HELLO Helping Early Language & Literacy Outcomes Identifying and Supporting Children who are learning English as an Additional Language A best practice document for Parent s and Practitioner s to work together and achieve outcomes for all children Created by Stefanie Reardon, Early Years and Childcare Manager, First Steps Derby Created and funded by Department for Education 2015/16 VCS grant funding. This resource is available under Open Government licence. Crown Copyright 2016
Child details: Given Name:. Male/Female:.. Family Name:.. Date of Birth:.. Date Form Completed:. Family Information: Mother : Given Name....Family Name.. Father : Given Name. Family Name. Siblings: Name: M/F D.O.B.School Name of Setting:. Date child started attending:. Name of contact person:.. Address: Telephone Number:. Child s Key Person:.. Name: M/F D.O.B.School Name: M/F D.O.B.School Other Important Family Members Name..Relationship to child Language Spoken Name..Relationship to child Language Spoken Languages Spoken at Home: Any other professionals / settings involved with family? Mother to Child Father to Child Mother to Father Father to Mother.. Child to Mother/Father..Siblings to child Does anyone at home have any spoken English?... Country of Origin.Arrival Date in UK. Are family refugee or asylum seekers?...
Information from Parent/Carers: child s strengths and interests: experiences of play, language skills and social interactions at home: preferred play activities, attention and listening at home etc Hearing etc; can parent understand the child in home language? Can others understand the child? Child the child follows instructions?............... How does your Child pronounce / say these words? Mummy Baby Juice Bye-bye No Cat Nose Banana Hot Bath Hat More Daddy Milk Hello Yes Dog Ball Eye Car Thank you Shoe Book All gone Encourage Parents that it is important to continue using the home language at home. If parents are concerned about the child s development of first language. Referral to Speech and Language Therapy may be needed.
Key Words in. Word in additional Language Pronounced this way?. Language?.. Word in additional language Good Morning Good Afternoon Thank you Welcome Toilet Yes No How are you? Mummy / Daddy Eat / Drink Brother / Sister We value your child s home language Pronounced this way? Other words or phrases which may be useful: Learning E.A.L in the Early Years: observational assessment of stages of learning English Practitioners should fill this in to observe, assess and track progress for children with English as an additional language. Complete assessment at 4weeks after entry to setting and repeat termly alongside setting s observation planning and assessment cycle. Name: D.O.B:. Use the following score system to rate communication behaviours: (1) rarely (2)sometimes (3)consistent
Stage New to English Stage Speaking, Listening and Understanding Entry- Baseline @ 4weeks Stage Becoming familiar with English Makes contact with another child in the class Joins in with other children but may not speak Uses non verbal gestures to indicate meaning particularly needs likes and dislikes. Watches carefully what other children are doing and often imitates them. May talk in first language to other children who share it or in play. Listens for short periods of time. Uses non verbal gestures to respond to greetings/questions about self. Joins in repeating language in a story or rhyme. Echoes words and phrases of other children and adults: particularly used in social interaction. Shows confidence in speaking in first or other language. Able to express self in English. Using one or more common words. Term 1 Date: Term 2 Date: Term 3 Date: Stage Becoming more confident with English Understands simple conversational English. Understands more words then can express Listens and responds to instructions and explanations where there are non verbal cues and illustrations. Copies talk that has been modeled and begins to use short phrases. Spoken language shows English word order. Pronunciation can generally be understood. Can name a range of common objects in the home/early Years environment
Stage Threshold Stage Becoming more fluent Stage Secure Can speak about matters of immediate interest in familiar settings using 4-5 word sentences Can convey meaning through talk and gesture Can answer simple questions about self and objects around Uses some personal pronouns correctly e.g. He/She/I Can extend what they say with support Increasingly confident in taking part in activities with other children through English Listens attentively during larger group times Uses some common prepositions correctly e.g. In, under, on next to, behind, in front Uses basic sentences with widening range of vocabulary and some correct grammar e.g. articulates (a, the) plurals. Possessive adjectives (his, hers) Able to follow and understand what others say in a group discussion Can speak confidently to individuals, friends and small groups about things that are of interest. Can ask questions to clarify understanding Can describe an event/personal experience using simple sentences. Can tell familiar story in simple language and in correct sequence to a small group Is beginning to use appropriate tenses in speaking Use of connectives such as when or because to express relationships between ideas and sequences of events Can make verbal inferences Uses language to solve problems aloud Can explain why something happened or might have happened Can justify predications and decisions
Observational Notes: Context: where? Alone or in a group? Child-initiated or Adult-led? Completed by:..date:... Stage Observational Notes: What support can the adult give next? Stage New to English Stage Becoming familiar with English Stage Becoming more confident with English Stage - Threshold Stage Becoming more fluent Stage Secure This page can be photocopied, duplicated and used by parents/family/practitioners and other professionals to build a supporting picture of the child s progress
E.A.L in the Early Years Supporting Language Development At all Stages: It is important to model language, while playing alongside a child. Use descriptive commentary talking about what you or the child is doing. Modeling language and using descriptive commentary should make up most of your interactions, and even less should be used on direct questioning. Allow time for children to formulate responses. How can adults support and extend language? Continued talking even when children do not respond Persistent inclusion in small groups with other children Use of varied questions Inclusion of other children as the focus in the conversation Use of first language Acceptance of non verbal responses Praising of minimal effort Expectations to respond with repeated words and/or counting Structuring of programme to encourage child to child interaction Provide activities which reinforce language practice through role play Types of Bilingualism Simultaneous: Two languages are learned at the same time Sequential: One language is learned first and then another Additive: An additional language is learned without losing the skills in the first Subtractive: Skills start to be lost in the first language whilst learning the additional language. Passive: The language is heard in the environment e.g. TV, Radio or other people speaking but the language is not directly spoken to the child. Typical Bilingual Language Development to be aware of Simultaneous Bilingualism Stage 1 Child mixes languages Stage 2 Child separates languages Stage 3 Child uses mainly one language Sequential Bilingualism Stage 1 Home language use Stage 2 Non verbal period Stage 3 telegraphic speech Stage 4 Productive language use Stage 5 Competent language use
Please answer the following questions as fully and best you can What are your child s verbal response to greetings/farewells and other social routines?...... What are your child s non verbal responses to greetings/farewells and other social routines?... What examples can you give of things your child says when playing?.. How does your child ask for help or get your attention?.. Does your child name familiar objects by name? Do they label action words? (e.g. running, sleeping, crying) Are they putting two words together? Please provide examples... Does your child ask questions? Please provide some examples...... Does your child use simple sentences? (e.g. mummy gonna work )
Contents Child s Details: It is important to collect all the basic information from day one the simplest thing such as making sure the child s name is spelt right and pronounced correctly supports the settling in process. Family Information/Languages spoken at home: Collect an accurate record of who is in the child s life, what languages are spoken and by whom, what is the country of origin and how long have they been in the UK? This will all support building a picture of the child s circumstance and support practitioners in their work with both the child and family. Information from Parents/Carers: It is key to value the parent s knowledge and use this to develop a threshold and baseline of key information for the child s starting point what does the child enjoy? Who is special to them? Do parents and others understand what the child is communicating? How does the child pronounce / say these key common words and phrases? This can be recorded in either the child s first language or in English if appropriate. Value Home Language: Create a survival sheet of important words or phrases to help practitioners and the child be understood and support communication between both parties to ease transition. Key Questions to ask: It is key to establish from the starting point whether the child is a typical progressing EAL child or whether there may be speech language and communication needs that need to be supported. Asking the right questions and ensuring the family answer them fully with examples will help practitioners in establishing the development of the child s speech language and communication. Observational assessment stages of learning English: Practitioners should use this assessment grid alongside their settings own Observation Assessment and Planning cycle to gather a supporting picture of what stage the child is at learning English. This will be completed at entry (4weeks after start date) and for 3 terms with the aim that after the 3 rd term the child will move on to being monitored and tracked by practitioners as they would with any typical child within the EYFS. Observational Notes: These will be completed whenever the above observational assessment is completed, to record the context of the where/what/how the child was learning this will support the evidence and gather a picture of learning to support practitioners in evidencing the progress of EAL children. EAL in the Early Years and Additional Notes: Information for practitioners to support knowledge of the EAL developing child and a space where practitioners, professionals and family can make notes and record key information useful numbers or details that will support recording the child s learning journey and progress with learning English as an Additional language.
Additional Notes