Is this you when it comes to teaching Primary Languages? Why me?!
PRIMARY LANGUAGES
The Supporting Role of ICT to NonSpecialist Teachers of MFL in the Primary School
Pupils and ICT •
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“Communication is at the heart of language teaching and learning, and of ICT - literally! The two can work hand in hand to enhance the language learning experience. Our pupils are growing up in a world of technology and by speaking their language, we can utilise their skills and interests in our classrooms. ICT can motivate, enlighten and stretch our pupils. It can widen their horizons and grant them opportunities to interact in ever more exciting ways with the world outside their classroom walls to give them independence and control over their own learning.” http://www.primarylanguages.org.uk/teaching__learning/ict.aspx
But what about their teachers?
• “It gives you a starting point and something to fall back on.” - Y4 Teacher CCJS
• “It’s a brilliant way to ensure children hear the correct pronunciation of words - and me for that matter!” - Y4 Teacher CCJS
• Primary Languages Site Case Study “Hola, bonjour, nǐ hǎo and much more is what we learnt working on this project with the clever people at BBC Learning. The idea was to create a set of tools to make learning languages more fun, so we created a series of games that help the kids test their knowledge of Spanish, French and Mandarin. The games are built in different ways in order to focus on different areas of each language - grammar, syntax, vocabulary - and they all feature funny families of different nationalities” http://www.helpfulstrangers.com/blog/learning-languages/
Let’s have a look‌ BBC learning site: French, Spanish and Mandarin (Sorry Germanists!)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguages/
Varying Degrees of Specialist‌
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The ‘oh cripes what am I going to do?’ MFL teacher For the non-specialist, sites such as the BBC primary languages site offer:
Correct modelling of pronunciation A balance between the target language and English A structure to language learning Simple grammar tips accompanying vocabulary Vocabulary
Games
Videos
Photos
The ‘Oh la la! I did it to GCSE/ A Level’ specialist
• Grammar! • Simplified grammar rules to help you out when you can’t remember or don’t know how to explain! • http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguag
Literacy
Knowledge About Language
How can this help us to meet the KS2 framework objectives? Intercultural Understanding
Oracy
Intercultural Understanding Videos of children from an English school visiting children at a French school. How different is school in France from School at home?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguage
Literacy • Co-existence of the written word and audio in all of the vocabulary sections. • http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguag es/french/our_world/ • Songs both with and without subtitles • http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguag es/french/our_world/songs/
Oracy • All of the vocabulary pages have audio buttons which allow the children to hear and repeat words and then create sentences with them. • http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguag es/french/families/
Knowledge About Language • Phonics! • http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguag es/french/sounds/ • http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguag es/french/sounds/videos/
More importantly‌ How we can we as MFL teachers use sites such as the BBC schools site to bring language learning to life in the classroom?
KS2 Placement Observations • •
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguages/french/families/family/ The teacher reviewed the colours that could be used for hair: ‘marrons’ ‘bruns’ ‘blonds’ ‘roux’ and then showed the song ‘Ma Grand-Mere’ telling the children to watch out for words they might know about descriptions. She played the song without the subtitles first and then with. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguages/french/families/songs/
Some Ideas to bring language to life in your classroom using the BBC site‌