PPLI Primary Guidelines REVISED EDITION - Flipbook - Page 24
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Language and Languages in the Primary School Some guidelines for teachers by David Little and Déirdre Kirwan
As we explained in section 1.4, a plurilingual approach to the learning of Irish and a MFL means providing pupils with
three kinds of support: (i) especially in the early stages, interactive routines whose structure and meaning are already
familiar to them in English; (ii) the regular use of Irish and the MFL in the delivery and processing of curriculum content;
and (iii) the transfer of developing literacy skills from English to Irish and the MFL via the production of parallel texts
in the three languages. A pedagogical dynamic based on these three kinds of support also accommodates EAL
pupils’ HLs and fosters the development of HL literacy.
Encouraging autonomous learning
Dialogic and exploratory classroom talk encourages pupils to participate in ways that engage their action knowledge,
which includes their existing linguistic repertoires. As they follow the promptings of their own experience and
intuitions, they become autonomous participants in the educational process. If their learning is meaningful and
enjoyable, they are likely to apply what they learn to their exploration of the wider environment; and if they use
language they have learned in class to interact and initiate play either as individuals or with their peers, this newly
acquired school knowledge becomes part of their action knowledge. The same effect is achieved when pupils learn
fragments of one another’s HLs, teach one another songs, poems, rhymes and sayings from their parents’ countries of
origin, or translate a familiar song into all the languages present in the classroom.
If we want our pupils to become consciously autonomous in their learning, the first step is to make them aware of
what they are learning and why. Even in the Infant classes this can be done by regularly asking five questions: What
are we doing? Why? How? With what results? What next? 29 In senior classes, some teachers have used the WALT (“We
are learning to …”) and WILF (“What I’m looking for …”) technique to develop their pupils’ reflective skills. Pupils confirm
their emerging autonomy as learners when, individually or collaboratively, they devise their own projects, which may
allow them to use their own and others’ HLs. At all levels of the school, such projects should be encouraged and
applauded. When pupils begin to work autonomously, their motivation to engage in classroom discourse, ask questions
and actively find solutions will be enhanced.
Plurilingual copybooks
In section 2.2 we recommended that schools should adopt the practice of documenting language learning and
language use and suggested that, at least in senior classes, pupils should be involved in the organization and
development of their class archive. We also recommend that as soon as they begin to write, pupils should keep a
plurilingual copybook, using it in all lessons to record new words and expressions that they hear in English, Irish and
EAL pupils’ HLs. To begin with this will be done at the teacher’s prompting, but as soon as possible pupils should be
encouraged to take charge of their plurilingual copybooks, recording things that they find particularly interesting and
making a note of things they don’t understand and puzzles they would like to explore with the teacher and their fellow
pupils. In stage 1 they can use unlined jotters, writing new words in speech bubbles and making simple drawings to
pose questions. At the end of each lesson a few minutes can be spent reviewing difficulties and puzzles. As pupils
progress through the school, the contents of their plurilingual copybooks will gradually become more elaborate
(hardbacked copybooks are recommended for stages 3 and 4), reflecting the increasing complexity of their plurilingual
experience. Used in this way, plurilingual copybooks support the integrated language learning recommended by the
Primary Language Curriculum, encourage reflection, and foster autonomous learning.
29
Cf. L. Dam, Learner Autonomy 3: From theory to classroom practice, Dublin: Authentik, 1995, p. 1.
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