This diagram does not assign a specific grade to each step because the rate of progression depends on several factors, including the number of languages that students need to learn in primary school. The main point is that students should achieve success at each step in the language learning process so they build confidence in their ability to understand, speak, read and write both or all their school languages.
Following is a short description of the main features( in blue) of each step in the diagram, starting with the bottom step.
Students expand their MT vocabulary and develop confidence in using the MT in school. Young children use their MT to communicate with friends and family long before they begin their formal education. Their first language-learning task in school is to expand their MT vocabulary so they can use it correctly and confidently in a variety of situations within and outside the classroom.
Teachers help students build oral fluency when they read MT stories to the students and then ask questions that require the students to think and talk about what they heard. They assign projects in which students work and talk together in teams to solve problems and then report on what they did and learned. Teachers encourage students to ask questions and then they provide clear answers so that students understand. They introduce new MT vocabulary terms so that students understand the meaning of the new terms and can use them for further learning.
Here is what researchers tell us about the importance of encouraging young students to use their home language in the classroom:
Research suggests that young children’ s ability to use language and to listen to and understand the meaning of spoken and written words is related to their later literacy achievement in reading, writing, and spelling( National Early Literacy Panel, 2009, p. 2).
Mon students in Kindergarten Year 1 are eager to share their ideas using their MT.( Thailand)
© Foundation for Applied Linguistics, Thailand
Booklet for Programme Implementers
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