Supporting English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) students

Summary

The video script emphasizes the importance of oracy as the foundation for literacy in early language learning stages. It suggests using oracy games to provide context and encourage listening and speaking. Teachers are advised to model sentence structures and build word banks categorized by subject to support EAL/D students in acquiring academic vocabulary and grammar. The script highlights the need for explicit teaching of curriculum literacies, including subject-specific vocabulary, grammar, and text organization, to facilitate EAL/D learners' language development.

Takeaways

• 🗣️ Oracy is essential in the initial stages of language learning, emphasizing the importance of listening, understanding, and speaking for children.
• 🎲 Utilizing oracy games provides a contextual and enjoyable environment for language acquisition and practice.
• 📝 Joint construction of texts from oral language is a method to transition from spoken to written language, with teacher modeling.
• 📚 Meaningful literacy activities, such as comprehension and writing, can be built around texts that children have helped create.
• 📐 Sentence frames are useful tools for teaching grammar and reinforcing learning area vocabulary.
• 🔬 In science and other subjects, specific sentence structures can help students understand and use academic vocabulary effectively.
• 🌐 Developing and consolidating phases require EAL/D students to learn new academic vocabulary along with corresponding grammar.
• 🏛️ Teachers should create and organize word banks categorized by subject to build academic language proficiency.
• 🔍 Explicitly modeling text types and analyzing language features of different subject areas is crucial for EAL/D students' success.
• 📈 Curriculum literacies involve understanding how language functions in various subject areas, including vocabulary, grammar, and text organization.
• 🛠️ Knowing the language behaviors in different subject areas allows educators to focus on language development and support EAL/D learners throughout their language learning journey.

Q & A

Why is oracy considered the foundation of reading and writing in the early stages of language learning?

Oracy is the foundation of reading and writing because it involves the ability to listen, understand, and use language, which are essential skills for literacy development. It provides a context for new language acquisition and encourages children to engage actively with the language through games and conversations.

What is the purpose of using oracy games in language learning?

Oracy games serve as a fun and engaging way for children to listen and speak in the new language, providing a context for them to practice and internalize the language in a meaningful way.

How can joint construction of a text enhance language learning?

Joint construction of a text allows children to use the oral language from their conversations and experiences. It helps them see how oral language can be represented in written form, which is crucial for literacy activities.

What role do meaningful literacy activities play in language learning?

Meaningful literacy activities, such as reading comprehension and writing, build upon familiar and meaningful texts that children have helped create. This reinforces the language they have learned and encourages them to apply it in different contexts.

Why is it important for teachers to model sentence structures using sentence frames?

Modeling sentence structures with sentence frames helps students understand the grammar specific to the learning area. It also helps to cement the learning area vocabulary by providing a structured way to insert appropriate content.

How can teachers support EAL/D students in learning new academic vocabulary?

Teachers can support EAL/D students by building word banks categorized by topic or subject area. This helps students to organize and retrieve academic language effectively, and to build upon the vocabulary they have learned.

What is the significance of explicitly teaching the language features of different subject areas?

Explicitly teaching the language features, such as vocabulary, grammar, and text organization, is vital for students to succeed academically. It helps them understand how language behaves in different subject areas, which is known as curriculum literacies.

How can the organization of knowledge in subject areas impact language learning?

The way knowledge is organized in subject areas influences the language used. Understanding the specific grammar, vocabulary, and text structures of each subject helps students to communicate effectively within those areas.

What is the term used to describe the language behaviors in different subject areas, and why is it important?

The term is 'curriculum literacies.' It is important because it helps students recognize and adapt to the specific language requirements of each subject area, enabling them to engage more effectively with the curriculum.

How can the understanding of language at the vocabulary, grammar, and genre levels benefit EAL/D learners?

Understanding language at these levels allows EAL/D learners to focus on the specific language needed for each subject area. This targeted approach helps them progress through the phases of language learning more effectively.

What strategies can teachers employ to help EAL/D students with the word order in noun groups?

Teachers can explicitly teach the word order for describing words in noun groups and provide examples. They can also use activities that require students to construct noun groups, reinforcing the correct order through practice.

Outlines

00:00

🗣️ Oracy as the Foundation for Literacy

The first paragraph emphasizes the importance of oracy, or spoken language skills, as the base for reading and writing, particularly for children learning a new language. It suggests that ample time should be dedicated to listening, understanding, and using the new language through interactive games. These activities provide a context for language use and foster enjoyment in communication. The paragraph also highlights the value of joint text construction, where teachers model how to translate oral language into written form, which can then be utilized in literacy activities such as reading comprehension and writing. The use of sentence frames to teach grammar specific to the learning area is also discussed, as a strategy to reinforce academic vocabulary.

Keywords

💡Oracy

Oracy refers to the ability to use spoken language effectively in various contexts. In the video's theme, it is the foundational skill for reading and writing, emphasizing the importance of listening, understanding, and speaking in language acquisition. The script mentions the use of oracy games to provide a context for new language, making it a fun and engaging way for children to develop their language skills.

💡Joint Construction

Joint construction in the script refers to the collaborative process of creating a text using the oral language from conversations. It is a method where teachers and students work together to represent spoken language in written form, which is crucial for literacy activities. An example from the script is the teacher modeling how to turn oral language from shared experiences into written sentences.

💡Literacy Activities

Literacy activities encompass a range of educational practices aimed at developing reading and writing skills. The video discusses using texts created from joint construction as a basis for meaningful literacy activities such as reading comprehension and writing. These activities help reinforce the language learned and provide a context for applying it.

💡Sentence Frames

Sentence frames are pre-defined sentence structures that include some words and leave slots for specific content insertion. They are used in the script to model grammar and help students understand sentence structure. For instance, in science, the frame 'I think this will happen because —' allows students to insert appropriate content, aiding in vocabulary retention.

💡Academic Vocabulary

Academic vocabulary consists of specialized terms and language used in educational contexts. The script highlights the need for EAL/D (English as an Additional Language or Dialect) students to learn and use new academic vocabulary, which is supported by corresponding grammar lessons to ensure proper usage.

💡Noun Group

A noun group in the script refers to a grammatical structure that includes a noun and its modifiers, such as adjectives or descriptive phrases. Understanding the word order within noun groups is essential for EAL/D students to use academic vocabulary correctly, as mentioned in the context of differentiating ways to use adverbs or describing words.

💡Word Banks

Word banks are collections of words organized by theme or subject area. In the video, teachers build word banks with students to develop academic language, sort words into categories, and visually represent the relationships between words. This helps students retrieve and build upon the academic language they have learned.

💡Curriculum Literacies

Curriculum literacies, as mentioned in the script, refer to the specific language behaviors and conventions within different subject areas. It includes understanding the unique grammar, vocabulary, and knowledge organization of each subject, which is vital for EAL/D students to be successful in their studies.

💡Text Type

Text type in the script refers to the specific genre or format of writing used in different subject areas. Explicitly modeling and analyzing the salient language features of each text type is important for students to understand how language is structured and used within their learning areas.

💡EAL/D Learners

EAL/D learners are individuals learning English in addition to their native language or dialect. The script discusses the progression of these learners through the phases of language learning, emphasizing the importance of understanding vocabulary, grammar, and text structure specific to their subject areas.

💡Language Learning Phases

The language learning phases mentioned in the script outline the developmental stages that EAL/D learners go through, from the emerging phase where oracy is foundational, to the developing and consolidating phases where academic language and corresponding grammar are emphasized. Understanding these phases helps in structuring language instruction effectively.

Highlights

Oracy is the foundation of reading and writing in the beginning and emerging phases of language learning.

Significant time should be given for children to hear, understand, and use their new language.

Oracy games provide a context for new language and a fun reason to listen and speak.

Joint construction of a text using oral language from conversations can be a meaningful literacy activity.

Teachers can model how to represent oral language in sentences in a text.

Sentence frames model the grammar of sentences specific to the learning area.

In science, sentence frames like 'I think this will happen because —' help cement learning area vocabulary.

In the developing and consolidating phases, EAL/D students need to know how to use new academic vocabulary.

Support EAL/D students with corresponding grammar for the new academic vocabulary.

Teachers can build up word banks with students to build academic language.

Sort words into categories based on topic or subject area to help students retrieve and build on academic language.

Explicitly model the text type and analyze the salient language features of the learning area.

Each subject area has its own grammar, vocabulary, and way of organizing knowledge, which should be explicitly taught.

Curriculum literacies refer to how language behaves in different subject areas.

Understanding language at the vocabulary, grammar, genre, and text mode levels helps EAL/D learners progress through language learning phases.

Transcripts

In the beginning and emerging phases, oracy  is the foundation of reading and writing.  

So we need to give a significant amount  of time for children to hear, understand  

and use their new language. I love using oracy  games as it gives a context for the new language  

and also it’s a fun reason to listen and speak. This can be followed up by a joint construction  

of a text that uses the oral language from the  conversations around the experience and then  

the teacher can model how to represent  that oral language in sentences in a text.  

Those texts can then be used as  meaningful literacy activities  

such as reading comprehension, close activities,  and writing activities, all based around that  

familiar meaningful text that the children  helped to write based on the shared experience. 

Teachers can use sentence frames that model  the grammar of sentences which are specific  

to the learning area. For example, in science,  I think this will happen because — and students  

insert the content which is appropriate. This  helps to cement the learning area vocabulary.

In the developing and consolidating phases EAL/D  students need to know how to use the new academic  

vocabulary that’s being introduced. So, we need  to support them with the corresponding grammar.  

For example, in a noun group there’s a word  order for the describing words or there’s  

different ways to use adverbs or circumstances. Teachers can build up word banks with students  

to build academic language and sort the  words into categories based on the topic area  

or the subject area. So you might have all of your  maths vocabulary on one wall, and you may have all  

your science vocabulary on another wall, and you  would continue to add words with pictures, images,  

showing the way that the words connect to each  other, the relationships of words to each other,  

to help students be able to retrieve and build on  the academic language that they have learned and  

be able to continue to use that and refer to it. It’s important to explicitly model the text type  

and to analyse the salient language  features of the learning area.  

Each subject area has its own grammar, its  own vocabulary, and its own way of organising  

knowledge, and it is vital that this is explicitly  taught to students for them to be successful. 

We call this curriculum literacies and that  is how language behaves in your subject areas.  

And when you know how language works at the  vocabulary level, the grammar level, the genre  

level, the text mode level, in your different  subject areas that you teach you can then build  

in focus on that language and help EAL/D learners  progress through the phases of language learning.