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Fostering a child from overseas(1) Supporting English language acquisitionIntroductionThis booklet is designed to help foster carers meet some of the particular language needs of a child or young person from outside the UK. This includes refugees, asylum seekers and others who have spent some or all of their life so far not living in this country. How long will it take my new foster child to learn English?If your foster child has very little English now, they should be able to deal competently with most everyday conversations and interactions after 12-18 months. The language of school textbooks, exams and anything involving more specialised vocabulary will take rather longer. For instance, telling you they are feeling ill will be no problem for a child with a year of English, but they may not yet have the range of vocabulary to explain to the doctor what kind of a pain they have, or they may not understand if asked “When did you last have a tetanus jab?”, because of the unfamiliar use of the word last and the colloquial term jab. Tetanus may well be a similar word in first language. You will learn English more quickly or easily if:your first language has lots of vocabulary similar in sound or appearanceyou have already learned another language which is not your ownyou have a good command of vocabulary and structures in your first languageyou are motivated to learn Englishyou spend time hearing English in a school/social settingyou are willing to “have a go” and try to use the language if you get plenty of the right kind of help and supportOn pages 2-3 of this guide are some useful tips and strategies to help your foster child with their English at different stages of this process.On page 4 is a handy reference guide to what someone can do at each of the 4 Stages of acquiring English.Tips and Strategies3329866140128Avoid pressurising your young person to speak too soon; they are busy processing language and will talk when they are ready. Accept non-verbal responses and single words.Most EAL learners go through a “silent period” for a while, which can occasionally last up to 6 months. 00Avoid pressurising your young person to speak too soon; they are busy processing language and will talk when they are ready. Accept non-verbal responses and single words.Most EAL learners go through a “silent period” for a while, which can occasionally last up to 6 months. 4445142875Use mime, objects, simple drawings, etc to get your meaning across. 4000020000Use mime, objects, simple drawings, etc to get your meaning across. -38089790067Be the best model of spoken English that you can be. Speak clearly; don’t run words together, swallow syllables etc.Don’t be their only model; encourage them to interact with friends, neighbours, shop assistants etc. Don’t talk for them.00Be the best model of spoken English that you can be. Speak clearly; don’t run words together, swallow syllables etc.Don’t be their only model; encourage them to interact with friends, neighbours, shop assistants etc. Don’t talk for them.3771900119380Restrict your vocabulary. Use the simplest and most commonly used words.00Restrict your vocabulary. Use the simplest and most commonly used words.-29464066040Check understanding by asking questions eg so what do you need to do first? What time will we arrive? etc.Don’t ask “Did you understand?” Many learners will say yes, even if they didn’t!00Check understanding by asking questions eg so what do you need to do first? What time will we arrive? etc.Don’t ask “Did you understand?” Many learners will say yes, even if they didn’t!4169838194945Keep your sentences short and simple We’ll go and take a look at what Game Zone’s got in the way of games when we’ve been and bought your school shoes. We’ll buy your new shoes for school. Then we’ll go to Game Zone and we’ll look at games. OK?020000Keep your sentences short and simple We’ll go and take a look at what Game Zone’s got in the way of games when we’ve been and bought your school shoes. We’ll buy your new shoes for school. Then we’ll go to Game Zone and we’ll look at games. OK?168182150697Avoid using verb structures with “be”: It can’t be seen. You can’t see it. It has to be grilled for 20 minutes You have to grill it for 20 minutes020000Avoid using verb structures with “be”: It can’t be seen. You can’t see it. It has to be grilled for 20 minutes You have to grill it for 20 minutes-317101178981Be aware of cultural differences in non-verbal communication (lack of eye contact may not be rude, pointing may be very rude, a nod may mean yes or no).00Be aware of cultural differences in non-verbal communication (lack of eye contact may not be rude, pointing may be very rude, a nod may mean yes or no).3574415109973Avoid using pronouns with real beginners: Put it down. Put the book on the table. Show it to him Show the letter to John. 020000Avoid using pronouns with real beginners: Put it down. Put the book on the table. Show it to him Show the letter to John. -306469169191Allow your learner to develop fluency whilst making mistakes. Don’t over- correct. It is helpful to model correct responses but don’t insist every single time that they repeat this after you.Remember also to praise any good attempts to use English, saying “Well done. You explained that very clearly.” 00Allow your learner to develop fluency whilst making mistakes. Don’t over- correct. It is helpful to model correct responses but don’t insist every single time that they repeat this after you.Remember also to praise any good attempts to use English, saying “Well done. You explained that very clearly.” 455004130199Respond to the content of what they say, not the grammar or the choice of phrase.00Respond to the content of what they say, not the grammar or the choice of phrase.2252980-6985Don’t shout, or speak v-e-r-y slowly, or use exaggerated pronunciation or pidgin English. 020000Don’t shout, or speak v-e-r-y slowly, or use exaggerated pronunciation or pidgin English. -11557027305If any opportunity arises for your new family member to chat, read or write in first language make the most of this. Promote the upkeep and development of first language020000If any opportunity arises for your new family member to chat, read or write in first language make the most of this. Promote the upkeep and development of first language2785110129540Be prepared for Reading and Writing skills to develop at a slower pace than Listening and Speaking.00Be prepared for Reading and Writing skills to develop at a slower pace than Listening and Speaking.20320198120Don’t insist on full sentences when they speak.020000Don’t insist on full sentences when they speak.-255905139065If the learner is literate in first language ensure you provide a dictionary. Check they know how to use it and use it yourself too.020000If the learner is literate in first language ensure you provide a dictionary. Check they know how to use it and use it yourself too.303085593980TV programmes such as wildlife documentaries, cartoons etc don’t require fluency in English to enjoy them. They can be useful as a respite after an extended time spent operating in English (such as a school day!).00TV programmes such as wildlife documentaries, cartoons etc don’t require fluency in English to enjoy them. They can be useful as a respite after an extended time spent operating in English (such as a school day!).bilingual dictionary or a web-based translatoHow can I help?That depends on where their English is now. On page 4 of this guide is a chart outlining what a learner of English can do at each stage. You can use this to gauge the stage your young person is at now.For beginners within Stage 1 keep your English simple and rephrase if they don’t understand. Concentrate first on basic, everyday vocabulary. Use every opportunity to teach and practise this. Don’t just stick to nouns; they also need verbs, prepositions, adjectives etc to make sentences. For example, if you are at the supermarket introduce the word trolley but also give them push, fill, full, empty, in, on top of, and so on. Practise these as you go round the shop collecting things. Also, give plenty of practice at conversation and sentence-building. It is best to start by modelling sentences yourself (“I’m having the rhubarb crumble. What about you?”), then move to offering a choice (“Were there lots of people or was it quiet?”). You will probably find yourself needing to correct mistakes frequently at this stage, but not wishing to sound critical or undermine confidence. One good strategy is to simply repeat the correct version eg “I not have pen”. “You haven’t got a pen? Use this one.” For Stage 2 learners, be aware that they may have understood the gist but not the finer points of what they hear or read. Focus on enlarging their range of vocabulary. Move on from big and small to enormous, huge, tiny and miniscule. Engage them in plenty of informal chat to develop their fluency and confidence; also they need practise at explaining, describing, using different tenses etc. Encourage them to speak up in group situations or with strangers (but don’t force them). By this stage you can start looking at grammar rules. Make opportunities for shared reading and discussion; they can read recipe instructions for you as you cook or you can look at this week’s cinema guide together. At Stage 3, aim for precise and appropriate uses of language. Use naturally occurring examples to explore shades of meaning, sarcasm, polite and slang English, etc. Encourage wider reading. Listen out for remaining weaknesses in their use of English and practise these. For instance, if they still get irregular past tenses wrong, set up talk situations where they need to use these. If they make mistakes such as take part at or under the rain, do point these out and then praise if they are later used correctly. Stage 4: by the time they reach this stage there is not much difference between them and a native-speaker of English, except maybe a “foreign” accent. They may still struggle with, say, understanding a strong regional accent, or someone who speaks fast or unclearly. Also, they may still be thrown by an idiomatic expression or an unusual sentence construction. At Stage 4 their command of English may suffer occasionally if under duress or experiencing a high level of emotion. And finally,….. yes, they will probably always dream and do complicated mental arithmetic in their first language!Quick-reference guide to Stages of acquiring EnglishStage 1- New to EnglishKnows names of everyday objects and actionsCan follow simple conversationsCan follow the gist of eg a TV programme, extended conversationCan express basic messages using simple sentencesWord order and grammar are still inconsistentCan decode English print, but understanding is largely limited to words they know orallyCan write intelligible sentences and get a message across but makes frequent mistakes with spelling, grammar and word order if unsupportedStage 2 – Becoming familiar with EnglishUnderstands more English than they may useBeginning to understand a variety of commonly-used English phrases and expressionsCan sustain a conversation, giving more extended and detailed responsesCan understand the main ideas and some details when reading independently for pleasure or informationCan read notices, signs and general written information when out and aboutCan write extended pieces of English, with some mastery of verb tenses and key grammar, starting to use more varied vocabulary and sentence structures Stage 3 – becoming confident in EnglishCan understand quite complex talk, only having difficulty when eg unknown idioms, unfamiliar accents are used.Can speak English confidently, expressing opinions, more complex ideas, relating events, explaining etc, with largely correct sentence constructionStarting to appreciate and use eg plays on words, jokes, subtle nuances of languageReads a wide range of written fiction/non-fiction texts and extracts relevant informationCan use a dictionary, thesaurus, grammar book etc to improve what they say or writeCan write in different genres, using suitable languageCan write using largely correct tenses, punctuation and spelling. Uses complex sentence structures regularly, with more minor errors than major errorsStage 4 – fluent user of EnglishCan understand all types of discussion or conversation, films, TV programmes, etc confidentlyParticipates with confidence in spoken situations, only having difficulty with eg specialised vocabulary or when under duressReads books, magazines and other printed matter without difficulty, only needing support with difficult vocabulary or sentence structuresCan write at the level required for KS4/5 exams. May still make small errors ................
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