English standards up among ethnic children

It is widely believed English is one of the hardest languages to learn, according to Dr Victoria Murphy, Professor of Applied Linguistics at Oxford University. And in such a diverse society, many children are not only having to learn English, but having to learn subjects such as history and maths – in what is, to them, often a foreign language.

In July the department of Education published its yearly schools performance tables – and those in Oxfordshire are doing well in teaching these children.

Seven in 10 pupils aged seven to 11 who don’t have English as their first language are still achieveing the required Level Four or higher in Key Stage 2 (KS2) Reading, Writing and Maths.

Government statistics showed that in five Oxfordshire primary schools, 100 per cent of pupils with what is termed English as an Additional Language (EAL) achieved at least that standard in the age 11 tests.

Jude Bennett is headteacher of one of those schools, St Andrew’s CofE Primary School in Headington.

Mrs Bennett says the key to handling a diverse classroom is a language-rich curriculum, looking at each child’s needs and tailoring teaching methods accordingly.

“There’s no magic answer how you support these children, because it’s very hard to unpick each child’s needs. We have additional teaching assistant support, but it’s about engaging parents in learning at home.

“We encourage parents to do as much talking to their child in their mother language, as it is important not to dilute that.

“In the early stages children have to absorb, some will do it quickly and others more slowly, so it’s hard to know if they are making progress.”

Since 2006, the gap between EAL pupils and native English speakers has narrowed in terms of KS2 performance.

Willowcroft Community School in Didcot, St John’s Catholic Primary School in Banbury, St Philip and St James Primary School in Oxford and Pegasus School in Blackbird Leys also achieved 100 per cent.

Dr Kathy Sylva, Professor of Educational Psychology at Oxford University stressed the importance of learning English from a young age, before starting primary school.

She said: “The earlier you learn a different language the easier it is. It’s very important for these children to start learning English before they go to school, preferably from the age of three. It’s best to learn English, or any new language, in informal situations, such as play and in conversation. At nursery there is a lot of opportunity for both of these to occur in an informal, playful and colourful setting.”

The Julia Durbin Day Nursery in Headington received high praise in its recent Ofsted inspection for their work with children with English as an additional language at such an early age.

It was rated “outstanding” in its August inspection, just 10 months after an earlier audit stated it required improvement.

The Headington nursery caters for 30 children speaking a wide range of languages from Polish, German and Portuguese to Hungarian, Korean and Hindi. Cultural diversity is embraced by the staff.

Deputy Manager Jenni Ryan said: “We do not see a lack of spoken English as a particular disadvantage. We value language and cultural diversity in nursery because it benefits all our children. In fact, we frequently have to stress the importance of maintaining and developing home language skills to parents who are keen for their children to focus on learning English only.”

Nursery staff say they work out a clear plan with the families of what languages and words they want their children to develop.

Nursery practitioner Heather Bignel, 25, said: “As practitioners we learn basic vocabulary in a number of languages. For example I look after a Hungarian child, so I will use basic Hungarian words for nappy and table, so I can use phrases that are important to the child.

“If they are growing up in this country it’s important they have a grasp of English early. It’s important for their career prospects and also socially. It’s also crucial they use their main language, as it’s part of their culture, part of their life and, eventually, will be part of their character.”

The Europa School in Culham is slightly different, but also highlights the benefits of learning a language early on.

There it takes children who may already have English as a home language, alongside children who have a different mother tongue.

It teaches its pupils in English for half the week and then in either French or German for the rest of the week, a technique that principal Peter Ashbourne says promotes equality.

He said: “They learn half the week in one language and half the week in another. Our approach is that they learn all subjects through this technique.

“No one language is an outsider. We are not just multi-cultural it’s very much a case of we are all different, but we are all the same. It helps children who might have felt different feel the same.”

Juggling languages at an early age

Neha Vaid, 30, from Headington, has a two-year-old daughter who is currently juggling three languages.

Care: Neha Vaid, left, with two-year-old daughter Ananyaa and Heather Bignel, nursery practitioner 

Her daughter Ananyaa goes to the Julia Durbin Day Nursery where her language skills have flourished.

Mrs Vaid said: “English will be her first language when she grows up but we are teaching her both languages at the moment.

“My husband speaks Marathi and I speak Hindi so she is juggling three languages.

“She understands the link between the three languages, which I’m quite amazed by.”

She added: “She knows the words for sleep, water, food and toilet, in three languages but because she’s still in the phase of learning, she’s only two and a half, she says the one that is easier for her to say.

“We are putting a lot of emphasis on her not losing the orientation of our culture, we will be using English to communicate when she is here, but we don’t want her to lose her culture.”

Providing the best environment

Dr Kathy Sylva, Professor of Educational Psychology at Oxford University says there are several reasons why learning English as an additional language in pre-school is so important.

Pre-school provides the best environment for a child to learn a second language at an age where they are most receptive to doing so.

“The close relationship between the child, the teachers and the parents seen at pre-school is also very important. Staff should be, and mostly are, experts at working closely with parents. The close relationship enables staff to invite families in and make their language celebrated in the school which is important as they move on to primary school.”

“The close relationship means staff can support parents in supporting the home language. The school should take care of the English in the day and the parents take the role of supporting the home language.”

Primary school sees all children faced with a new set of challenges both academically and socially and a good grasp of English is vital for EAL children to integrate well.

Dr Victoria Murphy, Professor of Applied Linguistics at Oxford University, said: “Primary school is a very important stage in a child’s education, not only academically but in their social development.

“If they can communicate competently they are more likely to be able to interact better with others.”

Languages for county children, aged three-15

Number of children using these first languages in Oxfordshire, according to the Office for National Statistics

French: 253 Portuguese: 242 Spanish: 115 Polish: 801 Other European language (EU): 684 Any other European language (non EU): 184 Arabic: 158 Bengali (with Sylheti and Chatgaya): 241 Punjabi: 166 Urdu: 173 Chinese: 152 (does not state Manadrain or Cantonese)

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