PPLI Primary Guidelines REVISED EDITION - Flipbook - Page 44
ppli.ie
Language and Languages in the Primary School Some guidelines for teachers by David Little and Déirdre Kirwan
2.4.4 Stage 4
Using an integrated plurilingual approach to support learning
Stage 4 continues to build on what pupils already know. If they have been encouraged from an early stage to find
connections between languages, they will now do this as a matter of course. Regardless of their HL, language awareness
is an important asset for their language learning and for learning in general. Each member of the class, including the
teacher, will have their own individual plurilingual repertoire to enable and enrich their learning. In a plurilingual
approach, the MFL becomes a fully integrated part of this repertoire and is supported by it.
In stage 4, one hour a week is allocated to the teaching and learning of the MFL. We recommend that half of this time
should be focused exclusively on the MFL, introducing new vocabulary, idioms, etc. that the teacher and pupils will then
make use of in other lessons. As with the approach to Irish, the remaining time is devoted to the integrated plurilingual
approach, which now includes the MFL. In this way, pupils and teacher learn a new way to express what they already
know. Pupils will be enthusiastic when they realize that they can add the MFL to songs they enjoy singing, understand
simple classroom instructions, and ask simple questions in (at least) three languages. This enthusiasm will not only
boost their confidence in their ability to learn languages; it will also benefit their learning in all areas of the curriculum.
If pupils are to participate autonomously in dialogic and exploratory talk, they must know how to ask as well as answer
questions. When the teacher asks a question in Irish, e.g., cad é, an bhfuil, cá bhful, pupils soon understand what they
are being asked. Questions should be written on the whiteboard so that pupils can record them in their plurilingual
copybooks for future reference. It is crucially important that they know how to ask for clarification and further
information in all curriculum languages, including the MFL.
In stage 4 the number of occasions when pupils can use all their languages is likely to increase. For example, they can
act as narrators, comperes and guides at school plays, concerts and art exhibitions, making authentic communicative
use of all their languages, including the MFL.
Pupils can also be reminded of how vocabulary, phrases, expressions and correct grammatical usage can be accessed
through rhymes, poems, songs and extracts from books written in the languages they are learning. Where a particular
item is new or of interest to individual learners, they can write it in their plurilingual copybook for future reference.
When a familiar task, e.g., making a greeting card, is introduced in the MFL, the teacher can use the MFL to write on the
whiteboard, with help from pupils, the steps involved. Alternatively, pupils can collaborate in the making of a card or
poster and use the MFL to write the steps they took to produce the finished product.
The plurilingual approach recommends that when introducing a new topic – perhaps the life cycle of the frog or water
safety – the teacher asks how the topic would be expressed in all the languages present in the class. Pupils offer relevant
words and phrases, writing them on the whiteboard, and gradually a picture is built up around the topic in advance of
the lesson. The teacher adds the MFL to the picure and all contributions can be explored for connections and insights.
In the case of a lesson on bats, for example, the teacher offered sciathán leathair (Irish “leather wing”) and pupils added
chauve souris (French “bald mouse”) and letuchaya mysh (Russian “flying mouse”). Further exploration revealed that in
Ireland bats belong to the Vespertilionidae family and Vespers means “evening prayer”, from which pupils inferred that
bats fly in the evening.
PPLI delivering
44
Supported by
