Working With Bilingual Children: Good Practice in the Primary Classroom (Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, No 6)

This book focuses on the primary school education of bilingual children in Britain. Topics discussed include: pedagogical issues - such as analyzing children's spoken and written English; practical matters - such as helping children settle down in a new environment; and issues relating to the National Curriculum - such as assessment and practical suggestions. Papers by teachers and teacher trainers address issues in bilingualism and related teaching techniques in the elementary school classroom in England. They are derived from an inservice teacher training project. Essays include: "Investigating Children's Discourse in the Primary Classroom: The Linguistic Demands of Classroom Tasks" (Nanette Godfrey, Silvia Skinner); "Story as Vehicle: The Making of a Kit" (Edie Garvie); "The Assessment of Bilingual Children" (Ann Robson); "Towards Equality in the Classroom" (Farzana Turner, Ola Francombe); "Towards Bilingualism in the Primary School: Supporting New Arrivals as They Acquire English--A Scottish Perspective" (Ann Hindle); "The Welsh Perspective on Working with Bilingual Children in the Primary School" (William H. Raybould); "Issues in the Language Education of Bilingual Children: Summary of the Open Forum for Participants' Contributions" (Mahendra K. Verma, Karen P. Corrigan, Sally Firth); "Promoting Young ESL Children's Written Language Development" (Lindy Bates); "Old Sounds and New Sounds: Bilinguals Learning ESL" (Mahendra K. Verma, Sally Firth); "Bilingual Children and their Assessment Through Mother Tongue" (Jean Mills); "Oracy Issues in ESL Teaching in Key Stage 2: Using the Language Master as a Bridge between Non-Standard and Standard English" (Mary Rose Peate); and "The Bilingual Child--Learning and Teaching in Multicultural Contexts: Summary of the Open Forum for Participants' Contributions" (Mahendra K. Verma, Sally Firth). (MSE) The teaching of English as a Second Language to minority school children has led to much educational and political debate. This book is concerned with the primary school education of such children. The papers consider how to help bilingual children achieve their cognitive and linguistic potential and how to improve language awareness amongst teachers. Areas covered - strategies for supporting bilingual children in the classroom - the support teacher and classroom teacher relationship - development of children's bilingualism at home and in school - classroom-based research on spoken and written discourse - developments in the assessment of bilingual children - bilingual children and the National Curriculum - monitoring equality in the classroom - helping children settle down in a new language environment The papers reflect the views of experienced applied linguists and practitioners, as well as advisers and teacher-trainers engaged in curriculum development and training. "The teaching of English as a Second Language to minority school children has led to much educational and political debate. This book is concerned with the primary school education of such children. The papers consider how to help bilingual children achieve their cognitive and linguistic potential and how to improve language awareness amongst teachers." "The papers reflect the views of experienced applied linguists and practitioners, as well as advisers and teacher-trainers engaged in curriculum development and training."--BOOK JACKET The educational assessment of bilingual children in the Western world is highly controversial. The contributors have taken the creative ideas of Jim Cummins across the Atlantic and have applied them through a novel technique of curriculum related assessment