cultural + linguistic diversity in practice hannah issa abraham moss community school, manchester
TRANSCRIPT
Cultural + Linguistic Diversity in Practice
Hannah Issa
Abraham Moss Community School, Manchester
Cultural + Linguistic Diversity in Practice
Aims:
•To provide a snapshot of pupil diversity at Abraham Moss Community School in Manchester•To highlight some of the issues that this creates•To look at some practical strategies for addressing these issues
Pupil Diversity at
Abraham Moss Community School
Pupil Mobility
•Cheetham Hill has been an arrival point for families moving into the city for 200 years.
•Pupil mobility in school is very high. (25%)
•80+ pupils join the school from outside the UK every year.
Cultural Diversity
•Around 97% of pupils are from an ethnic minority background.
•Pupils or their families have come from around 60 different countries.
•55% of pupils are Pakistani heritage.
•Around 3% of pupils are white British.
•1274 pupils: high school, 388 primary
•(1662 in total).
(UK: 25.9%, Manchester: 53.8%)
Linguistic Diversity
•There are more than 60 different languages spoken in the school.
•77% of pupils with English as an additional language – EAL.
•40% of pupils not fluent users of academic or standard English.
•Around 90 EAL beginners.
National totals for EAL: 15.2%
Every teacher has
a responsibility…
National Curriculum Section 6 Language and Literacy
Teacher Standards Section 5: Meeting Different Needs
The National Curriculum Framework
6.1 Teachers should develop pupils’ spoken language, reading, writing and vocabulary as integral aspects of the teaching of every subject. English is both a subject in its own right and the medium for teaching; for pupils, understanding the language provides access to the whole curriculum. Fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects.
(See also sections 6.2 Spoken Language, 6.3 Reading and Writing and 6.4 Vocabulary)
Understanding the Needs of Pupils with
EAL
A Typical Pupil with EAL… ?Pupils with EAL are all different. These 3 pupils are in Y10:
Ahmed is Libyan. His parents are university students. He is well-educated and literate in Arabic but new to English. He’s returning to Libya in a few years.Sara is a Kurdish asylum seeker from Iraq. She has had interrupted schooling and is not literate. She is very quiet, sits alone and sometimes refuses to work. Farhaan was born in Manchester. He speaks English with friends and Punjabi at home. His written and spoken English is colloquial and lacks technical accuracy.
It is best to place EAL beginners in low ability sets when they first arrive because they need time to concentrate on learning English.
EAL beginners make faster progress in school if they practise speaking English at home with their family as much as possible.
EAL learners who are literate in their first language usually find it easier to acquire good literacy skills in other languages.
FALSE
FALSE
TRUE
True or False?
Creating an Inclusive and Welcoming
Classroom
What is this lesson about?
EAL Checklist 3: Start with Clear Objectives
EAL Checklist
Use a clear, simple font.
Include lots of visuals / practicals.
Start with clear objectives (previous slide).
Make every lesson a LANGUAGE lesson.
Identify, teach and model key language.
Use collaborative pair / group tasks.
Use well-structured language-focused resources.
1. Always use a clear font. 1. Always use a clear, simple font.
EAL Checklist: 1
Comic Sans is a good choice.
a g (difficult for pupils new to the alphabet)
2. AVOID OVER-CAPITALISATION
3. Use clear, legible handwriting.
EAL Checklist: 2
Use lots of visual, practical (and bilingual) resources:
isosceles
Keep Google Images open
Develop pupils’ dictionary skills
Demonstrate
Make models
EAL Checklist 2: Include lots of visuals/practicals
Pupils can gain or demonstrate understanding of complex concepts
Graphic Organisers represents conceptual relationships between people, objects, events or situations.
Action Strips
Venn Diagrams
Graphs, Charts and Tables
Make every lesson a LANGUAGE lesson:
Build in opportunities for:
•speaking
•listening
•reading
•writing
EAL Checklist: 4
The Language Continuum
• Everyday• Concrete• Informal• Personal• Here-and-now
• Technical• Abstract• Formal• Imperson
al• Generalis
ed
Language accompanying action
Language constitutes the text
Practical group task
Recounting to the class
Formal presentation
Modelling or deconstruction of text
Independent writing
(EAL Theory: Pauline Gibbons)
Language Accompanying Action or Visuals
• Everyday• Concrete• Informal• Personal• Here-and-now
• Technical• Abstract• Formal• Imperson
al• Generalis
ed
Practical group task
Recounting to the class
EAL Checklist 5: Teaching Strategies
• Collaborative activities – Develop oracy through sharing information – Students of all levels work together – Language redundancy
• Recasting• Repetition• Paraphrasing
– Active listening – Small pieces of information build towards a
whole
• Technical• Abstract• Formal• Imperson
al• Generalis
ed
Language constitutes the text
Modelling or deconstruction of text
Dictogloss
Pupils take notes as they listen to an academic text read aloud at normal speed. They then work in groups of 3 or 4 to reconstruct the text exactly from their shared notes.
(Lots of information about dictogloss on the internet.)
Pupils have already built up some knowledge and understanding of the topic and language
EAL Checklist 5: Use collaborative pair / group tasks
Dictogloss
1. Listen but don’t write anything.
2. Listen again. This time, note down words or phrases.
3. Share your notes in 2s or 3s to rewrite the text exactly as you heard it. Aim to reproduce both the content + the language structures accurately. Each person needs a copy of the reconstructed text.
Check your Text: The Carbon Cycle
The amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere is controlled by the carbon cycle.
Carbon dioxide is removed from the air in several different ways. These include dissolving into the oceans and photosynthesis.
There are also several processes that return carbon dioxide into the environment. For example: respiration by plants, animals or microbes; combustion caused by burning wood or fossil fuels and finally thermal decomposition of limestone, which occurs in the manufacture of iron, steel and cement.
Collaborative Tasks
www.collaborativelearning.org
• Everyday• Concrete• Informal• Personal• Here-and-now
• Technical• Abstract• Formal• Imperson
al• Generalis
ed
Language accompanying action
Language constitutes the text
Modelling or deconstruction of text
EAL Checklist 6: Identify, teach and model key language.
Identify, teach and model key language
DARTSDirected Activities Related to Texts
EAL Checklist1. Use a clear, simple font. 2. Use lots of visuals.3. Start with clear objectives.4. Make every lesson a LANGUAGE lesson.5. Identify the language your students need to know. 6. Model the language your students need.7. Plan instructions + questioning carefully.8. Teach key words + structures explicitly.9. Use graphic organisers.10. Use DARTs.11. Divide text into manageable sections.12. Use collaborative group tasks.
Practical Experience
Teaching Practice / CPD + EAL
Experiment with practical EAL strategies as soon as possible this half term:
Plan + teach a lesson that includes:
• an explicit language focus;
• resources differentiated for EAL;
• collaborative group work;
• recount or performance talk.
