was a challenge for both the children and the teachers when they had to communicate with one another.

Due to the pupils’ ages, as upper school pupils, when their classmates studied French Literacy and Grammar, these two boys would work from textbooks aimed at the earlier stages.  This level of differentiation seemed quite difficult for the teacher to manage as the boys needed a lot of her attention.  I also wondered whether this language barrier ever made the boys feel secluded from the rest of the class.  However, due to the teacher’s inability to split her time between her and the class the whole day, the boys took part in other lessons with the whole class in other curricular subjects.  This meant that even over the short period that I was in the class, I noticed how much more they had integrated into the classroom environment and were now managing to communicate with their classmates much more confidently.

Immigration is becoming more of a recurring them across Europe and so I feel as though witnessing firsthand how children from other countries with language difficulties are accommodated for was valuable for me in the future.  It was also nice to see how the current political climate regarding immigration in France, which is met with some hostility, did not seem to filter into the school and that these children were not hindered by their cultural differences.

Further Learning

Throughout my time on placement, I have learnt a lot about language teaching, specifically teaching a foreign language.  Whilst observing lessons, the teachers advocated using only English in their English lessons, which required some degree of self confidence from them in their abilities.  I think that self confidence is the key limitation for me when I speak French, as I lack the confidence to practice my speaking skills aloud.  Continuing with my own self-study of French using different resources and building on my vocabulary will help me develop more confidence so that I can execute some of the teaching techniques I observed from the teachers on placement.  I am also taking part in the Modern Languages module next year, which when partnered with further reading, will help me develop a more academic and theoretical knowledge of the techniques I saw.

From a personal and professional perspective, I also feel as though this placement has helped me to become more communicative, as the language barrier between me and the teachers meant that I received little guidance from them regarding lesson plans, resources, assessment etc and work a lot harder to express myself and my ideas.  This was very different from the one on one support I received from my teacher in first year and so I had trust in my own teaching ability a lot more, relying a lot less on constant reassurance.  I think this was an important step for me to have taken, as by the end of my placement, I was communicating with all the staff and sharing my ideas with them rather than waiting for them to approach me.  I would like to continue to develop, as I think it will make me a more valuable and integrated member of a team when in school.  During lectures, I am often a person who lacks the confidence to share their thoughts and ideas with the group, therefore, if I work on being a more contributive member in a group of my peers, it will help me build upon the skills and traits I have began to engage with during this placement.

Dictation – La dictée

Dictation is an exercise used in schools when teaching language. Brunfaut and Banerjee (2013) describe dictation as, “an exercise in which a selected passage is read aloud to students in carefully chosen chunks at a speed that is slow enough to allow them to copy it down”. Dictation is used as a way to test many aspects of language, such as spelling, punctuation and grammar, which is why the exercise is held in such high esteem in France, as Valette (1964, p431) explains that the student, “is examined on his knowledge of orthography and his understanding of grammatically agreements”, which is a difficult aspect of the French language to grasp.

Through my observations at this school, I have noticed that each teacher approaches dictée differently. Teachers of Cycle 3 approach the exercise in a more traditional way by reading out a passage for the children to listen to and copy, which they then discuss in part. Where as teachers of Cycle 2 tend to recite short phrases for the children to copy before they progress onto full texts. As well, each teacher reads out the text differently, some repeat small chunks as many times as necessary and others limit the amount of times a single phrase can be repeated. I think this highlights how important it is for a teacher to know the pupils in their class well, as they will have tailored their approach appropriately to suit their needs.

As the French language is such a prominent part of the French curriculum, teachers use dictation techniques quite regularly throughout the week. Due to falling standards in French children’s reading and writing skills, with studies showing that, “the CM1s are now significantly behind the average of the European Union countries,” (Pirls Survey) the French Education Minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer, has proposed daily dictation nationwide, in an initiative called, “une dictée par jour” (Le Point, 2017). French newspaper, L’express (2018), reported that this initiative was just one of four circulars published by the Government, which Blanquer described as, “a national reference of text” providing recommendations to teachers.

References

Brunfaut, T. and Banerjee, J.  (2013)  ‘Dictation’ in Byram, M. and Hu, A. (ed.) Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning.  Available at: https://books.google.fr/books?id=XxZbhSsqnUQC&pg=PT470&dq=teaching+dictation&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwizptXA6LLaAhWMHsAKHdrQCj44ChDoAQg1MAM#v=onepage&q=teaching%20dictation&f=false  (Accessed: 15 April 2018).

L’express  (2018)  ‘Dictation, Mental Arithmetic, Reading: the recommendations of the National Education to teachers’, 26 April.  Available at: https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/dictee-calcul-mental-lecture-les-recommandations-de-l-education-nationale-aux-enseignants_2003741.html  (Accessed: 28 April 2018).

Le Point  (2017)  ‘A dictation a day: the Blanquer Formula to raise attainment levels’, 12 May.  Available at: http://www.lepoint.fr/societe/une-dictee-par-jour-la-formule-blanquer-pour-remonter-le-niveau-05-12-2017-2177440_23.php  (Accessed: 28 April 2018).

Valette, R.  (1964)  ‘The Use of the Dictée in the French Language Classroom’, The Modern Language Journal, 48(7), pp. 431-434.

Week 2

Monday

Today I have began the week in the CE2 class. For around half an hour, the teacher leads a discussion on the news from the previous weekend to begin the day. This was homework that they were assigned on the previous Friday afternoon and involves them reading newspapers and watching the news over the weekend to keep up to date. I thought this was a great starter activity for a Monday morning, which I plan to use when I teach on later placements, as the classroom was abuzz with discussion and the children were very enthusiastic to listen and share. In the French curriculum, a lot of value is placed on discovering the world around you and developing citizenship skills and this task highlights this and helps to refine some life long skills.

The teaching on Mondays ends at 11:30 because after lunch the children participate in “Les Temps d’Activitiés Périscolaires (TAP), which is extra curricular activities organised by personnel outwith the school and includes activities, such as sports, art and games.

Tuesday

Today, I am with the same class I was with yesterday but with their other teacher. It is interesting to see how the children behave differently for the two teachers, as today, the children are being very talkative and the seating arrangement has had to be changed.

From a personal perspective, I am struggling to reflect upon the day because I am not given anything to do in the classroom or actively participating throughout the day. I have tried to share my thoughts and ideas for lessons on English vocabulary or Scotland but I am struggling due to the language barrier and I am worried that the teachers do not think I can teach the children because my level of French is not sufficient. I ended up contacting Susan for some advice on this, as I am keen to play a bigger role in the classroom but I am unsure how to approach this any other way than I already have. She has advised me to speak with Nina and Nina has ensured me that she will contact the school on my behalf in an attempt to overcome the language barrier. This was great feedback from both of them and I am glad I took this step, as I want to make sure that I am getting the most out of this incredible opportunity and developing my own practical skills as opposed to merely observing and recording.

Wednesday

 Today, I spoke briefly to the head teacher about taking a more active role in teaching the children. She agreed that it was too much for me to continue observing for the rest of my placement, however, she did seem concerned by the language barrier. This has motivated me to practice and use French more rather than relying on the teachers speaking English to me. I am not confidant using French though hopefully the more that I use it, the more I will improve. Equally, the more that the teachers will believe I can pursue a more active role.

I have also realised that I can use some of other communication skills that I have to overcome this language barrier. For example, I can write down my thoughts and exploit visual aids to express my ideas to the teachers. Today, I have made resources that I think I can use in the classroom that I will show to the head teacher in an attempt to put forward my ideas to her.

Today, I was in the CM1/CM2 class. This was a half-day so most of the teaching time was consumed with French and Maths. However, I did get to see an example of the partnerships the school has formed with the local community, as the children had a session outside in the garden where they planted fruits and vegetables with a local volunteer. I was also given an insight into how the teachers at this school teach English, as the teacher I was observing showed me her guidebook that she works from when she is planning English lessons. This book outlined topics and lessons in a very thorough and structured manner and had excellent resources, such as worksheets and storybooks to complement the lessons. However, this type of teaching, for me, felt very prescribed, with little opportunity for personalisation and choice, which is one of the seven design principles of Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence.

Thursday

 Today, I observed and participated in two new classes, which gave me the opportunity to introduce myself again to these children. In the first class, the children also got to ask me some questions, giving me the opportunity to help them with their grammar when they formed a question. As I introduced myself I used some proper nouns, such as my name, my brother’s name and the city of Dundee. This was the first time the children had heard Dundee and so I had to teach them the spelling of the word. They were also confused by the way I spelt my brother Michael’s name, as they had spelt it as “Mikael” due to the way it sounds. This highlighted to me some of the phonetic challenges that arise when learning to speak a new language that has different sounds from your native language.

In the afternoon, I visited CE1/CE2 where I introduced myself and answered questions from the children completely in French. This was challenging for me but definitely good practice. This particular teacher explained to me how little English she and the children spoke, but expressed a keen interest in me teaching them English over the coming weeks, which is hopeful for my progression.

As for the development of my knowledge of the French curriculum, I observed a history lesson. This lesson was about the French Revolution and the formation of the third Republic. This is an important part of modern French history and its significance in the curriculum was, I felt, very similar to the significance of Scotland and her own history in the Scottish curriculum.

After school, I was invited to the Zenith theatre in Orléans with the school to see “My Fair Lady”. The show was excellent and I had a great time. I had never seen the show before and despite it being in French, the songs were sung in English and I was able to follow the story. I also though that this was an excellent opportunity for me to bond more personally with the children outside of the classroom environment as I chatted to them and asked them questions using a mixture of French and English. Upon reflection, I feel that experiences like these are invaluable to the children involved as they continually expand a child’s cultural experiences in an active way.

 

Friday

 Today, I was asked to assist in an English lesson at the local high school, “college Concerdet”, which is the next school up from the children I have been working with at “école Bel-Air”. We were asked to the school by an English teacher named Sophie, who wanted her children to learn about Scotland and receive some help with their English from native English speakers. Erynn and I helped out in two classes that morning, “quatrième (3rd year)” and “sixème (1st year)”.

In the first class, the children were continuing the work they had started on Tuesday when Briony and Beth visited. This work was about Shakespeare and his life. The element of the English language that they were focusing on in this lesson was question formation as they were tasked with creating a dialogue between Shakespeare and an interviewer.

There were common issues and mistakes arising across the class, such as issues with the word order when forming a question and forming the questions in the correct tense. I was able to go around the classroom and assist the children with these issues much more easily than I could in the primary school, as the teacher had requested that we spoke to them completely in English and that they responded to us in English as well. I really enjoyed helping the students as I could witness the improvements in their English happening right in front of me, which was very rewarding. I also have not had many opportunities to assist pupils with their work because of the language barrier so I really embraced this opportunity to teach.

One thing I did observe was that the class was very reluctant to speak English in the classroom, as perhaps they were too embarrassed or scared that they would make a mistake. Often, Sophie would have to discourage pupils from laughing at other students’ mistakes or mispronunciations, as this could have a detrimental impact on their self-esteem. The attitude of the class was a stark contrast from the attitude towards language present in the primary school, as the children there relish every opportunity to speak to me in English. It would be interesting from a professional perspective to research this in more depth and try to understand why this decrease in language confidence happens as it is something that may affect the pupils that I teach in the future.

In summary, this week has been quite up and down. I am definitely seeing the benefit of observing fully qualified teachers to learn from their actions and experience. However, I am keen to fulfil more of an active role in the school day and feel a part of the school, though this is difficult with the current language barrier.

Placement Proposal

For my Learning from Life placement, I would like the opportunity to experience teaching abroad, specifically the connection with University of Orléans in France. From researching the University of Orléans, I have been made aware of the unique links between the city of Dundee and Orléans, as twin cities, particularly in teaching, where students from the University of Orléans have travelled to Dundee to visit Scottish Primary Schools. I feel as though this experience would have been valuable for these students, as they immersed themselves into Scottish culture and practice, and it is an experience I would like to take full advantage of in Orléans.

Throughout my time at school, I studied French up to SQA Higher Level; constantly updating my French vocabulary, learning about the customs of France and developing my basic skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking.  Also, during my first year placement, I had the opportunity to teach a French lesson to my pupils, however I did struggle with the proper pronunciation of some words and accents. Therefore, I feel as though my core language skills and accent would significantly benefit from a period of full immersion in French culture.

Not only will my knowledge of the French language hopefully improve, my practice will also benefit, as I am provided with alternative methodologies, which I believe will provide a broader perspective of our own curriculum, when critically compared with the curriculum in France.

As well as being able to contribute practical experience teaching and a developing knowledge of the French language, I am a native English speaker. Therefore, my extensive vocabulary and comprehension of complex grammar systems will be advantageous in supporting those who study English as a second, or even third, language. Equally, I can provide French children with knowledge of Scotland; her culture, her customs and her history, somewhere they might never get the chance to visit themselves, and I would be proud to be an ambassador for Scotland and Dundee.