Developing language awareness in subject classes

Overview

The materials on the website are organized in three parts or steps, which are closely linked with one another. 

Step 1: Planning

• The materials in this section will help you to become more aware of the differences between everyday language and the language used in school. They will also highlight the importance of language in subject learning. At the end of each sub-section references to further relevant materials are provided. 
   
• Tools 1-5 presented in this section are available in Armenian, English, Finnish, French and Norwegian.The tools are:
  
  • Tool 1: Subject-specific language descriptors 
  • Tool 2: Identify discourse genres in your subject(s)
  • Tool 3: Collaborate and identify differences in subject-specific discourse demands
  • Tool 4: Design tasks to integrate content and language objectives
  • Tool 5: Five steps to differentiate language objectives

Step 2: Teaching

• In this section a series of examples on practical procedures will help you to identify students’ language needs in your subject(s). We also provide a list of different scaffolding techniques, such as, how to support your students in writing, speaking, and reading tasks, how to create teaching materials, and in what ways you can draw on students’ first language in your teaching.

Step 3: Learning

• In this phase teachers and students are able to reflect on their own learning and teaching. The self-evaluation grid provided is based on the European Language Portfolio (ELP). A similar tool for teachers called EPOSTL (the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages) is also presented in this section.

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