Up and Away - National Council for Curriculum and Assessment

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Some important facts about acquiring a SECOND LANGUAGE
All learners of second languages unconsciously transfer grammatical properties of their first language
to the second language.
Second language acquisition proceeds by stages just like first language acquisition.
The learner’s knowledge of the second language develops systematically, which means that errors are
not random.
The challenge facing language support teachers
Section 2 The language support programme
On its own, language support can never be enough because teachers, inevitably, have limited time
with their language support pupils.
On the other hand, the children are integrated into mainstream classrooms and have constant
exposure there to the target language.
For this reason, language support must focus principally on the language required by the curriculum
and on the language necessary for a child’s socialization in the school.
We can maximize the effectiveness of language support by always giving priority to language that
will allow pupils to participate as much as possible in mainstream classes – see the English Language
Proficiency Benchmarks on pages 37–54 and the European Language Portfolio on pages 95–113.
Collaboration with mainstream class teachers will allow the language support teacher to devise
activities that create a positive bridge into the mainstream class.
A positive whole-school policy will also ensure the social integration of pupils whose home language
is not English.
! Points to remember!
Young children are extremely sensitive to the sounds of language. It is important to think about the
way you use language in the classroom.
Slowing down speech, using fewer and simpler words, repeating key words, using mime, gesture
and visual supports, and restating with gesture all help children to match words to meaning.
Provide contextual clues – always work from the concrete.
Involve other children in the group in helping a newly-arrived child to understand what is
happening. Children understand children!
It can be helpful to have some knowledge
about a child’s first language but it is not
essential for effective teaching.
It is, however, very good for a child’s selfesteem
if the teacher learns a few words or
phrases in his/her language.
Language support should encourage a cyclical
process so that what happens in the language
support class facilitates the acquisition of more
language in mainstream classes and this, in
turn, helps pupils to become fully integrated
members of the school community.
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