Page 287 - Karmen Pižorn, Alja Lipavic Oštir in Janja Žmavc, ur. • Obrazi več-/raznojezičnosti. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut, 2022. Digitalna knjižnica, Dissertationes 44
P. 287
rethinking language teaching: the theory and practice of plurilingual education
everyday communication is reinforced by paying a great deal of attention
to the development of pupils’ literacy skills in Irish. Stories of various kinds
are used for this purpose. For example, the teacher may have heard that one
of the pupils had an accident when playing in the park. She discusses this
with the class in Irish and they gradually produce a coherent narrative that
the teacher writes on the whiteboard and the pupils copy into their copy-
books. For homework she gives them the task of translating the story into
English. This encourages EAL pupils to produce a second translation, into
their home language. In this way, Irish acts as a sort of hinge between Eng-
lish and EAL pupils’ home languages: its presence in daily communica-
tion outside as well as inside the classroom creates a social space in which
other languages can be used. Throughout the school Irish benefits from
the high levels of interest in languages and language learning that Scoil
Bhríde’s open language policy stimulates. It also benefits from the fact that
the minority of pupils who are English-speaking like to think of Irish as
their “home” language. It is no accident that Scoil Bhríde is ranked in the
top 12 per cent of primary schools for achievement in Irish.
2.3.3 Literacy in home languages
It is fundamental to Scoil Bhríde’s inclusive language policy that pupils
from immigrant families should transfer their emerging literacy skills in
English and Irish to their home languages. Pupils begin to write in Senior
Infants, when they are 5½+ years old, and from the first they produce par-
allel texts in two languages – English/Irish or English/home language (Fig-
ure 1). Parents play an essential role in supporting the development of home
language literacy, but some pupils soon develop the capacity to write with-
out assistance. For example, in First Class (6½+ years old) a Latvian pu-
pil wrote a short identity text in English and Russian in class without any
help (Figure 2). By the time they reach Sixth Class most EAL pupils are able
to write parallel texts in three or four languages. When they were com-
ing to the end of the school year, one Sixth Class asked their teacher if they
could organize a fashion show. She agreed on two conditions: all languages
present in the class – English, Irish, French (introduced in Fifth Class) and
home languages – must be used in the show; and each pupil must imagine
a model and write a short text about her in as many languages as possible.
A pupil from a Chinese family produced texts in English, Irish, French and
Mandarin in the person of Marceline (Figure 3). It should be noted that the
287
everyday communication is reinforced by paying a great deal of attention
to the development of pupils’ literacy skills in Irish. Stories of various kinds
are used for this purpose. For example, the teacher may have heard that one
of the pupils had an accident when playing in the park. She discusses this
with the class in Irish and they gradually produce a coherent narrative that
the teacher writes on the whiteboard and the pupils copy into their copy-
books. For homework she gives them the task of translating the story into
English. This encourages EAL pupils to produce a second translation, into
their home language. In this way, Irish acts as a sort of hinge between Eng-
lish and EAL pupils’ home languages: its presence in daily communica-
tion outside as well as inside the classroom creates a social space in which
other languages can be used. Throughout the school Irish benefits from
the high levels of interest in languages and language learning that Scoil
Bhríde’s open language policy stimulates. It also benefits from the fact that
the minority of pupils who are English-speaking like to think of Irish as
their “home” language. It is no accident that Scoil Bhríde is ranked in the
top 12 per cent of primary schools for achievement in Irish.
2.3.3 Literacy in home languages
It is fundamental to Scoil Bhríde’s inclusive language policy that pupils
from immigrant families should transfer their emerging literacy skills in
English and Irish to their home languages. Pupils begin to write in Senior
Infants, when they are 5½+ years old, and from the first they produce par-
allel texts in two languages – English/Irish or English/home language (Fig-
ure 1). Parents play an essential role in supporting the development of home
language literacy, but some pupils soon develop the capacity to write with-
out assistance. For example, in First Class (6½+ years old) a Latvian pu-
pil wrote a short identity text in English and Russian in class without any
help (Figure 2). By the time they reach Sixth Class most EAL pupils are able
to write parallel texts in three or four languages. When they were com-
ing to the end of the school year, one Sixth Class asked their teacher if they
could organize a fashion show. She agreed on two conditions: all languages
present in the class – English, Irish, French (introduced in Fifth Class) and
home languages – must be used in the show; and each pupil must imagine
a model and write a short text about her in as many languages as possible.
A pupil from a Chinese family produced texts in English, Irish, French and
Mandarin in the person of Marceline (Figure 3). It should be noted that the
287
