VicTESOL Professional Learning – Page 8

Primary, Resources, Secondary, Update, VicTESOL Professional Learning

Differentiation for EAL across the curriculum – Ruth Hibburt and the Geelong English Language Centre teachers and MEAs

This session was a practical workshop to assist teachers to modify programs and scaffold learning to assist EAL students to access the Victorian Curriculum across all subject areas. Participants learnt about engaging EAL learners, scaffolding essential vocabulary and making appropriate modifications to learning and assessment tasks.

The session began with a short presentation from Ruth Hibburt. The presentation focused on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of differentiation. The powerpoint presentation is available above. A recording of the presentation will be available shortly.

This presentation was followed by expert teachers from GELC working with participants in small groups to guide them through making appropriate adjustments to a work sample for their EAL learners. Participants were asked to send in a work sample such as lesson plan, unit planner, assessment task or worksheet they are currently using or are planning to use in Term 3 so that GELC staff could formulate recommendations tailored specifically to participants’ needs. This part of the session was not recorded.

This session was aimed at primary and secondary school teachers. Prior to this event, participants were asked to read pages 32-36 of the article ‘Catering for EAL/D Students’ Language Needs in Mainstream Classes: Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives and Practices in One Australian Setting’ (Toni Dobinson & Sylvia Buchori).

* Recommended reading: Dobinson, T. J., & Buchori, S. (2016). Catering for EAL/D Students’ Language Needs in Mainstream Classes: Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives and Practices in One Australian Setting.. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(2).

Ruth Hibburt is a highly accomplished teacher with over 12 years experience teaching in Victorian Secondary Schools 7-12 and English Language Centres P-10. She specialises in teaching the academic language of Mathematics and Science through planning, engagement, curriculum development, assessment and reporting for EAL Maths and Science P-10. Ruth is a positive change maker in education and an expert in building skills and confidence with teachers and students. She has taught over 3000 students from a diverse range of social backgrounds and learning needs. Ruth currently works in Victorian schools as a Network Numeracy Improvement Teacher.

The GELC staff are all qualified specialist EAL teachers with many years experience in delivering English language programs. GELC programs develop the English language knowledge and skills for students to access the Victorian curriculum across a range of subjects areas including maths, science, humanities and ICT. GELC staff also work in a coaching and mentoring capacity with mainstream classroom teachers to scaffold learning appropriately to meet the needs of EAL students.

Here is a presentation by Premila Veerasamy and Hsah Mu Hen Tun (Geelong English Language School) that covers some further content relating to the discussions from this professional learning event:

Download (PPTX, 4.88MB)

Adult, Refugee, Resources, Update, VicTESOL Professional Learning

VicTESOL Webinar- Intercultural communication in the adult EAL classroom: Concepts and classroom practice (Skye Playsted)

Skye Playsted Thursday 14 May 2020 When we think of the term ‘culture’, it can be easy to focus on concrete elements such as art, music, clothing or food. However,…

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Adult, Digital Literacies, Early Childhood, Primary, Professional Learning, Remote Learning, Resources, Secondary, Update, VicTESOL Professional Learning

Teaching EAL learners online using video conferencing

To download an edited PDF of powerpoint:

Download (PDF, 657KB)

To download the resource links page:

Download (DOCX, 15KB)

Victoria Butterfield, Voula MacKenzie, Heena Sharma, Panayiota Kai
The Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program of the Victorian School of Languages (VSL)
Tuesday 28 April, 4-5pm
Online Webinar

Are you faced with the challenge of teaching your EAL students online during the COVID-19 crisis?

This session provided practical strategies for teaching EAL online, followed by a Q and A session with a panel of expert primary and secondary EAL teachers who work with the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program.

Participants learnt tips and strategies for the effective use of videoconferencing to teach EAL learners. Examples were shown of how engaging lessons can be conducted online for F-10 EAL learners at all levels.

This professional learning session focused on working with EAL students who have access to videoconferencing software at home.

About the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program [VNAP]
The Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program supports new arrival EAL students using video conferencing sessions delivered through a distance education model at the Victorian School of Languages (VSL). The Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program (VNAP) is specifically for newly-arrived EAL learners in remote country schools who cannot access an English Language School or English Language Centre.

Victoria Butterfield is co-coordinator and a teacher in the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program (VNAP). She is a highly accomplished EAL teacher who has taught in English Language Schools and Centres in Victoria for the past twelve years. Since 2017, Victoria has taught in the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program to support newly-arrived EAL learners and teachers in regional Victoria.

Voula MacKenzie is an experienced EAL, Information Technology and Humanities teacher, who has taught in Victorian secondary schools, English Language centres and most recently at the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program (Distance Education) hosted at the Victorian School of languages campus in Thornbury. Since 2014, Voula has led the development of the Virtual EAL program, which began as a pilot project, and is now an established program with 65 students throughout rural Victoria. Voula co-coordinates the program.

Heena Sharma is a generalist teacher specialising in EAL. She has worked in government Primary schools for over 15 years and in collaboration with Panayiota Kai teaching EAL. Heena Sharma joined the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program team in 2017.

Panayiota Kai is a generalist teacher specialising in Languages and EAL. She has taught in government Primary and Secondary schools for over 20 years. Panayiota has worked as an EAL Coach, trained EAL Leaders and offered PD on EAL issues. Panayiota has been part of the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program as Curriculum Co-ordinator since 2015.

Assessment, Professional Learning, Resources, Secondary, Uncategorized, Update, VCE, VicTESOL Professional Learning

VCE EAL Listening to Texts – How to Teach and Assess

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Listening skills are ones we all employ, both passively and actively, but how do we teach and evaluate them as part of VCE EAL assessment?

In this session you will consider how to develop and embed valid EAL listening assessment into every outcome of Units 1-4 through the completion and analysis of an existing assessment tool and subsequent creation of a task based on evidence-based listening assessment practices.

As a passionate EAL, Spanish and 7-12 English teacher as well as an active VicTESOL committee member and second language learner, April is highly experienced in the areas of first and additional languages education. She completed her Masters thesis on VCE listening task assessment at the University of Melbourne and is currently training undergraduate and post graduate teachers at La Trobe University in literacy, secondary EAL pedagogy and curriculum and interdisciplinary education. She recently developed materials for the DET Koorie Outcomes Unit to promote the use of EAL teaching practices for improved social and academic outcomes for Victoria’s Indigenous students.

Adult, Assessment, Early Childhood, Plurilingualism, Primary, Professional Learning, Refugee, Resources, Secondary, Uncategorized, Update, VicTESOL Professional Learning

Multicultural Classrooms – Plurilingualism in Practice Webinar presented by Janet Armitage

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Wednesday 4 March

Functional Multilingualism/Translanguaging are currently popular terms being researched, discussed and adapted to diverse learning settings. This webinar was a practical response to the current interest in Translanguaging, suggesting ways this might look in EALD classrooms and what teachers might consider when developing Translanguaging activities. With the intention of bringing students’ linguistic and cultural knowledge to the fore through redesigning Australian Curriculum and SACE task, four tasks, along with samples of student work, were presented and discussed.

Janet Armitage currently works for the South Australian Department for Education in the role of EAL/D Hub Coach supporting teachers in professional development that recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander EALD learners. Janet undertook action research in a large secondary school in South Australia where she was an EALD teacher and EALD & Languages Coordinator. She is also a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics with the University of South Australia and has been part of a team providing professional development to Languages teachers across the state.

Assessment, Resources, Secondary, Uncategorized, Update, VCE, VicTESOL Professional Learning

VCE EAL Exam Webinar – Meet the Assessors

Glynis Rose & Rosemary McLoughlin Tuesday 11 February, 4-5:30 pm, Online event In this session, Glynis and Rosemary provided feedback on student performance in the 2019 VCE EAL exam, including…

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Professional Learning, VicTESOL Professional Learning

Teaching Young Children English in Multilingual Contexts (TYCEMC)

ABC Education Showcase – Using Digital for the digital age

Shivali Nayak, ABC Education
Thursday 21 November

The digital age presents some new and interesting learning opportunities for EAL learners. How can teachers harness the power of digital resources to engage students in the classroom and provide them with self-learning opportunities? ABC Education Learn English creates innovative digital content for culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Find out how you can use these support materials in your classroom to complement EAL teaching and learning in this free online webinar.

Shivali Nayak is the senior content producer for ABC Education Learn English. She has led the development of creative digital content on a range of topics such as everyday English, weather, grammar, commonly confused words and daily conversations. Learn English is the ABC’s educational resource for people learning English as an Additional Language. Learn English has close to 5 million followers on social media, making it the ABC’s largest Facebook community.

Adult, Early Childhood, Primary, Professional Learning, Secondary, Update, VicTESOL Professional Learning

The diverse interactions of Aboriginal EALD speakers: Codeswitching, translanguaging or “whatever”….

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Professor Rhonda Oliver, Curtin University
Monday 28 October, 7-8pm (Australian Eastern Standard Daylight Savings Time)

Australian Aboriginal people interact in diverse ways and this is especially the case for those who grow up and live in rural and remote locations. In such locations Standard Australian English (SAE) is often not spoken as the residents’ first language or dialect, instead they may have either traditional Indigenous language(s) or an English-lexified creole as their first language (L1), or they may have Aboriginal English (AE) as their first dialect. In addition, most will also use AE as the lingua franca to communicate with other Aboriginal people who do not share their home language. For Aboriginal people, particularly those living in the rural and remote communities, the importance of language (i.e., traditional languages, creoles and AE), both for the maintenance of culture and as a marker of Aboriginality, should not be underestimated. For younger people in particular, their Aboriginal languages contribute in significant ways to the formation of their self-identity. At the same time, however, to fully participate in mainstream Australian society Aboriginal people also need to develop an awareness of and have skills in using SAE. This is especially the case for those studying in schools and universities. To address this need, Aboriginal students have been encouraged and, at times, explicitly taught to codeswitch – changing from their home language to SAE within the classroom. This has been implemented on the assumption that written literacy development will emerge from such a foundation. Yet despite this, educational outcomes (e.g., NAPLAN results) show they continue to achieve under the national standard in language and literacy (ACARA, 2012). While formal success in SAE seems elusive, many Aboriginal speakers, including children, demonstrate a complex linguistic repertoire. Rather than simply switching from one language to another they move fluidly between their various linguistic codes and do so as required by the context, audience, and the learning environment. In this presentation I will describe various observational data showing the diverse ways and various modes in which they do this and make suggestions for how pedagogy (including assessment) can move beyond our current monolinguistic hegemony to one that is Informed by a translanguaging perspective (Garcia & Wei, 2014).

Professor Rhonda Oliver is Head of the School of Education at Curtin University, Perth, Australia. She is widely published in the area of second language acquisition with more than 4,000 citations to her publications. Internationally she is best known for her work in relation to child language learners. As well as work within the interactionist paradigm, she has also conducted numerous studies on language learners in schools and universities. She has also undertaken work in the area of Aboriginal education, particularly for those students who have Standard Australia English as their second language or dialect.

Professional Learning, Resources, Secondary, Update, VicTESOL Professional Learning

Supporting recently-arrived EAL students in a mainstream school setting

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Elena Di Mascolo & Liaqat Gulzari

Dandenong High School

Wednesday 4 September, 4-5pm

In this workshop, Elena and Liaqat shared their experiences establishing and implementing specialised programs for recently-arrived EAL students in a culturally-diverse secondary school setting, from Year 7-10. They explained the features of the various academic and non-academic programs, including both embedded and parallel EAL academic programs, community programs and transition processes. There was a particular focus on the “Connect” program, designed to support recently-arrived EAL students over 16 years of age. They shared their pedagogical approaches and the related strategies they employ and look at measures of success. Resources and processes were also shared in order to assist schools to develop programs tailored to their own settings.

Elena is a Learning Specialist at Dandenong High School. She has been teaching in the areas of EAL and Learning Difficulties for about 20 years and has worked at Dandenong High School for ten of those years. She is interested in school structures and pedagogical approaches that support the learning of recently-arrived EAL students who require specialised support to thrive in mainstream secondary school settings.

Liaqat is a Learning Intervention Officer at Dandenong High School. He has been supporting students at the school for two years. He is interested in supporting the learning of students in a mainstream secondary school setting.

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