PPLI Primary Guidelines REVISED EDITION - Flipbook - Page 28
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Language and Languages in the Primary School Some guidelines for teachers by David Little and Déirdre Kirwan
Food
Snack and lunch breaks provide daily opportunities to discuss food. They are also an ideal time to discuss likes and
dislikes in Irish, e.g., An maith leat _____? Is maith liom/ Ní maith liom, and to compare the words for various items of
food in different languages. When pupils are drawn into this kind of interaction, they very often begin to initiate such
conversations among themselves. More formal discussion of food can be reinforced using pictures with labels in
English, Irish and home languages. The teacher writes the English and Irish words for different types of food on the
whiteboard. Pupils are asked to choose the foods they like, draw them and write the appropriate names beside them
(Figures 3 and 4). EAL pupils then ask their parents to add the appropriate words in their home language. It is important
that work of this kind is always read aloud to the rest of the class: by publishing it in this way the teacher signals the
equal importance of all languages and reinforces pupils’ interest in languages and their motivation to learn.
Figure 3: Key words are used to name preferred fruits as a parallel
text in English and Irish (Senior Infants)
Figure 4: Key words are used to name preferred fruits as a parallel
text in English and HL, Polish (Senior Infants)
Music
Music provides numerous opportunities for pupils to practise their Irish and learn fragments of EAL pupils’ HLs. Using
topics with which the children are familiar, simple tunes can be used, e.g.“The Farmer in the Dell”, to incorporate all the
languages of the classroom. Starting with Irish, continuing with HLs and finishing with English, children can repeat the
same phrase in different languages all through the song.
When Christmas is approaching, the song might begin:
Verse 1:
Verse 2:
Verse 3:
Tá Daidí na Nollag ag teacht (x 2)
Le féiríní do chách (x 2)
Santa’s on his way (x 2)
Hé hó mo dhaidio
Hé hó mo dhaidio
Hé hó mo dhaidio
Tá Daidí na Nollag ag teacht.
Le féiríní do chách.
Santa’s on his way.
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