Language Learning

Principles of Language Learning

To ensure that the aims of the English curriculum are realised, it is important that a coherent plan for the teaching of English throughout the school be drawn up. This section will examine:

Curriculum planning for English.
Organisational planning for English.

Curriculum Planning

The principles, which inform the English curriculum, are as follows:

The integration of oral language reading and writing in a coherent language process:

Listening, speaking reading and writing are integrated in the process of learning languages. For example, there is a close relationship between competence in reading and the ability to express oneself in writing.

The complementary outcomes of language learning and learning through languages:

In the process of acquiring language skills and in developing the ability to use language, other dimensions of the child’s personality and potential are cultivated and enriched.

The central place given to oral language throughout the curriculum:

The development of oral language is given an importance as great as that of reading and writing, at every level, in the curriculum

The development of reading skills through language experience and a range of word identification strategies and the use of a wide range of reading material to satisfy children’s reading needs:

Various strategies with regard to the teaching of reading are outlined at a later stage of this document.

Consistent use of a well-stocked library and a variety of reading schemes is recommended.

For the past number of years, there have been purchases of books each year. Big Books from the Ginn 360, All Aboard and Sunny Streets Series have been acquired. There will not be a concentration on any one series, but much of the early focus will be on the Sunny Streets Language Programme.

A concentration in the writing process on helping the children to become independent writers

It is important that the process of writing is given equal prominence to the product. The child can become an independent writer by attempting to write and by self-correcting his/her writing with the prompting and guidance of the teacher. This entails a consistent experience of writing, editing and redrafting.

The language needs of children

The language needs of the children in our school are influenced by their social cultural and economic backgrounds. Our pupils come from a reasonably wide range of backgrounds, and they have a variety of language needs. This variety will be reflected in the teaching strategies utilised.
The language ability children bring with them to the school will influence the level and intensity of oral language activity they need in early years and throughout primary school.

An Integrated language Approach

Oral language, reading and writing are not discrete language activities in the language learning process.

Oral language in the integrated language process

Consideration has been given to three issues:

Maximising the use of oral language in developing children’s comprehension and reader response skills. This entails a much greater use of oral language as an alternative to written exercises. The posters from the Magic Emerald series, and the cards from the Chatterbox series provide a starting point for the oral language exercises.
Oral language activity will provide a basis for writing.
Oral language activities will be used as teaching strategy in every area of the curriculum.

Approaches Used in the Teaching of Reading

Each child is unique, and responds in a different way to his/ her environment. The logical conclusion to the first statement is that the method which is used to teach reading to the child should be specific to him/her. There cannot be, therefore, one method of teaching reading which is universally applicable. The results of research, experiment and experience have in recent years led to some changes in ideas and in emphasis. The place which oral language plays in the development has been given a heightened emphasis, and the role of interest in the teaching of reading has been more fully recognised with the result that there has been a movement away from strictly structuralist approaches to the teaching of reading. The new strategies which are being employed attempt to motivate and encourage children to enjoy reading.

Paired Reading

More and more parents wish to become involved in their children's education, and it makes pedagogical sense therefore for teachers and parents to seek means whereby the children's progress in reading can be accelerated. Paired reading is a simple technique by which parents can help their children with reading at home. Parent and child are asked to read together on a "little and often" basis. Paired Reading Projects are initiated and monitored by the teachers, and evaluated by teachers and parents at the end of each project Ms A. Noonan is responsible for the organisation of the Paired Reading Projects, and co-ordinates the distribution of resource material.

Reading Recovery

Reading recovery is a school based early intervention programme which focuses on children who have not attained any significant progress in reading/writing. The children who are selected are those who are adjudged to be most at risk with regard to ever acquiring the skills of reading. These pupils receive individual tuition for 30 minutes daily. The results which have been reported for this approach have been very heartening, but unfortunately, constraints on time and numbers, the programme can only be undertaken with a limited number of pupils.

Language Experience Approach

The Language Experience Approach to reading conceives of learning to read as being part of language development. It recognises the close relationship between reading, speaking, writing and listening. Advocates of this approach suggest that progress in reading is determined by the extent of the child's experiences in all of these language media prior to and during his/her early school years. The LEA can be summarised as follows:

"What I can think about, I can talk about,
What I can say, I can write
What I can write, I can read,
I can read what I write and what other people can write for me to read".

The LEA has been used with considerable success with individual pupils during the past number of years.

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