Pupils are able to learn in lessons without being able to speak English

CHILDREN are able to learn from being in the classroom even when they do not speak a word of English, according to an expert helping a pioneering project at a Yorkshire school.

Caroline Bligh is supporting City of Leeds School to teach English as an additional language to all of its pupils because the majority are new to the language.

The Leeds Metropolitan University academic has written a book about her research into what is called “the silent period” which non-English speaking pupils go through. Dr Bligh says many teachers will send children who are learning the language out of the classroom so they improve their English before being introduced to mainstream schooling.

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However she said in fact pupils benefited from being given access to these lessons and absorbing the language being spoken.

She said: “Children start at a school not being able to speak any English but they also stop speaking their first language, leaving them silent for between a week or two and over a year.

“I found that a lot of assumptions made about how English as an additional language pupils learn were questionable.

“You would think that a student would need to know English before being able to learn anything else at school, such as maths or geography. However, my research showed that, even when silent, children are learning and so shouldn’t be denied access to other lessons at the same time.”

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