Transcript Every Child Matters – key aims - John Bald/language and literacy

Language Teaching: Completing the
Reform.
John Bald, Independent
Consultant.
[email protected]
Reform...
• The need.
• The process.
• The resources
An old problem...
(from Chaucer, G, Prologue, late C14 )
And frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly,
After the scole of stratford atte bowe,
For frenssh of parys was to hire unknowe.
...made worse by errors...
• In understanding language and its
development
• In teaching and assessment
• In school organisation
The basis of reform...
• Know, understand and use the evidence from
brain research.
• Organise teaching to allow all children to
progress at their own best pace, to reinforce
learning outside the classroom, and to eliminate
failure.
• Develop and use attractive resources that
present language in ways children can understand
and enjoy.
How the brain works:
cells and connections
(from The Learning Brain, Blakemore and Frith, 2005)
As we learn, brain cells form connections with
each other that build into networks. These
connections are strengthened with practice.
Eric Kandel
In Search of Memory: the Emergence
of a New Science of Mind (NY, 2006).
(www.bookfinder.org)
7
Brain cell
(from Neuroscience and Education, Teaching and Learning Research Project, 2007)
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2012
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2012
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2012: Six months
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2012: Three years
The brain adapts itself to
different languages
Reading Aloud in English and Italian, evidence from brain scans (active areas in black)
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Left: reading system of English and Italian combined
Centre: sound processing more active in Italian
Right: word form area more active in English
(fromThe Learning Brain, Blakemore and Frith, 2005)
The areas of the brain used for written and spoken language
are interlinked and overlap
(Dr. Matt Davis, MRC, Languages Today, Spring 2013)
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Hearing
Reading
Both
As we learn a new language…
• We add to and adapt the structures formed in
our brain as we learned our first language.
• These structures influence the way we learn the
new language, both the parts we find easy, and
the errors we make (Swan and Smith, Learner English.)
English speakers need to adapt to:
• New relationships between written and spoken
language, including spelling and pronunciation.
• Gender in nouns that have no physical gender, and
in associated pronouns and adjectives.
• Greater variation in verb forms than in English
(except for Mandarin!)
Brain research suggests we eliminate:
• Copying, which requires children to switch their
attention continually between the master version
and their own. These jerky movements inhibit
thinking and the formation of connections.
• Overloading, by presenting too much new written
material at a time, or presenting spoken language
that is too fast for children to understand.
Copying, c1700 BC
(From The History of Writing, S.R Fischer)
Copying errors from a Year 7 mixed-ability class
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Quel as âge tu.
O habite tu
Ou j’habites-tu
Où habite a Londres.
Common t’appelle tú_
Je onzo age
Ja un douze
Quel âge as-tu?
Où habites-tu?
J’habite à Londres.
Comment t’appelles-tu?
J’ai onze ans
J’ai douze ans
(experienced teacher, pupils had models of the sentences
they were trying to write, from which they could copy.)
My First Steps in Spanish.
• Colours. Rojo, azul, verde, amarillo, marrón introduce most
of the variations between Spanish and English
pronunciation, and the accent. As with French, say
together, study, look away and write on sleeve.
• Explain ¡Buenos Días! as a greeting, and what it means.
• Sing Ser to 10 green bottles, with actions, explaining how
Spanish takes advantage of its word endings to omit the
short words we have to put in front of verbs.
• Introduce masculine/feminine, via the idea of boys’ and
girls’ words for younger children. Eg soy una niña/un niño.
• Build sentences about family/pets, around tengo/no tengo.
Explaining Spanish verbs
• Children need to understand how verbs work. Most verbs
“do” things. Some verbs say how they are – I am old. French
calls these “verbs of state”.
• Spanish takes a shortcut – unless there is a need to
emphasise it, the pronoun is incorporated into the verb.
• Verbs are important words, so each one has a name
(infinitive). The names of all Spanish verbs end in r.
• Spanish verbs can be sung to Ten Green Bottles, using the
same gestures as for the French
• Negatives are easy – just begin with no.
…and a way of teaching flow in French
• Explain that vowels are voice sounds, and that two
together can be jerky – say je ai . Can they hear the jerk?
• Demonstrate the technique of dropping the first vowel and
replacing it with an apostrophe. Write apostrophe on the
board. Who thinks it’s an English word? Explain that
apostrophe comes from the Greek word for gap, and that
we have a gap when we take out a letter. So, we have j’ai.
• Have children study j’ai, then clean it off/minimise it, and
have them trace it with their finger on their sleeve or
desk. Nearly all will get it right. Praise.
• Write and explain the sentence J’ai un chat, noting the
letter at the end of the word that is not pronounced.
Repeat the tracing.
Progress in sentence building
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Extend outwards from family and pets to other areas of interest.
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Encourage expression through recording, playbacks, blogging, podcasting.
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Make and cultivate links to a school in a country that speaks the language.
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Develop understanding of the shared Latinate and Greek words that are
the foundation of much European public language.
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Explore software, internet connections and websites, Youtube, Wickipedia,
Taught By Song, Little Tails, BBC sites, news sites...google translate
...(discuss...)
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Introduce children’s books, make talking versions using Mantralingua (or
other) talking pens, Mantralingua talking tablet, IPC.
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Set up a languages section in the library.
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Start a club. Please, start a club. And invite parents.
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Think about Flame/CLIL, perhaps beginning with Take 10 (Devon)
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Sign the staff up for British Council Comenius Courses in the holiday.
Generous grants, good teaching, good food, good learning.
With Clicker…
Extensions suggested by Y4
Sentence Modelling…
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Presents new structures clearly and simply
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Extends opportunities for study, explanation and questions
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Lets children compose written sentences as they do spoken ones,
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Eliminates the to-and-fro brain switches involved in copying
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Letting us teach written and spoken language together
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Allows children to say what they want to say
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Lets us present advanced language clearly and flexibly
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Raises achievement in reading and writing
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Is easy to use, and can be practised on mobile devices.
Year 7, girl, assessed as dyslexic, before
sentence building work
Year 7, girl, assessed as dyslexic, after six
weeks’ sentence building work
Year 7, boy assessed as dyslexic
Year 4, higher-attaining girl
Key Resources
• Clicker 6. If not available, blank cards and bluetack.
• Primary Toolkits, www.johnbald.typepad.com
• Zim Zam Zoum/Vale Venga Vamos. Taught by Song
• Children’s books in literal translation. Pas Maintenant
Bernard Fuera de Acqui, Horible Monstruo Verde.
• Displays of correctly written sentences composed by pupils.
• Internet resources for pupils to practise at home. Eg
Languagenut, Linguascope, Education City, Little Green
Mouse (free), www.languagesonline.org.uk,
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/languagesonline
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