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www.cilt.org.uk/commlangs

Issue 24 | Summer 2009

Teaching and celebrating community languages at primary

Latest news from the Our Languages projectDeveloping professional skills prior to initial teacher training

Languages spoken in the UK population


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As reported in previous Bulletinissues, a consortium of organisationshas worked for 18 months on a DCSF(Department for Children, Schoolsand Families) project known as OurLanguages. It has been led by CILT,the National Centre for Languages,working in collaboration with SSAT,the Specialist Schools and AcademiesTrust, NRC, the National ResourceCentre for Supplementary Educationand SDSA, the School DevelopmentSupport Agency in Leicester. As wemove into the main disseminationphase in summer 2009, it is timely toupdate readers on some of the mostrecent achievements in this excitingand fast-moving project.

ClustersIn the first phase of the project therewere nine schools based in four major

cities involved in setting up the firstpartnerships. We decided to aim for amajor expansion of this collaborativeactivity to maximise the impact of OurLanguages on the pupil experienceof learning their mother tongue orheritage language, whether they werelearning in a mainstream setting orcomplementary/supplementary school.So, as a result, there are now 90 schoolsin Phase 2. Some are in satellite clusterslinked to the original four partnerships,

some are working with the NRC onFamily Learning in Coventry, Londonand Blackburn and there is a newconcentration of schools in Leeds inthe toolkit trial (see Toolkit section).The Leicester cluster led by SDSA hascontinued.

This expansion has brought into theproject a much wider range of languages.SSAT has been supporting manypartnerships in developing schemesof work and curriculum materials. Wewill be displaying these on the project

website and know how much teachersappreciate access to models in thelanguage they teach. Local events havebeen held by the project schools to sharetheir experience of working together so

we hope you have had the opportunityto hear first-hand about the projectoutcomes.

AccreditationThere has been a focus throughout theproject on the importance of accreditingpupils skills in their mother tongueor heritage language. The website(www.ourlanguages.org.uk) has asection setting out different optionsthat include GCSEs, A2 and AS Levelexaminations,My Languages Portfolioand the Asset Languages scheme.Partner schools have been suppliedwith free copies of the Asset teacherassessment packs, whilst AssetLanguages gave presentations at allthe regional CPD events in September2008. We had a target of 1,200 pupilsgaining accreditation for their languagecompetence and are very pleased to

announce that this target was in factsuperseded.

DatabaseThere are now about 1,000 schoolsregistered on our database which canbe seen in the Schools Directory sectionof the website. They are grouped bygovernment region. There is a wealth ofinformation available on subjects taught,age of children, fees, accreditation oflanguage competencies, involvement

in Initial Teacher Training (ITT) andcontact details for each school.Most of these schools are from

the complementary sector, but somemainstream schools, primary andsecondary, are featured, too. We arevery keen to complete this database byincluding every school in the countrythat teaches a community language soplease help! Send your details to SaraWickert and we can arrange to add [email protected]

E-conferenceIn each year of our project we have runan e-conference to give learners a voice learners across our consortium schools

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Welcome to Issue 24 of theCommunity Languages Bulletin.As well as the regular news andresources updates, you will find thelatest in our feature series on localand regional support for communitylanguages, with the spotlight onTower Hamlets Local Authority. Aschool in Tower Hamlets teachingBengali is also the focus of thelatest feature on primary curriculummodels. Do let us know of any

similar activity in your locality.As the Our Languages project enters

its dissemination phase, we highlightrecent achievements, outlining howto access the support, guidance andresources developed. There is also anarticle from the British Council on itsinternational programmes of relevanceto community language teachers.

An interesting feature this issue is anintroduction to the new occupationalstandards for intercultural skills and

their potential for development ofwork-related qualifications. Thereis also an update on the supportfor teachers of learners aged 1419as they navigate new delivery andaccreditation options.

Four years on, we revisit thestatistics theme, using the newlanguages question in the AnnualSchools Census in England to informour understanding of the languagesspoken in the UK population.

Our teacher training theme

continues, with a particular look thisissue at opportunities for colleagues todevelop and accredit professional skillsprior to applying for initial teachertraining.

Finally, we are looking forward tothis years Community LanguagesNational Show in Southampton on 15July, where we will pick up on all thesethemes and more. Happy reading andhope to see you there!

Claire Dugard|Editor

Focus on Partnerships

Latest news from the OurLanguages project


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Community languages Issue 24 | Summer 2009

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Partnerships

and beyond. The first one in March 2008we ran as a blog on the CILT website, butthis year we have enjoyed the facility ofa very smart asset on the website thatprovided three questions for primarypupils and three for secondary students.

There were 559 respondents and over1,600 individual answers. We intend toanalyse responses for publication andfindings will be disseminated at thisyears Community Languages NationalShow. My favourite is the answer wordsfrom a primary pupil in response tothe question What do you like aboutlearning a language?

FilmingThis has been one of the most creativeand enjoyable aspects of the project. Wehave approached schools from both thecomplementary and mainstream sectorswith an open mind rather than pursuinga set agenda. The variety and richnessof these experiences has been a joy tocapture on film and refine into the formof video clips for the website.

We filmed a Year 5 class in theborough of Enfield learning Turkishwhere the Turkish pupils acted as theteachers assistants; the Chinese schoolin Woking where there was an exciting

diet of culture following a morningsfocus on literacy in Mandarin; bilingualsixth-formers in North London discussingtheir career aspirations and issues ofidentity; and young learners at thePalestinian school in Greenford learningabout their culture, religion and thepolitics of Gaza, as well as the Arabiclanguage.

When editing, we have a range ofaudiences in mind: teachers, headteachers, policy-makers, advisers,

teacher trainers and their trainees,academics and the general public. Thereis also an international audience forOur Languages so we aim for a balancedpicture overall. Certain themes emergestrongly: the benefits of bilingualism,the importance of the issue of identityfor young people in todays Britain, thelink between language and culture andlanguage and religion, the commitmentof parents to helping their childrenachieve their full potential, communitycohesion and global citizenship.

ToolkitThis practical file entitledPartnershipsin Language and Culture is designed tohelp schools from the two sectors work

together in collaboration. It has alreadybeen piloted in some of the projectclusters whose comments we have triedto take on board. There are ten sectionsincluding information on Raisingachievement, Accreditation, FamilyLearning, Obtaining Qualified TeacherStatus (QTS) and Safeguarding children.In the first phase of the Our Languagesproject we commissioned over 40 casestudies and these are referenced in thetoolkit to illustrate the text. We hope it

will prove an informative, attractive andeasy-to-use resource. Sample letters areprovided to photocopy. The first 8,000copies will be provided free of charge sodo contact Sara Wickert if you would liketo be added to the mailing [email protected]

WebsiteWe hope you have noticed some new

features and some recent improvements.Our Languages is now registering over

9,000 visits per month so we are keento provide our audience with up-to-dateand accurate information. There is nowa calendar function to highlight all theevents we promote, a new section onCareer development, more video clips, agreater variety of photos, clearer displayof the case studies and better labelling.The redesigned partner schools sectionhas a new map and lists members of allthe different clusters across the country.Each partner school can supply materialto be posted online, including visuals.

www.ourlanguages.org.uk

PostersPacks of six posters will be availablesoon free of charge to accompany the

toolkit. They will feature differentscripts with young people from differentcommunities using their mother tongueas part of their daily lives all with atouch of humour. The aim is to raise theself-esteem of bilingual pupils as only

they will be in a position to unlock themeaning. Where there is no speakerof that language in a school, then thewebsite can provide the answer.

Regional eventsThis summer we will be visiting each ofthe nine government regions to celebratethe project and share our experienceswith teachers from the complementaryand mainstream sectors. We kick offin Southampton on 19 May with aninternational focus provided by ourkeynote speaker, Rachel Launay, fromthe British Council. Each event has adistinct local flavour and a differentguest speaker with a national profile.Registration is online and all theseevents are free of charge; we just takea cheque as a deposit. Early booking isrecommended to avoid disappointment.

Southampton Tuesday 19 May 2009Norwich Tuesday 2 June 2009Newcastle Friday 5 June 2009

Birmingham Wednesday 10 June 2009Manchester Friday 12 June 2009Nottingham Tuesday 16 June 2009Bristol Friday 19 June 2009London Wednesday 24 June 2009,

16:45 19:30Leeds Friday 26 June 2009

What next?Professor Angela Creese of the Universityof Birmingham, whose research interestis to explore language and identity in

the complementary sector, is writinga full evaluation of the Our Languagesproject which we will make available.

For the next few months we willbe busy uploading website content,disseminating project outcomes roundthe country and, hopefully, taking sometime to reflect on how we build furtheron this legacy in order to continueto influence policy-makers and shapepublic opinion.

Sarah Cartwright |Programme Manager,Our Languages [email protected]


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Smithy Street Primary School is amulticultural state school in TowerHamlets in east London. About 95%of children come from the Indiansub-continent. About 99% of thesechildren speak Sylheti, a dialectof Bengali/Bangla. Another 4% ofchildren are Somali speakers andthere are some Chinese and Urduspeakers within the remaining1%. There has been support forcommunity language learning forsome years through provision ofafter-school classes in collaborationwith local supplementary schools, aswell as occasional after-school clubsin languages such as French, Germanor Spanish. The school also holds anannual World Languages Day whichbrings parents into the school for aprogramme of multicultural activities.

In September 2007, the schoolintroduced a foreign language into

the curriculum for the first time inpreparation for the primary languagesentitlement. Bengali was the languagechosen for all. Whilst Sylheti andBengali are closely linked, the spokenlanguages have significant differencesand Sylheti has no written form.Bengali is a language used every dayon the streets of Tower Hamlets andis therefore of immediate practical useby all children. The study of Bengalienables children to develop language

learning skills, knowledge aboutlanguage and oracy and literacy skills,as well as intercultural understanding,through comparison of Bengaliconventions with English, Sylheti andother languages spoken by the children.It is anticipated that it will also supportthe development of literacy in English,raising achievement across the board.Parents have been kept informedthroughout and the response has beenenthusiastic on all sides.

The teacher leading this pilot project

is Rakib Ahmed, a class teacher atSmithy Street since 1993. Rakib isa native speaker of Bengali but hisdegree is in Economics and he trained

as a primary generalist. With thesupport of the Local Authority (LA) andresources such as the Primary LanguagesTraining Zone and the Tower HamletsScheme of Work for Bengali, he hasbeen developing his understanding oflanguage teaching methodology. Hefirst started to teach an after-schoolBengali class, enabling him to developand practise skills, as well as producesome teaching materials. He no longer

works as a class teacher and has takenon responsibility for teaching Bengaliacross the school. He is developingwork with Years 1 and 2 and teaches alesson of 4560 minutes with each classin Years 36. The class teacher staysin the classroom to learn along withthe children and, where possible, findsopportunities within the school week topractise elements of language in smallways.

The schemes of work that Rakib is

developing link in well with the KeyStage 2 Framework for languages. InYears 3 and 4 he is focusing more ondeveloping speaking and listening skills.He is using a Romanised form of Bengali,whilst familiarising children with theBengali script at word and phraselevel. An additional benefit of usingRomanised script is that non-Bengalispeaking class teachers can accessmaterials and recall sounds. From thesewords and phrases, children are buildingup knowledge of the alphabet and

how letter shapes change when linkedtogether in words. In this second yearof the pilot, Rakibs next challenge is todevelop this strategy further to ensurethat children are taught the Literacyobjectives for Years 5 and 6, aimingto reach National Curriculum Level 4at the end of KS2 when using Bengaliscript. He will also develop teaching ofthe intercultural understanding strandand intends to explore setting upinternational links.

On the whole Rakib has had to createhis own resources, using softwaresuch as MS PowerPoint. He has takentraditional stories familiar in English,

for example, and created illustratedslides to tell the story, displaying bothRomanised and Bengali script, as wellas inserting audio files. He has createdsimilar resources around songs, taughtwith gestures to reflect meaning, whichteachers can practise easily on their ownwith their class.

There are opportunities for childrento continue their learning of Bengaliinto secondary school. All Tower

Hamlets secondary schools offer BengaliGCSE, often in collaboration with localsupplementary schools and with thesupport of the LA. Children also get theopportunity to start a second foreignlanguage, such as French, German orSpanish. Rakib is currently developinglanguage profiling for Years 36, bothto track learner progress and provideinformation to secondary schools. TheLA has well-developed materials for firstlanguage assessment which Rakib is

able to adapt and the Languages Ladderprovides a basis for informal assessmentalso. He is also exploring the possibilityof external assessment through AssetLanguages, which is likely to be popularwith parents.

Smithy Street is not working inisolation on this initiative. Manychildren attend after-school Bengaliclasses and lesson content is designed tocomplement what is happening duringcurriculum time. Innovative work beganat the start of the school year with

Goldsmiths, University of London, onthe Bilingual Learning Research Project.This involves a number of class teachersat both Smithy Street and Hermitageprimary schools working closely withlocal supplementary schools and parentsand grandparents to develop bilinguallearning in both settings. There will bemore on this in a future issue of thisBulletin.

Claire Dugard |CILT, the National

Centre for [email protected]

Focus on Primary

Bengali as the primary languages entitlement




To celebrate the National Year ofReading, children from Holy Cross RCPrimary School in Plymouth took partlast year in a school-based projectexploring culture and languagelearning. The children, aged between7 and 11, worked with head teacher,Paul Cotter and the City RecordsOffice to find out more about theculture and history of Plymouth.As language is an important part ofculture, the children worked withtheir families to retell the popularstory, Were Going on a Bear Huntin their first, or home languages.

The school, with pupils from a rangeof ethnic backgrounds, speakinglanguages such as Polish, French,Cantonese, Filipino and Bengali, takesgreat pride in its cultural diversity.

A sleepover at Plymouth Central Librarywas organised for children and parentsto celebrate their hard work. It was anexciting night for all. Children took partin a real bear hunt in the library, findingteddy bears along the way. Although the

clues along the way were challenging,sometimes written in French or Spanish,everyone enjoyed finding their bear, orpuppy!

Children were joined by professionalstoryteller David Heathfield, who tolddifferent stories from around the world.Children also got the opportunity to tell

the stories they had written with theirparents, in languages ranging fromFrench to Mandarin Chinese. Everyonewas very proud of their hard work andenjoyed listening to the great results.

The evening was lots of fun andsleeping in the library certainly broughtlanguage learning, and the story of thebear hunt, alive for the children. Hanna,a Year 6 pupil, commented, I reallyenjoyed the whole night very much asit was new and exciting. We all felt a bitspecial and that we were lucky to speakmore than one language. Head teacherPaul Cotter summed up the night, Thesleepover in the Central Library will bean event the children will remember forthe rest of their lives.

I am now working with the school,

together with Plymouth CentralLibrary and our Ethnic MinorityAchievement Team, on another story-based project, inspired by Teach aFriend a Language, whereby childrenfrom our Polish community will sharetheir language with their peers. Thisproject will also involve children froma range of different heritages workingcollaboratively to share, not onlylanguage learning, but also their culturewith others.

Lucinda Ross |Primary Adviser,Plymouth City [email protected]

Primary

A Night in the Library

The primary languages forum (previouslyknown as ell-forum) is an email discussionlist provided by CILT for colleagues working

with younger learners to share experiences,ask questions and recommend usefulresources. You are welcome to join free

of charge to send and receive messages;or simply to browse information thatcolleagues have shared on the open archive

available on the Mailtalk website. Witharound 650 members, as well as discussionon common issues such as learning styles

and the use of ICT, drama, songs andpuppets in the classroom, the teachingof community and non-Roman script

languages also feature.www.primarylanguages.org.uk/home/ell-forum.aspx

Keeping colleagues in touch


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In issue 16 of this Bulletin, wefeatured details of initiatives togather existing statistics on languagesspoken in the UK; these and othercurrent data sources are listed on theCILT website.www.cilt.org.uk/faqs/langspoken.htm

Four years have passed and the picturekeeps changing. We now know thatthe 2011 Census is going to include aquestion on language spoken. The latest

development of the Annual SchoolsCensus carried out by the Departmentfor Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)in England gives us further data: fromJanuary 2007; where a pupils firstlanguage is not English, schools wereasked to record the actual language (intoa coding system which consists of over300 language categories).

The latest data on languages wasmade available at the end of summer2008; key features of the schools census

findings and the languages-specific dataare described on these pages. Similaravailable data from Scotland, NorthernIreland and Wales is also given.

Annual Schools Census(England)The Annual Schools Census carried outby the DCSF collects information frommaintained Nursery, Primary, Middle,Secondary and Special Schools, Direct

Grant Nurseries, City Technology Colleges,Academies, Non-maintained SpecialSchools and Service Childrens Educationestablishments in England.

In 2008, data on pupils first languagewas received for almost 79% of pupilswhose first language was other thanEnglish. This number of responses wassufficient to provide summary nationallevel findings. The 2008 data records some240 different languages for these 79% of

pupils. The statistical release of the 2008School Census on pupil-level data can beaccessed on the DCSF website; guidanceon the table published in the 2008 firststatistical release is also available.www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/IndexWeb.pdf

The 2008 Annual Schools Census indicatesthat:

14.3% (466,420) of all Local Authority

maintained primary school children havea first language known to or believed tobe a language other than English.10.6% (349,040) of all state-fundedsecondary school children have a firstlanguage known to or believed to be alanguage other than English.

www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/NationalTablesWeb.xls

Indicative data is also provided for regionsof England:

42% of LA maintained primary pupilsand 35% of state-funded secondarypupils in London are known or believedto speak languages other than Englishas their first language. The percentagesin inner London are 56% and 48%respectively, and those in outer Londonare 35% and 29%.The percentages of pupils in West

Midlands whose first language is notEnglish are 17% at primary schooland 12% at secondary school, bothbeing higher than the average level inEngland.South West and North East have thelowest percentages of pupils whose firstlanguage is not English. (South West:3.7% at primary school and 2.6% atsecondary school; North East: 4.7% atprimary school and 3.0% at secondaryschool.)

The percentages of pupils whose first

language is not English in other regionsrange from 8% to 13% at primary schooland from 6% to 9% at secondary school.This spreadsheet also includes data by

local authority.www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/LATablesWeb.xls

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Focus on Statistics

Languages spoken in the UK




Languages data (England)The top fifteen languages spoken by pupilswhose first language is other than Englishare reported as per the table.

www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/Language081b.xls

Other UK regions: ScotlandData from the results of the 2007 annualpupil census in publicly funded schoolsin Scotland (published July 2008) gavethe following linguistic picture of schoolchildren in Scotland:

There are over 28,000 bilingual primaryand secondary school children inScotland (4% of all school children).

The top five home languages werereported to be Panjabi, Urdu, Polish,Cantonese and Arabic.A total of 138 languages are spoken by

school children in Scotland.www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/07/28100032/23 (languages)www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008

/07/28100032/74 (local authority)

Other UK regions: NorthernIrelandThe 2007 annual pupil census in NorthernIreland recorded 3,809 out of a total of166,639 primary pupils and 1,714 out of147,942 post primary pupils whose firstlanguage is not English and who havesignificant difficulties with the Englishlanguage and who require additionalsupport. You can access the reportNumbers of schools and pupils produced

by the Department of Education inNorthern Ireland using the following link.http://tinyurl.com/d64mzv

Other UK regions: WalesThe latest National Statistics on the AnnualSchools Census produced by the WelshAssembly Government released on 7 August2008 showed that 16% of pupils frommaintained secondary schools in Waleswere taught Welsh as a first language.http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/schools2008/hdw200808071/?lang=en

Future developmentsAs well as looking forward to the 2011census, we will also welcome the outcomeof a research project led by the Instituteof Education on Population, Language,Ethnicity and Socio-Economic Aspects ofEducation. The project runs from October

2008 to September 2009 and will map thelanguage data from the schools census toother sources, most notably GP registersand Local Land and Property Gazetteers.This will provide us with very usefulcase studies on the relationship betweenlanguage, ethnicity and social position.

Youping Han |Research and InfomationOfficer, [email protected]


Statistics

Number % *

Panjabi 102,570 1.6

Urdu 85,250 1.3Bengali 70,320 1.1

Gujarati 40,880 0.6

Somali 32,030 0.5

Polish 26,840 0.4

Arabic 25,800 0.4

Portuguese 16,560 0.3Turkish 16,460 0.3

Tamil 15,460 0.2

French 15,310 0.2

Yoruba 13,920 0.2

Chinese 13,380 0.2

Spanish 10,000 0.2

Persian/Farsi 8,510 0.1

* Percentage of total maintained-school

pupil population in England



Teacher training and development

Recruitment and SelectionAll candidates must satisfy the minimumrequirements for ITT and be employed

by the school in which they wish toqualify. Head teachers are advised tointerview potential trainees and judgetheir suitability as employees, beforesubmitting an application to LoNoCo.The declaration of the head teacher is animportant aspect in selection but doesnot automatically secure a place for thecandidate. The LoNoCo interview consistsof English and Maths tests, assessment ofsubject/phase knowledge and judgementson presentation and debating skills,

engagement and enthusiasm. Those whoare turned down are given feedback onareas to improve and can re-apply, oncetheir employing school is satisfied withprogress. Recruitment tends to mirror theethnic diversity in the local community.Where a degree is not directly related tothe proposed teaching subject, a subjectaudit to assess subject knowledge iscarried out by a subject adviser.

Training and supportAll Graduate Trainees (GTs) must gain

experience across the age and abilityrange in which they wish to qualify inat least two consecutive age ranges. Thiswill involve teaching different year groupsthroughout the course including during

the second contrasting setting experience.All partnership schools are required tooffer a placement to another GT.

Central training for secondary GTsfollows a general professional studiesmodel, where trainees spend alternateThursdays together. Training in school isorganised by the school-based mentor.Tutors visit the GT and mentor a total ofsix times to agree Individual Training Plansand monitor and support the school-basedtraining. Training is also provided formentors and tutors to ensure methodology,standards and requirements are understoodby all to further enhance consistency.

In 20078, the Consortium adopted asystem whereby each secondary subject isallocated with a Subject Adviser (usuallythe University PGCE Programme Leader).Subject Advisers are responsible for thedevelopment and quality assurance ofSubject Enrichment documentation,detailing requirements which all traineesfor a particular subject are requiredto address. Subject Advisers are alsoresponsible for Training Plans and Auditsrelevant to their subject specialism,and for keeping abreast of national

developments. The Subject Adviser forModern Foreign Languages (MFL) overseessuch documentation for all languages.This expertise is further complementedand underpinned by the specific language

specialist support and guidance providedby the school-based mentor and LoNoCotutor.

However, when neither the school-based mentor nor the LoNoCo tutor arespecialists in the language taught, ascan happen in the case of a communitylanguage, I would get involved as theSecondary Programme Leader. With myown training and experience deeplyrooted in MFL and community languages,I utilise my links with outside agenciesand supplementary schools to arrangefor a subject audit to be carried out by aqualified specialist before the candidate isinvited to an interview. The MFL SubjectAdviser would continue to oversee andquality assure the Training Plan andAudit for the duration of the course. TheConsortium also uses additional teachingplacements in supplementary schools forthose training in a community language.

Early Professional DevelopmentIn partnership with the Centre forExcellence in Work Based Learning(CEWBL) at Middlesex University theConsortium assesses written assignmentsagainst the criteria for a HigherEducation qualification. GTs, whose workis at the appropriate level, are awardedthe PG Cert in addition to QTS, thecredits from which can be used towardsfurther study leading to a Mastersqualification. LoNoCo is very much at

the forefront of such developments, asTDA plans to introduce the new Mastersin Teaching and Learning (MTL) getunderway.

LoNoCo is committed to the needs ofour partnership schools and is flexible andopen to diversity, innovation and change.I am certainly very proud to be part ofsuch a dynamic and highly skilled teamand will continue to promote trainingopportunities for community languageteachers.www.lonoco.co.uk

Fsun Dedezade| Secondary ProgrammeLeader, [email protected]

LoNoCo Managing employment-

based routes into teachingThe London North Consortium (LoNoCo)was established in 2001 as one offour partnerships set up to workwith London schools in challengingcircumstances on employment-basedroutes into teaching. The Consortiumhas developed a strong workingrelationship with its lead partner,Middlesex University, and is largelygeographically based in the seven

Local Authority partners of Barnet,Brent, Camden, Enfield, Haringey,Islington and Waltham Forest. Weoffer a Graduate Teacher Programme(GTP), as well as Registered TeacherProgramme (RTP) and Overseas TrainedTeacher Programme (OTTP) places.Other consortium partners are London

Metropolitan University, the Agency forJewish Education and Waltham ForestCollege.

In contrast to traditional ITT routes,the Consortium does not place studentsin schools. It responds to requests fromhead teachers in local schools to traintheir employee(s) to achieve QualifiedTeacher Status (QTS). The Consortium is

an inclusive organisation, which aimsto provide equality of opportunity forall unqualified teachers, irrespectiveof faith, denomination, or ethnicbackground. Its flexible approach meansthat it will consider applications fromteachers of any foreign or communitylanguage.



In the Autumn 2007 issue, weintroduced you to a Refugee Councilinitiative called Refugees intoTeaching (RiT). RiT is a nationalproject providing information, adviceand support to refugees who areattempting to requalify to QualifiedTeacher Status (QTS) and accessemployment within the English schoolsystem. The project, funded by theTraining and Development Agency forSchools (TDA), attempts to overcomethe challenges encountered by teacherswho were forced to flee their homecountries.

The project has highlighted the wealthof talent that refugee teachers can bringto this country and the high levels ofskills and experiences they have to offer.The number of refugee teachers who haveregistered on our national database inneed of support has risen to over 470 and85 different languages are spoken amongst

this group. However, despite the increasingfocus on community cohesion and theneed for community language teachingwithin schools, refugees are still finding itdifficult to access Initial Teacher Training(ITT) provision and employment.

Over the last two years, we have beenworking closely with ITT providers to offerhigh quality information about routes intoteaching, specialist advice and guidance,comparison of overseas qualifications,familiarisation courses and other support

activities. We have helped many teachersto progress towards achieving their goalsbut we still have a long way to go.

Most refugees registered with ourproject have already achieved high levelqualifications from their home countries,have excellent teaching experience and arehighly motivated. Refugees are resident inthe UK and have full entitlement to work.So why, might you ask, are they havinglimited success in accessing employment?

Having fled their home countries,refugees may not be in a position to

provide evidence of their qualifications.In the chaos of refugee flight, essentialdocuments, including certificates, areoften left behind. Where certificates doexist, they require accurate comparison

against the English educational system.This can be a costly and time-consumingexercise often requiring translation (aservice offered free of charge throughRiT). However, in many cases, individualsmay be required to top up their degrees orundertake retraining before they are ableto work as teachers in the UK.

If they are in a position to apply forITT programmes, identifying the mostappropriate route to QTS can be difficultand securing training places is verycompetitive. Many refugee teachers whotry to access schemes like the OverseasTrained Teacher Programme (OTTP),

an employment-based route, will findthemselves competing for places withothers for whom English is their firstlanguage and whose route to the UKis directly through overseas teachingrecruitment agencies (e.g. teachers fromAustralia and New Zealand).

Employment-based routes into teachingrequire the individual to find a schoolwilling to employ them as an unqualifiedteacher and then support them throughthe QTS training and assessment process.

However, our experience shows thatmany schools are unnecessarily nervousabout permission to work documentsand criminal record bureau checks,which negatively impacts on refugees.Research also shows that refugees lackvital familiarisation and experience withinthe English schooling system. This canput them at a distinct disadvantage whencompeting for places.

Rose was a teacher in Burundi for tenyears before she was forced to leave. After

arriving in the UK she waited three anda half years for a decision on her claimfor asylum. Like all asylum seekers, itwas a difficult time, particularly as shewas not allowed to work until refugee

status had been granted. Rose decidedthat she would not let her skills andexperiences go to waste and, with help,secured a volunteering role within a LocalAuthority working with children from BMEbackgrounds. She received permission tostay in the UK in 2006 and thanks to theexperience she gained whilst volunteering,

she secured a paid job as ateaching assistant withina school. RiT has beenable to get her previousqualifications translatedand compared and weare currently helping her

to secure a place on a PGCEcourse (specialising in French) to become aqualified teacher again.

New RiT project developments includetraining and awareness raising sessionsfor ITT providers; a new mentoring schemematching refugee teachers with teachers

currently working in the UK; and a pushto promote refugees into appropriate widerschool workforce roles where they canmake use of their language skills, suchas interpreters, home/community linkworkers, bi-lingual teaching assistants, etc.

What refugee teachers really need is thechance to gain experience within a schoolsetting and the opportunity to provethemselves. They need schools, colleges,local authorities, community organisationsand ITT providers to support their access

onto QTS training, work experience andemployment. To support this co-operativeworking, we are actively looking to engagewith organisations in the creation ofregional partnerships which can bringtogether a range of support activities. Ifwe can get employers to recognise refugeesas an untapped resource and work withus to help build a model of support, wecan start to make real progress. If you oryour organisation would be interested inworking with us to help refugee teachers,please do contact us.

Andrew Lawton |Project Manager,Refugees into [email protected]


Refugees into Teaching

the story continues


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Teaching CommunityLanguages courseThis course, accredited by Open CollegeNetwork (OCN) and run by Tower Hamlets

College offers training to teachers ofcommunity languages to develop skillsin planning and delivering lessons. Itis a practical course, with participantsrequired to observe each other teach andto visit a mainstream primary school;they are also observed teaching theirown class by a course tutor.

The five modules are:Profiling and Planning the profilingof learners and the planning of schemesof work, series of lessons and individual

lessons.Materials and Methods the creationof materials adapted for participantsown learners and ideas for engagingactivities.Teaching and Assessing lessondelivery, behaviour management andassessing learners progress.Developing Awareness as a Teacher skills of professional reflection andawareness of education sectors.Language Matters an optional unitlooking at theory and issues around bi/

multi-lingualismThe course runs from 46pm over six

months across 24 sessions. As well asthe Tower Hamlets College certificate,

participants can achieve up to 15 OCNcredits at Levels 2 (approx. GCSE) and3 (approx. A level). One module equalsthree credits. Participants must be

proficient in their community language,employed as a community languageteacher on a paid or voluntary basisand able to follow sessions and submitwritten assignments in English. There isa course fee, subsidised at 20 for TowerHamlets residents.

I have worked with communitylanguage teachers since 1998 and am thecourse tutor; I also teach English andprepare College students for university-entrance on the Access Programme.Shabita Shamsad is my co-tutor;

bilingual in Bengali and English anda teacher herself. She works for TowerHamlets LA, which sends as many tutorsas possible on the course. We currentlyhave more than 20 students enrolled,a nearly equal split of male and femaleteachers. The majority are Bengaliteachers, but Somali, Chinese and Arabicteachers are also training with us.

Jackie Gooding |Tower Hamlets [email protected]

Accrediting prior learningAs reported on in issue 22 of thisBulletin, the Community and Lesser-Taught Languages (COLT) project is

run by the North West Routes intoLanguages consortium. As part of theconsortiums work to encourage morestudents to study languages post-14

and through to university, a programmeof teacher training workshops was setup to upskill teachers of communitylanguages working in different contextsin the mainstream and supplementarysectors. The Institute of Education ofthe lead consortium partner, ManchesterMetropolitan University (MMU),has developed an opportunity forparticipants to build on the learning inthese workshops.

All participants on COLT coursesreceive a certificate of attendance if

they complete all elements of the course.However, this is not an academic awardor qualification. Participants can registerfor a MMU award or qualification andthe certificate will provide exemptionfrom part of certain courses. This isaccreditation of prior learning (APL) andcan take place for up to five years afterthe completion of the course. If a COLTcourse participant registers for an awardof the university, this course plus anassessment item can provide 20 points

of accreditation. The assessment itemwould be a piece of reflective writingof about 1,5002,000 words assessedagainst undergraduate or postgraduate

www.cilt.org.uk/commlangs12

New leaflet from

CILTAs part of the OurLanguages project,CILT has published anew leaflet aimed atcommunity languagesspeakers working asteaching assistants,higher-level teachingassistants or voluntarycommunity languageteachers.

The leaflet, entitledDeveloping ProfessionalSkills in TeachingCommunity and WorldLanguages, providesguidance on accreditedtraining opportunities

that develop professional

teaching skills, but thatdo not grant QualifiedTeacher Status (QTS).This training provisionis relevant both aspreparation for subsequenttraining leading to QTSand for those aiming foralternative career paths.

The leaflet outlinesdifferent career pathsand explains the types ofaccredited qualificationsin existence. Examplecourses offered inEngland are listed togive a flavour of what isavailable; a number of

such training opportunities are featured

on these pages of the Bulletin. Courses

offered do, of course, change on anannual basis and readers are encouragedto use the leaflet in conjunction withthe new Career Development section ofthe Our Languages website where latestinformation about courses can be posted.

The leaflet also lists further sourcesof information, including links to theQualifications and Curriculum Authority(QCA) and reference to the recently-launched Qualifications and CurriculumFramework. Please email me to order acopy of the leaflet.www.ourlanguages.org.uk/career-development

Sara Wickert |CILT, the National Centrefor [email protected]


Developing professional skills




criteria, depending on what level ofaward was registered for.

To contextualise this, on theundergraduate programme, 360 pointsare required for a BA degree, 240 for aFoundation degree. On the postgraduateprogramme, a total of 180 points (at Mlevel) are needed for a Masters degreebut participants can register for acertificate or diploma and proceed laterto an MA. At present we have availablea PG Certificate in Teaching ModernForeign Languages (non-QTS) and an MAin Language Education is undergoingvalidation.

Dr Gee Macrory |Principal Lecturer inEducation, MMU

[email protected]

Course for Teaching Assistants(TAs)Participants on this course run byEnfield Local Authority (LA) since 2005are employed as a TA in a mainstreamschool, mainly primary schools. Schoolsfrom outside the borough are requiredto pay a course fee, often via their ownLA. Participants need to be proficient ina foreign or community language, as well

as English. This course is not accreditedin itself, but TAs who go on to study forHigher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA)status can use course activities as evidencefor some of the HLTA Standards. Thecourse is also good preparation for thoseconsidering entering teacher training towork towards Qualified Teacher Status.

The course usually consists of 20 hoursof taught sessions, across two whole days

and three half days. Course elementsinclude:

how to carry out a survey of languagesspoken in the schoolhow to evaluate professional valuesand practicessharing of each persons languagelearning journeyteaching and learning activitiesclassroom organisationuse of resources and ICThow to evaluate, celebrate and recordpupils progress and achievements.A further half day requires the TA

to visit a primary school and observe alesson taught by a primary languagesteacher and then discuss the experience.The TA is also observed teaching his or

her own lesson and feedback is given,either by me or a colleague on the LAprimary languages team.

Bernadette Clinton|Enfield [email protected]

Preparing applicants to ITTIn summer 2008 CILT offered a freefive day course aimed at communitylanguage teachers interested in

obtaining Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).Funded by a Challenge grant from theTraining and Development Agency forSchools (TDA) and jointly delivered byLondon Metropolitan University, theaim of the course was to encourage andgive support to community languageteachers thinking of entering InitialTeacher Training (ITT) in order to qualifyto teach in the UK. On completing the

five training days, participants would bemore aware of the procedures involved inapplying for any route into teaching.

Participants were provided withan introduction to the UK educationsystem and also to the key issuesrelating to teaching in a mainstream orcomplementary/supplementary school inthe primary or secondary sector in theUK today. Taster sessions in languageteaching methodology, ICT, the newNational Curriculum and assessmentfor learning were also offered to givea flavour of what embarking on an ITTcourse would involve. The course alsoincluded individual tutorial supportincluding the option of having degreeschecked with NARIC, giving participants

an opportunity to discuss their ownsituation.

The course attracted many applicantsand 37 community language teachersfrom across the UK were accepted ontothe course (see photo below). Followingthe advice and knowledge obtained onthe course, some teachers felt equippedto begin the application process rightaway. One Chinese teacher wrote ina follow-up evaluation of the course,thank you for the useful free language

courses I have found a job of being ateaching assistant in a primary school inSussex. I think this job may give me lotsof teaching experience and help me toapply for the GTP in the future.

Sara Wickert |CILT, the National Centrefor [email protected]

Developing professional skills



With so much thought and debateunderway around community and socialcohesion and employability skills fora global economy, CILTs publicationof the innovative UK Standards forIntercultural Working could not havebeen more timely.The new standards for Working withpeople from different countries or diversecultures were developed by a CILT-led twoyear project and were approved by the UKCommission for Employment and Skillsin September 2008. The project drew onlatest academic research into interculturalcommunication and conducted fourphases of UK-wide consultation elicitingdetailed input from the private, publicand voluntary sector organisations, tradeunions, sector skills bodies, governmentrepresentatives and other key stakeholdersacross the UK.

The new intercultural workingstandards define the skills, knowledgeand understanding required to work in

ways that promote open and respectfulinteraction, better understanding andimproved performance, when workingwith people from different countries orcultures whether in multicultural UKor internationally. They are for everyindividual, wherever they are from.Contributions from the many communitiesacross the UK made it clear thatintercultural working must be a two-wayprocess. It is not something that is done byone community to another, but a positive

way of learning to rub along together.

The benefits and strong businesscase for using the standards to developeffective intercultural working skillswere highlighted during the widespreadconsultation. These include:

better communication between people ofdiverse cultures or different countries;mutually respectful and supportiveworking relations;more productive workforces;improved customer service;

more effective international trade;strengthened diversity and equalitypolicies and procedures;greater community cohesion.

The Standards are a quality benchmarkfor what people do at work and underpintraining and qualifications.

Between November and this March CILTheld a series of high profile events acrossthe UK to promote the standards and is nowdiscussing applications of the standardswith a wide range of organisations. Theseinclude input into guidance on equality anddiversity, identifying staff training needs,the design of curriculum and training andqualifications development.

The standards comprise six main units:Develop your skills to work effectively1with people from different countries ordiverse cultures.Build working relationships with people2from different countries or diversecultures.Appoint people from different countries3or diverse cultures.Manage a multicultural team.4Manage delivery of a service to people5

from different countries or diversecultures.Develop new markets with different6countries or diverse cultures.

Unit 1is regardedas thecore unitwhich willform thebasis of all

training anddevelopmentand appliesboth toyoung peoplein schools,colleges anduniversitiesgetting readyfor employmentas well as to those already in work. Eachunit is made up of performance outcomesand the knowledge and understanding

required to attain those outcomes.Activities involved in Unit 1 include:

Explore your own value-base andexpectations and how they are viewedby others, challenge your own and other

peoples stereotypes and prejudices,communicate and work with others in waysthat maximise individual performance andorganisational productivity.

Examples of Unit 1 performance outcomesare:

F. Communicate in ways that can beunderstood by the people from thecountries or cultures you are workingwith

G. Make enough time and effort andrespond flexibly and positively so thatyour working practice engages andincludes people from different countriesor diverse cultures

Examples from Unit 1 Knowledge andUnderstanding are:K1. How differences and similaritiesbetween your own and other peoplescultural behaviour may change or affectattitudes, expectations, communicationand working practices. (For example,

timekeeping, timescales, decision-making processes, perceptions of statusand role, attitudes to men and women,

communication styles andconventions, businessrelationships, business meetingconventions, attitudes toemotion and levels of hierarchyand formality).K10 How finding sharedground can contribute togood working relationships

between people fromdifferent countries or diversecultures.

More information isavailable on the CILTwebsite, including a link tothe UK standards websitefrom where the standards

can be downloaded. A hardcopy can be requested from KatherineEvans at CILT.www.cilt.org.uk/standards/[email protected]

Cherry Sewell |Head of Skills, Businessand Adult Learning, [email protected]

Focus on Intercultural skills

New National Occupational Standards




CILTs 14 to 19 microsite, ReshapingLanguages, brings together a wealthof information on developments andinnovative practice with learners aged14 to 19, including applied languagelearning, alternative accreditationand ICT. A unique collection of videosand case studies highlight how newapproaches to language provision canre-engage learners, inspire enjoymentand increase take-up of languages fromage 14 onwards. Teachers of communitylanguages are welcome to browsewebsite content, organised by theme orresource type, but may find some of thecontent highlighted here of particularinterest.The Qualifications section provides adownloadable and regularly updatedspreadsheet of the full range of post-14qualifications available to accreditperformance in different languages,

including community languages.www.cilt.org.uk/14to19/qualifications

There are case studies from schools andcolleges who have introduced languagequalifications alternative to the GCSE. Forexample, Our Ladys Convent High Schoolin Hackney offers the ICAAE Certificate inBusiness Chinese to students in Years 912.The course is delivered via the GoChinesemultimedia platform, which enablesstudents to access materials at home, aswell as in class. The Certificate covers

listening, speaking and cultural issues.One student said, The Business Chinesecourse has given a good opportunity tothose students like me, who are interestedin Chinese, but not good at reading andwriting Chinese characters. Being able toget a certificate in the end, especially adistinction level, has really built up myconfidence.www.cilt.org.uk/14to19/alt_accred/bus_ch/our_lady.htm

Another case study in the qualificationstheme is from Bristol Metropolitan College,

a multi-ethnic mixed comprehensive 1116school covering an urban population.With the aim of giving recognition totheir students heritage, speakers of 14community languages including Polish,

Panjabi, Somali, Urdu, Portuguese, Dutchand Arabic have had their language skillsaccredited via Asset Languages and GCSE.AS and A2 qualifications are also offeredin Dutch, Arabic and Polish. Classesoften contain native speakers as well asthose with English as mother tongue.The school also supports local secondaryschools, sharing support staff as Polishand Somali speakers to provide lessons andexam tuition and helping schools to findexaminers for languages such as Turkishand Portuguese.www.cilt.org.uk/14to19/alt_accred/asset/bristol_met.htm

Also showcased is work being done atthe College of North East London (CONEL)where a language is a compulsory elementof BTEC courses in Business, Science andEarly Years Education. Video clips ofTurkish being taught to students on theEarly Years Education course are available,

as well as commentary from students whoexplain how they have used their Turkishskills to communicate with children intheir work placements in local child caresettings.www.cilt.org.uk/14to19/diplomas/conel_video.htm

The section on ICT offer tips, advice,instructions and case studies for languageteachers on a range of topics including theuse of digital audio and video, podcasts,blogs, wikis and authoring software. There

are plans to expand the number of step-by-step video guides, such as the one onMoviemaker and Audacity.www.cilt.org.uk/14to19/ict/helston_video.htm

The Awards theme includes details ofawards for learners to recognise their skillsand experience in applying the languagesthey speak. For example:

The Foreign Language Leader Award,which involves students planning anddelivering language activities (includingin community languages) to younger

learners in their own school or collegeor in a primary school.The British Airways Flag Award, whichfocuses on ability to converse in one ormore of a wide range of languages as an

airport employee.The ASDAN International Award, whichcan include a module of languagelearning. Hove Park school in Brightondelivers a 20 hours module of beginnersMandarin Chinese; see the case study.

www.cilt.org.uk/14to19/other_awardsThe Resources section contains

links to Schemes of Work developedby CILT in partnership with LanguageNetworks for Excellence (LNfE) andInternational Business Communication(IBC). The Schemes of Work are linked tocontextualised resources and activities,which can be used with any languagequalification which can be taught withinthe Additional/Specialist Learningcomponent of a Diploma. They include:

Chinese for Diploma in Engineering.Panjabi for Diploma in Society, Healthand Development.Chinese for Diploma in Manufacturing

and Product Design.Polish for Diploma in Hair and Beauty(coming soon).

The Diplomas and the upcomingDiploma in Languages and InternationalCommunication are explained on thewebsite.www.cilt.org.uk/14to19/diplomas/overview.htm

We are always interested to hear ofgood practice in the teaching and learningof community languages. If you would

like to propose a case study on a projector particular success with your 1419learners, please download a template fromthe home page. Contact us if you needadvice on completing the template. The1419 Reshaping Languages microsite isregularly updated, so do visit the site ona regular basis for new information andresources.www.cilt.org.uk/14to19

Gill Beckett|Language Teaching Adviser,CILT

[email protected]

Focus on 1419

Supporting community

language teaching at 1419



SOAS learner and teacher

support onlineLanguage learners at university willhave varying levels of contact time withtutors, and can definitely benefit fromaccess to online resources in betweenclassroom sessions, to boost the value ofsuch contact. Whether following specificlanguage degree courses or participatingas non-specialist linguists in InstitutionWide Language Programmes (IWLPs),they will usually be able to draw on theresources of their institutions LanguageCentre. A case in point is the LanguageCentre at the University of LondonsSchool of Oriental and African Studies(SOAS). The Centre offers support to bothlearners and teachers, some of which isequally accessible to those outside theSchool.

LearnersThe Centres own course materials(in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi andUrdu, Japanese, Nepali, Thai, andVietnamese) are confined to registered

users.In How we learnt languages, SOASstudents share their language-learningexperiences through audio downloadsor blog contributions. This wasconceived as part of the Jinrikishaproject for Japanese, winner of aEuropean Award for Languages in 2008,but the positive response has led to itsextension.Web links take learners to diversesites of potential use or interest. It

includes specific language learningresources, but also gives access to printand broadcast media in the languagesconcerned. Note that some of the siteswill be equally valuable to learnersin schools (e.g. an interactive site forArabic accessible to primary schoollearners). Some languages are betterrepresented than others, but the listis impressive. They are organised asfollows: African languages; Chinese;Japanese; Korean; Middle Easternlanguages; South Asian languages; and

South East Asian languageswww.soas.ac.uk/languagecentre/learners

Teachers

The Teaching resources pages consist ofarticles on language-specific methodology(teaching of sound systems, grammar,script), or lists of materials. There is alsosome generic guidance that will transferto other languages. The articles will bein their original language and/or in anEnglish language version. Downloads invarious formats support the materials.Available for: Arabic; Bengali; Burmese;Chinese; Japanese; and Thai.www.soas.ac.uk/languagecentre/teachers

CASAW e-Arabic learningAn Arabic resource that has just come tomy attention also reflects the way onlineresources and approaches that exploitthem are receiving increased exposure.It demonstrates as well how HigherEducation (HE) institutions are developingsuch materials with an eye to supportingmore varied audiences. The project leaderfor these materials gave a presentationto the Arabic Language and Culture inSchools conference on Thursday 26 March

at the British Council.CASAW (Centre for the Advanced Study

of the Arab World) is a joint initiativebetween the Universities of Edinburgh,Manchester and Durham. Currentactivities include a three-year projectwhich involves designing and deliveringan eLearning support programme.The programme uses innovative andmultimedia learning technologies (in andoutside the classroom) and has helpedstudents to consolidate the four key skills

in the Arabic language.The project is developing two sites; ane-Arabic Learning Portal and an e-ArabicLearning Tools and Resources Directory.The Portal provides a visual reference andaccess point to all relevant e-learningresources and projects, and a glance at thetoolbar conveys the range of technologiesthat have been embraced. The Directory isstill under construction.www.e-Arabic.com

New, recent and forthcomingChinese resources

Lets Learn ChineseThe UK Federation of Chinese Schools(UKFCS) has been offering its support

to what is now a network of some 100

Chinese supplementary schools since itsestablishment in the early 1990s. Amongthe charitys notable achievements hasbeen the production of a multi-leveltextbook, most recently revised in 2003,that has allowed teachers and learners tooperate in either Traditional or Simplifiedcharacters to a common curriculum. Thetextbook has been mapped against theNational Curriculum for Modern ForeignLanguages, so that childrens learning inboth their supplementary and mainstreamschools (where appropriate), should notdiverge drastically.

The same principles apply to theFederations latest publishing venture,which reflects recent developments incurricular and assessment arrangements.Lets Learn Chinese is a series of textbooksdesigned to meet the needs of childrenlearning Chinese as a second or foreignlanguage. It has been written withreference to the Curriculum Guide forMandarin Chinese (CILT/GoldsmithsCollege/Nuffield Foundation), with

which it shares some authors; the AssetLanguages assessment scheme; theKey Stage 2 Framework for Languages;and the National Curriculum for MFL.Understandably, it is suitable for use inChinese supplementary schools, as well asin mainstream school.

The Foundation Level materials onlyare available so far, but when the seriesis complete it will support learners inprimary and secondary sectors, withcoverage up to GCSE levels of competence.

Being informed by Asset Languagesrequirements, it will also underpin theDCSFs Languages Ladder.

The materials are designed to develop allfour skills and feature interactive teachingand learning methods. Cross-curricularapplications may also benefit fromcontent on Chinese culture, history andgeography. For pupils there is a textbookaccompanied by an audio CD, containingstories, songs and listening exercises,while the Teachers manual comes with aCD-ROM of interactive resources. Access

to an online resource bank completes thesupport offered by the series. More details,including an order form, are available onthe UKFCS website.www.ukfcs.info

InfoDirect

Resources update



Community languages Issue 24 | Summer 2009Community languages Issue 24 | Summer 2009 InfoDirect Resources update

www.cilt.org.uk/commlangs 17

MaomaoMaomao is a three year old panda.Maomao and the bamboo is a beautifullyillustrated reader which introduceshim, his family and his home in China,presented in parallel English, Mandarinscript and pinyin transliteration. It is theproduct of an international schools linkbetween Calday Grange Grammar Schoolon the Wirral and Hangzhou ForeignLanguage School in Zhejiang province,China. The book describes his favouritefood (no surprises there), and wouldprovide primary schools that want toexplore the teaching of Mandarin at anylevel with enough basic language, and aglobal conservation theme, to fit withinseveral cross-curricular perspectives.

www.maomaopanda.co.uk

Preparing for the new GCSE and AS/A2specifications for ChineseLooking at some of the materials thatwere included in the Mandarin display atCILT reported on in Bulletin 23, perhapsit would be appropriate to refer to thosedesigned to support the recently revisedspecifications for AS/A2 and GCSE (titlesintended for different audiences, includingstudents in HE/AE and independent

learners, may be dealt with in a futureissue).

Edexcel Chinese for AS (HodderEducation) appeared in time to supportthe first teaching of the new specification,last September, while the equivalent A2materials are imminent. This new coursecomprises (for each level) a Students

book with accompanying audio CD anda Teachers resource book/pack withclassroom CDs. Within this context,several titles from Cypress Books areworthy of note. A series of Examination

study guides provides the sort of revisionsupport familiar to learners of otherlanguages. Each title, GCSE, AS and A2,comprises material covering the requiredgrammar, vocabulary, topic content andexamination-style exercises, with audio CDsupport. The A2 volume places particularemphasis on advanced reading, translationand writing skills. The volumes canalso act as reference texts for teachers.Get ahead in Chinese is a four-volumecourse for GCSE (or equivalent levelexaminations). The first three volumesprovide for the learning of 181, 222and 285 new characters respectively,covering domains that broaden fromthe personal, to travel, food anddrink, work experience and on to

broader cultural concerns, while thefourth integrates and revises materialpreviously covered to prepare thestudent for the examination. An audio/mp3 CD accompanies each volume,containing recordings of all texts andlistening exercises.

To coincide with first teaching of thenew Edexcel GCSE specification thisSeptember, as previously with thosefor AS and A2, learners and teacherswill have a dedicated coursebook at

their disposal. This time the publisheris Heinemann, and a notable featureis participation in the author teamby language specialists from theSpecialist Schools and Academies Trust(SSAT). Edexcel GCSE Chinese aims todeliver complete support for the newspecification, with step-by-step activitiesand controlled assessment practice. Thematerials comprise a Students book, aTeachers Guide, a set of audio CDs and anassessment pack. They are scheduled toappear in August, and pre-orders for an

Evaluation pack are being taken now.www.hoddereducation.comwww.cypressbooks.comwww.heinemann.co.uk

Online support for AQAspecificationsWhile the resources referred to aboveare designed to support the Chinesespecifications from Edexcel, learners ofsome other languages for which newGCSE and AS/A2 specifications have

been developed may find that there ismore support available than they havepreviously encountered.

For the new specifications in Bengali,Modern Hebrew, Panjabi and Polish from

AQA teachers can investigate the onlinesupport offered by the Teacher ResourceBank. What is on offer will vary betweenspecifications, but typically this willinclude a Resources list (identifyingwebsites for various media), Schemesof work and Exemplar candidate workfor 1 or 2 units, as well as topic contentdescription and details of the markingscheme. Use this link to see Bengali atAS/A2 as an example.www.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/bengali_trb_new.php

New Curriculum GuidesThe Curriculum Guides in Arabic,Mandarin, Panjabi, Tamil and Urdu fromGoldsmiths College and published byCILT have been featured in earlier issues.As well as suggestions for interactiveclassroom activities and developingintercultural understanding, the guides

provide a framework for planning andteaching oracy and literacy to communitylanguage profile learners. We are delightedthat new Curriculum Guides are publishedthis summer in Cantonese, Gujarati,Somali and Yoruba. As with the existingguides, they can be purchased in hardcopy or downloaded free of charge fromthe Goldsmiths College website.www.cilt.org.uk/books/curriculumguides.htm

Louis Greenstock |Information ResourcesManager, CILT, the National Centre [email protected]



InfoDirect

News updateSurvey shows wider range of

languages in secondary schoolsCILTs 2008 Languages Trends Surveyreleased in December showed that Englishsecondary schools are in a period of rapidchange and development, with a third ofstate schools introducing new courses andteaching approaches to boost take-up oflanguages at GCSE.

The survey showed a widening rangeof languages on offer, with Spanish,Italian and Mandarin continuing to risein popularity. Spanish is set to overtakeGerman as the second most commonlytaught language after French. Otherlanguages, such as Urdu, Russian andMandarin are also generating interestfollowing changes to QCA guidelines onwhich languages schools may offer.

The survey also showed a dramaticgrowth in new qualifications in stateschools, with 41% currently offeringan accreditation other than GCSE forlanguages at KS3 or KS4, compared to29% last year. Of these accreditations,Asset Languages is by far the most

commonly used. Independent schoolsreported fewer changes to languagecourses, partly due to less pressure toincrease take-up of languages at GCSE.www.cilt.org.uk/research/languagetrends

Guidance warns againstexclusion of languagequalificationsThe Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) andSupporting Professionalism in Admissions

(SPA) have published guidance for Headsof Institutions and admissions staff on thelegal risks of excluding native languagequalifications (such as A Levels) as entrycriteria for higher education coursesand programmes. The guidance warnsthat institutions which exclude nativelanguage qualifications from considerationwhen assessing an applicant for entry ontocertain courses may be breaching equalitylegislation.

Institutions which currently exercisethis type of exclusion rationalise the

policy by suggesting that a languagequalification may be less demanding fora native language speaker than for anon-native speaker. However, the newguidance warns that the operation of such

an exclusion may unlawfully discriminate

on the grounds of race against thoseregarded as possessing the native languagequalifications. The ECU points out thatinstitutions may be making unjustifiableassumptions about the significance ofnative language qualifications, and advisesinstitutions to adopt an admissionspolicy which considers the individualcircumstances of each applicant.www.ecu.ac.uk

CILT library introduces monthlylate night openingDue to the success of the first library openevening in January, the CILT ResourcesLibrary will be now be staying openuntil 7pm on the last Wednesday of eachmonth. The CILT Resources Library atCILTs offices in Waterloo is the UKs largestsource of materials for language learning,teaching and research, including a largesection of community languages materialsfor all ages.

The library has recently launched a newFriends of the CILT Library loyalty scheme,

giving regular visitors the chance to keepin touch with the librarys latest eventsand offers. The scheme also offers regularvisitors a discount on CILT books boughtin the library, including the CurriculumGuides for community languages and AWorld of Languages by Manjula Datta andCathy Pomphrey. Visit the CILT librarypages to browse the online catalogue andfind out more.www.cilt.org.uk/irs

Scotland brings Chinese cultureto secondary schoolsFour new Confucius Classrooms haveopened in Scotland this year, as part ofthe Scottish governments plans to developcultural links between Scotland and China.There are now eight classrooms aroundthe country, offering central learningpoints for Chinese language and culture.A group of 51 Scottish pupils and nineteachers from selected schools acrossScotland will travel to China later this yearfor the chance to learn Chinese and gain

first-hand experience of Chinese culture.Scottish Education Secretary Fiona Hyslopsaid, We want our young people to havean international outlook with a clear

understanding of Scotlands place in the

world.The English schools minister Jim

Knight recently announced his plans forteenagers in every English state schoolto have access to Chinese language andphilosophy. There is a lot we can learnfrom the Chinese culture and Confucius,he said. There should be an opportunityfor everyone to access Mandarin at a localschool.www.ltscotland.org.uk/mfle/confuciusclassrooms

New website is essentialresource for primary languagesCILT has launched a ground-breaking newwebsite to support language teachingin primary schools. The new PrimaryLanguages website brings together all ofCILTs online support from NACELL andthe Primary Languages Training Zone tocreate one essential and easily-accessibleresource for everyone involved in teachinglanguages in primary schools.

The site combines NACELLs news and

advice with the impressive range of videoclips and teaching ideas previously foundon the Primary Languages Training Zone.This includes over 30 new video clipson topics including video conferencing,assessment and Content and LanguageIntegrated Learning (CLIL).

The website includes a dedicated sectionfor community languages, inside theTeaching and learning area. This offersadvice and ideas for everyone teachingcommunity languages in the primary

sector, including information and guidanceon Key Stage 2 curriculum models,classroom practice and professionaldevelopment.www.primarylanguages.org.uk

New website launched for

Diploma in LanguagesThe Diploma Development Partnership forLanguages has launched a new websiteproviding information and advice about


19/20

the innovative new qualification forstudents aged fourteen to nineteen.

The Diploma in Languages andInternational Communication is one of 17Diplomas, and is due to be launched in2011. Diplomas are set to become one of

the three main learning choices, alongsideGCSEs/A levels and Apprenticeships. CILTis project partner in the developmentof this new Diploma, led by GoSkills,the Sector Skills Council for passengertransport and travel.

The Diploma will blend theory andpractice, showing how languages can beapplied at work and at leisure. It aimsto help students learn how languageworks as well as how we learn languages,so that they can become independent,lifelong language learners. It will alsointroduce young people to translating andinterpreting, and teach them interculturalskills.www.diploma-in-languages.co.uk

Our Languages e-conferencegets teenagers talking

The second Our Languages e-conferencetook place from 216 March, invitingpupils from primary and secondary schoolsto talk online about the languages theyspeak and to give their thoughts onthe benefits of learning languages. Theconference received 1,600 responses frompupils, mostly from secondary schools,who between them had some knowledge ofover 50 languages.

Many secondary school pupilshighlighted the usefulness of speakinganother language when travelling and

thought that having another languagewould give them valuable points for theirCV when starting a career. One teenagersaid Learning another language makes youfeel confident when you travel and alsoyou can use the skills in your work andmake friends. Several teenagers also saidthat they intend to pass on their heritagelanguage to their own children.

Following the success of thise-conference, the Our Languages teamplans to run another e-conference during

Who do we think we are week? from2227 June. An analysis of the learnerresponses will also be shared at theCommunity Languages National Show.www.ourlanguages.org.uk

Sheffield primary hits theheadlines with Somali lessonsSpringfield Primary School in Sheffieldreceived national attention in Marchwhen the Times Educational Supplement(TES) reported that all Year 3 children at

the school are receiving lessons in Somaliin partnership with the citys SomaliCommunity School.

The Year 3 children at Springfield where 40% of pupils are Somali learnlanguages for half an hour each week.Head teacher Beth Stevenson told the TESthat the lessons were very popular withpupils. They love that lesson. Our childrenare so switched on to learning a language,they lap it up. But for us, its not justanother language, its about giving ourcommunity a role. It says to them thatyour language is important.

Staff at Springfield Primary and theSomali School are also working together tocreate lesson plans and teaching materialsin Somali.www.tes.co.uk

National newspaper highlightsbenefits of multilingualclassroomsWhile many national papers showedconcern over figures released in March

showing the rising number of primaryschool children without English as afirst language, the Times EducationSupplement (TES) investigated thebenefits of a multilingual classroom. Afterspeaking to teachers who are tappinginto the possibilities offered by childrensmultilingual heritage, Maebh Ritchie,concluded that teaching a new languagealongside primary pupils first and secondlanguages can create a multilingualenvironment that breeds self- confidence.

Ritchie spoke to teachers such asBrenainn Lambkin of Southwold PrimarySchool in Hackney, who highlighted thepositive effects of language learning onintercultural understanding. Ive noticedthat through learning a new languagesuch as Spanish, the children have moreempathy for those who have come into theclass not speaking English. They realisewhat it feels like.www.tes.co.uk

New research on multilingualBritainAs mentioned on pages 89, a newresearch project is under way at LondonsInstitute of Education which hopes tofind a new way of estimating the number

of speakers of different languages in thepopulation, and to find out more aboutthe relationship between languagesspoken, socio-economic factors andeducational attainment.

2008 was the first year for which data

on the languages spoken by schoolchildrenin schools became available for all schools.The project seeks to combine this datawith other sources such as GP registers,and Local Land and Property Gazetteersin order to estimate the total populationsof language speakers and the relationshipbetween language, ethnicity and socialposition.

Although the focus of this project is onLondon, the idea is to test out this newmodel of combining data from differentsources, so it can be used in other areasand to log trends over time. The research,which is funded by the Economic andSocial Research Council, will be completedby 30 September this year.

UCAS allocates points for AssetqualificationsStudents with Advanced Stage AssetLanguages qualifications will soon be ableto make their achievement count whenthey apply for university places, accordingto changes announced by UCAS. The

qualifications have now been allocatedUCAS tariff points, which will come intoeffect for entry into higher education from2010 onwards. Students earn tariff pointsfor each listening, speaking, reading orwriting test at Advanced Stage they pass,which suits the uneven skills profile ofmany community language learners.

As well as French, German and Spanish,candidates can now be entered andearn UCAS points for Advanced Stagequalifications in Arabic, Cantonese

and Mandarin Chinese, Greek, Italian,Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian andTurkish.

Vivienne May, Asset Languages SeniorManager, commented, We are very pleasedthat our qualifications have been allocatedtariff scores. This re-enforces the feedbackwe have received that Advanced Stagetests provide a significant and meaningfulchallenge for learners.www.assetlanguages.org.uk


Community languages Issue 24 | Summer 2009 InfoDirect News update


20/20


Urdu Primary language andmethodology courseVarious dates April-July 2009,

Manchester Metropolitan University,Didsbury CampusThis series of ten free teacher trainingsessions apply the methodology forteaching languages to young learnersto the teaching of Urdu. The courseis open to beginners, advanced andnative speakers of Urdu, with a focuson language, culture and teachingmethodology.Contact: 07810 487186www.traffordlearning.org/cpd/

CPDCourseForm.asp

Our Languages regionaldissemination eventsVarious locations, MayJune 2009(see page 3)These nine free events feature high-profile speakers, participation from Our

Languages project schools, an updateon the latest government thinking oncommunity languages, advice on AssetLanguages accreditation and guidance on

obtaining QTS.www.ourlanguages.org.uk

Second International Conferenceon MultilingualismFridaySaturday 1920 June 2009,London Metropolitan UniversityFees: 220 (120 for complementaryschool teachers)With the theme of Making MultilingualismMeaningful: linking theory to practice,this conference includes Prof. JimCummins, University of Ontario, Canadaand Prof. Luis C. Moll, University of

Arizona, USA as principal speakers.www.londonmet.ac.uk/depts/doed/centre-for-multilingualism

Conference for all languages inLondon and beyondFriday 10 July 2009, Seven KingsHigh School, Ilford

A free event aimed at building motivationin students for language learning, ofboth community and modern foreignlanguages. Speakers are from SOAS, SSAT,examination boards and Goldsmiths

College.Contact: Isabelle Ercan at [email protected]

Community Languages NationalShow 2009Wednesday 15 July 2009, ChilworthManor, SouthamptonFees: 75 (or 25 for complementaryschool teachers, with travel subsidy)The annual conference and exhibitionfor colleagues involved in teachingcommunity languages in the mainstream

or complementary sectors, whetherteachers, managers, local authorityadvisers, teacher trainers or policy-makers. All delegates will receive an OurLanguages toolkit on forging successfulpartnerships between mainstream andcomplementary schools and CDs offeringlesson plans, schemes of work andresources across a range of languages.

www.cilt.org.uk/clshow

About CILT and its support forcommunity languagesThe Community Languages Bulletin is

published at the beginning of the Autumn and

Summer terms. It is one of a range of bulletins

for different interests and is available via a

free mailing list. The bulletin is also available

online at www.cilt.org.uk/

commlangs.

We welcome suggestions for contribution to

the next bulletin. Please write to the editor,

Claire Dugard, by the end of June 2009 at

CILT, the National Centre for Languages,

111 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1

7HR.

Email: [email protected].

Tel: 0845 612 5885.

We reserve the right to edit items submitted.

Community Languages CILT 2009. This

bulletin may be copied for non-commercial

purposes provided the source is acknowledged.

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registered in England and Wales and is a

registered charity no. 1108543 registered in

England and Wales.

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