Reflections and Implications for Practice

Q1. School Leader/Practitioner input (Mark Edmundson) What were Marks key messages about primary languages? Children have the ability to take on complex concepts and absorb vocabulary well beyond what is usually expected of them. It is important to get to the stage in teaching where children are challenged enough. It is also important to make sure the transition of students between primary and secondary goes smoothly. . As future leaders of languages, what implications do you think this is likely to have in terms of both subject knowledge and developing an understanding of pedagogy? In order to challenge the students, I need to make sure my content knowledge is sound and that I have an ethos of creating Spanish across the curriculum. In terms of transition, having appropriate communications between primary and secondary is vital. I would make sure to start this transition early so I am knowingly building bridges to greater expectation of the secondary language classroom.

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What were your questions for Mark? How do you get staff to rise to the challenge of teaching a language they are less familiar with? Do you ever teach without the use of English? Why did you consider these to be important? Do to understanding the difficulties of learning a language, especially in the beginning stages, I wondered how teachers coped with the challenge given the high demands placed on them to focus on the core subject. Do they often have less of a focus on language, and therefore teach to less of a standard? What questions did Mark respond to, and what were his responses to these? How important did parents see language learning? --Keen and supportive but didnt want it to affect other subjects. What is most important to focus on, fluency or accuracy? --Found that getting children to speak right away was the most important. Once they get to higher levels (and older), then it should be refined through focusing more on accurate pronunciation and correct use of grammar. Also referring to Q1, what key messages regarding implications for practice did you take from these responses? ??? After your time in school, would you ask any different questions now? Why/not? I would like to know how he thought errors should be handled with children. Does he favour hot or cold error correction? Given that he said it was important to get children to simply speak in another language (which is often challenging), does he ever get concerned with them fossilising errors due to a lack of error correction. Pupils attitudes towards, and aptitudes for, language learning What were your questions for your pupils? --What do you like about language learning? What activities? S, R, L, W? --How do you feel about the lessons? Are you learning? Would you like to do more complex Spanish? How are your teachers? --How might language learning be useful in life? Travel, work, social life, your knowledge of the world?

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Why did you consider these to be important? I found these to be important because when children enjoy the lessons, are challenged, and find that learning has a purpose, they tend to be motivated to learn. What were their responses to these? 1 Languages Specialism 2013-2014 angela.mclachlan@manchester.ac.uk

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They loved learning Spanish, especially speaking it but found that they were not learning at a fast enough rate and were growing bored of it. They could list a host of reasons why speaking a language would be practical and enjoyable and seemed excited by all the potential of speaking another language in future travel or work. What key messages regarding implications for practice did you take from these responses? I think that I need to make sure that lessons are not just constant drilling and review but give them a chance to build more means of communication. This can be maximised by teaching using Spanish across the curriculum. After your time in school, would you ask any different questions now? Why/not? I felt we had enough questions answered in our group to give us plenty to reflect on (some 10+ questions were asked in addition to questions reflected upon here). Reflecting on teaching and learning To what extent did pupils engage with learning? They were extremely focused and learned very quickly. When we were through our lesson (numbers 1 10 in German), they had grasped the ability to recite the numbers forwards, backwards and in random order when given universal number symbols (1, 2, 3, etc.) and began to read and understand the written word for numbers. What is your evidence? Through a drilling game, it was evident in their speech that they were recalling the numbers in all orders. It was easy to monitor the students individual improvement due the small group size (6). To what extent were pupils able to assimilate the language taught? We did not get the chance to test this due to time constraints. Further lessons would teach them to ask for each other age, how many brother and sisters they had, how many pets they had, etc. to give evidence that they could use this new knowledge in the appropriate context. What is your evidence? n/a Reflecting on your teaching, and on childrens learning, if you were to plan/teach this activity again, what (if any) changes would you make and why? Please give reasons for any changes, and also if you would not make any changes both aspects help us to identify successful practice that we can all share and learn from There is a lot I would change. Firstly, I would have more activities that would get more of them speaking at once. When we switched from an all group activity, with one student taking a turn at a time, to an activity where they could all speak at once, they improved markedly. I would also make sure they went beyond simply seeing the symbols and reciting them, to being able to clearly read the written word, recite the numbers for them, and be able to write them down. If time permitted, based on how quickly they learned, I would also try to give them a chance to put a few of the numbers into context by having ask/answer How old are you.

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Subject Knowledge After applying your subject knowledge in a teaching and learning context, what targets do you now have for your subject knowledge improvement? Please give details, as this will enable me to address targets as much as possible in forthcoming sessions. As I was teaching a language I have never spoken before (German), I can easily say that I can only say that I need to improve my subject knowledge of it in absolutely every area. This would be the same in French. When it comes to Spanish, I need to recall all of my most basic vocabulary, as it has been a long time since I have spoken the language. I also need to extend my knowledge and ability to speak it as the do in Spain (adapting my accent and vocabulary). I also need to improve my recall which can only be done through using it. Organisational Aspects As future leaders of primary languages, what do you consider to be key organisational/logistical issues? There needs to clear communication about progression through years 4, 5, and 6. There needs to be appropriate training for teachers that is appealing so that teachers can rise to the new challenge of teaching languages as a new requirement of the NC. Teachers need to rise to levels of subject knowledge that will enable them to challenge 2 Languages Specialism 2013-2014 angela.mclachlan@manchester.ac.uk

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students more There needs to be a strong communication between primary and secondary schools so that there is a smooth transition so students are maximising their learning potential. Any further comments? n/a

You will be given a questionnaire template to take with you to school during the morning session prior to your trip. You can note your responses on the template, and insert into your journal, or you can note them directly in your journal.

Languages Specialism 2013-2014 angela.mclachlan@manchester.ac.uk