ppli.ieLanguage and Languages in the Primary School Some guidelines for teachers by David Little and Déirdre KirwanIt is a good idea to have regular discussions about language learning. In stage 4 pupils might be presented with a shortnewspaper report in a language they don’t know but on a topic they are already familiar with, e.g. a sporting event.The teacher reads the report aloud and writes key words and phrases on the whiteboard. Discovering that they candraw on the languages they know to work out the meaning of these new words and phrases, and thus understandthe general gist of the report, provides a boost to pupils’ confidence in their linguistic ability; it also invites furtherdiscussion of what is involved in learning a new language.When two HLs are closely related, speakers of those languages can create a role play by way of illustration. Senior pupilscan also carry out a survey of their classmates to discover, for example, whether the adjective comes before or afterthe noun in the languages present in the class.Developing plurilingual literacyIn Fifth and Sixth Class creative writing in multiple languages undergoes further development. The increasingsophistication of pupils’ language skills is reflected in their interest in writing, the expressive quality and length of thetexts they produce, their choice of language(s) in which to write, the way in which they bring all their linguisticknowledge to bear on their writing, and the support this knowledge provides for their further language development.The texts they write are informed by all aspects of the curriculum and by the innovative ways in which, with supportfrom their teachers, they present those topics. Pupils who have been used to writing parallel texts in English, Irish and(in the case of EAL pupils) their HL, will be excited to include the MFL in their plurilingual text production (Figure 29).Here are some more plurilingual activities that haveproved successful:•Description of the weather from the four points ofthe compass of whatever country is in focus can bewritten in all the languages the pupils know – In thenorth it is cold can be written in English, Irish, HLs, theMFL and any other languages the pupils know;similarly for south, east and west (Figure 30)•Descriptions of pupils’ homes or their ideal housecan be written in as many languages as possible(Figure 31)•Pupils can keep a diary of Christmas, Eid and othercelebrations in multiple languages and can designmultilingual greetings cards for their teacher andpeers.Figure 29: A letter written in English using as many French (MFL) words aspossible (Sixth Class)PPLI deliveringSupported by45
It seems that your browser's pop-up blocker has prevented us from opening a new window/tab. Please click the button below to open the link manually.
