HELLO Helping Early Language & Literacy Outcomes Supporting children and families with English as an Additional Language By Stefanie Reardon First Steps Early Years Centre Derby Created and funded by Department for Education 2015/16 VCS grant funding. This resource is available under Open Government licence. ©Crown Copyright 2016 E.A.L not S.E.N Children shouldn't be labelled as having additional learning needs if they are learning English as a second language. They may need targeted support but this is not the same as SEN support. If a child has a speech or language problem, it will show up in both languages. However, these problems are not caused by learning two languages. If you know a child who is learning a second language and you have concerns about speech and language development in their 1st language then an EAL child may be SEN and further support and referal may be needed. The figures • Statistics released indicate that around 15% of children starting primary school in England have a mother tongue other than English. This figure is constantly raising and is most likely considerable more. • More than 200 languages are spoken in the homes of children attending schools in England. • 25% of children on roll at First Steps Early Years Centre at Spring Term End 2016 are either EAL, Bilingual or have one or more languages spoken within the home environment. Celebrating the E.A.L child No harm will come to a child’s language development if one language is spoken at home and another within the setting. Practitioners should actively promote this practice. If a child can progress and confidently learn one language (Mother Tongue) this will mean that child will have developed secure linguistic skills, grammar and sentence structure knowledge that will then be transferable in developing and learning another language. Being Bilingual is an asset: Bonjour! ?Hello? -There are advantages for children’s learning -Strong foundations in home language will support the acquisition of other languages -It is vital for maintaining family relationships. Children need a strong foundation and confidence in their home language and culture to feel confident exploring the language and culture of others Code Switching • What does this mean ? .... Take a look at this video to find out ! • What does this look like in practice? .... Watch this video and see ! Code switching is the practice of moving back and forth between two languages, or between two dialects or registers of the same language. Code switching is expected when children are learning more than one language Types of Bilingualism Simultaneous: Two languages are learned at the same time Sequential: One language is learned first and then another Additive: An additional language is learned without losing the skills in the first Subtractive: Skills start to be lost in the first language whilst learning the additional language. Passive: The language is heard in the environment e.g.TV, Radio or other people speaking but the language is not directly spoken to the child. Typical Bilingual Language Development Simultaneous Bilingualism • Stage 1 – Child mixes languages • Stage 2 – Child separates languages • Stage 3 – Child uses mainly one language Typical Bilingual Language Development to be aware of Sequential Bilingualism Stage 1 – Home language use Stage 2 – Non verbal period Stage 3 – telegraphic speech Stage 4 – Productive language use Stage 5 – Competent language use Importance of Home Language Development Why is it important to consider children’s home language development? Discuss... By finding out which languages are used ... Helps you identify if children are having difficulties Helps communication with parents and families Promotes children and families feeling valued, respected and included Enables you to support home language/s development Helps develop positive relationships with their children and their families Helps you support development of setting language How Can adults support and extend language? • • • • • • • • • • Continued talking even when children do not respond Persistent inclusion in small groups with other children Use of varied questions Inclusion of other children as the focus in the conversation Use of first language Acceptance of non verbal responses Praising of minimal effort Expectations to respond with repeated words and/or counting Structuring of programme to encourage child to child interaction Provide activities which reinforce language practice through role play Supporting Language Development At all Stages: It is important to model language, while playing alongside a child. Use descriptive commentary – talking about what you or the child is doing. Modeling language and using descriptive commentary should make up most of your interactions, and even less should be used on direct questioning. Allow time for children to formulate responses. Assessing E.A.L children The EYFS requires assessment in English – use all assessment tools /interpreters where available. It is important to look at all aspects of speech language and communication development BUT – It is important to gain a picture of home speech, language and communication development by regular dialogue with parents. See attached Supporting Document created for our EA.L children hear at First Steps Derby. How to identify E.A.L children with additional needs Mother tongue skills POOR Mother Tongue Skills GOOD Additional Language skills POOR Additional Language skills POOR Assess all skills to gain profile of overall development provide a language effective environment and develop play skills monitor child’s response to input GOOD PROGRESS Typical EAL : Child will learn new language in a language Effective Environment Child with Transient difficulties: will learn new language in a language effective environment POOR PROGRESS Discuss with SENCO to provide targeted input GOOD PROGRESS POOR PROGRESS Possible Persistent difficulties: refer to SLT Red Flags No code switching Poor vocabulary development in home language and English Social communication difficulties reported by parents and observed in setting Stammering Slow rate of language development in home language(es) and English.
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