THE WRITE DIRECTION


By David Didau If you want to improve the likelihood that students do well at GCSE English, two good bets are available to you. The first is to read aloud far more than


you might think reasonable. Most of the time typically spent on endless analysis and inferences is largely wasted. What makes students better readers is the possession of vocabulary knowledge and a broad collection of networked knowledge of the world. The best way to acquire these kinds of knowledge is through reading. But how do you get reluctant students to read independently? Far better – and fairer – to read, with all the prosody and panache of an experienced reader, challenging novels at a rapid pace interspersed with skillful questioning. A recent study suggests that this approach yields impressive gains for all, but with disadvantaged students making roughly twice the rate of progress of their more advantaged peers. The second tip is to get students to write less. Many students have spent far too long practising writing badly. And what does practice make? Permanent. Getting students to write badly simply makes them better at writing badly. Instead, we should look to the kind of


interval training used to improve physical fitness. If you want someone to be able to run for 5 km, the worst thing to do is to tell them to try running for 5 km. All they’ll learn is that they can’t do it. Instead, get them to run for a very short distance and slowly build up their stamina over time. Similarly, instead of getting students to write terrible pieces of extended writing, get them to practise thinking in, and writing, excellent sentences. Then, as the sentence is mastered, build up to excellent paragraphs. Only when a student can write a fabulous paragraph is it worth getting them to write anything longer.


David Didau is an educator, author and conference speaker. He is the author of The Learning Spy blog and has published a number of books, including The Secret of Literacy and


What If Everything You Knew About Education Was Wrong?


MEMBER OFFER SET members are entitled to 20 per cent off David’s books when ordering direct from Crown House Publishing. Use discount code SET20. The offer is valid until 31 December, 2019.


MEETING ENGLISH LEARNERS’ VITAL NEEDS VERY EARLY ON


Help is at hand for teachers of students new to ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), such as refugees. Alex Stevenson discusses the strategies.


E


ffective approaches to meeting the needs of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) learners at the earliest stages of language


and literacy learning – often referred to as ‘pre-Entry’ ESOL – have long been hot topics for discussion among ESOL practitioners. Recently, the ESOL needs of refugees on the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme have highlighted a requirement to support the professional learning and development of practitioners working with learners at ‘pre-Entry’ level. Home Office data suggests that around 60 per cent of ESOL needs in this group is at ‘pre-Entry’ or Entry Level 1. And as most ESOL provision in general is delivered at Entry Level, effective teaching and learning at these levels is crucial in supporting learners to achieve a solid foundation of language and literacy skills. The Government’s Integrated Communities Action Plan has recognised this, with the Department for Education and the Home Office commissioning new resources. This project, funded by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and delivered by the Learning and Work Institute and Learning Unlimited, has created a suite of teaching and learning materials and practitioner guidance. The resources support teachers working in colleges, adult community education and civil society organisations supporting refugee resettlement. ESOL practitioners have been involved in the development process throughout. More than 300 ESOL teachers responded to our survey to tell us about ‘pre-Entry’ ESOL, with over 50 teachers attending focus groups to explore issues in depth. Practitioners highlighted a lack of formal training in teaching basic literacy to adult ESOL learners, and a shortage of professional development opportunities to


address this. They reported highly diverse learning needs in many ‘pre-Entry’ classes. This creates additional challenges for teachers, for instance the need for increased preparation time compared with teaching other ESOL levels. Practitioners also questioned the term


‘pre-Entry’ ESOL, so we refer to learners ‘new to ESOL and literacy learning’. The ‘New to ESOL’ resources set out


to respond to these findings, and include features that practitioners identified as particularly helpful. The resources aim to: • offer flexibility and support differentiation; • provide adult-orientated content, adaptable to local settings and drawing upon learners’ lives, skills and experiences;


• develop speaking, listening, reading and writing skills, with a focus on supporting basic literacy throughout;


• help reduce lesson preparation with time-saving ideas, adaptable activities and templates;


• provide short, accessible summaries of the essential elements of relevant literacy approaches, in a series of key tips and knowledge. The resources can be accessed on the


ETF’s Excellence Gateway by searching for Learners New to ESOL: https://esol. excellencegateway.org.uk/learners-new- esol SET members can sign into their accounts and access the digital version of inTuition and this supplement which makes all links, like the one above, live.


Alex Stevenson is head of English, maths and ESOL at the Learning and Work Institute, an independent policy, research and development organisation dedicated to lifelong learning, full employment and inclusion.


InTUITIONENGLISH • AUTUMN 2019 11


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