Embedding Language: Primary

Normalising the use of an additional language as a regular and routine part of ongoing learning brings many benefits for learners.  Embedding L2 use throughout classroom learning can make a positive impact on children’s relationship with language learning, contribute to improving outcomes and raising attainment over time and support L1 literacy development.  The development of embedded language is further enhanced when undertaken as a whole school with a shared approach and a strategic support framework for practitioners. This supports the development of a more meaningful and supportive school-wide learning experience within and out-with the classroom for both learners and practitioners alike.

This section explores Embedded Language: Primary in relation to the following three How are we doing? self-evaluation statements:

  • The use of our L2 is a significant and embedded feature of our interactions with learners, our daily routines, and our learning instructions.
  • We plan for the progressive development of embedded language, ensuring that we maximise the opportunities for learner exposure to, and use of, the L2 throughout all aspects of learning.
  • Language learning is an embedded aspect of our whole school ethos and the language we are learning is both seen and heard throughout the school environment and learning spaces.

Click on the links below to read more about the key themes of Embedded Language: Primary and then use the How are we doing? statements to reflect on your current practice and explore your next steps.  Further reading and resources are also provided at the bottom of this page.

Finally, watch the video below to learn how practitioners have engaged with this TILE.

An embedded language approach Planning embedded language Professional learning

An embedded language approach

Embedded language is language used routinely and regularly by teachers and learners as part of everyday communication and learning in the primary school. We can categorise embedded language into three different types of language:

  1. Social Language
  2. Classroom Language
  3. Topic Language

When planning for embedding a language into the primary school, it can be useful to consider these three types of language.

Language type Description Examples
Social language

 

 The language which is developed through our social interactions
  • Greetings and social interactions (hello, how are you, have a good weekend, I am cold/thirsty etc.)
  • Learner language – Questions, requests, and responses e.g. I would like some water please, I don’t know, can I go to the toilet, can I have a pencil etc.
Classroom Language The language which is developed through classroom language and daily routines
  • Whole school language – e.g. signage, language used in corridors, welcome signage, assemblies etc.
  • Daily routines e.g. clothing routines (coats, shoes, PE kit etc.), food routines, setting up and tidying, hygiene routines, learning routines
  • Classroom instructions e.g. listen, look, close, open etc.
  • Learning activity instructions e.g. read the text and discuss the main points
  • Praise language e.g. oral feedback, written praise in jotters
Topic language

 

 The language we use to develop understanding and knowledge of the curriculum through the language
  • Curriculum specific language – developing understanding and knowledge of the curriculum through the target language e.g. topic or theme specific language such as exploring the rainforest and the specific language which would be required to make sense of this
  • Language being learned to communicate about self and others e.g. saying name, talking about where you live, hobbies and family etc.

 

Developing an embedded language approach supports learning in a number of ways including:

  • Increasing learner exposure to language
  • Consolidating language learning in context and in a meaningful way e.g. numbers or colours used during classroom routines
  • Building learner confidence and progression in language learning
  • Contributing to literacy development
  • Normalising the use of languages other than English
  • Maximising the potential for learning in everyday interactions

Planning embedded language

There is a clear expectation that curriculum models for the development of L2 in primary schools should be comprised of both:

  • Regular, timetabled language learning e.g. three weekly timetabled learning sessions
  • Embedding language throughout daily routines and classroom practice

The report, Language Learning in Scotland: A 1+2 Report, notes:

“Good practice indicates that there needs to be regular timetabled commitments to language learning. For example, there may be advantages in short blocks of language learning on several occasions throughout the week at the early and primary stages. Building such blocks of language learning into the daily routine of learners, plus the use of the target language across other aspects of learning can avoid the danger that a language ‘hour’ is the first to go when responding to the pressure of holidays or other pressures on the timetable.” (Scottish Government, 2012, P17)

In order to be meaningful, this ‘use of the target language across other aspects of learning’ should go far beyond the use of language at the start of daily routines (e.g. taking the register) and should extend through a range of contexts, throughout the school day.

Key aims for embedding language in classroom practice include:

  • Target language is used regularly in social interactions between teachers, learners, and support staff (e.g. hello, how are you, praise etc.) and is embedded in daily classroom routines and instructions
  • Target language use in the classroom is continuously progressing (for both teacher and learner language)
  • Practitioners and learners work together to develop language learning strategies and draw on their L1 and other languages to support their learning
  • Learner language is a key feature of teacher-learner interactions with learners using the target language throughout their learning
  • The language used by teachers, either directly or through digital support resources, can and should go beyond the language which the pupils are able to produce and without a need for learners to understand every word. Where possible, learners’ understanding should be supported with appropriate scaffolds such as gesture, cognates (words which are similar in two languages e.g. toucher in French / touch in English), revisiting familiar language across contexts, and the use of pictures. This provides a model for extending language and supports effective language learning
  • There is regular repetition of key language structures, in a range of contexts and appropriate to the age and stage of the learners
  • Language learning is integrated into the life and ethos of the school e.g. canteen routines, greetings in corridors, L2 visible throughout the school building etc.

Practical ideas for developing embedded language in primary include:

  • Planning language goals in partnership with stage partners and with learners e.g. 10 phrases a term
  • Aide memoire desk-top guides, placemats, and posters for both teachers and learners
  • Groups of learners are given responsibility for different phrases being learned e.g. 1 group is responsible for sit-down instruction, another group for tidying up etc. New phrases can be introduced over time and rotated around groups as ongoing
  • Focus on developing one aspect of language across learning e.g. numbers 1 to 20, built into classroom countdowns, counting learners etc. Changing focus after a period a time e.g. body parts and using for routines, PE activities etc.
  • Classroom French word wall, displaying new language as it is introduced and learned e.g. Tidy the classroom, wash your hands, days of the week etc.
  • Word of the week activities where a new work/phrase is introduced each week
  • Beat the teacher where learners have to spot when the teacher does not use the word of the week in the target language
  • Increasing the language visibility across the school environment with signage, target language use in whole school areas (e.g. canteen) and by embedding greetings for us by all school staff

Professional learning and support

Ongoing support is required for teachers to continue to:

  • Develop their language skills and confidence
  • Adapt their practice to use languages other than English as part of their natural communication with their learners

A whole-school or collaborative approach to developing embedded language provides a potentially supportive and empowering framework for practitioner learning and development.

Broader approaches to support professional learning include:

  • Building up language bit by bit through approaches such as phrase of the week
  • Building language development into school and teacher planning
  • Working with secondary or primary subject specialists to provide support and to share practice
  • Accessing local authority and national support resources and professional learning opportunities
  • Incorporating target language use into evaluations of practice e.g. classroom observations (including HMIE and Local Authority self-evaluation processes)

Additional support and guidance (including exemplar videos and audio files) are offered through various resources on the Education Scotland 1+2 Languages website, and with particular reference to the documents below:

  • A 1+2 approach to language learning from Primary 1 onwards (Education Scotland, 2017)
  • Midlothian Council Exemplar of daily planning to incorporate 1+2 Languages

Please see the resources at the bottom of this page for links to both of these support documents. Please also refer to the Professional Learning TILE for further information.

How are we doing?

  • The use of our L2 is a significant and embedded feature of our interactions with learners, our daily routines, and our learning instructions.
  • We plan for the progressive development of embedded language, ensuring that we maximise the opportunities for learner exposure to, and use of, the L2 throughout all aspects of learning.
  • Language learning is an embedded aspect of our whole school ethos and the language we are learning is both seen and heard throughout the school environment and learning spaces.

Record your practice

Now you have researched the methodology and best practice in Embedding Language: Primary it's time to record how you are doing. Download the interactive/printable PDF file which you can fill in digitally (or manually if you prefer) for your records and CPD.

Download the Embedding Language: Primary self-evaluation PDF (187 KB)

Education Scotland, A 1+2 approach to modern languages

Available at: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/learning-resources/a-1-plus-2-approach-to-modern-languages

Education Scotland (2017) 1+2 Languages: FAQs and Answers

Available at: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/documents/modlang7-faq-and-answers.pdf

Education Scotland, Modern Languages: Principles and Practice

Available at: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/modern-languages-pp.pdf

Midlothian Council, EXEMPLAR OF DAILY PLANNING TO INCORPORATE 1+2 LANGUAGES

Available at: https://education.gov.scot/nih/Documents/modlang3-7ProgressioninclassroomroutinesMC.pdf

Scottish Government (2012) Language Learning in Scotland, A 1+2 Approach

Available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/language-learning-scotland-12-approach/

Examples of the 1+2 approach

The resource is designed to support practitioners to implement the 1+2 approach. It provides guidance and examples videos and documents to demonstrate how languages and cultural awareness can be taught.

A 1+2 approach to modern languages

Full suite of language specific support resources for primary teachers

SCILT Primary Resources

This resource will support practitioners at the primary stages with planning and delivering Gaelic Learner Education (GLE) as part of a 1+2 approach to languages. These materials were used at a conference organised by the Scottish Government and the Consortium for GLE.

Conference: Gaelic (Learners) in a 1+2 Approach to Languages

The Barry Jones Archive: Target Language. A booklet which sets out the case for using target language in the classroom and provides practical suggestions on how this can be done effectively to support pupils to make progress in their language learning.

You Speak, They Speak

ACTFL is an individual membership organization of more than 13,000 language educators and administrators from elementary through graduate education, as well as government and industry. It aims to provide vision, leadership and support for quality teaching and learning of languages. This article provides advice, guidance and suggestions for how to use the target language in the classroom.

Facilitate Target Language Use

This website contains example progressions as well as resources and ideas to support the teaching of grammar and phonics in the target language.

NCELP - National Centre for Excellence for Language Pedagogy

Support resources, exemplification on integrating languages and links to external support sites.

Primary Languages resources

Policy and guidance

Modern Languages Experiences and outcomes are a set of clear and concise statements about children's learning and progression in Modern Languages. They are used to help plan learning and to assess progress.

Curriculum for Excellence Modern Languages Experiences and Outcomes

Modern Languages Benchmarks provide clarity on the national standards expected within languages at each level. They set out clear lines of progression from first to fourth levels. Their purpose is to make clear what learners need to know and be able to do to progress through the levels, and to support consistency in teachers' and other practitioners' professional judgements.

Modern Languages Benchmarks

The Early Level Partial Experiences and Outcomes and Benchmarks provide clarity on the national standards expected within languages in P1.

Early Level Modern Languages Experiences and Outcomes and Benchmarks for use from Primary 1

This website contains example progressions as well as resources and ideas to support the teaching of grammar and phonics in the target language.

NCELP - National Centre for Excellence for Language Pedagogy

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