PPLI Primary Guidelines REVISED EDITION - Flipbook - Page 38
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Language and Languages in the Primary School Some guidelines for teachers by David Little and Déirdre Kirwan
Figure 21: “The Blue Danube” in the languages of their
classmates researched by two pupils in Third Class
Pupils enjoy this fact gathering and enthusiastically sharing all the information they have amassed about their favourite
sportsperson, actors, animals, etc. Teachers can encourage the linguistic possibilities here by asking questions, e.g., I
wonder what language(s) does he/she/they speak? Do you know another way to say this? How do you say that in your
language? Does anyone have another word for a horse? Invite pupils to write their contributions on the whiteboard
and explore possible connections in the languages of the classroom (Table 1).
Table 1: Which of these words sound/look as if they may be connected?
French
Irish
Spanish
English
Icelandic
Norwegian
Ukrainian
Polish
cheval
capall
caballo
horse
hest
hester
kin
koń
Very often the clue to its meaning can be found in the word, e.g., how many legs do you think an octopus has (ocht)?
Does the word decimal (deich) remind you of any word you know? The teacher writes the answers on the whiteboard
and asks if anyone has another word for ocht and deich. In a linguistically diverse classroom, there will be many
contributions to this question which pupils can themselves write on the whiteboard. If they do not know how to spell
the words they offer, they can ask at home and share the correct spellings the following day.
Using numbers to activate language awareness
Compare numbers in Irish with their equivalent in other languages of the classroom (Table 2). Identify similarities and
differences in pronunciation and orthography (this can be a good exercise to show links between Irish and other
languages). Also good for focussing on listening to find connections (or not). Note connections and insights using the
plurilingual copybook. Link to curriculum subjects, e.g., Maths:
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