Language awareness by EUN Partnership aisbl

HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY

mavimavi2316 — 2018-09-24 12:25:20 UTC

Language awareness increases teacher responsibility. The teacher who cannot reach his / her student is ineffective. The right to education of the student is violated. the teacher should know not only his / her language but also the culture. the real success comes after that.

Filomena Montella, Italy

2018-09-24 12:26:42 UTC

Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta

2018-09-24 12:48:18 UTC

A colleague of mine, had a foreign student in her class. Unfortunately the student barely knew English. Together with the complimentary teacher, they managed to compile resources to help him with the basic needs of the language and then later on move on to academic subjects.

Daniela Roversi. Italy

2018-09-24 12:54:58 UTC

I'm from year to year surer, that the approach of the teacher to his/her subject is extremely important. Only when the teacher reaches his/her students can he/she reach his/her goal.

Patrizia

2018-09-24 13:12:56 UTC

try to treat all students equally and help who is in need for this - I tell to all that more languages you speak more richer you are

Daniela Galea, Malta

daniela_galea10 — 2018-09-24 13:24:14 UTC

During my past 7 years of teaching, I can confidently say that I had students from all parts of the world in my classroom. At first it was a bit difficult to handle as obviously they did not know our language, which is Maltese, and some of them not even English. Together with my colleagues, I created adapted resources to help them learn basic Maltese and English. However, a few years ago we created migrant-learners classes, in which students are taught English and Maltese for one scholastic year before joining the mainstream classes. As from last year, we also have A1 classes which are basic Maltese lessons especially for foreigners that can communicate in English.

2018-09-24 13:28:24 UTC

In my school there are a few foreign students from China,Ukraine and Morocco. These students often don’t understand our language. It’s difficult to communicate complex messages to them so the school organises basic language courses and the teachers design personalised didactic programmes. My position in the classroom enables me to cooperate with the teacher of specific subjects helping the single students in need.

Rita Xuereb, Malta

2018-09-24 13:32:54 UTC

Language awareness will help children feel happy and secure as they will be able to understand and appreciate all that is going on around them.

I think with very young children it is essential to create visual resources, to facilitate this understanding.

Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way.

2018-09-24 13:51:01 UTC

Alex_PT

alexandraduarte — 2018-09-24 13:58:15 UTC

Whenever I have students who hardly know any English, there are extra lessons/ there is extra help as well as adapted resources in and out of the class. It’s of paramount importance that this student doesn’t feel left aside, forgotten and insecure; right from the start, they have to be integrated and encouraged to learn and overcome yet still another hurdle in a new country, a new culture.

Rita Luiso

2018-09-24 13:59:52 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers because probably it can encourage and integrate all students (also with special needs and insecure) learning

Martina

2018-09-24 14:05:13 UTC

Language awarness is important for all teachers because in our classrooms there are many foreign students. They need to be guided in the process of learning a new language, buy starting from their mother tongue

Varvara, Latvia

2018-09-24 14:25:30 UTC

i have different students with different English level plus i have not only Latvians in my classroom, but also Russians, who don't understand Latvian so i have to translate them some words or sentences into Latvian and that's why i have created some adapted resources that have helped me to improve my language awareness

Rosy (Italy)

2018-09-24 14:27:23 UTC

I usually used supports and strategies to help foreign students, for example to activate their background knowledge, or teach them vocabulary giving opportunities to practice new words and create situations to provide corrective feedback .

Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy

2018-09-24 14:29:23 UTC

In our school this year there is an Ukrainian child who does'nt know the Italian language. The child is very motivated to socialize with the group, but the linguistic gap is a strong limitation although teachers and pupils try to communicate with extraverbal languages. We have now requested the figure of a linguistic mediator to help  child and teachers. A higher level of linguage awareness would have favored the inclusion process.

Odarka, Latvia

2018-09-24 14:29:50 UTC

Upon me our (teacher)awareness, knowledge ans skills is what we need to know and able to do. And what roles do we need to change, and therefore, how will this change the patterns of relationships in the classroom.

Alessandra Amideo,

2018-09-24 14:31:32 UTC

ITALY

Language awareness will help students gain greater operational autonomy, greater awareness of their abilities,
 greater self-criticism to overcome weaknesses and a growth of self-esteem.In addition, awareness of the language, will stimulate teachers to take care of the different personalized strategies that take into account the uniqueness of the person.

Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional

2018-09-24 14:33:18 UTC

Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy)

2018-09-24 14:34:39 UTC

Globalization leads all teachers to consider linguistic awareness as an important educational purpose so that all students have greater possibilities of integration into society and the world of work. This training must be taken care of since primary school in order to develop in successive degrees and in universities.  Usually I organize my teaching activities on a methodology of cooperatives and pair work, Web Quest, Located Learning Episodes and CLIL.

Tiziana Varone, Italy

2018-09-24 14:35:40 UTC

This year I'll face for the first time language diversity in classroom. Two sisters from India will attend my lessons in technologies and telecommunications. They speak Italian, but aren't as good at listening. I hope this course will help me to afford this situation, where a greater language awareness would really help to design the effective learning for those students.

Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia

2018-09-24 14:36:33 UTC

Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of communication not only cognitive but also emotional

Claudia Mazzone - Italy

claudia_mazzone1972 — 2018-09-24 14:39:11 UTC

Last year in the class arrived a girl from Pakistan who could comunicate only in English. In that case the language was a fundamental vehicle to comunicate with her in order to male her feel confortable with her schoolmates and teachers. I think that all the teachers - whatever they learn - should raise a good level of language awareness to be able to communicate with the different language studente , in order to make them reach the result they expect and make them feel integrated with their schoolmates and tachers.

Maddalena Farruggia (Italy)

2018-09-24 14:40:08 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers because it allows to adapt the teaching method to the pupils and make learning easier.

Lia,Italy

2018-09-24 14:46:01 UTC

Language awarness implies that the teacher needs to come up constanty with different stategies and and has to face constant challenges. A useful tool is to find connections and to build bridge with different languages, of course, it works especially among languages from the same group, i.e. germanic or romance language or to work with linguistic loans

It is very often in the greek schools.

2018-09-24 14:50:19 UTC

Foteini Tsioutsia

inci Süzer, Turkey

2018-09-24 15:08:20 UTC

Being language aware means you understand the possible challenges that language presents to learning. These challenges might arise because a student is learning a subject through an additional language or it might be the first time a student has come across certain vocabulary or structures in their first language. A teacher who is ‘language aware’ understands why students face these difficulties and what they can do to support students.

inci

2018-09-24 15:08:23 UTC

Lia MOlini from ITaly

2018-09-24 15:23:39 UTC

I think that teachers can better understand pupils'needs and recognize their abilities. This is a good point to start teaching language in a successful way

Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy

2018-09-24 15:36:46 UTC

we are two foreign languages teachers working together. Language awareness is important because to help students to overcome their difficulties and make them more interested in learning and improving languages.

Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy

2018-09-24 15:36:55 UTC

We are two foreign languages Teachers working together. Language awareness is important to help student to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in Learning and improving languages

Federica Tagliafichi

FedeTagliafichi — 2018-09-24 15:42:40 UTC

in my opinion the awareness of the different languages becomes a cultural resource for the whole class. If I can I will help students or parents to welcome students of different nationalities who do not yet know the language.
I try to use group work to get the sweaty to exchange experiences.

Martina from Italy

2018-09-24 15:43:08 UTC

Language awareness helps me to be more interested in pupils's needs. it's importanta for the whole class

Rosario from Spain

2018-09-24 15:45:03 UTC

When in a class I have students with more facility to use a language than others, one strategy that I usually use is to work in heterogeneous groups, where students can help each other, solving simple doubts into the group and exercising little by little in the use of the new language.

Gina, Italy

2018-09-24 15:46:41 UTC

Gina, Italy

2018-09-24 15:46:54 UTC

In a class last year , I had many foreign students, BES and a special student. Not an easy situation but I tried to involve them by letting them present their own country including traditions , culture, holidays and family lifestyle. Then I decided they should try and find words which were in some way similiar to Italian or English. Not so easy but at least interesting for them and proud to introduce their country or little village they came from.

Maria, italy

2018-09-24 15:55:48 UTC

As a teacher of English last year I supported a colleague who teaches Law in Clil. We found it very helpful to resort to comparisons between the British/American system and the Italian system

2018-09-24 15:59:57 UTC

I've sometimes had a foreign student in my classes. I find it very stimulating and motivating for student and for me as well.

MariaM - Gaeta, Italy

2018-09-24 16:04:56 UTC

Every year some pupils coming from foreign countries are included in our classes. They often barely know the Italian language, so language awareness can help me to guide them towards a more aware communication with classmates and teachers, and towards a more effective and significant learning.

Carolina ,Italy

2018-09-24 16:07:27 UTC

In my opinion the awareness of the different language is very iimportant to help students to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in learning and improving languages.Language awareness increase teacher responsibility, if the student doesn't reach all this one, in this case the teacher should create a climate of trust in which exchange a climate of trust which exchange and communicate among students and with the teacher are facilited

Federica, Italy

2018-09-24 16:08:40 UTC

I've had a lot of foreign students in my classes, mainly from Albania, Morocco, Pakistan, Romania and Senegal. When I told them that I studied English for a long time, they felt at ease during the lessons, knowing that I could translate italian difficult words into English and better understand their difficulties.

Maren, Germany

2018-09-24 16:12:40 UTC

Language awareness is important for all teachers, because language is the foundation stone for all learning processes. Often students would be able to understand a topic in their own language but struggle to follow the class because of language barriers. This is why all teachers need to be aware of the language diversity in a classroom

İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE

zeynepsina — 2018-09-24 16:16:07 UTC

Konu dil farkındalığı, Sınıfımızda farklı dillerde öğrenciler olduğunda, dersin işlenişi öğrencilerin dil performanslarına göre değişmektedir. Ayrıca öğrencinin öğretmeni sevmesi derse ve dile karşı tutumunu değiştirir. Örneğin, öğrencilerimin dilini bilmediğim bir okulda çalıştım. Öğrenci bana mis mis dedi. Benim dilimde mis güzel koku demektir. fakat öğrencimin dilinde mis Wc ye gitmek demekmiş az kalsın çocuk üzerine yapacaktı.

M.Rosa

2018-09-24 16:26:11 UTC

(Italy)
Teachers need to be aware of the different languages in their classrooms to help foreign students

Eda,Turkey

2018-09-24 16:26:32 UTC

I think language awareness is definitely important.If a student knows why he learns another language,he can be more eager to learn.On the other hand,teaching a language to the students from different backgrounds is really hard.Most of the time,the teachers dont know how to approach them.Yesterday,one of my teacher friend came to me and said that a Syrian student cried for the whole lesson and I didnt understand why he cried.The teacher's motivation was decreased by his crying.That was only one example.

Daisy (Italy

daisydegio — 2018-09-24 16:28:21 UTC

It is important to know the students' language background in order to help them when they are facing learning / communicative difficulties. If the teacher is aware he/ she can use strategies in order to make the learning path easier ( I' m referring to collaborative tasks , peer revisions, individualised teaching)

Elín Iceland

eths2 — 2018-09-24 16:28:49 UTC

I think that is good so it is possible to practice all skills

Ciro, Italy

2018-09-24 16:34:47 UTC

Three years ago i teached italian to 4 foreign students came to my school because parents moved here for working. Basicly i teached italian passing by a common language such as English but i would learning topics in Russian or Arab to better make learning to them.

As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill.

2018-09-24 16:38:51 UTC

Carmen, Romania

Costina, Heidelberg

2018-09-24 16:41:18 UTC

Language awareness is fundamental, because it helps students to feel more confident and it helps me to facilitate learning in a harmonious and sustainable way.

Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time.

neiviller_francesca — 2018-09-24 16:46:54 UTC

Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy

2018-09-24 16:59:30 UTC

LAnguage awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in the classroom. Language awareness for students can stimulate cooperative learning, thus creating a stimulating and comfortable climate in the classroom.

Giedre (Lithuania)

2018-09-24 17:01:17 UTC

LA is very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers know more methologies how to make students be involved in learning process. I'd like that my students want to learn because I involve them into eTwinning projects where they have to communicate and collaborate with different countries students. It helps me improve their knowledge of language and awareness as well.

Roberta (Italy)

2018-09-24 17:03:57 UTC

LA is important to avoid our students feel discouraged while studying because they don't achieve good results

Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal)

2018-09-24 17:12:43 UTC

Language awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in classroom. It´s very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers can use different strategies (cooperative learning, stimulating and comfortable climate in classroom) and the students be more involved in learning progress.

Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him.

scriminacianna — 2018-09-24 17:13:00 UTC

José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal

2018-09-24 17:13:37 UTC

LA is crucial if you have students from other countries. In a time where european countries are receiving and accepting refugees, a portuguese teacher like me have to be able to deal with children wich have no idea of what portuguese language is. In a first moment it would be of much importance that a I could communicate with them in order to make them feel more at home and beggin the inclusion in the school and in the portuguese society. We, the teachers, can be and should be the bridge between people countries and, why not?, civilizations.

Alina, Rom

2018-09-24 17:15:10 UTC

LA is very important because using different interactive methods pupils get more confident, they have courage to use the new language, but also it is our duty to create a pleasant climate and encourage them all the time.

Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless

2018-09-24 17:17:10 UTC

2018-09-24 17:18:23 UTC

Yes I think language awareness is very important in teaching field .In our class all students are not on the same level in terms of language .Teachers must be efficient in different languages to engage students in class and develops good lear

Sylwia, Poland

2018-09-24 17:18:53 UTC

What is important in LA to know the student's abilities so then we're more reliable . Creating a good climate inside the class to make students comfortable.

Maria Jastrząb

mjastrz92 — 2018-09-24 17:19:36 UTC

I'm not an English teacher but I'm interested in language teaching methodology . I use the best ideas adjusting them to teaching my young students ex. maths, art, music etc.

FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY

2018-09-24 17:25:26 UTC

This school year my colleagues and I are going to face a great challemge. In a class of the third and last year of Middle School, we have a new student from Ukraine. He has moved to Italy with his family for TWO months and he can't speak a word of Italian! Fortunately, he can speak some English, so we are going to use this leanguage as a means of communication. At the end of this year students have a final State exam and National Standard Tests (INVALSI) in Italian, MAths and English. I think that language awareness, most of all for non-language teachers, is crucial to help this student facing successfully this school year.

Matanat Ahadova

ahadovamatanat2 — 2018-09-24 17:42:23 UTC

Aim in language awareness was that pupils in their foreign language learning should be stimulated to ask questions about language, how it functions and what role it plays in people’s lives; in other words, to have an explicit approach to different phenomena of language.

Giuseppina V. , Italy

2018-09-24 17:44:04 UTC

Language awareness or, perhaps better, learning to speak foreign languages is very important for every teacher because it leads us to reflect on ourselves and our learning difficulties. In order to learn how speaking foreign languages we must remove what Krashen calls Affective Filter, sometimes it may happen that we must become resilient as well. All this helps us to better understand the difficulties of our students whether they are native speakers or foreigners and teaches us to encourage them and make them comfortable. I believe that any teacher, not only second language teachers, should be resilience tutors. We are teachers of both topics and life .

Ayşe,Turkey

fable_tugcee_90 — 2018-09-24 17:45:36 UTC

Language awareness is so important because everybody thinks there are some bariers of learning new language but it is not true. We must facilitate learning languages in a correct and easy way.

Moreno, Rieti, Italy

2018-09-24 17:49:20 UTC

The awareness about language is fundametal during a lesson, you have to expose the concept in a very clear, fluid and impacting way. Students must be captured by a teacher, and the main way is to be confident about the contact with students. Usually students haven't a real awareness with language, an analysis of the sentences and words could be helpful.

Brigida Calise

2018-09-24 17:50:02 UTC

Language awareness is crucial because as a teacher I must be aware of my students' language differences in order to help them learn easily and without any stress.

Ela, Poland

2018-09-24 17:53:58 UTC

I`m a teacher who teach mother tongue. I teach students how using Polish language rules can help to acquire linguistic awareness between their mother tongue and another language. It is important especially for pupils who come back to Poland from moving abroad. In our school it happen very often .So, the teacher should be aware of these processes and find the best way to help pupils to overcome these problems.

Hanife, Turkey

2018-09-24 17:54:47 UTC

Language awareness is crucial to help pupils that we understand their anxıous and it hepls students to calm down. In addition to this, LA can motivate students that they can overcome with language barries and also heps teachers to develop strategies.

According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers

2018-09-24 18:00:00 UTC

language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people.

2018-09-24 18:20:20 UTC

Chiara

2018-09-24 18:25:49 UTC

Language awareness helps teachers to understand different point of views from other cultures.

Eduarda, Portugal

2018-09-24 18:30:53 UTC

LA is plays an essential role in language teaching. When a teacher becomes aware of language diversity inside the classroom, he/she can easily understand the students' needs and or difficulties. Becoming aware of the different levels of language knowledge in our classrooms is a priority to planning and adapting. Once I had a multiethnic group and communication was not easy. It was a mixed language class really: sometimes I had to speak either Portuguese or Spanish so they could understand the meaning of specifuc vocabulay in English. It turned out that I also learnt a few words in their mother language.

Language awareness

2018-09-24 18:42:08 UTC

If you are aware of the diversity of languages in your classroom, you will understand and be understood!! Students may become the teacher and vice versa; it will create a trustful environment motivating students to learn more effectively! The learning/teaching process will be smoother and aims will be achieved easily!!

Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture.

prof_zoricasubotic — 2018-09-24 18:46:35 UTC

Mary

2018-09-24 18:55:45 UTC

It's very important to communicate with different culture and understand their needs.

Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania

bondargladiola — 2018-09-24 18:55:57 UTC

Language awareness is important to all teachers because they have to help students to socialize, to know each other, to be bold in communication. Teachers to apply classroom interactive methods, educational games.

Paola T., Palestrina(Italy)

torniai_paola — 2018-09-24 18:58:45 UTC

Language Awerness i the conscious perception in language learning, language teaching and language use. L.A. is the explicit knowledge about language.

Roberta

2018-09-24 19:04:21 UTC

language awareness is very important for students because to facilitate the cooperative learning

Antonella

2018-09-24 19:06:06 UTC

language awareness is a very essential topic to understand students and to let them trust on us and it is also an index of teaching succes

Sarah, UK

2018-09-24 19:06:22 UTC

It is important to be aware of how well a pupil can read and write a language as this can affect how they access the curriculum.

Sonia in Ireland

scrimmins — 2018-09-24 19:10:47 UTC

I agree that students need to be supported depending on their level but working with younger students I'm always so impressed by how much they acquire through immersion.At the core of all good classrooms I think we need to create a safe environment where our students aren't afraid to take risks and make mistakes. It can be very daunting for a beginner before they make a breakthrough though.

Maja

2018-09-24 19:13:08 UTC

As a counsellor I had lot of situations when some teacher were not aware how difficult it is to learn all the facts and understand the instructions for students with Croatian as a second language. They ussualy think if studenst comunicate good with students in Croatian, it is a proof that students can achieve the same academic succsess in academic language.

Magdalena Uleia , Romania

2018-09-24 19:18:18 UTC

Language awareness it is similsr with Math awareness : they are clearly usefull for all daylife!

Cinzia Marrone Italy

2018-09-24 19:20:06 UTC

I think it’s important in language lessons to create a relaxed atmosphere so children can better understand and communicate with others. Teacher ‘s role is important to let them aware in language learning . So use of games and creation of real context is a best practice to engage learning in both language or not language discipline.

after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions

2018-09-24 19:21:54 UTC

Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs

2018-09-24 19:22:34 UTC

It is important to be aware of how much a student can read and write a language, in a school inclusion and integration plan I think it is important to communicate with different cultures and understand their needs.

Ana, Lisbon PT

anamadalenaf_1972 — 2018-09-24 19:23:49 UTC

Language awarness is essential to understand our students, their needs and their abilities. In my classroom, for example, I often have students who don't speak one word of portuguese, as they have arrived from asian countries just weeks ago. And as you can imagine, I don't speak any word of nepalese, bangla, indi or gujarati. It's a great challenge for me and every little step, every little word they learn is cheered by the rest of the class. Just knowing and being aware of their complete unfamiliarity with the schooling language and culturemakes me more motivated to use alternative ways of teaching."

Alina, Romania

2018-09-24 19:27:20 UTC

A good language helps you know your pupils better, capture their attention, motivate them to feel attracted to the matter and as comfortable as possible at school

Gianfranca

2018-09-24 19:30:08 UTC

Understanding linguistic diversity is important to understand different needs. In an inclusive school ,integration is the awareness to communicate with other cultures understanding their needs.

clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems

2018-09-24 19:32:57 UTC

Hartmut,Germany

hasc56 — 2018-09-24 19:33:36 UTC

Language awareness is important to give students on different language levels the chance to be successful.Today we have more and more students with different nationalities and they have to be integrated.

Sílvia

2018-09-24 19:59:47 UTC

Language awareness is very important in order to help students to achieve the objectives of the subject you are teaching. If you are not aware of the challenges they are facing you would not be able to see what they need to improve.

Elisa, from Belluno (Italy)

2018-09-24 20:02:07 UTC

I think language awareness is a very important feature for a teacher, because it enables him/her to understand his/her pupils' difficulties when approccing specific subjects, new lexicon, complex concepts. Being aware of linguistic diversity in his/her classroom, a teacher can better anticipate which aspects may require spacial attention, organize his/her material in the most helpful way to guide students in their learning process, choose those methodologies he/she thinks will prove most successful. When faced with difficulties linked to a different linguistic background, I try to better explain the meaning of a word or a costoum exploring its semantic area or its cultural context, operating as many references to other cultures and language as I can. Linguistic and cultural diversity can be a really precious asset in a classroom, though: having an "insider" perspective is a key resource for contrasting prejudice.

İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY

kurtishak16 — 2018-09-24 20:02:27 UTC

A teacher with no language awareness cannot succeed because he / she will close communication channels. First of all, students should be able to understand their cultural values and their level of readiness. If we do not master the language of our students, planning and permanent learning become impossible.

Laura Gianfranceschi

laura_gianfranceschi — 2018-09-24 20:05:01 UTC

I often have classes with foreign students. Languange awareness is crucial to get thei learning real and solid

Alina, Romania

2018-09-24 20:06:25 UTC

To know the new pupils I ask them to come and tell me about their holiday, their hobbies, their favorite stuff and why ...

Daniela from Parma

2018-09-24 20:07:21 UTC

Facing students who had just arrived from a foreign country made me conscious of the importance of my language awareness: I could not act as before.

Silvia DM, Italy

2018-09-24 20:08:45 UTC

Students of any age learn better if they are not under pressure and in a state of anxiety, so if you understand their needs sharing the same language they are more likely to improve and be willing to learn.
I often ask students who have good knowledge of the target language to translate for the new comers into their mother tongue, but it is not always possible and feasible.

Lucia, Ital

2018-09-24 20:10:41 UTC

I think language awareness helps students to be secure and facilitates learning in a cooperative way.

Iveta Leinberga, Latvia

2018-09-24 20:16:46 UTC

Language awareness facilitates learning process. Language learners need to be supported. Learners` knowledge level of English language has to be taken into consideration and lessons should be appropriately designed in order to meet students` needs.

Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy

2018-09-24 20:23:07 UTC

In one of my classes there are three studets from Albania, one from Bangladesh and one from Romania. When I teach subjects as history and geography I use to work a lot on the meaning of the word and I think that this method is very usefull for my students both Italians and foreigns.

Maria Grassi, Italy

2018-09-24 20:37:13 UTC

Language awareness is an important competence for teachers because it can positively help the process of teaching-learning especially in exchange projects between European and extra-European Schools, in particular I use eTwinning platform and it helps me in different situations with my students.

Alena, Czechia

2018-09-24 20:41:43 UTC

Knowing more about language awareness would be useful while teaching mixed ability classes, where students´ language levels are so different at a time; taking this into account, using appropriate methods to help will be definitely a big benefit to these students (especially those who feel uneasy during L2 lessons).

Lucia,Crotone

2018-09-24 20:47:13 UTC

I think awareness is a fundamental faculty in order to increase sstudents selfesteem so important in every day life
meetse

Sophia Italy

sophia_danesino — 2018-09-24 20:53:14 UTC

CLIL lessons are often a daunting challenge, as for many students the use of L2 compromise their learning. I always try to offer enough scaffolding, but I probably should spend more time working on the language.

Debora Italy

2018-09-24 20:56:35 UTC

The teaching of language plays an important role in learnin and understanding subject content. For this reason it is important to reflect on students' abilities and to create a climate of trust and collaboration, in which the linguistic tool became an opportunity.

Lucia,Crotone

luciasalatino25 — 2018-09-24 20:57:42 UTC

I personally think awareness is a fundamental competence in order to live well

Catello de Sinno - Italy

2018-09-24 21:19:00 UTC

According to my experience, building language awareness also involves helping students gain a positive attitude toward the foreign language by developing the confidence to make an attempt or take a risk. Our pupils shouldn’t be afraid to take a risk or make mistakes and this is possible if they are really motivated to communicate . They are usually motivated if the context and the activities are familiar and near their world.

MARIA ITALY

soleconcetta96 — 2018-09-24 21:21:25 UTC

I'M A PRIMARY TEACHER AND I THINK THE PUPILS ARE NOT AWARE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE TO KNOW A LANGUAGE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR MOTHER TONGUE. SO HERE THE LANGUAGE LEARNING HAS TO BE AS NATURAL AS POSSIBLE FROM THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL. THROUGH GAMES, SONGS, RHYMES THEY HAVE TO BECOME CONFIDENT WITH IT AND TO LEARN USING IT IN THE DAILY SCHOOL ROUTINE AT THE BEST

Irene M. from Rome

2018-09-24 21:23:27 UTC

I agree about the importance and responsability of being a language aware teacher, in order to help students from different countries to achieve school and social goals. Othermore I think that being a language aware teacher means understanding the needs and the abilities of all students and working to improve the social classroom context. In my opinion, infact, a friendly climate can help learning processes and supporting the teacher’s work.
In my teaching experience, I have met students from Romania, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Ucraine, Argentina… and often they didn’t speak and understand the language of schooling. My first responsability is understanding the pupil’s need and deleting the obstacles that might compromise their school career. An educational strategy that I find useful is the peer-learning that helps pupils to bring out their personal abilities. In this way students can becoming more self-confident and aware about their school career in a cooperative climate.

H

2018-09-24 21:24:45 UTC

Sara, Portugal

2018-09-24 21:25:38 UTC

Well, in my point of view, language awareness is important for teachers cuz we are available to understand and help all the kids, because we can speak and comunicate with them without problems. Will be easier for both - teacher and kids - share points os views, ideas, help to solving some problems, understand some specific necessities and play. I think that is a good way to create na ,environment full of tranquility, security, confidence and initiative.

Hi,

2018-09-24 21:26:14 UTC

Daniela Daniel, Portugal

dmvd1 — 2018-09-24 21:31:48 UTC

I teach English in a small Portuguese town close to the Spanish border. Maybe for that reason, nowadays it’s usual to have in class students from countries such as India, Ukraine, Moldavia or China, for example. As some of them come to Portugal and go to school without understanding or speaking Portuguese, the best way to communicate with them is by using English. So, some language awareness of what an international language such as English is concerned is crucial to them as pupils and to me as their teacher.

2018-09-24 21:33:51 UTC

Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!)

Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!)

2018-09-24 21:36:35 UTC

Esther Spain

esanz — 2018-09-24 21:54:40 UTC

I think being awareness of language diversity makes my teaching more interesting and my students have the opportunity to learn from each other. So sometimes we think our class is monolingual and if you ask your students or just do activities as a language biography you could realize our students have a great plurilingual pr
ofile so I think it is really important to give visibility to all our students´languages.

Francesca Italy

2018-09-24 22:32:37 UTC

In my opinion language awareness allows me to communicate with all my students in an innovative way and this kind of learning is very appreciated by students and teachers because the cooperative learning , learning by doing and reality tasks can favourite immersive contests

Sharon Australia

2018-09-24 22:58:35 UTC

LA is also about respect - respecting students' first language, their culture, their prior knowledge etc. When teachers and students engage in respectful discussions be it first language or L2 or learning a subject in a foreign language then all the communicative actions and functions are put into place and teaching and learning can take place

Esmeralda Portugal

esmeralda_carvalho — 2018-09-24 23:32:27 UTC

As a history teacher in Portugal I have no need to talk in another language but I recognize the importance of the language awareness in student development and their relationsships.

Ana B. - Portugal

ana_biscoito — 2018-09-25 04:11:16 UTC

By using CLIL metodology we can give the same chances for all kids to express themselves and to learn more deeply all the subjects.

VANESSA, ITALY

vanerido — 2018-09-25 04:38:52 UTC

Language awareness helps students to feel more at ease in the school environment, and therefore more confident in their didactic and human relationships.

Michele, Italy, The next year

2018-09-25 05:00:46 UTC

Next year there was in my classroom a student not Italian that speak in an African tongue. It was impossible enter in her world and success in making communication. I think so that in this case LA is the real key to teach.

Monica Boccoli

mobocco — 2018-09-25 05:13:34 UTC

In my opinion, there are a lot of resources to improve my language awareness: etwinning, European Schoolnet Academy, Teacher Academy, MIE Microsoft, Skype in the classroom...

2018-09-25 06:23:21 UTC

I am a language t eache

2018-09-25 06:24:29 UTC

I am a teacher of language. Language Awareness is important for teachers because it helps us, the teachers, to understand our students much more. it makes us aware about their knowledge about particular subject. According to that what kind of tools of teaching i have to use to enhance their abilities and interest in the classroom. I have faced situations where language awareness would have helped me more to understands my students. I am looking forward to getting to know more about Language Awareness

Özcan TURAN

tuurann — 2018-09-25 06:36:58 UTC

We have many refugee students it is important to try to speak in their language to catch the

Rovena Trivanović

2018-09-25 06:46:25 UTC

Croatia
I teach students whose primary language-mother tongue is Croatian like mine. Nevertheless, I face challenges in my teaching because of students' poor knowledge of their mother tongue when it comes to basic structures or they hadn't acquired the basics of English in their primary school. I'm aware of that challenge and I try to help them in many ways not to be afraid of taking part in the class despite the challenge they face. There are students who are willing to progress in that sense,but there are also students who come to the conclusion that thex can't learn a foreign language and don't put any effort in it. I hope this course will help me deal with those chellenges.

Gabriela Turea

2018-09-25 06:55:24 UTC

I totally agree that language awareness is very important for teachers because otherwise we can lose our students (their attention, their involvement in the class, their willing of learning). By understanding their fist language needs, we overpass all the barriers.

2018-09-25 07:22:41 UTC

David Navas, Spain
As a secondary teacher, i barely am in a situation where students do not speak spanish. But in primary school i have seen students who do not speak Spanish because they come from another country. And it is crucial trying to speak with them in their language in order to "connect" with them.

Laura Colombo - Italy

2018-09-25 07:28:36 UTC

I believe a good starting point in developing our own language awareness is to consider the differences between BICS and CALP and its implications for our students. I teach English for Information Technology in a technical school and it is easier for students to develop academic language. The most difficult task for me as a teacher is to develop their interpersonal communication skills in a foreign language.

Vincenzo M. ITALY

2018-09-25 08:03:58 UTC

Language awareness is essential. Language is a powerful vehicle. "When teaching in a language other than that with which students are familiar, this language is the key, as it becomes the vehicle for transmitting the message to our students".

Rosamaria Teodorani

rossyteo — 2018-09-25 08:26:18 UTC

Rome

Rosamaria Teodorani

rossyteo — 2018-09-25 08:27:50 UTC

Rome Italy
Languages are products of the Human mind to communicate, they are instruments of thoughts, they represent a culture and its History. I teacher must be aware of this, as each person should have the possibility to keep always alive his mother tongue

Gianni Lottino

giannilottino — 2018-09-25 08:43:44 UTC

Every year I take part in an eTwinning project and it's to years I receive tu Quality Label Certificate! I get it thanks to my method and to the imput my students receive by the project I choose. So the importance of language awerness is unfolded day by day with all the passages from Italian, Frenc and English.

Anna Kaya, Sweden

2018-09-25 11:02:56 UTC

When my colleagues and I plan our teaching we try to find materials in our students strongest languages so we now that all of the students can read or listen in a language they can understand. We also try to plan for scaffolding so all the students can participate in the classroom activities and succeed with the assignments. This is quite complicated regarding the fact that all our students are in different ages and have different school background.

In Sweden all newly arrived students have “study guidance in their mother tongue” but that is maybe one or two hours per week and the students need more support. Our bilingual colleagues (study guides or mother tongue teachers) are a great support, not only for the students but also for us teachers that don’t share languages with our students.

Roberto, Forlì

2018-09-25 11:04:53 UTC

Language awareness is important to me to design effective CLIL modules for my students. For instance, I have to pay attention to not introduce too many new L2 terms in each lesson, to use short and simple sentences, and so on. I can design effective CLIL lessons only if I have a good Language awareness.

Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy

cinzfior — 2018-09-25 11:14:56 UTC

I think , as teachers, we must be aware of our language knowledge and pay attention to the students' one. Through etwinning projects and teachers training our classes must be openmind and aware of our culture dversity and our different languages.

Bilingual school

2018-09-25 11:19:21 UTC

In our school the teachers have to be very aware of the vocabulary that is used and support a lot of the language with other forms of learning such as visual and kinesthetic learning. It is also important for teachers to stretch those children who are able in their mother tongue to feel engaged within lessons too.

Aritz, Basque Countryu

2018-09-25 11:56:42 UTC

As a teacher, language awareness is key to understand our students needs. Some children feel apart the first days because they don't understand. But we have another global communication way that is non-verbal. We can help our students to enhance their language skills starting with the basic and also with the help of their classmates.

Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy

2018-09-25 12:08:21 UTC

In my classes there are pupils coming from different countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Ukraine. Language awareness helps the teacher understand his pupils' needs and skills; moreover, it helps pupils communicate with the class and the teacher and facilitate learning process.

Maria Kleidara

marakiklei — 2018-09-25 13:23:53 UTC

Last school year I had four new students from Syria who didn;t talk at all Greek. I tried to communicate with them but they were only 5 years old and it was very difficult. Although they had many abilities it was difficult to help them. So I asked for help from a mother of those students. She was teacher in her country too. So we were cooperate and manage to learn both the languages and I realize how creative a class can be when the language borders are no longer a problem. But what happens when you don't have help?

Leonardo Benedetti

l_benedetti_fotografia — 2018-09-25 13:58:54 UTC

Italy
I think that LA is fundamental. I have experienced and I am experiencing it everyday at school. Talking about art, design, architecture, it is very important to find the right way, the right words to let the students understand the topics

L

l_benedetti_fotografia — 2018-09-25 13:58:57 UTC

Diana

2018-09-25 13:59:41 UTC

In my life I had the opportunity to study three foreign languages. I'm not at the top when I speak or when I try to listen and understand in these foreign languages but I say that I could survive in many different foreign lands without fear. This opportunity is , therefore, already a good reason that gives me the desire to help my students and to find the better way to teach them English at school. Then I saw that children with some learning difficulties, when the foreign language is teached in the right way, can understand and take part, they can find their place and their role in the classroom, and this is very important for their growth

FRANCESCA

2018-09-25 14:03:45 UTC

Knowing and speaking well in English allows children to gain more self- confidence and increase their level of personal self-est

K

2018-09-25 14:03:46 UTC

Concetta, Sicily

concetta_grasso — 2018-09-25 14:13:49 UTC

Language awareness …
A teacher who is “language-aware” understands in which way students can face language difficulties, the language needs of their students and what he/she can do to support them.
For all students, language is a vehicle for learning. It is through language that learners access the content of the lesson and communicate their ideas. So, as a teacher, it is my responsibility to make sure that language isn’t a barrier to learning.

Teaching and learning through an additional language encourages understanding different cultures and improves students’ cognitive ability, so they can communicate with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Knowledge of other languages encourages new ways of thinking and of perceiving the world. We live in an increasingly global world and language skills make travel easier, provide opportunities and improve life conditions.

Gabriella

user_1412192056 — 2018-09-25 14:14:43 UTC

Gabriella

user_1412192056 — 2018-09-25 14:15:14 UTC

We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroab.

Gabriella

user_1412192056 — 2018-09-25 14:15:15 UTC

We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroad. We have children whose families have arrived in Italy some years ago and most of them have attended infant school so they have a basic knowledge of italian. This children can have problems with language when they start to study specific disciplines and find it hard to keep up with their italian mates. We always should keep in mind that their "language module" works perfectly in their first language and that we should help them to use their abilities in what is their second language.

Gabriella

user_1412192056 — 2018-09-25 14:15:19 UTC

We seldom have foreign children in class arriving d

Romit kaur India

2018-09-25 14:33:31 UTC

As we say every student is different and comes from different backgrounds, we have to be language proficient so that every student is understanding what we are saying .So teacher is responsible for the learning development of a student.

Ilaria

annailaria_p — 2018-09-25 14:43:28 UTC

CLIL is a methodology that promotes promotion
intercultural education, the plurilingual approach and comparisons
language. Facilitates the use of language in another cognitive area.
Promotes the use of the language to PROMOTE A CONTENT,
LIBERANDOLA DAI "FALSI PRAGMATICI", that is, uses the language for
transmit content by releasing it from functions and structures
grammatical, making it an instinctual action.

Grace

2018-09-25 14:46:26 UTC

Dealing with foreign students who have been in Italy for years or were born here from foreign families, I experience every day there's a gap between their bics and calp for example when reading a written, formal text; they may not understand some peculiar expressions when translaring from L2 to L1 ( which is not their native language). I help them by making examples or "translating" in a less formal language.

Cecelia (Ireland)

2018-09-25 14:49:28 UTC

I'm not sure if language awareness is always the issue - for me it's more one of capacity. When perhaps half the class are learning English as an Additional Language (but at varying degrees of

Cecelia (Ireland)

2018-09-25 14:49:33 UTC

Ilaria

annailaria_p — 2018-09-25 14:55:47 UTC

The difference between a normal class activity and CLIL activity lies in the fact that the
language used is not needed
only as a communicative filter, but
that it can even block the
process of interaction at the time
same. As a result it is necessary
guide and assist students in the
overcome linguistic barriers
letting them see, in succession,
learning a foreign language
as a possibility not only of
5
improve their linguistic skills but, above all, increase and deepen their skills
knowledge of the subject matter.

Valentina (Italy)

2018-09-25 15:14:04 UTC

I never had foreign students in the classroom whose first language wasn't Italian, but I often offer examples from other languages when I try to explain some grammar or semantics concepts. I think that this "theoretical" exposure to diversity can give a big incentive to pursue studying and paying attention during the lessons. In add, putting all the languages on the same identical ground of importance and clarify the links between them could prevent children from developing harmful group  identity feelings.

Adife DEMİRTAŞ

adifearslanbas — 2018-09-25 15:19:13 UTC

I totaly agree with the idea that language awarness plays an important role for teachers for ;
- language awarness helps us with the readiness of pupils,
- we can eaily create motivation for their learnings,
- we can create "sense of belonging" for our pupils if we have experience in language awarness.
Also, I have many classes which consists of refugees students from Syria and being aware of language and diversities always helps me creating motivation for both me and my pupils during learning journey.

ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey

aseka — 2018-09-25 15:45:05 UTC

Yeah, I have faced students whose mother language is not what I taught. Sometimes I learnt their language and we communicated.

Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy

2018-09-25 15:56:15 UTC

Matilde

2018-09-25 15:56:17 UTC

Our pupils usually start school when they are 3 years old. Our pre-primary teachers teach them the language using pictures, games, songs, tales... When they are 6 years old, they can communicate and understand the language used at school. If not, additional help is provided to them. Creating a safe and friendly environment is one of the clues.

Gabriela, Romania

gabi_petrichei — 2018-09-25 15:57:22 UTC

Language is an essential tool for learning. When you don't understand, you might lose interest and lack motivation for learning. I totally agree that language awareness is important to facilitate learning, increase motivation and communication.

Giusy Giugliano, Italy

2018-09-25 16:03:16 UTC

In my school there are a lot of immigrant students and very often communication is not immediate. We have organized some learning groups where italian sts help foreign sts, a sort of peer tutoring and it seems to be working, above all for a fully inclusion!

Tea Sisko, Croatia

tejasisko01 — 2018-09-25 16:19:47 UTC

While teaching English I should be LA that my students connect this FL to their MT which has different rules. I should also be aware of topics I am presenting in my English class and check my students' understanding. The crucial thing I should make is to ensure that my students feel comfortable in my class, create a climate of trust in which they can express themselves freely and communicate with peers and me.

Fátima Silva, Portugal

2018-09-25 16:27:54 UTC

When we are language aware, we understand how to communicate effectively with others, we understand and produce content that is understood by others

Vicky Archondi, Greece

almyros_teachers4europe — 2018-09-25 16:38:18 UTC

For the past 9 years I have been working in a Technical Lyceum in Magnesia which always accepts students from Albania. The mere fact that I'm not fully language and culture aware with regard to Albania , constitutes a barrier between me , my Albanian students my teaching and therefore their learning. If I manage to overcome this barrier, I'm certain that I will gain their trust, motivate them in their learning and help them find the means to reach their potential

Antonino, Italy

a_aiello1 — 2018-09-25 16:40:30 UTC

Although I don't teach by CLIL, I believe that I can talk about other topics from grammar spontaneously and create a really creative atmosphere by language awareness. The language is the vehicle by which you can touch students' hearts

Giuseppe, Italy

profgiuseppevullo — 2018-09-25 16:58:42 UTC

In my practice as a Math Teacher, I have found that there are three cyclic problems on bilingual mathematics learners. The first one focuses on acquisition of vocabulary, the second one focuses on the construction of multiple meanings across registers, and the last one focuses on participation in mathematical practices. This last one is due to the different socio-cultural views of both language and maths learning which can become more complex and, following this, losing sight of what is really important and worth as significant competence in mathematical communication.

Fatma ozkukekci

2018-09-25 17:15:49 UTC

I think awareness of language is very important in the class because there are arabic students in my class when I talk about their language they focus on us very much

Liana - Italy

2018-09-25 17:18:31 UTC

As a teacher, I think that LA awareness is mainly important to establish a positive relation with my pupils. Indeed, a teacher should make pupils protagonists of their learning in order to increase their confidence with language, their self-esteem and motivation, for instance through linguistic plays and storytelling.

Annamaria (Italy

annamariamazzacuva — 2018-09-25 17:52:53 UTC

As teacher I have often seen the difficulties lived by my foreign students in studying subjects in a different language. Having a wider language awareness I think that could help a lot them

Violeta (Romania

violeta_crst — 2018-09-25 17:55:32 UTC

I am a french teacher from Romania. I vote for language awareness because i think that is important for all of us, teachers or students, to become aware of the place occupied by the foreign languages. Its very important to be abble to communicate and to pass on all the informations about the culture and the civilisation of a country.

Lena, Germany

2018-09-25 17:56:17 UTC

I think that language is the key to communication. However, language does not say anything about understanding, knowledge and intelligence. I have often seen difficulties with the subject language but not with the subject itself. I think with this differentiation in mind, we have to help our students get insights into the subject on the one hand and teach them the language of the subject on the other hand...

Tiziana ITALY

2018-09-25 17:59:43 UTC

Language awareness is important for any educator dealing with students whose mother tongue is different from the one he/she speaks. It is important for any task and activity which we carry out while teaching languages and also other subjects.

soleconcetta96 — 2018-09-25 18:03:56 UTC

Tiziana ITALY Tiziana ITALY Language awareness is important for any educator dealing with students whose mother tongue is different from the one he/she speaks. It is important for any task and activity which we carry out while teaching languages and also other subjects. Lena, Germany Lena, Germany I think that language is the key to communication. However, language does not say anything about understanding, knowledge and intelligence. I have often seen difficulties with the subject language but not with the subject itself. I think with this differentiation in mind, we have to help our students get insights into the subject on the one hand and teach them the language of the subject on the other hand... Violeta (Romania Violeta (Romania I am a french teacher from Romania. I vote for language awareness because i think that is important for all of us, teachers or students, to become aware of the place occupied by the foreign languages. Its very important to be abble to communicate and to pass on all the informations about the culture and the civilisation of a country. Annamaria (Italy Annamaria (Italy As teacher I have often seen the difficulties lived by my foreign students in studying subjects in a different language. Having a wider language awareness I think that could help a lot them Liana - Italy Liana - Italy As a teacher, I think that LA awareness is mainly important to establish a positive relation with my pupils. Indeed, a teacher should make pupils protagonists of their learning in order to increase their confidence with language, their self-esteem and motivation, for instance through linguistic plays and storytelling. Fatma ozkukekci Fatma ozkukekci I think awareness of language is very important in the class because there are arabic students in my class when I talk about their language they focus on us very much Giuseppe, Italy Giuseppe, Italy In my practice as a Math Teacher, I have found that there are 3 recurrent problems on bilingual mathematics learners. The 1st is focuses on acquisition of vocabulary, the 2nd focuses on the construction of multiple meanings across registers, and the 3rd focuses on participation in mathematical practices. The 3rd is due to the different sociocultural views of both language and mathematics learning can complicate their understanding and restrict their view of what counts as competence in mathematical communication. Antonino, Italy Antonino, Italy Although I don't teach by CLIL, I believe that I can talk about other topics from grammar spontaneously and create a really creative atmosphere by language awareness. The language is the vehicle by which you can touch students' hearts Vicky Archondi, Greece Vicky Archondi, Greece For the past 9 years I have been working in a Technical Lyceum in Magnesia which always accepts students from Albania. The mere fact that I'm not fully language and culture aware with regard to Albania , constitutes a barrier between me , my Albanian students my teaching and therefore their learning. If I manage to overcome this barrier, I'm certain that I will gain their trust, motivate them in their learning and help them find the means to reach their potential Fátima Silva, Portugal Fátima Silva, Portugal Indeed it is important to be language aware. Therefore are ready to provide our students with content and feedback no matter what we had planned for a particular lesson. It is also important to help our learners develop that skill. When we are language aware, we understand how to communicate effectively with others, we understand and produce content that is understood by others Tea Sisko, Croatia Tea Sisko, Croatia While teaching English I should be LA that my students connect this FL to their MT which has different rules. I should also be aware of topics I am presenting in my English class and check my students' understanding. The crucial thing I should make is to ensure that my students feel comfortable in my class, create a climate of trust in which they can express themselves freely and communicate with peers and me. Giusy Giugliano, Italy Giusy Giugliano, Italy In my school there are a lot of immigrant students and very often communication is not immediate. We have organized some learning groups where italian sts help foreign sts, a sort of peer tutoring and it seems to be working, above all for a fully inclusion! Gabriela, Romania Gabriela, Romania Language is an essential tool for learning. When you don't understand, you might lose interest and lack motivation for learning. I totally agree that language awareness is important to facilitate learning, increase motivation and communication. Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Matilde Matilde Our pupils usually start school when they are 3 years old. Our pre-primary teachers teach them the language using pictures, games, songs, tales... When they are 6 years old, they can communicate and understand the language used at school. If not, additional help is provided to them. Creating a safe and friendly environment is one of the clues. ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey Yeah, I have faced students whose mother language is not what I taught. Sometimes I learnt their language and we communicated. Adife DEMİRTAŞ Adife DEMİRTAŞ I totaly agree with the idea that language awarness plays an important role for teachers for ; - language awarness helps us with the readiness of pupils, - we can eaily create motivation for their learnings, - we can create "sense of belonging" for our pupils if we have experience in language awarness. Also, I have many classes which consists of refugees students from Syria and being aware of language and diversities always helps me creating motivation for both me and my pupils during learning journey. Valentina (Italy) Valentina (Italy) I never had foreign students in the classroom whose first language wasn't Italian, but I often offer examples from other languages when I try to explain some grammar or semantics concepts. I think that this "theoretical" exposure to diversity can give a big incentive to pursue studying and paying attention during the lessons. In add, putting all the languages on the same identical ground of importance and clarify the links between them could prevent children from developing harmful group identity feelings. Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) I'm not sure if language awareness is always the issue - for me it's more one of capacity. When perhaps half the class are learning English as an Additional Language (but at varying degrees of Ilaria Ilaria The difference between a normal class activity and CLIL activity lies in the fact that the language used is not needed only as a communicative filter, but that it can even block the process of interaction at the time same. As a result it is necessary guide and assist students in the overcome linguistic barriers letting them see, in succession, learning a foreign language as a possibility not only of 5 improve their linguistic skills but, above all, increase and deepen their skills knowledge of the subject matter. Grace Grace Dealing with foreign students who have been in Italy for years or were born here from foreign families, I experience every day there's a gap between their bics and calp for example when reading a written, formal text; they may not understand some peculiar expressions when translaring from L2 to L1 ( which is not their native language). I help them by making examples or "translating" in a less formal language. Ilaria Ilaria CLIL is a methodology that promotes promotion intercultural education, the plurilingual approach and comparisons language. Facilitates the use of language in another cognitive area. Promotes the use of the language to PROMOTE A CONTENT, LIBERANDOLA DAI "FALSI PRAGMATICI", that is, uses the language for transmit content by releasing it from functions and structures grammatical, making it an instinctual action. Romit kaur India Romit kaur India As we say every student is different and comes from different backgrounds, we have to be language proficient so that every student is understanding what we are saying .So teacher is responsible for the learning development of a student. Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroab. Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving d Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroad. We have children whose families have arrived in Italy some years ago and most of them have attended infant school so they have a basic knowledge of italian. This children can have problems with language when they start to study specific disciplines and find it hard to keep up with their italian mates. We always should keep in mind that their "language module" works perfectly in their first language and that we should help them to use their abilities in what is their second language. Concetta, Sicily Concetta, Sicily Language awareness … A teacher who is “language-aware” understands in which way students can face language difficulties, the language needs of their students and what he/she can do to support them. For all students, language is a vehicle for learning. It is through language that learners access the content of the lesson and communicate their ideas. So, as a teacher, it is my responsibility to make sure that language isn’t a barrier to learning. Teaching and learning through an additional language encourages understanding different cultures and improves students’ cognitive ability, so they can communicate with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Knowledge of other languages encourages new ways of thinking and of perceiving the world. We live in an increasingly global world and language skills make travel easier, provide opportunities and improve life conditions. Diana Diana In my life I had the opportunity to study three foreign languages. I'm not at the top when I speak or when I try to listen and understand in these foreign languages but I say that I could survive in many different foreign lands without fear. This opportunity is , therefore, already a good reason that gives me the desire to help my students and to find the better way to teach them English at school. Then I saw that children with some learning difficulties, when the foreign language is teached in the right way, can understand and take part, they can find their place and their role in the classroom, and this is very important for their growth FRANCESCA FRANCESCA Knowing and speaking well in English allows children to gain more self- confidence and increase their level of personal self-est K K L L Leonardo Benedetti Leonardo Benedetti Italy I think that LA is fundamental. I have experienced and I am experiencing it everyday at school. Talking about art, design, architecture, it is very important to find the right way, the right words to let the students understand the topics Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Maria Kleidara Maria Kleidara Last school year I had four new students from Syria who didn;t talk at all Greek. I tried to communicate with them but they were only 5 years old and it was very difficult. Although they had many abilities it was difficult to help them. So I asked for help from a mother of those students. She was teacher in her country too. So we were cooperate and manage to learn both the languages and I realize how creative a class can be when the language borders are no longer a problem. But what happens when you don't have help? Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy In my classes there are pupils coming from different countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Ukraine. Language awareness helps the teacher understand his pupils' needs and skills; moreover, it helps pupils communicate with the class and the teacher and facilitate learning process. Aritz, Basque Countryu Aritz, Basque Countryu As a teacher, language awareness is key to understand our students needs. Some children feel apart the first days because they don't understand. But we have another global communication way that is non-verbal. We can help our students to enhance their language skills starting with the basic and also with the help of their classmates. Bilingual school Bilingual school In our school the teachers have to be very aware of the vocabulary that is used and support a lot of the language with other forms of learning such as visual and kinesthetic learning. It is also important for teachers to stretch those children who are able in their mother tongue to feel engaged within lessons too. Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy I think , as teachers, we must be aware of our language knowledge and pay attention to the students' one. Through etwinning projects and teachers training our classes must be openmind and aware of our culture dversity and our different languages. Roberto, Forlì Roberto, Forlì Language awareness is important to me to design effective CLIL modules for my students. For instance, I have to pay attention to not introduce too many new L2 terms in each lesson, to use short and simple sentences, and so on. I can design effective CLIL lessons only if I have a good Language awareness. Anna Kaya, Sweden Anna Kaya, Sweden When my colleagues and I plan our teaching we try to find materials in our students strongest languages so we now that all of the students can read or listen in a language they can understand. We also try to plan for scaffolding so all the students can participate in the classroom activities and succeed with the assignments. This is quite complicated regarding the fact that all our students are in different ages and have different school background. In Sweden all newly arrived students have “study guidance in their mother tongue” but that is maybe one or two hours per week and the students need more support. Our bilingual colleagues (study guides or mother tongue teachers) are a great support, not only for the students but also for us teachers that don’t share languages with our students. Monica Boccoli Monica Boccoli In my opinion, there are a lot of resources to improve my language awareness: etwinning, European Schoolnet Academy, Teacher Academy, MIE Microsoft, Skype in the classroom... Gianni Lottino Gianni Lottino Every year I take part in an eTwinning project and it's to years I receive tu Quality Label Certificate! I get it thanks to my method and to the imput my students receive by the project I choose. So the importance of language awerness is unfolded day by day with all the passages from Italian, Frenc and English. Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Italy Languages are products of the Human mind to communicate, they are instruments of thoughts, they represent a culture and its History. I teacher must be aware of this, as each person should have the possibility to keep always alive his mother tongue Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Gabriela Turea Gabriela Turea I totally agree that language awareness is very important for teachers because otherwise we can lose our students (their attention, their involvement in the class, their willing of learning). By understanding their fist language needs, we overpass all the barriers. Vincenzo M. ITALY Vincenzo M. ITALY Language awareness is essential. Language is a powerful vehicle. "When teaching in a language other than that with which students are familiar, this language is the key, as it becomes the vehicle for transmitting the message to our students". Laura Colombo - Italy Laura Colombo - Italy I believe a good starting point in developing our own language awareness is to consider the differences between BICS and CALP and its implications for our students. I teach English for Information Technology in a technical school and it is easier for students to develop academic language. The most difficult task for me as a teacher is to develop their interpersonal communication skills in a foreign language. David Navas, Spain David Navas, Spain As a secondary teacher, i barely am in a situation where students do not speak spanish. But in primary school i have seen students who do not speak Spanish because they come from another country. And it is crucial trying to speak with them in their language in order to "connect" with them. Rovena Trivanović Rovena Trivanović Croatia I teach students whose primary language-mother tongue is Croatian like mine. Nevertheless, I face challenges in my teaching because of students' poor knowledge of their mother tongue when it comes to basic structures or they hadn't acquired the basics of English in their primary school. I'm aware of that challenge and I try to help them in many ways not to be afraid of taking part in the class despite the challenge they face. There are students who are willing to progress in that sense,but there are also students who come to the conclusion that thex can't learn a foreign language and don't put any effort in it. I hope this course will help me deal with those chellenges. Özcan TURAN Özcan TURAN We have many refugee students it is important to try to speak in their language to catch the I am a teacher of la I am a teacher of language. Language Awareness is important for teachers because it helps us, the teachers, to understand our students much more. it makes us aware about their knowledge about particular subject. According to that what kind of tools of teaching i have to use to enhance their abilities and interest in the classroom. I have faced situations where language awareness would have helped me more to understands my students. I am looking forward to getting to know more about Language Awareness I am a la I am a language t eache Michele, Italy, The next year Michele, Italy, The next year Next year there was in my classroom a student not Italian that speak in an African tongue. It was impossible enter in her world and success in making communication. I think so that in this case LA is the real key to teach. VANESSA, ITALY VANESSA, ITALY Language awareness helps students to feel more at ease in the school environment, and therefore more confident in their didactic and human relationships. Ana B. - Portugal Ana B. - Portugal By using CLIL metodology we can give the same chances for all kids to express themselves and to learn more deeply all the subjects. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. Sonia in Ireland Sonia in Ireland I agree that students need to be supported depending on their level but working with younger students I'm always so impressed by how much they acquire through immersion.At the core of all good classrooms I think we need to create a safe environment where our students aren't afraid to take risks and make mistakes. It can be very daunting for a beginner before they make a breakthrough though. Esmeralda Portugal Esmeralda Portugal As a history teacher in Portugal I have no need to talk in another language but I recognize the importance of the language awareness in student development and their relationsships. Sharon Australia Sharon Australia LA is also about respect - respecting students' first language, their culture, their prior knowledge etc. When teachers and students engage in respectful discussions be it first language or L2 or learning a subject in a foreign language then all the communicative actions and functions are put into place and teaching and learning can take place Francesca Italy Francesca Italy In my opinion language awareness allows me to communicate with all my students in an innovative way and this kind of learning is very appreciated by students and teachers because the cooperative learning , learning by doing and reality tasks can favourite immersive contests Esther Spain Esther Spain I think being awareness of language diversity makes my teaching more interesting and my students have the opportunity to learn from each other. So sometimes we think our class is monolingual and if you ask your students or just do activities as a language biography you could realize our students have a great plurilingual pr ofile so I think it is really important to give visibility to all our students´languages. Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Daniela Daniel, Portugal Daniela Daniel, Portugal I teach English in a small Portuguese town close to the Spanish border. Maybe for that reason, nowadays it’s usual to have in class students from countries such as India, Ukraine, Moldavia or China, for example. As some of them come to Portugal and go to school without understanding or speaking Portuguese, the best way to communicate with them is by using English. So, some language awareness of what an international language such as English is concerned is crucial to them as pupils and to me as their teacher. Hi, I'm a pri Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, Hi, Catello de Sinno - Italy Catello de Sinno - Italy According to my experience, building language awareness also involves helping students gain a positive attitude toward the foreign language by developing the confidence to make an attempt or take a risk. Our pupils shouldn’t be afraid to take a risk or make mistakes and this is possible if they are really motivated to communicate . They are usually motivated if the context and the activities are familiar and near their world. Sara, Portugal Sara, Portugal Well, in my point of view, language awareness is important for teachers cuz we are available to understand and help all the kids, because we can speak and comunicate with them without problems. Will be easier for both - teacher and kids - share points os views, ideas, help to solving some problems, understand some specific necessities and play. I think that is a good way to create na ,environment full of tranquility, security, confidence and initiative. H H Irene M. from Rome Irene M. from Rome I agree about the importance and responsability of being a language aware teacher, in order to help students from different countries to achieve school and social goals. Othermore I think that being a language aware teacher means understanding the needs and the abilities of all students and working to improve the social classroom context. In my opinion, infact, a friendly climate can help learning processes and supporting the teacher’s work. In my teaching experience, I have met students from Romania, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Ucraine, Argentina… and often they didn’t speak and understand the language of schooling. My first responsability is understanding the pupil’s need and deleting the obstacles that might compromise their school career. An educational strategy that I find useful is the peer-learning that helps pupils to bring out their personal abilities. In this way students can becoming more self-confident and aware about their school career in a cooperative climate. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I personally think awareness is a fundamental competence in order to live well Debora Italy Debora Italy The teaching of language plays an important role in learnin and understanding subject content. For this reason it is important to reflect on students' abilities and to create a climate of trust and collaboration, in which the linguistic tool became an opportunity. MARIA ITALY MARIA ITALY I'M A PRIMARY TEACHER AND I THINK THE PUPILS ARE NOT AWARE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE TO KNOW A LANGUAGE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR MOTHER TONGUE. SO HERE THE LANGUAGE LEARNING HAS TO BE AS NATURAL AS POSSIBLE FROM THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL. THROUGH GAMES, SONGS, RHYMES THEY HAVE TO BECOME CONFIDENT WITH IT AND TO LEARN USING IT IN THE DAILY SCHOOL ROUTINE AT THE BEST Sophia Italy Sophia Italy CLIL lessons are often a daunting challenge, as for many students the use of L2 compromise their learning. I always try to offer enough scaffolding, but I probably should spend more time working on the language. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I think awareness is a fundamental faculty in order to increase sstudents selfesteem so important in every day life meetse Alena, Czechia Alena, Czechia Knowing more about language awareness would be useful while teaching mixed ability classes, where students´ language levels are so different at a time; taking this into account, using appropriate methods to help will be definitely a big benefit to these students (especially those who feel uneasy during L2 lessons). Maria Grassi, Italy Maria Grassi, Italy Language awareness is an important competence for teachers because it can positively help the process of teaching-learning especially in exchange projects between European and extra-European Schools, in particular I use eTwinning platform and it helps me in different situations with my students. Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy In one of my classes there are three studets from Albania, one from Bangladesh and one from Romania. When I teach subjects as history and geography I use to work a lot on the meaning of the word and I think that this method is very usefull for my students both Italians and foreigns. Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Language awareness facilitates learning process. Language learners need to be supported. Learners` knowledge level of English language has to be taken into consideration and lessons should be appropriately designed in order to meet students` needs. Lucia, Ital Lucia, Ital I think language awareness helps students to be secure and facilitates learning in a cooperative way. Silvia DM, Italy Silvia DM, Italy Students of any age learn better if they are not under pressure and in a state of anxiety, so if you understand their needs sharing the same language they are more likely to improve and be willing to learn. I often ask students who have good knowledge of the target language to translate for the new comers into their mother tongue, but it is not always possible and feasible. Daniela from Parma Daniela from Parma Facing students who had just arrived from a foreign country made me conscious of the importance of my language awareness: I could not act as before. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania To know the new pupils I ask them to come and tell me about their holiday, their hobbies, their favorite stuff and why ... Laura Gianfranceschi Laura Gianfranceschi I often have classes with foreign students. Languange awareness is crucial to get thei learning real and solid İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY A teacher with no language awareness cannot succeed because he / she will close communication channels. First of all, students should be able to understand their cultural values and their level of readiness. If we do not master the language of our students, planning and permanent learning become impossible. Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) I think language awareness is a very important feature for a teacher, because it enables him/her to understand his/her pupils' difficulties when approccing specific subjects, new lexicon, complex concepts. Being aware of linguistic diversity in his/her classroom, a teacher can better anticipate which aspects may require spacial attention, organize his/her material in the most helpful way to guide students in their learning process, choose those methodologies he/she thinks will prove most successful. When faced with difficulties linked to a different linguistic background, I try to better explain the meaning of a word or a costoum exploring its semantic area or its cultural context, operating as many references to other cultures and language as I can. Linguistic and cultural diversity can be a really precious asset in a classroom, though: having an "insider" perspective is a key resource for contrasting prejudice. Sílvia Sílvia Language awareness is very important in order to help students to achieve the objectives of the subject you are teaching. If you are not aware of the challenges they are facing you would not be able to see what they need to improve. Hartmut,Germany Hartmut,Germany Language awareness is important to give students on different language levels the chance to be successful.Today we have more and more students with different nationalities and they have to be integrated. clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems Gianfranca Gianfranca Understanding linguistic diversity is important to understand different needs. In an inclusive school ,integration is the awareness to communicate with other cultures understanding their needs. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania A good language helps you know your pupils better, capture their attention, motivate them to feel attracted to the matter and as comfortable as possible at school Ana, Lisbon PT Ana, Lisbon PT Language awarness is essential to understand our students, their needs and their abilities. In my classroom, for example, I often have students who don't speak one word of portuguese, as they have arrived from asian countries just weeks ago. And as you can imagine, I don't speak any word of nepalese, bangla, indi or gujarati. It's a great challenge for me and every little step, every little word they learn is cheered by the rest of the class. Just knowing and being aware of their complete unfamiliarity with the schooling language and culturemakes me more motivated to use alternative ways of teaching." Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs It is important to be aware of how much a student can read and write a language, in a school inclusion and integration plan I think it is important to communicate with different cultures and understand their needs. after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions Cinzia Marrone Italy Cinzia Marrone Italy I think it’s important in language lessons to create a relaxed atmosphere so children can better understand and communicate with others. Teacher ‘s role is important to let them aware in language learning . So use of games and creation of real context is a best practice to engage learning in both language or not language discipline. Magdalena Uleia , Romania Magdalena Uleia , Romania Language awareness it is similsr with Math awareness : they are clearly usefull for all daylife! Maja Maja As a counsellor I had lot of situations when some teacher were not aware how difficult it is to learn all the facts and understand the instructions for students with Croatian as a second language. They ussualy think if studenst comunicate good with students in Croatian, it is a proof that students can achieve the same academic succsess in academic language. Antonella Antonella language awareness is a very essential topic to understand students and to let them trust on us and it is also an index of teaching succes Sarah, UK Sarah, UK It is important to be aware of how well a pupil can read and write a language as this can affect how they access the curriculum. Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Language Awerness i the conscious perception in language learning, language teaching and language use. L.A. is the explicit knowledge about language. Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Language awareness is important to all teachers because they have to help students to socialize, to know each other, to be bold in communication. Teachers to apply classroom interactive methods, educational games. Mary Mary It's very important to communicate with different culture and understand their needs. Roberta Roberta language awareness is very important for students because to facilitate the cooperative learning Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness Language awareness If you are aware of the diversity of languages in your classroom, you will understand and be understood!! Students may become the teacher and vice versa; it will create a trustful environment motivating students to learn more effectively! The learning/teaching process will be smoother and aims will be achieved easily!! Eduarda, Portugal Eduarda, Portugal LA is plays an essential role in language teaching. When a teacher becomes aware of language diversity inside the classroom, he/she can easily understand the students' needs and or difficulties. Becoming aware of the different levels of language knowledge in our classrooms is a priority to planning and adapting. Once I had a multiethnic group and communication was not easy. It was a mixed language class really: sometimes I had to speak either Portuguese or Spanish so they could understand the meaning of specifuc vocabulay in English. It turned out that I also learnt a few words in their mother language. Chiara Chiara Language awareness helps teachers to understand different point of views from other cultures. According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers Hanife, Turkey Hanife, Turkey Language awareness is crucial to help pupils that we understand their anxıous and it hepls students to calm down. In addition to this, LA can motivate students that they can overcome with language barries and also heps teachers to develop strategies. Ela, Poland Ela, Poland I`m a teacher who teach mother tongue. I teach students how using Polish language rules can help to acquire linguistic awareness between their mother tongue and another language. It is important especially for pupils who come back to Poland from moving abroad. In our school it happen very often .So, the teacher should be aware of these processes and find the best way to help pupils to overcome these problems. Brigida Calise Brigida Calise Language awareness is crucial because as a teacher I must be aware of my students' language differences in order to help them learn easily and without any stress. Moreno, Rieti, Italy Moreno, Rieti, Italy The awareness about language is fundametal during a lesson, you have to expose the concept in a very clear, fluid and impacting way. Students must be captured by a teacher, and the main way is to be confident about the contact with students. Usually students haven't a real awareness with language, an analysis of the sentences and words could be helpful. Ayşe,Turkey Ayşe,Turkey Language awareness is so important because everybody thinks there are some bariers of learning new language but it is not true. We must facilitate learning languages in a correct and easy way. Giuseppina V. , Italy Giuseppina V. , Italy Language awareness or, perhaps better, learning to speak foreign languages is very important for every teacher because it leads us to reflect on ourselves and our learning difficulties. In order to learn how speaking foreign languages we must remove what Krashen calls Affective Filter, sometimes it may happen that we must become resilient as well. All this helps us to better understand the difficulties of our students whether they are native speakers or foreigners and teaches us to encourage them and make them comfortable. I believe that any teacher, not only second language teachers, should be resilience tutors. We are teachers of both topics and life . Matanat Ahadova Matanat Ahadova Aim in language awareness was that pupils in their foreign language learning should be stimulated to ask questions about language, how it functions and what role it plays in people’s lives; in other words, to have an explicit approach to different phenomena of language. FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY This school year my colleagues and I are going to face a great challemge. In a class of the third and last year of Middle School, we have a new student from Ukraine. He has moved to Italy with his family for TWO months and he can't speak a word of Italian! Fortunately, he can speak some English, so we are going to use this leanguage as a means of communication. At the end of this year students have a final State exam and National Standard Tests (INVALSI) in Italian, MAths and English. I think that language awareness, most of all for non-language teachers, is crucial to help this student facing successfully this school year. Maria Jastrząb Maria Jastrząb I'm not an English teacher but I'm interested in language teaching methodology . I use the best ideas adjusting them to teaching my young students ex. maths, art, music etc. Sylwia, Poland Sylwia, Poland What is important in LA to know the student's abilities so then we're more reliable . Creating a good climate inside the class to make students comfortable. Yes I think language Yes I think language awareness is very important in teaching field .In our class all students are not on the same level in terms of language .Teachers must be efficient in different languages to engage students in class and develops good lear Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE Konu dil farkındalığı, Sınıfımızda farklı dillerde öğrenciler olduğunda, dersin işlenişi öğrencilerin dil performanslarına göre değişmektedir. Ayrıca öğrencinin öğretmeni sevmesi derse ve dile karşı tutumunu değiştirir. Örneğin, öğrencilerimin dilini bilmediğim bir okulda çalıştım. Öğrenci bana mis mis dedi. Benim dilimde mis güzel koku demektir. fakat öğrencimin dilinde mis Wc ye gitmek demekmiş az kalsın çocuk üzerine yapacaktı. Alina, Rom Alina, Rom LA is very important because using different interactive methods pupils get more confident, they have courage to use the new language, but also it is our duty to create a pleasant climate and encourage them all the time. José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal LA is crucial if you have students from other countries. In a time where european countries are receiving and accepting refugees, a portuguese teacher like me have to be able to deal with children wich have no idea of what portuguese language is. In a first moment it would be of much importance that a I could communicate with them in order to make them feel more at home and beggin the inclusion in the school and in the portuguese society. We, the teachers, can be and should be the bridge between people countries and, why not?, civilizations. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. . Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Language awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in classroom. It´s very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers can use different strategies (cooperative learning, stimulating and comfortable climate in classroom) and the students be more involved in learning progress. Roberta (Italy) Roberta (Italy) LA is important to avoid our students feel discouraged while studying because they don't achieve good results Giedre (Lithuania) Giedre (Lithuania) LA is very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers know more methologies how to make students be involved in learning process. I'd like that my students want to learn because I involve them into eTwinning projects where they have to communicate and collaborate with different countries students. It helps me improve their knowledge of language and awareness as well. Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy LAnguage awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in the classroom. Language awareness for students can stimulate cooperative learning, thus creating a stimulating and comfortable climate in the classroom. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Costina, Heidelberg Costina, Heidelberg Language awareness is fundamental, because it helps students to feel more confident and it helps me to facilitate learning in a harmonious and sustainable way. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. Carmen, Romania oretta oretta Language awareness is important for teachers because it helps students to communicate, to understand the subject and to learn it. The main problem is when students are not familiar with the language that I am using for teaching , they do not reach a certain grade and they fail. It is very difficult to understand their needs and to get less frustrated. Ciro, Italy Ciro, Italy Three years ago i teached italian to 4 foreign students came to my school because parents moved here for working. Basicly i teached italian passing by a common language such as English but i would learning topics in Russian or Arab to better make learning to them. Elín Iceland Elín Iceland I think that is good so it is possible to practice all skills Daisy (Italy Daisy (Italy It is important to know the students' language background in order to help them when they are facing learning / communicative difficulties. If the teacher is aware he/ she can use strategies in order to make the learning path easier ( I' m referring to collaborative tasks , peer revisions, individualised teaching) Eda,Turkey Eda,Turkey I think language awareness is definitely important.If a student knows why he learns another language,he can be more eager to learn.On the other hand,teaching a language to the students from different backgrounds is really hard.Most of the time,the teachers dont know how to approach them.Yesterday,one of my teacher friend came to me and said that a Syrian student cried for the whole lesson and I didnt understand why he cried.The teacher's motivation was decreased by his crying.That was only one example. M.Rosa M.Rosa (Italy) Teachers need to be aware of the different languages in their classrooms to help foreign students Maren, Germany Maren, Germany Language awareness is important for all teachers, because language is the foundation stone for all learning processes. Often students would be able to understand a topic in their own language but struggle to follow the class because of language barriers. This is why all teachers need to be aware of the language diversity in a classroom Federica, Italy Federica, Italy I've had a lot of foreign students in my classes, mainly from Albania, Morocco, Pakistan, Romania and Senegal. When I told them that I studied English for a long time, they felt at ease during the lessons, knowing that I could translate italian difficult words into English and better understand their difficulties. Carolina ,Italy Carolina ,Italy In my opinion the awareness of the different language is very iimportant to help students to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in learning and improving languages.Language awareness increase teacher responsibility, if the student doesn't reach all this one, in this case the teacher should create a climate of trust in which exchange a climate of trust which exchange and communicate among students and with the teacher are facilited MariaM - Gaeta, Italy MariaM - Gaeta, Italy Every year some pupils coming from foreign countries are included in our classes. They often barely know the Italian language, so language awareness can help me to guide them towards a more aware communication with classmates and teachers, and towards a more effective and significant learning. I've sometimes had I've sometimes had a foreign student in my classes. I find it very stimulating and motivating for student and for me as well. Maria, italy Maria, italy As a teacher of English last year I supported a colleague who teaches Law in Clil. We found it very helpful to resort to comparisons between the British/American system and the Italian system Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy In a class last year , I had many foreign students, BES and a special student. Not an easy situation but I tried to involve them by letting them present their own country including traditions , culture, holidays and family lifestyle. Then I decided they should try and find words which were in some way similiar to Italian or English. Not so easy but at least interesting for them and proud to introduce their country or little village they came from. Rosario from Spain Rosario from Spain When in a class I have students with more facility to use a language than others, one strategy that I usually use is to work in heterogeneous groups, where students can help each other, solving simple doubts into the group and exercising little by little in the use of the new language. Martina from Italy Martina from Italy Language awareness helps me to be more interested in pupils's needs. it's importanta for the whole class Federica Tagliafichi Federica Tagliafichi in my opinion the awareness of the different languages becomes a cultural resource for the whole class. If I can I will help students or parents to welcome students of different nationalities who do not yet know the language. I try to use group work to get the sweaty to exchange experiences. Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy We are two foreign languages Teachers working together. Language awareness is important to help student to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in Learning and improving languages Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy we are two foreign languages teachers working together. Language awareness is important because to help students to overcome their difficulties and make them more interested in learning and improving languages. Lia MOlini from ITaly Lia MOlini from ITaly I think that teachers can better understand pupils'needs and recognize their abilities. This is a good point to start teaching language in a successful way inci Süzer, Turkey inci Süzer, Turkey Being language aware means you understand the possible challenges that language presents to learning. These challenges might arise because a student is learning a subject through an additional language or it might be the first time a student has come across certain vocabulary or structures in their first language. A teacher who is ‘language aware’ understands why students face these difficulties and what they can do to support students. inci inci It is very often in the greek schools. It is very often in the greek schools. Foteini Tsioutsia Lia,Italy Lia,Italy Language awarness implies that the teacher needs to come up constanty with different stategies and and has to face constant challenges. A useful tool is to find connections and to build bridge with different languages, of course, it works especially among languages from the same group, i.e. germanic or romance language or to work with linguistic loans Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Language awareness is important for teachers because it allows to adapt the teaching method to the pupils and make learning easier. Claudia Mazzone - Italy Claudia Mazzone - Italy Last year in the class arrived a girl from Pakistan who could comunicate only in English. In that case the language was a fundamental vehicle to comunicate with her in order to male her feel confortable with her schoolmates and teachers. I think that all the teachers - whatever they learn - should raise a good level of language awareness to be able to communicate with the different language studente , in order to make them reach the result they expect and make them feel integrated with their schoolmates and tachers. Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of communication not only cognitive but also emotional Tiziana Varone, Italy Tiziana Varone, Italy This year I'll face for the first time language diversity in classroom. Two sisters from India will attend my lessons in technologies and telecommunications. They speak Italian, but aren't as good at listening. I hope this course will help me to afford this situation, where a greater language awareness would really help to design the effective learning for those students. Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Globalization leads all teachers to consider linguistic awareness as an important educational purpose so that all students have greater possibilities of integration into society and the world of work. This training must be taken care of since primary school in order to develop in successive degrees and in universities. Usually I organize my teaching activities on a methodology of cooperatives and pair work, Web Quest, Located Learning Episodes and CLIL. Alessandra Amideo, Alessandra Amideo, ITALY Language awareness will help students gain greater operational autonomy, greater awareness of their abilities, greater self-criticism to overcome weaknesses and a growth of self-esteem.In addition, awareness of the language, will stimulate teachers to take care of the different personalized strategies that take into account the uniqueness of the person. Odarka, Latvia Odarka, Latvia Upon me our (teacher)awareness, knowledge ans skills is what we need to know and able to do. And what roles do we need to change, and therefore, how will this change the patterns of relationships in the classroom. Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy In our school this year there is an Ukrainian child who does'nt know the Italian language. The child is very motivated to socialize with the group, but the linguistic gap is a strong limitation although teachers and pupils try to communicate with extraverbal languages. We have now requested the figure of a linguistic mediator to help child and teachers. A higher level of linguage awareness would have favored the inclusion process. Rosy (Italy) Rosy (Italy) I usually used supports and strategies to help foreign students, for example to activate their background knowledge, or teach them vocabulary giving opportunities to practice new words and create situations to provide corrective feedback . Varvara, Latvia Varvara, Latvia i have different students with different English level plus i have not only Latvians in my classroom, but also Russians, who don't understand Latvian so i have to translate them some words or sentences into Latvian and that's why i have created some adapted resources that have helped me to improve my language awareness Martina Martina Language awarness is important for all teachers because in our classrooms there are many foreign students. They need to be guided in the process of learning a new language, buy starting from their mother tongue Rita Luiso Rita Luiso Language awareness is important for teachers because probably it can encourage and integrate all students (also with special needs and insecure) learning Alex_PT Alex_PT Whenever I have students who hardly know any English, there are extra lessons/ there is extra help as well as adapted resources in and out of the class. It’s of paramount importance that this student doesn’t feel left aside, forgotten and insecure; right from the start, they have to be integrated and encouraged to learn and overcome yet still another hurdle in a new country, a new culture. Rita Xuereb, Malta Rita Xuereb, Malta Language awareness will help children feel happy and secure as they will be able to understand and appreciate all that is going on around them. I think with very young children it is essential to create visual resources, to facilitate this understanding. In my school there a In my school there are a few foreign students from China,Ukraine and Morocco. These students often don’t understand our language. It’s difficult to communicate complex messages to them so the school organises basic language courses and the teachers design personalised didactic programmes. My position in the classroom enables me to cooperate with the teacher of specific subjects helping the single students in need. Daniela Galea, Malta Daniela Galea, Malta During my past 7 years of teaching, I can confidently say that I had students from all parts of the world in my classroom. At first it was a bit difficult to handle as obviously they did not know our language, which is Maltese, and some of them not even English. Together with my colleagues, I created adapted resources to help them learn basic Maltese and English. However, a few years ago we created migrant-learners classes, in which students are taught English and Maltese for one scholastic year before joining the mainstream classes. As from last year, we also have A1 classes which are basic Maltese lessons especially for foreigners that can communicate in English. Patrizia Patrizia try to treat all students equally and help who is in need for this - I tell to all that more languages you speak more richer you are Daniela Roversi. Italy Daniela Roversi. Italy I'm from year to year surer, that the approach of the teacher to his/her subject is extremely important. Only when the teacher reaches his/her students can he/she reach his/her goal. Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta A colleague of mine, had a foreign student in her class. Unfortunately the student barely knew English. Together with the complimentary teacher, they managed to compile resources to help him with the basic needs of the language and then later on move on to academic subjects. Filomena Montella, Italy Filomena Montella, Italy HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY Language awareness increases teacher responsibility. The teacher who cannot reach his / her student is ineffective. The right to education of the student is violated. the teacher should know not only his / her language but also the culture. the real success comes after that.

Cristina from Romania

2018-09-25 18:30:22 UTC

I hope i'll improuve my abilites due to this course.
I teach the native language , but i do have a lot of foreign students. They just look at me and try to guess what I'm talking about...
I feel i'm dissapointing them and i try to do my best for every child. For me, it's a great opportunity .

Pirjo, Finland

2018-09-25 18:30:43 UTC

Language awareness is something that has to be in your backbone all the time. I teach English in a primary school and in many classes I have pupils from non-Finnish backgrounds. With a couple of pupils I don't have many words in common in any language and this I feel is a big challenge in my work. But in addition to being language aware, I must also be culturally aware. I think positive feedback and encouragment are highly important in situations where language awareness is most in need.

Ioana, Romania

ioana633 — 2018-09-25 18:33:41 UTC

Indeed it is important to be language aware. Therefore are ready to provide our students with content and feedback no matter what we had planned for a particular lesson. It is also important to help our learners develop that skill.
When we are language aware, we understand how to communicate effectively with others, we understand and produce content that is understood by others. The crucial thing I should make is to ensure that my students feel comfortable in my class, create a climate of trust in which they can express themselves freely and communicate with peers and me.

Sirpa, Finland

2018-09-25 18:34:57 UTC

I do remember an excellent example of language awareness from the first years of my teaching career. We had a student who was originally from Uganda and this boy's first language was sign language, his second language was the local language and English was his third language. I had to try to teach him the Finnish political system and since he didn't know any Finnish and his English was very basic I tried to teach him and get him to understand the very difficult topic by using words and examples from everyday life. In the end he got it and I remember us both being very satisfied.

Petra Kokeza, Croatian

2018-09-25 18:45:54 UTC

In our school we often have foreign students in the classroom, and first language for them isn't Croatian. So we need to use another methods and another language. I hope i will learn more about it on this courses

2018-09-25 18:50:31 UTC

Elizabeta from Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
I am secondary school teacher, I teach physics in bilingual classes. Teaching physics in Macedonian and English is challenging. Every lesson need a special preparation , finding methods to simplify the content to be easy for understanding.

Giuseppe A, Italy

2018-09-25 18:51:47 UTC

I have got a class with two chinese students that speaks a little Italian. Sometimes whe n they are in difficulty or awkwardness, I let them speak in English. This is why for me is very important to improve my english and my way to teach in foreign language

Emilia, Poland

2018-09-25 18:57:15 UTC

There are more and more students from other countries in our school so we must be open for other cultures and their needs. And how to do that without a proper language awareness? This is why it is so important.

PALMA FROM SPAIN

palmagarciahn — 2018-09-25 19:09:58 UTC

In my class there are Chinese, Moroccan, English and Dutch. Their age is five years, which makes it easier to learn a new language because they communicate through games, songs, mimic and smiling and at the end they learn the language without hardly noticing it.

Erasmo, Italy

2018-09-25 19:10:29 UTC

It's important that students in high school start to study on books in a different language than their mother tongue. Very often in their future study at the University, they will need to prepare exams by studying on such a books. Language awareness for teachers in high school is therefore crucial to start promoting this attitude in students at early stages.

Marta Ropio, Portugal

2018-09-25 19:13:19 UTC

The language awarness is very important not only because we have to creat a comunication system with students, but also because each language implies a cultural background. Teaching portuguese or portuguese literature as first language is completed different than teaching as second language.

Zeynep Taş Yardımcı, Turkey

zeyneptas0 — 2018-09-25 19:22:39 UTC

I'm an English teacher in Turkey and I always have difficulty in my classes while teaching English although my students and I speak the same language. Teaching a foreign language is tough especially when that language is very different from your pupils' mother tongues. Especially, the grammatical structures and cultural differences have an important role in foreign language teaching. I come across with problems most of the time. Sometimes my students try to make a sentence in English, however they tend to translate the sentence they are about to say from their mother tongue to English and they fail. Or sometimes they have difficulty in understanding simple phrases or idioms because of cultural differences. Therefore, I think this course will contribute alot to my language teaching methods.

Zeynep Taş Yardımcı

zeyneptas0 — 2018-09-25 19:22:44 UTC

MariaRosaria

2018-09-25 19:28:06 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers because there is much more to a language than simply knowing vocabulary and grammar and reproducing them in either written or oral form.By increasing students’ language awareness, the students are better able to understand, appreciate and use the language.

Salvador Páez. SPAIN

salprosm1 — 2018-09-25 19:31:53 UTC

I think that learning a new language open our pupils to possibilities to dream in a different way. We teach not only the language but the culture, new people from different countries and this overall picture of the world makes us more sensitive, respectful, open-mind and self-confident.

Marzia Italy

2018-09-25 19:41:44 UTC

Yes, I remember a student who arrived in our classroom in 3rd grade from Moldavia, He was a year older than our pupils and he had great difficulty in speaking, at that time I think that if I had had more language awarness I would have been more helpful for him, even if we knew later that he was a child in need , so there were some difficulties also in his mother tongue.
Last year a chinese boy came to our 4th grade class, he is very nice and smart, but shy and confused at the beginnig so in order to make him comfortable and valorize his language, we play with him and along with english we learn chinese words in the classroo. He teaches his language, children are happy and challenge....I'm the only one who doesn't remember the chinese words we are learning!!!!!!

Anja, Norway

2018-09-25 19:41:48 UTC

In the Norwegian school system, every student who chooses a school programme preparing him/her for university studies, needs to study foreign languages (French, Spanish og German). For a student who came to Norway recently this can be his/her L4 or L5. Often their knowledge of both Norwegian and English is shaky and it is hard for them to find brain-space for an extra-language when they still do not have the necessary CALP in Norwegian. I often wish i knew more about their language learning biography, than it would be easier to adapt my language classes to their needs.

Maria Rosaria

tafymar — 2018-09-25 19:47:40 UTC

in my school lately students come from foreign countries without knowledge of the language spoken in Italy; I always feel inadequate in dealing with these situations because very often foreign students have to deal with 2 foreign languages at the same time

Maria Calà, Italy

2018-09-25 20:01:31 UTC

It is important for teachers to have a good knowledge of the language because knowledge goes beyond vocabulary, grammar and reproduction, even if very important. By increasing awareness, students are better able to understand, appreciate, use the language and integrate more easily.

isa çetin

isacetin03 — 2018-09-25 20:48:11 UTC

thanks...

Stefania Pieri

2018-09-25 20:51:54 UTC

As an English teacher in an Italian primary school there have been many occasions when I wanted to do more to involve my students in a more incisive way.I think this course will be helpful for me and my pupils.

Angela, Italy

2018-09-25 20:57:19 UTC

During my classes, students whose first language is neither English nor Italian may find it more difficult to express their ideas in both speaking and writing. Sometimes I forget that.

Kirsten Barrett, Scotland

mynameiskirst — 2018-09-25 20:59:18 UTC

One example of why it is important to be language aware: Learn how to say hello in your pupils mother tongue (or any language spoken at home.) The smile you get demonstrates it's worth.
I child needs to feel safe, nurtured and happy to be able to learn.

Barbara, Italy

2018-09-25 21:18:47 UTC

Often in my primary school, students that don't speak Italian
arrive, in the middle of school year. Unfortunately in the school there isn't a specific literacy plan. I think to create it, could be the first step to be "language-aware" teachers!

Ioanna, Greece

2018-09-25 21:50:02 UTC

It is important to be sensitive towards students from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds because they often feel anxious and insecure unless we try to reach out to them.

Lara Melich, Tortosa

2018-09-25 21:50:24 UTC

My VET students speak more than two languages and many of them, from other countries, share their language knowledge in their mother tongues. It is enriching because we do not only learn new words, but also new ways to see the world.

Andrea Mangiagalli, Italy

mangiagalli — 2018-09-25 22:22:33 UTC

Furtunately my subject is almost international and all the sub-subjects which I teach are world wide standars: tech drawing, IT, Physics, industrial automation and processes. I'm really code switching between Italian and English.
I have had some NAI (Newly Arrived in Italy, students of first immigration) and with and from them I had different feedbacks. Some have been really tough and, little by little, gained confidence in their potential and reached a very very good level of Italian (and, consequently, a better understanding of all the diciplines). Others, even starting with the same problems and the same helps - such as speaking in English, Italian strengthening, Cultural mediators, personal didactic strategy, etc -, threw the towel and lost interest in school.
For all the aforementioned reason, I do believe that the success or the failure are really difficult to forecast because we're always warking with humand being and, for this reason, unpredictable.

Margherita Carta - Italy

margherita_carta — 2018-09-25 22:24:40 UTC

Last year in my school we had a student coming from Mali as a refugee, with a personal story of painful and sad memories. He only spoke a local dialect similar to French and, what is more, it was the first time in his life he entered a school (he was 16 years old!). Communication was relly difficult, not only because of the language barrier, but especially due to the huge cultural and emotional difference between his world and ours. As a French teacher, I became a reference point for him and, thanks to the cooperation of the other teachers and the involvement of his classmates, he finally succeded in the first school experience in his life. We all did a very good job, but... what really made the difference was his deep, hardworking, tenacious desire to learn. Our language-aware teaching without his strong motivation would have failed. Reflecting on this experience, I believe that, in the end, awareness is where teaching and learnig meet together.

Konstantina, Greece

2018-09-26 03:54:37 UTC

I think that always I listen to my students because when I understand what they believe and know about life is a tool for me to use it in order to teach. It is easy but it always works in the classroom (I think).

Melissa Mocriș, Romania

2018-09-26 05:45:29 UTC

I have been in the position where I had to teach a class contained of native English speakers and other speakers like (Bulgarian, French) and I had to be really careful not to decrease or diminish the learning environment. Even if native speakers had certain advantages(like pronunciation) I tried to make even tasks,worksheets so that the other speakers would not have the feeling that they are not capable of doing them. It was indeed a challenge but I truly enjoyed it.

2018-09-26 07:14:36 UTC

Federica (Australia)

2018-09-26 07:45:59 UTC

So far, I have had a few children in my class with a native language different from English and Italian (i.e. the two languages spoken at school and used as means of instruction). As already mentioned by Anja from Norway, it is often a struggle for these students to get across their ideas and show their understanding, as they lack confidence in speaking English and Italian and teachers lack awareness of the pupils’ linguistic and cultural background. The so called ‘false friends’ got in my way a number of times, for example with children with Spanish background. At the beginning they find my ‘pronto?’ (‘ready’ in Italian and ‘soon’ in Spanish) quite confusing. ‘Burro’ is a donkey for them and not something to cook with or to spread on bread (butter). Once, when trying to explain that a young girl was ‘imbarazzata’ (embarrassed), I saw my Venezuelan pupil staring at me and looking quite confused, because ‘embarazada’ in Spanish means ‘pregnant’. Resorting to a multimodal approach is crucial in these circumstances as it gives students an opportunity to use a more universal language. Visual cues such as icons, pictures and drawings, are particularly powerful when trying to explain new concepts and I often wish I were a more skilled drawer, in order to quickly solve incomprehension and misunderstandings with a sketch.

Rosa, Portugal

carinaribeiro18 — 2018-09-26 07:49:09 UTC

I have been in the psition when i had to teach Portuguese language to a chinese student fourteen years old who didn´t know a word of Portuguese language. It was trully difficult, so I recognize that language awareness is very important for teachers!

Nicolina G., Italy

2018-09-26 09:53:29 UTC

Languages shouldn’t be obstacles for students’ learning. As foreign language teachers we have to consider that students have different needs from those who are taught in their first language. This is much more important if we have foreign students or students with special needs in our classroom. I completely agree that the foreign language has to be considered the vehicle to convey the message to our students and that ..”acquiring a good command of academic language goes hand in hand with the development of subject knowledge and understanding”. Our main responsibility is to create a climate of trust in which exchanges and communication among the students and with the teacher are facilitated.

Maria Carla, Italy

2018-09-26 10:41:51 UTC

Before entering a new topic ,I always explain my students all the new key words. Then I ask them to read the text twice and ask me for all the new words they cannot understand

Lila Z. Greece

lilazrb — 2018-09-26 10:50:42 UTC

I am a kindergarten teacher in a remote greek island. Every year there are Albanian students amongst the greek ones. They usually speak albanian with their family members and don't understand greek language very well. I try hard to help them learn greek since I don't speak albanian. It is very difficult for both of us...

Daniela, Romania

danardana2000 — 2018-09-26 12:01:10 UTC

As a IT teacher, in order to be able to work with various applications, I access various tutorials that are often English.
So, knowing a foreign language is very useful for me.

Vasiliki Psaridou/Greece

psaridou — 2018-09-26 12:53:13 UTC

I am a teacher in a Primary Minority school in Greece and as I have already mentioned before I face all the above difficulties in my every day program. In order to communicate better with pupils age 6-7 , I learnt some basic turkish. This gave me the advantage of the better communication at the beggining when pupils know nothing in Greek.

Elena FP, Italy

2018-09-26 13:42:55 UTC

Nowadays I teach in a Lyceum and I don't face situations in which students speak different languages. I am also a CLIL teacher though, which is I need to develop a stronger language awareness in order to have my students use English (L2) actively during classes.

I've been teaching English to Chinese, Albanian and Moroccan students in Italy. Most of them are of foreign origin but were born in Italy, so they are bilingual. I ask for these students' help when a new student who can't speak Italian enters the class. This promotes dialogue, solidarity, inclusio and communication. If I can, I use a language the foreign student knows and I encourage the other students to get closer to their mate's world. Anyway, I know I can do much better and I hope I'll learn a lot from this MOOC.

continuita1 — 2018-09-26 14:19:44 UTC

Gioia, Italy

Gökhan , Turkey

2018-09-26 14:19:54 UTC

I have Syrian students in my classroom. I know a bit Arabic and we contact with them sometimes in Arabic. This makes them smile and sometimes I listen with them arabic music and then I get more interest and they feel more comfortable.

1I4v3C7n

Simbaleomomo — 2018-09-26 15:15:52 UTC

Carmela/ Italy

carmela_alberghina — 2018-09-26 15:24:05 UTC

Teaching English in a lower secondary school gives me the opportunity t o understand what my students need to learn a new languages with structures and communicative functions completely different from their native language. So I try to make this process easier following their rithms of learning, associating the study with plays or pratical activities. Digital tools or projects in eTwinning give me a great support: they work in a stimulating and funny way.

2018-09-26 15:27:07 UTC

To identify students' needs and targets is of primary importance . Within a mixed ability and nationality class encouraging communication is a challenge .In order to achieve goals , we must build the atmosphere to make students feel comfortable.

Luigi, Italian

Simbaleomomo — 2018-09-26 15:31:45 UTC

We have studentes from Pakistan, India, Poland, Romanian Cina, Ukraina, etc.. and most of them don't speak our language when they come to our school ! I think they should attend italian language classes to be someway familiar with our language before entering in a classroom!

CINZIA, ITALY

2018-09-26 15:34:11 UTC

Viki Dogani,Greece

2018-09-26 15:39:31 UTC

language is important for the develpment of children

Anna Rosa, Italy

2018-09-26 15:41:21 UTC

Being a Clil teacher, I often happen to deal with students from different cultures: as a consequence I must take into consideration that students will not use English as a second language, but as a third or even a fourth one, if the student is used to talk a local language at home, for example. So it is essential to test the class competences and the language level as well; then as a teacher I must communicate and prepare some scaffolding for classroom language before starting with the academic language.

Anna De Donno, Italy

annadedonno — 2018-09-26 15:54:11 UTC

I use CLIL methodology in my classes. CLIL is communicative teaching. It creates a powerful learning environment. It positively influences cognitive and brain development

Chiara Sabatini, Italy

chisab72 — 2018-09-26 16:06:02 UTC

I think that if a teacher is language aware he/she can understands the problems students face when learning another language and can help them with some useful strategies. I also think that you can have a better language awareness if you yourself have experience learning another language and if you remember the way to learnt it you can give your students useful tips. Being language aware helps you to give the right importance to language learning and it also opens the door to the knowledge of other cultures and mutual understanding.

Lucy (Italy)I teach geography in a secondary school and in my classrooms I have many students from different nationalities. They often show difficulties in speaking and conversing in Italian. I’m looking for strategies to include them more and more and I’m planning more efficient and suitable lessons..I hope this course can help me!

2018-09-26 16:10:32 UTC

MARGARIDA ALMEIDA from Portugal. I have a girl that do not speek portuguese. I hope to learn how to help her with this course.

2018-09-26 16:18:23 UTC

Francesco, Italy

2018-09-26 16:19:53 UTC

In my class I usually plan a lot of lessons in English, because I think It helps my studends and me to open our minds, comparing our own language with another one, in this case English, and when we talk about Geography, for example, and we surf the internet to find out the best video about the Solar system or the position of the different continents on the globe, the best videos are in English and lots of them are very easy and clear. At the end of the lesson we usually make a sheme on the LIM and I ask them the meaning of the words they heard. If they don't know it they try to guess it and they enjoy a lot in doing it. After comparing the two languages they get back home not only with a new vocabolary but with a big awareness about the importance of learning together.

In my environment outside school there are many languages: migration languages, foreign languages. Foreign students don't be ashamed of their language.

2018-09-26 16:47:23 UTC

Alessandra, Italy

irishwoman26 — 2018-09-26 16:58:03 UTC

I have had the luck to work in a school where the majority of students were from other countries, belonged to different cultures and religions. This allowed me to create a lot of activities to create not only language and cultural awareness, one's own and the others', but also group cohesion and understanding. I created , for example, activities with group work on comparative grammar analysis, in which all languages had an equal position but only the students speaking that language could be the teachers.

Rosa, Italy

rosamonfreda2015 — 2018-09-26 17:05:37 UTC

To be aware how students use their language, and how we, as teachers, use our language to them is very important to make our students better learners and more confident of their abilities. I remember two Chinese students who arrived in our classes without speaking an Italian or English word. My colleagues and I had to create a conversation language using an English/Chinese bilingual dictionary. It was hard but at the end we had good results.

Sandra Leite - PORTUGAL

leite_sandra — 2018-09-26 17:10:41 UTC

Language is a vehicle for learning and as a teacher I am responsible for ensuring that the languages in your classroom are not a barrier or challenge for students. It is normal to have Portuguese and American students in my classes.

Rosa, Italy

rosamonfreda2015 — 2018-09-26 17:16:19 UTC

to be aware how students use their language and how we, as teachers, use our language to them is very important to make our students better learners and more confident of their abilities. I remember two Chinese students who arrived in our classes without speaking an Italian or English word. My colleagues and I had to create a conversation language using an English/Chinese bilingual dictionary. It was hard but at the end we had good results.

Maria João, Portugal

mjvmarques — 2018-09-26 17:35:59 UTC

I am an English teacher and lately, because I studied Chinese for three years and I can also teach Portuguese, I have been a support teacher for a Chinese students to master Portuguese as the communication language for daily life and school subjects. It has been quite interesting to see how fast a language can be mastered when your co-workers are aware of the importance of checking if the information is clearly taken by this boy. Due to this teamwork in two years he managed to develop his mastering from zero to B1 level of Language Proficiency. This was only possible because most people involved in the process were able to check on a daily basis the evolution of global language achievement of the student, through teachers' language awareness.

Anna Maria Scrimieri

annamaria_scrimieri — 2018-09-26 17:42:06 UTC

I am an English teacher and I think that my main goal is the success of all my students. For this reason having a language awareness is fundamental for me.
We have to face with students with difficulties or stundents who don''t speak Italiam, then being able to adapt my lessons to thier necessities is my main task. Therefore I think that a language awareness let us improve our competences as teachers.

Rossana Maglia, Italy

Rossana55 — 2018-09-26 17:56:44 UTC

Since I teach in a Secondary School, even students coming from other Countries have already learnt to speak a quite good Italian. However I am totally convinced that language awareness is very important. For example, if I want to use English during my lesson (I teach English, in fact), I usually pay attention that my students can understand me. I know that the full immersion into the English language is important, but if I want them to keep in mInd some function or grammar structure, I prefer to shift to Italian and be sure they can understand. This is a way to make them feel more comfortable and then they will be able to use English more confidently.

Chrysanthi

2018-09-26 18:01:55 UTC

I remember very well my teacher in Physics. He was always angry because we couldn´t talk about Physics in an appropriate way. I think he never had heard about Cummins.

Martina-Italy

2018-09-26 18:31:10 UTC

I'm working with a new class in the primary school, during the review of different topics i saw different levels of knowledge and language levels: only with a open methodology and language awareness i can communicate in a positive way with them, give them the possibility to feel comfortable to ask something and learn easily.

Jeane de Fatima - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

2018-09-26 18:36:41 UTC

Speaking to understand communicating is a new challenge for inclusion, speaking with gestures, different writing becomes a new challenge and a collective learning. In my school there is a student who does not pronounce the words, he has a lot of difficulty in speaking and now he learns to communicate using gestures, the group helps him interacting with him.

2018-09-26 18:45:55 UTC

I think all those who teach a second language feel the importance of language awareness in order to help students achieve communication.

2018-09-26 19:13:51 UTC

Elena from

2018-09-26 19:13:56 UTC

Elena from Perugia (Italy

2018-09-26 19:13:57 UTC

Elena from Perugia

2018-09-26 19:13:58 UTC

Elena from Perugia (Italy)
Teachers should be aware of the linguistic levels of their students either in their mother tongues or in English. For example, when I have to introduce a new grammar topic , I choose to speak in Italian because it’s important to assess if they already know the categories and functions in L1, otherwise it’s useless. Teachers should provide metaphorical bridges between L1 and L2.

Stefania

2018-09-26 19:18:28 UTC

Language awareness is important for teacher to convey ideas, thoughts and feelings. Besides, it is important to create a good relationship with the students . In this way, they can communicate and share their opinions. Language awareness is also very important for the students because help them to enrich their knowledge.

Before starting teaching at school, I taught Italian language to immigrant people. Only few people spoke a bit of English and communicating with them was very difficult. We made many efforts to find a solution to this problem and we started creating a ‘special language’ for the Italian classroom using both Italian and English words. In this way, they started learning Italian using a language that they already knew (English) ,so they felt comfortable because they could use some English words even if they were studying Italian.

Agata Brescia, Italy

tatiagata_brescia — 2018-09-26 19:46:52 UTC

I teach mathematics in a secondary school with a linguistic background. Many of my students do not like mathematics but love foreign languages. For this reason, last year I experimented with my colleague who teaches English the CLIL methodology. Supported by her (I do not know if this could be considered an example of linguistic awareness) I dealt with my students some mathematical topics, such as statistics and probability, in English. What was the result ??? Students who have never studied mathematics, but with good skills in foreign language, have seriously committed themselves !!! In this case I have achieved the objective of transmitting the mathematical contents to them through the linguistic tool !!! The teaching of language has played a vital role in learning and understanding subject content.

Veronica, Italy

2018-09-26 19:51:54 UTC

Like I’m still a student, I didn’t directly faced those type of situation. But something similar happened to me during my traineeship in my Erasmus year in Spain. During the Spanish class, the teacher was explaining the meaning of new words to the student. Like I’m Italian, she decided to “improve” the lesson, leaving the students to ask themselves, and after to me, from where come those words. The result was fantastic. They started to understand that there are “romance languages” that have a common past, and they discovered how similar can be Spanish and Italian, thanks for their common origins. Also, we investigate together the Latin origin of the words, and we start to compare how words in Spanish and Italian have evolved sometime in a very different way.

Angela,Italy

mariangela_gallo68 — 2018-09-26 20:25:32 UTC

think that language awereness is very important for teachers because it can facilitate the learning process . It is also important to create a good relashionship among students and with the teacher.

Dulcinea Portugal

2018-09-26 20:46:10 UTC

It is importante to be sensitive towards students from differents backgrounds and cultures because they often have dificulties to understand de subjects of studie.

Laura

2018-09-26 21:23:48 UTC

Language aweareness help teachers who have to deal with student of different country since they have different abilty and customs.

Josefina Martín, Spain

fefimg — 2018-09-26 21:27:08 UTC

LAnguage awareness is important because it make teachers aware of the language challenges or difficulties which non native of that language students may face when tacking with subject content. Teachers must adapt and teach accordint¡g to these challenges each student faces

Maria do Rosário, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

2018-09-26 23:15:30 UTC

I think language awareness is not only important where students of different mother languages cohexist. Even students with the same mother language face different challenges to succeed in class due to family background, due to social environments very diverse from one another as well as due to the fact that some attended school from early years, in kindergarden or nursery, and others started school directly to primary school. And, in general, this makes a lhard difference between them.
To conclude, language awareness is for sure of great importance.

Madalina Cucaila , Romania

2018-09-27 03:41:57 UTC

We have many gipsies. For them is very important to feel valued, I try to face the challenges issued in classroom due to family background.

Caterina, Italy

caterina_vitali75 — 2018-09-27 03:52:04 UTC

This's for me only the second year to teaching at primary school, I believe awareness is important for teacher but also for pupils, I try "to discover the language" with them, to reflect on the language, on the context and so on. I'm sorry I haven't got more examples.

I think language awareness is very crucial for teachers because it helps to create a good relationship among students and teachers and pupils feel comfortable at school,creating a climate of trust in which exchange and communication among pupils and with the teachers are facilitated

pardeepkaur9aug1994 — 2018-09-27 06:35:59 UTC

Francesca Palla, Italy

2018-09-27 07:19:55 UTC

Language Awareness is very important for teacher because the act of learning should be emphasized by the learners' side.
Teacher should be a facilitator, and this professional has to find some new ways to share knowledge, in order to lower the affective filter in the relationship between learner-educator

Krizia, Italy

kriziaiese — 2018-09-27 07:30:11 UTC

I think that teacher should be aware of the language in order to help sts in the process of learning. In fact, through language awareness, teacher can help sts reflect on the language and understande the context in which they are usng the language

Stefania Di Nuzzo, Italy

stefaniailedinuzzo — 2018-09-27 07:37:04 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers even if in a classroom all we're talking about the same mother tongue; numbers and quality of words that students can use or complexity of their grammar usage have an influence on their undestanding and partecipating to the learning process.

Hi I am deshwinder

2018-09-27 08:20:37 UTC

Paola Cracco Costa, Italy

2018-09-27 08:36:08 UTC

I am a teacher in Law and Economy in high school here in Italy and for many reason we (students and me) are keeping in touch with English several time a day. Many of the words in my subject are in English and we are aware that we cannot think some concepts in Italian but rather in an english way! For instance the word spread. We cannot translate and we must think in English. Many times my student need to understand the real meaning of such a different words. This is a great challenge! In this situation they are forced to change themselves. And this is of course great, extraordinary! English is also a way to approach to technical problems, in many situation you must summarize instead of thinking in an a language like italian in witch you are not so short.

2018-09-27 08:53:46 UTC

The teacher must have a loto of awareness of the Language that uses to teach so that the teacher can help in the best way the students who don't understand and don't speak that Language.

Athena, Nafpaktos

athenaanastasiadou1 — 2018-09-27 12:31:48 UTC

I work in a vocational school with multileveled students, often coming from various social, cultural, religious backgrounds. The students often act defensively in class when they do not understand sth and I am in the dfc situation to balance in quite diversiful classes and prevent conflicts in class. If all students are actively engaged, possible problems can be avoided up to a point. I consider it is the teacher's duty to be aware of the sts diversities lingulistic, cultural and social and prepare the students for co-existence.

Silvia, Italy

2018-09-27 12:35:37 UTC

I think language awareness is important because it gives you the opportunity to consider students individually. For example, last year i have teached english at the primary school and I had 8 classes, language awarenes was important to think about different activities in equal years of study: i had two classes of the fourth year of study and i didn' the same activities, because students of the two classes were different - they had a different awareness of languages so I had to work with them in two different ways

Ame, Italy

2018-09-27 12:38:51 UTC

Language awareness si important for our pupil’s future

Fernanda, Portugal

2018-09-27 12:53:15 UTC

Language Awareness is really important in language teaching because it involves a whole world related to language - culture, habits, traditions. The language we use in teaching has to be adequate but it also has to meet students' needs. So, planning a lesson in a language diverse classroom is a challenge. We have to find different ways to get to all students.

Natalia, ItalyI think that, as a second language teacher, one of the main aspects about language awareness is that of helping our students to achieve communication.Language is a vehicle for communication (and also for learning) and as a teacher I am responsible for ensuring that the language in my classroom is not a barrier for my students.In my class there are Chinese, Italian, Georgian, Romanian, etc., they communicate through games, songs, mimic and they learn English as a second language but many times I have to explain thing individually because the word or structure is different only in one of their languages, and it could create an misunderstanding to one of my students. The same thing for culture, there are thing that I need to explain in a clear way for some of them because their culture are far from English one.

nbv777 — 2018-09-27 13:27:10 UTC

Is Language Awareness important for teachers

2018-09-27 13:37:47 UTC

I believe that language awareness is very crucial for teachers because it can facilitate the learning process as well as it also fruitful to create a good relationship among students and teachers where students feel more comfortable with their teacher. However, language awareness of teachers is important to make our students better learners and more confident than their ability.

2018-09-27 14:19:37 UTC

Language Awareness is very important. I work as an English teacher in an Italian bilingual (It-En) Pre-School and Primary School. Every time I plan an activity I have to think of the learning process of my students regarding Language Aquisition (their previous knowledge, known lexis vs new lexis, things that they might find difficult, etc.) and I think of ways to

Stanley,Nigeria.

2018-09-27 16:26:25 UTC

I supervise teachers and I have noticed that most language teachers are more concerned in covering the curriculum than in ensuring pupils acquire the language.In my setting the native language where the school is situated is made compulsory but most times students spend up to seven years learning a language without being able to engage in a simple conversation.

Erika, Italy

szazie — 2018-09-27 16:59:58 UTC

When the language of schooling is completely different from the mother tongue, children can experience a lot of difficulties not related to the specific subject that is taught, but to the unfamiliar language that is used to teach it. For this reason the students can become discouraged or even lose their interest. As I said, a teacher who is not language aware is a teacher who is not aware of the fact that a language can become a real barrier that prevent the learner from reaching the real contents of his/her lessons. This misunderstanding can have a very negative effect: the strategies implemented by the teacher to help the learner won’t be effective because they won’t solve his/her real problem (low linguistic proficiency).
Another important aspect is represented by the linguistic/cultural attitudes that can be conveyed by a teacher who is not language aware. In this case, the teacher tends not to assign an equal value to every language spoken by his/her students, giving priority or even a higher value to the language/ culture of his/her monolingual students (the majority). The children who speak two or three languages can perceive their teachers linguistic attitudes, reacting consistently.
During these two years, I observed that, in a monolingual atmosphere, children tend to avoid speaking their mother-tongue at school. They always use their second language in front of the other monolingual students, considering their first language as the language that can be spoken only at home or among the other students who share the same origin, culture and social condition.
In my opinion, a language aware teacher is a teacher who acknowledges the beauty and the value of all the languages spoken by his/her students, allowing them to speak these languages in the classroom or even to teach them (maybe only some words).
Finally, a language aware teacher is a teacher who underlines the real benefits of language diversity: the opportunity to discover new cultures (ways of life, thinking and perceiving the world) through different languages (removing an important barrier to mobility) and the opportunity to reach a better linguistic awareness of the L1 through L2.
Thinking about my experience, I remember two situations where greater language awareness would have helped me design the learning for my students. During the first and the second year, two children arrived, one from Morocco and one from Egypt. I could not speak arabic or french and these two children could not speak english or italian. I would have liked to know their mother-tongues in order to communicate with them from the beginning! Luckily there were two egyptian students who became two perfect loyal translators and interpreters!! In that case, my conscious perception and sensitivity in language learning, teaching and use was not enough, I would have liked to have an explicit knowledge about the language (mother tongues) spoken by these two great and courageous students.

Maria Rita, Italy

2018-09-27 17:02:29 UTC

Language awareness is basic for teachers because it helps us to create different learning language path for each student without forgetting the peer work (debate, comparison), which could be used to reinforce the class group. This could be a way to get all the students, because if the teacher is aware, the students will be aware too.

Vassiliki Boltsi, Greece

phoebe1_gallika — 2018-09-27 18:25:26 UTC

Classrooms in Europe have become multilingual and it is our concern as teachers to develop skills and abilities to all our stydents despite their origin and their mother tongue. To me we are sort of doctors who cure/treat every person/patient because they have taken the Hippocratic Oath. We, teachers, should pay attention to al of our students and treat them appropriately.

Maria Rosa (Sicily)

maryroseprof — 2018-09-27 18:37:41 UTC

In my opinion language awareness is very important for all teachers.Nowadays in our classes there are an increasing number of students coming from other different countries, so teachers have to be ready to face ut to that challenge. For instance this year in my school arrived a very clever student from Albania and he doesn’t speak Italian, but fortunately he speaks English very well ,so teachers and his classmates are trying to communicate with him in English and step by step he is learning a bit of Italian too.

Nicoleta- Romania

2018-09-27 18:53:28 UTC

Language awareness is important, is a challenge for the modern teacher, but very helpful in class with students who mix the words trying to say something in Romanian, in Italian, or Spanish......if you love your job, your students, you should be the first to learn/ search about culture, background of family, be more understanding , make sure communication does”t have any barries in understanding each other. So find a common channel- language, use all their collegues, use different games, songs, be creative!

Federica (Italy)

2018-09-27 19:01:08 UTC

As educators, I think we would be of great inspiration to our students if we are aware of all the different languages spoken around us. Just to remind them each one of us is special their own way, there's no better or worse!

Camelia (Romania

2018-09-27 19:51:24 UTC

When the teacher tries to speak in the pupil's mother tongue, he feels closer to the teacher and tries to understand better what is being taught.

EZEL TUNA -BURSA/TURKEY

ezeltuna — 2018-09-27 20:16:50 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers. It makes it easier for students to communicate, understand and learn subjects.

Margaret - Poland

2018-09-27 20:22:38 UTC

I teach English and I try to speak English all the time during my classes but sometimes I see that some students have problems with understanding - then I try to repeat what I said using simpler words or pictures or I try to show what I mean - any method is good. I need to know that my students understand me.

Giselda Costa- Teresina- Piauí- Brazil

2018-09-27 20:29:29 UTC

I think in the general curriculum should have "Linguistics discipline".
It is fundamental that all teachers (mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc.) have knowledge of verbal and non-verbal communication. The importance of language within a multicultural classroom. The Importance of Body Communication
and the importance of linguistic diversity among students. It is also essential to know the linguistic policies.

Subject teaching and language awareness (Maria Rosaria - ItalY)

2018-09-27 20:46:10 UTC

Being a subject teacher means being aware that content goes through language and that language changes according to content. That is enough to make possible that each subject teacher must also be considered a language teacher.

Simona, Porto Azzurro, Italy

2018-09-27 20:46:20 UTC

Language awareness is important not only regarding pupils whose mother tongue is different: when you work in a class with young learners, it can happen that a lot of italian children don't kow the meaning of "edicola" (newsagent's). It is a very common word in families that buy newspapers and have a decent cultural background. So a teacher MUST always investigate either how much of his/her vocabulary is understood by the pupils, and the cultural background they have. And this must be done with all the pupils.

Patrizia, Lissone, Italy

laboratorio_lin — 2018-09-27 20:55:43 UTC

As a language teacher I understand that in order to teach a foreign language you need to create a very positive learning environment, where a mistake can be corrected only for the sake of helping the student improve his learning. No one should feel afraid of making a mistake while learning a new language.
A self-confident student will make progress quite easily and when the language becomes more difficult, the teacher will be there to facilitate his/her learning. I have been to England with a group of students recently and what struck me was the positive atmosphere created by the teachers, with amazing results!

Raffaella, Calcio,

2018-09-27 21:05:24 UTC

YASEMİN UYSAL-YATAĞAN/MUĞLA/TURKEY

YaseminUysal — 2018-09-27 21:40:13 UTC

Language awareness is important to improve the communication and develop the relationship between the students.

Krisnel, Italy

krisneln — 2018-09-28 07:47:07 UTC

Awareness of the language is important for teachers as I believe it allows a more inclusive didactic planning, evolving the contexts using interactive dimensions allows a greater understanding of the contents by the students. An increase in the quantity and quality of exposure to languages, whether L1 or L2, used in different contexts to traditional learning can allow the integration of disciplinary and transversal contents.

Floriana; Italy

2018-09-28 08:11:03 UTC

One one hand, having
language awareness is very important because it helps teacher to better understand their pupils'needs, on the second hand it help rethinking their educational actions aiming to performance and, ever more, to contents. In my classroom there aren't foreign students, but some children speak in local dialect. I personally think that language awareness surely helps communication and facilitate the learning process.

Andrea;Italy

2018-09-28 08:34:34 UTC

every and each language course starts with an entry test. That's the starting point. Each student has different capabilities and abilities , I would say history. Teachers must be aware of it and set different learning objectives according to the minimum standard required by the level of their class. I have a considerable experience at evening classes and they are really heterogeneous. If you want any impact on your students you must set different learning paths or lessons are completely useless .

Laura, Italy

2018-09-28 09:07:21 UTC

An example of why language awareness is important could be that if you want to teach contents through a foreign language you has to be aware of the lexis you need to convey that content and to think of scaffolding activities to pre-teach the needeed vocabulary to your students, otherwise they couldn't understand or interact during the lesson.

Sinan Koruc

2018-09-28 09:46:29 UTC

Through projects funded under Erasmus+ programme, we have a great opportunity to highlight the importance of language awareness for my colleagues and students.

I'm teaching in a school with many foreigners (political refugees and immigrants) from Africa and Asia and often they speach english and a little of italian. I think form my job is absolutely necessary to get more awarness of language.

2018-09-28 10:36:06 UTC

Nuno, PT

profnpms — 2018-09-28 11:27:03 UTC

I once had a Vietnamese student who didn't speak Portuguese and hardly spoke English, so it was difficult to communicate and/or teach her.

Moisés, Portugal

2018-09-28 11:31:07 UTC

When students finish the school, normaly they start work in restaurants, I feel that they know the basic in tecnhical language but they d'ont know how to make a conversation.

Sofia, ATH/ GREECE

2018-09-28 12:04:12 UTC

I work with students 4-6 years old, so when my students don't understand Greek (more often the last years) I use other techniques such as pictures, theatrical games etc. in order to understand and participate without the language barriers.

Hümeyra YENER/TURKEY

hs_yener — 2018-09-28 12:51:23 UTC

I’m an English teacher and I have faced the same problems since I started teaching English from the very first day. Most of the students do not have opportunity to use the language in their daily life so they don’t care about the second language. Some of the students have a prejudice toward English. As their own language structure and use is different from the second language, they find it difficult to use the new language. So it is our aim to help them gain a confidence to use the second language. We should prepare materials accordingly to students readiness.

Laura, Canada

2018-09-28 13:32:53 UTC

I really think all teachers are language teachers. Building this awareness and shifting teachers presumptions about language is why language awareness is important. The other responses on this page echo the role the language serves to a students sense of belonging. I think beyond just accessing materials.

Laura , Italy

laura_badalini — 2018-09-28 14:10:35 UTC

working in classes with students of different nationalities it is very important to share a linguistic code , sometimes the language of communication can be different from the language of learning , what really matters is to create a cultural link. In some cases even the body language can be useful

2018-09-28 14:14:18 UTC

Mary from Italy

2018-09-28 14:14:52 UTC

HI !, I'm from Italy
I'm finish my studying for becoming a teacher.
I think that language awareness is important because teacher have to use the right approach before teaching to students in order to understand their needs and help them to become more sure of speaking or learning new languages. It is really important they feel comfortable at school and ababove all they have to face their languages difficulties by teacher's help.

Hallo! Here's maestra Emma :-)

2018-09-28 14:46:15 UTC

Linguistic awareness is important for expressing needs, ideas, desires and asking for what one needs to understand. Knowing what to ask, choosing words, arguing, using the word that most expresses the meanings we want to convey makes our relationships more effective and satisfying. A well used word is a vehicle of information, that we give and that we ask and it is also an excellent mediator of conflicts in which all the "winners" come out. Often conflicts arise from misunderstandings, from the use of words not appropriate to the listener, to the place where we are or to our need to communicate. Being aware of the words, however, is not enough. We must also be aware of the non-verbal elements of communication, which are the ones that come first, to which we believe most.

In class, especially in classes with children who speak little of the language in which they communicate (L1) use mimicry, doing, the different types of text helps to associate words and meanings, words and actions. Playing with the voice and the movements helps to understand when to use certain communicative ways, to use different types of texts (visual, written, sound, motors) helps to make what is richer and to share the many typical ways of expression of different cultures. This limits the sense of little capacity and isolation that foreign children just arrived from abroad feel for the difference between their logistic skills.

For children with other L1 it is also important to be able to teach some words or texts (chants, greeting formulas, rhymes) to their peers: they feel that their culture is a value and that they too can be the most experienced.

Finally, using the language in different and integrated activities increases the possibility for everyone to participate and learn.

Silvia from Italy

2018-09-28 15:29:56 UTC

Last year I had to teach Spanish as a second language to a girl who spoke bad Italian and Arab at home. Her parents couldn't help her with extra classes, they were not educated, so I could only rely on myself. I simplified everything I could and reduced my objectives: at the end of the school year she could understand little Spanish at an elementary level, but she felt pretty confident about it.

Cristina from Italy

2018-09-28 15:40:11 UTC

First I had to semplify my language and to adapt it considering the needs of my students who were unable to produce long sentences. Then I worked to support their self confidence in order to avoid their fear to make mistakes.

Nadina NICOLICI, Romania

n_nadina — 2018-09-28 15:57:16 UTC

My students are from various backgrounds with different levels of language (English or French). For those whose level is very low I do my best to adapt everything and to make things easier for them, but I make sure they understand and they feel comfortable.

Ilaria from Italy

2018-09-28 16:49:43 UTC

I think that LA is important for teachers for two reasons: for helping students thata are learnig a second language and for giving the right helps, structeres and function for foreign students that don't know the country and scolastic language.
I try to help my students with maps, schemes but also comics and series on TV.

Anabela Vieira

2018-09-28 16:53:35 UTC

At my school, in Portugal we are developing a project called CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), some contents in some subjects are teached in English, so this is a reality that we are already familiar.

Because we have different levels of English knowledge, we have to develop different strategies: as using body language, key words, using different tools (Edmodo, Kahoot, padlet, picture dictionary …), reading sessions, contests, coloured information on the walls os the school and classrooms, pair work (…) as a way to motivate our students and give them the opportunity to explore their second language according to their English level.
Our school invests in teachers training, as Erasmus and eTwinning projects.

Amelia, Italy

2018-09-28 16:59:52 UTC

Last year I experienced a project called CLIL (Contenet and Language Integrated Learning) with my Philosophy colleague, so we used some learning strategies about language awareness. For example, we created list of key-words and vocabulary activities in order to help our students to learn

2018-09-28 17:04:39 UTC

different strategies: as using body language, key words, using different tools

CINZIA. ITALY

2018-09-28 17:15:52 UTC

My students are half Italian mothertongue, half from different countries of the world (Peru, China, Philippines, Morocco, Tunisia, Albania, Brazil) with very different levels of language. For those whose level is low I try to adapt all material and to make things easier for them, but I am not sure to be really at ease to do that. I do my best to simplify their works with maps, schemes, graded readings, TV cartoons, games, quizzes,… I try also to use different methodologies, in particular TPR and something involving kinesthetic or mostly visual attitude. I prefer cooperative learning, peer to peer activities, in order to motivate the weakest ones from the language point of view. Our school does not invest a lot in particular projects about LA, but I often take part in Etwinning projects with my class.

Stathis, Greece

2018-09-28 17:46:00 UTC

The last 18 years I have been working in a Technical Lyceum in Almyros which always accepts students from Albania. The fact is that I had never have any problem or difficulty to communicate with them, although I'm not aware with their language and culture. Sometimes they start talking in their language in class but I had made them clear that is something forbidden. But I always try to gain their trust, I think that i have worked successfully on it and seems that we'll together overcome any barrier between us.t

Gregorio, Sicily-Italy

2018-09-28 18:21:29 UTC

Teaching technical subjects in a second language is mandatory in high school in Italy, Last year I had this experience with a final class, The students initially presented a low level of English proficiency , with problems of understanding and exposure on generic and technical topics, With the introduction of some modules of the course developed with the CLIL methodologies, I found a greater awareness of the language, and an improvement of the knowledge and understanding of the topics covered. Creating in the classroom a climate of trust and an ease in communication and in the exchange of information between students and with the teacher himself.

Francesca, Italy

2018-09-28 18:23:54 UTC

Usually my students are italian, but the few times i’ve worked with foreign students i’ve understood the importance of LA and i felt the need of having a specific knowledge of CLIL methodologies. However i’ve tried to create a climate of trust, also using new strategies: cooperative learning, peer to peer education, ...

Cinzia Centrone, Italy

centrone_cinzia — 2018-09-28 21:02:08 UTC

In this part o year at school I'm using cooperative learning, work in group to motivate students that come from other countries. Very important is use of different materials such as cards, maps that can facilitate understanding. I and my Italian students sometimes speak in English to semplify understanding.

My experience in LA, Silvana from Italy

2018-09-28 21:21:29 UTC

I have faced many times the need to communicate with a learner that was not Italian. Language awareness is needed because of the increasing multicultural and multilingual world.

I remember one particular case I faced many some years ago. It was a difficult situation, because the learner just arrived from Serbia and could not communicate in Italian. I used my sensibility to adapt to this situation. If I think back to those days, it would have been very useful to know some effective tools to use for such a situation. I tried to create special documents for him putting both languages in them (a sort of scaffolding in multilingual appearance). Sometime ago I followed a CLIL methodology course and now I feel more confident to struggle with such a situation. However, I think I need to be trained to be a better teacher.

Cinzia, Bergamo, Italy

cinzfior — 2018-09-28 22:30:30 UTC

I always underline how important it is to have foreign students in our class because of this the teacher has to speak French or English most of the time and students has to speak English or French to do new friend understands the most. In addition we can learn lots of interesting information about our new foreign classmate and this is a richness!

Rina Allen, USA. Language Awareness is a very real thing. It is important to give patience and to speak slowly. Give direction with any means possible, such as, TPR, Total Physical Response. As a TEF L Instructor making learning enjoyable is half the battle for those learning a new language.

2018-09-29 03:34:36 UTC

Fabrizio, Genova

2018-09-29 04:59:48 UTC

To engage and motivate students, group activities (cooperative learning) and the use of drawings, maps and posters are useful. Through the artistic activities the students can discover their imagination and creativity, help themselves and socialize to reach the final goal.

M

mrua1 — 2018-09-29 06:22:36 UTC

Bog

Kelly, Denmark

2018-09-29 07:07:51 UTC

A big wake up call for me was about 11 years ago. I was team teaching as part of being a recently qualified teacher. The more experienced teacher stopped me mid-flow, handed a magnet to one of my newer students and said "this is a magnet. Can you say magnet?" It just hadn't occurred to me I should run my science lessons like an English lesson. I also thought they understood a LOT more than they could. After that, I took an TEFL weekend course to be able to reach my beginners.

Christina, Finland

2018-09-29 07:34:02 UTC

I have worked as a Finnish mother tongue teacher abroad for children who go to school in another language. For my lessons it has been essential to find out what they have learned about the topic in another language and then provide the same vocabulary and concepts in Finnish. If I wished to broaden the contents of the lesson to concepts unfamiliar to them, I needed to take time and effort to make sure they understood the underlying concepts, not just teach the vocabulary.

Mariagrazia, Italy

mariagraziamagni11 — 2018-09-29 10:00:03 UTC

I teach CLIL in a primary school and I often use CODE SWITCHING , moving from English to Italian so that I am sure that all the pupils can understand what is being said . It is very interesting and also beautiful listening to the pupils talking both languages at the same time, mixing them, eevn in the same sentence : I think it's a good way to understand lamguage diversity but at the same time giving the same dignity to different languages...

Monica , Romania

aro_monica — 2018-09-29 10:06:13 UTC

I usually use realia during my lessons, it encourages students to speak and it also helps them learn more and better. My students love puppets and they always become more talkative when they are around.

Venetia, Greece

2018-09-29 10:15:02 UTC

I am a mathematician teacher in a general lyceum so, I haven't faced with this problem. Although in my classroom there are pupils with a different mother tongue , this has not created any major problem in my course, probably because of the subject of teaching. But I would say that a different mother tongue probably creates a problem for these pupils in understanding theoretical concepts especially in other lessons, resulting in poor performance and lack of interest

Aurelio, Ital

2018-09-29 10:53:52 UTC

I'm a math teaching in secondary school and I have been in the same situation Venetia (Greece) told. I completely agree with her.

Laurie, Germany

canadaday — 2018-09-29 10:59:18 UTC

As a teacher of Remediation Math for Grade 4 and 5 students, language awareness includes teaching vocabulary needed to grasp the big ideas. For example "fluency in numbers" is a central learning goal. To comunicate this goal to students I have choices to make when planning. The choices I make are dependent upon the language proficiency of each student. For beginner English learners, I could have them translate the phrase: "fluency in numbers" using Google Translate on class iPads. Then we could work through some easy examples of this concept: add ten to a given number; take ten away from a given number. Students can be encouraged to explain how a number changed using simple phrases: "plus ten" or "minus ten". For students who are intermediate or advanced English learners, I could begin with a discussion about what it means to be fluent in a language. That could be followed by relating the concept of fluency to numbers. Then we could work through some examples and students would be encouraged to explain how numbers changed using sentence frames such as: "I added ten" or "I subtracted ten". In other words, establishing a common ground of understanding upon which to build is essential when planning lessons with langauge awareness in mind.

Matanat Ahdova/ Azerbaijan

ahadovamatanat2 — 2018-09-29 11:05:20 UTC

I think the teacher should choose the right methods and approaches for the students to teach them and to understand their needs and help them to become more sure of speaking or learning new languages. It is really important they feel comfortable at school and above all they have to face their languages difficulties by teacher's help.

DESHWINDER KAUR/INDIA

2018-09-29 11:12:01 UTC

I always believe how important it is to be perfect in your subject . because in india teacher has to speak punjabi , hindi or English . and a teacher must be perfect and confident about her knowledge and sources

Isabel Couto, Lisbon

isabelle_couto — 2018-09-29 11:48:53 UTC

Learning a language whether it is maternal or foreign is very important. I am aware of this as a teacher, since it is through her that I communicate with my students and them with me. Regardless of the discipline we teach, it is our primary tool. Sometimes it becomes difficult because of language barriers not only due to the fact that some of my students are foreigners, but also because of the lack of vocabulary revealed by my Portuguese language mother tongue students. It is with this intention that I try in my classes to develop various strategies, namely the implementation of jeux de rôle as well as small tasks that allow my students to overcome their difficulties and gaps. In a world where communicative skills are increasingly essential, it becomes crucial to develop and work these skills as you learn / master other language (s) beyond ours.

Miriam - Madrid I worked as an italian teacher in multicultural primary school in Rome and now I teach in an italian school in Madrid.With multi linguistic classrooms I tried involve the pupils organizing a group using f.e. the method of cooperative learning, but also I motivated students using theatre, music, art, gimnastic.In a contest where the italian is a vehicular language, these ways work well: the pupils have to speak necesserly in italian because this is the language known by all or the language that all have to know. Now, working in Madrid with spanish children in an italian school, I could see that during the work group the children comunicate among them in spanish, their native language. More, they not only speak in spanish but also think using this language and their italian production is written. They prepare their italian speachs thinking and speaking in spanish and so is very difficult to get over the ‘itanolo language’. To overcame this problem, I had create a new role into the cooperative learnig group: beside the time controller we have the italian language controller!

2018-09-29 12:20:34 UTC

Tiziana Panaro Italy. I teach English in quite homogeneous classes, all the students, in fact are Italian native speakers and learn English as a second language. However, our place is starting to welcome people from countries all over the world and our classes are becoming more and more multilingual. Last year I had to face the issue with a Moroccan girl who was Arabic native speaker and she had some problems with writing from left to right. However she overcame the temporary difficulty with the passing of time. On the contrary, she was excellent in her spoken and interactive skills in English.

tizianapanaro — 2018-09-29 12:24:23 UTC

Dina, Verona

2018-09-29 13:17:20 UTC

As long as I was reading this passage, I was just thinking about the last math lesson with my 8-year-olds. In the class group there are students from Italy, Albania, Romania, Senegal, Philippines, Sri-Lanka, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia. I therefore thought to ask the children to be told by their parents as they say the word "REST" or remain in their language of origin. Then on a billboard I can represent a situation in which you take away something (candy, cutlery, toys, etc ...) associate the minus sign and the word rest or remain in all the languages known in the class. Thus the association between the sign and the concept, between sign and word, becomes stronger and clearer.

Sheila Corwin, Florence, Italy

2018-09-29 14:31:58 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers, because language is a reflection of culture. Teachers need to realize that language
awareness means that teachers need to recognize that there is more than one way to live a life and view the world.

mannunziata_loverso — 2018-09-29 14:32:34 UTC

Sheila Corwin, Florence, Italy Sheila Corwin, Florence, Italy Language awareness is important for teachers, because language is one reflection of culture. Teachers need to realize that language Dina, Verona Dina, Verona As long as I was reading this passage, I was just thinking about the last math lesson with my 8-year-olds. In the class group there are students from Italy, Albania, Romania, Senegal, Philippines, Sri-Lanka, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia. I therefore thought to ask the children to be told by their parents as they say the word "REST" or remain in their language of origin. Then on a billboard I can represent a situation in which you take away something (candy, cutlery, toys, etc ...) associate the minus sign and the word rest or remain in all the languages known in the class. Thus the association between the sign and the concept, between sign and word, becomes stronger and clearer. Tiziana Panaro Italy. I teach English in quite homogeneous classes, all the students, in fact are Italian native speakers and learn English as a second language. However, our place is starting to welcome people from countries all over the world and our classes are becoming more and more multilingual. Last year I had to face the issue with a Moroccan girl who was Arabic native speaker and she had some problems with writing from left to right. However she overcame the temporary difficulty with the passing of time. On the contrary, she was excellent in her spoken and interactive skills in English. Tiziana Panaro Italy. I teach English in quite homogeneous classes, all the students, in fact are Italian native speakers and learn English as a second language. However, our place is starting to welcome people from countries all over the world and our classes are becoming more and more multilingual. Last year I had to face the issue with a Moroccan girl who was Arabic native speaker and she had some problems with writing from left to right. However she overcame the temporary difficulty with the passing of time. On the contrary, she was excellent in her spoken and interactive skills in English. Miriam - Madrid I worked as an italian teacher in multicultural primary school in Rome and now I teach in an italian school in Madrid.With multi linguistic classrooms I tried involve the pupils organizing a group using f.e. the method of cooperative learning, but also I motivated students using theatre, music, art, gimnastic.In a contest where the italian is a vehicular language, these ways work well: the pupils have to speak necesserly in italian because this is the language known by all or the language that all have to know. Now, working in Madrid with spanish children in an italian school, I could see that during the work group the children comunicate among them in spanish, their native language. More, they not only speak in spanish but also think using this language and their italian production is written. They prepare their italian speachs thinking and speaking in spanish and so is very difficult to get over the ‘itanolo language’. To overcame this problem, I had create a new role into the cooperative learnig group: beside the time controller we have the italian language controller! Miriam - Madrid I worked as an italian teacher in multicultural primary school in Rome and now I teach in an italian school in Madrid.With multi linguistic classrooms I tried involve the pupils organizing a group using f.e. the method of cooperative learning, but also I motivated students using theatre, music, art, gimnastic.In a contest where the italian is a vehicular language, these ways work well: the pupils have to speak necesserly in italian because this is the language known by all or the language that all have to know. Now, working in Madrid with spanish children in an italian school, I could see that during the work group the children comunicate among them in spanish, their native language. More, they not only speak in spanish but also think using this language and their italian production is written. They prepare their italian speachs thinking and speaking in spanish and so is very difficult to get over the ‘itanolo language’. To overcame this problem, I had create a new role into the cooperative learnig group: beside the time controller we have the italian language controller! Isabel Couto, Lisbon Isabel Couto, Lisbon Learning a language whether it is maternal or foreign is very important. I am aware of this as a teacher, since it is through her that I communicate with my students and them with me. Regardless of the discipline we teach, it is our primary tool. Sometimes it becomes difficult because of language barriers not only due to the fact that some of my students are foreigners, but also because of the lack of vocabulary revealed by my Portuguese language mother tongue students. It is with this intention that I try in my classes to develop various strategies, namely the implementation of jeux de rôle as well as small tasks that allow my students to overcome their difficulties and gaps. In a world where communicative skills are increasingly essential, it becomes crucial to develop and work these skills as you learn / master other language (s) beyond ours. DESHWINDER KAUR/INDIA DESHWINDER KAUR/INDIA I always believe how important it is to be perfect in your subject . because in india teacher has to speak punjabi , hindi or English . and a teacher must be perfect and confident about her knowledge and sources Matanat Ahdova/ Azerbaijan Matanat Ahdova/ Azerbaijan I think the teacher should choose the right methods and approaches for the students to teach them and to understand their needs and help them to become more sure of speaking or learning new languages. It is really important they feel comfortable at school and above all they have to face their languages difficulties by teacher's help. Laurie, Germany Laurie, Germany As a teacher of Remediation Math for Grade 4 and 5 students, language awareness includes teaching vocabulary needed to grasp the big ideas. For example "fluency in numbers" is a central learning goal. To comunicate this goal to students I have choices to make when planning. The choices I make are dependent upon the language proficiency of each student. For beginner English learners, I could have them translate the phrase: "fluency in numbers" using Google Translate on class iPads. Then we could work through some easy examples of this concept: add ten to a given number; take ten away from a given number. Students can be encouraged to explain how a number changed using simple phrases: "plus ten" or "minus ten". For students who are intermediate or advanced English learners, I could begin with a discussion about what it means to be fluent in a language. That could be followed by relating the concept of fluency to numbers. Then we could work through some examples and students would be encouraged to explain how numbers changed using sentence frames such as: "I added ten" or "I subtracted ten". In other words, establishing a common ground of understanding upon which to build is essential when planning lessons with langauge awareness in mind. Aurelio, Ital Aurelio, Ital I'm a math teaching in secondary school and I have been in the same situation Venetia (Greece) told. I completely agree with her. Venetia, Greece Venetia, Greece I am a mathematician teacher in a general lyceum so, I haven't faced with this problem. Although in my classroom there are pupils with a different mother tongue , this has not created any major problem in my course, probably because of the subject of teaching. But I would say that a different mother tongue probably creates a problem for these pupils in understanding theoretical concepts especially in other lessons, resulting in poor performance and lack of interest Monica , Romania Monica , Romania I usually use realia during my lessons, it encourages students to speak and it also helps them learn more and better. My students love puppets and they always become more talkative when they are around. Mariagrazia, Italy Mariagrazia, Italy I teach CLIL in a primary school and I often use CODE SWITCHING , moving from English to Italian so that I am sure that all the pupils can understand what is being said . It is very interesting and also beautiful listening to the pupils talking both languages at the same time, mixing them, eevn in the same sentence : I think it's a good way to understand lamguage diversity but at the same time giving the same dignity to different languages... Christina, Finland Christina, Finland I have worked as a Finnish mother tongue teacher abroad for children who go to school in another language. For my lessons it has been essential to find out what they have learned about the topic in another language and then provide the same vocabulary and concepts in Finnish. If I wished to broaden the contents of the lesson to concepts unfamiliar to them, I needed to take time and effort to make sure they understood the underlying concepts, not just teach the vocabulary. Kelly, Denmark Kelly, Denmark A big wake up call for me was about 11 years ago. I was team teaching as part of being a recently qualified teacher. The more experienced teacher stopped me mid-flow, handed a magnet to one of my newer students and said "this is a magnet. Can you say magnet?" It just hadn't occurred to me I should run my science lessons like an English lesson. I also thought they understood a LOT more than they could. After that, I took an TEFL weekend course to be able to reach my beginners. M M Bog Fabrizio, Genova Fabrizio, Genova To engage and motivate students, group activities (cooperative learning) and the use of drawings, maps and posters are useful. Through the artistic activities the students can discover their imagination and creativity, help themselves and socialize to reach the final goal. Rina Allen, USA. Language Awareness is a very real thing. It is important to give patience and to speak slowly. Give direction with any means possible, such as, TPR, Total Physical Response. As a TEF L Instructor making learning enjoyable is half the battle for those learning a new language. Rina Allen, USA. Language Awareness is a very real thing. It is important to give patience and to speak slowly. Give direction with any means possible, such as, TPR, Total Physical Response. As a TEF L Instructor making learning enjoyable is half the battle for those learning a new language. Cinzia, Bergamo, Italy Cinzia, Bergamo, Italy I always underline how important it is to have foreign students in our class because of this the teacher has to speak French or English most of the time and students has to speak English or French to do new friend understands the most. In addition we can learn lots of interesting information about our new foreign classmate and this is a richness! My experience in LA, Silvana from Italy My experience in LA, Silvana from Italy I have faced many times the need to communicate with a learner that was not Italian. Language awareness is needed because of the increasing multicultural and multilingual world. I remember one particular case I faced many some years ago. It was a difficult situation, because the learner just arrived from Serbia and could not communicate in Italian. I used my sensibility to adapt to this situation. If I think back to those days, it would have been very useful to know some effective tools to use for such a situation. I tried to create special documents for him putting both languages in them (a sort of scaffolding in multilingual appearance). Sometime ago I followed a CLIL methodology course and now I feel more confident to struggle with such a situation. However, I think I need to be trained to be a better teacher. Cinzia Centrone, Italy Cinzia Centrone, Italy In this part o year at school I'm using cooperative learning, work in group to motivate students that come from other countries. Very important is use of different materials such as cards, maps that can facilitate understanding. I and my Italian students sometimes speak in English to semplify understanding. Francesca, Italy Francesca, Italy Usually my students are italian, but the few times i’ve worked with foreign students i’ve understood the importance of LA and i felt the need of having a specific knowledge of CLIL methodologies. However i’ve tried to create a climate of trust, also using new strategies: cooperative learning, peer to peer education, ... Gregorio, Sicily-Italy Gregorio, Sicily-Italy Teaching technical subjects in a second language is mandatory in high school in Italy, Last year I had this experience with a final class, The students initially presented a low level of English proficiency , with problems of understanding and exposure on generic and technical topics, With the introduction of some modules of the course developed with the CLIL methodologies, I found a greater awareness of the language, and an improvement of the knowledge and understanding of the topics covered. Creating in the classroom a climate of trust and an ease in communication and in the exchange of information between students and with the teacher himself. Stathis, Greece Stathis, Greece The last 18 years I have been working in a Technical Lyceum in Almyros which always accepts students from Albania. The fact is that I had never have any problem or difficulty to communicate with them, although I'm not aware with their language and culture. Sometimes they start talking in their language in class but I had made them clear that is something forbidden. But I always try to gain their trust, I think that i have worked successfully on it and seems that we'll together overcome any barrier between us.t CINZIA. ITALY CINZIA. ITALY My students are half Italian mothertongue, half from different countries of the world (Peru, China, Philippines, Morocco, Tunisia, Albania, Brazil) with very different levels of language. For those whose level is low I try to adapt all material and to make things easier for them, but I am not sure to be really at ease to do that. I do my best to simplify their works with maps, schemes, graded readings, TV cartoons, games, quizzes,… I try also to use different methodologies, in particular TPR and something involving kinesthetic or mostly visual attitude. I prefer cooperative learning, peer to peer activities, in order to motivate the weakest ones from the language point of view. Our school does not invest a lot in particular projects about LA, but I often take part in Etwinning projects with my class. different strategies: as different strategies: as using body language, key words, using different tools Amelia, Italy Amelia, Italy Last year I experienced a project called CLIL (Contenet and Language Integrated Learning) with my Philosophy colleague, so we used some learning strategies about language awareness. For example, we created list of key-words and vocabulary activities in order to help our students to learn Ilaria from Italy Ilaria from Italy I think that LA is important for teachers for two reasons: for helping students thata are learnig a second language and for giving the right helps, structeres and function for foreign students that don't know the country and scolastic language. I try to help my students with maps, schemes but also comics and series on TV. Anabela Vieira Anabela Vieira At my school, in Portugal we are developing a project called CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), some contents in some subjects are teached in English, so this is a reality that we are already familiar. Because we have different levels of English knowledge, we have to develop different strategies: as using body language, key words, using different tools (Edmodo, Kahoot, padlet, picture dictionary …), reading sessions, contests, coloured information on the walls os the school and classrooms, pair work (…) as a way to motivate our students and give them the opportunity to explore their second language according to their English level. Our school invests in teachers training, as Erasmus and eTwinning projects. Nadina NICOLICI, Romania Nadina NICOLICI, Romania My students are from various backgrounds with different levels of language (English or French). For those whose level is very low I do my best to adapt everything and to make things easier for them, but I make sure they understand and they feel comfortable. Cristina from Italy Cristina from Italy First I had to semplify my language and to adapt it considering the needs of my students who were unable to produce long sentences. Then I worked to support their self confidence in order to avoid their fear to make mistakes. Silvia from Italy Silvia from Italy Last year I had to teach Spanish as a second language to a girl who spoke bad Italian and Arab at home. Her parents couldn't help her with extra classes, they were not educated, so I could only rely on myself. I simplified everything I could and reduced my objectives: at the end of the school year she could understand little Spanish at an elementary level, but she felt pretty confident about it. Hallo! Here's maestra Emma :-) Hallo! Here's maestra Emma :-) Linguistic awareness is important for expressing needs, ideas, desires and asking for what one needs to understand. Knowing what to ask, choosing words, arguing, using the word that most expresses the meanings we want to convey makes our relationships more effective and satisfying. A well used word is a vehicle of information, that we give and that we ask and it is also an excellent mediator of conflicts in which all the "winners" come out. Often conflicts arise from misunderstandings, from the use of words not appropriate to the listener, to the place where we are or to our need to communicate. Being aware of the words, however, is not enough. We must also be aware of the non-verbal elements of communication, which are the ones that come first, to which we believe most. In class, especially in classes with children who speak little of the language in which they communicate (L1) use mimicry, doing, the different types of text helps to associate words and meanings, words and actions. Playing with the voice and the movements helps to understand when to use certain communicative ways, to use different types of texts (visual, written, sound, motors) helps to make what is richer and to share the many typical ways of expression of different cultures. This limits the sense of little capacity and isolation that foreign children just arrived from abroad feel for the difference between their logistic skills. For children with other L1 it is also important to be able to teach some words or texts (chants, greeting formulas, rhymes) to their peers: they feel that their culture is a value and that they too can be the most experienced. Finally, using the language in different and integrated activities increases the possibility for everyone to participate and learn. Mary from Italy Mary from Italy HI !, I'm from Italy I'm finish my studying for becoming a teacher. I think that language awareness is important because teacher have to use the right approach before teaching to students in order to understand their needs and help them to become more sure of speaking or learning new languages. It is really important they feel comfortable at school and ababove all they have to face their languages difficulties by teacher's help. Laura , Italy Laura , Italy working in classes with students of different nationalities it is very important to share a linguistic code , sometimes the language of communication can be different from the language of learning , what really matters is to create a cultural link. In some cases even the body language can be useful Mary from Italy Mary from Italy Laura, Canada Laura, Canada I really think all teachers are language teachers. Building this awareness and shifting teachers presumptions about language is why language awareness is important. The other responses on this page echo the role the language serves to a students sense of belonging. I think beyond just accessing materials. Hümeyra YENER/TURKEY Hümeyra YENER/TURKEY I’m an English teacher and I have faced the same problems since I started teaching English from the very first day. Most of the students do not have opportunity to use the language in their daily life so they don’t care about the second language. Some of the students have a prejudice toward English. As their own language structure and use is different from the second language, they find it difficult to use the new language. So it is our aim to help them gain a confidence to use the second language. We should prepare materials accordingly to students readiness. Sofia, ATH/ GREECE Sofia, ATH/ GREECE I work with students 4-6 years old, so when my students don't understand Greek (more often the last years) I use other techniques such as pictures, theatrical games etc. in order to understand and participate without the language barriers. Moisés, Portugal Moisés, Portugal When students finish the school, normaly they start work in restaurants, I feel that they know the basic in tecnhical language but they d'ont know how to make a conversation. Nuno, PT Nuno, PT I once had a Vietnamese student who didn't speak Portuguese and hardly spoke English, so it was difficult to communicate and/or teach her. I'm teaching in a school with many foreigners (political refugees and immigrants) from Africa and Asia and often they speach english and a little of italian. I think form my job is absolutely necessary to get more awarness of language. I'm teaching in a school with many foreigners (political refugees and immigrants) from Africa and Asia and often they speach english and a little of italian. I think form my job is absolutely necessary to get more awarness of language. Sinan Koruc Sinan Koruc Through projects funded under Erasmus+ programme, we have a great opportunity to highlight the importance of language awareness for my colleagues and students. Laura, Italy Laura, Italy An example of why language awareness is important could be that if you want to teach contents through a foreign language you has to be aware of the lexis you need to convey that content and to think of scaffolding activities to pre-teach the needeed vocabulary to your students, otherwise they couldn't understand or interact during the lesson. Andrea;Italy Andrea;Italy every and each language course starts with an entry test. That's the starting point. Each student has different capabilities and abilities , I would say history. Teachers must be aware of it and set different learning objectives according to the minimum standard required by the level of their class. I have a considerable experience at evening classes and they are really heterogeneous. If you want any impact on your students you must set different learning paths or lessons are completely useless . Floriana; Italy Floriana; Italy One one hand, having language awareness is very important because it helps teacher to better understand their pupils'needs, on the second hand it help rethinking their educational actions aiming to performance and, ever more, to contents. In my classroom there aren't foreign students, but some children speak in local dialect. I personally think that language awareness surely helps communication and facilitate the learning process. Krisnel, Italy Krisnel, Italy Awareness of the language is important for teachers as I believe it allows a more inclusive didactic planning, evolving the contexts using interactive dimensions allows a greater understanding of the contents by the students. An increase in the quantity and quality of exposure to languages, whether L1 or L2, used in different contexts to traditional learning can allow the integration of disciplinary and transversal contents. YASEMİN UYSAL-YATAĞAN/MUĞLA/TURKEY YASEMİN UYSAL-YATAĞAN/MUĞLA/TURKEY Language awareness is important to improve the communication and develop the relationship between the students. Raffaella, Calcio, Raffaella, Calcio, Patrizia, Lissone, Italy Patrizia, Lissone, Italy As a language teacher I understand that in order to teach a foreign language you need to create a very positive learning environment, where a mistake can be corrected only for the sake of helping the student improve his learning. No one should feel afraid of making a mistake while learning a new language. A self-confident student will make progress quite easily and when the language becomes more difficult, the teacher will be there to facilitate his/her learning. I have been to England with a group of students recently and what struck me was the positive atmosphere created by the teachers, with amazing results! Simona, Porto Azzurro, Italy Simona, Porto Azzurro, Italy Language awareness is important not only regarding pupils whose mother tongue is different: when you work in a class with young learners, it can happen that a lot of italian children don't kow the meaning of "edicola" (newsagent's). It is a very common word in families that buy newspapers and have a decent cultural background. So a teacher MUST always investigate either how much of his/her vocabulary is understood by the pupils, and the cultural background they have. And this must be done with all the pupils. Subject teaching and language awareness (Maria Rosaria - ItalY) Subject teaching and language awareness (Maria Rosaria - ItalY) Being a subject teacher means being aware that content goes through language and that language changes according to content. That is enough to make possible that each subject teacher must also be considered a language teacher. Giselda Costa- Teresina- Piauí- Brazil Giselda Costa- Teresina- Piauí- Brazil I think in the general curriculum should have "Linguistics discipline". It is fundamental that all teachers (mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc.) have knowledge of verbal and non-verbal communication. The importance of language within a multicultural classroom. The Importance of Body Communication and the importance of linguistic diversity among students. It is also essential to know the linguistic policies. Margaret - Poland Margaret - Poland I teach English and I try to speak English all the time during my classes but sometimes I see that some students have problems with understanding - then I try to repeat what I said using simpler words or pictures or I try to show what I mean - any method is good. I need to know that my students understand me. EZEL TUNA -BURSA/TURKEY EZEL TUNA -BURSA/TURKEY Language awareness is important for teachers. It makes it easier for students to communicate, understand and learn subjects. Camelia (Romania Camelia (Romania When the teacher tries to speak in the pupil's mother tongue, he feels closer to the teacher and tries to understand better what is being taught. Federica (Italy) Federica (Italy) As educators, I think we would be of great inspiration to our students if we are aware of all the different languages spoken around us. Just to remind them each one of us is special their own way, there's no better or worse! Nicoleta- Romania Nicoleta- Romania Language awareness is important, is a challenge for the modern teacher, but very helpful in class with students who mix the words trying to say something in Romanian, in Italian, or Spanish......if you love your job, your students, you should be the first to learn/ search about culture, background of family, be more understanding , make sure communication does”t have any barries in understanding each other. So find a common channel- language, use all their collegues, use different games, songs, be creative! Maria Rosa (Sicily) Maria Rosa (Sicily) In my opinion language awareness is very important for all teachers.Nowadays in our classes there are an increasing number of students coming from other different countries, so teachers have to be ready to face ut to that challenge. For instance this year in my school arrived a very clever student from Albania and he doesn’t speak Italian, but fortunately he speaks English very well ,so teachers and his classmates are trying to communicate with him in English and step by step he is learning a bit of Italian too. Vassiliki Boltsi, Greece Vassiliki Boltsi, Greece Classrooms in Europe have become multilingual and it is our concern as teachers to develop skills and abilities to all our stydents despite their origin and their mother tongue. To me we are sort of doctors who cure/treat every person/patient because they have taken the Hippocratic Oath. We, teachers, should pay attention to al of our students and treat them appropriately. Maria Rita, Italy Maria Rita, Italy Language awareness is basic for teachers because it helps us to create different learning language path for each student without forgetting the peer work (debate, comparison), which could be used to reinforce the class group. This could be a way to get all the students, because if the teacher is aware, the students will be aware too. Erika, Italy Erika, Italy When the language of schooling is completely different from the mother tongue, children can experience a lot of difficulties not related to the specific subject that is taught, but to the unfamiliar language that is used to teach it. For this reason the students can become discouraged or even lose their interest. As I said, a teacher who is not language aware is a teacher who is not aware of the fact that a language can become a real barrier that prevent the learner from reaching the real contents of his/her lessons. This misunderstanding can have a very negative effect: the strategies implemented by the teacher to help the learner won’t be effective because they won’t solve his/her real problem (low linguistic proficiency). Another important aspect is represented by the linguistic/cultural attitudes that can be conveyed by a teacher who is not language aware. In this case, the teacher tends not to assign an equal value to every language spoken by his/her students, giving priority or even a higher value to the language/ culture of his/her monolingual students (the majority). The children who speak two or three languages can perceive their teachers linguistic attitudes, reacting consistently. During these two years, I observed that, in a monolingual atmosphere, children tend to avoid speaking their mother-tongue at school. They always use their second language in front of the other monolingual students, considering their first language as the language that can be spoken only at home or among the other students who share the same origin, culture and social condition. In my opinion, a language aware teacher is a teacher who acknowledges the beauty and the value of all the languages spoken by his/her students, allowing them to speak these languages in the classroom or even to teach them (maybe only some words). Finally, a language aware teacher is a teacher who underlines the real benefits of language diversity: the opportunity to discover new cultures (ways of life, thinking and perceiving the world) through different languages (removing an important barrier to mobility) and the opportunity to reach a better linguistic awareness of the L1 through L2. Thinking about my experience, I remember two situations where greater language awareness would have helped me design the learning for my students. During the first and the second year, two children arrived, one from Morocco and one from Egypt. I could not speak arabic or french and these two children could not speak english or italian. I would have liked to know their mother-tongues in order to communicate with them from the beginning! Luckily there were two egyptian students who became two perfect loyal translators and interpreters!! In that case, my conscious perception and sensitivity in language learning, teaching and use was not enough, I would have liked to have an explicit knowledge about the language (mother tongues) spoken by these two great and courageous students. Stanley,Nigeria. Stanley,Nigeria. I supervise teachers and I have noticed that most language teachers are more concerned in covering the curriculum than in ensuring pupils acquire the language.In my setting the native language where the school is situated is made compulsory but most times students spend up to seven years learning a language without being able to engage in a simple conversation. Language Awareness i Language Awareness is very important. I work as an English teacher in an Italian bilingual (It-En) Pre-School and Primary School. Every time I plan an activity I have to think of the learning process of my students regarding Language Aquisition (their previous knowledge, known lexis vs new lexis, things that they might find difficult, etc.) and I think of ways to Is Language Awareness important for teachers Is Language Awareness important for teachers I believe that language awareness is very crucial for teachers because it can facilitate the learning process as well as it also fruitful to create a good relationship among students and teachers where students feel more comfortable with their teacher. However, language awareness of teachers is important to make our students better learners and more confident than their ability. Natalia, ItalyI think that, as a second language teacher, one of the main aspects about language awareness is that of helping our students to achieve communication.Language is a vehicle for communication (and also for learning) and as a teacher I am responsible for ensuring that the language in my classroom is not a barrier for my students.In my class there are Chinese, Italian, Georgian, Romanian, etc., they communicate through games, songs, mimic and they learn English as a second language but many times I have to explain thing individually because the word or structure is different only in one of their languages, and it could create an misunderstanding to one of my students. The same thing for culture, there are thing that I need to explain in a clear way for some of them because their culture are far from English one. Natalia, ItalyI think that, as a second language teacher, one of the main aspects about language awareness is that of helping our students to achieve communication.Language is a vehicle for communication (and also for learning) and as a teacher I am responsible for ensuring that the language in my classroom is not a barrier for my students.In my class there are Chinese, Italian, Georgian, Romanian, etc., they communicate through games, songs, mimic and they learn English as a second language but many times I have to explain thing individually because the word or structure is different only in one of their languages, and it could create an misunderstanding to one of my students. The same thing for culture, there are thing that I need to explain in a clear way for some of them because their culture are far from English one. Fernanda, Portugal Fernanda, Portugal Language Awareness is really important in language teaching because it involves a whole world related to language - culture, habits, traditions. The language we use in teaching has to be adequate but it also has to meet students' needs. So, planning a lesson in a language diverse classroom is a challenge. We have to find different ways to get to all students. Ame, Italy Ame, Italy Language awareness si important for our pupil’s future Silvia, Italy Silvia, Italy I think language awareness is important because it gives you the opportunity to consider students individually. For example, last year i have teached english at the primary school and I had 8 classes, language awarenes was important to think about different activities in equal years of study: i had two classes of the fourth year of study and i didn' the same activities, because students of the two classes were different - they had a different awareness of languages so I had to work with them in two different ways Athena, Nafpaktos Athena, Nafpaktos I work in a vocational school with multileveled students, often coming from various social, cultural, religious backgrounds. The students often act defensively in class when they do not understand sth and I am in the dfc situation to balance in quite diversiful classes and prevent conflicts in class. If all students are actively engaged, possible problems can be avoided up to a point. I consider it is the teacher's duty to be aware of the sts diversities lingulistic, cultural and social and prepare the students for co-existence. The teacher must hav The teacher must have a loto of awareness of the Language that uses to teach so that the teacher can help in the best way the students who don't understand and don't speak that Language. Paola Cracco Costa, Italy Paola Cracco Costa, Italy I am a teacher in Law and Economy in high school here in Italy and for many reason we (students and me) are keeping in touch with English several time a day. Many of the words in my subject are in English and we are aware that we cannot think some concepts in Italian but rather in an english way! For instance the word spread. We cannot translate and we must think in English. Many times my student need to understand the real meaning of such a different words. This is a great challenge! In this situation they are forced to change themselves. And this is of course great, extraordinary! English is also a way to approach to technical problems, in many situation you must summarize instead of thinking in an a language like italian in witch you are not so short. Hi I am deshwinder Hi I am deshwinder Stefania Di Nuzzo, Italy Stefania Di Nuzzo, Italy Language awareness is important for teachers even if in a classroom all we're talking about the same mother tongue; numbers and quality of words that students can use or complexity of their grammar usage have an influence on their undestanding and partecipating to the learning process. Krizia, Italy Krizia, Italy I think that teacher should be aware of the language in order to help sts in the process of learning. In fact, through language awareness, teacher can help sts reflect on the language and understande the context in which they are usng the language Francesca Palla, Italy Francesca Palla, Italy Language Awareness is very important for teacher because the act of learning should be emphasized by the learners' side. Teacher should be a facilitator, and this professional has to find some new ways to share knowledge, in order to lower the affective filter in the relationship between learner-educator I think language awareness is very crucial for teachers because it helps to create a good relationship among students and teachers and pupils feel comfortable at school,creating a climate of trust in which exchange and communication among pupils and with the teachers are facilitated I think language awareness is very crucial for teachers because it helps to create a good relationship among students and teachers and pupils feel comfortable at school,creating a climate of trust in which exchange and communication among pupils and with the teachers are facilitated Caterina, Italy Caterina, Italy This's for me only the second year to teaching at primary school, I believe awareness is important for teacher but also for pupils, I try "to discover the language" with them, to reflect on the language, on the context and so on. I'm sorry I haven't got more examples. Madalina Cucaila , Romania Madalina Cucaila , Romania We have many gipsies. For them is very important to feel valued, I try to face the challenges issued in classroom due to family background. Maria do Rosário, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal Maria do Rosário, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal I think language awareness is not only important where students of different mother languages cohexist. Even students with the same mother language face different challenges to succeed in class due to family background, due to social environments very diverse from one another as well as due to the fact that some attended school from early years, in kindergarden or nursery, and others started school directly to primary school. And, in general, this makes a lhard difference between them. To conclude, language awareness is for sure of great importance. Josefina Martín, Spain Josefina Martín, Spain LAnguage awareness is important because it make teachers aware of the language challenges or difficulties which non native of that language students may face when tacking with subject content. Teachers must adapt and teach accordint¡g to these challenges each student faces Laura Laura Language aweareness help teachers who have to deal with student of different country since they have different abilty and customs. Dulcinea Portugal Dulcinea Portugal It is importante to be sensitive towards students from differents backgrounds and cultures because they often have dificulties to understand de subjects of studie. Angela,Italy Angela,Italy think that language awereness is very important for teachers because it can facilitate the learning process . It is also important to create a good relashionship among students and with the teacher. Veronica, Italy Veronica, Italy Like I’m still a student, I didn’t directly faced those type of situation. But something similar happened to me during my traineeship in my Erasmus year in Spain. During the Spanish class, the teacher was explaining the meaning of new words to the student. Like I’m Italian, she decided to “improve” the lesson, leaving the students to ask themselves, and after to me, from where come those words. The result was fantastic. They started to understand that there are “romance languages” that have a common past, and they discovered how similar can be Spanish and Italian, thanks for their common origins. Also, we investigate together the Latin origin of the words, and we start to compare how words in Spanish and Italian have evolved sometime in a very different way. Agata Brescia, Italy Agata Brescia, Italy I teach mathematics in a secondary school with a linguistic background. Many of my students do not like mathematics but love foreign languages. For this reason, last year I experimented with my colleague who teaches English the CLIL methodology. Supported by her (I do not know if this could be considered an example of linguistic awareness) I dealt with my students some mathematical topics, such as statistics and probability, in English. What was the result ??? Students who have never studied mathematics, but with good skills in foreign language, have seriously committed themselves !!! In this case I have achieved the objective of transmitting the mathematical contents to them through the linguistic tool !!! The teaching of language has played a vital role in learning and understanding subject content. Stefania Stefania Language awareness is important for teacher to convey ideas, thoughts and feelings. Besides, it is important to create a good relationship with the students . In this way, they can communicate and share their opinions. Language awareness is also very important for the students because help them to enrich their knowledge. Before starting teaching at school, I taught Italian language to immigrant people. Only few people spoke a bit of English and communicating with them was very difficult. We made many efforts to find a solution to this problem and we started creating a ‘special language’ for the Italian classroom using both Italian and English words. In this way, they started learning Italian using a language that they already knew (English) ,so they felt comfortable because they could use some English words even if they were studying Italian. Elena from Elena from Elena from Perugia Elena from Perugia Elena from Perugia ( Elena from Perugia (Italy Elena from Perugia ( Elena from Perugia (Italy) Teachers should be aware of the linguistic levels of their students either in their mother tongues or in English. For example, when I have to introduce a new grammar topic , I choose to speak in Italian because it’s important to assess if they already know the categories and functions in L1, otherwise it’s useless. Teachers should provide metaphorical bridges between L1 and L2. I think all those wh I think all those who teach a second language feel the importance of language awareness in order to help students achieve communication. Jeane de Fatima - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil Jeane de Fatima - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil Speaking to understand communicating is a new challenge for inclusion, speaking with gestures, different writing becomes a new challenge and a collective learning. In my school there is a student who does not pronounce the words, he has a lot of difficulty in speaking and now he learns to communicate using gestures, the group helps him interacting with him. Martina-Italy Martina-Italy I'm working with a new class in the primary school, during the review of different topics i saw different levels of knowledge and language levels: only with a open methodology and language awareness i can communicate in a positive way with them, give them the possibility to feel comfortable to ask something and learn easily. Chrysanthi Chrysanthi I remember very well my teacher in Physics. He was always angry because we couldn´t talk about Physics in an appropriate way. I think he never had heard about Cummins. Rossana Maglia, Italy Rossana Maglia, Italy Since I teach in a Secondary School, even students coming from other Countries have already learnt to speak a quite good Italian. However I am totally convinced that language awareness is very important. For example, if I want to use English during my lesson (I teach English, in fact), I usually pay attention that my students can understand me. I know that the full immersion into the English language is important, but if I want them to keep in mInd some function or grammar structure, I prefer to shift to Italian and be sure they can understand. This is a way to make them feel more comfortable and then they will be able to use English more confidently. Anna Maria Scrimieri Anna Maria Scrimieri I am an English teacher and I think that my main goal is the success of all my students. For this reason having a language awareness is fundamental for me. We have to face with students with difficulties or stundents who don''t speak Italiam, then being able to adapt my lessons to thier necessities is my main task. Therefore I think that a language awareness let us improve our competences as teachers. Maria João, Portugal Maria João, Portugal I am an English teacher and lately, because I studied Chinese for three years and I can also teach Portuguese, I have been a support teacher for a Chinese students to master Portuguese as the communication language for daily life and school subjects. It has been quite interesting to see how fast a language can be mastered when your co-workers are aware of the importance of checking if the information is clearly taken by this boy. Due to this teamwork in two years he managed to develop his mastering from zero to B1 level of Language Proficiency. This was only possible because most people involved in the process were able to check on a daily basis the evolution of global language achievement of the student, through teachers' language awareness. Rosa, Italy Rosa, Italy to be aware how students use their language and how we, as teachers, use our language to them is very important to make our students better learners and more confident of their abilities. I remember two Chinese students who arrived in our classes without speaking an Italian or English word. My colleagues and I had to create a conversation language using an English/Chinese bilingual dictionary. It was hard but at the end we had good results. Sandra Leite - PORTUGAL Sandra Leite - PORTUGAL Language is a vehicle for learning and as a teacher I am responsible for ensuring that the languages in your classroom are not a barrier or challenge for students. It is normal to have Portuguese and American students in my classes. Rosa, Italy Rosa, Italy To be aware how students use their language, and how we, as teachers, use our language to them is very important to make our students better learners and more confident of their abilities. I remember two Chinese students who arrived in our classes without speaking an Italian or English word. My colleagues and I had to create a conversation language using an English/Chinese bilingual dictionary. It was hard but at the end we had good results. Alessandra, Italy Alessandra, Italy I have had the luck to work in a school where the majority of students were from other countries, belonged to different cultures and religions. This allowed me to create a lot of activities to create not only language and cultural awareness, one's own and the others', but also group cohesion and understanding. I created , for example, activities with group work on comparative grammar analysis, in which all languages had an equal position but only the students speaking that language could be the teachers. In my environment outside school there are many languages: migration languages, foreign languages. Foreign students don't be ashamed of their language. In my environment outside school there are many languages: migration languages, foreign languages. Foreign students don't be ashamed of their language. Francesco, Italy Francesco, Italy In my class I usually plan a lot of lessons in English, because I think It helps my studends and me to open our minds, comparing our own language with another one, in this case English, and when we talk about Geography, for example, and we surf the internet to find out the best video about the Solar system or the position of the different continents on the globe, the best videos are in English and lots of them are very easy and clear. At the end of the lesson we usually make a sheme on the LIM and I ask them the meaning of the words they heard. If they don't know it they try to guess it and they enjoy a lot in doing it. After comparing the two languages they get back home not only with a new vocabolary but with a big awareness about the importance of learning together. MARGARIDA ALMEIDA from Portugal. I have a girl that do not speek portuguese. I hope to learn how to help her with this course. MARGARIDA ALMEIDA from Portugal. I have a girl that do not speek portuguese. I hope to learn how to help her with this course. Lucy (Italy)I teach geography in a secondary school and in my classrooms I have many students from different nationalities. They often show difficulties in speaking and conversing in Italian. I’m looking for strategies to include them more and more and I’m planning more efficient and suitable lessons..I hope this course can help me! Lucy (Italy)I teach geography in a secondary school and in my classrooms I have many students from different nationalities. They often show difficulties in speaking and conversing in Italian. I’m looking for strategies to include them more and more and I’m planning more efficient and suitable lessons..I hope this course can help me! Chiara Sabatini, Italy Chiara Sabatini, Italy I think that if a teacher is language aware he/she can understands the problems students face when learning another language and can help them with some useful strategies. I also think that you can have a better language awareness if you yourself have experience learning another language and if you remember the way to learnt it you can give your students useful tips. Being language aware helps you to give the right importance to language learning and it also opens the door to the knowledge of other cultures and mutual understanding. Anna, Italy Anna, Italy I use CLIL methodology in my classes. CLIL is communicative teaching. It creates a powerful learning environment. It positively influences cognitive and brain development Anna Rosa, Italy Anna Rosa, Italy Being a Clil teacher, I often happen to deal with students from different cultures: as a consequence I must take into consideration that students will not use English as a second language, but as a third or even a fourth one, if the student is used to talk a local language at home, for example. So it is essential to test the class competences and the language level as well; then as a teacher I must communicate and prepare some scaffolding for classroom language before starting with the academic language. Viki Dogani,Greece Viki Dogani,Greece language is important for the develpment of children CINZIA, ITALY CINZIA, ITALY Luigi, Italian Luigi, Italian We have studentes from Pakistan, India, Poland, Romanian Cina, Ukraina, etc.. and most of them don't speak our language when they come to our school ! I think they should attend italian language classes to be someway familiar with our language before entering in a classroom! To identify students To identify students' needs and targets is of primary importance . Within a mixed ability and nationality class encouraging communication is a challenge .In order to achieve goals , we must build the atmosphere to make students feel comfortable. Carmela/ Italy Carmela/ Italy Teaching English in a lower secondary school gives me the opportunity t o understand what my students need to learn a new languages with structures and communicative functions completely different from their native language. So I try to make this process easier following their rithms of learning, associating the study with plays or pratical activities. Digital tools or projects in eTwinning give me a great support: they work in a stimulating and funny way. 1I4v3C7n 1I4v3C7n Gökhan , Turkey Gökhan , Turkey I have Syrian students in my classroom. I know a bit Arabic and we contact with them sometimes in Arabic. This makes them smile and sometimes I listen with them arabic music and then I get more interest and they feel more comfortable. I've been teaching English to Chinese, Albanian and Moroccan students in Italy. Most of them are of foreign origin but were born in Italy, so they are bilingual. I ask for these students' help when a new student who can't speak Italian enters the class. This promotes dialogue, solidarity and communication. If I can, I use a language the foreign student knows and I encourage the other students to get closer to their mate's world. Anyway, I know I can do much better and I hope I'll learn a lot from this MOOC I've been teaching English to Chinese, Albanian and Moroccan students in Italy. Most of them are of foreign origin but were born in Italy, so they are bilingual. I ask for these students' help when a new student who can't speak Italian enters the class. This promotes dialogue, solidarity and communication. If I can, I use a language the foreign student knows and I encourage the other students to get closer to their mate's world. Anyway, I know I can do much better and I hope I'll learn a lot from this MOOC Gioia, Italy Elena FP, Italy Elena FP, Italy Nowadays I teach in a Lyceum and I don't face situations in which students speak different languages. I am also a CLIL teacher though, which is I need to develop a stronger language awareness in order to have my students use English (L2) actively during classes. Vasiliki Psaridou/Greece Vasiliki Psaridou/Greece I am a teacher in a Primary Minority school in Greece and as I have already mentioned before I face all the above difficulties in my every day program. In order to communicate better with pupils age 6-7 , I learnt some basic turkish. This gave me the advantage of the better communication at the beggining when pupils know nothing in Greek. Daniela, Romania Daniela, Romania As a IT teacher, in order to be able to work with various applications, I access various tutorials that are often English. So, knowing a foreign language is very useful for me. Lila Z. Greece Lila Z. Greece I am a kindergarten teacher in a remote greek island. Every year there are Albanian students amongst the greek ones. They usually speak albanian with their family members and don't understand greek language very well. I try hard to help them learn greek since I don't speak albanian. It is very difficult for both of us... Maria Carla, Italy Maria Carla, Italy Before entering a new topic ,I always explain my students all the new key words. Then I ask them to read the text twice and ask me for all the new words they cannot understand Nicolina G., Italy Nicolina G., Italy Languages shouldn’t be obstacles for students’ learning. As foreign language teachers we have to consider that students have different needs from those who are taught in their first language. This is much more important if we have foreign students or students with special needs in our classroom. I completely agree that the foreign language has to be considered the vehicle to convey the message to our students and that ..”acquiring a good command of academic language goes hand in hand with the development of subject knowledge and understanding”. Our main responsibility is to create a climate of trust in which exchanges and communication among the students and with the teacher are facilitated. Rosa, Portugal Rosa, Portugal I have been in the psition when i had to teach Portuguese language to a chinese student fourteen years old who didn´t know a word of Portuguese language. It was trully difficult, so I recognize that language awareness is very important for teachers! Federica (Australia) Federica (Australia) So far, I have had a few children in my class with a native language different from English and Italian (i.e. the two languages spoken at school and used as means of instruction). As already mentioned by Anja from Norway, it is often a struggle for these students to get across their ideas and show their understanding, as they lack confidence in speaking English and Italian and teachers lack awareness of the pupils’ linguistic and cultural background. The so called ‘false friends’ got in my way a number of times, for example with children with Spanish background. At the beginning they find my ‘pronto?’ (‘ready’ in Italian and ‘soon’ in Spanish) quite confusing. ‘Burro’ is a donkey for them and not something to cook with or to spread on bread (butter). Once, when trying to explain that a young girl was ‘imbarazzata’ (embarrassed), I saw my Venezuelan pupil staring at me and looking quite confused, because ‘embarazada’ in Spanish means ‘pregnant’. Resorting to a multimodal approach is crucial in these circumstances as it gives students an opportunity to use a more universal language. Visual cues such as icons, pictures and drawings, are particularly powerful when trying to explain new concepts and I often wish I were a more skilled drawer, in order to quickly solve incomprehension and misunderstandings with a sketch. We seldom have foreign ch We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroad. We have children whose families have arrived in Italy some years ago and most of them have attended infant school so they have a basic knowledge of italian. This children can have problems with language when they start to study specific disciplines and find it hard to keep up with their italian mates. We always should keep in mind that their "language module" works perfectly in their first language and that we should help them to use their abilities in what is their second language. Melissa Mocriș, Romania Melissa Mocriș, Romania I have been in the position where I had to teach a class contained of native English speakers and other speakers like (Bulgarian, French) and I had to be really careful not to decrease or diminish the learning environment. Even if native speakers had certain advantages(like pronunciation) I tried to make even tasks,worksheets so that the other speakers would not have the feeling that they are not capable of doing them. It was indeed a challenge but I truly enjoyed it. Konstantina, Greece Konstantina, Greece I think that always I listen to my students because when I understand what they believe and know about life is a tool for me to use it in order to teach. It is easy but it always works in the classroom (I think). Margherita Carta - Italy Margherita Carta - Italy Last year in my school we had a student coming from Mali as a refugee, with a personal story of painful and sad memories. He only spoke a local dialect similar to French and, what is more, it was the first time in his life he entered a school (he was 16 years old!). Communication was relly difficult, not only because of the language barrier, but especially due to the huge cultural and emotional difference between his world and ours. As a French teacher, I became a reference point for him and, thanks to the cooperation of the other teachers and the involvement of his classmates, he finally succeded in the first school experience in his life. We all did a very good job, but... what really made the difference was his deep, hardworking, tenacious desire to learn. Our language-aware teaching without his strong motivation would have failed. Reflecting on this experience, I believe that, in the end, awareness is where teaching and learnig meet together. Andrea Mangiagalli, Italy Andrea Mangiagalli, Italy Furtunately my subject is almost international and all the sub-subjects which I teach are world wide standars: tech drawing, IT, Physics, industrial automation and processes. I'm really code switching between Italian and English. I have had some NAI (Newly Arrived in Italy, students of first immigration) and with and from them I had different feedbacks. Some have been really tough and, little by little, gained confidence in their potential and reached a very very good level of Italian (and, consequently, a better understanding of all the diciplines). Others, even starting with the same problems and the same helps - such as speaking in English, Italian strengthening, Cultural mediators, personal didactic strategy, etc -, threw the towel and lost interest in school. For all the aforementioned reason, I do believe that the success or the failure are really difficult to forecast because we're always warking with humand being and, for this reason, unpredictable. Lara Melich, Tortosa Lara Melich, Tortosa My VET students speak more than two languages and many of them, from other countries, share their language knowledge in their mother tongues. It is enriching because we do not only learn new words, but also new ways to see the world. Ioanna, Greece Ioanna, Greece It is important to be sensitive towards students from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds because they often feel anxious and insecure unless we try to reach out to them. Barbara, Italy Barbara, Italy Often in my primary school, students that don't speak Italian arrive, in the middle of school year. Unfortunately in the school there isn't a specific literacy plan. I think to create it, could be the first step to be "language-aware" teachers! Kirsten Barrett, Scotland Kirsten Barrett, Scotland One example of why it is important to be language aware: Learn how to say hello in your pupils mother tongue (or any language spoken at home.) The smile you get demonstrates it's worth. I child needs to feel safe, nurtured and happy to be able to learn. Angela, Italy Angela, Italy During my classes, students whose first language is neither English nor Italian may find it more difficult to express their ideas in both speaking and writing. Sometimes I forget that. Stefania Pieri Stefania Pieri As an English teacher in an Italian primary school there have been many occasions when I wanted to do more to involve my students in a more incisive way.I think this course will be helpful for me and my pupils. isa çetin isa çetin thanks... Maria Calà, Italy Maria Calà, Italy It is important for teachers to have a good knowledge of the language because knowledge goes beyond vocabulary, grammar and reproduction, even if very important. By increasing awareness, students are better able to understand, appreciate, use the language and integrate more easily. Maria Rosaria Maria Rosaria in my school lately students come from foreign countries without knowledge of the language spoken in Italy; I always feel inadequate in dealing with these situations because very often foreign students have to deal with 2 foreign languages at the same time Anja, Norway Anja, Norway In the Norwegian school system, every student who chooses a school programme preparing him/her for university studies, needs to study foreign languages (French, Spanish og German). For a student who came to Norway recently this can be his/her L4 or L5. Often their knowledge of both Norwegian and English is shaky and it is hard for them to find brain-space for an extra-language when they still do not have the necessary CALP in Norwegian. I often wish i knew more about their language learning biography, than it would be easier to adapt my language classes to their needs. Marzia Italy Marzia Italy Yes, I remember a student who arrived in our classroom in 3rd grade from Moldavia, He was a year older than our pupils and he had great difficulty in speaking, at that time I think that if I had had more language awarness I would have been more helpful for him, even if we knew later that he was a child in need , so there were some difficulties also in his mother tongue. Last year a chinese boy came to our 4th grade class, he is very nice and smart, but shy and confused at the beginnig so in order to make him comfortable and valorize his language, we play with him and along with english we learn chinese words in the classroo. He teaches his language, children are happy and challenge....I'm the only one who doesn't remember the chinese words we are learning!!!!!! Salvador Páez. SPAIN Salvador Páez. SPAIN I think that learning a new language open our pupils to possibilities to dream in a different way. We teach not only the language but the culture, new people from different countries and this overall picture of the world makes us more sensitive, respectful, open-mind and self-confident. MariaRosaria MariaRosaria Language awareness is important for teachers because there is much more to a language than simply knowing vocabulary and grammar and reproducing them in either written or oral form.By increasing students’ language awareness, the students are better able to understand, appreciate and use the language. Zeynep Taş Yardımcı Zeynep Taş Yardımcı Zeynep Taş Yardımcı, Turkey Zeynep Taş Yardımcı, Turkey I'm an English teacher in Turkey and I always have difficulty in my classes while teaching English although my students and I speak the same language. Teaching a foreign language is tough especially when that language is very different from your pupils' mother tongues. Especially, the grammatical structures and cultural differences have an important role in foreign language teaching. I come across with problems most of the time. Sometimes my students try to make a sentence in English, however they tend to translate the sentence they are about to say from their mother tongue to English and they fail. Or sometimes they have difficulty in understanding simple phrases or idioms because of cultural differences. Therefore, I think this course will contribute alot to my language teaching methods. Marta Ropio, Portugal Marta Ropio, Portugal The language awarness is very important not only because we have to creat a comunication system with students, but also because each language implies a cultural background. Teaching portuguese or portuguese literature as first language is completed different than teaching as second language. Erasmo, Italy Erasmo, Italy It's important that students in high school start to study on books in a different language than their mother tongue. Very often in their future study at the University, they will need to prepare exams by studying on such a books. Language awareness for teachers in high school is therefore crucial to start promoting this attitude in students at early stages. PALMA FROM SPAIN PALMA FROM SPAIN In my class there are Chinese, Moroccan, English and Dutch. Their age is five years, which makes it easier to learn a new language because they communicate through games, songs, mimic and smiling and at the end they learn the language without hardly noticing it. Emilia, Poland Emilia, Poland There are more and more students from other countries in our school so we must be open for other cultures and their needs. And how to do that without a proper language awareness? This is why it is so important. Giuseppe A, Italy Giuseppe A, Italy I have got a class with two chinese students that speaks a little Italian. Sometimes whe n they are in difficulty or awkwardness, I let them speak in English. This is why for me is very important to improve my english and my way to teach in foreign language Elizabeta from Skopj Elizabeta from Skopje, Republic of Macedonia I am secondary school teacher, I teach physics in bilingual classes. Teaching physics in Macedonian and English is challenging. Every lesson need a special preparation , finding methods to simplify the content to be easy for understanding. Petra Kokeza, Croatian Petra Kokeza, Croatian In our school we often have foreign students in the classroom, and first language for them isn't Croatian. So we need to use another methods and another language. I hope i will learn more about it on this courses Sirpa, Finland Sirpa, Finland I do remember an excellent example of language awareness from the first years of my teaching career. We had a student who was originally from Uganda and this boy's first language was sign language, his second language was the local language and English was his third language. I had to try to teach him the Finnish political system and since he didn't know any Finnish and his English was very basic I tried to teach him and get him to understand the very difficult topic by using words and examples from everyday life. In the end he got it and I remember us both being very satisfied. Ioana, Romania Ioana, Romania Indeed it is important to be language aware. Therefore are ready to provide our students with content and feedback no matter what we had planned for a particular lesson. It is also important to help our learners develop that skill. When we are language aware, we understand how to communicate effectively with others, we understand and produce content that is understood by others. The crucial thing I should make is to ensure that my students feel comfortable in my class, create a climate of trust in which they can express themselves freely and communicate with peers and me. Pirjo, Finland Pirjo, Finland Language awareness is something that has to be in your backbone all the time. I teach English in a primary school and in many classes I have pupils from non-Finnish backgrounds. With a couple of pupils I don't have many words in common in any language and this I feel is a big challenge in my work. But in addition to being language aware, I must also be culturally aware. I think positive feedback and encouragment are highly important in situations where language awareness is most in need. Cristina from Romania Cristina from Romania I hope i'll improuve my abilites due to this course. I teach the native language , but i do have a lot of foreign students. They just look at me and try to guess what I'm talking about... I feel i'm dissapointing them and i try to do my best for every child. For me, it's a great opportunity . Tiziana ITALY Tiziana Tiziana ITALY Tiziana ITALY Language awareness is important for any educator dealing with students whose mother tongue is different from the one he/she speaks. It is important for any task and activity which we carry out while teaching languages and also other subjects. Lena, Germany Lena, Germany I think that language is the key to communication. However, language does not say anything about understanding, knowledge and intelligence. I have often seen difficulties with the subject language but not with the subject itself. I think with this differentiation in mind, we have to help our students get insights into the subject on the one hand and teach them the language of the subject on the other hand... Violeta (Romania Violeta (Romania I am a french teacher from Romania. I vote for language awareness because i think that is important for all of us, teachers or students, to become aware of the place occupied by the foreign languages. Its very important to be abble to communicate and to pass on all the informations about the culture and the civilisation of a country. Annamaria (Italy Annamaria (Italy As teacher I have often seen the difficulties lived by my foreign students in studying subjects in a different language. Having a wider language awareness I think that could help a lot them Liana - Italy Liana - Italy As a teacher, I think that LA awareness is mainly important to establish a positive relation with my pupils. Indeed, a teacher should make pupils protagonists of their learning in order to increase their confidence with language, their self-esteem and motivation, for instance through linguistic plays and storytelling. Fatma ozkukekci Fatma ozkukekci I think awareness of language is very important in the class because there are arabic students in my class when I talk about their language they focus on us very much Giuseppe, Italy Giuseppe, Italy In my practice as a Math Teacher, I have found that there are 3 recurrent problems on bilingual mathematics learners. The 1st is focuses on acquisition of vocabulary, the 2nd focuses on the construction of multiple meanings across registers, and the 3rd focuses on participation in mathematical practices. The 3rd is due to the different sociocultural views of both language and mathematics learning can complicate their understanding and restrict their view of what counts as competence in mathematical communication. Antonino, Italy Antonino, Italy Although I don't teach by CLIL, I believe that I can talk about other topics from grammar spontaneously and create a really creative atmosphere by language awareness. The language is the vehicle by which you can touch students' hearts Vicky Archondi, Greece Vicky Archondi, Greece For the past 9 years I have been working in a Technical Lyceum in Magnesia which always accepts students from Albania. The mere fact that I'm not fully language and culture aware with regard to Albania , constitutes a barrier between me , my Albanian students my teaching and therefore their learning. If I manage to overcome this barrier, I'm certain that I will gain their trust, motivate them in their learning and help them find the means to reach their potential Fátima Silva, Portugal Fátima Silva, Portugal Indeed it is important to be language aware. Therefore are ready to provide our students with content and feedback no matter what we had planned for a particular lesson. It is also important to help our learners develop that skill. When we are language aware, we understand how to communicate effectively with others, we understand and produce content that is understood by others Tea Sisko, Croatia Tea Sisko, Croatia While teaching English I should be LA that my students connect this FL to their MT which has different rules. I should also be aware of topics I am presenting in my English class and check my students' understanding. The crucial thing I should make is to ensure that my students feel comfortable in my class, create a climate of trust in which they can express themselves freely and communicate with peers and me. Giusy Giugliano, Italy Giusy Giugliano, Italy In my school there are a lot of immigrant students and very often communication is not immediate. We have organized some learning groups where italian sts help foreign sts, a sort of peer tutoring and it seems to be working, above all for a fully inclusion! Gabriela, Romania Gabriela, Romania Language is an essential tool for learning. When you don't understand, you might lose interest and lack motivation for learning. I totally agree that language awareness is important to facilitate learning, increase motivation and communication. Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Matilde Matilde Our pupils usually start school when they are 3 years old. Our pre-primary teachers teach them the language using pictures, games, songs, tales... When they are 6 years old, they can communicate and understand the language used at school. If not, additional help is provided to them. Creating a safe and friendly environment is one of the clues. ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey Yeah, I have faced students whose mother language is not what I taught. Sometimes I learnt their language and we communicated. Adife DEMİRTAŞ Adife DEMİRTAŞ I totaly agree with the idea that language awarness plays an important role for teachers for ; - language awarness helps us with the readiness of pupils, - we can eaily create motivation for their learnings, - we can create "sense of belonging" for our pupils if we have experience in language awarness. Also, I have many classes which consists of refugees students from Syria and being aware of language and diversities always helps me creating motivation for both me and my pupils during learning journey. Valentina (Italy) Valentina (Italy) I never had foreign students in the classroom whose first language wasn't Italian, but I often offer examples from other languages when I try to explain some grammar or semantics concepts. I think that this "theoretical" exposure to diversity can give a big incentive to pursue studying and paying attention during the lessons. In add, putting all the languages on the same identical ground of importance and clarify the links between them could prevent children from developing harmful group identity feelings. Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) I'm not sure if language awareness is always the issue - for me it's more one of capacity. When perhaps half the class are learning English as an Additional Language (but at varying degrees of Ilaria Ilaria The difference between a normal class activity and CLIL activity lies in the fact that the language used is not needed only as a communicative filter, but that it can even block the process of interaction at the time same. As a result it is necessary guide and assist students in the overcome linguistic barriers letting them see, in succession, learning a foreign language as a possibility not only of 5 improve their linguistic skills but, above all, increase and deepen their skills knowledge of the subject matter. Grace Grace Dealing with foreign students who have been in Italy for years or were born here from foreign families, I experience every day there's a gap between their bics and calp for example when reading a written, formal text; they may not understand some peculiar expressions when translaring from L2 to L1 ( which is not their native language). I help them by making examples or "translating" in a less formal language. Ilaria Ilaria CLIL is a methodology that promotes promotion intercultural education, the plurilingual approach and comparisons language. Facilitates the use of language in another cognitive area. Promotes the use of the language to PROMOTE A CONTENT, LIBERANDOLA DAI "FALSI PRAGMATICI", that is, uses the language for transmit content by releasing it from functions and structures grammatical, making it an instinctual action. Romit kaur India Romit kaur India As we say every student is different and comes from different backgrounds, we have to be language proficient so that every student is understanding what we are saying .So teacher is responsible for the learning development of a student. Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroab. Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving d Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroad. We have children whose families have arrived in Italy some years ago and most of them have attended infant school so they have a basic knowledge of italian. This children can have problems with language when they start to study specific disciplines and find it hard to keep up with their italian mates. We always should keep in mind that their "language module" works perfectly in their first language and that we should help them to use their abilities in what is their second language. Concetta, Sicily Concetta, Sicily Language awareness … A teacher who is “language-aware” understands in which way students can face language difficulties, the language needs of their students and what he/she can do to support them. For all students, language is a vehicle for learning. It is through language that learners access the content of the lesson and communicate their ideas. So, as a teacher, it is my responsibility to make sure that language isn’t a barrier to learning. Teaching and learning through an additional language encourages understanding different cultures and improves students’ cognitive ability, so they can communicate with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Knowledge of other languages encourages new ways of thinking and of perceiving the world. We live in an increasingly global world and language skills make travel easier, provide opportunities and improve life conditions. Diana Diana In my life I had the opportunity to study three foreign languages. I'm not at the top when I speak or when I try to listen and understand in these foreign languages but I say that I could survive in many different foreign lands without fear. This opportunity is , therefore, already a good reason that gives me the desire to help my students and to find the better way to teach them English at school. Then I saw that children with some learning difficulties, when the foreign language is teached in the right way, can understand and take part, they can find their place and their role in the classroom, and this is very important for their growth FRANCESCA FRANCESCA Knowing and speaking well in English allows children to gain more self- confidence and increase their level of personal self-est K K L L Leonardo Benedetti Leonardo Benedetti Italy I think that LA is fundamental. I have experienced and I am experiencing it everyday at school. Talking about art, design, architecture, it is very important to find the right way, the right words to let the students understand the topics Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Maria Kleidara Maria Kleidara Last school year I had four new students from Syria who didn;t talk at all Greek. I tried to communicate with them but they were only 5 years old and it was very difficult. Although they had many abilities it was difficult to help them. So I asked for help from a mother of those students. She was teacher in her country too. So we were cooperate and manage to learn both the languages and I realize how creative a class can be when the language borders are no longer a problem. But what happens when you don't have help? Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy In my classes there are pupils coming from different countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Ukraine. Language awareness helps the teacher understand his pupils' needs and skills; moreover, it helps pupils communicate with the class and the teacher and facilitate learning process. Aritz, Basque Countryu Aritz, Basque Countryu As a teacher, language awareness is key to understand our students needs. Some children feel apart the first days because they don't understand. But we have another global communication way that is non-verbal. We can help our students to enhance their language skills starting with the basic and also with the help of their classmates. Bilingual school Bilingual school In our school the teachers have to be very aware of the vocabulary that is used and support a lot of the language with other forms of learning such as visual and kinesthetic learning. It is also important for teachers to stretch those children who are able in their mother tongue to feel engaged within lessons too. Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy I think , as teachers, we must be aware of our language knowledge and pay attention to the students' one. Through etwinning projects and teachers training our classes must be openmind and aware of our culture dversity and our different languages. Roberto, Forlì Roberto, Forlì Language awareness is important to me to design effective CLIL modules for my students. For instance, I have to pay attention to not introduce too many new L2 terms in each lesson, to use short and simple sentences, and so on. I can design effective CLIL lessons only if I have a good Language awareness. Anna Kaya, Sweden Anna Kaya, Sweden When my colleagues and I plan our teaching we try to find materials in our students strongest languages so we now that all of the students can read or listen in a language they can understand. We also try to plan for scaffolding so all the students can participate in the classroom activities and succeed with the assignments. This is quite complicated regarding the fact that all our students are in different ages and have different school background. In Sweden all newly arrived students have “study guidance in their mother tongue” but that is maybe one or two hours per week and the students need more support. Our bilingual colleagues (study guides or mother tongue teachers) are a great support, not only for the students but also for us teachers that don’t share languages with our students. Monica Boccoli Monica Boccoli In my opinion, there are a lot of resources to improve my language awareness: etwinning, European Schoolnet Academy, Teacher Academy, MIE Microsoft, Skype in the classroom... Gianni Lottino Gianni Lottino Every year I take part in an eTwinning project and it's to years I receive tu Quality Label Certificate! I get it thanks to my method and to the imput my students receive by the project I choose. So the importance of language awerness is unfolded day by day with all the passages from Italian, Frenc and English. Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Italy Languages are products of the Human mind to communicate, they are instruments of thoughts, they represent a culture and its History. I teacher must be aware of this, as each person should have the possibility to keep always alive his mother tongue Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Gabriela Turea Gabriela Turea I totally agree that language awareness is very important for teachers because otherwise we can lose our students (their attention, their involvement in the class, their willing of learning). By understanding their fist language needs, we overpass all the barriers. Vincenzo M. ITALY Vincenzo M. ITALY Language awareness is essential. Language is a powerful vehicle. "When teaching in a language other than that with which students are familiar, this language is the key, as it becomes the vehicle for transmitting the message to our students". Laura Colombo - Italy Laura Colombo - Italy I believe a good starting point in developing our own language awareness is to consider the differences between BICS and CALP and its implications for our students. I teach English for Information Technology in a technical school and it is easier for students to develop academic language. The most difficult task for me as a teacher is to develop their interpersonal communication skills in a foreign language. David Navas, Spain David Navas, Spain As a secondary teacher, i barely am in a situation where students do not speak spanish. But in primary school i have seen students who do not speak Spanish because they come from another country. And it is crucial trying to speak with them in their language in order to "connect" with them. Rovena Trivanović Rovena Trivanović Croatia I teach students whose primary language-mother tongue is Croatian like mine. Nevertheless, I face challenges in my teaching because of students' poor knowledge of their mother tongue when it comes to basic structures or they hadn't acquired the basics of English in their primary school. I'm aware of that challenge and I try to help them in many ways not to be afraid of taking part in the class despite the challenge they face. There are students who are willing to progress in that sense,but there are also students who come to the conclusion that thex can't learn a foreign language and don't put any effort in it. I hope this course will help me deal with those chellenges. Özcan TURAN Özcan TURAN We have many refugee students it is important to try to speak in their language to catch the I am a teacher of la I am a teacher of language. Language Awareness is important for teachers because it helps us, the teachers, to understand our students much more. it makes us aware about their knowledge about particular subject. According to that what kind of tools of teaching i have to use to enhance their abilities and interest in the classroom. I have faced situations where language awareness would have helped me more to understands my students. I am looking forward to getting to know more about Language Awareness I am a la I am a language t eache Michele, Italy, The next year Michele, Italy, The next year Next year there was in my classroom a student not Italian that speak in an African tongue. It was impossible enter in her world and success in making communication. I think so that in this case LA is the real key to teach. VANESSA, ITALY VANESSA, ITALY Language awareness helps students to feel more at ease in the school environment, and therefore more confident in their didactic and human relationships. Ana B. - Portugal Ana B. - Portugal By using CLIL metodology we can give the same chances for all kids to express themselves and to learn more deeply all the subjects. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. Sonia in Ireland Sonia in Ireland I agree that students need to be supported depending on their level but working with younger students I'm always so impressed by how much they acquire through immersion.At the core of all good classrooms I think we need to create a safe environment where our students aren't afraid to take risks and make mistakes. It can be very daunting for a beginner before they make a breakthrough though. Esmeralda Portugal Esmeralda Portugal As a history teacher in Portugal I have no need to talk in another language but I recognize the importance of the language awareness in student development and their relationsships. Sharon Australia Sharon Australia LA is also about respect - respecting students' first language, their culture, their prior knowledge etc. When teachers and students engage in respectful discussions be it first language or L2 or learning a subject in a foreign language then all the communicative actions and functions are put into place and teaching and learning can take place Francesca Italy Francesca Italy In my opinion language awareness allows me to communicate with all my students in an innovative way and this kind of learning is very appreciated by students and teachers because the cooperative learning , learning by doing and reality tasks can favourite immersive contests Esther Spain Esther Spain I think being awareness of language diversity makes my teaching more interesting and my students have the opportunity to learn from each other. So sometimes we think our class is monolingual and if you ask your students or just do activities as a language biography you could realize our students have a great plurilingual pr ofile so I think it is really important to give visibility to all our students´languages. Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Daniela Daniel, Portugal Daniela Daniel, Portugal I teach English in a small Portuguese town close to the Spanish border. Maybe for that reason, nowadays it’s usual to have in class students from countries such as India, Ukraine, Moldavia or China, for example. As some of them come to Portugal and go to school without understanding or speaking Portuguese, the best way to communicate with them is by using English. So, some language awareness of what an international language such as English is concerned is crucial to them as pupils and to me as their teacher. Hi, I'm a pri Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, Hi, Catello de Sinno - Italy Catello de Sinno - Italy According to my experience, building language awareness also involves helping students gain a positive attitude toward the foreign language by developing the confidence to make an attempt or take a risk. Our pupils shouldn’t be afraid to take a risk or make mistakes and this is possible if they are really motivated to communicate . They are usually motivated if the context and the activities are familiar and near their world. Sara, Portugal Sara, Portugal Well, in my point of view, language awareness is important for teachers cuz we are available to understand and help all the kids, because we can speak and comunicate with them without problems. Will be easier for both - teacher and kids - share points os views, ideas, help to solving some problems, understand some specific necessities and play. I think that is a good way to create na ,environment full of tranquility, security, confidence and initiative. H H Irene M. from Rome Irene M. from Rome I agree about the importance and responsability of being a language aware teacher, in order to help students from different countries to achieve school and social goals. Othermore I think that being a language aware teacher means understanding the needs and the abilities of all students and working to improve the social classroom context. In my opinion, infact, a friendly climate can help learning processes and supporting the teacher’s work. In my teaching experience, I have met students from Romania, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Ucraine, Argentina… and often they didn’t speak and understand the language of schooling. My first responsability is understanding the pupil’s need and deleting the obstacles that might compromise their school career. An educational strategy that I find useful is the peer-learning that helps pupils to bring out their personal abilities. In this way students can becoming more self-confident and aware about their school career in a cooperative climate. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I personally think awareness is a fundamental competence in order to live well Debora Italy Debora Italy The teaching of language plays an important role in learnin and understanding subject content. For this reason it is important to reflect on students' abilities and to create a climate of trust and collaboration, in which the linguistic tool became an opportunity. MARIA ITALY MARIA ITALY I'M A PRIMARY TEACHER AND I THINK THE PUPILS ARE NOT AWARE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE TO KNOW A LANGUAGE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR MOTHER TONGUE. SO HERE THE LANGUAGE LEARNING HAS TO BE AS NATURAL AS POSSIBLE FROM THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL. THROUGH GAMES, SONGS, RHYMES THEY HAVE TO BECOME CONFIDENT WITH IT AND TO LEARN USING IT IN THE DAILY SCHOOL ROUTINE AT THE BEST Sophia Italy Sophia Italy CLIL lessons are often a daunting challenge, as for many students the use of L2 compromise their learning. I always try to offer enough scaffolding, but I probably should spend more time working on the language. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I think awareness is a fundamental faculty in order to increase sstudents selfesteem so important in every day life meetse Alena, Czechia Alena, Czechia Knowing more about language awareness would be useful while teaching mixed ability classes, where students´ language levels are so different at a time; taking this into account, using appropriate methods to help will be definitely a big benefit to these students (especially those who feel uneasy during L2 lessons). Maria Grassi, Italy Maria Grassi, Italy Language awareness is an important competence for teachers because it can positively help the process of teaching-learning especially in exchange projects between European and extra-European Schools, in particular I use eTwinning platform and it helps me in different situations with my students. Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy In one of my classes there are three studets from Albania, one from Bangladesh and one from Romania. When I teach subjects as history and geography I use to work a lot on the meaning of the word and I think that this method is very usefull for my students both Italians and foreigns. Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Language awareness facilitates learning process. Language learners need to be supported. Learners` knowledge level of English language has to be taken into consideration and lessons should be appropriately designed in order to meet students` needs. Lucia, Ital Lucia, Ital I think language awareness helps students to be secure and facilitates learning in a cooperative way. Silvia DM, Italy Silvia DM, Italy Students of any age learn better if they are not under pressure and in a state of anxiety, so if you understand their needs sharing the same language they are more likely to improve and be willing to learn. I often ask students who have good knowledge of the target language to translate for the new comers into their mother tongue, but it is not always possible and feasible. Daniela from Parma Daniela from Parma Facing students who had just arrived from a foreign country made me conscious of the importance of my language awareness: I could not act as before. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania To know the new pupils I ask them to come and tell me about their holiday, their hobbies, their favorite stuff and why ... Laura Gianfranceschi Laura Gianfranceschi I often have classes with foreign students. Languange awareness is crucial to get thei learning real and solid İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY A teacher with no language awareness cannot succeed because he / she will close communication channels. First of all, students should be able to understand their cultural values and their level of readiness. If we do not master the language of our students, planning and permanent learning become impossible. Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) I think language awareness is a very important feature for a teacher, because it enables him/her to understand his/her pupils' difficulties when approccing specific subjects, new lexicon, complex concepts. Being aware of linguistic diversity in his/her classroom, a teacher can better anticipate which aspects may require spacial attention, organize his/her material in the most helpful way to guide students in their learning process, choose those methodologies he/she thinks will prove most successful. When faced with difficulties linked to a different linguistic background, I try to better explain the meaning of a word or a costoum exploring its semantic area or its cultural context, operating as many references to other cultures and language as I can. Linguistic and cultural diversity can be a really precious asset in a classroom, though: having an "insider" perspective is a key resource for contrasting prejudice. Sílvia Sílvia Language awareness is very important in order to help students to achieve the objectives of the subject you are teaching. If you are not aware of the challenges they are facing you would not be able to see what they need to improve. Hartmut,Germany Hartmut,Germany Language awareness is important to give students on different language levels the chance to be successful.Today we have more and more students with different nationalities and they have to be integrated. clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems Gianfranca Gianfranca Understanding linguistic diversity is important to understand different needs. In an inclusive school ,integration is the awareness to communicate with other cultures understanding their needs. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania A good language helps you know your pupils better, capture their attention, motivate them to feel attracted to the matter and as comfortable as possible at school Ana, Lisbon PT Ana, Lisbon PT Language awarness is essential to understand our students, their needs and their abilities. In my classroom, for example, I often have students who don't speak one word of portuguese, as they have arrived from asian countries just weeks ago. And as you can imagine, I don't speak any word of nepalese, bangla, indi or gujarati. It's a great challenge for me and every little step, every little word they learn is cheered by the rest of the class. Just knowing and being aware of their complete unfamiliarity with the schooling language and culturemakes me more motivated to use alternative ways of teaching." Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs It is important to be aware of how much a student can read and write a language, in a school inclusion and integration plan I think it is important to communicate with different cultures and understand their needs. after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions Cinzia Marrone Italy Cinzia Marrone Italy I think it’s important in language lessons to create a relaxed atmosphere so children can better understand and communicate with others. Teacher ‘s role is important to let them aware in language learning . So use of games and creation of real context is a best practice to engage learning in both language or not language discipline. Magdalena Uleia , Romania Magdalena Uleia , Romania Language awareness it is similsr with Math awareness : they are clearly usefull for all daylife! Maja Maja As a counsellor I had lot of situations when some teacher were not aware how difficult it is to learn all the facts and understand the instructions for students with Croatian as a second language. They ussualy think if studenst comunicate good with students in Croatian, it is a proof that students can achieve the same academic succsess in academic language. Antonella Antonella language awareness is a very essential topic to understand students and to let them trust on us and it is also an index of teaching succes Sarah, UK Sarah, UK It is important to be aware of how well a pupil can read and write a language as this can affect how they access the curriculum. Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Language Awerness i the conscious perception in language learning, language teaching and language use. L.A. is the explicit knowledge about language. Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Language awareness is important to all teachers because they have to help students to socialize, to know each other, to be bold in communication. Teachers to apply classroom interactive methods, educational games. Mary Mary It's very important to communicate with different culture and understand their needs. Roberta Roberta language awareness is very important for students because to facilitate the cooperative learning Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness Language awareness If you are aware of the diversity of languages in your classroom, you will understand and be understood!! Students may become the teacher and vice versa; it will create a trustful environment motivating students to learn more effectively! The learning/teaching process will be smoother and aims will be achieved easily!! Eduarda, Portugal Eduarda, Portugal LA is plays an essential role in language teaching. When a teacher becomes aware of language diversity inside the classroom, he/she can easily understand the students' needs and or difficulties. Becoming aware of the different levels of language knowledge in our classrooms is a priority to planning and adapting. Once I had a multiethnic group and communication was not easy. It was a mixed language class really: sometimes I had to speak either Portuguese or Spanish so they could understand the meaning of specifuc vocabulay in English. It turned out that I also learnt a few words in their mother language. Chiara Chiara Language awareness helps teachers to understand different point of views from other cultures. According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers Hanife, Turkey Hanife, Turkey Language awareness is crucial to help pupils that we understand their anxıous and it hepls students to calm down. In addition to this, LA can motivate students that they can overcome with language barries and also heps teachers to develop strategies. Ela, Poland Ela, Poland I`m a teacher who teach mother tongue. I teach students how using Polish language rules can help to acquire linguistic awareness between their mother tongue and another language. It is important especially for pupils who come back to Poland from moving abroad. In our school it happen very often .So, the teacher should be aware of these processes and find the best way to help pupils to overcome these problems. Brigida Calise Brigida Calise Language awareness is crucial because as a teacher I must be aware of my students' language differences in order to help them learn easily and without any stress. Moreno, Rieti, Italy Moreno, Rieti, Italy The awareness about language is fundametal during a lesson, you have to expose the concept in a very clear, fluid and impacting way. Students must be captured by a teacher, and the main way is to be confident about the contact with students. Usually students haven't a real awareness with language, an analysis of the sentences and words could be helpful. Ayşe,Turkey Ayşe,Turkey Language awareness is so important because everybody thinks there are some bariers of learning new language but it is not true. We must facilitate learning languages in a correct and easy way. Giuseppina V. , Italy Giuseppina V. , Italy Language awareness or, perhaps better, learning to speak foreign languages is very important for every teacher because it leads us to reflect on ourselves and our learning difficulties. In order to learn how speaking foreign languages we must remove what Krashen calls Affective Filter, sometimes it may happen that we must become resilient as well. All this helps us to better understand the difficulties of our students whether they are native speakers or foreigners and teaches us to encourage them and make them comfortable. I believe that any teacher, not only second language teachers, should be resilience tutors. We are teachers of both topics and life . Matanat Ahadova Matanat Ahadova Aim in language awareness was that pupils in their foreign language learning should be stimulated to ask questions about language, how it functions and what role it plays in people’s lives; in other words, to have an explicit approach to different phenomena of language. FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY This school year my colleagues and I are going to face a great challemge. In a class of the third and last year of Middle School, we have a new student from Ukraine. He has moved to Italy with his family for TWO months and he can't speak a word of Italian! Fortunately, he can speak some English, so we are going to use this leanguage as a means of communication. At the end of this year students have a final State exam and National Standard Tests (INVALSI) in Italian, MAths and English. I think that language awareness, most of all for non-language teachers, is crucial to help this student facing successfully this school year. Maria Jastrząb Maria Jastrząb I'm not an English teacher but I'm interested in language teaching methodology . I use the best ideas adjusting them to teaching my young students ex. maths, art, music etc. Sylwia, Poland Sylwia, Poland What is important in LA to know the student's abilities so then we're more reliable . Creating a good climate inside the class to make students comfortable. Yes I think language Yes I think language awareness is very important in teaching field .In our class all students are not on the same level in terms of language .Teachers must be efficient in different languages to engage students in class and develops good lear Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE Konu dil farkındalığı, Sınıfımızda farklı dillerde öğrenciler olduğunda, dersin işlenişi öğrencilerin dil performanslarına göre değişmektedir. Ayrıca öğrencinin öğretmeni sevmesi derse ve dile karşı tutumunu değiştirir. Örneğin, öğrencilerimin dilini bilmediğim bir okulda çalıştım. Öğrenci bana mis mis dedi. Benim dilimde mis güzel koku demektir. fakat öğrencimin dilinde mis Wc ye gitmek demekmiş az kalsın çocuk üzerine yapacaktı. Alina, Rom Alina, Rom LA is very important because using different interactive methods pupils get more confident, they have courage to use the new language, but also it is our duty to create a pleasant climate and encourage them all the time. José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal LA is crucial if you have students from other countries. In a time where european countries are receiving and accepting refugees, a portuguese teacher like me have to be able to deal with children wich have no idea of what portuguese language is. In a first moment it would be of much importance that a I could communicate with them in order to make them feel more at home and beggin the inclusion in the school and in the portuguese society. We, the teachers, can be and should be the bridge between people countries and, why not?, civilizations. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. . Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Language awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in classroom. It´s very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers can use different strategies (cooperative learning, stimulating and comfortable climate in classroom) and the students be more involved in learning progress. Roberta (Italy) Roberta (Italy) LA is important to avoid our students feel discouraged while studying because they don't achieve good results Giedre (Lithuania) Giedre (Lithuania) LA is very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers know more methologies how to make students be involved in learning process. I'd like that my students want to learn because I involve them into eTwinning projects where they have to communicate and collaborate with different countries students. It helps me improve their knowledge of language and awareness as well. Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy LAnguage awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in the classroom. Language awareness for students can stimulate cooperative learning, thus creating a stimulating and comfortable climate in the classroom. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Costina, Heidelberg Costina, Heidelberg Language awareness is fundamental, because it helps students to feel more confident and it helps me to facilitate learning in a harmonious and sustainable way. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. Carmen, Romania oretta oretta Language awareness is important for teachers because it helps students to communicate, to understand the subject and to learn it. The main problem is when students are not familiar with the language that I am using for teaching , they do not reach a certain grade and they fail. It is very difficult to understand their needs and to get less frustrated. Ciro, Italy Ciro, Italy Three years ago i teached italian to 4 foreign students came to my school because parents moved here for working. Basicly i teached italian passing by a common language such as English but i would learning topics in Russian or Arab to better make learning to them. Elín Iceland Elín Iceland I think that is good so it is possible to practice all skills Daisy (Italy Daisy (Italy It is important to know the students' language background in order to help them when they are facing learning / communicative difficulties. If the teacher is aware he/ she can use strategies in order to make the learning path easier ( I' m referring to collaborative tasks , peer revisions, individualised teaching) Eda,Turkey Eda,Turkey I think language awareness is definitely important.If a student knows why he learns another language,he can be more eager to learn.On the other hand,teaching a language to the students from different backgrounds is really hard.Most of the time,the teachers dont know how to approach them.Yesterday,one of my teacher friend came to me and said that a Syrian student cried for the whole lesson and I didnt understand why he cried.The teacher's motivation was decreased by his crying.That was only one example. M.Rosa M.Rosa (Italy) Teachers need to be aware of the different languages in their classrooms to help foreign students Maren, Germany Maren, Germany Language awareness is important for all teachers, because language is the foundation stone for all learning processes. Often students would be able to understand a topic in their own language but struggle to follow the class because of language barriers. This is why all teachers need to be aware of the language diversity in a classroom Federica, Italy Federica, Italy I've had a lot of foreign students in my classes, mainly from Albania, Morocco, Pakistan, Romania and Senegal. When I told them that I studied English for a long time, they felt at ease during the lessons, knowing that I could translate italian difficult words into English and better understand their difficulties. Carolina ,Italy Carolina ,Italy In my opinion the awareness of the different language is very iimportant to help students to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in learning and improving languages.Language awareness increase teacher responsibility, if the student doesn't reach all this one, in this case the teacher should create a climate of trust in which exchange a climate of trust which exchange and communicate among students and with the teacher are facilited MariaM - Gaeta, Italy MariaM - Gaeta, Italy Every year some pupils coming from foreign countries are included in our classes. They often barely know the Italian language, so language awareness can help me to guide them towards a more aware communication with classmates and teachers, and towards a more effective and significant learning. I've sometimes had I've sometimes had a foreign student in my classes. I find it very stimulating and motivating for student and for me as well. Maria, italy Maria, italy As a teacher of English last year I supported a colleague who teaches Law in Clil. We found it very helpful to resort to comparisons between the British/American system and the Italian system Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy In a class last year , I had many foreign students, BES and a special student. Not an easy situation but I tried to involve them by letting them present their own country including traditions , culture, holidays and family lifestyle. Then I decided they should try and find words which were in some way similiar to Italian or English. Not so easy but at least interesting for them and proud to introduce their country or little village they came from. Rosario from Spain Rosario from Spain When in a class I have students with more facility to use a language than others, one strategy that I usually use is to work in heterogeneous groups, where students can help each other, solving simple doubts into the group and exercising little by little in the use of the new language. Martina from Italy Martina from Italy Language awareness helps me to be more interested in pupils's needs. it's importanta for the whole class Federica Tagliafichi Federica Tagliafichi in my opinion the awareness of the different languages becomes a cultural resource for the whole class. If I can I will help students or parents to welcome students of different nationalities who do not yet know the language. I try to use group work to get the sweaty to exchange experiences. Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy We are two foreign languages Teachers working together. Language awareness is important to help student to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in Learning and improving languages Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy we are two foreign languages teachers working together. Language awareness is important because to help students to overcome their difficulties and make them more interested in learning and improving languages. Lia MOlini from ITaly Lia MOlini from ITaly I think that teachers can better understand pupils'needs and recognize their abilities. This is a good point to start teaching language in a successful way inci Süzer, Turkey inci Süzer, Turkey Being language aware means you understand the possible challenges that language presents to learning. These challenges might arise because a student is learning a subject through an additional language or it might be the first time a student has come across certain vocabulary or structures in their first language. A teacher who is ‘language aware’ understands why students face these difficulties and what they can do to support students. inci inci It is very often in the greek schools. It is very often in the greek schools. Foteini Tsioutsia Lia,Italy Lia,Italy Language awarness implies that the teacher needs to come up constanty with different stategies and and has to face constant challenges. A useful tool is to find connections and to build bridge with different languages, of course, it works especially among languages from the same group, i.e. germanic or romance language or to work with linguistic loans Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Language awareness is important for teachers because it allows to adapt the teaching method to the pupils and make learning easier. Claudia Mazzone - Italy Claudia Mazzone - Italy Last year in the class arrived a girl from Pakistan who could comunicate only in English. In that case the language was a fundamental vehicle to comunicate with her in order to male her feel confortable with her schoolmates and teachers. I think that all the teachers - whatever they learn - should raise a good level of language awareness to be able to communicate with the different language studente , in order to make them reach the result they expect and make them feel integrated with their schoolmates and tachers. Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of communication not only cognitive but also emotional Tiziana Varone, Italy Tiziana Varone, Italy This year I'll face for the first time language diversity in classroom. Two sisters from India will attend my lessons in technologies and telecommunications. They speak Italian, but aren't as good at listening. I hope this course will help me to afford this situation, where a greater language awareness would really help to design the effective learning for those students. Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Globalization leads all teachers to consider linguistic awareness as an important educational purpose so that all students have greater possibilities of integration into society and the world of work. This training must be taken care of since primary school in order to develop in successive degrees and in universities. Usually I organize my teaching activities on a methodology of cooperatives and pair work, Web Quest, Located Learning Episodes and CLIL. Alessandra Amideo, Alessandra Amideo, ITALY Language awareness will help students gain greater operational autonomy, greater awareness of their abilities, greater self-criticism to overcome weaknesses and a growth of self-esteem.In addition, awareness of the language, will stimulate teachers to take care of the different personalized strategies that take into account the uniqueness of the person. Odarka, Latvia Odarka, Latvia Upon me our (teacher)awareness, knowledge ans skills is what we need to know and able to do. And what roles do we need to change, and therefore, how will this change the patterns of relationships in the classroom. Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy In our school this year there is an Ukrainian child who does'nt know the Italian language. The child is very motivated to socialize with the group, but the linguistic gap is a strong limitation although teachers and pupils try to communicate with extraverbal languages. We have now requested the figure of a linguistic mediator to help child and teachers. A higher level of linguage awareness would have favored the inclusion process. Rosy (Italy) Rosy (Italy) I usually used supports and strategies to help foreign students, for example to activate their background knowledge, or teach them vocabulary giving opportunities to practice new words and create situations to provide corrective feedback . Varvara, Latvia Varvara, Latvia i have different students with different English level plus i have not only Latvians in my classroom, but also Russians, who don't understand Latvian so i have to translate them some words or sentences into Latvian and that's why i have created some adapted resources that have helped me to improve my language awareness Martina Martina Language awarness is important for all teachers because in our classrooms there are many foreign students. They need to be guided in the process of learning a new language, buy starting from their mother tongue Rita Luiso Rita Luiso Language awareness is important for teachers because probably it can encourage and integrate all students (also with special needs and insecure) learning Alex_PT Alex_PT Whenever I have students who hardly know any English, there are extra lessons/ there is extra help as well as adapted resources in and out of the class. It’s of paramount importance that this student doesn’t feel left aside, forgotten and insecure; right from the start, they have to be integrated and encouraged to learn and overcome yet still another hurdle in a new country, a new culture. Rita Xuereb, Malta Rita Xuereb, Malta Language awareness will help children feel happy and secure as they will be able to understand and appreciate all that is going on around them. I think with very young children it is essential to create visual resources, to facilitate this understanding. In my school there a In my school there are a few foreign students from China,Ukraine and Morocco. These students often don’t understand our language. It’s difficult to communicate complex messages to them so the school organises basic language courses and the teachers design personalised didactic programmes. My position in the classroom enables me to cooperate with the teacher of specific subjects helping the single students in need. Daniela Galea, Malta Daniela Galea, Malta During my past 7 years of teaching, I can confidently say that I had students from all parts of the world in my classroom. At first it was a bit difficult to handle as obviously they did not know our language, which is Maltese, and some of them not even English. Together with my colleagues, I created adapted resources to help them learn basic Maltese and English. However, a few years ago we created migrant-learners classes, in which students are taught English and Maltese for one scholastic year before joining the mainstream classes. As from last year, we also have A1 classes which are basic Maltese lessons especially for foreigners that can communicate in English. Patrizia Patrizia try to treat all students equally and help who is in need for this - I tell to all that more languages you speak more richer you are Daniela Roversi. Italy Daniela Roversi. Italy I'm from year to year surer, that the approach of the teacher to his/her subject is extremely important. Only when the teacher reaches his/her students can he/she reach his/her goal. Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta A colleague of mine, had a foreign student in her class. Unfortunately the student barely knew English. Together with the complimentary teacher, they managed to compile resources to help him with the basic needs of the language and then later on move on to academic subjects. Filomena Montella, Italy Filomena Montella, Italy HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY Language awareness increases teacher responsibility. The teacher who cannot reach his / her student is ineffective. The right to education of the student is violated. the teacher should know not only his / her language but also the culture. the real success comes after that. Tiziana ITALY Tiziana ITALY Language awareness is important for any educator dealing with students whose mother tongue is different from the one he/she speaks. It is important for any task and activity which we carry out while teaching languages and also other subjects. Lena, Germany Lena, Germany I think that language is the key to communication. However, language does not say anything about understanding, knowledge and intelligence. I have often seen difficulties with the subject language but not with the subject itself. I think with this differentiation in mind, we have to help our students get insights into the subject on the one hand and teach them the language of the subject on the other hand... Violeta (Romania Violeta (Romania I am a french teacher from Romania. I vote for language awareness because i think that is important for all of us, teachers or students, to become aware of the place occupied by the foreign languages. Its very important to be abble to communicate and to pass on all the informations about the culture and the civilisation of a country. Annamaria (Italy Annamaria (Italy As teacher I have often seen the difficulties lived by my foreign students in studying subjects in a different language. Having a wider language awareness I think that could help a lot them Liana - Italy Liana - Italy As a teacher, I think that LA awareness is mainly important to establish a positive relation with my pupils. Indeed, a teacher should make pupils protagonists of their learning in order to increase their confidence with language, their self-esteem and motivation, for instance through linguistic plays and storytelling. Fatma ozkukekci Fatma ozkukekci I think awareness of language is very important in the class because there are arabic students in my class when I talk about their language they focus on us very much Giuseppe, Italy Giuseppe, Italy In my practice as a Math Teacher, I have found that there are three cyclic problems on bilingual mathematics learners. The first one focuses on acquisition of vocabulary, the second one focuses on the construction of multiple meanings across registers, and the last one focuses on participation in mathematical practices. This last one is due to the different socio-cultural views of both language and maths learning which can become more complex and, following this, losing sight of what is really important and worth as significant competence in mathematical communication. Antonino, Italy Antonino, Italy Although I don't teach by CLIL, I believe that I can talk about other topics from grammar spontaneously and create a really creative atmosphere by language awareness. The language is the vehicle by which you can touch students' hearts Vicky Archondi, Greece Vicky Archondi, Greece For the past 9 years I have been working in a Technical Lyceum in Magnesia which always accepts students from Albania. The mere fact that I'm not fully language and culture aware with regard to Albania , constitutes a barrier between me , my Albanian students my teaching and therefore their learning. If I manage to overcome this barrier, I'm certain that I will gain their trust, motivate them in their learning and help them find the means to reach their potential Fátima Silva, Portugal Fátima Silva, Portugal Indeed it is important to be language aware. Therefore are ready to provide our students with content and feedback no matter what we had planned for a particular lesson. It is also important to help our learners develop that skill. When we are language aware, we understand how to communicate effectively with others, we understand and produce content that is understood by others Tea Sisko, Croatia Tea Sisko, Croatia While teaching English I should be LA that my students connect this FL to their MT which has different rules. I should also be aware of topics I am presenting in my English class and check my students' understanding. The crucial thing I should make is to ensure that my students feel comfortable in my class, create a climate of trust in which they can express themselves freely and communicate with peers and me. Giusy Giugliano, Italy Giusy Giugliano, Italy In my school there are a lot of immigrant students and very often communication is not immediate. We have organized some learning groups where italian sts help foreign sts, a sort of peer tutoring and it seems to be working, above all for a fully inclusion! Gabriela, Romania Gabriela, Romania Language is an essential tool for learning. When you don't understand, you might lose interest and lack motivation for learning. I totally agree that language awareness is important to facilitate learning, increase motivation and communication. Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Matilde Matilde Our pupils usually start school when they are 3 years old. Our pre-primary teachers teach them the language using pictures, games, songs, tales... When they are 6 years old, they can communicate and understand the language used at school. If not, additional help is provided to them. Creating a safe and friendly environment is one of the clues. ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey Yeah, I have faced students whose mother language is not what I taught. Sometimes I learnt their language and we communicated. Adife DEMİRTAŞ Adife DEMİRTAŞ I totaly agree with the idea that language awarness plays an important role for teachers for ; - language awarness helps us with the readiness of pupils, - we can eaily create motivation for their learnings, - we can create "sense of belonging" for our pupils if we have experience in language awarness. Also, I have many classes which consists of refugees students from Syria and being aware of language and diversities always helps me creating motivation for both me and my pupils during learning journey. Valentina (Italy) Valentina (Italy) I never had foreign students in the classroom whose first language wasn't Italian, but I often offer examples from other languages when I try to explain some grammar or semantics concepts. I think that this "theoretical" exposure to diversity can give a big incentive to pursue studying and paying attention during the lessons. In add, putting all the languages on the same identical ground of importance and clarify the links between them could prevent children from developing harmful group identity feelings. Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) I'm not sure if language awareness is always the issue - for me it's more one of capacity. When perhaps half the class are learning English as an Additional Language (but at varying degrees of Ilaria Ilaria The difference between a normal class activity and CLIL activity lies in the fact that the language used is not needed only as a communicative filter, but that it can even block the process of interaction at the time same. As a result it is necessary guide and assist students in the overcome linguistic barriers letting them see, in succession, learning a foreign language as a possibility not only of 5 improve their linguistic skills but, above all, increase and deepen their skills knowledge of the subject matter. Grace Grace Dealing with foreign students who have been in Italy for years or were born here from foreign families, I experience every day there's a gap between their bics and calp for example when reading a written, formal text; they may not understand some peculiar expressions when translaring from L2 to L1 ( which is not their native language). I help them by making examples or "translating" in a less formal language. Ilaria Ilaria CLIL is a methodology that promotes promotion intercultural education, the plurilingual approach and comparisons language. Facilitates the use of language in another cognitive area. Promotes the use of the language to PROMOTE A CONTENT, LIBERANDOLA DAI "FALSI PRAGMATICI", that is, uses the language for transmit content by releasing it from functions and structures grammatical, making it an instinctual action. Romit kaur India Romit kaur India As we say every student is different and comes from different backgrounds, we have to be language proficient so that every student is understanding what we are saying .So teacher is responsible for the learning development of a student. Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroab. Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving d Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroad. We have children whose families have arrived in Italy some years ago and most of them have attended infant school so they have a basic knowledge of italian. This children can have problems with language when they start to study specific disciplines and find it hard to keep up with their italian mates. We always should keep in mind that their "language module" works perfectly in their first language and that we should help them to use their abilities in what is their second language. Concetta, Sicily Concetta, Sicily Language awareness … A teacher who is “language-aware” understands in which way students can face language difficulties, the language needs of their students and what he/she can do to support them. For all students, language is a vehicle for learning. It is through language that learners access the content of the lesson and communicate their ideas. So, as a teacher, it is my responsibility to make sure that language isn’t a barrier to learning. Teaching and learning through an additional language encourages understanding different cultures and improves students’ cognitive ability, so they can communicate with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Knowledge of other languages encourages new ways of thinking and of perceiving the world. We live in an increasingly global world and language skills make travel easier, provide opportunities and improve life conditions. Diana Diana In my life I had the opportunity to study three foreign languages. I'm not at the top when I speak or when I try to listen and understand in these foreign languages but I say that I could survive in many different foreign lands without fear. This opportunity is , therefore, already a good reason that gives me the desire to help my students and to find the better way to teach them English at school. Then I saw that children with some learning difficulties, when the foreign language is teached in the right way, can understand and take part, they can find their place and their role in the classroom, and this is very important for their growth FRANCESCA FRANCESCA Knowing and speaking well in English allows children to gain more self- confidence and increase their level of personal self-est K K L L Leonardo Benedetti Leonardo Benedetti Italy I think that LA is fundamental. I have experienced and I am experiencing it everyday at school. Talking about art, design, architecture, it is very important to find the right way, the right words to let the students understand the topics Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy In my classes there are pupils coming from different countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Ukraine. Language awareness helps the teacher understand his pupils' needs and skills; moreover, it helps pupils communicate with the class and the teacher and facilitate learning process. Maria Kleidara Maria Kleidara Last school year I had four new students from Syria who didn;t talk at all Greek. I tried to communicate with them but they were only 5 years old and it was very difficult. Although they had many abilities it was difficult to help them. So I asked for help from a mother of those students. She was teacher in her country too. So we were cooperate and manage to learn both the languages and I realize how creative a class can be when the language borders are no longer a problem. But what happens when you don't have help? Aritz, Basque Countryu Aritz, Basque Countryu As a teacher, language awareness is key to understand our students needs. Some children feel apart the first days because they don't understand. But we have another global communication way that is non-verbal. We can help our students to enhance their language skills starting with the basic and also with the help of their classmates. Bilingual school Bilingual school In our school the teachers have to be very aware of the vocabulary that is used and support a lot of the language with other forms of learning such as visual and kinesthetic learning. It is also important for teachers to stretch those children who are able in their mother tongue to feel engaged within lessons too. Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy I think , as teachers, we must be aware of our language knowledge and pay attention to the students' one. Through etwinning projects and teachers training our classes must be openmind and aware of our culture dversity and our different languages. Roberto, Forlì Roberto, Forlì Language awareness is important to me to design effective CLIL modules for my students. For instance, I have to pay attention to not introduce too many new L2 terms in each lesson, to use short and simple sentences, and so on. I can design effective CLIL lessons only if I have a good Language awareness. Anna Kaya, Sweden Anna Kaya, Sweden When my colleagues and I plan our teaching we try to find materials in our students strongest languages so we now that all of the students can read or listen in a language they can understand. We also try to plan for scaffolding so all the students can participate in the classroom activities and succeed with the assignments. This is quite complicated regarding the fact that all our students are in different ages and have different school background. In Sweden all newly arrived students have “study guidance in their mother tongue” but that is maybe one or two hours per week and the students need more support. Our bilingual colleagues (study guides or mother tongue teachers) are a great support, not only for the students but also for us teachers that don’t share languages with our students. Monica Boccoli Monica Boccoli In my opinion, there are a lot of resources to improve my language awareness: etwinning, European Schoolnet Academy, Teacher Academy, MIE Microsoft, Skype in the classroom... Gianni Lottino Gianni Lottino Every year I take part in an eTwinning project and it's to years I receive tu Quality Label Certificate! I get it thanks to my method and to the imput my students receive by the project I choose. So the importance of language awerness is unfolded day by day with all the passages from Italian, Frenc and English. Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Italy Languages are products of the Human mind to communicate, they are instruments of thoughts, they represent a culture and its History. I teacher must be aware of this, as each person should have the possibility to keep always alive his mother tongue Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Gabriela Turea Gabriela Turea I totally agree that language awareness is very important for teachers because otherwise we can lose our students (their attention, their involvement in the class, their willing of learning). By understanding their fist language needs, we overpass all the barriers. Vincenzo M. ITALY Vincenzo M. ITALY Language awareness is essential. Language is a powerful vehicle. "When teaching in a language other than that with which students are familiar, this language is the key, as it becomes the vehicle for transmitting the message to our students". Laura Colombo - Italy Laura Colombo - Italy I believe a good starting point in developing our own language awareness is to consider the differences between BICS and CALP and its implications for our students. I teach English for Information Technology in a technical school and it is easier for students to develop academic language. The most difficult task for me as a teacher is to develop their interpersonal communication skills in a foreign language. David Navas, Spain David Navas, Spain As a secondary teacher, i barely am in a situation where students do not speak spanish. But in primary school i have seen students who do not speak Spanish because they come from another country. And it is crucial trying to speak with them in their language in order to "connect" with them. Rovena Trivanović Rovena Trivanović Croatia I teach students whose primary language-mother tongue is Croatian like mine. Nevertheless, I face challenges in my teaching because of students' poor knowledge of their mother tongue when it comes to basic structures or they hadn't acquired the basics of English in their primary school. I'm aware of that challenge and I try to help them in many ways not to be afraid of taking part in the class despite the challenge they face. There are students who are willing to progress in that sense,but there are also students who come to the conclusion that thex can't learn a foreign language and don't put any effort in it. I hope this course will help me deal with those chellenges. Özcan TURAN Özcan TURAN We have many refugee students it is important to try to speak in their language to catch the I am a teacher of la I am a teacher of language. Language Awareness is important for teachers because it helps us, the teachers, to understand our students much more. it makes us aware about their knowledge about particular subject. According to that what kind of tools of teaching i have to use to enhance their abilities and interest in the classroom. I have faced situations where language awareness would have helped me more to understands my students. I am looking forward to getting to know more about Language Awareness I am a la I am a language t eache Michele, Italy, The next year Michele, Italy, The next year Next year there was in my classroom a student not Italian that speak in an African tongue. It was impossible enter in her world and success in making communication. I think so that in this case LA is the real key to teach. VANESSA, ITALY VANESSA, ITALY Language awareness helps students to feel more at ease in the school environment, and therefore more confident in their didactic and human relationships. Ana B. - Portugal Ana B. - Portugal By using CLIL metodology we can give the same chances for all kids to express themselves and to learn more deeply all the subjects. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. Sonia in Ireland Sonia in Ireland I agree that students need to be supported depending on their level but working with younger students I'm always so impressed by how much they acquire through immersion.At the core of all good classrooms I think we need to create a safe environment where our students aren't afraid to take risks and make mistakes. It can be very daunting for a beginner before they make a breakthrough though. Esmeralda Portugal Esmeralda Portugal As a history teacher in Portugal I have no need to talk in another language but I recognize the importance of the language awareness in student development and their relationsships. Sharon Australia Sharon Australia LA is also about respect - respecting students' first language, their culture, their prior knowledge etc. When teachers and students engage in respectful discussions be it first language or L2 or learning a subject in a foreign language then all the communicative actions and functions are put into place and teaching and learning can take place Francesca Italy Francesca Italy In my opinion language awareness allows me to communicate with all my students in an innovative way and this kind of learning is very appreciated by students and teachers because the cooperative learning , learning by doing and reality tasks can favourite immersive contests Esther Spain Esther Spain I think being awareness of language diversity makes my teaching more interesting and my students have the opportunity to learn from each other. So sometimes we think our class is monolingual and if you ask your students or just do activities as a language biography you could realize our students have a great plurilingual pr ofile so I think it is really important to give visibility to all our students´languages. Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Daniela Daniel, Portugal Daniela Daniel, Portugal I teach English in a small Portuguese town close to the Spanish border. Maybe for that reason, nowadays it’s usual to have in class students from countries such as India, Ukraine, Moldavia or China, for example. As some of them come to Portugal and go to school without understanding or speaking Portuguese, the best way to communicate with them is by using English. So, some language awareness of what an international language such as English is concerned is crucial to them as pupils and to me as their teacher. Hi, I'm a pri Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, Hi, Catello de Sinno - Italy Catello de Sinno - Italy According to my experience, building language awareness also involves helping students gain a positive attitude toward the foreign language by developing the confidence to make an attempt or take a risk. Our pupils shouldn’t be afraid to take a risk or make mistakes and this is possible if they are really motivated to communicate . They are usually motivated if the context and the activities are familiar and near their world. Sara, Portugal Sara, Portugal Well, in my point of view, language awareness is important for teachers cuz we are available to understand and help all the kids, because we can speak and comunicate with them without problems. Will be easier for both - teacher and kids - share points os views, ideas, help to solving some problems, understand some specific necessities and play. I think that is a good way to create na ,environment full of tranquility, security, confidence and initiative. H H Irene M. from Rome Irene M. from Rome I agree about the importance and responsability of being a language aware teacher, in order to help students from different countries to achieve school and social goals. Othermore I think that being a language aware teacher means understanding the needs and the abilities of all students and working to improve the social classroom context. In my opinion, infact, a friendly climate can help learning processes and supporting the teacher’s work. In my teaching experience, I have met students from Romania, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Ucraine, Argentina… and often they didn’t speak and understand the language of schooling. My first responsability is understanding the pupil’s need and deleting the obstacles that might compromise their school career. An educational strategy that I find useful is the peer-learning that helps pupils to bring out their personal abilities. In this way students can becoming more self-confident and aware about their school career in a cooperative climate. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I personally think awareness is a fundamental competence in order to live well Debora Italy Debora Italy The teaching of language plays an important role in learnin and understanding subject content. For this reason it is important to reflect on students' abilities and to create a climate of trust and collaboration, in which the linguistic tool became an opportunity. MARIA ITALY MARIA ITALY I'M A PRIMARY TEACHER AND I THINK THE PUPILS ARE NOT AWARE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE TO KNOW A LANGUAGE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR MOTHER TONGUE. SO HERE THE LANGUAGE LEARNING HAS TO BE AS NATURAL AS POSSIBLE FROM THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL. THROUGH GAMES, SONGS, RHYMES THEY HAVE TO BECOME CONFIDENT WITH IT AND TO LEARN USING IT IN THE DAILY SCHOOL ROUTINE AT THE BEST Sophia Italy Sophia Italy CLIL lessons are often a daunting challenge, as for many students the use of L2 compromise their learning. I always try to offer enough scaffolding, but I probably should spend more time working on the language. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I think awareness is a fundamental faculty in order to increase sstudents selfesteem so important in every day life meetse Alena, Czechia Alena, Czechia Knowing more about language awareness would be useful while teaching mixed ability classes, where students´ language levels are so different at a time; taking this into account, using appropriate methods to help will be definitely a big benefit to these students (especially those who feel uneasy during L2 lessons). Maria Grassi, Italy Maria Grassi, Italy Language awareness is an important competence for teachers because it can positively help the process of teaching-learning especially in exchange projects between European and extra-European Schools, in particular I use eTwinning platform and it helps me in different situations with my students. Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy In one of my classes there are three studets from Albania, one from Bangladesh and one from Romania. When I teach subjects as history and geography I use to work a lot on the meaning of the word and I think that this method is very usefull for my students both Italians and foreigns. Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Language awareness facilitates learning process. Language learners need to be supported. Learners` knowledge level of English language has to be taken into consideration and lessons should be appropriately designed in order to meet students` needs. Lucia, Ital Lucia, Ital I think language awareness helps students to be secure and facilitates learning in a cooperative way. Silvia DM, Italy Silvia DM, Italy Students of any age learn better if they are not under pressure and in a state of anxiety, so if you understand their needs sharing the same language they are more likely to improve and be willing to learn. I often ask students who have good knowledge of the target language to translate for the new comers into their mother tongue, but it is not always possible and feasible. Daniela from Parma Daniela from Parma Facing students who had just arrived from a foreign country made me conscious of the importance of my language awareness: I could not act as before. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania To know the new pupils I ask them to come and tell me about their holiday, their hobbies, their favorite stuff and why ... Laura Gianfranceschi Laura Gianfranceschi I often have classes with foreign students. Languange awareness is crucial to get thei learning real and solid İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY A teacher with no language awareness cannot succeed because he / she will close communication channels. First of all, students should be able to understand their cultural values and their level of readiness. If we do not master the language of our students, planning and permanent learning become impossible. Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) I think language awareness is a very important feature for a teacher, because it enables him/her to understand his/her pupils' difficulties when approccing specific subjects, new lexicon, complex concepts. Being aware of linguistic diversity in his/her classroom, a teacher can better anticipate which aspects may require spacial attention, organize his/her material in the most helpful way to guide students in their learning process, choose those methodologies he/she thinks will prove most successful. When faced with difficulties linked to a different linguistic background, I try to better explain the meaning of a word or a costoum exploring its semantic area or its cultural context, operating as many references to other cultures and language as I can. Linguistic and cultural diversity can be a really precious asset in a classroom, though: having an "insider" perspective is a key resource for contrasting prejudice. Sílvia Sílvia Language awareness is very important in order to help students to achieve the objectives of the subject you are teaching. If you are not aware of the challenges they are facing you would not be able to see what they need to improve. Hartmut,Germany Hartmut,Germany Language awareness is important to give students on different language levels the chance to be successful.Today we have more and more students with different nationalities and they have to be integrated. clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems Gianfranca Gianfranca Understanding linguistic diversity is important to understand different needs. In an inclusive school ,integration is the awareness to communicate with other cultures understanding their needs. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania A good language helps you know your pupils better, capture their attention, motivate them to feel attracted to the matter and as comfortable as possible at school Ana, Lisbon PT Ana, Lisbon PT Language awarness is essential to understand our students, their needs and their abilities. In my classroom, for example, I often have students who don't speak one word of portuguese, as they have arrived from asian countries just weeks ago. And as you can imagine, I don't speak any word of nepalese, bangla, indi or gujarati. It's a great challenge for me and every little step, every little word they learn is cheered by the rest of the class. Just knowing and being aware of their complete unfamiliarity with the schooling language and culturemakes me more motivated to use alternative ways of teaching." Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs It is important to be aware of how much a student can read and write a language, in a school inclusion and integration plan I think it is important to communicate with different cultures and understand their needs. after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions Cinzia Marrone Italy Cinzia Marrone Italy I think it’s important in language lessons to create a relaxed atmosphere so children can better understand and communicate with others. Teacher ‘s role is important to let them aware in language learning . So use of games and creation of real context is a best practice to engage learning in both language or not language discipline. Magdalena Uleia , Romania Magdalena Uleia , Romania Language awareness it is similsr with Math awareness : they are clearly usefull for all daylife! Maja Maja As a counsellor I had lot of situations when some teacher were not aware how difficult it is to learn all the facts and understand the instructions for students with Croatian as a second language. They ussualy think if studenst comunicate good with students in Croatian, it is a proof that students can achieve the same academic succsess in academic language. Antonella Antonella language awareness is a very essential topic to understand students and to let them trust on us and it is also an index of teaching succes Sarah, UK Sarah, UK It is important to be aware of how well a pupil can read and write a language as this can affect how they access the curriculum. Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Language Awerness i the conscious perception in language learning, language teaching and language use. L.A. is the explicit knowledge about language. Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Language awareness is important to all teachers because they have to help students to socialize, to know each other, to be bold in communication. Teachers to apply classroom interactive methods, educational games. Mary Mary It's very important to communicate with different culture and understand their needs. Roberta Roberta language awareness is very important for students because to facilitate the cooperative learning Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness Language awareness If you are aware of the diversity of languages in your classroom, you will understand and be understood!! Students may become the teacher and vice versa; it will create a trustful environment motivating students to learn more effectively! The learning/teaching process will be smoother and aims will be achieved easily!! Eduarda, Portugal Eduarda, Portugal LA is plays an essential role in language teaching. When a teacher becomes aware of language diversity inside the classroom, he/she can easily understand the students' needs and or difficulties. Becoming aware of the different levels of language knowledge in our classrooms is a priority to planning and adapting. Once I had a multiethnic group and communication was not easy. It was a mixed language class really: sometimes I had to speak either Portuguese or Spanish so they could understand the meaning of specifuc vocabulay in English. It turned out that I also learnt a few words in their mother language. Chiara Chiara Language awareness helps teachers to understand different point of views from other cultures. According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers Hanife, Turkey Hanife, Turkey Language awareness is crucial to help pupils that we understand their anxıous and it hepls students to calm down. In addition to this, LA can motivate students that they can overcome with language barries and also heps teachers to develop strategies. Ela, Poland Ela, Poland I`m a teacher who teach mother tongue. I teach students how using Polish language rules can help to acquire linguistic awareness between their mother tongue and another language. It is important especially for pupils who come back to Poland from moving abroad. In our school it happen very often .So, the teacher should be aware of these processes and find the best way to help pupils to overcome these problems. Brigida Calise Brigida Calise Language awareness is crucial because as a teacher I must be aware of my students' language differences in order to help them learn easily and without any stress. Moreno, Rieti, Italy Moreno, Rieti, Italy The awareness about language is fundametal during a lesson, you have to expose the concept in a very clear, fluid and impacting way. Students must be captured by a teacher, and the main way is to be confident about the contact with students. Usually students haven't a real awareness with language, an analysis of the sentences and words could be helpful. Ayşe,Turkey Ayşe,Turkey Language awareness is so important because everybody thinks there are some bariers of learning new language but it is not true. We must facilitate learning languages in a correct and easy way. Giuseppina V. , Italy Giuseppina V. , Italy Language awareness or, perhaps better, learning to speak foreign languages is very important for every teacher because it leads us to reflect on ourselves and our learning difficulties. In order to learn how speaking foreign languages we must remove what Krashen calls Affective Filter, sometimes it may happen that we must become resilient as well. All this helps us to better understand the difficulties of our students whether they are native speakers or foreigners and teaches us to encourage them and make them comfortable. I believe that any teacher, not only second language teachers, should be resilience tutors. We are teachers of both topics and life . Matanat Ahadova Matanat Ahadova Aim in language awareness was that pupils in their foreign language learning should be stimulated to ask questions about language, how it functions and what role it plays in people’s lives; in other words, to have an explicit approach to different phenomena of language. FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY This school year my colleagues and I are going to face a great challemge. In a class of the third and last year of Middle School, we have a new student from Ukraine. He has moved to Italy with his family for TWO months and he can't speak a word of Italian! Fortunately, he can speak some English, so we are going to use this leanguage as a means of communication. At the end of this year students have a final State exam and National Standard Tests (INVALSI) in Italian, MAths and English. I think that language awareness, most of all for non-language teachers, is crucial to help this student facing successfully this school year. Maria Jastrząb Maria Jastrząb I'm not an English teacher but I'm interested in language teaching methodology . I use the best ideas adjusting them to teaching my young students ex. maths, art, music etc. Sylwia, Poland Sylwia, Poland What is important in LA to know the student's abilities so then we're more reliable . Creating a good climate inside the class to make students comfortable. Yes I think language Yes I think language awareness is very important in teaching field .In our class all students are not on the same level in terms of language .Teachers must be efficient in different languages to engage students in class and develops good lear Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE Konu dil farkındalığı, Sınıfımızda farklı dillerde öğrenciler olduğunda, dersin işlenişi öğrencilerin dil performanslarına göre değişmektedir. Ayrıca öğrencinin öğretmeni sevmesi derse ve dile karşı tutumunu değiştirir. Örneğin, öğrencilerimin dilini bilmediğim bir okulda çalıştım. Öğrenci bana mis mis dedi. Benim dilimde mis güzel koku demektir. fakat öğrencimin dilinde mis Wc ye gitmek demekmiş az kalsın çocuk üzerine yapacaktı. Alina, Rom Alina, Rom LA is very important because using different interactive methods pupils get more confident, they have courage to use the new language, but also it is our duty to create a pleasant climate and encourage them all the time. José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal LA is crucial if you have students from other countries. In a time where european countries are receiving and accepting refugees, a portuguese teacher like me have to be able to deal with children wich have no idea of what portuguese language is. In a first moment it would be of much importance that a I could communicate with them in order to make them feel more at home and beggin the inclusion in the school and in the portuguese society. We, the teachers, can be and should be the bridge between people countries and, why not?, civilizations. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. . Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Language awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in classroom. It´s very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers can use different strategies (cooperative learning, stimulating and comfortable climate in classroom) and the students be more involved in learning progress. Roberta (Italy) Roberta (Italy) LA is important to avoid our students feel discouraged while studying because they don't achieve good results Giedre (Lithuania) Giedre (Lithuania) LA is very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers know more methologies how to make students be involved in learning process. I'd like that my students want to learn because I involve them into eTwinning projects where they have to communicate and collaborate with different countries students. It helps me improve their knowledge of language and awareness as well. Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy LAnguage awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in the classroom. Language awareness for students can stimulate cooperative learning, thus creating a stimulating and comfortable climate in the classroom. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Costina, Heidelberg Costina, Heidelberg Language awareness is fundamental, because it helps students to feel more confident and it helps me to facilitate learning in a harmonious and sustainable way. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. Carmen, Romania oretta oretta Language awareness is important for teachers because it helps students to communicate, to understand the subject and to learn it. The main problem is when students are not familiar with the language that I am using for teaching , they do not reach a certain grade and they fail. It is very difficult to understand their needs and to get less frustrated. Ciro, Italy Ciro, Italy Three years ago i teached italian to 4 foreign students came to my school because parents moved here for working. Basicly i teached italian passing by a common language such as English but i would learning topics in Russian or Arab to better make learning to them. Elín Iceland Elín Iceland I think that is good so it is possible to practice all skills Daisy (Italy Daisy (Italy It is important to know the students' language background in order to help them when they are facing learning / communicative difficulties. If the teacher is aware he/ she can use strategies in order to make the learning path easier ( I' m referring to collaborative tasks , peer revisions, individualised teaching) Eda,Turkey Eda,Turkey I think language awareness is definitely important.If a student knows why he learns another language,he can be more eager to learn.On the other hand,teaching a language to the students from different backgrounds is really hard.Most of the time,the teachers dont know how to approach them.Yesterday,one of my teacher friend came to me and said that a Syrian student cried for the whole lesson and I didnt understand why he cried.The teacher's motivation was decreased by his crying.That was only one example. M.Rosa M.Rosa (Italy) Teachers need to be aware of the different languages in their classrooms to help foreign students Maren, Germany Maren, Germany Language awareness is important for all teachers, because language is the foundation stone for all learning processes. Often students would be able to understand a topic in their own language but struggle to follow the class because of language barriers. This is why all teachers need to be aware of the language diversity in a classroom Federica, Italy Federica, Italy I've had a lot of foreign students in my classes, mainly from Albania, Morocco, Pakistan, Romania and Senegal. When I told them that I studied English for a long time, they felt at ease during the lessons, knowing that I could translate italian difficult words into English and better understand their difficulties. Carolina ,Italy Carolina ,Italy In my opinion the awareness of the different language is very iimportant to help students to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in learning and improving languages.Language awareness increase teacher responsibility, if the student doesn't reach all this one, in this case the teacher should create a climate of trust in which exchange a climate of trust which exchange and communicate among students and with the teacher are facilited MariaM - Gaeta, Italy MariaM - Gaeta, Italy Every year some pupils coming from foreign countries are included in our classes. They often barely know the Italian language, so language awareness can help me to guide them towards a more aware communication with classmates and teachers, and towards a more effective and significant learning. I've sometimes had I've sometimes had a foreign student in my classes. I find it very stimulating and motivating for student and for me as well. Maria, italy Maria, italy As a teacher of English last year I supported a colleague who teaches Law in Clil. We found it very helpful to resort to comparisons between the British/American system and the Italian system Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy In a class last year , I had many foreign students, BES and a special student. Not an easy situation but I tried to involve them by letting them present their own country including traditions , culture, holidays and family lifestyle. Then I decided they should try and find words which were in some way similiar to Italian or English. Not so easy but at least interesting for them and proud to introduce their country or little village they came from. Rosario from Spain Rosario from Spain When in a class I have students with more facility to use a language than others, one strategy that I usually use is to work in heterogeneous groups, where students can help each other, solving simple doubts into the group and exercising little by little in the use of the new language. Martina from Italy Martina from Italy Language awareness helps me to be more interested in pupils's needs. it's importanta for the whole class Federica Tagliafichi Federica Tagliafichi in my opinion the awareness of the different languages becomes a cultural resource for the whole class. If I can I will help students or parents to welcome students of different nationalities who do not yet know the language. I try to use group work to get the sweaty to exchange experiences. Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy We are two foreign languages Teachers working together. Language awareness is important to help student to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in Learning and improving languages Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy we are two foreign languages teachers working together. Language awareness is important because to help students to overcome their difficulties and make them more interested in learning and improving languages. Lia MOlini from ITaly Lia MOlini from ITaly I think that teachers can better understand pupils'needs and recognize their abilities. This is a good point to start teaching language in a successful way inci Süzer, Turkey inci Süzer, Turkey Being language aware means you understand the possible challenges that language presents to learning. These challenges might arise because a student is learning a subject through an additional language or it might be the first time a student has come across certain vocabulary or structures in their first language. A teacher who is ‘language aware’ understands why students face these difficulties and what they can do to support students. inci inci It is very often in the greek schools. It is very often in the greek schools. Foteini Tsioutsia Lia,Italy Lia,Italy Language awarness implies that the teacher needs to come up constanty with different stategies and and has to face constant challenges. A useful tool is to find connections and to build bridge with different languages, of course, it works especially among languages from the same group, i.e. germanic or romance language or to work with linguistic loans Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Language awareness is important for teachers because it allows to adapt the teaching method to the pupils and make learning easier. Claudia Mazzone - Italy Claudia Mazzone - Italy Last year in the class arrived a girl from Pakistan who could comunicate only in English. In that case the language was a fundamental vehicle to comunicate with her in order to male her feel confortable with her schoolmates and teachers. I think that all the teachers - whatever they learn - should raise a good level of language awareness to be able to communicate with the different language studente , in order to make them reach the result they expect and make them feel integrated with their schoolmates and tachers. Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of communication not only cognitive but also emotional Tiziana Varone, Italy Tiziana Varone, Italy This year I'll face for the first time language diversity in classroom. Two sisters from India will attend my lessons in technologies and telecommunications. They speak Italian, but aren't as good at listening. I hope this course will help me to afford this situation, where a greater language awareness would really help to design the effective learning for those students. Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Globalization leads all teachers to consider linguistic awareness as an important educational purpose so that all students have greater possibilities of integration into society and the world of work. This training must be taken care of since primary school in order to develop in successive degrees and in universities. Usually I organize my teaching activities on a methodology of cooperatives and pair work, Web Quest, Located Learning Episodes and CLIL. Alessandra Amideo, Alessandra Amideo, ITALY Language awareness will help students gain greater operational autonomy, greater awareness of their abilities, greater self-criticism to overcome weaknesses and a growth of self-esteem.In addition, awareness of the language, will stimulate teachers to take care of the different personalized strategies that take into account the uniqueness of the person. Odarka, Latvia Odarka, Latvia Upon me our (teacher)awareness, knowledge ans skills is what we need to know and able to do. And what roles do we need to change, and therefore, how will this change the patterns of relationships in the classroom. Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy In our school this year there is an Ukrainian child who does'nt know the Italian language. The child is very motivated to socialize with the group, but the linguistic gap is a strong limitation although teachers and pupils try to communicate with extraverbal languages. We have now requested the figure of a linguistic mediator to help child and teachers. A higher level of linguage awareness would have favored the inclusion process. Rosy (Italy) Rosy (Italy) I usually used supports and strategies to help foreign students, for example to activate their background knowledge, or teach them vocabulary giving opportunities to practice new words and create situations to provide corrective feedback . Varvara, Latvia Varvara, Latvia i have different students with different English level plus i have not only Latvians in my classroom, but also Russians, who don't understand Latvian so i have to translate them some words or sentences into Latvian and that's why i have created some adapted resources that have helped me to improve my language awareness Martina Martina Language awarness is important for all teachers because in our classrooms there are many foreign students. They need to be guided in the process of learning a new language, buy starting from their mother tongue Rita Luiso Rita Luiso Language awareness is important for teachers because probably it can encourage and integrate all students (also with special needs and insecure) learning Alex_PT Alex_PT Whenever I have students who hardly know any English, there are extra lessons/ there is extra help as well as adapted resources in and out of the class. It’s of paramount importance that this student doesn’t feel left aside, forgotten and insecure; right from the start, they have to be integrated and encouraged to learn and overcome yet still another hurdle in a new country, a new culture. Rita Xuereb, Malta Rita Xuereb, Malta Language awareness will help children feel happy and secure as they will be able to understand and appreciate all that is going on around them. I think with very young children it is essential to create visual resources, to facilitate this understanding. In my school there a In my school there are a few foreign students from China,Ukraine and Morocco. These students often don’t understand our language. It’s difficult to communicate complex messages to them so the school organises basic language courses and the teachers design personalised didactic programmes. My position in the classroom enables me to cooperate with the teacher of specific subjects helping the single students in need. Daniela Galea, Malta Daniela Galea, Malta During my past 7 years of teaching, I can confidently say that I had students from all parts of the world in my classroom. At first it was a bit difficult to handle as obviously they did not know our language, which is Maltese, and some of them not even English. Together with my colleagues, I created adapted resources to help them learn basic Maltese and English. However, a few years ago we created migrant-learners classes, in which students are taught English and Maltese for one scholastic year before joining the mainstream classes. As from last year, we also have A1 classes which are basic Maltese lessons especially for foreigners that can communicate in English. Patrizia Patrizia try to treat all students equally and help who is in need for this - I tell to all that more languages you speak more richer you are Daniela Roversi. Italy Daniela Roversi. Italy I'm from year to year surer, that the approach of the teacher to his/her subject is extremely important. Only when the teacher reaches his/her students can he/she reach his/her goal. Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta A colleague of mine, had a foreign student in her class. Unfortunately the student barely knew English. Together with the complimentary teacher, they managed to compile resources to help him with the basic needs of the language and then later on move on to academic subjects. Filomena Montella, Italy Filomena Montella, Italy HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY Language awareness increases teacher responsibility. The teacher who cannot reach his / her student is ineffective. The right to education of the student is violated. the teacher should know not only his / her language but also the culture. the real success comes after that.

Vincenza R. - Salerno Italy

2018-09-29 15:27:39 UTC

I agree that language plays a vital role in learning and understanding subject content. My students are actually all Italian mother tongue speakers, but neverthless I can see that some of them have a lot of problems of content comprehension because they had been provided with no or very basic cultural stimuli and it almost seems that some of them are foreign students in their own coutry. And everything gets even worst when they have to approach a second or a third language learning.

Tiziana Diso

tiziana_diso — 2018-09-29 15:28:31 UTC

Italy

Language is not simply knowing vocabulary and grammar and reproducing them in either written or oral form. Nuances and meanings of a language is part of language learning. By increasing students’ language awareness, the teacher can better understand his/her students
and involve them in learning languages.
Teacher should create bridges among languages in order to create bridges among people.
During my lessons I try to urge my students to grasp the importance of learning new languages, the importance of communication and above all the importance of the culture, habits and way of life of people who everyday speak the foreign language they are studying. I have no students coming from other countries anyway learning language awareness is part of my lessons.

2018-09-29 15:31:56 UTC

neverthless

Cristina C,Bergamo

2018-09-29 16:25:59 UTC

I have a lot of foreign students in my liceo classes, coming from Egypt, Morocco, India and so on, but the majority of them were born in Italy or came in Italy when were very little. However I realize that my mother tongue is not theirs one and that in their families, almost surely, they all speak another language. So I try to use my knowledge of Latin and Greek to talk about the origin, the formation and the story of a word , in order to make them more conscious of words' meaning.
Two years ago i had to face a Russian student, put in my class for one year, who was in Italy experimenting a school year abroad and who was absolutely not interested in learning Italian... I had to cope with him and, at the end, he has learned a little vocabulary for ordinary speaking and something about verb tenses in Italian, but I used to speak in English with him which was the only way to communicate at the beginning. This experience made me reflect on the importance to have language awareness and to be able to use languages as tools, as key to open relationships and teach .

Daniela Ferreira, Guimarães, Portugal

2018-09-29 16:27:48 UTC

Language plays a vital role in learning. So, as teachers we need to make sure that language is not a barrier in our classroom. It's important to understand that no matter what language we are using, it has to be clear once it become the vehicle to delivery the message to our students.

Jesús (Spain)

jesus_griego — 2018-09-29 16:48:09 UTC

My personal experience refers to teaching in bilingual programmes (English) using CLIL methodology. This kind of methodology has been studied enough to provide with a set of resources and materials for teaching, most them very useful. One of the most powerful I have ever found is learning by doing things.

Irene S.

2018-09-29 17:10:56 UTC

I have faced situations where greater LA would have helped: during CLIL activities. I discovered that it's very important to provide a basic vocabulary in advance, to use proper resources (especially videos and pictures) and methodologies (i.e. learning by doing

Daniela Pagnini, Italia

daniela_pagnini — 2018-09-29 18:10:19 UTC

I teach in a secondary school and in a class of mine there are a few students coming from different parts of the world. I notice that they are really motivated in learning and they have an appreciable quality of interpersonal communication, but they sometimes fail in academic writing due to their poor vocabulary. I am sure that this course will help me improve my conscious perception and sensitivity in language in order to encourage cultural diversity in my class and use it as a precious opportunity for me and my students.

Nataliia Khlivna, Ukraine

2018-09-29 18:38:38 UTC

I also remember the situation where greater language awareness would have helped. Last year a volunteer from Turkey arrived to our school. The problem was his English, my kids didn't understand him. Then we agreed to use some additional tools in order to involve the students into common activities like using body language, pictures, posters and games. It helped greatly but I would like to know more about LA in order to encourage my kids to take parts in different international projects and communicate with their peers all over the world.

Language is a vehicle of learning, so every teacher might be sure that language is not a barrier for his pupils. If a teacher faces to students showing difficulties with the language, he might look for appropriate strategies and supports to help them developing their understanding. Therefore it is important that the teacher is aware of his students' skills, to find the way to communicate with them. We should usebody language, visuals or we should say something in a different way, using examples, so to improve our students' understanding.

2018-09-29 19:04:18 UTC

Shukufa Najafova

shukufa_n — 2018-09-29 19:32:36 UTC

Ismailli, Azerbaijan
Language plays a vital role in learning. As teachers we need to make sure that language is not a barrier in our classroom. Language is not simply knowing a grammar and vocabulary and reproducing them in either written or oral form. Nuances and meanings of a language is part of language learning. By increasing student’s language awareness, the teacher can better understand is or her students and involve them in learning languages. Teacher should create bridges among languages in order to create bridges among people.

During the lesson I always try to urge my students to grasp the importance of learning new languages, the importance of communication. If they learn other language, at the same time they learn that nation’s culture and tradition.

Emilia/Romania

teacherro — 2018-09-29 19:44:04 UTC

In my school there aren't language problems as all students are Romanian.A special case is when a Romanian student who lived abroad and studied there, came back to study in Romania.He knew Romanian and could speak it but he doesn't know all the words, even small easy words.I realized this when he asked me for clarification during the lesson.So we should be language aware.

Raffaella from Genova, Italy

raffaturbi1 — 2018-09-29 19:53:17 UTC

I think Language Awareness is very important, especially in my School, because a lot of students are foreigners.
I teach Italian and History and I would like to improve my language awareness in order to become more effective.
Student’s italian level are different, so it’s very hard to find teaching solutions for everyone. I hope to find suggestions!

Aleksandra, Macedonia

anecvetanovska — 2018-09-29 20:28:47 UTC

I agree that language plays a vital role in content learning and understanding. But being aware as a teacher is of utmost importance. Every pupil is valuable. Every child deserves a chance to start education no matter where he/she is. I think we learn from our pupils, too.

Maura, Italy

scaramagli_maura — 2018-09-29 21:04:16 UTC

I often use English with students newly arrived from Pakistan or India. They will learn Italian of course but English is a good way for communication and learning discipline content.

Sometimes words have a different meaning when used in everyday language or in discipline language, so you need to be language I otherwise you and your students may incur misunderstanding and misconception

Sofia Tsigara, Greece

softsigara — 2018-09-30 05:53:00 UTC

I work in a kindergarten school, so I use alot the body language , pictures and games.

Melissa Leyshon,

2018-09-30 06:54:44 UTC

Malta
Language awareness is important for teachers to better understand students. I can sometimes see disputes between students, that are misinterpretations in ways of expression. Which could easily be smoothed out with a better understanding of the students language background.
The use of visuals for me has become an essential part of my lesson.

Raul C, Spain

canamerocita — 2018-09-30 07:14:07 UTC

I am physical education teacher and i have a lot of pupils with different age and differet countries. i have to adapt the level continually

Nica from Bari, Italy

2018-09-30 09:14:01 UTC

A common language is the only way we have to comunicate. So a teacher has to find the best way to transmit the contents of a subject to his students using a common language, easy to understand for everyone. If words don't arrive to students, we can use other strategies like videos, drawing, body language, but I think that "learning by doing" is the most powerful method to learn.

Rosa Agneta, Italy

rosaagneta — 2018-09-30 09:38:26 UTC

Although there are no foreign pupils in my class, I am sure that this course will provide me a better linguistic sensibility to encourage cultural diversity among students as additional valuable opportunity for classroom.

Giota, Greece

2018-09-30 09:41:29 UTC

maybe it is difficult to englobe all the linguisti repertoire of all your pupils but knowing some expression from the mother tongue motivate the students and develop their self esteem so their progress

Latife Çeri,Turkey

2018-09-30 09:58:09 UTC

As I said before,I have pupils come from different cultures.At first,I was afarid how to motivate them to learn English and communicate them because our native language comes from different language family from them.Then I relised the importance of the games because pupils who are they love playing and this motivates them.For instance on 26 september we celebrated our European day of languages,I gathered different cultures of students and make a small dictionary with us.I would like to share my link

Emanuela, Italy

2018-09-30 10:38:33 UTC

As teacher, I have to understand pupils need, when teaching in a language not familiar for the students to help him to feel appreciate and don't lose interest.

Jana, Germany

2018-09-30 11:29:51 UTC

I have just started to teach French in a very diverse class regarding mother tongues / second languages. I already know that Turkish has many French words, which helps many kids a lot. But there are some more exotic languages that I don‘t know and have to learn how to deal with. Being open to kids‘ backgrounds is key in that situation.

Minka, Bulgaria

sminamin — 2018-09-30 11:36:04 UTC

During eTwinning project work I always try to urge my students to grasp the importance of communication and the importance of learning new languages. Because if we learn other language, at the same time we can learn more about other culture and traditions.

Why

2018-09-30 12:13:38 UTC

During Erasmus project I need to explain important aims using english

Nicoletta, Italy

2018-09-30 12:27:22 UTC

I think that the language awareness is important to plan activities, do project works being conscious about goals and skills you want to achieve.

Marianthi Arvanitidou-Greece

1canislupus22 — 2018-09-30 12:42:46 UTC

Yes I agree language is very usuful tool to organize your activities but body language is important too!

Giusy

2018-09-30 12:48:49 UTC

it is my first year of teaching and I have not had the opportunity to experience and plan activities.

M.Grazia, Italy

tecnologica — 2018-09-30 12:53:36 UTC

I don’t have a great experience with foreign students. Last year a Pakistan child came. He did’t speak Italian. Fortunately he spoke English a little bit. So we use English and sometimes gestures to communicate. It’s really important to know other languages nowdays.

Lucia

2018-09-30 13:16:59 UTC

As a primary school teacher, I think that making children aware of the importance of communication in another language is fundamental because at this age they have an enthusiasm and interest in learning.

Elisa, Italy

2018-09-30 13:18:23 UTC

Once I had foreign students and we were studying french literature. Needless to say that they were lost. So we used English to comunicate and develop a different course.

Mariella, Italy

mariella_brunaz — 2018-09-30 13:35:20 UTC

I work in a vocational school and there are students of different nationalities in my classes. Some of them were born in Italy but at home they speak their parents' mother tongue, others have been in Italy for a few months and have difficulty understanding. I teach English and this is a further language these students have to learn. Sometimes it is useful, they already know the basics of English or even speak it better than the Italian students so it helps overcome barriers. In other cases it is an extra obstacle. It is important to be aware of the different needs of the students when planning a lesson and scaffolding the activities. If the right support is given, pupils do their best.

omi

2018-09-30 13:48:49 UTC

Omisha,India

2018-09-30 13:48:54 UTC

i have taken my first step in this teaching profession. so,i have not experienced it. yet,it is very important to be a language aware,then only a teacher will be able to reduce the communication gap and can enhance the interest of student in a particular

Cinzia (Sicily

2018-09-30 13:57:59 UTC

this year I have a foreign student who doesn't speak Italian, so, in order to communicate with her, is very important language awereness and CLIL methodologies, so that she feels part of the class and is able to communicate with her schoolfriends and the teachers.

Helen, Spain

helen119 — 2018-09-30 14:22:31 UTC

As I stated on the previous padlet, language awareness is fundamental for teachers given that our job success depends entirely on the effectiveness of our communication. As an EFL teacher I must constantly adapt my language to make sure all learners are included in my multi-level classrooms.

Jordi, Catalonia

2018-09-30 15:23:38 UTC

I give several classes where attend foreign pupils, with very few Catalan language knowledge. I am really convinced that if I did not make an effort in language issue, they would get overwhelmed after a week of classes, so it's my labor to facilitate them how to achieve the same grade than the rest.

Emanuela, Rome

2018-09-30 15:24:03 UTC

Few years ago I taught Italian to 13-year-old pupils and a Finnish pupil came to his first experience in Italy: it was a wonderful multicultural experience for me and for all students! Day after day we learned something more about our language and Finnish: the English language was our "passepartout"!

Marina

2018-09-30 15:54:46 UTC

I truly think there won't be monolingual classes anymore. This is a new reality that we're facing and we need to have the right tools to embrace this situation that enriches our global current world.

SABRINA, CAPUA (CE

sabrina_poli — 2018-09-30 16:00:01 UTC

we are facing with multilingual classes and for this reason we must know different tools to involve students and let them to feel part of the class

Albert, Catalonia

apanade4 — 2018-09-30 16:00:41 UTC

In the previous padlet I wrote from my experience in the classroom with students of other countries. It's a fact that in order to promote mobility, who knows if some of my students will work on a different country? So we need to learn different strategies to make easy the learning, even if this is technical words.

Daniela, Italy (PV)

2018-09-30 16:03:07 UTC

Language awareness is important because of multilingual community we live in , and school is a small one. Language means communication, relationships,... Once I had a russian student who didn't speak any word of Italian... she was isolated among her school mates. I was the first teacher who helped her communicating with them all.

Alma, Croatia

2018-09-30 16:28:38 UTC

I personally think that language awareness surely helps communication and facilitate the learning process. I teaching ICT subject and I have to uses English words. I'm trying to use simple communication in my classroom and simple the exchange of information between students and teacher.

Agata, Italy

scanselli — 2018-09-30 17:32:42 UTC

I'm presently teaching English in a lower secondary school / middle school. My school is sited in the suburb, and its population is mostly composed of (newly-arrived) foreign teens. Every day I meet their faces in class and catch their embarassment and sense of inadequacy. Some of them struggle to learn Italian and integrate, but many are actually isolated. As teacher of English, I have the advantage of using a language which is new to everybody, and that's great. In my classes they all learn together - both Italian and non-Italian students. Sometimes, I also ask them to use their own language if it can help some way, which makes them confident and happy. Yet, things are completely different when they learn other subjects, because then Italian is required as language of instruction ....

My experience (Michele Galati)

2018-09-30 17:38:04 UTC

In the last year I had in a classroom a foreign pupil that came from Africa.It was impossible success in trying any strategies to make inclusive lessons because she didn't speak Italian or English so it was very difficult communicate.

Amanpreet, India

2018-09-30 18:34:30 UTC

I being an alpha teacher i.e. learning how to teach students, thinks Language awareness is very essential for every teacher to teach in an effective manner. Every student is familiar to his/her mother tongue which they learn from their childhood and to teach them in a different language which all understands is always a challenging job. So, I prefer using simple English words while teaching them so that it becomes easy to understand for everyone.

Angela, Italy

angela_zampella — 2018-09-30 18:50:11 UTC

We use different tools to involve children so they feel confident

Gülay,Turkey

gulay_yazman — 2018-09-30 19:00:00 UTC

Throught my teaching years both foreıgn language as a second language to natives and to other who migrate to our country the important obstacle not to being able to learn is the students fearfulness.At he beginning always start to lesson with activities that give relieveness to my students.And I always try to understand their feelings.

Nurcan Değerli, Turkey

ndegerli — 2018-09-30 19:04:11 UTC

It is our responsibility to be language aware. We should help students to express themselves and create a better learning environment.

linas67 — 2018-09-30 19:15:38 UTC

Lina, Messina

I think that Language awareness is really important for the teacher in order to promote effective learning. In the school there are many students of different countries with linguistic needs. So they have to be helped and guided in learning a new language to be able to interact effectively with other students and the teacher. In my opinion integration is achieved through learning. This year in my class there are some foreign students that I try to help through use of different materials to facilate understanding such as maps, schemes , games or work in group .

Stefania Carolina, Italy

2018-09-30 19:45:47 UTC

Language aware teachers' students have more chances to be supported in their PDZ and to feel at ease at school. At the moment, a greater L A could help me to scaffold the learning of a newly arrived Moroccan student.

Elena

2018-09-30 19:50:39 UTC

It is important that pupils feel confident in the language you use in class. I think it is very important to make them "proud" of their mother tongue: some of the language seem to be more important than others so for example Albanian speakers think their language is not so important or interesting for the schholmates. I try to involve their language in my foreign language lesson, giving examples of vocabulary or idioms in any language spoken in the class.

Pantaleo, Italy

2018-09-30 19:59:43 UTC

First of all , as Science CLIL teacher, it's important that the teacher has to be language aware of the L2 and we cannot give it for grant even because it could be easier to follow what books propose, loosing in authenticity and emotional communication. Otherwise, understanding the PDZ of the students and their level of awareness could allow to estabilish a more effective way of communication supporting them with aware language.

Giorgia, Romania

giorgiagroza — 2018-09-30 20:39:52 UTC

Because I am teaching national language, is very important for me to help foreign students to learn the language of the country that they have had come. I try to talk with them very much during the class, helping them to learn as much words as they are able to learn.

Michela,

2018-09-30 21:54:24 UTC

Michela, Ita

2018-09-30 21:54:24 UTC

As a teacher I've often encountered students with poor literacy backgrounds having difficulties utilizing both spoken and written language. Therefore I think that linguistic development and language awareness should be core subjects in the educational Italian curricula.

Valentina Pistoia

2018-09-30 22:00:16 UTC

I teach at middle school in a little town. In my class there are 5 foreign students, nobody of them can speak Italian. I'd like to create the right educational enviroment to help all my pupils , for this reason I'm attending this course.

Marina Stanojlovic Mircic

2018-09-30 22:29:37 UTC

Hello I'm a teacher of Italian as a foreign language in primary school (students are 12-15 years old) in Serbia. My main area of interest is comunication in Italian with native speakers. I would like to connect and collaborate with other teachers, regarding lesson ideas, cultural exchange and on line discussion in Italian.
While chatting in Italian with their peers, my students have the opportunity to overcome the language barriers, practice their communication skills and to enrich their vocabulary in spoken language. This experience also provides them the opportunity to fraternize with their Italian peers, which expanded their visions of other cultures and lifestyles other than their own.

Elisabetta, Italy

elisanteroma — 2018-09-30 23:39:18 UTC

Hello! I have been teaching Natural Science for about 20 years. I understood the importance of language awareness since the second year I started my job.

Teaching in multilingual and multicultural classes has always required to adapt my lessons to each student's specific need.

About 15 years ago, I had two Arabic students in my class. They came from different countries. Both of them did not write vowels, because in their language these letters are added like dots after having wrote the whole word. Having learnt that, I was able to help these students. Using a different strategy, like the choice of words from a list before writing, resulted more efficient than asking them to write a text without any scaffolding.

greater CONTEXT AND CULTURAL COMPARISON language awareness

2018-10-01 07:06:12 UTC

Have you faced situations where greater language awareness would have helped you to design the learning for the students?
yes, during my italian language to people from other countries (the greater part of the classroom was composed by people from India/Pakistan) I think that A greater CONTEXT AND CULTURAL COMPARISON language awareness would have helped me to prevent and facilitate the comprehension of some grammar, speaking argument of italian language from their language point of view. I would have modified my point of view with a wider capacity to teach using analogy and contrast method

PAOLA PATRIZIA CARDO ITALIA

paolapatrizia_cardo — 2018-10-01 07:43:44 UTC

Knowing one or more languages facilitates the experience of becoming a Citizen of the World. I believe in the importance of communication and exchanges between different countries. Very important for my school was the participation and sharing of Projects in the ETWINNING platform. way to know and appreciate life and different languages with fun and ease.

Anis Amouri (Tunisia

amourianis — 2018-10-01 08:13:15 UTC

knowledge of languages is very important in a classroom, it facilitates communication between the teacher and the students,When the language of schooling is different from the mother language,students can experience many difficulties related to the foreign language that is used to teach in class.

Anabela Almeida, Portugal

2018-10-01 08:41:32 UTC

Hello! I teach English to children between 8-10. In my classroom, I also have 2 Chinese pupils: they both speak very little Portuguese and they are not familiar with the language I teach...I try to use a lot of body language for them to understand better and they have been making some progress, but it's hard for them to speak in English...and in Portuguese. They still haven't achieved a positive grade:( How can I improve as a teacher and meet their language needs?

Carmen from Spain

biologiamencia — 2018-10-01 09:45:03 UTC

I have been teaching biology in english for spanish students in secondary school.
It was a bit complicated in the moment I received some gypsy students in my classroom. I was taking courses for learning how to deal with students that even can understand properly our mother tongue, In the end, we decided to create a vocabulary classroom using expressions and words they used everyday (not known by the rest of studends & myself) and complete its meaning in spsnish and english. It worked, at the end of the corse some gypsy pupils presented their personal dictionaries. The linguistic competence was developed in the majority of them.

Krisnel, Italy

krisneln — 2018-10-01 13:10:06 UTC

Eugenia, Greece

2018-10-01 13:29:57 UTC

I believe that if I knew my students' mother tongues maybe I could find an easier approach to facilitate learning to those students who find it hard to learn a third language, e.g. English in the classromm context, when they already speak one language at home and use another at school or their everyday lives. But still I believe that there are inherent mechanisms which help them learn despite their difficulties.

Elisa, ITALIA

2018-10-01 13:31:10 UTC

Hi! I have been teaching Business for 6 years. I spent the first 4 years in a private secondary school, where evereone was Italian. Everything changed when I moved to Milan and I found myself teaching in a really multicultural school. For the first time in my professional life I hade to build language awareness. I had to develop useful strategies to facilitate the comprehension of very difficult and technical topic, such as interests, costs and revenues, Vat and so one. One of the my strategies was to create some video glossary, exploiting my students' mother tongues. They traslated from italian to chinese, russian, tagalog, spanish and english some of the most common business definitions. This kind of cooperative learning method has lead to this illustrative output: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1V1K_PfpkrDZH342Wx69fqHCzkjyUZdZh. I think that this activity is effective and helpful both for students who grew up in Italy, even if in a foreign family and for newcomers that are supported in learning italian without forgetting their roots.

Marco, Italy

2018-10-01 14:17:18 UTC

I'm a Math and Science teacher at a middle school (10-13 yrs) in a small town. Even if we don't have so many foreigners, I'm absolutely aware of how language could be the first, main obstacle to an effective learning process. Since most of our students is Italian, the few foreigners are even more isolated and need a big help from the teachers to feel really included at school. A few years ago, I had a Chinese couple of brothers with serious problems in understanding Italian language. Consequently, they had big troubles also in Math, even if they were absolutely able in that subject. After a few months, I was able to find some lecture notes where the main Math concepts were translated in Chinese. After that, they looked happier and were able to perform in Math according to they real capabilities.

Marco Vitiello, Ascoli Piceno (Italy)

Feruze,TURKEY

feruzeerol — 2018-10-01 14:28:37 UTC

Syrian students before coming to Turkey, I have not encountered such a situation.But now I have to build this awareness for our Syrian students.

Maria A., Messina

mannunziata_loverso — 2018-10-01 14:39:23 UTC

Language awareness is important because involves cognitive and effective aspects, the students cannot simply receive the language but they have to think, clarify, analyse and question it.
it is important that the students are able to communicate their ideas and perception.

Ombretta, Italy

2018-10-01 15:26:58 UTC

Although the new teachers are very young, the pupils are even younger and different, linked to new technologies. Often they use a language different from the mother tongue to use these technologies. Another reason why it is important to use a second language is the possibility of approaching the language of the pupils and understanding their interests.

Renata, Lithuania

2018-10-01 16:18:47 UTC

Language its very important to me in my job. Because we write a lots projects, where we conect with other countries. For this our childrens must to know more than ą language.

2018-10-01 16:25:33 UTC

Renata, Lithuania Renata, Lithuania Language its very important to me in my job. Because we write a lots projects, where we conect with other countries. For this our childrens must to know more than ą language. Ombretta, Italy Ombretta, Italy Although the new teachers are very young, the pupils are even younger and different, linked to new technologies. Often they use a language different from the mother tongue to use these technologies. Another reason why it is important to use a second language is the possibility of approaching the language of the pupils and understanding their interests. Maria A., Messina Maria A., Messina Language awareness is important because involves cognitive and effective aspects, the students cannot simply receive the language but they have to think, clarify, analyse and question it. it is important that the students are able to communicate their ideas and perception. Feruze,TURKEY Feruze,TURKEY Syrian students before coming to Turkey, I have not encountered such a situation.But now I have to build this awareness for our Syrian students. Marco, Italy Marco, Italy I'm a Math and Science teacher at a middle school (10-13 yrs) in a small town. Even if we don't have so many foreigners, I'm absolutely aware of how language could be the first, main obstacle to an effective learning process. Since most of our students is Italian, the few foreigners are even more isolated and need a big help from the teachers to feel really included at school. A few years ago, I had a Chinese couple of brothers with serious problems in understanding Italian language. Consequently, they had big troubles also in Math, even if they were absolutely able in that subject. After a few months, I was able to find some lecture notes where the main Math concepts were translated in Chinese. After that, they looked happier and were able to perform in Math according to they real capabilities. Marco Vitiello, Ascoli Piceno (Italy) Elisa, ITALIA Elisa, ITALIA Hi! I have been teaching Business for 6 years. I spent the first 4 years in a private secondary school, where evereone was Italian. Everything changed when I moved to Milan and I found myself teaching in a really multicultural school. For the first time in my professional life I hade to build language awareness. I had to develop useful strategies to facilitate the comprehension of very difficult and technical topic, such as interests, costs and revenues, Vat and so one. One of the my strategies was to create some video glossary, exploiting my students' mother tongues. They traslated from italian to chinese, russian, tagalog, spanish and english some of the most common business definitions. This kind of cooperative learning method has lead to this illustrative output: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1V1K_PfpkrDZH342Wx69fqHCzkjyUZdZh. I think that this activity is effective and helpful both for students who grew up in Italy, even if in a foreign family and for newcomers that are supported in learning italian without forgetting their roots. Eugenia, Greece Eugenia, Greece I believe that if I knew my students' mother tongues maybe I could find an easier approach to facilitate learning to those students who find it hard to learn a third language, e.g. English in the classromm context, when they already speak one language at home and use another at school or their everyday lives. But still I believe that there are inherent mechanisms which help them learn despite their difficulties. Krisnel, Italy Krisnel, Italy Awareness of the language is important for teachers as I believe it allows a more inclusive didactic planning, evolving the contexts using interactive dimensions allows a greater understanding of the contents by the students. An increase in the quantity and quality of exposure to languages, whether L1 or L2, used in different contexts to traditional learning can allow the integration of disciplinary and transversal contents. Carmen from Spain Carmen from Spain I have been teaching biology in english for spanish students in secondary school. It was a bit complicated in the moment I received some gypsy students in my classroom. I was taking courses for learning how to deal with students that even can understand properly our mother tongue, In the end, we decided to create a vocabulary classroom using expressions and words they used everyday (not known by the rest of studends & myself) and complete its meaning in spsnish and english. It worked, at the end of the corse some gypsy pupils presented their personal dictionaries. The linguistic competence was developed in the majority of them. Anabela Almeida, Portugal Anabela Almeida, Portugal Hello! I teach English to children between 8-10. In my classroom, I also have 2 Chinese pupils: they both speak very little Portuguese and they are not familiar with the language I teach...I try to use a lot of body language for them to understand better and they have been making some progress, but it's hard for them to speak in English...and in Portuguese. They still haven't achieved a positive grade:( How can I improve as a teacher and meet their language needs? Anis Amouri (Tunisia Anis Amouri (Tunisia knowledge of languages is very important in a classroom, it facilitates communication between the teacher and the students,When the language of schooling is different from the mother language,students can experience many difficulties related to the foreign language that is used to teach in class. PAOLA PATRIZIA CARDO ITALIA PAOLA PATRIZIA CARDO ITALIA Knowing one or more languages facilitates the experience of becoming a Citizen of the World. I believe in the importance of communication and exchanges between different countries. Very important for my school was the participation and sharing of Projects in the ETWINNING platform. way to know and appreciate life and different languages with fun and ease. greater CONTEXT AND CULTURAL COMPARISON language awareness greater CONTEXT AND CULTURAL COMPARISON language awareness Have you faced situations where greater language awareness would have helped you to design the learning for the students? yes, during my italian language to people from other countries (the greater part of the classroom was composed by people from India/Pakistan) I think that A greater CONTEXT AND CULTURAL COMPARISON language awareness would have helped me to prevent and facilitate the comprehension of some grammar, speaking argument of italian language from their language point of view. I would have modified my point of view with a wider capacity to teach using analogy and contrast method Elisabetta, Italy Elisabetta, Italy Hello! I have been teaching Natural Science for about 20 years. I understood the importance of language awareness since the second year I started my job. Teaching in multilingual and multicultural classes has always required to adapt my lessons to each student's specific need. About 15 years ago, I had two Arabic students in my class. They came from different countries. Both of them did not write vowels, because in their language these letters are added like dots after having wrote the whole word. Having learnt that, I was able to help these students. Using a different strategy, like the choice of words from a list before writing, resulted more efficient than asking them to write a text without any scaffolding. Marina Stanojlovic Mircic Marina Stanojlovic Mircic Hello I'm a teacher of Italian as a foreign language in primary school (students are 12-15 years old) in Serbia. My main area of interest is comunication in Italian with native speakers. I would like to connect and collaborate with other teachers, regarding lesson ideas, cultural exchange and on line discussion in Italian. While chatting in Italian with their peers, my students have the opportunity to overcome the language barriers, practice their communication skills and to enrich their vocabulary in spoken language. This experience also provides them the opportunity to fraternize with their Italian peers, which expanded their visions of other cultures and lifestyles other than their own. Valentina Pistoia Valentina Pistoia I teach at middle school in a little town. In my class there are 5 foreign students, nobody of them can speak Italian. I'd like to create the right educational enviroment to help all my pupils , for this reason I'm attending this course. Michela, Michela, Michela, Ita Michela, Ita As a teacher I've often encountered students with poor literacy backgrounds having difficulties utilizing both spoken and written language. Therefore I think that linguistic development and language awareness should be core subjects in the educational Italian curricula. Giorgia, Romania Giorgia, Romania Because I am teaching national language, is very important for me to help foreign students to learn the language of the country that they have had come. I try to talk with them very much during the class, helping them to learn as much words as they are able to learn. Pantaleo, Italy Pantaleo, Italy First of all , as Science CLIL teacher, it's important that the teacher has to be language aware of the L2 and we cannot give it for grant even because it could be easier to follow what books propose, loosing in authenticity and emotional communication. Otherwise, understanding the PDZ of the students and their level of awareness could allow to estabilish a more effective way of communication supporting them with aware language. Elena Elena It is important that pupils feel confident in the language you use in class. I think it is very important to make them "proud" of their mother tongue: some of the language seem to be more important than others so for example Albanian speakers think their language is not so important or interesting for the schholmates. I try to involve their language in my foreign language lesson, giving examples of vocabulary or idioms in any language spoken in the class. Stefania Carolina, Italy Stefania Carolina, Italy Language aware teachers' students have more chances to be supported in their PDZ and to feel at ease at school. At the moment, a greater L A could help me to scaffold the learning of a newly arrived Moroccan student. Lina, Messin Lina, Messina I think that Language awareness is really important for the teacher in order to promote effective learning. In the school there are many students of different countries with linguistic needs. So they have to be helped and guided in learning a new language to be able to interact effectively with other students and the teacher. In my opinion integration is achieved through learning. This year in my class there are some foreign students that I try to help through use of different materials to facilate understanding such as maps, schemes , games or work in group . Nurcan Değerli, Turkey Nurcan Değerli, Turkey It is our responsibility to be language aware. We should help students to express themselves and create a better learning environment. Gülay,Turkey Gülay,Turkey Throught my teaching years both foreıgn language as a second language to natives and to other who migrate to our country the important obstacle not to being able to learn is the students fearfulness.At he beginning always start to lesson with activities that give relieveness to my students.And I always try to understand their feelings. Angela, Italy Angela, Italy We use different tools to involve children so they feel confident Amanpreet, India Amanpreet, India I being an alpha teacher i.e. learning how to teach students, thinks Language awareness is very essential for every teacher to teach in an effective manner. Every student is familiar to his/her mother tongue which they learn from their childhood and to teach them in a different language which all understands is always a challenging job. So, I prefer using simple English words while teaching them so that it becomes easy to understand for everyone. My experience (Michele Galati) My experience (Michele Galati) In the last year I had in a classroom a foreign pupil that came from Africa.It was impossible success in trying any strategies to make inclusive lessons because she didn't speak Italian or English so it was very difficult communicate. Agata, Italy Agata, Italy I'm presently teaching English in a lower secondary school / middle school. My school is sited in the suburb, and its population is mostly composed of (newly-arrived) foreign teens. Every day I meet their faces in class and catch their embarassment and sense of inadequacy. Some of them struggle to learn Italian and integrate, but many are actually isolated. As teacher of English, I have the advantage of using a language which is new to everybody, and that's great. In my classes they all learn together - both Italian and non-Italian students. Sometimes, I also ask them to use their own language if it can help some way, which makes them confident and happy. Yet, things are completely different when they learn other subjects, because then Italian is required as language of instruction .... Alma, Croatia Alma, Croatia I personally think that language awareness surely helps communication and facilitate the learning process. I teaching ICT subject and I have to uses English words. I'm trying to use simple communication in my classroom and simple the exchange of information between students and teacher. Daniela, Italy (PV) Daniela, Italy (PV) Language awareness is important because of multilingual community we live in , and school is a small one. Language means communication, relationships,... Once I had a russian student who didn't speak any word of Italian... she was isolated among her school mates. I was the first teacher who helped her communicating with them all. Albert, Catalonia Albert, Catalonia In the previous padlet I wrote from my experience in the classroom with students of other countries. It's a fact that in order to promote mobility, who knows if some of my students will work on a different country? So we need to learn different strategies to make easy the learning, even if this is technical words. SABRINA, CAPUA (CE SABRINA, CAPUA (CE we are facing with multilingual classes and for this reason we must know different tools to involve students and let them to feel part of the class Marina Marina I truly think there won't be monolingual classes anymore. This is a new reality that we're facing and we need to have the right tools to embrace this situation that enriches our global current world. Emanuela, Rome Emanuela, Rome Few years ago I taught Italian to 13-year-old pupils and a Finnish pupil came to his first experience in Italy: it was a wonderful multicultural experience for me and for all students! Day after day we learned something more about our language and Finnish: the English language was our "passepartout"! Jordi, Catalonia Jordi, Catalonia I give several classes where attend foreign pupils, with very few Catalan language knowledge. I am really convinced that if I did not make an effort in language issue, they would get overwhelmed after a week of classes, so it's my labor to facilitate them how to achieve the same grade than the rest. Helen, Spain Helen, Spain As I stated on the previous padlet, language awareness is fundamental for teachers given that our job success depends entirely on the effectiveness of our communication. As an EFL teacher I must constantly adapt my language to make sure all learners are included in my multi-level classrooms. Cinzia (Sicily Cinzia (Sicily this year I have a foreign student who doesn't speak Italian, so, in order to communicate with her, is very important language awereness and CLIL methodologies, so that she feels part of the class and is able to communicate with her schoolfriends and the teachers. omi omi Omisha,India Omisha,India i have taken my first step in this teaching profession. so,i have not experienced it. yet,it is very important to be a language aware,then only a teacher will be able to reduce the communication gap and can enhance the interest of student in a particular Mariella, Italy Mariella, Italy I work in a vocational school and there are students of different nationalities in my classes. Some of them were born in Italy but at home they speak their parents' mother tongue, others have been in Italy for a few months and have difficulty understanding. I teach English and this is a further language these students have to learn. Sometimes it is useful, they already know the basics of English or even speak it better than the Italian students so it helps overcome barriers. In other cases it is an extra obstacle. It is important to be aware of the different needs of the students when planning a lesson and scaffolding the activities. If the right support is given, pupils do their best. Elisa, Italy Elisa, Italy Once I had foreign students and we were studying french literature. Needless to say that they were lost. So we used English to comunicate and develop a different course. Lucia Lucia As a primary school teacher, I think that making children aware of the importance of communication in another language is fundamental because at this age they have an enthusiasm and interest in learning. M.Grazia, Italy M.Grazia, Italy I don’t have a great experience with foreign students. Last year a Pakistan child came. He did’t speak Italian. Fortunately he spoke English a little bit. So we use English and sometimes gestures to communicate. It’s really important to know other languages nowdays. Giusy Giusy it is my first year of teaching and I have not had the opportunity to experience and plan activities. Marianthi Arvanitidou-Greece Marianthi Arvanitidou-Greece Yes I agree language is very usuful tool to organize your activities but body language is important too! Nicoletta, Italy Nicoletta, Italy I think that the language awareness is important to plan activities, do project works being conscious about goals and skills you want to achieve. Why Why During Erasmus project I need to explain important aims using english Minka, Bulgaria Minka, Bulgaria During eTwinning project work I always try to urge my students to grasp the importance of communication and the importance of learning new languages. Because if we learn other language, at the same time we can learn more about other culture and traditions. Jana, Germany Jana, Germany I have just started to teach French in a very diverse class regarding mother tongues / second languages. I already know that Turkish has many French words, which helps many kids a lot. But there are some more exotic languages that I don‘t know and have to learn how to deal with. Being open to kids‘ backgrounds is key in that situation. Emanuela, Italy Emanuela, Italy As teacher, I have to understand pupils need, when teaching in a language not familiar for the students to help him to feel appreciate and don't lose interest. Latife Çeri,Turkey Latife Çeri,Turkey As I said before,I have pupils come from different cultures.At first,I was afarid how to motivate them to learn English and communicate them because our native language comes from different language family from them.Then I relised the importance of the games because pupils who are they love playing and this motivates them.For instance on 26 september we celebrated our European day of languages,I gathered different cultures of students and make a small dictionary with us.I would like to share my link Giota, Greece Giota, Greece maybe it is difficult to englobe all the linguisti repertoire of all your pupils but knowing some expression from the mother tongue motivate the students and develop their self esteem so their progress Rosa Agneta, Italy Rosa Agneta, Italy Although there are no foreign pupils in my class, I am sure that this course will provide me a better linguistic sensibility to encourage cultural diversity among students as additional valuable opportunity for classroom. Nica from Bari, Italy Nica from Bari, Italy A common language is the only way we have to comunicate. So a teacher has to find the best way to transmit the contents of a subject to his students using a common language, easy to understand for everyone. If words don't arrive to students, we can use other strategies like videos, drawing, body language, but I think that "learning by doing" is the most powerful method to learn. Raul C, Spain Raul C, Spain I am physical education teacher and i have a lot of pupils with different age and differet countries. i have to adapt the level continually Melissa Leyshon, Melissa Leyshon, Malta Language awareness is important for teachers to better understand students. I can sometimes see disputes between students, that are misinterpretations in ways of expression. Which could easily be smoothed out with a better understanding of the students language background. The use of visuals for me has become an essential part of my lesson. Sofia Tsigara, Greece Sofia Tsigara, Greece I work in a kindergarten school, so I use alot the body language , pictures and games. Maura, Italy Maura, Italy I often use English with students newly arrived from Pakistan or India. They will learn Italian of course but English is a good way for communication and learning discipline content. Sometimes words have a different meaning when used in everyday language or in discipline language, so you need to be language I otherwise you and your students may incur misunderstanding and misconception Aleksandra, Macedonia Aleksandra, Macedonia I agree that language plays a vital role in content learning and understanding. But being aware as a teacher is of utmost importance. Every pupil is valuable. Every child deserves a chance to start education no matter where he/she is. I think we learn from our pupils, too. Raffaella from Genova, Italy Raffaella from Genova, Italy I think Language Awareness is very important, especially in my School, because a lot of students are foreigners. I teach Italian and History and I would like to improve my language awareness in order to become more effective. Student’s italian level are different, so it’s very hard to find teaching solutions for everyone. I hope to find suggestions! Emilia/Romania Emilia/Romania In my school there aren't language problems as all students are Romanian.A special case is when a Romanian student who lived abroad and studied there, came back to study in Romania.He knew Romanian and could speak it but he doesn't know all the words, even small easy words.I realized this when he asked me for clarification during the lesson.So we should be language aware. Shukufa Najafova Shukufa Najafova Ismailli, Azerbaijan Language plays a vital role in learning. As teachers we need to make sure that language is not a barrier in our classroom. Language is not simply knowing a grammar and vocabulary and reproducing them in either written or oral form. Nuances and meanings of a language is part of language learning. By increasing student’s language awareness, the teacher can better understand is or her students and involve them in learning languages. Teacher should create bridges among languages in order to create bridges among people. During the lesson I always try to urge my students to grasp the importance of learning new languages, the importance of communication. If they learn other language, at the same time they learn that nation’s culture and tradition. Language is a vehicle of learning, so every teacher might be sure that language is not a barrier for his pupils. If a teacher faces to students showing difficulties with the language, he might look for appropriate strategies and supports to help them developing their understanding. Therefore it is important that the teacher is aware of his students' skills, to find the way to communicate with them. We should usebody language, visuals or we should say something in a different way, using examples, so to improve our students' understanding. Language is a vehicle of learning, so every teacher might be sure that language is not a barrier for his pupils. If a teacher faces to students showing difficulties with the language, he might look for appropriate strategies and supports to help them developing their understanding. Therefore it is important that the teacher is aware of his students' skills, to find the way to communicate with them. We should usebody language, visuals or we should say something in a different way, using examples, so to improve our students' understanding. Nataliia Khlivna, Ukraine Nataliia Khlivna, Ukraine I also remember the situation where greater language awareness would have helped. Last year a volunteer from Turkey arrived to our school. The problem was his English, my kids didn't understand him. Then we agreed to use some additional tools in order to involve the students into common activities like using body language, pictures, posters and games. It helped greatly but I would like to know more about LA in order to encourage my kids to take parts in different international projects and communicate with their peers all over the world. Daniela Pagnini, Italia Daniela Pagnini, Italia I teach in a secondary school and in a class of mine there are a few students coming from different parts of the world. I notice that they are really motivated in learning and they have an appreciable quality of interpersonal communication, but they sometimes fail in academic writing due to their poor vocabulary. I am sure that this course will help me improve my conscious perception and sensitivity in language in order to encourage cultural diversity in my class and use it as a precious opportunity for me and my students. Irene S. Irene S. I have faced situations where greater LA would have helped: during CLIL activities. I discovered that it's very important to provide a basic vocabulary in advance, to use proper resources (especially videos and pictures) and methodologies (i.e. learning by doing Jesús (Spain) Jesús (Spain) My personal experience refers to teaching in bilingual programmes (English) using CLIL methodology. This kind of methodology has been studied enough to provide with a set of resources and materials for teaching, most them very useful. One of the most powerful I have ever found is learning by doing things. Daniela Ferreira, Guimarães, Portugal Daniela Ferreira, Guimarães, Portugal Language plays a vital role in learning. So, as teachers we need to make sure that language is not a barrier in our classroom. It's important to understand that no matter what language we are using, it has to be clear once it become the vehicle to delivery the message to our students. Cristina C,Bergamo Cristina C,Bergamo I have a lot of foreign students in my liceo classes, coming from Egypt, Morocco, India and so on, but the majority of them were born in Italy or came in Italy when were very little. However I realize that my mother tongue is not theirs one and that in their families, almost surely, they all speak another language. So I try to use my knowledge of Latin and Greek to talk about the origin, the formation and the story of a word , in order to make them more conscious of words' meaning. Two years ago i had to face a Russian student, put in my class for one year, who was in Italy experimenting a school year abroad and who was absolutely not interested in learning Italian... I had to cope with him and, at the end, he has learned a little vocabulary for ordinary speaking and something about verb tenses in Italian, but I used to speak in English with him which was the only way to communicate at the beginning. This experience made me reflect on the importance to have language awareness and to be able to use languages as tools, as key to open relationships and teach . neverthless neverthless Tiziana Diso Tiziana Diso Italy Language is not simply knowing vocabulary and grammar and reproducing them in either written or oral form. Nuances and meanings of a language is part of language learning. By increasing students’ language awareness, the teacher can better understand his/her students and involve them in learning languages. Teacher should create bridges among languages in order to create bridges among people. During my lessons I try to urge my students to grasp the importance of learning new languages, the importance of communication and above all the importance of the culture, habits and way of life of people who everyday speak the foreign language they are studying. I have no students coming from other countries anyway learning language awareness is part of my lessons. Vincenza R. - Salerno Italy Vincenza R. - Salerno Italy I agree that language plays a vital role in learning and understanding subject content. My students are actually all Italian mother tongue speakers, but neverthless I can see that some of them have a lot of problems of content comprehension because they had been provided with no or very basic cultural stimuli and it almost seems that some of them are foreign students in their own coutry. And everything gets even worst when they have to approach a second or a third language learning. Sheila Corwin, Florence, Italy Sheila Corwin, Florence, Italy Language awareness is important for teachers, because language is a reflection of culture. Teachers need to realize that language awareness means that teachers need to recognize that there is more than one way to live a life and view the world. Dina, Verona Dina, Verona As long as I was reading this passage, I was just thinking about the last math lesson with my 8-year-olds. In the class group there are students from Italy, Albania, Romania, Senegal, Philippines, Sri-Lanka, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia. I therefore thought to ask the children to be told by their parents as they say the word "REST" or remain in their language of origin. Then on a billboard I can represent a situation in which you take away something (candy, cutlery, toys, etc ...) associate the minus sign and the word rest or remain in all the languages known in the class. Thus the association between the sign and the concept, between sign and word, becomes stronger and clearer. Tiziana Panaro Italy. I teach English in quite homogeneous classes, all the students, in fact are Italian native speakers and learn English as a second language. However, our place is starting to welcome people from countries all over the world and our classes are becoming more and more multilingual. Last year I had to face the issue with a Moroccan girl who was Arabic native speaker and she had some problems with writing from left to right. However she overcame the temporary difficulty with the passing of time. On the contrary, she was excellent in her spoken and interactive skills in English. Tiziana Panaro Italy. I teach English in quite homogeneous classes, all the students, in fact are Italian native speakers and learn English as a second language. However, our place is starting to welcome people from countries all over the world and our classes are becoming more and more multilingual. Last year I had to face the issue with a Moroccan girl who was Arabic native speaker and she had some problems with writing from left to right. However she overcame the temporary difficulty with the passing of time. On the contrary, she was excellent in her spoken and interactive skills in English. Miriam - Madrid I worked as an italian teacher in multicultural primary school in Rome and now I teach in an italian school in Madrid.With multi linguistic classrooms I tried involve the pupils organizing a group using f.e. the method of cooperative learning, but also I motivated students using theatre, music, art, gimnastic.In a contest where the italian is a vehicular language, these ways work well: the pupils have to speak necesserly in italian because this is the language known by all or the language that all have to know. Now, working in Madrid with spanish children in an italian school, I could see that during the work group the children comunicate among them in spanish, their native language. More, they not only speak in spanish but also think using this language and their italian production is written. They prepare their italian speachs thinking and speaking in spanish and so is very difficult to get over the ‘itanolo language’. To overcame this problem, I had create a new role into the cooperative learnig group: beside the time controller we have the italian language controller! Miriam - Madrid I worked as an italian teacher in multicultural primary school in Rome and now I teach in an italian school in Madrid.With multi linguistic classrooms I tried involve the pupils organizing a group using f.e. the method of cooperative learning, but also I motivated students using theatre, music, art, gimnastic.In a contest where the italian is a vehicular language, these ways work well: the pupils have to speak necesserly in italian because this is the language known by all or the language that all have to know. Now, working in Madrid with spanish children in an italian school, I could see that during the work group the children comunicate among them in spanish, their native language. More, they not only speak in spanish but also think using this language and their italian production is written. They prepare their italian speachs thinking and speaking in spanish and so is very difficult to get over the ‘itanolo language’. To overcame this problem, I had create a new role into the cooperative learnig group: beside the time controller we have the italian language controller! Isabel Couto, Lisbon Isabel Couto, Lisbon Learning a language whether it is maternal or foreign is very important. I am aware of this as a teacher, since it is through her that I communicate with my students and them with me. Regardless of the discipline we teach, it is our primary tool. Sometimes it becomes difficult because of language barriers not only due to the fact that some of my students are foreigners, but also because of the lack of vocabulary revealed by my Portuguese language mother tongue students. It is with this intention that I try in my classes to develop various strategies, namely the implementation of jeux de rôle as well as small tasks that allow my students to overcome their difficulties and gaps. In a world where communicative skills are increasingly essential, it becomes crucial to develop and work these skills as you learn / master other language (s) beyond ours. DESHWINDER KAUR/INDIA DESHWINDER KAUR/INDIA I always believe how important it is to be perfect in your subject . because in india teacher has to speak punjabi , hindi or English . and a teacher must be perfect and confident about her knowledge and sources Matanat Ahdova/ Azerbaijan Matanat Ahdova/ Azerbaijan I think the teacher should choose the right methods and approaches for the students to teach them and to understand their needs and help them to become more sure of speaking or learning new languages. It is really important they feel comfortable at school and above all they have to face their languages difficulties by teacher's help. Laurie, Germany Laurie, Germany As a teacher of Remediation Math for Grade 4 and 5 students, language awareness includes teaching vocabulary needed to grasp the big ideas. For example "fluency in numbers" is a central learning goal. To comunicate this goal to students I have choices to make when planning. The choices I make are dependent upon the language proficiency of each student. For beginner English learners, I could have them translate the phrase: "fluency in numbers" using Google Translate on class iPads. Then we could work through some easy examples of this concept: add ten to a given number; take ten away from a given number. Students can be encouraged to explain how a number changed using simple phrases: "plus ten" or "minus ten". For students who are intermediate or advanced English learners, I could begin with a discussion about what it means to be fluent in a language. That could be followed by relating the concept of fluency to numbers. Then we could work through some examples and students would be encouraged to explain how numbers changed using sentence frames such as: "I added ten" or "I subtracted ten". In other words, establishing a common ground of understanding upon which to build is essential when planning lessons with langauge awareness in mind. Aurelio, Ital Aurelio, Ital I'm a math teaching in secondary school and I have been in the same situation Venetia (Greece) told. I completely agree with her. Venetia, Greece Venetia, Greece I am a mathematician teacher in a general lyceum so, I haven't faced with this problem. Although in my classroom there are pupils with a different mother tongue , this has not created any major problem in my course, probably because of the subject of teaching. But I would say that a different mother tongue probably creates a problem for these pupils in understanding theoretical concepts especially in other lessons, resulting in poor performance and lack of interest Monica , Romania Monica , Romania I usually use realia during my lessons, it encourages students to speak and it also helps them learn more and better. My students love puppets and they always become more talkative when they are around. Mariagrazia, Italy Mariagrazia, Italy I teach CLIL in a primary school and I often use CODE SWITCHING , moving from English to Italian so that I am sure that all the pupils can understand what is being said . It is very interesting and also beautiful listening to the pupils talking both languages at the same time, mixing them, eevn in the same sentence : I think it's a good way to understand lamguage diversity but at the same time giving the same dignity to different languages... Christina, Finland Christina, Finland I have worked as a Finnish mother tongue teacher abroad for children who go to school in another language. For my lessons it has been essential to find out what they have learned about the topic in another language and then provide the same vocabulary and concepts in Finnish. If I wished to broaden the contents of the lesson to concepts unfamiliar to them, I needed to take time and effort to make sure they understood the underlying concepts, not just teach the vocabulary. Kelly, Denmark Kelly, Denmark A big wake up call for me was about 11 years ago. I was team teaching as part of being a recently qualified teacher. The more experienced teacher stopped me mid-flow, handed a magnet to one of my newer students and said "this is a magnet. Can you say magnet?" It just hadn't occurred to me I should run my science lessons like an English lesson. I also thought they understood a LOT more than they could. After that, I took an TEFL weekend course to be able to reach my beginners. M M Bog Fabrizio, Genova Fabrizio, Genova To engage and motivate students, group activities (cooperative learning) and the use of drawings, maps and posters are useful. Through the artistic activities the students can discover their imagination and creativity, help themselves and socialize to reach the final goal. Rina Allen, USA. Language Awareness is a very real thing. It is important to give patience and to speak slowly. Give direction with any means possible, such as, TPR, Total Physical Response. As a TEF L Instructor making learning enjoyable is half the battle for those learning a new language. Rina Allen, USA. Language Awareness is a very real thing. It is important to give patience and to speak slowly. Give direction with any means possible, such as, TPR, Total Physical Response. As a TEF L Instructor making learning enjoyable is half the battle for those learning a new language. Cinzia, Bergamo, Italy Cinzia, Bergamo, Italy I always underline how important it is to have foreign students in our class because of this the teacher has to speak French or English most of the time and students has to speak English or French to do new friend understands the most. In addition we can learn lots of interesting information about our new foreign classmate and this is a richness! My experience in LA, Silvana from Italy My experience in LA, Silvana from Italy I have faced many times the need to communicate with a learner that was not Italian. Language awareness is needed because of the increasing multicultural and multilingual world. I remember one particular case I faced many some years ago. It was a difficult situation, because the learner just arrived from Serbia and could not communicate in Italian. I used my sensibility to adapt to this situation. If I think back to those days, it would have been very useful to know some effective tools to use for such a situation. I tried to create special documents for him putting both languages in them (a sort of scaffolding in multilingual appearance). Sometime ago I followed a CLIL methodology course and now I feel more confident to struggle with such a situation. However, I think I need to be trained to be a better teacher. Cinzia Centrone, Italy Cinzia Centrone, Italy In this part o year at school I'm using cooperative learning, work in group to motivate students that come from other countries. Very important is use of different materials such as cards, maps that can facilitate understanding. I and my Italian students sometimes speak in English to semplify understanding. Francesca, Italy Francesca, Italy Usually my students are italian, but the few times i’ve worked with foreign students i’ve understood the importance of LA and i felt the need of having a specific knowledge of CLIL methodologies. However i’ve tried to create a climate of trust, also using new strategies: cooperative learning, peer to peer education, ... Gregorio, Sicily-Italy Gregorio, Sicily-Italy Teaching technical subjects in a second language is mandatory in high school in Italy, Last year I had this experience with a final class, The students initially presented a low level of English proficiency , with problems of understanding and exposure on generic and technical topics, With the introduction of some modules of the course developed with the CLIL methodologies, I found a greater awareness of the language, and an improvement of the knowledge and understanding of the topics covered. Creating in the classroom a climate of trust and an ease in communication and in the exchange of information between students and with the teacher himself. Stathis, Greece Stathis, Greece The last 18 years I have been working in a Technical Lyceum in Almyros which always accepts students from Albania. The fact is that I had never have any problem or difficulty to communicate with them, although I'm not aware with their language and culture. Sometimes they start talking in their language in class but I had made them clear that is something forbidden. But I always try to gain their trust, I think that i have worked successfully on it and seems that we'll together overcome any barrier between us.t CINZIA. ITALY CINZIA. ITALY My students are half Italian mothertongue, half from different countries of the world (Peru, China, Philippines, Morocco, Tunisia, Albania, Brazil) with very different levels of language. For those whose level is low I try to adapt all material and to make things easier for them, but I am not sure to be really at ease to do that. I do my best to simplify their works with maps, schemes, graded readings, TV cartoons, games, quizzes,… I try also to use different methodologies, in particular TPR and something involving kinesthetic or mostly visual attitude. I prefer cooperative learning, peer to peer activities, in order to motivate the weakest ones from the language point of view. Our school does not invest a lot in particular projects about LA, but I often take part in Etwinning projects with my class. different strategies: as different strategies: as using body language, key words, using different tools Amelia, Italy Amelia, Italy Last year I experienced a project called CLIL (Contenet and Language Integrated Learning) with my Philosophy colleague, so we used some learning strategies about language awareness. For example, we created list of key-words and vocabulary activities in order to help our students to learn Ilaria from Italy Ilaria from Italy I think that LA is important for teachers for two reasons: for helping students thata are learnig a second language and for giving the right helps, structeres and function for foreign students that don't know the country and scolastic language. I try to help my students with maps, schemes but also comics and series on TV. Anabela Vieira Anabela Vieira At my school, in Portugal we are developing a project called CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), some contents in some subjects are teached in English, so this is a reality that we are already familiar. Because we have different levels of English knowledge, we have to develop different strategies: as using body language, key words, using different tools (Edmodo, Kahoot, padlet, picture dictionary …), reading sessions, contests, coloured information on the walls os the school and classrooms, pair work (…) as a way to motivate our students and give them the opportunity to explore their second language according to their English level. Our school invests in teachers training, as Erasmus and eTwinning projects. Nadina NICOLICI, Romania Nadina NICOLICI, Romania My students are from various backgrounds with different levels of language (English or French). For those whose level is very low I do my best to adapt everything and to make things easier for them, but I make sure they understand and they feel comfortable. Cristina from Italy Cristina from Italy First I had to semplify my language and to adapt it considering the needs of my students who were unable to produce long sentences. Then I worked to support their self confidence in order to avoid their fear to make mistakes. Silvia from Italy Silvia from Italy Last year I had to teach Spanish as a second language to a girl who spoke bad Italian and Arab at home. Her parents couldn't help her with extra classes, they were not educated, so I could only rely on myself. I simplified everything I could and reduced my objectives: at the end of the school year she could understand little Spanish at an elementary level, but she felt pretty confident about it. Hallo! Here's maestra Emma :-) Hallo! Here's maestra Emma :-) Linguistic awareness is important for expressing needs, ideas, desires and asking for what one needs to understand. Knowing what to ask, choosing words, arguing, using the word that most expresses the meanings we want to convey makes our relationships more effective and satisfying. A well used word is a vehicle of information, that we give and that we ask and it is also an excellent mediator of conflicts in which all the "winners" come out. Often conflicts arise from misunderstandings, from the use of words not appropriate to the listener, to the place where we are or to our need to communicate. Being aware of the words, however, is not enough. We must also be aware of the non-verbal elements of communication, which are the ones that come first, to which we believe most. In class, especially in classes with children who speak little of the language in which they communicate (L1) use mimicry, doing, the different types of text helps to associate words and meanings, words and actions. Playing with the voice and the movements helps to understand when to use certain communicative ways, to use different types of texts (visual, written, sound, motors) helps to make what is richer and to share the many typical ways of expression of different cultures. This limits the sense of little capacity and isolation that foreign children just arrived from abroad feel for the difference between their logistic skills. For children with other L1 it is also important to be able to teach some words or texts (chants, greeting formulas, rhymes) to their peers: they feel that their culture is a value and that they too can be the most experienced. Finally, using the language in different and integrated activities increases the possibility for everyone to participate and learn. Mary from Italy Mary from Italy HI !, I'm from Italy I'm finish my studying for becoming a teacher. I think that language awareness is important because teacher have to use the right approach before teaching to students in order to understand their needs and help them to become more sure of speaking or learning new languages. It is really important they feel comfortable at school and ababove all they have to face their languages difficulties by teacher's help. Laura , Italy Laura , Italy working in classes with students of different nationalities it is very important to share a linguistic code , sometimes the language of communication can be different from the language of learning , what really matters is to create a cultural link. In some cases even the body language can be useful Mary from Italy Mary from Italy Laura, Canada Laura, Canada I really think all teachers are language teachers. Building this awareness and shifting teachers presumptions about language is why language awareness is important. The other responses on this page echo the role the language serves to a students sense of belonging. I think beyond just accessing materials. Hümeyra YENER/TURKEY Hümeyra YENER/TURKEY I’m an English teacher and I have faced the same problems since I started teaching English from the very first day. Most of the students do not have opportunity to use the language in their daily life so they don’t care about the second language. Some of the students have a prejudice toward English. As their own language structure and use is different from the second language, they find it difficult to use the new language. So it is our aim to help them gain a confidence to use the second language. We should prepare materials accordingly to students readiness. Sofia, ATH/ GREECE Sofia, ATH/ GREECE I work with students 4-6 years old, so when my students don't understand Greek (more often the last years) I use other techniques such as pictures, theatrical games etc. in order to understand and participate without the language barriers. Moisés, Portugal Moisés, Portugal When students finish the school, normaly they start work in restaurants, I feel that they know the basic in tecnhical language but they d'ont know how to make a conversation. Nuno, PT Nuno, PT I once had a Vietnamese student who didn't speak Portuguese and hardly spoke English, so it was difficult to communicate and/or teach her. I'm teaching in a school with many foreigners (political refugees and immigrants) from Africa and Asia and often they speach english and a little of italian. I think form my job is absolutely necessary to get more awarness of language. I'm teaching in a school with many foreigners (political refugees and immigrants) from Africa and Asia and often they speach english and a little of italian. I think form my job is absolutely necessary to get more awarness of language. Sinan Koruc Sinan Koruc Through projects funded under Erasmus+ programme, we have a great opportunity to highlight the importance of language awareness for my colleagues and students. Laura, Italy Laura, Italy An example of why language awareness is important could be that if you want to teach contents through a foreign language you has to be aware of the lexis you need to convey that content and to think of scaffolding activities to pre-teach the needeed vocabulary to your students, otherwise they couldn't understand or interact during the lesson. Andrea;Italy Andrea;Italy every and each language course starts with an entry test. That's the starting point. Each student has different capabilities and abilities , I would say history. Teachers must be aware of it and set different learning objectives according to the minimum standard required by the level of their class. I have a considerable experience at evening classes and they are really heterogeneous. If you want any impact on your students you must set different learning paths or lessons are completely useless . Floriana; Italy Floriana; Italy One one hand, having language awareness is very important because it helps teacher to better understand their pupils'needs, on the second hand it help rethinking their educational actions aiming to performance and, ever more, to contents. In my classroom there aren't foreign students, but some children speak in local dialect. I personally think that language awareness surely helps communication and facilitate the learning process. Krisnel, Italy Krisnel, Italy Awareness of the language is important for teachers as I believe it allows a more inclusive didactic planning, evolving the contexts using interactive dimensions allows a greater understanding of the contents by the students. An increase in the quantity and quality of exposure to languages, whether L1 or L2, used in different contexts to traditional learning can allow the integration of disciplinary and transversal contents. YASEMİN UYSAL-YATAĞAN/MUĞLA/TURKEY YASEMİN UYSAL-YATAĞAN/MUĞLA/TURKEY Language awareness is important to improve the communication and develop the relationship between the students. Raffaella, Calcio, Raffaella, Calcio, Patrizia, Lissone, Italy Patrizia, Lissone, Italy As a language teacher I understand that in order to teach a foreign language you need to create a very positive learning environment, where a mistake can be corrected only for the sake of helping the student improve his learning. No one should feel afraid of making a mistake while learning a new language. A self-confident student will make progress quite easily and when the language becomes more difficult, the teacher will be there to facilitate his/her learning. I have been to England with a group of students recently and what struck me was the positive atmosphere created by the teachers, with amazing results! Simona, Porto Azzurro, Italy Simona, Porto Azzurro, Italy Language awareness is important not only regarding pupils whose mother tongue is different: when you work in a class with young learners, it can happen that a lot of italian children don't kow the meaning of "edicola" (newsagent's). It is a very common word in families that buy newspapers and have a decent cultural background. So a teacher MUST always investigate either how much of his/her vocabulary is understood by the pupils, and the cultural background they have. And this must be done with all the pupils. Subject teaching and language awareness (Maria Rosaria - ItalY) Subject teaching and language awareness (Maria Rosaria - ItalY) Being a subject teacher means being aware that content goes through language and that language changes according to content. That is enough to make possible that each subject teacher must also be considered a language teacher. Giselda Costa- Teresina- Piauí- Brazil Giselda Costa- Teresina- Piauí- Brazil I think in the general curriculum should have "Linguistics discipline". It is fundamental that all teachers (mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc.) have knowledge of verbal and non-verbal communication. The importance of language within a multicultural classroom. The Importance of Body Communication and the importance of linguistic diversity among students. It is also essential to know the linguistic policies. Margaret - Poland Margaret - Poland I teach English and I try to speak English all the time during my classes but sometimes I see that some students have problems with understanding - then I try to repeat what I said using simpler words or pictures or I try to show what I mean - any method is good. I need to know that my students understand me. EZEL TUNA -BURSA/TURKEY EZEL TUNA -BURSA/TURKEY Language awareness is important for teachers. It makes it easier for students to communicate, understand and learn subjects. Camelia (Romania Camelia (Romania When the teacher tries to speak in the pupil's mother tongue, he feels closer to the teacher and tries to understand better what is being taught. Federica (Italy) Federica (Italy) As educators, I think we would be of great inspiration to our students if we are aware of all the different languages spoken around us. Just to remind them each one of us is special their own way, there's no better or worse! Nicoleta- Romania Nicoleta- Romania Language awareness is important, is a challenge for the modern teacher, but very helpful in class with students who mix the words trying to say something in Romanian, in Italian, or Spanish......if you love your job, your students, you should be the first to learn/ search about culture, background of family, be more understanding , make sure communication does”t have any barries in understanding each other. So find a common channel- language, use all their collegues, use different games, songs, be creative! Maria Rosa (Sicily) Maria Rosa (Sicily) In my opinion language awareness is very important for all teachers.Nowadays in our classes there are an increasing number of students coming from other different countries, so teachers have to be ready to face ut to that challenge. For instance this year in my school arrived a very clever student from Albania and he doesn’t speak Italian, but fortunately he speaks English very well ,so teachers and his classmates are trying to communicate with him in English and step by step he is learning a bit of Italian too. Vassiliki Boltsi, Greece Vassiliki Boltsi, Greece Classrooms in Europe have become multilingual and it is our concern as teachers to develop skills and abilities to all our stydents despite their origin and their mother tongue. To me we are sort of doctors who cure/treat every person/patient because they have taken the Hippocratic Oath. We, teachers, should pay attention to al of our students and treat them appropriately. Maria Rita, Italy Maria Rita, Italy Language awareness is basic for teachers because it helps us to create different learning language path for each student without forgetting the peer work (debate, comparison), which could be used to reinforce the class group. This could be a way to get all the students, because if the teacher is aware, the students will be aware too. Erika, Italy Erika, Italy When the language of schooling is completely different from the mother tongue, children can experience a lot of difficulties not related to the specific subject that is taught, but to the unfamiliar language that is used to teach it. For this reason the students can become discouraged or even lose their interest. As I said, a teacher who is not language aware is a teacher who is not aware of the fact that a language can become a real barrier that prevent the learner from reaching the real contents of his/her lessons. This misunderstanding can have a very negative effect: the strategies implemented by the teacher to help the learner won’t be effective because they won’t solve his/her real problem (low linguistic proficiency). Another important aspect is represented by the linguistic/cultural attitudes that can be conveyed by a teacher who is not language aware. In this case, the teacher tends not to assign an equal value to every language spoken by his/her students, giving priority or even a higher value to the language/ culture of his/her monolingual students (the majority). The children who speak two or three languages can perceive their teachers linguistic attitudes, reacting consistently. During these two years, I observed that, in a monolingual atmosphere, children tend to avoid speaking their mother-tongue at school. They always use their second language in front of the other monolingual students, considering their first language as the language that can be spoken only at home or among the other students who share the same origin, culture and social condition. In my opinion, a language aware teacher is a teacher who acknowledges the beauty and the value of all the languages spoken by his/her students, allowing them to speak these languages in the classroom or even to teach them (maybe only some words). Finally, a language aware teacher is a teacher who underlines the real benefits of language diversity: the opportunity to discover new cultures (ways of life, thinking and perceiving the world) through different languages (removing an important barrier to mobility) and the opportunity to reach a better linguistic awareness of the L1 through L2. Thinking about my experience, I remember two situations where greater language awareness would have helped me design the learning for my students. During the first and the second year, two children arrived, one from Morocco and one from Egypt. I could not speak arabic or french and these two children could not speak english or italian. I would have liked to know their mother-tongues in order to communicate with them from the beginning! Luckily there were two egyptian students who became two perfect loyal translators and interpreters!! In that case, my conscious perception and sensitivity in language learning, teaching and use was not enough, I would have liked to have an explicit knowledge about the language (mother tongues) spoken by these two great and courageous students. Stanley,Nigeria. Stanley,Nigeria. I supervise teachers and I have noticed that most language teachers are more concerned in covering the curriculum than in ensuring pupils acquire the language.In my setting the native language where the school is situated is made compulsory but most times students spend up to seven years learning a language without being able to engage in a simple conversation. Language Awareness i Language Awareness is very important. I work as an English teacher in an Italian bilingual (It-En) Pre-School and Primary School. Every time I plan an activity I have to think of the learning process of my students regarding Language Aquisition (their previous knowledge, known lexis vs new lexis, things that they might find difficult, etc.) and I think of ways to Is Language Awareness important for teachers Is Language Awareness important for teachers I believe that language awareness is very crucial for teachers because it can facilitate the learning process as well as it also fruitful to create a good relationship among students and teachers where students feel more comfortable with their teacher. However, language awareness of teachers is important to make our students better learners and more confident than their ability. Natalia, ItalyI think that, as a second language teacher, one of the main aspects about language awareness is that of helping our students to achieve communication.Language is a vehicle for communication (and also for learning) and as a teacher I am responsible for ensuring that the language in my classroom is not a barrier for my students.In my class there are Chinese, Italian, Georgian, Romanian, etc., they communicate through games, songs, mimic and they learn English as a second language but many times I have to explain thing individually because the word or structure is different only in one of their languages, and it could create an misunderstanding to one of my students. The same thing for culture, there are thing that I need to explain in a clear way for some of them because their culture are far from English one. Natalia, ItalyI think that, as a second language teacher, one of the main aspects about language awareness is that of helping our students to achieve communication.Language is a vehicle for communication (and also for learning) and as a teacher I am responsible for ensuring that the language in my classroom is not a barrier for my students.In my class there are Chinese, Italian, Georgian, Romanian, etc., they communicate through games, songs, mimic and they learn English as a second language but many times I have to explain thing individually because the word or structure is different only in one of their languages, and it could create an misunderstanding to one of my students. The same thing for culture, there are thing that I need to explain in a clear way for some of them because their culture are far from English one. Fernanda, Portugal Fernanda, Portugal Language Awareness is really important in language teaching because it involves a whole world related to language - culture, habits, traditions. The language we use in teaching has to be adequate but it also has to meet students' needs. So, planning a lesson in a language diverse classroom is a challenge. We have to find different ways to get to all students. Ame, Italy Ame, Italy Language awareness si important for our pupil’s future Silvia, Italy Silvia, Italy I think language awareness is important because it gives you the opportunity to consider students individually. For example, last year i have teached english at the primary school and I had 8 classes, language awarenes was important to think about different activities in equal years of study: i had two classes of the fourth year of study and i didn' the same activities, because students of the two classes were different - they had a different awareness of languages so I had to work with them in two different ways Athena, Nafpaktos Athena, Nafpaktos I work in a vocational school with multileveled students, often coming from various social, cultural, religious backgrounds. The students often act defensively in class when they do not understand sth and I am in the dfc situation to balance in quite diversiful classes and prevent conflicts in class. If all students are actively engaged, possible problems can be avoided up to a point. I consider it is the teacher's duty to be aware of the sts diversities lingulistic, cultural and social and prepare the students for co-existence. The teacher must hav The teacher must have a loto of awareness of the Language that uses to teach so that the teacher can help in the best way the students who don't understand and don't speak that Language. Paola Cracco Costa, Italy Paola Cracco Costa, Italy I am a teacher in Law and Economy in high school here in Italy and for many reason we (students and me) are keeping in touch with English several time a day. Many of the words in my subject are in English and we are aware that we cannot think some concepts in Italian but rather in an english way! For instance the word spread. We cannot translate and we must think in English. Many times my student need to understand the real meaning of such a different words. This is a great challenge! In this situation they are forced to change themselves. And this is of course great, extraordinary! English is also a way to approach to technical problems, in many situation you must summarize instead of thinking in an a language like italian in witch you are not so short. Hi I am deshwinder Hi I am deshwinder Stefania Di Nuzzo, Italy Stefania Di Nuzzo, Italy Language awareness is important for teachers even if in a classroom all we're talking about the same mother tongue; numbers and quality of words that students can use or complexity of their grammar usage have an influence on their undestanding and partecipating to the learning process. Krizia, Italy Krizia, Italy I think that teacher should be aware of the language in order to help sts in the process of learning. In fact, through language awareness, teacher can help sts reflect on the language and understande the context in which they are usng the language Francesca Palla, Italy Francesca Palla, Italy Language Awareness is very important for teacher because the act of learning should be emphasized by the learners' side. Teacher should be a facilitator, and this professional has to find some new ways to share knowledge, in order to lower the affective filter in the relationship between learner-educator I think language awareness is very crucial for teachers because it helps to create a good relationship among students and teachers and pupils feel comfortable at school,creating a climate of trust in which exchange and communication among pupils and with the teachers are facilitated I think language awareness is very crucial for teachers because it helps to create a good relationship among students and teachers and pupils feel comfortable at school,creating a climate of trust in which exchange and communication among pupils and with the teachers are facilitated Caterina, Italy Caterina, Italy This's for me only the second year to teaching at primary school, I believe awareness is important for teacher but also for pupils, I try "to discover the language" with them, to reflect on the language, on the context and so on. I'm sorry I haven't got more examples. Madalina Cucaila , Romania Madalina Cucaila , Romania We have many gipsies. For them is very important to feel valued, I try to face the challenges issued in classroom due to family background. Maria do Rosário, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal Maria do Rosário, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal I think language awareness is not only important where students of different mother languages cohexist. Even students with the same mother language face different challenges to succeed in class due to family background, due to social environments very diverse from one another as well as due to the fact that some attended school from early years, in kindergarden or nursery, and others started school directly to primary school. And, in general, this makes a lhard difference between them. To conclude, language awareness is for sure of great importance. Josefina Martín, Spain Josefina Martín, Spain LAnguage awareness is important because it make teachers aware of the language challenges or difficulties which non native of that language students may face when tacking with subject content. Teachers must adapt and teach accordint¡g to these challenges each student faces Laura Laura Language aweareness help teachers who have to deal with student of different country since they have different abilty and customs. Dulcinea Portugal Dulcinea Portugal It is importante to be sensitive towards students from differents backgrounds and cultures because they often have dificulties to understand de subjects of studie. Angela,Italy Angela,Italy think that language awereness is very important for teachers because it can facilitate the learning process . It is also important to create a good relashionship among students and with the teacher. Veronica, Italy Veronica, Italy Like I’m still a student, I didn’t directly faced those type of situation. But something similar happened to me during my traineeship in my Erasmus year in Spain. During the Spanish class, the teacher was explaining the meaning of new words to the student. Like I’m Italian, she decided to “improve” the lesson, leaving the students to ask themselves, and after to me, from where come those words. The result was fantastic. They started to understand that there are “romance languages” that have a common past, and they discovered how similar can be Spanish and Italian, thanks for their common origins. Also, we investigate together the Latin origin of the words, and we start to compare how words in Spanish and Italian have evolved sometime in a very different way. Agata Brescia, Italy Agata Brescia, Italy I teach mathematics in a secondary school with a linguistic background. Many of my students do not like mathematics but love foreign languages. For this reason, last year I experimented with my colleague who teaches English the CLIL methodology. Supported by her (I do not know if this could be considered an example of linguistic awareness) I dealt with my students some mathematical topics, such as statistics and probability, in English. What was the result ??? Students who have never studied mathematics, but with good skills in foreign language, have seriously committed themselves !!! In this case I have achieved the objective of transmitting the mathematical contents to them through the linguistic tool !!! The teaching of language has played a vital role in learning and understanding subject content. Sheila Corwin, Florence, Sheila Corwin, Florence, Italy Sheila Corwin, Florence, Italy Language awareness is important for teachers, because language is one reflection of culture. Teachers need to realize that language Dina, Verona Dina, Verona As long as I was reading this passage, I was just thinking about the last math lesson with my 8-year-olds. In the class group there are students from Italy, Albania, Romania, Senegal, Philippines, Sri-Lanka, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia. I therefore thought to ask the children to be told by their parents as they say the word "REST" or remain in their language of origin. Then on a billboard I can represent a situation in which you take away something (candy, cutlery, toys, etc ...) associate the minus sign and the word rest or remain in all the languages known in the class. Thus the association between the sign and the concept, between sign and word, becomes stronger and clearer. Tiziana Panaro Italy. I teach English in quite homogeneous classes, all the students, in fact are Italian native speakers and learn English as a second language. However, our place is starting to welcome people from countries all over the world and our classes are becoming more and more multilingual. Last year I had to face the issue with a Moroccan girl who was Arabic native speaker and she had some problems with writing from left to right. However she overcame the temporary difficulty with the passing of time. On the contrary, she was excellent in her spoken and interactive skills in English. Tiziana Panaro Italy. I teach English in quite homogeneous classes, all the students, in fact are Italian native speakers and learn English as a second language. However, our place is starting to welcome people from countries all over the world and our classes are becoming more and more multilingual. Last year I had to face the issue with a Moroccan girl who was Arabic native speaker and she had some problems with writing from left to right. However she overcame the temporary difficulty with the passing of time. On the contrary, she was excellent in her spoken and interactive skills in English. Miriam - Madrid I worked as an italian teacher in multicultural primary school in Rome and now I teach in an italian school in Madrid.With multi linguistic classrooms I tried involve the pupils organizing a group using f.e. the method of cooperative learning, but also I motivated students using theatre, music, art, gimnastic.In a contest where the italian is a vehicular language, these ways work well: the pupils have to speak necesserly in italian because this is the language known by all or the language that all have to know. Now, working in Madrid with spanish children in an italian school, I could see that during the work group the children comunicate among them in spanish, their native language. More, they not only speak in spanish but also think using this language and their italian production is written. They prepare their italian speachs thinking and speaking in spanish and so is very difficult to get over the ‘itanolo language’. To overcame this problem, I had create a new role into the cooperative learnig group: beside the time controller we have the italian language controller! Miriam - Madrid I worked as an italian teacher in multicultural primary school in Rome and now I teach in an italian school in Madrid.With multi linguistic classrooms I tried involve the pupils organizing a group using f.e. the method of cooperative learning, but also I motivated students using theatre, music, art, gimnastic.In a contest where the italian is a vehicular language, these ways work well: the pupils have to speak necesserly in italian because this is the language known by all or the language that all have to know. Now, working in Madrid with spanish children in an italian school, I could see that during the work group the children comunicate among them in spanish, their native language. More, they not only speak in spanish but also think using this language and their italian production is written. They prepare their italian speachs thinking and speaking in spanish and so is very difficult to get over the ‘itanolo language’. To overcame this problem, I had create a new role into the cooperative learnig group: beside the time controller we have the italian language controller! Isabel Couto, Lisbon Isabel Couto, Lisbon Learning a language whether it is maternal or foreign is very important. I am aware of this as a teacher, since it is through her that I communicate with my students and them with me. Regardless of the discipline we teach, it is our primary tool. Sometimes it becomes difficult because of language barriers not only due to the fact that some of my students are foreigners, but also because of the lack of vocabulary revealed by my Portuguese language mother tongue students. It is with this intention that I try in my classes to develop various strategies, namely the implementation of jeux de rôle as well as small tasks that allow my students to overcome their difficulties and gaps. In a world where communicative skills are increasingly essential, it becomes crucial to develop and work these skills as you learn / master other language (s) beyond ours. DESHWINDER KAUR/INDIA DESHWINDER KAUR/INDIA I always believe how important it is to be perfect in your subject . because in india teacher has to speak punjabi , hindi or English . and a teacher must be perfect and confident about her knowledge and sources Matanat Ahdova/ Azerbaijan Matanat Ahdova/ Azerbaijan I think the teacher should choose the right methods and approaches for the students to teach them and to understand their needs and help them to become more sure of speaking or learning new languages. It is really important they feel comfortable at school and above all they have to face their languages difficulties by teacher's help. Laurie, Germany Laurie, Germany As a teacher of Remediation Math for Grade 4 and 5 students, language awareness includes teaching vocabulary needed to grasp the big ideas. For example "fluency in numbers" is a central learning goal. To comunicate this goal to students I have choices to make when planning. The choices I make are dependent upon the language proficiency of each student. For beginner English learners, I could have them translate the phrase: "fluency in numbers" using Google Translate on class iPads. Then we could work through some easy examples of this concept: add ten to a given number; take ten away from a given number. Students can be encouraged to explain how a number changed using simple phrases: "plus ten" or "minus ten". For students who are intermediate or advanced English learners, I could begin with a discussion about what it means to be fluent in a language. That could be followed by relating the concept of fluency to numbers. Then we could work through some examples and students would be encouraged to explain how numbers changed using sentence frames such as: "I added ten" or "I subtracted ten". In other words, establishing a common ground of understanding upon which to build is essential when planning lessons with langauge awareness in mind. Aurelio, Ital Aurelio, Ital I'm a math teaching in secondary school and I have been in the same situation Venetia (Greece) told. I completely agree with her. Venetia, Greece Venetia, Greece I am a mathematician teacher in a general lyceum so, I haven't faced with this problem. Although in my classroom there are pupils with a different mother tongue , this has not created any major problem in my course, probably because of the subject of teaching. But I would say that a different mother tongue probably creates a problem for these pupils in understanding theoretical concepts especially in other lessons, resulting in poor performance and lack of interest Monica , Romania Monica , Romania I usually use realia during my lessons, it encourages students to speak and it also helps them learn more and better. My students love puppets and they always become more talkative when they are around. Mariagrazia, Italy Mariagrazia, Italy I teach CLIL in a primary school and I often use CODE SWITCHING , moving from English to Italian so that I am sure that all the pupils can understand what is being said . It is very interesting and also beautiful listening to the pupils talking both languages at the same time, mixing them, eevn in the same sentence : I think it's a good way to understand lamguage diversity but at the same time giving the same dignity to different languages... Christina, Finland Christina, Finland I have worked as a Finnish mother tongue teacher abroad for children who go to school in another language. For my lessons it has been essential to find out what they have learned about the topic in another language and then provide the same vocabulary and concepts in Finnish. If I wished to broaden the contents of the lesson to concepts unfamiliar to them, I needed to take time and effort to make sure they understood the underlying concepts, not just teach the vocabulary. Kelly, Denmark Kelly, Denmark A big wake up call for me was about 11 years ago. I was team teaching as part of being a recently qualified teacher. The more experienced teacher stopped me mid-flow, handed a magnet to one of my newer students and said "this is a magnet. Can you say magnet?" It just hadn't occurred to me I should run my science lessons like an English lesson. I also thought they understood a LOT more than they could. After that, I took an TEFL weekend course to be able to reach my beginners. M M Bog Fabrizio, Genova Fabrizio, Genova To engage and motivate students, group activities (cooperative learning) and the use of drawings, maps and posters are useful. Through the artistic activities the students can discover their imagination and creativity, help themselves and socialize to reach the final goal. Rina Allen, USA. Language Awareness is a very real thing. It is important to give patience and to speak slowly. Give direction with any means possible, such as, TPR, Total Physical Response. As a TEF L Instructor making learning enjoyable is half the battle for those learning a new language. Rina Allen, USA. Language Awareness is a very real thing. It is important to give patience and to speak slowly. Give direction with any means possible, such as, TPR, Total Physical Response. As a TEF L Instructor making learning enjoyable is half the battle for those learning a new language. Cinzia, Bergamo, Italy Cinzia, Bergamo, Italy I always underline how important it is to have foreign students in our class because of this the teacher has to speak French or English most of the time and students has to speak English or French to do new friend understands the most. In addition we can learn lots of interesting information about our new foreign classmate and this is a richness! My experience in LA, Silvana from Italy My experience in LA, Silvana from Italy I have faced many times the need to communicate with a learner that was not Italian. Language awareness is needed because of the increasing multicultural and multilingual world. I remember one particular case I faced many some years ago. It was a difficult situation, because the learner just arrived from Serbia and could not communicate in Italian. I used my sensibility to adapt to this situation. If I think back to those days, it would have been very useful to know some effective tools to use for such a situation. I tried to create special documents for him putting both languages in them (a sort of scaffolding in multilingual appearance). Sometime ago I followed a CLIL methodology course and now I feel more confident to struggle with such a situation. However, I think I need to be trained to be a better teacher. Cinzia Centrone, Italy Cinzia Centrone, Italy In this part o year at school I'm using cooperative learning, work in group to motivate students that come from other countries. Very important is use of different materials such as cards, maps that can facilitate understanding. I and my Italian students sometimes speak in English to semplify understanding. Francesca, Italy Francesca, Italy Usually my students are italian, but the few times i’ve worked with foreign students i’ve understood the importance of LA and i felt the need of having a specific knowledge of CLIL methodologies. However i’ve tried to create a climate of trust, also using new strategies: cooperative learning, peer to peer education, ... Gregorio, Sicily-Italy Gregorio, Sicily-Italy Teaching technical subjects in a second language is mandatory in high school in Italy, Last year I had this experience with a final class, The students initially presented a low level of English proficiency , with problems of understanding and exposure on generic and technical topics, With the introduction of some modules of the course developed with the CLIL methodologies, I found a greater awareness of the language, and an improvement of the knowledge and understanding of the topics covered. Creating in the classroom a climate of trust and an ease in communication and in the exchange of information between students and with the teacher himself. Stathis, Greece Stathis, Greece The last 18 years I have been working in a Technical Lyceum in Almyros which always accepts students from Albania. The fact is that I had never have any problem or difficulty to communicate with them, although I'm not aware with their language and culture. Sometimes they start talking in their language in class but I had made them clear that is something forbidden. But I always try to gain their trust, I think that i have worked successfully on it and seems that we'll together overcome any barrier between us.t CINZIA. ITALY CINZIA. ITALY My students are half Italian mothertongue, half from different countries of the world (Peru, China, Philippines, Morocco, Tunisia, Albania, Brazil) with very different levels of language. For those whose level is low I try to adapt all material and to make things easier for them, but I am not sure to be really at ease to do that. I do my best to simplify their works with maps, schemes, graded readings, TV cartoons, games, quizzes,… I try also to use different methodologies, in particular TPR and something involving kinesthetic or mostly visual attitude. I prefer cooperative learning, peer to peer activities, in order to motivate the weakest ones from the language point of view. Our school does not invest a lot in particular projects about LA, but I often take part in Etwinning projects with my class. different strategies: as different strategies: as using body language, key words, using different tools Amelia, Italy Amelia, Italy Last year I experienced a project called CLIL (Contenet and Language Integrated Learning) with my Philosophy colleague, so we used some learning strategies about language awareness. For example, we created list of key-words and vocabulary activities in order to help our students to learn Ilaria from Italy Ilaria from Italy I think that LA is important for teachers for two reasons: for helping students thata are learnig a second language and for giving the right helps, structeres and function for foreign students that don't know the country and scolastic language. I try to help my students with maps, schemes but also comics and series on TV. Anabela Vieira Anabela Vieira At my school, in Portugal we are developing a project called CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), some contents in some subjects are teached in English, so this is a reality that we are already familiar. Because we have different levels of English knowledge, we have to develop different strategies: as using body language, key words, using different tools (Edmodo, Kahoot, padlet, picture dictionary …), reading sessions, contests, coloured information on the walls os the school and classrooms, pair work (…) as a way to motivate our students and give them the opportunity to explore their second language according to their English level. Our school invests in teachers training, as Erasmus and eTwinning projects. Nadina NICOLICI, Romania Nadina NICOLICI, Romania My students are from various backgrounds with different levels of language (English or French). For those whose level is very low I do my best to adapt everything and to make things easier for them, but I make sure they understand and they feel comfortable. Cristina from Italy Cristina from Italy First I had to semplify my language and to adapt it considering the needs of my students who were unable to produce long sentences. Then I worked to support their self confidence in order to avoid their fear to make mistakes. Silvia from Italy Silvia from Italy Last year I had to teach Spanish as a second language to a girl who spoke bad Italian and Arab at home. Her parents couldn't help her with extra classes, they were not educated, so I could only rely on myself. I simplified everything I could and reduced my objectives: at the end of the school year she could understand little Spanish at an elementary level, but she felt pretty confident about it. Hallo! Here's maestra Emma :-) Hallo! Here's maestra Emma :-) Linguistic awareness is important for expressing needs, ideas, desires and asking for what one needs to understand. Knowing what to ask, choosing words, arguing, using the word that most expresses the meanings we want to convey makes our relationships more effective and satisfying. A well used word is a vehicle of information, that we give and that we ask and it is also an excellent mediator of conflicts in which all the "winners" come out. Often conflicts arise from misunderstandings, from the use of words not appropriate to the listener, to the place where we are or to our need to communicate. Being aware of the words, however, is not enough. We must also be aware of the non-verbal elements of communication, which are the ones that come first, to which we believe most. In class, especially in classes with children who speak little of the language in which they communicate (L1) use mimicry, doing, the different types of text helps to associate words and meanings, words and actions. Playing with the voice and the movements helps to understand when to use certain communicative ways, to use different types of texts (visual, written, sound, motors) helps to make what is richer and to share the many typical ways of expression of different cultures. This limits the sense of little capacity and isolation that foreign children just arrived from abroad feel for the difference between their logistic skills. For children with other L1 it is also important to be able to teach some words or texts (chants, greeting formulas, rhymes) to their peers: they feel that their culture is a value and that they too can be the most experienced. Finally, using the language in different and integrated activities increases the possibility for everyone to participate and learn. Mary from Italy Mary from Italy HI !, I'm from Italy I'm finish my studying for becoming a teacher. I think that language awareness is important because teacher have to use the right approach before teaching to students in order to understand their needs and help them to become more sure of speaking or learning new languages. It is really important they feel comfortable at school and ababove all they have to face their languages difficulties by teacher's help. Laura , Italy Laura , Italy working in classes with students of different nationalities it is very important to share a linguistic code , sometimes the language of communication can be different from the language of learning , what really matters is to create a cultural link. In some cases even the body language can be useful Mary from Italy Mary from Italy Laura, Canada Laura, Canada I really think all teachers are language teachers. Building this awareness and shifting teachers presumptions about language is why language awareness is important. The other responses on this page echo the role the language serves to a students sense of belonging. I think beyond just accessing materials. Hümeyra YENER/TURKEY Hümeyra YENER/TURKEY I’m an English teacher and I have faced the same problems since I started teaching English from the very first day. Most of the students do not have opportunity to use the language in their daily life so they don’t care about the second language. Some of the students have a prejudice toward English. As their own language structure and use is different from the second language, they find it difficult to use the new language. So it is our aim to help them gain a confidence to use the second language. We should prepare materials accordingly to students readiness. Sofia, ATH/ GREECE Sofia, ATH/ GREECE I work with students 4-6 years old, so when my students don't understand Greek (more often the last years) I use other techniques such as pictures, theatrical games etc. in order to understand and participate without the language barriers. Moisés, Portugal Moisés, Portugal When students finish the school, normaly they start work in restaurants, I feel that they know the basic in tecnhical language but they d'ont know how to make a conversation. Nuno, PT Nuno, PT I once had a Vietnamese student who didn't speak Portuguese and hardly spoke English, so it was difficult to communicate and/or teach her. I'm teaching in a school with many foreigners (political refugees and immigrants) from Africa and Asia and often they speach english and a little of italian. I think form my job is absolutely necessary to get more awarness of language. I'm teaching in a school with many foreigners (political refugees and immigrants) from Africa and Asia and often they speach english and a little of italian. I think form my job is absolutely necessary to get more awarness of language. Sinan Koruc Sinan Koruc Through projects funded under Erasmus+ programme, we have a great opportunity to highlight the importance of language awareness for my colleagues and students. Laura, Italy Laura, Italy An example of why language awareness is important could be that if you want to teach contents through a foreign language you has to be aware of the lexis you need to convey that content and to think of scaffolding activities to pre-teach the needeed vocabulary to your students, otherwise they couldn't understand or interact during the lesson. Andrea;Italy Andrea;Italy every and each language course starts with an entry test. That's the starting point. Each student has different capabilities and abilities , I would say history. Teachers must be aware of it and set different learning objectives according to the minimum standard required by the level of their class. I have a considerable experience at evening classes and they are really heterogeneous. If you want any impact on your students you must set different learning paths or lessons are completely useless . Floriana; Italy Floriana; Italy One one hand, having language awareness is very important because it helps teacher to better understand their pupils'needs, on the second hand it help rethinking their educational actions aiming to performance and, ever more, to contents. In my classroom there aren't foreign students, but some children speak in local dialect. I personally think that language awareness surely helps communication and facilitate the learning process. Krisnel, Italy Krisnel, Italy Awareness of the language is important for teachers as I believe it allows a more inclusive didactic planning, evolving the contexts using interactive dimensions allows a greater understanding of the contents by the students. An increase in the quantity and quality of exposure to languages, whether L1 or L2, used in different contexts to traditional learning can allow the integration of disciplinary and transversal contents. YASEMİN UYSAL-YATAĞAN/MUĞLA/TURKEY YASEMİN UYSAL-YATAĞAN/MUĞLA/TURKEY Language awareness is important to improve the communication and develop the relationship between the students. Raffaella, Calcio, Raffaella, Calcio, Patrizia, Lissone, Italy Patrizia, Lissone, Italy As a language teacher I understand that in order to teach a foreign language you need to create a very positive learning environment, where a mistake can be corrected only for the sake of helping the student improve his learning. No one should feel afraid of making a mistake while learning a new language. A self-confident student will make progress quite easily and when the language becomes more difficult, the teacher will be there to facilitate his/her learning. I have been to England with a group of students recently and what struck me was the positive atmosphere created by the teachers, with amazing results! Simona, Porto Azzurro, Italy Simona, Porto Azzurro, Italy Language awareness is important not only regarding pupils whose mother tongue is different: when you work in a class with young learners, it can happen that a lot of italian children don't kow the meaning of "edicola" (newsagent's). It is a very common word in families that buy newspapers and have a decent cultural background. So a teacher MUST always investigate either how much of his/her vocabulary is understood by the pupils, and the cultural background they have. And this must be done with all the pupils. Subject teaching and language awareness (Maria Rosaria - ItalY) Subject teaching and language awareness (Maria Rosaria - ItalY) Being a subject teacher means being aware that content goes through language and that language changes according to content. That is enough to make possible that each subject teacher must also be considered a language teacher. Giselda Costa- Teresina- Piauí- Brazil Giselda Costa- Teresina- Piauí- Brazil I think in the general curriculum should have "Linguistics discipline". It is fundamental that all teachers (mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc.) have knowledge of verbal and non-verbal communication. The importance of language within a multicultural classroom. The Importance of Body Communication and the importance of linguistic diversity among students. It is also essential to know the linguistic policies. Margaret - Poland Margaret - Poland I teach English and I try to speak English all the time during my classes but sometimes I see that some students have problems with understanding - then I try to repeat what I said using simpler words or pictures or I try to show what I mean - any method is good. I need to know that my students understand me. EZEL TUNA -BURSA/TURKEY EZEL TUNA -BURSA/TURKEY Language awareness is important for teachers. It makes it easier for students to communicate, understand and learn subjects. Camelia (Romania Camelia (Romania When the teacher tries to speak in the pupil's mother tongue, he feels closer to the teacher and tries to understand better what is being taught. Federica (Italy) Federica (Italy) As educators, I think we would be of great inspiration to our students if we are aware of all the different languages spoken around us. Just to remind them each one of us is special their own way, there's no better or worse! Nicoleta- Romania Nicoleta- Romania Language awareness is important, is a challenge for the modern teacher, but very helpful in class with students who mix the words trying to say something in Romanian, in Italian, or Spanish......if you love your job, your students, you should be the first to learn/ search about culture, background of family, be more understanding , make sure communication does”t have any barries in understanding each other. So find a common channel- language, use all their collegues, use different games, songs, be creative! Maria Rosa (Sicily) Maria Rosa (Sicily) In my opinion language awareness is very important for all teachers.Nowadays in our classes there are an increasing number of students coming from other different countries, so teachers have to be ready to face ut to that challenge. For instance this year in my school arrived a very clever student from Albania and he doesn’t speak Italian, but fortunately he speaks English very well ,so teachers and his classmates are trying to communicate with him in English and step by step he is learning a bit of Italian too. Vassiliki Boltsi, Greece Vassiliki Boltsi, Greece Classrooms in Europe have become multilingual and it is our concern as teachers to develop skills and abilities to all our stydents despite their origin and their mother tongue. To me we are sort of doctors who cure/treat every person/patient because they have taken the Hippocratic Oath. We, teachers, should pay attention to al of our students and treat them appropriately. Maria Rita, Italy Maria Rita, Italy Language awareness is basic for teachers because it helps us to create different learning language path for each student without forgetting the peer work (debate, comparison), which could be used to reinforce the class group. This could be a way to get all the students, because if the teacher is aware, the students will be aware too. Erika, Italy Erika, Italy When the language of schooling is completely different from the mother tongue, children can experience a lot of difficulties not related to the specific subject that is taught, but to the unfamiliar language that is used to teach it. For this reason the students can become discouraged or even lose their interest. As I said, a teacher who is not language aware is a teacher who is not aware of the fact that a language can become a real barrier that prevent the learner from reaching the real contents of his/her lessons. This misunderstanding can have a very negative effect: the strategies implemented by the teacher to help the learner won’t be effective because they won’t solve his/her real problem (low linguistic proficiency). Another important aspect is represented by the linguistic/cultural attitudes that can be conveyed by a teacher who is not language aware. In this case, the teacher tends not to assign an equal value to every language spoken by his/her students, giving priority or even a higher value to the language/ culture of his/her monolingual students (the majority). The children who speak two or three languages can perceive their teachers linguistic attitudes, reacting consistently. During these two years, I observed that, in a monolingual atmosphere, children tend to avoid speaking their mother-tongue at school. They always use their second language in front of the other monolingual students, considering their first language as the language that can be spoken only at home or among the other students who share the same origin, culture and social condition. In my opinion, a language aware teacher is a teacher who acknowledges the beauty and the value of all the languages spoken by his/her students, allowing them to speak these languages in the classroom or even to teach them (maybe only some words). Finally, a language aware teacher is a teacher who underlines the real benefits of language diversity: the opportunity to discover new cultures (ways of life, thinking and perceiving the world) through different languages (removing an important barrier to mobility) and the opportunity to reach a better linguistic awareness of the L1 through L2. Thinking about my experience, I remember two situations where greater language awareness would have helped me design the learning for my students. During the first and the second year, two children arrived, one from Morocco and one from Egypt. I could not speak arabic or french and these two children could not speak english or italian. I would have liked to know their mother-tongues in order to communicate with them from the beginning! Luckily there were two egyptian students who became two perfect loyal translators and interpreters!! In that case, my conscious perception and sensitivity in language learning, teaching and use was not enough, I would have liked to have an explicit knowledge about the language (mother tongues) spoken by these two great and courageous students. Stanley,Nigeria. Stanley,Nigeria. I supervise teachers and I have noticed that most language teachers are more concerned in covering the curriculum than in ensuring pupils acquire the language.In my setting the native language where the school is situated is made compulsory but most times students spend up to seven years learning a language without being able to engage in a simple conversation. Language Awareness i Language Awareness is very important. I work as an English teacher in an Italian bilingual (It-En) Pre-School and Primary School. Every time I plan an activity I have to think of the learning process of my students regarding Language Aquisition (their previous knowledge, known lexis vs new lexis, things that they might find difficult, etc.) and I think of ways to Is Language Awareness important for teachers Is Language Awareness important for teachers I believe that language awareness is very crucial for teachers because it can facilitate the learning process as well as it also fruitful to create a good relationship among students and teachers where students feel more comfortable with their teacher. However, language awareness of teachers is important to make our students better learners and more confident than their ability. Natalia, ItalyI think that, as a second language teacher, one of the main aspects about language awareness is that of helping our students to achieve communication.Language is a vehicle for communication (and also for learning) and as a teacher I am responsible for ensuring that the language in my classroom is not a barrier for my students.In my class there are Chinese, Italian, Georgian, Romanian, etc., they communicate through games, songs, mimic and they learn English as a second language but many times I have to explain thing individually because the word or structure is different only in one of their languages, and it could create an misunderstanding to one of my students. The same thing for culture, there are thing that I need to explain in a clear way for some of them because their culture are far from English one. Natalia, ItalyI think that, as a second language teacher, one of the main aspects about language awareness is that of helping our students to achieve communication.Language is a vehicle for communication (and also for learning) and as a teacher I am responsible for ensuring that the language in my classroom is not a barrier for my students.In my class there are Chinese, Italian, Georgian, Romanian, etc., they communicate through games, songs, mimic and they learn English as a second language but many times I have to explain thing individually because the word or structure is different only in one of their languages, and it could create an misunderstanding to one of my students. The same thing for culture, there are thing that I need to explain in a clear way for some of them because their culture are far from English one. Fernanda, Portugal Fernanda, Portugal Language Awareness is really important in language teaching because it involves a whole world related to language - culture, habits, traditions. The language we use in teaching has to be adequate but it also has to meet students' needs. So, planning a lesson in a language diverse classroom is a challenge. We have to find different ways to get to all students. Ame, Italy Ame, Italy Language awareness si important for our pupil’s future Silvia, Italy Silvia, Italy I think language awareness is important because it gives you the opportunity to consider students individually. For example, last year i have teached english at the primary school and I had 8 classes, language awarenes was important to think about different activities in equal years of study: i had two classes of the fourth year of study and i didn' the same activities, because students of the two classes were different - they had a different awareness of languages so I had to work with them in two different ways Athena, Nafpaktos Athena, Nafpaktos I work in a vocational school with multileveled students, often coming from various social, cultural, religious backgrounds. The students often act defensively in class when they do not understand sth and I am in the dfc situation to balance in quite diversiful classes and prevent conflicts in class. If all students are actively engaged, possible problems can be avoided up to a point. I consider it is the teacher's duty to be aware of the sts diversities lingulistic, cultural and social and prepare the students for co-existence. The teacher must hav The teacher must have a loto of awareness of the Language that uses to teach so that the teacher can help in the best way the students who don't understand and don't speak that Language. Paola Cracco Costa, Italy Paola Cracco Costa, Italy I am a teacher in Law and Economy in high school here in Italy and for many reason we (students and me) are keeping in touch with English several time a day. Many of the words in my subject are in English and we are aware that we cannot think some concepts in Italian but rather in an english way! For instance the word spread. We cannot translate and we must think in English. Many times my student need to understand the real meaning of such a different words. This is a great challenge! In this situation they are forced to change themselves. And this is of course great, extraordinary! English is also a way to approach to technical problems, in many situation you must summarize instead of thinking in an a language like italian in witch you are not so short. Hi I am deshwinder Hi I am deshwinder Stefania Di Nuzzo, Italy Stefania Di Nuzzo, Italy Language awareness is important for teachers even if in a classroom all we're talking about the same mother tongue; numbers and quality of words that students can use or complexity of their grammar usage have an influence on their undestanding and partecipating to the learning process. Krizia, Italy Krizia, Italy I think that teacher should be aware of the language in order to help sts in the process of learning. In fact, through language awareness, teacher can help sts reflect on the language and understande the context in which they are usng the language Francesca Palla, Italy Francesca Palla, Italy Language Awareness is very important for teacher because the act of learning should be emphasized by the learners' side. Teacher should be a facilitator, and this professional has to find some new ways to share knowledge, in order to lower the affective filter in the relationship between learner-educator I think language awareness is very crucial for teachers because it helps to create a good relationship among students and teachers and pupils feel comfortable at school,creating a climate of trust in which exchange and communication among pupils and with the teachers are facilitated I think language awareness is very crucial for teachers because it helps to create a good relationship among students and teachers and pupils feel comfortable at school,creating a climate of trust in which exchange and communication among pupils and with the teachers are facilitated Caterina, Italy Caterina, Italy This's for me only the second year to teaching at primary school, I believe awareness is important for teacher but also for pupils, I try "to discover the language" with them, to reflect on the language, on the context and so on. I'm sorry I haven't got more examples. Madalina Cucaila , Romania Madalina Cucaila , Romania We have many gipsies. For them is very important to feel valued, I try to face the challenges issued in classroom due to family background. Maria do Rosário, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal Maria do Rosário, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal I think language awareness is not only important where students of different mother languages cohexist. Even students with the same mother language face different challenges to succeed in class due to family background, due to social environments very diverse from one another as well as due to the fact that some attended school from early years, in kindergarden or nursery, and others started school directly to primary school. And, in general, this makes a lhard difference between them. To conclude, language awareness is for sure of great importance. Josefina Martín, Spain Josefina Martín, Spain LAnguage awareness is important because it make teachers aware of the language challenges or difficulties which non native of that language students may face when tacking with subject content. Teachers must adapt and teach accordint¡g to these challenges each student faces Laura Laura Language aweareness help teachers who have to deal with student of different country since they have different abilty and customs. Dulcinea Portugal Dulcinea Portugal It is importante to be sensitive towards students from differents backgrounds and cultures because they often have dificulties to understand de subjects of studie. Angela,Italy Angela,Italy think that language awereness is very important for teachers because it can facilitate the learning process . It is also important to create a good relashionship among students and with the teacher. Veronica, Italy Veronica, Italy Like I’m still a student, I didn’t directly faced those type of situation. But something similar happened to me during my traineeship in my Erasmus year in Spain. During the Spanish class, the teacher was explaining the meaning of new words to the student. Like I’m Italian, she decided to “improve” the lesson, leaving the students to ask themselves, and after to me, from where come those words. The result was fantastic. They started to understand that there are “romance languages” that have a common past, and they discovered how similar can be Spanish and Italian, thanks for their common origins. Also, we investigate together the Latin origin of the words, and we start to compare how words in Spanish and Italian have evolved sometime in a very different way. Agata Brescia, Italy Agata Brescia, Italy I teach mathematics in a secondary school with a linguistic background. Many of my students do not like mathematics but love foreign languages. For this reason, last year I experimented with my colleague who teaches English the CLIL methodology. Supported by her (I do not know if this could be considered an example of linguistic awareness) I dealt with my students some mathematical topics, such as statistics and probability, in English. What was the result ??? Students who have never studied mathematics, but with good skills in foreign language, have seriously committed themselves !!! In this case I have achieved the objective of transmitting the mathematical contents to them through the linguistic tool !!! The teaching of language has played a vital role in learning and understanding subject content. Stefania Stefania Language awareness is important for teacher to convey ideas, thoughts and feelings. Besides, it is important to create a good relationship with the students . In this way, they can communicate and share their opinions. Language awareness is also very important for the students because help them to enrich their knowledge. Before starting teaching at school, I taught Italian language to immigrant people. Only few people spoke a bit of English and communicating with them was very difficult. We made many efforts to find a solution to this problem and we started creating a ‘special language’ for the Italian classroom using both Italian and English words. In this way, they started learning Italian using a language that they already knew (English) ,so they felt comfortable because they could use some English words even if they were studying Italian. Elena from Elena from Elena from Perugia Elena from Perugia Elena from Perugia ( Elena from Perugia (Italy Elena from Perugia ( Elena from Perugia (Italy) Teachers should be aware of the linguistic levels of their students either in their mother tongues or in English. For example, when I have to introduce a new grammar topic , I choose to speak in Italian because it’s important to assess if they already know the categories and functions in L1, otherwise it’s useless. Teachers should provide metaphorical bridges between L1 and L2. I think all those wh I think all those who teach a second language feel the importance of language awareness in order to help students achieve communication. Jeane de Fatima - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil Jeane de Fatima - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil Speaking to understand communicating is a new challenge for inclusion, speaking with gestures, different writing becomes a new challenge and a collective learning. In my school there is a student who does not pronounce the words, he has a lot of difficulty in speaking and now he learns to communicate using gestures, the group helps him interacting with him. Martina-Italy Martina-Italy I'm working with a new class in the primary school, during the review of different topics i saw different levels of knowledge and language levels: only with a open methodology and language awareness i can communicate in a positive way with them, give them the possibility to feel comfortable to ask something and learn easily. Chrysanthi Chrysanthi I remember very well my teacher in Physics. He was always angry because we couldn´t talk about Physics in an appropriate way. I think he never had heard about Cummins. Rossana Maglia, Italy Rossana Maglia, Italy Since I teach in a Secondary School, even students coming from other Countries have already learnt to speak a quite good Italian. However I am totally convinced that language awareness is very important. For example, if I want to use English during my lesson (I teach English, in fact), I usually pay attention that my students can understand me. I know that the full immersion into the English language is important, but if I want them to keep in mInd some function or grammar structure, I prefer to shift to Italian and be sure they can understand. This is a way to make them feel more comfortable and then they will be able to use English more confidently. Anna Maria Scrimieri Anna Maria Scrimieri I am an English teacher and I think that my main goal is the success of all my students. For this reason having a language awareness is fundamental for me. We have to face with students with difficulties or stundents who don''t speak Italiam, then being able to adapt my lessons to thier necessities is my main task. Therefore I think that a language awareness let us improve our competences as teachers. Maria João, Portugal Maria João, Portugal I am an English teacher and lately, because I studied Chinese for three years and I can also teach Portuguese, I have been a support teacher for a Chinese students to master Portuguese as the communication language for daily life and school subjects. It has been quite interesting to see how fast a language can be mastered when your co-workers are aware of the importance of checking if the information is clearly taken by this boy. Due to this teamwork in two years he managed to develop his mastering from zero to B1 level of Language Proficiency. This was only possible because most people involved in the process were able to check on a daily basis the evolution of global language achievement of the student, through teachers' language awareness. Rosa, Italy Rosa, Italy to be aware how students use their language and how we, as teachers, use our language to them is very important to make our students better learners and more confident of their abilities. I remember two Chinese students who arrived in our classes without speaking an Italian or English word. My colleagues and I had to create a conversation language using an English/Chinese bilingual dictionary. It was hard but at the end we had good results. Sandra Leite - PORTUGAL Sandra Leite - PORTUGAL Language is a vehicle for learning and as a teacher I am responsible for ensuring that the languages in your classroom are not a barrier or challenge for students. It is normal to have Portuguese and American students in my classes. Rosa, Italy Rosa, Italy To be aware how students use their language, and how we, as teachers, use our language to them is very important to make our students better learners and more confident of their abilities. I remember two Chinese students who arrived in our classes without speaking an Italian or English word. My colleagues and I had to create a conversation language using an English/Chinese bilingual dictionary. It was hard but at the end we had good results. Alessandra, Italy Alessandra, Italy I have had the luck to work in a school where the majority of students were from other countries, belonged to different cultures and religions. This allowed me to create a lot of activities to create not only language and cultural awareness, one's own and the others', but also group cohesion and understanding. I created , for example, activities with group work on comparative grammar analysis, in which all languages had an equal position but only the students speaking that language could be the teachers. In my environment outside school there are many languages: migration languages, foreign languages. Foreign students don't be ashamed of their language. In my environment outside school there are many languages: migration languages, foreign languages. Foreign students don't be ashamed of their language. Francesco, Italy Francesco, Italy In my class I usually plan a lot of lessons in English, because I think It helps my studends and me to open our minds, comparing our own language with another one, in this case English, and when we talk about Geography, for example, and we surf the internet to find out the best video about the Solar system or the position of the different continents on the globe, the best videos are in English and lots of them are very easy and clear. At the end of the lesson we usually make a sheme on the LIM and I ask them the meaning of the words they heard. If they don't know it they try to guess it and they enjoy a lot in doing it. After comparing the two languages they get back home not only with a new vocabolary but with a big awareness about the importance of learning together. MARGARIDA ALMEIDA from Portugal. I have a girl that do not speek portuguese. I hope to learn how to help her with this course. MARGARIDA ALMEIDA from Portugal. I have a girl that do not speek portuguese. I hope to learn how to help her with this course. Lucy (Italy)I teach geography in a secondary school and in my classrooms I have many students from different nationalities. They often show difficulties in speaking and conversing in Italian. I’m looking for strategies to include them more and more and I’m planning more efficient and suitable lessons..I hope this course can help me! Lucy (Italy)I teach geography in a secondary school and in my classrooms I have many students from different nationalities. They often show difficulties in speaking and conversing in Italian. I’m looking for strategies to include them more and more and I’m planning more efficient and suitable lessons..I hope this course can help me! Chiara Sabatini, Italy Chiara Sabatini, Italy I think that if a teacher is language aware he/she can understands the problems students face when learning another language and can help them with some useful strategies. I also think that you can have a better language awareness if you yourself have experience learning another language and if you remember the way to learnt it you can give your students useful tips. Being language aware helps you to give the right importance to language learning and it also opens the door to the knowledge of other cultures and mutual understanding. Anna, Italy Anna, Italy I use CLIL methodology in my classes. CLIL is communicative teaching. It creates a powerful learning environment. It positively influences cognitive and brain development Anna Rosa, Italy Anna Rosa, Italy Being a Clil teacher, I often happen to deal with students from different cultures: as a consequence I must take into consideration that students will not use English as a second language, but as a third or even a fourth one, if the student is used to talk a local language at home, for example. So it is essential to test the class competences and the language level as well; then as a teacher I must communicate and prepare some scaffolding for classroom language before starting with the academic language. Viki Dogani,Greece Viki Dogani,Greece language is important for the develpment of children CINZIA, ITALY CINZIA, ITALY Luigi, Italian Luigi, Italian We have studentes from Pakistan, India, Poland, Romanian Cina, Ukraina, etc.. and most of them don't speak our language when they come to our school ! I think they should attend italian language classes to be someway familiar with our language before entering in a classroom! To identify students To identify students' needs and targets is of primary importance . Within a mixed ability and nationality class encouraging communication is a challenge .In order to achieve goals , we must build the atmosphere to make students feel comfortable. Carmela/ Italy Carmela/ Italy Teaching English in a lower secondary school gives me the opportunity t o understand what my students need to learn a new languages with structures and communicative functions completely different from their native language. So I try to make this process easier following their rithms of learning, associating the study with plays or pratical activities. Digital tools or projects in eTwinning give me a great support: they work in a stimulating and funny way. 1I4v3C7n 1I4v3C7n Gökhan , Turkey Gökhan , Turkey I have Syrian students in my classroom. I know a bit Arabic and we contact with them sometimes in Arabic. This makes them smile and sometimes I listen with them arabic music and then I get more interest and they feel more comfortable. I've been teaching English to Chinese, Albanian and Moroccan students in Italy. Most of them are of foreign origin but were born in Italy, so they are bilingual. I ask for these students' help when a new student who can't speak Italian enters the class. This promotes dialogue, solidarity and communication. If I can, I use a language the foreign student knows and I encourage the other students to get closer to their mate's world. Anyway, I know I can do much better and I hope I'll learn a lot from this MOOC I've been teaching English to Chinese, Albanian and Moroccan students in Italy. Most of them are of foreign origin but were born in Italy, so they are bilingual. I ask for these students' help when a new student who can't speak Italian enters the class. This promotes dialogue, solidarity and communication. If I can, I use a language the foreign student knows and I encourage the other students to get closer to their mate's world. Anyway, I know I can do much better and I hope I'll learn a lot from this MOOC Gioia, Italy Elena FP, Italy Elena FP, Italy Nowadays I teach in a Lyceum and I don't face situations in which students speak different languages. I am also a CLIL teacher though, which is I need to develop a stronger language awareness in order to have my students use English (L2) actively during classes. Vasiliki Psaridou/Greece Vasiliki Psaridou/Greece I am a teacher in a Primary Minority school in Greece and as I have already mentioned before I face all the above difficulties in my every day program. In order to communicate better with pupils age 6-7 , I learnt some basic turkish. This gave me the advantage of the better communication at the beggining when pupils know nothing in Greek. Daniela, Romania Daniela, Romania As a IT teacher, in order to be able to work with various applications, I access various tutorials that are often English. So, knowing a foreign language is very useful for me. Lila Z. Greece Lila Z. Greece I am a kindergarten teacher in a remote greek island. Every year there are Albanian students amongst the greek ones. They usually speak albanian with their family members and don't understand greek language very well. I try hard to help them learn greek since I don't speak albanian. It is very difficult for both of us... Maria Carla, Italy Maria Carla, Italy Before entering a new topic ,I always explain my students all the new key words. Then I ask them to read the text twice and ask me for all the new words they cannot understand Nicolina G., Italy Nicolina G., Italy Languages shouldn’t be obstacles for students’ learning. As foreign language teachers we have to consider that students have different needs from those who are taught in their first language. This is much more important if we have foreign students or students with special needs in our classroom. I completely agree that the foreign language has to be considered the vehicle to convey the message to our students and that ..”acquiring a good command of academic language goes hand in hand with the development of subject knowledge and understanding”. Our main responsibility is to create a climate of trust in which exchanges and communication among the students and with the teacher are facilitated. Rosa, Portugal Rosa, Portugal I have been in the psition when i had to teach Portuguese language to a chinese student fourteen years old who didn´t know a word of Portuguese language. It was trully difficult, so I recognize that language awareness is very important for teachers! Federica (Australia) Federica (Australia) So far, I have had a few children in my class with a native language different from English and Italian (i.e. the two languages spoken at school and used as means of instruction). As already mentioned by Anja from Norway, it is often a struggle for these students to get across their ideas and show their understanding, as they lack confidence in speaking English and Italian and teachers lack awareness of the pupils’ linguistic and cultural background. The so called ‘false friends’ got in my way a number of times, for example with children with Spanish background. At the beginning they find my ‘pronto?’ (‘ready’ in Italian and ‘soon’ in Spanish) quite confusing. ‘Burro’ is a donkey for them and not something to cook with or to spread on bread (butter). Once, when trying to explain that a young girl was ‘imbarazzata’ (embarrassed), I saw my Venezuelan pupil staring at me and looking quite confused, because ‘embarazada’ in Spanish means ‘pregnant’. Resorting to a multimodal approach is crucial in these circumstances as it gives students an opportunity to use a more universal language. Visual cues such as icons, pictures and drawings, are particularly powerful when trying to explain new concepts and I often wish I were a more skilled drawer, in order to quickly solve incomprehension and misunderstandings with a sketch. We seldom have foreign ch We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroad. We have children whose families have arrived in Italy some years ago and most of them have attended infant school so they have a basic knowledge of italian. This children can have problems with language when they start to study specific disciplines and find it hard to keep up with their italian mates. We always should keep in mind that their "language module" works perfectly in their first language and that we should help them to use their abilities in what is their second language. Melissa Mocriș, Romania Melissa Mocriș, Romania I have been in the position where I had to teach a class contained of native English speakers and other speakers like (Bulgarian, French) and I had to be really careful not to decrease or diminish the learning environment. Even if native speakers had certain advantages(like pronunciation) I tried to make even tasks,worksheets so that the other speakers would not have the feeling that they are not capable of doing them. It was indeed a challenge but I truly enjoyed it. Konstantina, Greece Konstantina, Greece I think that always I listen to my students because when I understand what they believe and know about life is a tool for me to use it in order to teach. It is easy but it always works in the classroom (I think). Margherita Carta - Italy Margherita Carta - Italy Last year in my school we had a student coming from Mali as a refugee, with a personal story of painful and sad memories. He only spoke a local dialect similar to French and, what is more, it was the first time in his life he entered a school (he was 16 years old!). Communication was relly difficult, not only because of the language barrier, but especially due to the huge cultural and emotional difference between his world and ours. As a French teacher, I became a reference point for him and, thanks to the cooperation of the other teachers and the involvement of his classmates, he finally succeded in the first school experience in his life. We all did a very good job, but... what really made the difference was his deep, hardworking, tenacious desire to learn. Our language-aware teaching without his strong motivation would have failed. Reflecting on this experience, I believe that, in the end, awareness is where teaching and learnig meet together. Andrea Mangiagalli, Italy Andrea Mangiagalli, Italy Furtunately my subject is almost international and all the sub-subjects which I teach are world wide standars: tech drawing, IT, Physics, industrial automation and processes. I'm really code switching between Italian and English. I have had some NAI (Newly Arrived in Italy, students of first immigration) and with and from them I had different feedbacks. Some have been really tough and, little by little, gained confidence in their potential and reached a very very good level of Italian (and, consequently, a better understanding of all the diciplines). Others, even starting with the same problems and the same helps - such as speaking in English, Italian strengthening, Cultural mediators, personal didactic strategy, etc -, threw the towel and lost interest in school. For all the aforementioned reason, I do believe that the success or the failure are really difficult to forecast because we're always warking with humand being and, for this reason, unpredictable. Lara Melich, Tortosa Lara Melich, Tortosa My VET students speak more than two languages and many of them, from other countries, share their language knowledge in their mother tongues. It is enriching because we do not only learn new words, but also new ways to see the world. Ioanna, Greece Ioanna, Greece It is important to be sensitive towards students from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds because they often feel anxious and insecure unless we try to reach out to them. Barbara, Italy Barbara, Italy Often in my primary school, students that don't speak Italian arrive, in the middle of school year. Unfortunately in the school there isn't a specific literacy plan. I think to create it, could be the first step to be "language-aware" teachers! Kirsten Barrett, Scotland Kirsten Barrett, Scotland One example of why it is important to be language aware: Learn how to say hello in your pupils mother tongue (or any language spoken at home.) The smile you get demonstrates it's worth. I child needs to feel safe, nurtured and happy to be able to learn. Angela, Italy Angela, Italy During my classes, students whose first language is neither English nor Italian may find it more difficult to express their ideas in both speaking and writing. Sometimes I forget that. Stefania Pieri Stefania Pieri As an English teacher in an Italian primary school there have been many occasions when I wanted to do more to involve my students in a more incisive way.I think this course will be helpful for me and my pupils. isa çetin isa çetin thanks... Maria Calà, Italy Maria Calà, Italy It is important for teachers to have a good knowledge of the language because knowledge goes beyond vocabulary, grammar and reproduction, even if very important. By increasing awareness, students are better able to understand, appreciate, use the language and integrate more easily. Maria Rosaria Maria Rosaria in my school lately students come from foreign countries without knowledge of the language spoken in Italy; I always feel inadequate in dealing with these situations because very often foreign students have to deal with 2 foreign languages at the same time Anja, Norway Anja, Norway In the Norwegian school system, every student who chooses a school programme preparing him/her for university studies, needs to study foreign languages (French, Spanish og German). For a student who came to Norway recently this can be his/her L4 or L5. Often their knowledge of both Norwegian and English is shaky and it is hard for them to find brain-space for an extra-language when they still do not have the necessary CALP in Norwegian. I often wish i knew more about their language learning biography, than it would be easier to adapt my language classes to their needs. Marzia Italy Marzia Italy Yes, I remember a student who arrived in our classroom in 3rd grade from Moldavia, He was a year older than our pupils and he had great difficulty in speaking, at that time I think that if I had had more language awarness I would have been more helpful for him, even if we knew later that he was a child in need , so there were some difficulties also in his mother tongue. Last year a chinese boy came to our 4th grade class, he is very nice and smart, but shy and confused at the beginnig so in order to make him comfortable and valorize his language, we play with him and along with english we learn chinese words in the classroo. He teaches his language, children are happy and challenge....I'm the only one who doesn't remember the chinese words we are learning!!!!!! Salvador Páez. SPAIN Salvador Páez. SPAIN I think that learning a new language open our pupils to possibilities to dream in a different way. We teach not only the language but the culture, new people from different countries and this overall picture of the world makes us more sensitive, respectful, open-mind and self-confident. MariaRosaria MariaRosaria Language awareness is important for teachers because there is much more to a language than simply knowing vocabulary and grammar and reproducing them in either written or oral form.By increasing students’ language awareness, the students are better able to understand, appreciate and use the language. Zeynep Taş Yardımcı Zeynep Taş Yardımcı Zeynep Taş Yardımcı, Turkey Zeynep Taş Yardımcı, Turkey I'm an English teacher in Turkey and I always have difficulty in my classes while teaching English although my students and I speak the same language. Teaching a foreign language is tough especially when that language is very different from your pupils' mother tongues. Especially, the grammatical structures and cultural differences have an important role in foreign language teaching. I come across with problems most of the time. Sometimes my students try to make a sentence in English, however they tend to translate the sentence they are about to say from their mother tongue to English and they fail. Or sometimes they have difficulty in understanding simple phrases or idioms because of cultural differences. Therefore, I think this course will contribute alot to my language teaching methods. Marta Ropio, Portugal Marta Ropio, Portugal The language awarness is very important not only because we have to creat a comunication system with students, but also because each language implies a cultural background. Teaching portuguese or portuguese literature as first language is completed different than teaching as second language. Erasmo, Italy Erasmo, Italy It's important that students in high school start to study on books in a different language than their mother tongue. Very often in their future study at the University, they will need to prepare exams by studying on such a books. Language awareness for teachers in high school is therefore crucial to start promoting this attitude in students at early stages. PALMA FROM SPAIN PALMA FROM SPAIN In my class there are Chinese, Moroccan, English and Dutch. Their age is five years, which makes it easier to learn a new language because they communicate through games, songs, mimic and smiling and at the end they learn the language without hardly noticing it. Emilia, Poland Emilia, Poland There are more and more students from other countries in our school so we must be open for other cultures and their needs. And how to do that without a proper language awareness? This is why it is so important. Giuseppe A, Italy Giuseppe A, Italy I have got a class with two chinese students that speaks a little Italian. Sometimes whe n they are in difficulty or awkwardness, I let them speak in English. This is why for me is very important to improve my english and my way to teach in foreign language Elizabeta from Skopj Elizabeta from Skopje, Republic of Macedonia I am secondary school teacher, I teach physics in bilingual classes. Teaching physics in Macedonian and English is challenging. Every lesson need a special preparation , finding methods to simplify the content to be easy for understanding. Petra Kokeza, Croatian Petra Kokeza, Croatian In our school we often have foreign students in the classroom, and first language for them isn't Croatian. So we need to use another methods and another language. I hope i will learn more about it on this courses Sirpa, Finland Sirpa, Finland I do remember an excellent example of language awareness from the first years of my teaching career. We had a student who was originally from Uganda and this boy's first language was sign language, his second language was the local language and English was his third language. I had to try to teach him the Finnish political system and since he didn't know any Finnish and his English was very basic I tried to teach him and get him to understand the very difficult topic by using words and examples from everyday life. In the end he got it and I remember us both being very satisfied. Ioana, Romania Ioana, Romania Indeed it is important to be language aware. Therefore are ready to provide our students with content and feedback no matter what we had planned for a particular lesson. It is also important to help our learners develop that skill. When we are language aware, we understand how to communicate effectively with others, we understand and produce content that is understood by others. The crucial thing I should make is to ensure that my students feel comfortable in my class, create a climate of trust in which they can express themselves freely and communicate with peers and me. Pirjo, Finland Pirjo, Finland Language awareness is something that has to be in your backbone all the time. I teach English in a primary school and in many classes I have pupils from non-Finnish backgrounds. With a couple of pupils I don't have many words in common in any language and this I feel is a big challenge in my work. But in addition to being language aware, I must also be culturally aware. I think positive feedback and encouragment are highly important in situations where language awareness is most in need. Cristina from Romania Cristina from Romania I hope i'll improuve my abilites due to this course. I teach the native language , but i do have a lot of foreign students. They just look at me and try to guess what I'm talking about... I feel i'm dissapointing them and i try to do my best for every child. For me, it's a great opportunity . Tiziana ITALY Tiziana Tiziana ITALY Tiziana ITALY Language awareness is important for any educator dealing with students whose mother tongue is different from the one he/she speaks. It is important for any task and activity which we carry out while teaching languages and also other subjects. Lena, Germany Lena, Germany I think that language is the key to communication. However, language does not say anything about understanding, knowledge and intelligence. I have often seen difficulties with the subject language but not with the subject itself. I think with this differentiation in mind, we have to help our students get insights into the subject on the one hand and teach them the language of the subject on the other hand... Violeta (Romania Violeta (Romania I am a french teacher from Romania. I vote for language awareness because i think that is important for all of us, teachers or students, to become aware of the place occupied by the foreign languages. Its very important to be abble to communicate and to pass on all the informations about the culture and the civilisation of a country. Annamaria (Italy Annamaria (Italy As teacher I have often seen the difficulties lived by my foreign students in studying subjects in a different language. Having a wider language awareness I think that could help a lot them Liana - Italy Liana - Italy As a teacher, I think that LA awareness is mainly important to establish a positive relation with my pupils. Indeed, a teacher should make pupils protagonists of their learning in order to increase their confidence with language, their self-esteem and motivation, for instance through linguistic plays and storytelling. Fatma ozkukekci Fatma ozkukekci I think awareness of language is very important in the class because there are arabic students in my class when I talk about their language they focus on us very much Giuseppe, Italy Giuseppe, Italy In my practice as a Math Teacher, I have found that there are 3 recurrent problems on bilingual mathematics learners. The 1st is focuses on acquisition of vocabulary, the 2nd focuses on the construction of multiple meanings across registers, and the 3rd focuses on participation in mathematical practices. The 3rd is due to the different sociocultural views of both language and mathematics learning can complicate their understanding and restrict their view of what counts as competence in mathematical communication. Antonino, Italy Antonino, Italy Although I don't teach by CLIL, I believe that I can talk about other topics from grammar spontaneously and create a really creative atmosphere by language awareness. The language is the vehicle by which you can touch students' hearts Vicky Archondi, Greece Vicky Archondi, Greece For the past 9 years I have been working in a Technical Lyceum in Magnesia which always accepts students from Albania. The mere fact that I'm not fully language and culture aware with regard to Albania , constitutes a barrier between me , my Albanian students my teaching and therefore their learning. If I manage to overcome this barrier, I'm certain that I will gain their trust, motivate them in their learning and help them find the means to reach their potential Fátima Silva, Portugal Fátima Silva, Portugal Indeed it is important to be language aware. Therefore are ready to provide our students with content and feedback no matter what we had planned for a particular lesson. It is also important to help our learners develop that skill. When we are language aware, we understand how to communicate effectively with others, we understand and produce content that is understood by others Tea Sisko, Croatia Tea Sisko, Croatia While teaching English I should be LA that my students connect this FL to their MT which has different rules. I should also be aware of topics I am presenting in my English class and check my students' understanding. The crucial thing I should make is to ensure that my students feel comfortable in my class, create a climate of trust in which they can express themselves freely and communicate with peers and me. Giusy Giugliano, Italy Giusy Giugliano, Italy In my school there are a lot of immigrant students and very often communication is not immediate. We have organized some learning groups where italian sts help foreign sts, a sort of peer tutoring and it seems to be working, above all for a fully inclusion! Gabriela, Romania Gabriela, Romania Language is an essential tool for learning. When you don't understand, you might lose interest and lack motivation for learning. I totally agree that language awareness is important to facilitate learning, increase motivation and communication. Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Matilde Matilde Our pupils usually start school when they are 3 years old. Our pre-primary teachers teach them the language using pictures, games, songs, tales... When they are 6 years old, they can communicate and understand the language used at school. If not, additional help is provided to them. Creating a safe and friendly environment is one of the clues. ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey Yeah, I have faced students whose mother language is not what I taught. Sometimes I learnt their language and we communicated. Adife DEMİRTAŞ Adife DEMİRTAŞ I totaly agree with the idea that language awarness plays an important role for teachers for ; - language awarness helps us with the readiness of pupils, - we can eaily create motivation for their learnings, - we can create "sense of belonging" for our pupils if we have experience in language awarness. Also, I have many classes which consists of refugees students from Syria and being aware of language and diversities always helps me creating motivation for both me and my pupils during learning journey. Valentina (Italy) Valentina (Italy) I never had foreign students in the classroom whose first language wasn't Italian, but I often offer examples from other languages when I try to explain some grammar or semantics concepts. I think that this "theoretical" exposure to diversity can give a big incentive to pursue studying and paying attention during the lessons. In add, putting all the languages on the same identical ground of importance and clarify the links between them could prevent children from developing harmful group identity feelings. Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) I'm not sure if language awareness is always the issue - for me it's more one of capacity. When perhaps half the class are learning English as an Additional Language (but at varying degrees of Ilaria Ilaria The difference between a normal class activity and CLIL activity lies in the fact that the language used is not needed only as a communicative filter, but that it can even block the process of interaction at the time same. As a result it is necessary guide and assist students in the overcome linguistic barriers letting them see, in succession, learning a foreign language as a possibility not only of 5 improve their linguistic skills but, above all, increase and deepen their skills knowledge of the subject matter. Grace Grace Dealing with foreign students who have been in Italy for years or were born here from foreign families, I experience every day there's a gap between their bics and calp for example when reading a written, formal text; they may not understand some peculiar expressions when translaring from L2 to L1 ( which is not their native language). I help them by making examples or "translating" in a less formal language. Ilaria Ilaria CLIL is a methodology that promotes promotion intercultural education, the plurilingual approach and comparisons language. Facilitates the use of language in another cognitive area. Promotes the use of the language to PROMOTE A CONTENT, LIBERANDOLA DAI "FALSI PRAGMATICI", that is, uses the language for transmit content by releasing it from functions and structures grammatical, making it an instinctual action. Romit kaur India Romit kaur India As we say every student is different and comes from different backgrounds, we have to be language proficient so that every student is understanding what we are saying .So teacher is responsible for the learning development of a student. Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroab. Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving d Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroad. We have children whose families have arrived in Italy some years ago and most of them have attended infant school so they have a basic knowledge of italian. This children can have problems with language when they start to study specific disciplines and find it hard to keep up with their italian mates. We always should keep in mind that their "language module" works perfectly in their first language and that we should help them to use their abilities in what is their second language. Concetta, Sicily Concetta, Sicily Language awareness … A teacher who is “language-aware” understands in which way students can face language difficulties, the language needs of their students and what he/she can do to support them. For all students, language is a vehicle for learning. It is through language that learners access the content of the lesson and communicate their ideas. So, as a teacher, it is my responsibility to make sure that language isn’t a barrier to learning. Teaching and learning through an additional language encourages understanding different cultures and improves students’ cognitive ability, so they can communicate with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Knowledge of other languages encourages new ways of thinking and of perceiving the world. We live in an increasingly global world and language skills make travel easier, provide opportunities and improve life conditions. Diana Diana In my life I had the opportunity to study three foreign languages. I'm not at the top when I speak or when I try to listen and understand in these foreign languages but I say that I could survive in many different foreign lands without fear. This opportunity is , therefore, already a good reason that gives me the desire to help my students and to find the better way to teach them English at school. Then I saw that children with some learning difficulties, when the foreign language is teached in the right way, can understand and take part, they can find their place and their role in the classroom, and this is very important for their growth FRANCESCA FRANCESCA Knowing and speaking well in English allows children to gain more self- confidence and increase their level of personal self-est K K L L Leonardo Benedetti Leonardo Benedetti Italy I think that LA is fundamental. I have experienced and I am experiencing it everyday at school. Talking about art, design, architecture, it is very important to find the right way, the right words to let the students understand the topics Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Maria Kleidara Maria Kleidara Last school year I had four new students from Syria who didn;t talk at all Greek. I tried to communicate with them but they were only 5 years old and it was very difficult. Although they had many abilities it was difficult to help them. So I asked for help from a mother of those students. She was teacher in her country too. So we were cooperate and manage to learn both the languages and I realize how creative a class can be when the language borders are no longer a problem. But what happens when you don't have help? Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy In my classes there are pupils coming from different countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Ukraine. Language awareness helps the teacher understand his pupils' needs and skills; moreover, it helps pupils communicate with the class and the teacher and facilitate learning process. Aritz, Basque Countryu Aritz, Basque Countryu As a teacher, language awareness is key to understand our students needs. Some children feel apart the first days because they don't understand. But we have another global communication way that is non-verbal. We can help our students to enhance their language skills starting with the basic and also with the help of their classmates. Bilingual school Bilingual school In our school the teachers have to be very aware of the vocabulary that is used and support a lot of the language with other forms of learning such as visual and kinesthetic learning. It is also important for teachers to stretch those children who are able in their mother tongue to feel engaged within lessons too. Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy I think , as teachers, we must be aware of our language knowledge and pay attention to the students' one. Through etwinning projects and teachers training our classes must be openmind and aware of our culture dversity and our different languages. Roberto, Forlì Roberto, Forlì Language awareness is important to me to design effective CLIL modules for my students. For instance, I have to pay attention to not introduce too many new L2 terms in each lesson, to use short and simple sentences, and so on. I can design effective CLIL lessons only if I have a good Language awareness. Anna Kaya, Sweden Anna Kaya, Sweden When my colleagues and I plan our teaching we try to find materials in our students strongest languages so we now that all of the students can read or listen in a language they can understand. We also try to plan for scaffolding so all the students can participate in the classroom activities and succeed with the assignments. This is quite complicated regarding the fact that all our students are in different ages and have different school background. In Sweden all newly arrived students have “study guidance in their mother tongue” but that is maybe one or two hours per week and the students need more support. Our bilingual colleagues (study guides or mother tongue teachers) are a great support, not only for the students but also for us teachers that don’t share languages with our students. Monica Boccoli Monica Boccoli In my opinion, there are a lot of resources to improve my language awareness: etwinning, European Schoolnet Academy, Teacher Academy, MIE Microsoft, Skype in the classroom... Gianni Lottino Gianni Lottino Every year I take part in an eTwinning project and it's to years I receive tu Quality Label Certificate! I get it thanks to my method and to the imput my students receive by the project I choose. So the importance of language awerness is unfolded day by day with all the passages from Italian, Frenc and English. Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Italy Languages are products of the Human mind to communicate, they are instruments of thoughts, they represent a culture and its History. I teacher must be aware of this, as each person should have the possibility to keep always alive his mother tongue Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Gabriela Turea Gabriela Turea I totally agree that language awareness is very important for teachers because otherwise we can lose our students (their attention, their involvement in the class, their willing of learning). By understanding their fist language needs, we overpass all the barriers. Vincenzo M. ITALY Vincenzo M. ITALY Language awareness is essential. Language is a powerful vehicle. "When teaching in a language other than that with which students are familiar, this language is the key, as it becomes the vehicle for transmitting the message to our students". Laura Colombo - Italy Laura Colombo - Italy I believe a good starting point in developing our own language awareness is to consider the differences between BICS and CALP and its implications for our students. I teach English for Information Technology in a technical school and it is easier for students to develop academic language. The most difficult task for me as a teacher is to develop their interpersonal communication skills in a foreign language. David Navas, Spain David Navas, Spain As a secondary teacher, i barely am in a situation where students do not speak spanish. But in primary school i have seen students who do not speak Spanish because they come from another country. And it is crucial trying to speak with them in their language in order to "connect" with them. Rovena Trivanović Rovena Trivanović Croatia I teach students whose primary language-mother tongue is Croatian like mine. Nevertheless, I face challenges in my teaching because of students' poor knowledge of their mother tongue when it comes to basic structures or they hadn't acquired the basics of English in their primary school. I'm aware of that challenge and I try to help them in many ways not to be afraid of taking part in the class despite the challenge they face. There are students who are willing to progress in that sense,but there are also students who come to the conclusion that thex can't learn a foreign language and don't put any effort in it. I hope this course will help me deal with those chellenges. Özcan TURAN Özcan TURAN We have many refugee students it is important to try to speak in their language to catch the I am a teacher of la I am a teacher of language. Language Awareness is important for teachers because it helps us, the teachers, to understand our students much more. it makes us aware about their knowledge about particular subject. According to that what kind of tools of teaching i have to use to enhance their abilities and interest in the classroom. I have faced situations where language awareness would have helped me more to understands my students. I am looking forward to getting to know more about Language Awareness I am a la I am a language t eache Michele, Italy, The next year Michele, Italy, The next year Next year there was in my classroom a student not Italian that speak in an African tongue. It was impossible enter in her world and success in making communication. I think so that in this case LA is the real key to teach. VANESSA, ITALY VANESSA, ITALY Language awareness helps students to feel more at ease in the school environment, and therefore more confident in their didactic and human relationships. Ana B. - Portugal Ana B. - Portugal By using CLIL metodology we can give the same chances for all kids to express themselves and to learn more deeply all the subjects. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. Sonia in Ireland Sonia in Ireland I agree that students need to be supported depending on their level but working with younger students I'm always so impressed by how much they acquire through immersion.At the core of all good classrooms I think we need to create a safe environment where our students aren't afraid to take risks and make mistakes. It can be very daunting for a beginner before they make a breakthrough though. Esmeralda Portugal Esmeralda Portugal As a history teacher in Portugal I have no need to talk in another language but I recognize the importance of the language awareness in student development and their relationsships. Sharon Australia Sharon Australia LA is also about respect - respecting students' first language, their culture, their prior knowledge etc. When teachers and students engage in respectful discussions be it first language or L2 or learning a subject in a foreign language then all the communicative actions and functions are put into place and teaching and learning can take place Francesca Italy Francesca Italy In my opinion language awareness allows me to communicate with all my students in an innovative way and this kind of learning is very appreciated by students and teachers because the cooperative learning , learning by doing and reality tasks can favourite immersive contests Esther Spain Esther Spain I think being awareness of language diversity makes my teaching more interesting and my students have the opportunity to learn from each other. So sometimes we think our class is monolingual and if you ask your students or just do activities as a language biography you could realize our students have a great plurilingual pr ofile so I think it is really important to give visibility to all our students´languages. Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Daniela Daniel, Portugal Daniela Daniel, Portugal I teach English in a small Portuguese town close to the Spanish border. Maybe for that reason, nowadays it’s usual to have in class students from countries such as India, Ukraine, Moldavia or China, for example. As some of them come to Portugal and go to school without understanding or speaking Portuguese, the best way to communicate with them is by using English. So, some language awareness of what an international language such as English is concerned is crucial to them as pupils and to me as their teacher. Hi, I'm a pri Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, Hi, Catello de Sinno - Italy Catello de Sinno - Italy According to my experience, building language awareness also involves helping students gain a positive attitude toward the foreign language by developing the confidence to make an attempt or take a risk. Our pupils shouldn’t be afraid to take a risk or make mistakes and this is possible if they are really motivated to communicate . They are usually motivated if the context and the activities are familiar and near their world. Sara, Portugal Sara, Portugal Well, in my point of view, language awareness is important for teachers cuz we are available to understand and help all the kids, because we can speak and comunicate with them without problems. Will be easier for both - teacher and kids - share points os views, ideas, help to solving some problems, understand some specific necessities and play. I think that is a good way to create na ,environment full of tranquility, security, confidence and initiative. H H Irene M. from Rome Irene M. from Rome I agree about the importance and responsability of being a language aware teacher, in order to help students from different countries to achieve school and social goals. Othermore I think that being a language aware teacher means understanding the needs and the abilities of all students and working to improve the social classroom context. In my opinion, infact, a friendly climate can help learning processes and supporting the teacher’s work. In my teaching experience, I have met students from Romania, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Ucraine, Argentina… and often they didn’t speak and understand the language of schooling. My first responsability is understanding the pupil’s need and deleting the obstacles that might compromise their school career. An educational strategy that I find useful is the peer-learning that helps pupils to bring out their personal abilities. In this way students can becoming more self-confident and aware about their school career in a cooperative climate. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I personally think awareness is a fundamental competence in order to live well Debora Italy Debora Italy The teaching of language plays an important role in learnin and understanding subject content. For this reason it is important to reflect on students' abilities and to create a climate of trust and collaboration, in which the linguistic tool became an opportunity. MARIA ITALY MARIA ITALY I'M A PRIMARY TEACHER AND I THINK THE PUPILS ARE NOT AWARE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE TO KNOW A LANGUAGE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR MOTHER TONGUE. SO HERE THE LANGUAGE LEARNING HAS TO BE AS NATURAL AS POSSIBLE FROM THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL. THROUGH GAMES, SONGS, RHYMES THEY HAVE TO BECOME CONFIDENT WITH IT AND TO LEARN USING IT IN THE DAILY SCHOOL ROUTINE AT THE BEST Sophia Italy Sophia Italy CLIL lessons are often a daunting challenge, as for many students the use of L2 compromise their learning. I always try to offer enough scaffolding, but I probably should spend more time working on the language. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I think awareness is a fundamental faculty in order to increase sstudents selfesteem so important in every day life meetse Alena, Czechia Alena, Czechia Knowing more about language awareness would be useful while teaching mixed ability classes, where students´ language levels are so different at a time; taking this into account, using appropriate methods to help will be definitely a big benefit to these students (especially those who feel uneasy during L2 lessons). Maria Grassi, Italy Maria Grassi, Italy Language awareness is an important competence for teachers because it can positively help the process of teaching-learning especially in exchange projects between European and extra-European Schools, in particular I use eTwinning platform and it helps me in different situations with my students. Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy In one of my classes there are three studets from Albania, one from Bangladesh and one from Romania. When I teach subjects as history and geography I use to work a lot on the meaning of the word and I think that this method is very usefull for my students both Italians and foreigns. Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Language awareness facilitates learning process. Language learners need to be supported. Learners` knowledge level of English language has to be taken into consideration and lessons should be appropriately designed in order to meet students` needs. Lucia, Ital Lucia, Ital I think language awareness helps students to be secure and facilitates learning in a cooperative way. Silvia DM, Italy Silvia DM, Italy Students of any age learn better if they are not under pressure and in a state of anxiety, so if you understand their needs sharing the same language they are more likely to improve and be willing to learn. I often ask students who have good knowledge of the target language to translate for the new comers into their mother tongue, but it is not always possible and feasible. Daniela from Parma Daniela from Parma Facing students who had just arrived from a foreign country made me conscious of the importance of my language awareness: I could not act as before. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania To know the new pupils I ask them to come and tell me about their holiday, their hobbies, their favorite stuff and why ... Laura Gianfranceschi Laura Gianfranceschi I often have classes with foreign students. Languange awareness is crucial to get thei learning real and solid İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY A teacher with no language awareness cannot succeed because he / she will close communication channels. First of all, students should be able to understand their cultural values and their level of readiness. If we do not master the language of our students, planning and permanent learning become impossible. Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) I think language awareness is a very important feature for a teacher, because it enables him/her to understand his/her pupils' difficulties when approccing specific subjects, new lexicon, complex concepts. Being aware of linguistic diversity in his/her classroom, a teacher can better anticipate which aspects may require spacial attention, organize his/her material in the most helpful way to guide students in their learning process, choose those methodologies he/she thinks will prove most successful. When faced with difficulties linked to a different linguistic background, I try to better explain the meaning of a word or a costoum exploring its semantic area or its cultural context, operating as many references to other cultures and language as I can. Linguistic and cultural diversity can be a really precious asset in a classroom, though: having an "insider" perspective is a key resource for contrasting prejudice. Sílvia Sílvia Language awareness is very important in order to help students to achieve the objectives of the subject you are teaching. If you are not aware of the challenges they are facing you would not be able to see what they need to improve. Hartmut,Germany Hartmut,Germany Language awareness is important to give students on different language levels the chance to be successful.Today we have more and more students with different nationalities and they have to be integrated. clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems Gianfranca Gianfranca Understanding linguistic diversity is important to understand different needs. In an inclusive school ,integration is the awareness to communicate with other cultures understanding their needs. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania A good language helps you know your pupils better, capture their attention, motivate them to feel attracted to the matter and as comfortable as possible at school Ana, Lisbon PT Ana, Lisbon PT Language awarness is essential to understand our students, their needs and their abilities. In my classroom, for example, I often have students who don't speak one word of portuguese, as they have arrived from asian countries just weeks ago. And as you can imagine, I don't speak any word of nepalese, bangla, indi or gujarati. It's a great challenge for me and every little step, every little word they learn is cheered by the rest of the class. Just knowing and being aware of their complete unfamiliarity with the schooling language and culturemakes me more motivated to use alternative ways of teaching." Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs It is important to be aware of how much a student can read and write a language, in a school inclusion and integration plan I think it is important to communicate with different cultures and understand their needs. after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions Cinzia Marrone Italy Cinzia Marrone Italy I think it’s important in language lessons to create a relaxed atmosphere so children can better understand and communicate with others. Teacher ‘s role is important to let them aware in language learning . So use of games and creation of real context is a best practice to engage learning in both language or not language discipline. Magdalena Uleia , Romania Magdalena Uleia , Romania Language awareness it is similsr with Math awareness : they are clearly usefull for all daylife! Maja Maja As a counsellor I had lot of situations when some teacher were not aware how difficult it is to learn all the facts and understand the instructions for students with Croatian as a second language. They ussualy think if studenst comunicate good with students in Croatian, it is a proof that students can achieve the same academic succsess in academic language. Antonella Antonella language awareness is a very essential topic to understand students and to let them trust on us and it is also an index of teaching succes Sarah, UK Sarah, UK It is important to be aware of how well a pupil can read and write a language as this can affect how they access the curriculum. Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Language Awerness i the conscious perception in language learning, language teaching and language use. L.A. is the explicit knowledge about language. Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Language awareness is important to all teachers because they have to help students to socialize, to know each other, to be bold in communication. Teachers to apply classroom interactive methods, educational games. Mary Mary It's very important to communicate with different culture and understand their needs. Roberta Roberta language awareness is very important for students because to facilitate the cooperative learning Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness Language awareness If you are aware of the diversity of languages in your classroom, you will understand and be understood!! Students may become the teacher and vice versa; it will create a trustful environment motivating students to learn more effectively! The learning/teaching process will be smoother and aims will be achieved easily!! Eduarda, Portugal Eduarda, Portugal LA is plays an essential role in language teaching. When a teacher becomes aware of language diversity inside the classroom, he/she can easily understand the students' needs and or difficulties. Becoming aware of the different levels of language knowledge in our classrooms is a priority to planning and adapting. Once I had a multiethnic group and communication was not easy. It was a mixed language class really: sometimes I had to speak either Portuguese or Spanish so they could understand the meaning of specifuc vocabulay in English. It turned out that I also learnt a few words in their mother language. Chiara Chiara Language awareness helps teachers to understand different point of views from other cultures. According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers Hanife, Turkey Hanife, Turkey Language awareness is crucial to help pupils that we understand their anxıous and it hepls students to calm down. In addition to this, LA can motivate students that they can overcome with language barries and also heps teachers to develop strategies. Ela, Poland Ela, Poland I`m a teacher who teach mother tongue. I teach students how using Polish language rules can help to acquire linguistic awareness between their mother tongue and another language. It is important especially for pupils who come back to Poland from moving abroad. In our school it happen very often .So, the teacher should be aware of these processes and find the best way to help pupils to overcome these problems. Brigida Calise Brigida Calise Language awareness is crucial because as a teacher I must be aware of my students' language differences in order to help them learn easily and without any stress. Moreno, Rieti, Italy Moreno, Rieti, Italy The awareness about language is fundametal during a lesson, you have to expose the concept in a very clear, fluid and impacting way. Students must be captured by a teacher, and the main way is to be confident about the contact with students. Usually students haven't a real awareness with language, an analysis of the sentences and words could be helpful. Ayşe,Turkey Ayşe,Turkey Language awareness is so important because everybody thinks there are some bariers of learning new language but it is not true. We must facilitate learning languages in a correct and easy way. Giuseppina V. , Italy Giuseppina V. , Italy Language awareness or, perhaps better, learning to speak foreign languages is very important for every teacher because it leads us to reflect on ourselves and our learning difficulties. In order to learn how speaking foreign languages we must remove what Krashen calls Affective Filter, sometimes it may happen that we must become resilient as well. All this helps us to better understand the difficulties of our students whether they are native speakers or foreigners and teaches us to encourage them and make them comfortable. I believe that any teacher, not only second language teachers, should be resilience tutors. We are teachers of both topics and life . Matanat Ahadova Matanat Ahadova Aim in language awareness was that pupils in their foreign language learning should be stimulated to ask questions about language, how it functions and what role it plays in people’s lives; in other words, to have an explicit approach to different phenomena of language. FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY This school year my colleagues and I are going to face a great challemge. In a class of the third and last year of Middle School, we have a new student from Ukraine. He has moved to Italy with his family for TWO months and he can't speak a word of Italian! Fortunately, he can speak some English, so we are going to use this leanguage as a means of communication. At the end of this year students have a final State exam and National Standard Tests (INVALSI) in Italian, MAths and English. I think that language awareness, most of all for non-language teachers, is crucial to help this student facing successfully this school year. Maria Jastrząb Maria Jastrząb I'm not an English teacher but I'm interested in language teaching methodology . I use the best ideas adjusting them to teaching my young students ex. maths, art, music etc. Sylwia, Poland Sylwia, Poland What is important in LA to know the student's abilities so then we're more reliable . Creating a good climate inside the class to make students comfortable. Yes I think language Yes I think language awareness is very important in teaching field .In our class all students are not on the same level in terms of language .Teachers must be efficient in different languages to engage students in class and develops good lear Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE Konu dil farkındalığı, Sınıfımızda farklı dillerde öğrenciler olduğunda, dersin işlenişi öğrencilerin dil performanslarına göre değişmektedir. Ayrıca öğrencinin öğretmeni sevmesi derse ve dile karşı tutumunu değiştirir. Örneğin, öğrencilerimin dilini bilmediğim bir okulda çalıştım. Öğrenci bana mis mis dedi. Benim dilimde mis güzel koku demektir. fakat öğrencimin dilinde mis Wc ye gitmek demekmiş az kalsın çocuk üzerine yapacaktı. Alina, Rom Alina, Rom LA is very important because using different interactive methods pupils get more confident, they have courage to use the new language, but also it is our duty to create a pleasant climate and encourage them all the time. José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal LA is crucial if you have students from other countries. In a time where european countries are receiving and accepting refugees, a portuguese teacher like me have to be able to deal with children wich have no idea of what portuguese language is. In a first moment it would be of much importance that a I could communicate with them in order to make them feel more at home and beggin the inclusion in the school and in the portuguese society. We, the teachers, can be and should be the bridge between people countries and, why not?, civilizations. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. . Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Language awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in classroom. It´s very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers can use different strategies (cooperative learning, stimulating and comfortable climate in classroom) and the students be more involved in learning progress. Roberta (Italy) Roberta (Italy) LA is important to avoid our students feel discouraged while studying because they don't achieve good results Giedre (Lithuania) Giedre (Lithuania) LA is very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers know more methologies how to make students be involved in learning process. I'd like that my students want to learn because I involve them into eTwinning projects where they have to communicate and collaborate with different countries students. It helps me improve their knowledge of language and awareness as well. Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy LAnguage awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in the classroom. Language awareness for students can stimulate cooperative learning, thus creating a stimulating and comfortable climate in the classroom. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Costina, Heidelberg Costina, Heidelberg Language awareness is fundamental, because it helps students to feel more confident and it helps me to facilitate learning in a harmonious and sustainable way. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. Carmen, Romania oretta oretta Language awareness is important for teachers because it helps students to communicate, to understand the subject and to learn it. The main problem is when students are not familiar with the language that I am using for teaching , they do not reach a certain grade and they fail. It is very difficult to understand their needs and to get less frustrated. Ciro, Italy Ciro, Italy Three years ago i teached italian to 4 foreign students came to my school because parents moved here for working. Basicly i teached italian passing by a common language such as English but i would learning topics in Russian or Arab to better make learning to them. Elín Iceland Elín Iceland I think that is good so it is possible to practice all skills Daisy (Italy Daisy (Italy It is important to know the students' language background in order to help them when they are facing learning / communicative difficulties. If the teacher is aware he/ she can use strategies in order to make the learning path easier ( I' m referring to collaborative tasks , peer revisions, individualised teaching) Eda,Turkey Eda,Turkey I think language awareness is definitely important.If a student knows why he learns another language,he can be more eager to learn.On the other hand,teaching a language to the students from different backgrounds is really hard.Most of the time,the teachers dont know how to approach them.Yesterday,one of my teacher friend came to me and said that a Syrian student cried for the whole lesson and I didnt understand why he cried.The teacher's motivation was decreased by his crying.That was only one example. M.Rosa M.Rosa (Italy) Teachers need to be aware of the different languages in their classrooms to help foreign students Maren, Germany Maren, Germany Language awareness is important for all teachers, because language is the foundation stone for all learning processes. Often students would be able to understand a topic in their own language but struggle to follow the class because of language barriers. This is why all teachers need to be aware of the language diversity in a classroom Federica, Italy Federica, Italy I've had a lot of foreign students in my classes, mainly from Albania, Morocco, Pakistan, Romania and Senegal. When I told them that I studied English for a long time, they felt at ease during the lessons, knowing that I could translate italian difficult words into English and better understand their difficulties. Carolina ,Italy Carolina ,Italy In my opinion the awareness of the different language is very iimportant to help students to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in learning and improving languages.Language awareness increase teacher responsibility, if the student doesn't reach all this one, in this case the teacher should create a climate of trust in which exchange a climate of trust which exchange and communicate among students and with the teacher are facilited MariaM - Gaeta, Italy MariaM - Gaeta, Italy Every year some pupils coming from foreign countries are included in our classes. They often barely know the Italian language, so language awareness can help me to guide them towards a more aware communication with classmates and teachers, and towards a more effective and significant learning. I've sometimes had I've sometimes had a foreign student in my classes. I find it very stimulating and motivating for student and for me as well. Maria, italy Maria, italy As a teacher of English last year I supported a colleague who teaches Law in Clil. We found it very helpful to resort to comparisons between the British/American system and the Italian system Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy In a class last year , I had many foreign students, BES and a special student. Not an easy situation but I tried to involve them by letting them present their own country including traditions , culture, holidays and family lifestyle. Then I decided they should try and find words which were in some way similiar to Italian or English. Not so easy but at least interesting for them and proud to introduce their country or little village they came from. Rosario from Spain Rosario from Spain When in a class I have students with more facility to use a language than others, one strategy that I usually use is to work in heterogeneous groups, where students can help each other, solving simple doubts into the group and exercising little by little in the use of the new language. Martina from Italy Martina from Italy Language awareness helps me to be more interested in pupils's needs. it's importanta for the whole class Federica Tagliafichi Federica Tagliafichi in my opinion the awareness of the different languages becomes a cultural resource for the whole class. If I can I will help students or parents to welcome students of different nationalities who do not yet know the language. I try to use group work to get the sweaty to exchange experiences. Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy We are two foreign languages Teachers working together. Language awareness is important to help student to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in Learning and improving languages Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy we are two foreign languages teachers working together. Language awareness is important because to help students to overcome their difficulties and make them more interested in learning and improving languages. Lia MOlini from ITaly Lia MOlini from ITaly I think that teachers can better understand pupils'needs and recognize their abilities. This is a good point to start teaching language in a successful way inci Süzer, Turkey inci Süzer, Turkey Being language aware means you understand the possible challenges that language presents to learning. These challenges might arise because a student is learning a subject through an additional language or it might be the first time a student has come across certain vocabulary or structures in their first language. A teacher who is ‘language aware’ understands why students face these difficulties and what they can do to support students. inci inci It is very often in the greek schools. It is very often in the greek schools. Foteini Tsioutsia Lia,Italy Lia,Italy Language awarness implies that the teacher needs to come up constanty with different stategies and and has to face constant challenges. A useful tool is to find connections and to build bridge with different languages, of course, it works especially among languages from the same group, i.e. germanic or romance language or to work with linguistic loans Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Language awareness is important for teachers because it allows to adapt the teaching method to the pupils and make learning easier. Claudia Mazzone - Italy Claudia Mazzone - Italy Last year in the class arrived a girl from Pakistan who could comunicate only in English. In that case the language was a fundamental vehicle to comunicate with her in order to male her feel confortable with her schoolmates and teachers. I think that all the teachers - whatever they learn - should raise a good level of language awareness to be able to communicate with the different language studente , in order to make them reach the result they expect and make them feel integrated with their schoolmates and tachers. Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of communication not only cognitive but also emotional Tiziana Varone, Italy Tiziana Varone, Italy This year I'll face for the first time language diversity in classroom. Two sisters from India will attend my lessons in technologies and telecommunications. They speak Italian, but aren't as good at listening. I hope this course will help me to afford this situation, where a greater language awareness would really help to design the effective learning for those students. Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Globalization leads all teachers to consider linguistic awareness as an important educational purpose so that all students have greater possibilities of integration into society and the world of work. This training must be taken care of since primary school in order to develop in successive degrees and in universities. Usually I organize my teaching activities on a methodology of cooperatives and pair work, Web Quest, Located Learning Episodes and CLIL. Alessandra Amideo, Alessandra Amideo, ITALY Language awareness will help students gain greater operational autonomy, greater awareness of their abilities, greater self-criticism to overcome weaknesses and a growth of self-esteem.In addition, awareness of the language, will stimulate teachers to take care of the different personalized strategies that take into account the uniqueness of the person. Odarka, Latvia Odarka, Latvia Upon me our (teacher)awareness, knowledge ans skills is what we need to know and able to do. And what roles do we need to change, and therefore, how will this change the patterns of relationships in the classroom. Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy In our school this year there is an Ukrainian child who does'nt know the Italian language. The child is very motivated to socialize with the group, but the linguistic gap is a strong limitation although teachers and pupils try to communicate with extraverbal languages. We have now requested the figure of a linguistic mediator to help child and teachers. A higher level of linguage awareness would have favored the inclusion process. Rosy (Italy) Rosy (Italy) I usually used supports and strategies to help foreign students, for example to activate their background knowledge, or teach them vocabulary giving opportunities to practice new words and create situations to provide corrective feedback . Varvara, Latvia Varvara, Latvia i have different students with different English level plus i have not only Latvians in my classroom, but also Russians, who don't understand Latvian so i have to translate them some words or sentences into Latvian and that's why i have created some adapted resources that have helped me to improve my language awareness Martina Martina Language awarness is important for all teachers because in our classrooms there are many foreign students. They need to be guided in the process of learning a new language, buy starting from their mother tongue Rita Luiso Rita Luiso Language awareness is important for teachers because probably it can encourage and integrate all students (also with special needs and insecure) learning Alex_PT Alex_PT Whenever I have students who hardly know any English, there are extra lessons/ there is extra help as well as adapted resources in and out of the class. It’s of paramount importance that this student doesn’t feel left aside, forgotten and insecure; right from the start, they have to be integrated and encouraged to learn and overcome yet still another hurdle in a new country, a new culture. Rita Xuereb, Malta Rita Xuereb, Malta Language awareness will help children feel happy and secure as they will be able to understand and appreciate all that is going on around them. I think with very young children it is essential to create visual resources, to facilitate this understanding. In my school there a In my school there are a few foreign students from China,Ukraine and Morocco. These students often don’t understand our language. It’s difficult to communicate complex messages to them so the school organises basic language courses and the teachers design personalised didactic programmes. My position in the classroom enables me to cooperate with the teacher of specific subjects helping the single students in need. Daniela Galea, Malta Daniela Galea, Malta During my past 7 years of teaching, I can confidently say that I had students from all parts of the world in my classroom. At first it was a bit difficult to handle as obviously they did not know our language, which is Maltese, and some of them not even English. Together with my colleagues, I created adapted resources to help them learn basic Maltese and English. However, a few years ago we created migrant-learners classes, in which students are taught English and Maltese for one scholastic year before joining the mainstream classes. As from last year, we also have A1 classes which are basic Maltese lessons especially for foreigners that can communicate in English. Patrizia Patrizia try to treat all students equally and help who is in need for this - I tell to all that more languages you speak more richer you are Daniela Roversi. Italy Daniela Roversi. Italy I'm from year to year surer, that the approach of the teacher to his/her subject is extremely important. Only when the teacher reaches his/her students can he/she reach his/her goal. Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta A colleague of mine, had a foreign student in her class. Unfortunately the student barely knew English. Together with the complimentary teacher, they managed to compile resources to help him with the basic needs of the language and then later on move on to academic subjects. Filomena Montella, Italy Filomena Montella, Italy HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY Language awareness increases teacher responsibility. The teacher who cannot reach his / her student is ineffective. The right to education of the student is violated. the teacher should know not only his / her language but also the culture. the real success comes after that. Tiziana ITALY Tiziana ITALY Language awareness is important for any educator dealing with students whose mother tongue is different from the one he/she speaks. It is important for any task and activity which we carry out while teaching languages and also other subjects. Lena, Germany Lena, Germany I think that language is the key to communication. However, language does not say anything about understanding, knowledge and intelligence. I have often seen difficulties with the subject language but not with the subject itself. I think with this differentiation in mind, we have to help our students get insights into the subject on the one hand and teach them the language of the subject on the other hand... Violeta (Romania Violeta (Romania I am a french teacher from Romania. I vote for language awareness because i think that is important for all of us, teachers or students, to become aware of the place occupied by the foreign languages. Its very important to be abble to communicate and to pass on all the informations about the culture and the civilisation of a country. Annamaria (Italy Annamaria (Italy As teacher I have often seen the difficulties lived by my foreign students in studying subjects in a different language. Having a wider language awareness I think that could help a lot them Liana - Italy Liana - Italy As a teacher, I think that LA awareness is mainly important to establish a positive relation with my pupils. Indeed, a teacher should make pupils protagonists of their learning in order to increase their confidence with language, their self-esteem and motivation, for instance through linguistic plays and storytelling. Fatma ozkukekci Fatma ozkukekci I think awareness of language is very important in the class because there are arabic students in my class when I talk about their language they focus on us very much Giuseppe, Italy Giuseppe, Italy In my practice as a Math Teacher, I have found that there are three cyclic problems on bilingual mathematics learners. The first one focuses on acquisition of vocabulary, the second one focuses on the construction of multiple meanings across registers, and the last one focuses on participation in mathematical practices. This last one is due to the different socio-cultural views of both language and maths learning which can become more complex and, following this, losing sight of what is really important and worth as significant competence in mathematical communication. Antonino, Italy Antonino, Italy Although I don't teach by CLIL, I believe that I can talk about other topics from grammar spontaneously and create a really creative atmosphere by language awareness. The language is the vehicle by which you can touch students' hearts Vicky Archondi, Greece Vicky Archondi, Greece For the past 9 years I have been working in a Technical Lyceum in Magnesia which always accepts students from Albania. The mere fact that I'm not fully language and culture aware with regard to Albania , constitutes a barrier between me , my Albanian students my teaching and therefore their learning. If I manage to overcome this barrier, I'm certain that I will gain their trust, motivate them in their learning and help them find the means to reach their potential Fátima Silva, Portugal Fátima Silva, Portugal Indeed it is important to be language aware. Therefore are ready to provide our students with content and feedback no matter what we had planned for a particular lesson. It is also important to help our learners develop that skill. When we are language aware, we understand how to communicate effectively with others, we understand and produce content that is understood by others Tea Sisko, Croatia Tea Sisko, Croatia While teaching English I should be LA that my students connect this FL to their MT which has different rules. I should also be aware of topics I am presenting in my English class and check my students' understanding. The crucial thing I should make is to ensure that my students feel comfortable in my class, create a climate of trust in which they can express themselves freely and communicate with peers and me. Giusy Giugliano, Italy Giusy Giugliano, Italy In my school there are a lot of immigrant students and very often communication is not immediate. We have organized some learning groups where italian sts help foreign sts, a sort of peer tutoring and it seems to be working, above all for a fully inclusion! Gabriela, Romania Gabriela, Romania Language is an essential tool for learning. When you don't understand, you might lose interest and lack motivation for learning. I totally agree that language awareness is important to facilitate learning, increase motivation and communication. Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Matilde Matilde Our pupils usually start school when they are 3 years old. Our pre-primary teachers teach them the language using pictures, games, songs, tales... When they are 6 years old, they can communicate and understand the language used at school. If not, additional help is provided to them. Creating a safe and friendly environment is one of the clues. ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey Yeah, I have faced students whose mother language is not what I taught. Sometimes I learnt their language and we communicated. Adife DEMİRTAŞ Adife DEMİRTAŞ I totaly agree with the idea that language awarness plays an important role for teachers for ; - language awarness helps us with the readiness of pupils, - we can eaily create motivation for their learnings, - we can create "sense of belonging" for our pupils if we have experience in language awarness. Also, I have many classes which consists of refugees students from Syria and being aware of language and diversities always helps me creating motivation for both me and my pupils during learning journey. Valentina (Italy) Valentina (Italy) I never had foreign students in the classroom whose first language wasn't Italian, but I often offer examples from other languages when I try to explain some grammar or semantics concepts. I think that this "theoretical" exposure to diversity can give a big incentive to pursue studying and paying attention during the lessons. In add, putting all the languages on the same identical ground of importance and clarify the links between them could prevent children from developing harmful group identity feelings. Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) I'm not sure if language awareness is always the issue - for me it's more one of capacity. When perhaps half the class are learning English as an Additional Language (but at varying degrees of Ilaria Ilaria The difference between a normal class activity and CLIL activity lies in the fact that the language used is not needed only as a communicative filter, but that it can even block the process of interaction at the time same. As a result it is necessary guide and assist students in the overcome linguistic barriers letting them see, in succession, learning a foreign language as a possibility not only of 5 improve their linguistic skills but, above all, increase and deepen their skills knowledge of the subject matter. Grace Grace Dealing with foreign students who have been in Italy for years or were born here from foreign families, I experience every day there's a gap between their bics and calp for example when reading a written, formal text; they may not understand some peculiar expressions when translaring from L2 to L1 ( which is not their native language). I help them by making examples or "translating" in a less formal language. Ilaria Ilaria CLIL is a methodology that promotes promotion intercultural education, the plurilingual approach and comparisons language. Facilitates the use of language in another cognitive area. Promotes the use of the language to PROMOTE A CONTENT, LIBERANDOLA DAI "FALSI PRAGMATICI", that is, uses the language for transmit content by releasing it from functions and structures grammatical, making it an instinctual action. Romit kaur India Romit kaur India As we say every student is different and comes from different backgrounds, we have to be language proficient so that every student is understanding what we are saying .So teacher is responsible for the learning development of a student. Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroab. Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving d Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroad. We have children whose families have arrived in Italy some years ago and most of them have attended infant school so they have a basic knowledge of italian. This children can have problems with language when they start to study specific disciplines and find it hard to keep up with their italian mates. We always should keep in mind that their "language module" works perfectly in their first language and that we should help them to use their abilities in what is their second language. Concetta, Sicily Concetta, Sicily Language awareness … A teacher who is “language-aware” understands in which way students can face language difficulties, the language needs of their students and what he/she can do to support them. For all students, language is a vehicle for learning. It is through language that learners access the content of the lesson and communicate their ideas. So, as a teacher, it is my responsibility to make sure that language isn’t a barrier to learning. Teaching and learning through an additional language encourages understanding different cultures and improves students’ cognitive ability, so they can communicate with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Knowledge of other languages encourages new ways of thinking and of perceiving the world. We live in an increasingly global world and language skills make travel easier, provide opportunities and improve life conditions. Diana Diana In my life I had the opportunity to study three foreign languages. I'm not at the top when I speak or when I try to listen and understand in these foreign languages but I say that I could survive in many different foreign lands without fear. This opportunity is , therefore, already a good reason that gives me the desire to help my students and to find the better way to teach them English at school. Then I saw that children with some learning difficulties, when the foreign language is teached in the right way, can understand and take part, they can find their place and their role in the classroom, and this is very important for their growth FRANCESCA FRANCESCA Knowing and speaking well in English allows children to gain more self- confidence and increase their level of personal self-est K K L L Leonardo Benedetti Leonardo Benedetti Italy I think that LA is fundamental. I have experienced and I am experiencing it everyday at school. Talking about art, design, architecture, it is very important to find the right way, the right words to let the students understand the topics Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy In my classes there are pupils coming from different countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Ukraine. Language awareness helps the teacher understand his pupils' needs and skills; moreover, it helps pupils communicate with the class and the teacher and facilitate learning process. Maria Kleidara Maria Kleidara Last school year I had four new students from Syria who didn;t talk at all Greek. I tried to communicate with them but they were only 5 years old and it was very difficult. Although they had many abilities it was difficult to help them. So I asked for help from a mother of those students. She was teacher in her country too. So we were cooperate and manage to learn both the languages and I realize how creative a class can be when the language borders are no longer a problem. But what happens when you don't have help? Aritz, Basque Countryu Aritz, Basque Countryu As a teacher, language awareness is key to understand our students needs. Some children feel apart the first days because they don't understand. But we have another global communication way that is non-verbal. We can help our students to enhance their language skills starting with the basic and also with the help of their classmates. Bilingual school Bilingual school In our school the teachers have to be very aware of the vocabulary that is used and support a lot of the language with other forms of learning such as visual and kinesthetic learning. It is also important for teachers to stretch those children who are able in their mother tongue to feel engaged within lessons too. Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy I think , as teachers, we must be aware of our language knowledge and pay attention to the students' one. Through etwinning projects and teachers training our classes must be openmind and aware of our culture dversity and our different languages. Roberto, Forlì Roberto, Forlì Language awareness is important to me to design effective CLIL modules for my students. For instance, I have to pay attention to not introduce too many new L2 terms in each lesson, to use short and simple sentences, and so on. I can design effective CLIL lessons only if I have a good Language awareness. Anna Kaya, Sweden Anna Kaya, Sweden When my colleagues and I plan our teaching we try to find materials in our students strongest languages so we now that all of the students can read or listen in a language they can understand. We also try to plan for scaffolding so all the students can participate in the classroom activities and succeed with the assignments. This is quite complicated regarding the fact that all our students are in different ages and have different school background. In Sweden all newly arrived students have “study guidance in their mother tongue” but that is maybe one or two hours per week and the students need more support. Our bilingual colleagues (study guides or mother tongue teachers) are a great support, not only for the students but also for us teachers that don’t share languages with our students. Monica Boccoli Monica Boccoli In my opinion, there are a lot of resources to improve my language awareness: etwinning, European Schoolnet Academy, Teacher Academy, MIE Microsoft, Skype in the classroom... Gianni Lottino Gianni Lottino Every year I take part in an eTwinning project and it's to years I receive tu Quality Label Certificate! I get it thanks to my method and to the imput my students receive by the project I choose. So the importance of language awerness is unfolded day by day with all the passages from Italian, Frenc and English. Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Italy Languages are products of the Human mind to communicate, they are instruments of thoughts, they represent a culture and its History. I teacher must be aware of this, as each person should have the possibility to keep always alive his mother tongue Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Gabriela Turea Gabriela Turea I totally agree that language awareness is very important for teachers because otherwise we can lose our students (their attention, their involvement in the class, their willing of learning). By understanding their fist language needs, we overpass all the barriers. Vincenzo M. ITALY Vincenzo M. ITALY Language awareness is essential. Language is a powerful vehicle. "When teaching in a language other than that with which students are familiar, this language is the key, as it becomes the vehicle for transmitting the message to our students". Laura Colombo - Italy Laura Colombo - Italy I believe a good starting point in developing our own language awareness is to consider the differences between BICS and CALP and its implications for our students. I teach English for Information Technology in a technical school and it is easier for students to develop academic language. The most difficult task for me as a teacher is to develop their interpersonal communication skills in a foreign language. David Navas, Spain David Navas, Spain As a secondary teacher, i barely am in a situation where students do not speak spanish. But in primary school i have seen students who do not speak Spanish because they come from another country. And it is crucial trying to speak with them in their language in order to "connect" with them. Rovena Trivanović Rovena Trivanović Croatia I teach students whose primary language-mother tongue is Croatian like mine. Nevertheless, I face challenges in my teaching because of students' poor knowledge of their mother tongue when it comes to basic structures or they hadn't acquired the basics of English in their primary school. I'm aware of that challenge and I try to help them in many ways not to be afraid of taking part in the class despite the challenge they face. There are students who are willing to progress in that sense,but there are also students who come to the conclusion that thex can't learn a foreign language and don't put any effort in it. I hope this course will help me deal with those chellenges. Özcan TURAN Özcan TURAN We have many refugee students it is important to try to speak in their language to catch the I am a teacher of la I am a teacher of language. Language Awareness is important for teachers because it helps us, the teachers, to understand our students much more. it makes us aware about their knowledge about particular subject. According to that what kind of tools of teaching i have to use to enhance their abilities and interest in the classroom. I have faced situations where language awareness would have helped me more to understands my students. I am looking forward to getting to know more about Language Awareness I am a la I am a language t eache Michele, Italy, The next year Michele, Italy, The next year Next year there was in my classroom a student not Italian that speak in an African tongue. It was impossible enter in her world and success in making communication. I think so that in this case LA is the real key to teach. VANESSA, ITALY VANESSA, ITALY Language awareness helps students to feel more at ease in the school environment, and therefore more confident in their didactic and human relationships. Ana B. - Portugal Ana B. - Portugal By using CLIL metodology we can give the same chances for all kids to express themselves and to learn more deeply all the subjects. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. Sonia in Ireland Sonia in Ireland I agree that students need to be supported depending on their level but working with younger students I'm always so impressed by how much they acquire through immersion.At the core of all good classrooms I think we need to create a safe environment where our students aren't afraid to take risks and make mistakes. It can be very daunting for a beginner before they make a breakthrough though. Esmeralda Portugal Esmeralda Portugal As a history teacher in Portugal I have no need to talk in another language but I recognize the importance of the language awareness in student development and their relationsships. Sharon Australia Sharon Australia LA is also about respect - respecting students' first language, their culture, their prior knowledge etc. When teachers and students engage in respectful discussions be it first language or L2 or learning a subject in a foreign language then all the communicative actions and functions are put into place and teaching and learning can take place Francesca Italy Francesca Italy In my opinion language awareness allows me to communicate with all my students in an innovative way and this kind of learning is very appreciated by students and teachers because the cooperative learning , learning by doing and reality tasks can favourite immersive contests Esther Spain Esther Spain I think being awareness of language diversity makes my teaching more interesting and my students have the opportunity to learn from each other. So sometimes we think our class is monolingual and if you ask your students or just do activities as a language biography you could realize our students have a great plurilingual pr ofile so I think it is really important to give visibility to all our students´languages. Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Daniela Daniel, Portugal Daniela Daniel, Portugal I teach English in a small Portuguese town close to the Spanish border. Maybe for that reason, nowadays it’s usual to have in class students from countries such as India, Ukraine, Moldavia or China, for example. As some of them come to Portugal and go to school without understanding or speaking Portuguese, the best way to communicate with them is by using English. So, some language awareness of what an international language such as English is concerned is crucial to them as pupils and to me as their teacher. Hi, I'm a pri Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, Hi, Catello de Sinno - Italy Catello de Sinno - Italy According to my experience, building language awareness also involves helping students gain a positive attitude toward the foreign language by developing the confidence to make an attempt or take a risk. Our pupils shouldn’t be afraid to take a risk or make mistakes and this is possible if they are really motivated to communicate . They are usually motivated if the context and the activities are familiar and near their world. Sara, Portugal Sara, Portugal Well, in my point of view, language awareness is important for teachers cuz we are available to understand and help all the kids, because we can speak and comunicate with them without problems. Will be easier for both - teacher and kids - share points os views, ideas, help to solving some problems, understand some specific necessities and play. I think that is a good way to create na ,environment full of tranquility, security, confidence and initiative. H H Irene M. from Rome Irene M. from Rome I agree about the importance and responsability of being a language aware teacher, in order to help students from different countries to achieve school and social goals. Othermore I think that being a language aware teacher means understanding the needs and the abilities of all students and working to improve the social classroom context. In my opinion, infact, a friendly climate can help learning processes and supporting the teacher’s work. In my teaching experience, I have met students from Romania, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Ucraine, Argentina… and often they didn’t speak and understand the language of schooling. My first responsability is understanding the pupil’s need and deleting the obstacles that might compromise their school career. An educational strategy that I find useful is the peer-learning that helps pupils to bring out their personal abilities. In this way students can becoming more self-confident and aware about their school career in a cooperative climate. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I personally think awareness is a fundamental competence in order to live well Debora Italy Debora Italy The teaching of language plays an important role in learnin and understanding subject content. For this reason it is important to reflect on students' abilities and to create a climate of trust and collaboration, in which the linguistic tool became an opportunity. MARIA ITALY MARIA ITALY I'M A PRIMARY TEACHER AND I THINK THE PUPILS ARE NOT AWARE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE TO KNOW A LANGUAGE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR MOTHER TONGUE. SO HERE THE LANGUAGE LEARNING HAS TO BE AS NATURAL AS POSSIBLE FROM THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL. THROUGH GAMES, SONGS, RHYMES THEY HAVE TO BECOME CONFIDENT WITH IT AND TO LEARN USING IT IN THE DAILY SCHOOL ROUTINE AT THE BEST Sophia Italy Sophia Italy CLIL lessons are often a daunting challenge, as for many students the use of L2 compromise their learning. I always try to offer enough scaffolding, but I probably should spend more time working on the language. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I think awareness is a fundamental faculty in order to increase sstudents selfesteem so important in every day life meetse Alena, Czechia Alena, Czechia Knowing more about language awareness would be useful while teaching mixed ability classes, where students´ language levels are so different at a time; taking this into account, using appropriate methods to help will be definitely a big benefit to these students (especially those who feel uneasy during L2 lessons). Maria Grassi, Italy Maria Grassi, Italy Language awareness is an important competence for teachers because it can positively help the process of teaching-learning especially in exchange projects between European and extra-European Schools, in particular I use eTwinning platform and it helps me in different situations with my students. Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy In one of my classes there are three studets from Albania, one from Bangladesh and one from Romania. When I teach subjects as history and geography I use to work a lot on the meaning of the word and I think that this method is very usefull for my students both Italians and foreigns. Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Language awareness facilitates learning process. Language learners need to be supported. Learners` knowledge level of English language has to be taken into consideration and lessons should be appropriately designed in order to meet students` needs. Lucia, Ital Lucia, Ital I think language awareness helps students to be secure and facilitates learning in a cooperative way. Silvia DM, Italy Silvia DM, Italy Students of any age learn better if they are not under pressure and in a state of anxiety, so if you understand their needs sharing the same language they are more likely to improve and be willing to learn. I often ask students who have good knowledge of the target language to translate for the new comers into their mother tongue, but it is not always possible and feasible. Daniela from Parma Daniela from Parma Facing students who had just arrived from a foreign country made me conscious of the importance of my language awareness: I could not act as before. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania To know the new pupils I ask them to come and tell me about their holiday, their hobbies, their favorite stuff and why ... Laura Gianfranceschi Laura Gianfranceschi I often have classes with foreign students. Languange awareness is crucial to get thei learning real and solid İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY A teacher with no language awareness cannot succeed because he / she will close communication channels. First of all, students should be able to understand their cultural values and their level of readiness. If we do not master the language of our students, planning and permanent learning become impossible. Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) I think language awareness is a very important feature for a teacher, because it enables him/her to understand his/her pupils' difficulties when approccing specific subjects, new lexicon, complex concepts. Being aware of linguistic diversity in his/her classroom, a teacher can better anticipate which aspects may require spacial attention, organize his/her material in the most helpful way to guide students in their learning process, choose those methodologies he/she thinks will prove most successful. When faced with difficulties linked to a different linguistic background, I try to better explain the meaning of a word or a costoum exploring its semantic area or its cultural context, operating as many references to other cultures and language as I can. Linguistic and cultural diversity can be a really precious asset in a classroom, though: having an "insider" perspective is a key resource for contrasting prejudice. Sílvia Sílvia Language awareness is very important in order to help students to achieve the objectives of the subject you are teaching. If you are not aware of the challenges they are facing you would not be able to see what they need to improve. Hartmut,Germany Hartmut,Germany Language awareness is important to give students on different language levels the chance to be successful.Today we have more and more students with different nationalities and they have to be integrated. clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems Gianfranca Gianfranca Understanding linguistic diversity is important to understand different needs. In an inclusive school ,integration is the awareness to communicate with other cultures understanding their needs. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania A good language helps you know your pupils better, capture their attention, motivate them to feel attracted to the matter and as comfortable as possible at school Ana, Lisbon PT Ana, Lisbon PT Language awarness is essential to understand our students, their needs and their abilities. In my classroom, for example, I often have students who don't speak one word of portuguese, as they have arrived from asian countries just weeks ago. And as you can imagine, I don't speak any word of nepalese, bangla, indi or gujarati. It's a great challenge for me and every little step, every little word they learn is cheered by the rest of the class. Just knowing and being aware of their complete unfamiliarity with the schooling language and culturemakes me more motivated to use alternative ways of teaching." Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs It is important to be aware of how much a student can read and write a language, in a school inclusion and integration plan I think it is important to communicate with different cultures and understand their needs. after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions Cinzia Marrone Italy Cinzia Marrone Italy I think it’s important in language lessons to create a relaxed atmosphere so children can better understand and communicate with others. Teacher ‘s role is important to let them aware in language learning . So use of games and creation of real context is a best practice to engage learning in both language or not language discipline. Magdalena Uleia , Romania Magdalena Uleia , Romania Language awareness it is similsr with Math awareness : they are clearly usefull for all daylife! Maja Maja As a counsellor I had lot of situations when some teacher were not aware how difficult it is to learn all the facts and understand the instructions for students with Croatian as a second language. They ussualy think if studenst comunicate good with students in Croatian, it is a proof that students can achieve the same academic succsess in academic language. Antonella Antonella language awareness is a very essential topic to understand students and to let them trust on us and it is also an index of teaching succes Sarah, UK Sarah, UK It is important to be aware of how well a pupil can read and write a language as this can affect how they access the curriculum. Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Language Awerness i the conscious perception in language learning, language teaching and language use. L.A. is the explicit knowledge about language. Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Language awareness is important to all teachers because they have to help students to socialize, to know each other, to be bold in communication. Teachers to apply classroom interactive methods, educational games. Mary Mary It's very important to communicate with different culture and understand their needs. Roberta Roberta language awareness is very important for students because to facilitate the cooperative learning Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness Language awareness If you are aware of the diversity of languages in your classroom, you will understand and be understood!! Students may become the teacher and vice versa; it will create a trustful environment motivating students to learn more effectively! The learning/teaching process will be smoother and aims will be achieved easily!! Eduarda, Portugal Eduarda, Portugal LA is plays an essential role in language teaching. When a teacher becomes aware of language diversity inside the classroom, he/she can easily understand the students' needs and or difficulties. Becoming aware of the different levels of language knowledge in our classrooms is a priority to planning and adapting. Once I had a multiethnic group and communication was not easy. It was a mixed language class really: sometimes I had to speak either Portuguese or Spanish so they could understand the meaning of specifuc vocabulay in English. It turned out that I also learnt a few words in their mother language. Chiara Chiara Language awareness helps teachers to understand different point of views from other cultures. According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers Hanife, Turkey Hanife, Turkey Language awareness is crucial to help pupils that we understand their anxıous and it hepls students to calm down. In addition to this, LA can motivate students that they can overcome with language barries and also heps teachers to develop strategies. Ela, Poland Ela, Poland I`m a teacher who teach mother tongue. I teach students how using Polish language rules can help to acquire linguistic awareness between their mother tongue and another language. It is important especially for pupils who come back to Poland from moving abroad. In our school it happen very often .So, the teacher should be aware of these processes and find the best way to help pupils to overcome these problems. Brigida Calise Brigida Calise Language awareness is crucial because as a teacher I must be aware of my students' language differences in order to help them learn easily and without any stress. Moreno, Rieti, Italy Moreno, Rieti, Italy The awareness about language is fundametal during a lesson, you have to expose the concept in a very clear, fluid and impacting way. Students must be captured by a teacher, and the main way is to be confident about the contact with students. Usually students haven't a real awareness with language, an analysis of the sentences and words could be helpful. Ayşe,Turkey Ayşe,Turkey Language awareness is so important because everybody thinks there are some bariers of learning new language but it is not true. We must facilitate learning languages in a correct and easy way. Giuseppina V. , Italy Giuseppina V. , Italy Language awareness or, perhaps better, learning to speak foreign languages is very important for every teacher because it leads us to reflect on ourselves and our learning difficulties. In order to learn how speaking foreign languages we must remove what Krashen calls Affective Filter, sometimes it may happen that we must become resilient as well. All this helps us to better understand the difficulties of our students whether they are native speakers or foreigners and teaches us to encourage them and make them comfortable. I believe that any teacher, not only second language teachers, should be resilience tutors. We are teachers of both topics and life . Matanat Ahadova Matanat Ahadova Aim in language awareness was that pupils in their foreign language learning should be stimulated to ask questions about language, how it functions and what role it plays in people’s lives; in other words, to have an explicit approach to different phenomena of language. FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY This school year my colleagues and I are going to face a great challemge. In a class of the third and last year of Middle School, we have a new student from Ukraine. He has moved to Italy with his family for TWO months and he can't speak a word of Italian! Fortunately, he can speak some English, so we are going to use this leanguage as a means of communication. At the end of this year students have a final State exam and National Standard Tests (INVALSI) in Italian, MAths and English. I think that language awareness, most of all for non-language teachers, is crucial to help this student facing successfully this school year. Maria Jastrząb Maria Jastrząb I'm not an English teacher but I'm interested in language teaching methodology . I use the best ideas adjusting them to teaching my young students ex. maths, art, music etc. Sylwia, Poland Sylwia, Poland What is important in LA to know the student's abilities so then we're more reliable . Creating a good climate inside the class to make students comfortable. Yes I think language Yes I think language awareness is very important in teaching field .In our class all students are not on the same level in terms of language .Teachers must be efficient in different languages to engage students in class and develops good lear Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE Konu dil farkındalığı, Sınıfımızda farklı dillerde öğrenciler olduğunda, dersin işlenişi öğrencilerin dil performanslarına göre değişmektedir. Ayrıca öğrencinin öğretmeni sevmesi derse ve dile karşı tutumunu değiştirir. Örneğin, öğrencilerimin dilini bilmediğim bir okulda çalıştım. Öğrenci bana mis mis dedi. Benim dilimde mis güzel koku demektir. fakat öğrencimin dilinde mis Wc ye gitmek demekmiş az kalsın çocuk üzerine yapacaktı. Alina, Rom Alina, Rom LA is very important because using different interactive methods pupils get more confident, they have courage to use the new language, but also it is our duty to create a pleasant climate and encourage them all the time. José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal LA is crucial if you have students from other countries. In a time where european countries are receiving and accepting refugees, a portuguese teacher like me have to be able to deal with children wich have no idea of what portuguese language is. In a first moment it would be of much importance that a I could communicate with them in order to make them feel more at home and beggin the inclusion in the school and in the portuguese society. We, the teachers, can be and should be the bridge between people countries and, why not?, civilizations. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. . Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Language awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in classroom. It´s very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers can use different strategies (cooperative learning, stimulating and comfortable climate in classroom) and the students be more involved in learning progress. Roberta (Italy) Roberta (Italy) LA is important to avoid our students feel discouraged while studying because they don't achieve good results Giedre (Lithuania) Giedre (Lithuania) LA is very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers know more methologies how to make students be involved in learning process. I'd like that my students want to learn because I involve them into eTwinning projects where they have to communicate and collaborate with different countries students. It helps me improve their knowledge of language and awareness as well. Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy LAnguage awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in the classroom. Language awareness for students can stimulate cooperative learning, thus creating a stimulating and comfortable climate in the classroom. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Costina, Heidelberg Costina, Heidelberg Language awareness is fundamental, because it helps students to feel more confident and it helps me to facilitate learning in a harmonious and sustainable way. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. Carmen, Romania oretta oretta Language awareness is important for teachers because it helps students to communicate, to understand the subject and to learn it. The main problem is when students are not familiar with the language that I am using for teaching , they do not reach a certain grade and they fail. It is very difficult to understand their needs and to get less frustrated. Ciro, Italy Ciro, Italy Three years ago i teached italian to 4 foreign students came to my school because parents moved here for working. Basicly i teached italian passing by a common language such as English but i would learning topics in Russian or Arab to better make learning to them. Elín Iceland Elín Iceland I think that is good so it is possible to practice all skills Daisy (Italy Daisy (Italy It is important to know the students' language background in order to help them when they are facing learning / communicative difficulties. If the teacher is aware he/ she can use strategies in order to make the learning path easier ( I' m referring to collaborative tasks , peer revisions, individualised teaching) Eda,Turkey Eda,Turkey I think language awareness is definitely important.If a student knows why he learns another language,he can be more eager to learn.On the other hand,teaching a language to the students from different backgrounds is really hard.Most of the time,the teachers dont know how to approach them.Yesterday,one of my teacher friend came to me and said that a Syrian student cried for the whole lesson and I didnt understand why he cried.The teacher's motivation was decreased by his crying.That was only one example. M.Rosa M.Rosa (Italy) Teachers need to be aware of the different languages in their classrooms to help foreign students Maren, Germany Maren, Germany Language awareness is important for all teachers, because language is the foundation stone for all learning processes. Often students would be able to understand a topic in their own language but struggle to follow the class because of language barriers. This is why all teachers need to be aware of the language diversity in a classroom Federica, Italy Federica, Italy I've had a lot of foreign students in my classes, mainly from Albania, Morocco, Pakistan, Romania and Senegal. When I told them that I studied English for a long time, they felt at ease during the lessons, knowing that I could translate italian difficult words into English and better understand their difficulties. Carolina ,Italy Carolina ,Italy In my opinion the awareness of the different language is very iimportant to help students to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in learning and improving languages.Language awareness increase teacher responsibility, if the student doesn't reach all this one, in this case the teacher should create a climate of trust in which exchange a climate of trust which exchange and communicate among students and with the teacher are facilited MariaM - Gaeta, Italy MariaM - Gaeta, Italy Every year some pupils coming from foreign countries are included in our classes. They often barely know the Italian language, so language awareness can help me to guide them towards a more aware communication with classmates and teachers, and towards a more effective and significant learning. I've sometimes had I've sometimes had a foreign student in my classes. I find it very stimulating and motivating for student and for me as well. Maria, italy Maria, italy As a teacher of English last year I supported a colleague who teaches Law in Clil. We found it very helpful to resort to comparisons between the British/American system and the Italian system Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy In a class last year , I had many foreign students, BES and a special student. Not an easy situation but I tried to involve them by letting them present their own country including traditions , culture, holidays and family lifestyle. Then I decided they should try and find words which were in some way similiar to Italian or English. Not so easy but at least interesting for them and proud to introduce their country or little village they came from. Rosario from Spain Rosario from Spain When in a class I have students with more facility to use a language than others, one strategy that I usually use is to work in heterogeneous groups, where students can help each other, solving simple doubts into the group and exercising little by little in the use of the new language. Martina from Italy Martina from Italy Language awareness helps me to be more interested in pupils's needs. it's importanta for the whole class Federica Tagliafichi Federica Tagliafichi in my opinion the awareness of the different languages becomes a cultural resource for the whole class. If I can I will help students or parents to welcome students of different nationalities who do not yet know the language. I try to use group work to get the sweaty to exchange experiences. Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy We are two foreign languages Teachers working together. Language awareness is important to help student to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in Learning and improving languages Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy we are two foreign languages teachers working together. Language awareness is important because to help students to overcome their difficulties and make them more interested in learning and improving languages. Lia MOlini from ITaly Lia MOlini from ITaly I think that teachers can better understand pupils'needs and recognize their abilities. This is a good point to start teaching language in a successful way inci Süzer, Turkey inci Süzer, Turkey Being language aware means you understand the possible challenges that language presents to learning. These challenges might arise because a student is learning a subject through an additional language or it might be the first time a student has come across certain vocabulary or structures in their first language. A teacher who is ‘language aware’ understands why students face these difficulties and what they can do to support students. inci inci It is very often in the greek schools. It is very often in the greek schools. Foteini Tsioutsia Lia,Italy Lia,Italy Language awarness implies that the teacher needs to come up constanty with different stategies and and has to face constant challenges. A useful tool is to find connections and to build bridge with different languages, of course, it works especially among languages from the same group, i.e. germanic or romance language or to work with linguistic loans Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Language awareness is important for teachers because it allows to adapt the teaching method to the pupils and make learning easier. Claudia Mazzone - Italy Claudia Mazzone - Italy Last year in the class arrived a girl from Pakistan who could comunicate only in English. In that case the language was a fundamental vehicle to comunicate with her in order to male her feel confortable with her schoolmates and teachers. I think that all the teachers - whatever they learn - should raise a good level of language awareness to be able to communicate with the different language studente , in order to make them reach the result they expect and make them feel integrated with their schoolmates and tachers. Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of communication not only cognitive but also emotional Tiziana Varone, Italy Tiziana Varone, Italy This year I'll face for the first time language diversity in classroom. Two sisters from India will attend my lessons in technologies and telecommunications. They speak Italian, but aren't as good at listening. I hope this course will help me to afford this situation, where a greater language awareness would really help to design the effective learning for those students. Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Globalization leads all teachers to consider linguistic awareness as an important educational purpose so that all students have greater possibilities of integration into society and the world of work. This training must be taken care of since primary school in order to develop in successive degrees and in universities. Usually I organize my teaching activities on a methodology of cooperatives and pair work, Web Quest, Located Learning Episodes and CLIL. Alessandra Amideo, Alessandra Amideo, ITALY Language awareness will help students gain greater operational autonomy, greater awareness of their abilities, greater self-criticism to overcome weaknesses and a growth of self-esteem.In addition, awareness of the language, will stimulate teachers to take care of the different personalized strategies that take into account the uniqueness of the person. Odarka, Latvia Odarka, Latvia Upon me our (teacher)awareness, knowledge ans skills is what we need to know and able to do. And what roles do we need to change, and therefore, how will this change the patterns of relationships in the classroom. Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy In our school this year there is an Ukrainian child who does'nt know the Italian language. The child is very motivated to socialize with the group, but the linguistic gap is a strong limitation although teachers and pupils try to communicate with extraverbal languages. We have now requested the figure of a linguistic mediator to help child and teachers. A higher level of linguage awareness would have favored the inclusion process. Rosy (Italy) Rosy (Italy) I usually used supports and strategies to help foreign students, for example to activate their background knowledge, or teach them vocabulary giving opportunities to practice new words and create situations to provide corrective feedback . Varvara, Latvia Varvara, Latvia i have different students with different English level plus i have not only Latvians in my classroom, but also Russians, who don't understand Latvian so i have to translate them some words or sentences into Latvian and that's why i have created some adapted resources that have helped me to improve my language awareness Martina Martina Language awarness is important for all teachers because in our classrooms there are many foreign students. They need to be guided in the process of learning a new language, buy starting from their mother tongue Rita Luiso Rita Luiso Language awareness is important for teachers because probably it can encourage and integrate all students (also with special needs and insecure) learning Alex_PT Alex_PT Whenever I have students who hardly know any English, there are extra lessons/ there is extra help as well as adapted resources in and out of the class. It’s of paramount importance that this student doesn’t feel left aside, forgotten and insecure; right from the start, they have to be integrated and encouraged to learn and overcome yet still another hurdle in a new country, a new culture. Rita Xuereb, Malta Rita Xuereb, Malta Language awareness will help children feel happy and secure as they will be able to understand and appreciate all that is going on around them. I think with very young children it is essential to create visual resources, to facilitate this understanding. In my school there a In my school there are a few foreign students from China,Ukraine and Morocco. These students often don’t understand our language. It’s difficult to communicate complex messages to them so the school organises basic language courses and the teachers design personalised didactic programmes. My position in the classroom enables me to cooperate with the teacher of specific subjects helping the single students in need. Daniela Galea, Malta Daniela Galea, Malta During my past 7 years of teaching, I can confidently say that I had students from all parts of the world in my classroom. At first it was a bit difficult to handle as obviously they did not know our language, which is Maltese, and some of them not even English. Together with my colleagues, I created adapted resources to help them learn basic Maltese and English. However, a few years ago we created migrant-learners classes, in which students are taught English and Maltese for one scholastic year before joining the mainstream classes. As from last year, we also have A1 classes which are basic Maltese lessons especially for foreigners that can communicate in English. Patrizia Patrizia try to treat all students equally and help who is in need for this - I tell to all that more languages you speak more richer you are Daniela Roversi. Italy Daniela Roversi. Italy I'm from year to year surer, that the approach of the teacher to his/her subject is extremely important. Only when the teacher reaches his/her students can he/she reach his/her goal. Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta A colleague of mine, had a foreign student in her class. Unfortunately the student barely knew English. Together with the complimentary teacher, they managed to compile resources to help him with the basic needs of the language and then later on move on to academic subjects. Filomena Montella, Italy Filomena Montella, Italy HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY Language awareness increases teacher responsibility. The teacher who cannot reach his / her student is ineffective. The right to education of the student is violated. the teacher should know not only his / her language but also the culture. the real success comes after that. Stefania Stefania Language awareness is important for teacher to convey ideas, thoughts and feelings. Besides, it is important to create a good relationship with the students . In this way, they can communicate and share their opinions. Language awareness is also very important for the students because help them to enrich their knowledge. Before starting teaching at school, I taught Italian language to immigrant people. Only few people spoke a bit of English and communicating with them was very difficult. We made many efforts to find a solution to this problem and we started creating a ‘special language’ for the Italian classroom using both Italian and English words. In this way, they started learning Italian using a language that they already knew (English) ,so they felt comfortable because they could use some English words even if they were studying Italian. Elena from Elena from Elena from Perugia Elena from Perugia Elena from Perugia ( Elena from Perugia (Italy Elena from Perugia ( Elena from Perugia (Italy) Teachers should be aware of the linguistic levels of their students either in their mother tongues or in English. For example, when I have to introduce a new grammar topic , I choose to speak in Italian because it’s important to assess if they already know the categories and functions in L1, otherwise it’s useless. Teachers should provide metaphorical bridges between L1 and L2. I think all those wh I think all those who teach a second language feel the importance of language awareness in order to help students achieve communication. Jeane de Fatima - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil Jeane de Fatima - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil Speaking to understand communicating is a new challenge for inclusion, speaking with gestures, different writing becomes a new challenge and a collective learning. In my school there is a student who does not pronounce the words, he has a lot of difficulty in speaking and now he learns to communicate using gestures, the group helps him interacting with him. Martina-Italy Martina-Italy I'm working with a new class in the primary school, during the review of different topics i saw different levels of knowledge and language levels: only with a open methodology and language awareness i can communicate in a positive way with them, give them the possibility to feel comfortable to ask something and learn easily. Chrysanthi Chrysanthi I remember very well my teacher in Physics. He was always angry because we couldn´t talk about Physics in an appropriate way. I think he never had heard about Cummins. Rossana Maglia, Italy Rossana Maglia, Italy Since I teach in a Secondary School, even students coming from other Countries have already learnt to speak a quite good Italian. However I am totally convinced that language awareness is very important. For example, if I want to use English during my lesson (I teach English, in fact), I usually pay attention that my students can understand me. I know that the full immersion into the English language is important, but if I want them to keep in mInd some function or grammar structure, I prefer to shift to Italian and be sure they can understand. This is a way to make them feel more comfortable and then they will be able to use English more confidently. Anna Maria Scrimieri Anna Maria Scrimieri I am an English teacher and I think that my main goal is the success of all my students. For this reason having a language awareness is fundamental for me. We have to face with students with difficulties or stundents who don''t speak Italiam, then being able to adapt my lessons to thier necessities is my main task. Therefore I think that a language awareness let us improve our competences as teachers. Maria João, Portugal Maria João, Portugal I am an English teacher and lately, because I studied Chinese for three years and I can also teach Portuguese, I have been a support teacher for a Chinese students to master Portuguese as the communication language for daily life and school subjects. It has been quite interesting to see how fast a language can be mastered when your co-workers are aware of the importance of checking if the information is clearly taken by this boy. Due to this teamwork in two years he managed to develop his mastering from zero to B1 level of Language Proficiency. This was only possible because most people involved in the process were able to check on a daily basis the evolution of global language achievement of the student, through teachers' language awareness. Rosa, Italy Rosa, Italy to be aware how students use their language and how we, as teachers, use our language to them is very important to make our students better learners and more confident of their abilities. I remember two Chinese students who arrived in our classes without speaking an Italian or English word. My colleagues and I had to create a conversation language using an English/Chinese bilingual dictionary. It was hard but at the end we had good results. Sandra Leite - PORTUGAL Sandra Leite - PORTUGAL Language is a vehicle for learning and as a teacher I am responsible for ensuring that the languages in your classroom are not a barrier or challenge for students. It is normal to have Portuguese and American students in my classes. Rosa, Italy Rosa, Italy To be aware how students use their language, and how we, as teachers, use our language to them is very important to make our students better learners and more confident of their abilities. I remember two Chinese students who arrived in our classes without speaking an Italian or English word. My colleagues and I had to create a conversation language using an English/Chinese bilingual dictionary. It was hard but at the end we had good results. Alessandra, Italy Alessandra, Italy I have had the luck to work in a school where the majority of students were from other countries, belonged to different cultures and religions. This allowed me to create a lot of activities to create not only language and cultural awareness, one's own and the others', but also group cohesion and understanding. I created , for example, activities with group work on comparative grammar analysis, in which all languages had an equal position but only the students speaking that language could be the teachers. In my environment outside school there are many languages: migration languages, foreign languages. Foreign students don't be ashamed of their language. In my environment outside school there are many languages: migration languages, foreign languages. Foreign students don't be ashamed of their language. Francesco, Italy Francesco, Italy In my class I usually plan a lot of lessons in English, because I think It helps my studends and me to open our minds, comparing our own language with another one, in this case English, and when we talk about Geography, for example, and we surf the internet to find out the best video about the Solar system or the position of the different continents on the globe, the best videos are in English and lots of them are very easy and clear. At the end of the lesson we usually make a sheme on the LIM and I ask them the meaning of the words they heard. If they don't know it they try to guess it and they enjoy a lot in doing it. After comparing the two languages they get back home not only with a new vocabolary but with a big awareness about the importance of learning together. MARGARIDA ALMEIDA from Portugal. I have a girl that do not speek portuguese. I hope to learn how to help her with this course. MARGARIDA ALMEIDA from Portugal. I have a girl that do not speek portuguese. I hope to learn how to help her with this course. Lucy (Italy)I teach geography in a secondary school and in my classrooms I have many students from different nationalities. They often show difficulties in speaking and conversing in Italian. I’m looking for strategies to include them more and more and I’m planning more efficient and suitable lessons..I hope this course can help me! Lucy (Italy)I teach geography in a secondary school and in my classrooms I have many students from different nationalities. They often show difficulties in speaking and conversing in Italian. I’m looking for strategies to include them more and more and I’m planning more efficient and suitable lessons..I hope this course can help me! Chiara Sabatini, Italy Chiara Sabatini, Italy I think that if a teacher is language aware he/she can understands the problems students face when learning another language and can help them with some useful strategies. I also think that you can have a better language awareness if you yourself have experience learning another language and if you remember the way to learnt it you can give your students useful tips. Being language aware helps you to give the right importance to language learning and it also opens the door to the knowledge of other cultures and mutual understanding. Anna De Donno, Italy Anna De Donno, Italy I use CLIL methodology in my classes. CLIL is communicative teaching. It creates a powerful learning environment. It positively influences cognitive and brain development Anna Rosa, Italy Anna Rosa, Italy Being a Clil teacher, I often happen to deal with students from different cultures: as a consequence I must take into consideration that students will not use English as a second language, but as a third or even a fourth one, if the student is used to talk a local language at home, for example. So it is essential to test the class competences and the language level as well; then as a teacher I must communicate and prepare some scaffolding for classroom language before starting with the academic language. Viki Dogani,Greece Viki Dogani,Greece language is important for the develpment of children CINZIA, ITALY CINZIA, ITALY Luigi, Italian Luigi, Italian We have studentes from Pakistan, India, Poland, Romanian Cina, Ukraina, etc.. and most of them don't speak our language when they come to our school ! I think they should attend italian language classes to be someway familiar with our language before entering in a classroom! To identify students To identify students' needs and targets is of primary importance . Within a mixed ability and nationality class encouraging communication is a challenge .In order to achieve goals , we must build the atmosphere to make students feel comfortable. Carmela/ Italy Carmela/ Italy Teaching English in a lower secondary school gives me the opportunity t o understand what my students need to learn a new languages with structures and communicative functions completely different from their native language. So I try to make this process easier following their rithms of learning, associating the study with plays or pratical activities. Digital tools or projects in eTwinning give me a great support: they work in a stimulating and funny way. 1I4v3C7n 1I4v3C7n Gökhan , Turkey Gökhan , Turkey I have Syrian students in my classroom. I know a bit Arabic and we contact with them sometimes in Arabic. This makes them smile and sometimes I listen with them arabic music and then I get more interest and they feel more comfortable. I've been teaching English to Chinese, Albanian and Moroccan students in Italy. Most of them are of foreign origin but were born in Italy, so they are bilingual. I ask for these students' help when a new student who can't speak Italian enters the class. This promotes dialogue, solidarity, inclusio and communication. If I can, I use a language the foreign student knows and I encourage the other students to get closer to their mate's world. Anyway, I know I can do much better and I hope I'll learn a lot from this MOOC. I've been teaching English to Chinese, Albanian and Moroccan students in Italy. Most of them are of foreign origin but were born in Italy, so they are bilingual. I ask for these students' help when a new student who can't speak Italian enters the class. This promotes dialogue, solidarity, inclusio and communication. If I can, I use a language the foreign student knows and I encourage the other students to get closer to their mate's world. Anyway, I know I can do much better and I hope I'll learn a lot from this MOOC. Gioia, Italy Elena FP, Italy Elena FP, Italy Nowadays I teach in a Lyceum and I don't face situations in which students speak different languages. I am also a CLIL teacher though, which is I need to develop a stronger language awareness in order to have my students use English (L2) actively during classes. Vasiliki Psaridou/Greece Vasiliki Psaridou/Greece I am a teacher in a Primary Minority school in Greece and as I have already mentioned before I face all the above difficulties in my every day program. In order to communicate better with pupils age 6-7 , I learnt some basic turkish. This gave me the advantage of the better communication at the beggining when pupils know nothing in Greek. Daniela, Romania Daniela, Romania As a IT teacher, in order to be able to work with various applications, I access various tutorials that are often English. So, knowing a foreign language is very useful for me. Lila Z. Greece Lila Z. Greece I am a kindergarten teacher in a remote greek island. Every year there are Albanian students amongst the greek ones. They usually speak albanian with their family members and don't understand greek language very well. I try hard to help them learn greek since I don't speak albanian. It is very difficult for both of us... Maria Carla, Italy Maria Carla, Italy Before entering a new topic ,I always explain my students all the new key words. Then I ask them to read the text twice and ask me for all the new words they cannot understand Nicolina G., Italy Nicolina G., Italy Languages shouldn’t be obstacles for students’ learning. As foreign language teachers we have to consider that students have different needs from those who are taught in their first language. This is much more important if we have foreign students or students with special needs in our classroom. I completely agree that the foreign language has to be considered the vehicle to convey the message to our students and that ..”acquiring a good command of academic language goes hand in hand with the development of subject knowledge and understanding”. Our main responsibility is to create a climate of trust in which exchanges and communication among the students and with the teacher are facilitated. Rosa, Portugal Rosa, Portugal I have been in the psition when i had to teach Portuguese language to a chinese student fourteen years old who didn´t know a word of Portuguese language. It was trully difficult, so I recognize that language awareness is very important for teachers! Federica (Australia) Federica (Australia) So far, I have had a few children in my class with a native language different from English and Italian (i.e. the two languages spoken at school and used as means of instruction). As already mentioned by Anja from Norway, it is often a struggle for these students to get across their ideas and show their understanding, as they lack confidence in speaking English and Italian and teachers lack awareness of the pupils’ linguistic and cultural background. The so called ‘false friends’ got in my way a number of times, for example with children with Spanish background. At the beginning they find my ‘pronto?’ (‘ready’ in Italian and ‘soon’ in Spanish) quite confusing. ‘Burro’ is a donkey for them and not something to cook with or to spread on bread (butter). Once, when trying to explain that a young girl was ‘imbarazzata’ (embarrassed), I saw my Venezuelan pupil staring at me and looking quite confused, because ‘embarazada’ in Spanish means ‘pregnant’. Resorting to a multimodal approach is crucial in these circumstances as it gives students an opportunity to use a more universal language. Visual cues such as icons, pictures and drawings, are particularly powerful when trying to explain new concepts and I often wish I were a more skilled drawer, in order to quickly solve incomprehension and misunderstandings with a sketch. We seldom have foreign ch We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroad. We have children whose families have arrived in Italy some years ago and most of them have attended infant school so they have a basic knowledge of italian. This children can have problems with language when they start to study specific disciplines and find it hard to keep up with their italian mates. We always should keep in mind that their "language module" works perfectly in their first language and that we should help them to use their abilities in what is their second language. Melissa Mocriș, Romania Melissa Mocriș, Romania I have been in the position where I had to teach a class contained of native English speakers and other speakers like (Bulgarian, French) and I had to be really careful not to decrease or diminish the learning environment. Even if native speakers had certain advantages(like pronunciation) I tried to make even tasks,worksheets so that the other speakers would not have the feeling that they are not capable of doing them. It was indeed a challenge but I truly enjoyed it. Konstantina, Greece Konstantina, Greece I think that always I listen to my students because when I understand what they believe and know about life is a tool for me to use it in order to teach. It is easy but it always works in the classroom (I think). Margherita Carta - Italy Margherita Carta - Italy Last year in my school we had a student coming from Mali as a refugee, with a personal story of painful and sad memories. He only spoke a local dialect similar to French and, what is more, it was the first time in his life he entered a school (he was 16 years old!). Communication was relly difficult, not only because of the language barrier, but especially due to the huge cultural and emotional difference between his world and ours. As a French teacher, I became a reference point for him and, thanks to the cooperation of the other teachers and the involvement of his classmates, he finally succeded in the first school experience in his life. We all did a very good job, but... what really made the difference was his deep, hardworking, tenacious desire to learn. Our language-aware teaching without his strong motivation would have failed. Reflecting on this experience, I believe that, in the end, awareness is where teaching and learnig meet together. Andrea Mangiagalli, Italy Andrea Mangiagalli, Italy Furtunately my subject is almost international and all the sub-subjects which I teach are world wide standars: tech drawing, IT, Physics, industrial automation and processes. I'm really code switching between Italian and English. I have had some NAI (Newly Arrived in Italy, students of first immigration) and with and from them I had different feedbacks. Some have been really tough and, little by little, gained confidence in their potential and reached a very very good level of Italian (and, consequently, a better understanding of all the diciplines). Others, even starting with the same problems and the same helps - such as speaking in English, Italian strengthening, Cultural mediators, personal didactic strategy, etc -, threw the towel and lost interest in school. For all the aforementioned reason, I do believe that the success or the failure are really difficult to forecast because we're always warking with humand being and, for this reason, unpredictable. Lara Melich, Tortosa Lara Melich, Tortosa My VET students speak more than two languages and many of them, from other countries, share their language knowledge in their mother tongues. It is enriching because we do not only learn new words, but also new ways to see the world. Ioanna, Greece Ioanna, Greece It is important to be sensitive towards students from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds because they often feel anxious and insecure unless we try to reach out to them. Barbara, Italy Barbara, Italy Often in my primary school, students that don't speak Italian arrive, in the middle of school year. Unfortunately in the school there isn't a specific literacy plan. I think to create it, could be the first step to be "language-aware" teachers! Kirsten Barrett, Scotland Kirsten Barrett, Scotland One example of why it is important to be language aware: Learn how to say hello in your pupils mother tongue (or any language spoken at home.) The smile you get demonstrates it's worth. I child needs to feel safe, nurtured and happy to be able to learn. Angela, Italy Angela, Italy During my classes, students whose first language is neither English nor Italian may find it more difficult to express their ideas in both speaking and writing. Sometimes I forget that. Stefania Pieri Stefania Pieri As an English teacher in an Italian primary school there have been many occasions when I wanted to do more to involve my students in a more incisive way.I think this course will be helpful for me and my pupils. isa çetin isa çetin thanks... Maria Calà, Italy Maria Calà, Italy It is important for teachers to have a good knowledge of the language because knowledge goes beyond vocabulary, grammar and reproduction, even if very important. By increasing awareness, students are better able to understand, appreciate, use the language and integrate more easily. Maria Rosaria Maria Rosaria in my school lately students come from foreign countries without knowledge of the language spoken in Italy; I always feel inadequate in dealing with these situations because very often foreign students have to deal with 2 foreign languages at the same time Anja, Norway Anja, Norway In the Norwegian school system, every student who chooses a school programme preparing him/her for university studies, needs to study foreign languages (French, Spanish og German). For a student who came to Norway recently this can be his/her L4 or L5. Often their knowledge of both Norwegian and English is shaky and it is hard for them to find brain-space for an extra-language when they still do not have the necessary CALP in Norwegian. I often wish i knew more about their language learning biography, than it would be easier to adapt my language classes to their needs. Marzia Italy Marzia Italy Yes, I remember a student who arrived in our classroom in 3rd grade from Moldavia, He was a year older than our pupils and he had great difficulty in speaking, at that time I think that if I had had more language awarness I would have been more helpful for him, even if we knew later that he was a child in need , so there were some difficulties also in his mother tongue. Last year a chinese boy came to our 4th grade class, he is very nice and smart, but shy and confused at the beginnig so in order to make him comfortable and valorize his language, we play with him and along with english we learn chinese words in the classroo. He teaches his language, children are happy and challenge....I'm the only one who doesn't remember the chinese words we are learning!!!!!! Salvador Páez. SPAIN Salvador Páez. SPAIN I think that learning a new language open our pupils to possibilities to dream in a different way. We teach not only the language but the culture, new people from different countries and this overall picture of the world makes us more sensitive, respectful, open-mind and self-confident. MariaRosaria MariaRosaria Language awareness is important for teachers because there is much more to a language than simply knowing vocabulary and grammar and reproducing them in either written or oral form.By increasing students’ language awareness, the students are better able to understand, appreciate and use the language. Zeynep Taş Yardımcı Zeynep Taş Yardımcı Zeynep Taş Yardımcı, Turkey Zeynep Taş Yardımcı, Turkey I'm an English teacher in Turkey and I always have difficulty in my classes while teaching English although my students and I speak the same language. Teaching a foreign language is tough especially when that language is very different from your pupils' mother tongues. Especially, the grammatical structures and cultural differences have an important role in foreign language teaching. I come across with problems most of the time. Sometimes my students try to make a sentence in English, however they tend to translate the sentence they are about to say from their mother tongue to English and they fail. Or sometimes they have difficulty in understanding simple phrases or idioms because of cultural differences. Therefore, I think this course will contribute alot to my language teaching methods. Marta Ropio, Portugal Marta Ropio, Portugal The language awarness is very important not only because we have to creat a comunication system with students, but also because each language implies a cultural background. Teaching portuguese or portuguese literature as first language is completed different than teaching as second language. Erasmo, Italy Erasmo, Italy It's important that students in high school start to study on books in a different language than their mother tongue. Very often in their future study at the University, they will need to prepare exams by studying on such a books. Language awareness for teachers in high school is therefore crucial to start promoting this attitude in students at early stages. PALMA FROM SPAIN PALMA FROM SPAIN In my class there are Chinese, Moroccan, English and Dutch. Their age is five years, which makes it easier to learn a new language because they communicate through games, songs, mimic and smiling and at the end they learn the language without hardly noticing it. Emilia, Poland Emilia, Poland There are more and more students from other countries in our school so we must be open for other cultures and their needs. And how to do that without a proper language awareness? This is why it is so important. Giuseppe A, Italy Giuseppe A, Italy I have got a class with two chinese students that speaks a little Italian. Sometimes whe n they are in difficulty or awkwardness, I let them speak in English. This is why for me is very important to improve my english and my way to teach in foreign language Elizabeta from Skopj Elizabeta from Skopje, Republic of Macedonia I am secondary school teacher, I teach physics in bilingual classes. Teaching physics in Macedonian and English is challenging. Every lesson need a special preparation , finding methods to simplify the content to be easy for understanding. Petra Kokeza, Croatian Petra Kokeza, Croatian In our school we often have foreign students in the classroom, and first language for them isn't Croatian. So we need to use another methods and another language. I hope i will learn more about it on this courses Sirpa, Finland Sirpa, Finland I do remember an excellent example of language awareness from the first years of my teaching career. We had a student who was originally from Uganda and this boy's first language was sign language, his second language was the local language and English was his third language. I had to try to teach him the Finnish political system and since he didn't know any Finnish and his English was very basic I tried to teach him and get him to understand the very difficult topic by using words and examples from everyday life. In the end he got it and I remember us both being very satisfied. Ioana, Romania Ioana, Romania Indeed it is important to be language aware. Therefore are ready to provide our students with content and feedback no matter what we had planned for a particular lesson. It is also important to help our learners develop that skill. When we are language aware, we understand how to communicate effectively with others, we understand and produce content that is understood by others. The crucial thing I should make is to ensure that my students feel comfortable in my class, create a climate of trust in which they can express themselves freely and communicate with peers and me. Pirjo, Finland Pirjo, Finland Language awareness is something that has to be in your backbone all the time. I teach English in a primary school and in many classes I have pupils from non-Finnish backgrounds. With a couple of pupils I don't have many words in common in any language and this I feel is a big challenge in my work. But in addition to being language aware, I must also be culturally aware. I think positive feedback and encouragment are highly important in situations where language awareness is most in need. Cristina from Romania Cristina from Romania I hope i'll improuve my abilites due to this course. I teach the native language , but i do have a lot of foreign students. They just look at me and try to guess what I'm talking about... I feel i'm dissapointing them and i try to do my best for every child. For me, it's a great opportunity . Tiziana ITALY Tiziana Tiziana ITALY Tiziana ITALY Language awareness is important for any educator dealing with students whose mother tongue is different from the one he/she speaks. It is important for any task and activity which we carry out while teaching languages and also other subjects. Lena, Germany Lena, Germany I think that language is the key to communication. However, language does not say anything about understanding, knowledge and intelligence. I have often seen difficulties with the subject language but not with the subject itself. I think with this differentiation in mind, we have to help our students get insights into the subject on the one hand and teach them the language of the subject on the other hand... Violeta (Romania Violeta (Romania I am a french teacher from Romania. I vote for language awareness because i think that is important for all of us, teachers or students, to become aware of the place occupied by the foreign languages. Its very important to be abble to communicate and to pass on all the informations about the culture and the civilisation of a country. Annamaria (Italy Annamaria (Italy As teacher I have often seen the difficulties lived by my foreign students in studying subjects in a different language. Having a wider language awareness I think that could help a lot them Liana - Italy Liana - Italy As a teacher, I think that LA awareness is mainly important to establish a positive relation with my pupils. Indeed, a teacher should make pupils protagonists of their learning in order to increase their confidence with language, their self-esteem and motivation, for instance through linguistic plays and storytelling. Fatma ozkukekci Fatma ozkukekci I think awareness of language is very important in the class because there are arabic students in my class when I talk about their language they focus on us very much Giuseppe, Italy Giuseppe, Italy In my practice as a Math Teacher, I have found that there are 3 recurrent problems on bilingual mathematics learners. The 1st is focuses on acquisition of vocabulary, the 2nd focuses on the construction of multiple meanings across registers, and the 3rd focuses on participation in mathematical practices. The 3rd is due to the different sociocultural views of both language and mathematics learning can complicate their understanding and restrict their view of what counts as competence in mathematical communication. Antonino, Italy Antonino, Italy Although I don't teach by CLIL, I believe that I can talk about other topics from grammar spontaneously and create a really creative atmosphere by language awareness. The language is the vehicle by which you can touch students' hearts Vicky Archondi, Greece Vicky Archondi, Greece For the past 9 years I have been working in a Technical Lyceum in Magnesia which always accepts students from Albania. The mere fact that I'm not fully language and culture aware with regard to Albania , constitutes a barrier between me , my Albanian students my teaching and therefore their learning. If I manage to overcome this barrier, I'm certain that I will gain their trust, motivate them in their learning and help them find the means to reach their potential Fátima Silva, Portugal Fátima Silva, Portugal Indeed it is important to be language aware. Therefore are ready to provide our students with content and feedback no matter what we had planned for a particular lesson. It is also important to help our learners develop that skill. When we are language aware, we understand how to communicate effectively with others, we understand and produce content that is understood by others Tea Sisko, Croatia Tea Sisko, Croatia While teaching English I should be LA that my students connect this FL to their MT which has different rules. I should also be aware of topics I am presenting in my English class and check my students' understanding. The crucial thing I should make is to ensure that my students feel comfortable in my class, create a climate of trust in which they can express themselves freely and communicate with peers and me. Giusy Giugliano, Italy Giusy Giugliano, Italy In my school there are a lot of immigrant students and very often communication is not immediate. We have organized some learning groups where italian sts help foreign sts, a sort of peer tutoring and it seems to be working, above all for a fully inclusion! Gabriela, Romania Gabriela, Romania Language is an essential tool for learning. When you don't understand, you might lose interest and lack motivation for learning. I totally agree that language awareness is important to facilitate learning, increase motivation and communication. Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Matilde Matilde Our pupils usually start school when they are 3 years old. Our pre-primary teachers teach them the language using pictures, games, songs, tales... When they are 6 years old, they can communicate and understand the language used at school. If not, additional help is provided to them. Creating a safe and friendly environment is one of the clues. ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey Yeah, I have faced students whose mother language is not what I taught. Sometimes I learnt their language and we communicated. Adife DEMİRTAŞ Adife DEMİRTAŞ I totaly agree with the idea that language awarness plays an important role for teachers for ; - language awarness helps us with the readiness of pupils, - we can eaily create motivation for their learnings, - we can create "sense of belonging" for our pupils if we have experience in language awarness. Also, I have many classes which consists of refugees students from Syria and being aware of language and diversities always helps me creating motivation for both me and my pupils during learning journey. Valentina (Italy) Valentina (Italy) I never had foreign students in the classroom whose first language wasn't Italian, but I often offer examples from other languages when I try to explain some grammar or semantics concepts. I think that this "theoretical" exposure to diversity can give a big incentive to pursue studying and paying attention during the lessons. In add, putting all the languages on the same identical ground of importance and clarify the links between them could prevent children from developing harmful group identity feelings. Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) I'm not sure if language awareness is always the issue - for me it's more one of capacity. When perhaps half the class are learning English as an Additional Language (but at varying degrees of Ilaria Ilaria The difference between a normal class activity and CLIL activity lies in the fact that the language used is not needed only as a communicative filter, but that it can even block the process of interaction at the time same. As a result it is necessary guide and assist students in the overcome linguistic barriers letting them see, in succession, learning a foreign language as a possibility not only of 5 improve their linguistic skills but, above all, increase and deepen their skills knowledge of the subject matter. Grace Grace Dealing with foreign students who have been in Italy for years or were born here from foreign families, I experience every day there's a gap between their bics and calp for example when reading a written, formal text; they may not understand some peculiar expressions when translaring from L2 to L1 ( which is not their native language). I help them by making examples or "translating" in a less formal language. Ilaria Ilaria CLIL is a methodology that promotes promotion intercultural education, the plurilingual approach and comparisons language. Facilitates the use of language in another cognitive area. Promotes the use of the language to PROMOTE A CONTENT, LIBERANDOLA DAI "FALSI PRAGMATICI", that is, uses the language for transmit content by releasing it from functions and structures grammatical, making it an instinctual action. Romit kaur India Romit kaur India As we say every student is different and comes from different backgrounds, we have to be language proficient so that every student is understanding what we are saying .So teacher is responsible for the learning development of a student. Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroab. Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving d Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroad. We have children whose families have arrived in Italy some years ago and most of them have attended infant school so they have a basic knowledge of italian. This children can have problems with language when they start to study specific disciplines and find it hard to keep up with their italian mates. We always should keep in mind that their "language module" works perfectly in their first language and that we should help them to use their abilities in what is their second language. Concetta, Sicily Concetta, Sicily Language awareness … A teacher who is “language-aware” understands in which way students can face language difficulties, the language needs of their students and what he/she can do to support them. For all students, language is a vehicle for learning. It is through language that learners access the content of the lesson and communicate their ideas. So, as a teacher, it is my responsibility to make sure that language isn’t a barrier to learning. Teaching and learning through an additional language encourages understanding different cultures and improves students’ cognitive ability, so they can communicate with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Knowledge of other languages encourages new ways of thinking and of perceiving the world. We live in an increasingly global world and language skills make travel easier, provide opportunities and improve life conditions. Diana Diana In my life I had the opportunity to study three foreign languages. I'm not at the top when I speak or when I try to listen and understand in these foreign languages but I say that I could survive in many different foreign lands without fear. This opportunity is , therefore, already a good reason that gives me the desire to help my students and to find the better way to teach them English at school. Then I saw that children with some learning difficulties, when the foreign language is teached in the right way, can understand and take part, they can find their place and their role in the classroom, and this is very important for their growth FRANCESCA FRANCESCA Knowing and speaking well in English allows children to gain more self- confidence and increase their level of personal self-est K K L L Leonardo Benedetti Leonardo Benedetti Italy I think that LA is fundamental. I have experienced and I am experiencing it everyday at school. Talking about art, design, architecture, it is very important to find the right way, the right words to let the students understand the topics Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Maria Kleidara Maria Kleidara Last school year I had four new students from Syria who didn;t talk at all Greek. I tried to communicate with them but they were only 5 years old and it was very difficult. Although they had many abilities it was difficult to help them. So I asked for help from a mother of those students. She was teacher in her country too. So we were cooperate and manage to learn both the languages and I realize how creative a class can be when the language borders are no longer a problem. But what happens when you don't have help? Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy In my classes there are pupils coming from different countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Ukraine. Language awareness helps the teacher understand his pupils' needs and skills; moreover, it helps pupils communicate with the class and the teacher and facilitate learning process. Aritz, Basque Countryu Aritz, Basque Countryu As a teacher, language awareness is key to understand our students needs. Some children feel apart the first days because they don't understand. But we have another global communication way that is non-verbal. We can help our students to enhance their language skills starting with the basic and also with the help of their classmates. Bilingual school Bilingual school In our school the teachers have to be very aware of the vocabulary that is used and support a lot of the language with other forms of learning such as visual and kinesthetic learning. It is also important for teachers to stretch those children who are able in their mother tongue to feel engaged within lessons too. Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy I think , as teachers, we must be aware of our language knowledge and pay attention to the students' one. Through etwinning projects and teachers training our classes must be openmind and aware of our culture dversity and our different languages. Roberto, Forlì Roberto, Forlì Language awareness is important to me to design effective CLIL modules for my students. For instance, I have to pay attention to not introduce too many new L2 terms in each lesson, to use short and simple sentences, and so on. I can design effective CLIL lessons only if I have a good Language awareness. Anna Kaya, Sweden Anna Kaya, Sweden When my colleagues and I plan our teaching we try to find materials in our students strongest languages so we now that all of the students can read or listen in a language they can understand. We also try to plan for scaffolding so all the students can participate in the classroom activities and succeed with the assignments. This is quite complicated regarding the fact that all our students are in different ages and have different school background. In Sweden all newly arrived students have “study guidance in their mother tongue” but that is maybe one or two hours per week and the students need more support. Our bilingual colleagues (study guides or mother tongue teachers) are a great support, not only for the students but also for us teachers that don’t share languages with our students. Monica Boccoli Monica Boccoli In my opinion, there are a lot of resources to improve my language awareness: etwinning, European Schoolnet Academy, Teacher Academy, MIE Microsoft, Skype in the classroom... Gianni Lottino Gianni Lottino Every year I take part in an eTwinning project and it's to years I receive tu Quality Label Certificate! I get it thanks to my method and to the imput my students receive by the project I choose. So the importance of language awerness is unfolded day by day with all the passages from Italian, Frenc and English. Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Italy Languages are products of the Human mind to communicate, they are instruments of thoughts, they represent a culture and its History. I teacher must be aware of this, as each person should have the possibility to keep always alive his mother tongue Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Gabriela Turea Gabriela Turea I totally agree that language awareness is very important for teachers because otherwise we can lose our students (their attention, their involvement in the class, their willing of learning). By understanding their fist language needs, we overpass all the barriers. Vincenzo M. ITALY Vincenzo M. ITALY Language awareness is essential. Language is a powerful vehicle. "When teaching in a language other than that with which students are familiar, this language is the key, as it becomes the vehicle for transmitting the message to our students". Laura Colombo - Italy Laura Colombo - Italy I believe a good starting point in developing our own language awareness is to consider the differences between BICS and CALP and its implications for our students. I teach English for Information Technology in a technical school and it is easier for students to develop academic language. The most difficult task for me as a teacher is to develop their interpersonal communication skills in a foreign language. David Navas, Spain David Navas, Spain As a secondary teacher, i barely am in a situation where students do not speak spanish. But in primary school i have seen students who do not speak Spanish because they come from another country. And it is crucial trying to speak with them in their language in order to "connect" with them. Rovena Trivanović Rovena Trivanović Croatia I teach students whose primary language-mother tongue is Croatian like mine. Nevertheless, I face challenges in my teaching because of students' poor knowledge of their mother tongue when it comes to basic structures or they hadn't acquired the basics of English in their primary school. I'm aware of that challenge and I try to help them in many ways not to be afraid of taking part in the class despite the challenge they face. There are students who are willing to progress in that sense,but there are also students who come to the conclusion that thex can't learn a foreign language and don't put any effort in it. I hope this course will help me deal with those chellenges. Özcan TURAN Özcan TURAN We have many refugee students it is important to try to speak in their language to catch the I am a teacher of la I am a teacher of language. Language Awareness is important for teachers because it helps us, the teachers, to understand our students much more. it makes us aware about their knowledge about particular subject. According to that what kind of tools of teaching i have to use to enhance their abilities and interest in the classroom. I have faced situations where language awareness would have helped me more to understands my students. I am looking forward to getting to know more about Language Awareness I am a la I am a language t eache Michele, Italy, The next year Michele, Italy, The next year Next year there was in my classroom a student not Italian that speak in an African tongue. It was impossible enter in her world and success in making communication. I think so that in this case LA is the real key to teach. VANESSA, ITALY VANESSA, ITALY Language awareness helps students to feel more at ease in the school environment, and therefore more confident in their didactic and human relationships. Ana B. - Portugal Ana B. - Portugal By using CLIL metodology we can give the same chances for all kids to express themselves and to learn more deeply all the subjects. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. Sonia in Ireland Sonia in Ireland I agree that students need to be supported depending on their level but working with younger students I'm always so impressed by how much they acquire through immersion.At the core of all good classrooms I think we need to create a safe environment where our students aren't afraid to take risks and make mistakes. It can be very daunting for a beginner before they make a breakthrough though. Esmeralda Portugal Esmeralda Portugal As a history teacher in Portugal I have no need to talk in another language but I recognize the importance of the language awareness in student development and their relationsships. Sharon Australia Sharon Australia LA is also about respect - respecting students' first language, their culture, their prior knowledge etc. When teachers and students engage in respectful discussions be it first language or L2 or learning a subject in a foreign language then all the communicative actions and functions are put into place and teaching and learning can take place Francesca Italy Francesca Italy In my opinion language awareness allows me to communicate with all my students in an innovative way and this kind of learning is very appreciated by students and teachers because the cooperative learning , learning by doing and reality tasks can favourite immersive contests Esther Spain Esther Spain I think being awareness of language diversity makes my teaching more interesting and my students have the opportunity to learn from each other. So sometimes we think our class is monolingual and if you ask your students or just do activities as a language biography you could realize our students have a great plurilingual pr ofile so I think it is really important to give visibility to all our students´languages. Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Daniela Daniel, Portugal Daniela Daniel, Portugal I teach English in a small Portuguese town close to the Spanish border. Maybe for that reason, nowadays it’s usual to have in class students from countries such as India, Ukraine, Moldavia or China, for example. As some of them come to Portugal and go to school without understanding or speaking Portuguese, the best way to communicate with them is by using English. So, some language awareness of what an international language such as English is concerned is crucial to them as pupils and to me as their teacher. Hi, I'm a pri Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, Hi, Catello de Sinno - Italy Catello de Sinno - Italy According to my experience, building language awareness also involves helping students gain a positive attitude toward the foreign language by developing the confidence to make an attempt or take a risk. Our pupils shouldn’t be afraid to take a risk or make mistakes and this is possible if they are really motivated to communicate . They are usually motivated if the context and the activities are familiar and near their world. Sara, Portugal Sara, Portugal Well, in my point of view, language awareness is important for teachers cuz we are available to understand and help all the kids, because we can speak and comunicate with them without problems. Will be easier for both - teacher and kids - share points os views, ideas, help to solving some problems, understand some specific necessities and play. I think that is a good way to create na ,environment full of tranquility, security, confidence and initiative. H H Irene M. from Rome Irene M. from Rome I agree about the importance and responsability of being a language aware teacher, in order to help students from different countries to achieve school and social goals. Othermore I think that being a language aware teacher means understanding the needs and the abilities of all students and working to improve the social classroom context. In my opinion, infact, a friendly climate can help learning processes and supporting the teacher’s work. In my teaching experience, I have met students from Romania, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Ucraine, Argentina… and often they didn’t speak and understand the language of schooling. My first responsability is understanding the pupil’s need and deleting the obstacles that might compromise their school career. An educational strategy that I find useful is the peer-learning that helps pupils to bring out their personal abilities. In this way students can becoming more self-confident and aware about their school career in a cooperative climate. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I personally think awareness is a fundamental competence in order to live well Debora Italy Debora Italy The teaching of language plays an important role in learnin and understanding subject content. For this reason it is important to reflect on students' abilities and to create a climate of trust and collaboration, in which the linguistic tool became an opportunity. MARIA ITALY MARIA ITALY I'M A PRIMARY TEACHER AND I THINK THE PUPILS ARE NOT AWARE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE TO KNOW A LANGUAGE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR MOTHER TONGUE. SO HERE THE LANGUAGE LEARNING HAS TO BE AS NATURAL AS POSSIBLE FROM THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL. THROUGH GAMES, SONGS, RHYMES THEY HAVE TO BECOME CONFIDENT WITH IT AND TO LEARN USING IT IN THE DAILY SCHOOL ROUTINE AT THE BEST Sophia Italy Sophia Italy CLIL lessons are often a daunting challenge, as for many students the use of L2 compromise their learning. I always try to offer enough scaffolding, but I probably should spend more time working on the language. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I think awareness is a fundamental faculty in order to increase sstudents selfesteem so important in every day life meetse Alena, Czechia Alena, Czechia Knowing more about language awareness would be useful while teaching mixed ability classes, where students´ language levels are so different at a time; taking this into account, using appropriate methods to help will be definitely a big benefit to these students (especially those who feel uneasy during L2 lessons). Maria Grassi, Italy Maria Grassi, Italy Language awareness is an important competence for teachers because it can positively help the process of teaching-learning especially in exchange projects between European and extra-European Schools, in particular I use eTwinning platform and it helps me in different situations with my students. Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy In one of my classes there are three studets from Albania, one from Bangladesh and one from Romania. When I teach subjects as history and geography I use to work a lot on the meaning of the word and I think that this method is very usefull for my students both Italians and foreigns. Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Language awareness facilitates learning process. Language learners need to be supported. Learners` knowledge level of English language has to be taken into consideration and lessons should be appropriately designed in order to meet students` needs. Lucia, Ital Lucia, Ital I think language awareness helps students to be secure and facilitates learning in a cooperative way. Silvia DM, Italy Silvia DM, Italy Students of any age learn better if they are not under pressure and in a state of anxiety, so if you understand their needs sharing the same language they are more likely to improve and be willing to learn. I often ask students who have good knowledge of the target language to translate for the new comers into their mother tongue, but it is not always possible and feasible. Daniela from Parma Daniela from Parma Facing students who had just arrived from a foreign country made me conscious of the importance of my language awareness: I could not act as before. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania To know the new pupils I ask them to come and tell me about their holiday, their hobbies, their favorite stuff and why ... Laura Gianfranceschi Laura Gianfranceschi I often have classes with foreign students. Languange awareness is crucial to get thei learning real and solid İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY A teacher with no language awareness cannot succeed because he / she will close communication channels. First of all, students should be able to understand their cultural values and their level of readiness. If we do not master the language of our students, planning and permanent learning become impossible. Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) I think language awareness is a very important feature for a teacher, because it enables him/her to understand his/her pupils' difficulties when approccing specific subjects, new lexicon, complex concepts. Being aware of linguistic diversity in his/her classroom, a teacher can better anticipate which aspects may require spacial attention, organize his/her material in the most helpful way to guide students in their learning process, choose those methodologies he/she thinks will prove most successful. When faced with difficulties linked to a different linguistic background, I try to better explain the meaning of a word or a costoum exploring its semantic area or its cultural context, operating as many references to other cultures and language as I can. Linguistic and cultural diversity can be a really precious asset in a classroom, though: having an "insider" perspective is a key resource for contrasting prejudice. Sílvia Sílvia Language awareness is very important in order to help students to achieve the objectives of the subject you are teaching. If you are not aware of the challenges they are facing you would not be able to see what they need to improve. Hartmut,Germany Hartmut,Germany Language awareness is important to give students on different language levels the chance to be successful.Today we have more and more students with different nationalities and they have to be integrated. clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems Gianfranca Gianfranca Understanding linguistic diversity is important to understand different needs. In an inclusive school ,integration is the awareness to communicate with other cultures understanding their needs. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania A good language helps you know your pupils better, capture their attention, motivate them to feel attracted to the matter and as comfortable as possible at school Ana, Lisbon PT Ana, Lisbon PT Language awarness is essential to understand our students, their needs and their abilities. In my classroom, for example, I often have students who don't speak one word of portuguese, as they have arrived from asian countries just weeks ago. And as you can imagine, I don't speak any word of nepalese, bangla, indi or gujarati. It's a great challenge for me and every little step, every little word they learn is cheered by the rest of the class. Just knowing and being aware of their complete unfamiliarity with the schooling language and culturemakes me more motivated to use alternative ways of teaching." Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs It is important to be aware of how much a student can read and write a language, in a school inclusion and integration plan I think it is important to communicate with different cultures and understand their needs. after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions Cinzia Marrone Italy Cinzia Marrone Italy I think it’s important in language lessons to create a relaxed atmosphere so children can better understand and communicate with others. Teacher ‘s role is important to let them aware in language learning . So use of games and creation of real context is a best practice to engage learning in both language or not language discipline. Magdalena Uleia , Romania Magdalena Uleia , Romania Language awareness it is similsr with Math awareness : they are clearly usefull for all daylife! Maja Maja As a counsellor I had lot of situations when some teacher were not aware how difficult it is to learn all the facts and understand the instructions for students with Croatian as a second language. They ussualy think if studenst comunicate good with students in Croatian, it is a proof that students can achieve the same academic succsess in academic language. Antonella Antonella language awareness is a very essential topic to understand students and to let them trust on us and it is also an index of teaching succes Sarah, UK Sarah, UK It is important to be aware of how well a pupil can read and write a language as this can affect how they access the curriculum. Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Language Awerness i the conscious perception in language learning, language teaching and language use. L.A. is the explicit knowledge about language. Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Language awareness is important to all teachers because they have to help students to socialize, to know each other, to be bold in communication. Teachers to apply classroom interactive methods, educational games. Mary Mary It's very important to communicate with different culture and understand their needs. Roberta Roberta language awareness is very important for students because to facilitate the cooperative learning Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness Language awareness If you are aware of the diversity of languages in your classroom, you will understand and be understood!! Students may become the teacher and vice versa; it will create a trustful environment motivating students to learn more effectively! The learning/teaching process will be smoother and aims will be achieved easily!! Eduarda, Portugal Eduarda, Portugal LA is plays an essential role in language teaching. When a teacher becomes aware of language diversity inside the classroom, he/she can easily understand the students' needs and or difficulties. Becoming aware of the different levels of language knowledge in our classrooms is a priority to planning and adapting. Once I had a multiethnic group and communication was not easy. It was a mixed language class really: sometimes I had to speak either Portuguese or Spanish so they could understand the meaning of specifuc vocabulay in English. It turned out that I also learnt a few words in their mother language. Chiara Chiara Language awareness helps teachers to understand different point of views from other cultures. According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers Hanife, Turkey Hanife, Turkey Language awareness is crucial to help pupils that we understand their anxıous and it hepls students to calm down. In addition to this, LA can motivate students that they can overcome with language barries and also heps teachers to develop strategies. Ela, Poland Ela, Poland I`m a teacher who teach mother tongue. I teach students how using Polish language rules can help to acquire linguistic awareness between their mother tongue and another language. It is important especially for pupils who come back to Poland from moving abroad. In our school it happen very often .So, the teacher should be aware of these processes and find the best way to help pupils to overcome these problems. Brigida Calise Brigida Calise Language awareness is crucial because as a teacher I must be aware of my students' language differences in order to help them learn easily and without any stress. Moreno, Rieti, Italy Moreno, Rieti, Italy The awareness about language is fundametal during a lesson, you have to expose the concept in a very clear, fluid and impacting way. Students must be captured by a teacher, and the main way is to be confident about the contact with students. Usually students haven't a real awareness with language, an analysis of the sentences and words could be helpful. Ayşe,Turkey Ayşe,Turkey Language awareness is so important because everybody thinks there are some bariers of learning new language but it is not true. We must facilitate learning languages in a correct and easy way. Giuseppina V. , Italy Giuseppina V. , Italy Language awareness or, perhaps better, learning to speak foreign languages is very important for every teacher because it leads us to reflect on ourselves and our learning difficulties. In order to learn how speaking foreign languages we must remove what Krashen calls Affective Filter, sometimes it may happen that we must become resilient as well. All this helps us to better understand the difficulties of our students whether they are native speakers or foreigners and teaches us to encourage them and make them comfortable. I believe that any teacher, not only second language teachers, should be resilience tutors. We are teachers of both topics and life . Matanat Ahadova Matanat Ahadova Aim in language awareness was that pupils in their foreign language learning should be stimulated to ask questions about language, how it functions and what role it plays in people’s lives; in other words, to have an explicit approach to different phenomena of language. FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY This school year my colleagues and I are going to face a great challemge. In a class of the third and last year of Middle School, we have a new student from Ukraine. He has moved to Italy with his family for TWO months and he can't speak a word of Italian! Fortunately, he can speak some English, so we are going to use this leanguage as a means of communication. At the end of this year students have a final State exam and National Standard Tests (INVALSI) in Italian, MAths and English. I think that language awareness, most of all for non-language teachers, is crucial to help this student facing successfully this school year. Maria Jastrząb Maria Jastrząb I'm not an English teacher but I'm interested in language teaching methodology . I use the best ideas adjusting them to teaching my young students ex. maths, art, music etc. Sylwia, Poland Sylwia, Poland What is important in LA to know the student's abilities so then we're more reliable . Creating a good climate inside the class to make students comfortable. Yes I think language Yes I think language awareness is very important in teaching field .In our class all students are not on the same level in terms of language .Teachers must be efficient in different languages to engage students in class and develops good lear Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE Konu dil farkındalığı, Sınıfımızda farklı dillerde öğrenciler olduğunda, dersin işlenişi öğrencilerin dil performanslarına göre değişmektedir. Ayrıca öğrencinin öğretmeni sevmesi derse ve dile karşı tutumunu değiştirir. Örneğin, öğrencilerimin dilini bilmediğim bir okulda çalıştım. Öğrenci bana mis mis dedi. Benim dilimde mis güzel koku demektir. fakat öğrencimin dilinde mis Wc ye gitmek demekmiş az kalsın çocuk üzerine yapacaktı. Alina, Rom Alina, Rom LA is very important because using different interactive methods pupils get more confident, they have courage to use the new language, but also it is our duty to create a pleasant climate and encourage them all the time. José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal LA is crucial if you have students from other countries. In a time where european countries are receiving and accepting refugees, a portuguese teacher like me have to be able to deal with children wich have no idea of what portuguese language is. In a first moment it would be of much importance that a I could communicate with them in order to make them feel more at home and beggin the inclusion in the school and in the portuguese society. We, the teachers, can be and should be the bridge between people countries and, why not?, civilizations. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. . Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Language awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in classroom. It´s very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers can use different strategies (cooperative learning, stimulating and comfortable climate in classroom) and the students be more involved in learning progress. Roberta (Italy) Roberta (Italy) LA is important to avoid our students feel discouraged while studying because they don't achieve good results Giedre (Lithuania) Giedre (Lithuania) LA is very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers know more methologies how to make students be involved in learning process. I'd like that my students want to learn because I involve them into eTwinning projects where they have to communicate and collaborate with different countries students. It helps me improve their knowledge of language and awareness as well. Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy LAnguage awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in the classroom. Language awareness for students can stimulate cooperative learning, thus creating a stimulating and comfortable climate in the classroom. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Costina, Heidelberg Costina, Heidelberg Language awareness is fundamental, because it helps students to feel more confident and it helps me to facilitate learning in a harmonious and sustainable way. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. Carmen, Romania oretta oretta Language awareness is important for teachers because it helps students to communicate, to understand the subject and to learn it. The main problem is when students are not familiar with the language that I am using for teaching , they do not reach a certain grade and they fail. It is very difficult to understand their needs and to get less frustrated. Ciro, Italy Ciro, Italy Three years ago i teached italian to 4 foreign students came to my school because parents moved here for working. Basicly i teached italian passing by a common language such as English but i would learning topics in Russian or Arab to better make learning to them. Elín Iceland Elín Iceland I think that is good so it is possible to practice all skills Daisy (Italy Daisy (Italy It is important to know the students' language background in order to help them when they are facing learning / communicative difficulties. If the teacher is aware he/ she can use strategies in order to make the learning path easier ( I' m referring to collaborative tasks , peer revisions, individualised teaching) Eda,Turkey Eda,Turkey I think language awareness is definitely important.If a student knows why he learns another language,he can be more eager to learn.On the other hand,teaching a language to the students from different backgrounds is really hard.Most of the time,the teachers dont know how to approach them.Yesterday,one of my teacher friend came to me and said that a Syrian student cried for the whole lesson and I didnt understand why he cried.The teacher's motivation was decreased by his crying.That was only one example. M.Rosa M.Rosa (Italy) Teachers need to be aware of the different languages in their classrooms to help foreign students Maren, Germany Maren, Germany Language awareness is important for all teachers, because language is the foundation stone for all learning processes. Often students would be able to understand a topic in their own language but struggle to follow the class because of language barriers. This is why all teachers need to be aware of the language diversity in a classroom Federica, Italy Federica, Italy I've had a lot of foreign students in my classes, mainly from Albania, Morocco, Pakistan, Romania and Senegal. When I told them that I studied English for a long time, they felt at ease during the lessons, knowing that I could translate italian difficult words into English and better understand their difficulties. Carolina ,Italy Carolina ,Italy In my opinion the awareness of the different language is very iimportant to help students to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in learning and improving languages.Language awareness increase teacher responsibility, if the student doesn't reach all this one, in this case the teacher should create a climate of trust in which exchange a climate of trust which exchange and communicate among students and with the teacher are facilited MariaM - Gaeta, Italy MariaM - Gaeta, Italy Every year some pupils coming from foreign countries are included in our classes. They often barely know the Italian language, so language awareness can help me to guide them towards a more aware communication with classmates and teachers, and towards a more effective and significant learning. I've sometimes had I've sometimes had a foreign student in my classes. I find it very stimulating and motivating for student and for me as well. Maria, italy Maria, italy As a teacher of English last year I supported a colleague who teaches Law in Clil. We found it very helpful to resort to comparisons between the British/American system and the Italian system Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy In a class last year , I had many foreign students, BES and a special student. Not an easy situation but I tried to involve them by letting them present their own country including traditions , culture, holidays and family lifestyle. Then I decided they should try and find words which were in some way similiar to Italian or English. Not so easy but at least interesting for them and proud to introduce their country or little village they came from. Rosario from Spain Rosario from Spain When in a class I have students with more facility to use a language than others, one strategy that I usually use is to work in heterogeneous groups, where students can help each other, solving simple doubts into the group and exercising little by little in the use of the new language. Martina from Italy Martina from Italy Language awareness helps me to be more interested in pupils's needs. it's importanta for the whole class Federica Tagliafichi Federica Tagliafichi in my opinion the awareness of the different languages becomes a cultural resource for the whole class. If I can I will help students or parents to welcome students of different nationalities who do not yet know the language. I try to use group work to get the sweaty to exchange experiences. Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy We are two foreign languages Teachers working together. Language awareness is important to help student to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in Learning and improving languages Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy we are two foreign languages teachers working together. Language awareness is important because to help students to overcome their difficulties and make them more interested in learning and improving languages. Lia MOlini from ITaly Lia MOlini from ITaly I think that teachers can better understand pupils'needs and recognize their abilities. This is a good point to start teaching language in a successful way inci Süzer, Turkey inci Süzer, Turkey Being language aware means you understand the possible challenges that language presents to learning. These challenges might arise because a student is learning a subject through an additional language or it might be the first time a student has come across certain vocabulary or structures in their first language. A teacher who is ‘language aware’ understands why students face these difficulties and what they can do to support students. inci inci It is very often in the greek schools. It is very often in the greek schools. Foteini Tsioutsia Lia,Italy Lia,Italy Language awarness implies that the teacher needs to come up constanty with different stategies and and has to face constant challenges. A useful tool is to find connections and to build bridge with different languages, of course, it works especially among languages from the same group, i.e. germanic or romance language or to work with linguistic loans Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Language awareness is important for teachers because it allows to adapt the teaching method to the pupils and make learning easier. Claudia Mazzone - Italy Claudia Mazzone - Italy Last year in the class arrived a girl from Pakistan who could comunicate only in English. In that case the language was a fundamental vehicle to comunicate with her in order to male her feel confortable with her schoolmates and teachers. I think that all the teachers - whatever they learn - should raise a good level of language awareness to be able to communicate with the different language studente , in order to make them reach the result they expect and make them feel integrated with their schoolmates and tachers. Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of communication not only cognitive but also emotional Tiziana Varone, Italy Tiziana Varone, Italy This year I'll face for the first time language diversity in classroom. Two sisters from India will attend my lessons in technologies and telecommunications. They speak Italian, but aren't as good at listening. I hope this course will help me to afford this situation, where a greater language awareness would really help to design the effective learning for those students. Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Globalization leads all teachers to consider linguistic awareness as an important educational purpose so that all students have greater possibilities of integration into society and the world of work. This training must be taken care of since primary school in order to develop in successive degrees and in universities. Usually I organize my teaching activities on a methodology of cooperatives and pair work, Web Quest, Located Learning Episodes and CLIL. Alessandra Amideo, Alessandra Amideo, ITALY Language awareness will help students gain greater operational autonomy, greater awareness of their abilities, greater self-criticism to overcome weaknesses and a growth of self-esteem.In addition, awareness of the language, will stimulate teachers to take care of the different personalized strategies that take into account the uniqueness of the person. Odarka, Latvia Odarka, Latvia Upon me our (teacher)awareness, knowledge ans skills is what we need to know and able to do. And what roles do we need to change, and therefore, how will this change the patterns of relationships in the classroom. Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy In our school this year there is an Ukrainian child who does'nt know the Italian language. The child is very motivated to socialize with the group, but the linguistic gap is a strong limitation although teachers and pupils try to communicate with extraverbal languages. We have now requested the figure of a linguistic mediator to help child and teachers. A higher level of linguage awareness would have favored the inclusion process. Rosy (Italy) Rosy (Italy) I usually used supports and strategies to help foreign students, for example to activate their background knowledge, or teach them vocabulary giving opportunities to practice new words and create situations to provide corrective feedback . Varvara, Latvia Varvara, Latvia i have different students with different English level plus i have not only Latvians in my classroom, but also Russians, who don't understand Latvian so i have to translate them some words or sentences into Latvian and that's why i have created some adapted resources that have helped me to improve my language awareness Martina Martina Language awarness is important for all teachers because in our classrooms there are many foreign students. They need to be guided in the process of learning a new language, buy starting from their mother tongue Rita Luiso Rita Luiso Language awareness is important for teachers because probably it can encourage and integrate all students (also with special needs and insecure) learning Alex_PT Alex_PT Whenever I have students who hardly know any English, there are extra lessons/ there is extra help as well as adapted resources in and out of the class. It’s of paramount importance that this student doesn’t feel left aside, forgotten and insecure; right from the start, they have to be integrated and encouraged to learn and overcome yet still another hurdle in a new country, a new culture. Rita Xuereb, Malta Rita Xuereb, Malta Language awareness will help children feel happy and secure as they will be able to understand and appreciate all that is going on around them. I think with very young children it is essential to create visual resources, to facilitate this understanding. In my school there a In my school there are a few foreign students from China,Ukraine and Morocco. These students often don’t understand our language. It’s difficult to communicate complex messages to them so the school organises basic language courses and the teachers design personalised didactic programmes. My position in the classroom enables me to cooperate with the teacher of specific subjects helping the single students in need. Daniela Galea, Malta Daniela Galea, Malta During my past 7 years of teaching, I can confidently say that I had students from all parts of the world in my classroom. At first it was a bit difficult to handle as obviously they did not know our language, which is Maltese, and some of them not even English. Together with my colleagues, I created adapted resources to help them learn basic Maltese and English. However, a few years ago we created migrant-learners classes, in which students are taught English and Maltese for one scholastic year before joining the mainstream classes. As from last year, we also have A1 classes which are basic Maltese lessons especially for foreigners that can communicate in English. Patrizia Patrizia try to treat all students equally and help who is in need for this - I tell to all that more languages you speak more richer you are Daniela Roversi. Italy Daniela Roversi. Italy I'm from year to year surer, that the approach of the teacher to his/her subject is extremely important. Only when the teacher reaches his/her students can he/she reach his/her goal. Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta A colleague of mine, had a foreign student in her class. Unfortunately the student barely knew English. Together with the complimentary teacher, they managed to compile resources to help him with the basic needs of the language and then later on move on to academic subjects. Filomena Montella, Italy Filomena Montella, Italy HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY Language awareness increases teacher responsibility. The teacher who cannot reach his / her student is ineffective. The right to education of the student is violated. the teacher should know not only his / her language but also the culture. the real success comes after that. Tiziana ITALY Tiziana ITALY Language awareness is important for any educator dealing with students whose mother tongue is different from the one he/she speaks. It is important for any task and activity which we carry out while teaching languages and also other subjects. Lena, Germany Lena, Germany I think that language is the key to communication. However, language does not say anything about understanding, knowledge and intelligence. I have often seen difficulties with the subject language but not with the subject itself. I think with this differentiation in mind, we have to help our students get insights into the subject on the one hand and teach them the language of the subject on the other hand... Violeta (Romania Violeta (Romania I am a french teacher from Romania. I vote for language awareness because i think that is important for all of us, teachers or students, to become aware of the place occupied by the foreign languages. Its very important to be abble to communicate and to pass on all the informations about the culture and the civilisation of a country. Annamaria (Italy Annamaria (Italy As teacher I have often seen the difficulties lived by my foreign students in studying subjects in a different language. Having a wider language awareness I think that could help a lot them Liana - Italy Liana - Italy As a teacher, I think that LA awareness is mainly important to establish a positive relation with my pupils. Indeed, a teacher should make pupils protagonists of their learning in order to increase their confidence with language, their self-esteem and motivation, for instance through linguistic plays and storytelling. Fatma ozkukekci Fatma ozkukekci I think awareness of language is very important in the class because there are arabic students in my class when I talk about their language they focus on us very much Giuseppe, Italy Giuseppe, Italy In my practice as a Math Teacher, I have found that there are three cyclic problems on bilingual mathematics learners. The first one focuses on acquisition of vocabulary, the second one focuses on the construction of multiple meanings across registers, and the last one focuses on participation in mathematical practices. This last one is due to the different socio-cultural views of both language and maths learning which can become more complex and, following this, losing sight of what is really important and worth as significant competence in mathematical communication. Antonino, Italy Antonino, Italy Although I don't teach by CLIL, I believe that I can talk about other topics from grammar spontaneously and create a really creative atmosphere by language awareness. The language is the vehicle by which you can touch students' hearts Vicky Archondi, Greece Vicky Archondi, Greece For the past 9 years I have been working in a Technical Lyceum in Magnesia which always accepts students from Albania. The mere fact that I'm not fully language and culture aware with regard to Albania , constitutes a barrier between me , my Albanian students my teaching and therefore their learning. If I manage to overcome this barrier, I'm certain that I will gain their trust, motivate them in their learning and help them find the means to reach their potential Fátima Silva, Portugal Fátima Silva, Portugal Indeed it is important to be language aware. Therefore are ready to provide our students with content and feedback no matter what we had planned for a particular lesson. It is also important to help our learners develop that skill. When we are language aware, we understand how to communicate effectively with others, we understand and produce content that is understood by others Tea Sisko, Croatia Tea Sisko, Croatia While teaching English I should be LA that my students connect this FL to their MT which has different rules. I should also be aware of topics I am presenting in my English class and check my students' understanding. The crucial thing I should make is to ensure that my students feel comfortable in my class, create a climate of trust in which they can express themselves freely and communicate with peers and me. Giusy Giugliano, Italy Giusy Giugliano, Italy In my school there are a lot of immigrant students and very often communication is not immediate. We have organized some learning groups where italian sts help foreign sts, a sort of peer tutoring and it seems to be working, above all for a fully inclusion! Gabriela, Romania Gabriela, Romania Language is an essential tool for learning. When you don't understand, you might lose interest and lack motivation for learning. I totally agree that language awareness is important to facilitate learning, increase motivation and communication. Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy Matilde Matilde Our pupils usually start school when they are 3 years old. Our pre-primary teachers teach them the language using pictures, games, songs, tales... When they are 6 years old, they can communicate and understand the language used at school. If not, additional help is provided to them. Creating a safe and friendly environment is one of the clues. ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey ismail erdoğan, Çanakkale, Turkey Yeah, I have faced students whose mother language is not what I taught. Sometimes I learnt their language and we communicated. Adife DEMİRTAŞ Adife DEMİRTAŞ I totaly agree with the idea that language awarness plays an important role for teachers for ; - language awarness helps us with the readiness of pupils, - we can eaily create motivation for their learnings, - we can create "sense of belonging" for our pupils if we have experience in language awarness. Also, I have many classes which consists of refugees students from Syria and being aware of language and diversities always helps me creating motivation for both me and my pupils during learning journey. Valentina (Italy) Valentina (Italy) I never had foreign students in the classroom whose first language wasn't Italian, but I often offer examples from other languages when I try to explain some grammar or semantics concepts. I think that this "theoretical" exposure to diversity can give a big incentive to pursue studying and paying attention during the lessons. In add, putting all the languages on the same identical ground of importance and clarify the links between them could prevent children from developing harmful group identity feelings. Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) Cecelia (Ireland) I'm not sure if language awareness is always the issue - for me it's more one of capacity. When perhaps half the class are learning English as an Additional Language (but at varying degrees of Ilaria Ilaria The difference between a normal class activity and CLIL activity lies in the fact that the language used is not needed only as a communicative filter, but that it can even block the process of interaction at the time same. As a result it is necessary guide and assist students in the overcome linguistic barriers letting them see, in succession, learning a foreign language as a possibility not only of 5 improve their linguistic skills but, above all, increase and deepen their skills knowledge of the subject matter. Grace Grace Dealing with foreign students who have been in Italy for years or were born here from foreign families, I experience every day there's a gap between their bics and calp for example when reading a written, formal text; they may not understand some peculiar expressions when translaring from L2 to L1 ( which is not their native language). I help them by making examples or "translating" in a less formal language. Ilaria Ilaria CLIL is a methodology that promotes promotion intercultural education, the plurilingual approach and comparisons language. Facilitates the use of language in another cognitive area. Promotes the use of the language to PROMOTE A CONTENT, LIBERANDOLA DAI "FALSI PRAGMATICI", that is, uses the language for transmit content by releasing it from functions and structures grammatical, making it an instinctual action. Romit kaur India Romit kaur India As we say every student is different and comes from different backgrounds, we have to be language proficient so that every student is understanding what we are saying .So teacher is responsible for the learning development of a student. Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroab. Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving d Gabriella Gabriella We seldom have foreign children in class arriving directly from abroad. We have children whose families have arrived in Italy some years ago and most of them have attended infant school so they have a basic knowledge of italian. This children can have problems with language when they start to study specific disciplines and find it hard to keep up with their italian mates. We always should keep in mind that their "language module" works perfectly in their first language and that we should help them to use their abilities in what is their second language. Concetta, Sicily Concetta, Sicily Language awareness … A teacher who is “language-aware” understands in which way students can face language difficulties, the language needs of their students and what he/she can do to support them. For all students, language is a vehicle for learning. It is through language that learners access the content of the lesson and communicate their ideas. So, as a teacher, it is my responsibility to make sure that language isn’t a barrier to learning. Teaching and learning through an additional language encourages understanding different cultures and improves students’ cognitive ability, so they can communicate with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Knowledge of other languages encourages new ways of thinking and of perceiving the world. We live in an increasingly global world and language skills make travel easier, provide opportunities and improve life conditions. Diana Diana In my life I had the opportunity to study three foreign languages. I'm not at the top when I speak or when I try to listen and understand in these foreign languages but I say that I could survive in many different foreign lands without fear. This opportunity is , therefore, already a good reason that gives me the desire to help my students and to find the better way to teach them English at school. Then I saw that children with some learning difficulties, when the foreign language is teached in the right way, can understand and take part, they can find their place and their role in the classroom, and this is very important for their growth FRANCESCA FRANCESCA Knowing and speaking well in English allows children to gain more self- confidence and increase their level of personal self-est K K L L Leonardo Benedetti Leonardo Benedetti Italy I think that LA is fundamental. I have experienced and I am experiencing it everyday at school. Talking about art, design, architecture, it is very important to find the right way, the right words to let the students understand the topics Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Language awareness is important for all teachers, because it helps students to be calm, so they can learn easily and quikly. It' s very important to facilitate learning in a cooperative way. Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy Giuseppe Vecchio, Italy In my classes there are pupils coming from different countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Ukraine. Language awareness helps the teacher understand his pupils' needs and skills; moreover, it helps pupils communicate with the class and the teacher and facilitate learning process. Maria Kleidara Maria Kleidara Last school year I had four new students from Syria who didn;t talk at all Greek. I tried to communicate with them but they were only 5 years old and it was very difficult. Although they had many abilities it was difficult to help them. So I asked for help from a mother of those students. She was teacher in her country too. So we were cooperate and manage to learn both the languages and I realize how creative a class can be when the language borders are no longer a problem. But what happens when you don't have help? Aritz, Basque Countryu Aritz, Basque Countryu As a teacher, language awareness is key to understand our students needs. Some children feel apart the first days because they don't understand. But we have another global communication way that is non-verbal. We can help our students to enhance their language skills starting with the basic and also with the help of their classmates. Bilingual school Bilingual school In our school the teachers have to be very aware of the vocabulary that is used and support a lot of the language with other forms of learning such as visual and kinesthetic learning. It is also important for teachers to stretch those children who are able in their mother tongue to feel engaged within lessons too. Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy Cinzia Fiorentini Bergamo Italy I think , as teachers, we must be aware of our language knowledge and pay attention to the students' one. Through etwinning projects and teachers training our classes must be openmind and aware of our culture dversity and our different languages. Roberto, Forlì Roberto, Forlì Language awareness is important to me to design effective CLIL modules for my students. For instance, I have to pay attention to not introduce too many new L2 terms in each lesson, to use short and simple sentences, and so on. I can design effective CLIL lessons only if I have a good Language awareness. Anna Kaya, Sweden Anna Kaya, Sweden When my colleagues and I plan our teaching we try to find materials in our students strongest languages so we now that all of the students can read or listen in a language they can understand. We also try to plan for scaffolding so all the students can participate in the classroom activities and succeed with the assignments. This is quite complicated regarding the fact that all our students are in different ages and have different school background. In Sweden all newly arrived students have “study guidance in their mother tongue” but that is maybe one or two hours per week and the students need more support. Our bilingual colleagues (study guides or mother tongue teachers) are a great support, not only for the students but also for us teachers that don’t share languages with our students. Monica Boccoli Monica Boccoli In my opinion, there are a lot of resources to improve my language awareness: etwinning, European Schoolnet Academy, Teacher Academy, MIE Microsoft, Skype in the classroom... Gianni Lottino Gianni Lottino Every year I take part in an eTwinning project and it's to years I receive tu Quality Label Certificate! I get it thanks to my method and to the imput my students receive by the project I choose. So the importance of language awerness is unfolded day by day with all the passages from Italian, Frenc and English. Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Italy Languages are products of the Human mind to communicate, they are instruments of thoughts, they represent a culture and its History. I teacher must be aware of this, as each person should have the possibility to keep always alive his mother tongue Rosamaria Teodorani Rosamaria Teodorani Rome Gabriela Turea Gabriela Turea I totally agree that language awareness is very important for teachers because otherwise we can lose our students (their attention, their involvement in the class, their willing of learning). By understanding their fist language needs, we overpass all the barriers. Vincenzo M. ITALY Vincenzo M. ITALY Language awareness is essential. Language is a powerful vehicle. "When teaching in a language other than that with which students are familiar, this language is the key, as it becomes the vehicle for transmitting the message to our students". Laura Colombo - Italy Laura Colombo - Italy I believe a good starting point in developing our own language awareness is to consider the differences between BICS and CALP and its implications for our students. I teach English for Information Technology in a technical school and it is easier for students to develop academic language. The most difficult task for me as a teacher is to develop their interpersonal communication skills in a foreign language. David Navas, Spain David Navas, Spain As a secondary teacher, i barely am in a situation where students do not speak spanish. But in primary school i have seen students who do not speak Spanish because they come from another country. And it is crucial trying to speak with them in their language in order to "connect" with them. Rovena Trivanović Rovena Trivanović Croatia I teach students whose primary language-mother tongue is Croatian like mine. Nevertheless, I face challenges in my teaching because of students' poor knowledge of their mother tongue when it comes to basic structures or they hadn't acquired the basics of English in their primary school. I'm aware of that challenge and I try to help them in many ways not to be afraid of taking part in the class despite the challenge they face. There are students who are willing to progress in that sense,but there are also students who come to the conclusion that thex can't learn a foreign language and don't put any effort in it. I hope this course will help me deal with those chellenges. Özcan TURAN Özcan TURAN We have many refugee students it is important to try to speak in their language to catch the I am a teacher of la I am a teacher of language. Language Awareness is important for teachers because it helps us, the teachers, to understand our students much more. it makes us aware about their knowledge about particular subject. According to that what kind of tools of teaching i have to use to enhance their abilities and interest in the classroom. I have faced situations where language awareness would have helped me more to understands my students. I am looking forward to getting to know more about Language Awareness I am a la I am a language t eache Michele, Italy, The next year Michele, Italy, The next year Next year there was in my classroom a student not Italian that speak in an African tongue. It was impossible enter in her world and success in making communication. I think so that in this case LA is the real key to teach. VANESSA, ITALY VANESSA, ITALY Language awareness helps students to feel more at ease in the school environment, and therefore more confident in their didactic and human relationships. Ana B. - Portugal Ana B. - Portugal By using CLIL metodology we can give the same chances for all kids to express themselves and to learn more deeply all the subjects. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. language awareness is very important for teachers and for children. Helps to compare and share games and activities without problems. It serves to get to know the world and also to deal with people. Sonia in Ireland Sonia in Ireland I agree that students need to be supported depending on their level but working with younger students I'm always so impressed by how much they acquire through immersion.At the core of all good classrooms I think we need to create a safe environment where our students aren't afraid to take risks and make mistakes. It can be very daunting for a beginner before they make a breakthrough though. Esmeralda Portugal Esmeralda Portugal As a history teacher in Portugal I have no need to talk in another language but I recognize the importance of the language awareness in student development and their relationsships. Sharon Australia Sharon Australia LA is also about respect - respecting students' first language, their culture, their prior knowledge etc. When teachers and students engage in respectful discussions be it first language or L2 or learning a subject in a foreign language then all the communicative actions and functions are put into place and teaching and learning can take place Francesca Italy Francesca Italy In my opinion language awareness allows me to communicate with all my students in an innovative way and this kind of learning is very appreciated by students and teachers because the cooperative learning , learning by doing and reality tasks can favourite immersive contests Esther Spain Esther Spain I think being awareness of language diversity makes my teaching more interesting and my students have the opportunity to learn from each other. So sometimes we think our class is monolingual and if you ask your students or just do activities as a language biography you could realize our students have a great plurilingual pr ofile so I think it is really important to give visibility to all our students´languages. Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Daniela Daniel, Portugal Daniela Daniel, Portugal I teach English in a small Portuguese town close to the Spanish border. Maybe for that reason, nowadays it’s usual to have in class students from countries such as India, Ukraine, Moldavia or China, for example. As some of them come to Portugal and go to school without understanding or speaking Portuguese, the best way to communicate with them is by using English. So, some language awareness of what an international language such as English is concerned is crucial to them as pupils and to me as their teacher. Hi, I'm a pri Hi, I'm a primary teacher! My class is a special class: there are lots of children speaking different languages. I think and I see every day thath these kids are more flexible and more open to the world and to the differences. (Excuse me to my bad Englinsh!) Hi, Hi, Catello de Sinno - Italy Catello de Sinno - Italy According to my experience, building language awareness also involves helping students gain a positive attitude toward the foreign language by developing the confidence to make an attempt or take a risk. Our pupils shouldn’t be afraid to take a risk or make mistakes and this is possible if they are really motivated to communicate . They are usually motivated if the context and the activities are familiar and near their world. Sara, Portugal Sara, Portugal Well, in my point of view, language awareness is important for teachers cuz we are available to understand and help all the kids, because we can speak and comunicate with them without problems. Will be easier for both - teacher and kids - share points os views, ideas, help to solving some problems, understand some specific necessities and play. I think that is a good way to create na ,environment full of tranquility, security, confidence and initiative. H H Irene M. from Rome Irene M. from Rome I agree about the importance and responsability of being a language aware teacher, in order to help students from different countries to achieve school and social goals. Othermore I think that being a language aware teacher means understanding the needs and the abilities of all students and working to improve the social classroom context. In my opinion, infact, a friendly climate can help learning processes and supporting the teacher’s work. In my teaching experience, I have met students from Romania, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Ucraine, Argentina… and often they didn’t speak and understand the language of schooling. My first responsability is understanding the pupil’s need and deleting the obstacles that might compromise their school career. An educational strategy that I find useful is the peer-learning that helps pupils to bring out their personal abilities. In this way students can becoming more self-confident and aware about their school career in a cooperative climate. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I personally think awareness is a fundamental competence in order to live well Debora Italy Debora Italy The teaching of language plays an important role in learnin and understanding subject content. For this reason it is important to reflect on students' abilities and to create a climate of trust and collaboration, in which the linguistic tool became an opportunity. MARIA ITALY MARIA ITALY I'M A PRIMARY TEACHER AND I THINK THE PUPILS ARE NOT AWARE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE TO KNOW A LANGUAGE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR MOTHER TONGUE. SO HERE THE LANGUAGE LEARNING HAS TO BE AS NATURAL AS POSSIBLE FROM THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL. THROUGH GAMES, SONGS, RHYMES THEY HAVE TO BECOME CONFIDENT WITH IT AND TO LEARN USING IT IN THE DAILY SCHOOL ROUTINE AT THE BEST Sophia Italy Sophia Italy CLIL lessons are often a daunting challenge, as for many students the use of L2 compromise their learning. I always try to offer enough scaffolding, but I probably should spend more time working on the language. Lucia,Crotone Lucia,Crotone I think awareness is a fundamental faculty in order to increase sstudents selfesteem so important in every day life meetse Alena, Czechia Alena, Czechia Knowing more about language awareness would be useful while teaching mixed ability classes, where students´ language levels are so different at a time; taking this into account, using appropriate methods to help will be definitely a big benefit to these students (especially those who feel uneasy during L2 lessons). Maria Grassi, Italy Maria Grassi, Italy Language awareness is an important competence for teachers because it can positively help the process of teaching-learning especially in exchange projects between European and extra-European Schools, in particular I use eTwinning platform and it helps me in different situations with my students. Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy Alessandra, Pordenone - Italy In one of my classes there are three studets from Albania, one from Bangladesh and one from Romania. When I teach subjects as history and geography I use to work a lot on the meaning of the word and I think that this method is very usefull for my students both Italians and foreigns. Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Iveta Leinberga, Latvia Language awareness facilitates learning process. Language learners need to be supported. Learners` knowledge level of English language has to be taken into consideration and lessons should be appropriately designed in order to meet students` needs. Lucia, Ital Lucia, Ital I think language awareness helps students to be secure and facilitates learning in a cooperative way. Silvia DM, Italy Silvia DM, Italy Students of any age learn better if they are not under pressure and in a state of anxiety, so if you understand their needs sharing the same language they are more likely to improve and be willing to learn. I often ask students who have good knowledge of the target language to translate for the new comers into their mother tongue, but it is not always possible and feasible. Daniela from Parma Daniela from Parma Facing students who had just arrived from a foreign country made me conscious of the importance of my language awareness: I could not act as before. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania To know the new pupils I ask them to come and tell me about their holiday, their hobbies, their favorite stuff and why ... Laura Gianfranceschi Laura Gianfranceschi I often have classes with foreign students. Languange awareness is crucial to get thei learning real and solid İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY İSHAK KURT - MANİSA- TURKEY A teacher with no language awareness cannot succeed because he / she will close communication channels. First of all, students should be able to understand their cultural values and their level of readiness. If we do not master the language of our students, planning and permanent learning become impossible. Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) Elisa, from Belluno (Italy) I think language awareness is a very important feature for a teacher, because it enables him/her to understand his/her pupils' difficulties when approccing specific subjects, new lexicon, complex concepts. Being aware of linguistic diversity in his/her classroom, a teacher can better anticipate which aspects may require spacial attention, organize his/her material in the most helpful way to guide students in their learning process, choose those methodologies he/she thinks will prove most successful. When faced with difficulties linked to a different linguistic background, I try to better explain the meaning of a word or a costoum exploring its semantic area or its cultural context, operating as many references to other cultures and language as I can. Linguistic and cultural diversity can be a really precious asset in a classroom, though: having an "insider" perspective is a key resource for contrasting prejudice. Sílvia Sílvia Language awareness is very important in order to help students to achieve the objectives of the subject you are teaching. If you are not aware of the challenges they are facing you would not be able to see what they need to improve. Hartmut,Germany Hartmut,Germany Language awareness is important to give students on different language levels the chance to be successful.Today we have more and more students with different nationalities and they have to be integrated. clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems clotilde language awareness can also develop self-confidence for students and give possibilties to help each others to communicate or to solve their language problems Gianfranca Gianfranca Understanding linguistic diversity is important to understand different needs. In an inclusive school ,integration is the awareness to communicate with other cultures understanding their needs. Alina, Romania Alina, Romania A good language helps you know your pupils better, capture their attention, motivate them to feel attracted to the matter and as comfortable as possible at school Ana, Lisbon PT Ana, Lisbon PT Language awarness is essential to understand our students, their needs and their abilities. In my classroom, for example, I often have students who don't speak one word of portuguese, as they have arrived from asian countries just weeks ago. And as you can imagine, I don't speak any word of nepalese, bangla, indi or gujarati. It's a great challenge for me and every little step, every little word they learn is cheered by the rest of the class. Just knowing and being aware of their complete unfamiliarity with the schooling language and culturemakes me more motivated to use alternative ways of teaching." Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs Understanding linguistic diversity to understand different needs It is important to be aware of how much a student can read and write a language, in a school inclusion and integration plan I think it is important to communicate with different cultures and understand their needs. after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions after reading about the awareness of language, I think that the teacher plays a fundamental role especially in current school realities characterized by a plurality of different cultures and languages. Finding the right solution is not easy, but surely being aware of the linguistic level and the linguistic needs of children is the right starting point for planning appropriate strategies and interventions Cinzia Marrone Italy Cinzia Marrone Italy I think it’s important in language lessons to create a relaxed atmosphere so children can better understand and communicate with others. Teacher ‘s role is important to let them aware in language learning . So use of games and creation of real context is a best practice to engage learning in both language or not language discipline. Magdalena Uleia , Romania Magdalena Uleia , Romania Language awareness it is similsr with Math awareness : they are clearly usefull for all daylife! Maja Maja As a counsellor I had lot of situations when some teacher were not aware how difficult it is to learn all the facts and understand the instructions for students with Croatian as a second language. They ussualy think if studenst comunicate good with students in Croatian, it is a proof that students can achieve the same academic succsess in academic language. Antonella Antonella language awareness is a very essential topic to understand students and to let them trust on us and it is also an index of teaching succes Sarah, UK Sarah, UK It is important to be aware of how well a pupil can read and write a language as this can affect how they access the curriculum. Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Paola T., Palestrina(Italy) Language Awerness i the conscious perception in language learning, language teaching and language use. L.A. is the explicit knowledge about language. Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Gladiola Bondar, Borca - Romania Language awareness is important to all teachers because they have to help students to socialize, to know each other, to be bold in communication. Teachers to apply classroom interactive methods, educational games. Mary Mary It's very important to communicate with different culture and understand their needs. Roberta Roberta language awareness is very important for students because to facilitate the cooperative learning Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness is very important for teachers and students, because it helps to understand students needs, to understand differenet culture. Language awareness Language awareness If you are aware of the diversity of languages in your classroom, you will understand and be understood!! Students may become the teacher and vice versa; it will create a trustful environment motivating students to learn more effectively! The learning/teaching process will be smoother and aims will be achieved easily!! Eduarda, Portugal Eduarda, Portugal LA is plays an essential role in language teaching. When a teacher becomes aware of language diversity inside the classroom, he/she can easily understand the students' needs and or difficulties. Becoming aware of the different levels of language knowledge in our classrooms is a priority to planning and adapting. Once I had a multiethnic group and communication was not easy. It was a mixed language class really: sometimes I had to speak either Portuguese or Spanish so they could understand the meaning of specifuc vocabulay in English. It turned out that I also learnt a few words in their mother language. Chiara Chiara Language awareness helps teachers to understand different point of views from other cultures. According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers According to me, it promotes effective linguistic competences in teachers Hanife, Turkey Hanife, Turkey Language awareness is crucial to help pupils that we understand their anxıous and it hepls students to calm down. In addition to this, LA can motivate students that they can overcome with language barries and also heps teachers to develop strategies. Ela, Poland Ela, Poland I`m a teacher who teach mother tongue. I teach students how using Polish language rules can help to acquire linguistic awareness between their mother tongue and another language. It is important especially for pupils who come back to Poland from moving abroad. In our school it happen very often .So, the teacher should be aware of these processes and find the best way to help pupils to overcome these problems. Brigida Calise Brigida Calise Language awareness is crucial because as a teacher I must be aware of my students' language differences in order to help them learn easily and without any stress. Moreno, Rieti, Italy Moreno, Rieti, Italy The awareness about language is fundametal during a lesson, you have to expose the concept in a very clear, fluid and impacting way. Students must be captured by a teacher, and the main way is to be confident about the contact with students. Usually students haven't a real awareness with language, an analysis of the sentences and words could be helpful. Ayşe,Turkey Ayşe,Turkey Language awareness is so important because everybody thinks there are some bariers of learning new language but it is not true. We must facilitate learning languages in a correct and easy way. Giuseppina V. , Italy Giuseppina V. , Italy Language awareness or, perhaps better, learning to speak foreign languages is very important for every teacher because it leads us to reflect on ourselves and our learning difficulties. In order to learn how speaking foreign languages we must remove what Krashen calls Affective Filter, sometimes it may happen that we must become resilient as well. All this helps us to better understand the difficulties of our students whether they are native speakers or foreigners and teaches us to encourage them and make them comfortable. I believe that any teacher, not only second language teachers, should be resilience tutors. We are teachers of both topics and life . Matanat Ahadova Matanat Ahadova Aim in language awareness was that pupils in their foreign language learning should be stimulated to ask questions about language, how it functions and what role it plays in people’s lives; in other words, to have an explicit approach to different phenomena of language. FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY FILOMENA BIANCO, ITALY This school year my colleagues and I are going to face a great challemge. In a class of the third and last year of Middle School, we have a new student from Ukraine. He has moved to Italy with his family for TWO months and he can't speak a word of Italian! Fortunately, he can speak some English, so we are going to use this leanguage as a means of communication. At the end of this year students have a final State exam and National Standard Tests (INVALSI) in Italian, MAths and English. I think that language awareness, most of all for non-language teachers, is crucial to help this student facing successfully this school year. Maria Jastrząb Maria Jastrząb I'm not an English teacher but I'm interested in language teaching methodology . I use the best ideas adjusting them to teaching my young students ex. maths, art, music etc. Sylwia, Poland Sylwia, Poland What is important in LA to know the student's abilities so then we're more reliable . Creating a good climate inside the class to make students comfortable. Yes I think language Yes I think language awareness is very important in teaching field .In our class all students are not on the same level in terms of language .Teachers must be efficient in different languages to engage students in class and develops good lear Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless Language is a way in which our students transmit to the rest of their group what they feel , how they want to get understood or make a task that is being planned... if we take this new language to toddlers the gratitude you recive from them is wordless İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE İMRAN ARSLAN TÜRKİYE Konu dil farkındalığı, Sınıfımızda farklı dillerde öğrenciler olduğunda, dersin işlenişi öğrencilerin dil performanslarına göre değişmektedir. Ayrıca öğrencinin öğretmeni sevmesi derse ve dile karşı tutumunu değiştirir. Örneğin, öğrencilerimin dilini bilmediğim bir okulda çalıştım. Öğrenci bana mis mis dedi. Benim dilimde mis güzel koku demektir. fakat öğrencimin dilinde mis Wc ye gitmek demekmiş az kalsın çocuk üzerine yapacaktı. Alina, Rom Alina, Rom LA is very important because using different interactive methods pupils get more confident, they have courage to use the new language, but also it is our duty to create a pleasant climate and encourage them all the time. José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal José Carlos Lopes, Guarda, Portugal LA is crucial if you have students from other countries. In a time where european countries are receiving and accepting refugees, a portuguese teacher like me have to be able to deal with children wich have no idea of what portuguese language is. In a first moment it would be of much importance that a I could communicate with them in order to make them feel more at home and beggin the inclusion in the school and in the portuguese society. We, the teachers, can be and should be the bridge between people countries and, why not?, civilizations. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. Anna, Italy.Linguistic awareness helps to create empathy. There was a situation in which a boy of foreign origin used words without understanding their meaning. In this way he made a huge effort. Understanding the problem was not immediate because he used words spontaneously. But then explaining in depth the meaning trying to find a link with his language of origin the Romanian we managed to have a greater mastery both me and him. . Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Maria Goreti Silva Rocha (Portugal) Language awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in classroom. It´s very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers can use different strategies (cooperative learning, stimulating and comfortable climate in classroom) and the students be more involved in learning progress. Roberta (Italy) Roberta (Italy) LA is important to avoid our students feel discouraged while studying because they don't achieve good results Giedre (Lithuania) Giedre (Lithuania) LA is very important for teachers as teachers can help students to learn. Teachers know more methologies how to make students be involved in learning process. I'd like that my students want to learn because I involve them into eTwinning projects where they have to communicate and collaborate with different countries students. It helps me improve their knowledge of language and awareness as well. Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy Micihela, Chemistry teacher from Italy LAnguage awareness helps teachers to promote the inclusion of foreign students in the classroom. Language awareness for students can stimulate cooperative learning, thus creating a stimulating and comfortable climate in the classroom. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Francesca Italy Language awareness means that a student must understand the importance of learning a language, he must find reasons why he is learning it. it's not easy especially with teanagers!! So teachers have to involve emotionally students in learning a foreign language. Otherwise it is only a waste of time. Costina, Heidelberg Costina, Heidelberg Language awareness is fundamental, because it helps students to feel more confident and it helps me to facilitate learning in a harmonious and sustainable way. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. As far as I see it, Awareness of a foreign language, as well as of the mother tonhue, is an invaluable tool for a teacher, with which they can instil and develop communication of any kind, an indispensable 21st century skill. Carmen, Romania oretta oretta Language awareness is important for teachers because it helps students to communicate, to understand the subject and to learn it. The main problem is when students are not familiar with the language that I am using for teaching , they do not reach a certain grade and they fail. It is very difficult to understand their needs and to get less frustrated. Ciro, Italy Ciro, Italy Three years ago i teached italian to 4 foreign students came to my school because parents moved here for working. Basicly i teached italian passing by a common language such as English but i would learning topics in Russian or Arab to better make learning to them. Elín Iceland Elín Iceland I think that is good so it is possible to practice all skills Daisy (Italy Daisy (Italy It is important to know the students' language background in order to help them when they are facing learning / communicative difficulties. If the teacher is aware he/ she can use strategies in order to make the learning path easier ( I' m referring to collaborative tasks , peer revisions, individualised teaching) Eda,Turkey Eda,Turkey I think language awareness is definitely important.If a student knows why he learns another language,he can be more eager to learn.On the other hand,teaching a language to the students from different backgrounds is really hard.Most of the time,the teachers dont know how to approach them.Yesterday,one of my teacher friend came to me and said that a Syrian student cried for the whole lesson and I didnt understand why he cried.The teacher's motivation was decreased by his crying.That was only one example. M.Rosa M.Rosa (Italy) Teachers need to be aware of the different languages in their classrooms to help foreign students Maren, Germany Maren, Germany Language awareness is important for all teachers, because language is the foundation stone for all learning processes. Often students would be able to understand a topic in their own language but struggle to follow the class because of language barriers. This is why all teachers need to be aware of the language diversity in a classroom Federica, Italy Federica, Italy I've had a lot of foreign students in my classes, mainly from Albania, Morocco, Pakistan, Romania and Senegal. When I told them that I studied English for a long time, they felt at ease during the lessons, knowing that I could translate italian difficult words into English and better understand their difficulties. Carolina ,Italy Carolina ,Italy In my opinion the awareness of the different language is very iimportant to help students to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in learning and improving languages.Language awareness increase teacher responsibility, if the student doesn't reach all this one, in this case the teacher should create a climate of trust in which exchange a climate of trust which exchange and communicate among students and with the teacher are facilited MariaM - Gaeta, Italy MariaM - Gaeta, Italy Every year some pupils coming from foreign countries are included in our classes. They often barely know the Italian language, so language awareness can help me to guide them towards a more aware communication with classmates and teachers, and towards a more effective and significant learning. I've sometimes had I've sometimes had a foreign student in my classes. I find it very stimulating and motivating for student and for me as well. Maria, italy Maria, italy As a teacher of English last year I supported a colleague who teaches Law in Clil. We found it very helpful to resort to comparisons between the British/American system and the Italian system Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy Gina, Italy In a class last year , I had many foreign students, BES and a special student. Not an easy situation but I tried to involve them by letting them present their own country including traditions , culture, holidays and family lifestyle. Then I decided they should try and find words which were in some way similiar to Italian or English. Not so easy but at least interesting for them and proud to introduce their country or little village they came from. Rosario from Spain Rosario from Spain When in a class I have students with more facility to use a language than others, one strategy that I usually use is to work in heterogeneous groups, where students can help each other, solving simple doubts into the group and exercising little by little in the use of the new language. Martina from Italy Martina from Italy Language awareness helps me to be more interested in pupils's needs. it's importanta for the whole class Federica Tagliafichi Federica Tagliafichi in my opinion the awareness of the different languages becomes a cultural resource for the whole class. If I can I will help students or parents to welcome students of different nationalities who do not yet know the language. I try to use group work to get the sweaty to exchange experiences. Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy Anna Rita e Mariaglefrom Italy We are two foreign languages Teachers working together. Language awareness is important to help student to overcome their difficulties and to make them more interested in Learning and improving languages Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy Mariagle e Annaritia from Italy we are two foreign languages teachers working together. Language awareness is important because to help students to overcome their difficulties and make them more interested in learning and improving languages. Lia MOlini from ITaly Lia MOlini from ITaly I think that teachers can better understand pupils'needs and recognize their abilities. This is a good point to start teaching language in a successful way inci Süzer, Turkey inci Süzer, Turkey Being language aware means you understand the possible challenges that language presents to learning. These challenges might arise because a student is learning a subject through an additional language or it might be the first time a student has come across certain vocabulary or structures in their first language. A teacher who is ‘language aware’ understands why students face these difficulties and what they can do to support students. inci inci It is very often in the greek schools. It is very often in the greek schools. Foteini Tsioutsia Lia,Italy Lia,Italy Language awarness implies that the teacher needs to come up constanty with different stategies and and has to face constant challenges. A useful tool is to find connections and to build bridge with different languages, of course, it works especially among languages from the same group, i.e. germanic or romance language or to work with linguistic loans Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Maddalena Farruggia (Italy) Language awareness is important for teachers because it allows to adapt the teaching method to the pupils and make learning easier. Claudia Mazzone - Italy Claudia Mazzone - Italy Last year in the class arrived a girl from Pakistan who could comunicate only in English. In that case the language was a fundamental vehicle to comunicate with her in order to male her feel confortable with her schoolmates and teachers. I think that all the teachers - whatever they learn - should raise a good level of language awareness to be able to communicate with the different language studente , in order to make them reach the result they expect and make them feel integrated with their schoolmates and tachers. Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Mariateresa De Mattia Foggia Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of communication not only cognitive but also emotional Tiziana Varone, Italy Tiziana Varone, Italy This year I'll face for the first time language diversity in classroom. Two sisters from India will attend my lessons in technologies and telecommunications. They speak Italian, but aren't as good at listening. I hope this course will help me to afford this situation, where a greater language awareness would really help to design the effective learning for those students. Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Patrizia Lampis (Sardinia - Italy) Globalization leads all teachers to consider linguistic awareness as an important educational purpose so that all students have greater possibilities of integration into society and the world of work. This training must be taken care of since primary school in order to develop in successive degrees and in universities. Usually I organize my teaching activities on a methodology of cooperatives and pair work, Web Quest, Located Learning Episodes and CLIL. Alessandra Amideo, Alessandra Amideo, ITALY Language awareness will help students gain greater operational autonomy, greater awareness of their abilities, greater self-criticism to overcome weaknesses and a growth of self-esteem.In addition, awareness of the language, will stimulate teachers to take care of the different personalized strategies that take into account the uniqueness of the person. Odarka, Latvia Odarka, Latvia Upon me our (teacher)awareness, knowledge ans skills is what we need to know and able to do. And what roles do we need to change, and therefore, how will this change the patterns of relationships in the classroom. Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Last year in my classroom arrived a Chinese student who knew no Italian word. I was able to communicate with him only through the English language. Surely having a greater linguistic awareness would have favored a level of not only cognitive but also emotional Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy Maria Antonella Melfi - Foggia - Italy In our school this year there is an Ukrainian child who does'nt know the Italian language. The child is very motivated to socialize with the group, but the linguistic gap is a strong limitation although teachers and pupils try to communicate with extraverbal languages. We have now requested the figure of a linguistic mediator to help child and teachers. A higher level of linguage awareness would have favored the inclusion process. Rosy (Italy) Rosy (Italy) I usually used supports and strategies to help foreign students, for example to activate their background knowledge, or teach them vocabulary giving opportunities to practice new words and create situations to provide corrective feedback . Varvara, Latvia Varvara, Latvia i have different students with different English level plus i have not only Latvians in my classroom, but also Russians, who don't understand Latvian so i have to translate them some words or sentences into Latvian and that's why i have created some adapted resources that have helped me to improve my language awareness Martina Martina Language awarness is important for all teachers because in our classrooms there are many foreign students. They need to be guided in the process of learning a new language, buy starting from their mother tongue Rita Luiso Rita Luiso Language awareness is important for teachers because probably it can encourage and integrate all students (also with special needs and insecure) learning Alex_PT Alex_PT Whenever I have students who hardly know any English, there are extra lessons/ there is extra help as well as adapted resources in and out of the class. It’s of paramount importance that this student doesn’t feel left aside, forgotten and insecure; right from the start, they have to be integrated and encouraged to learn and overcome yet still another hurdle in a new country, a new culture. Rita Xuereb, Malta Rita Xuereb, Malta Language awareness will help children feel happy and secure as they will be able to understand and appreciate all that is going on around them. I think with very young children it is essential to create visual resources, to facilitate this understanding. In my school there a In my school there are a few foreign students from China,Ukraine and Morocco. These students often don’t understand our language. It’s difficult to communicate complex messages to them so the school organises basic language courses and the teachers design personalised didactic programmes. My position in the classroom enables me to cooperate with the teacher of specific subjects helping the single students in need. Daniela Galea, Malta Daniela Galea, Malta During my past 7 years of teaching, I can confidently say that I had students from all parts of the world in my classroom. At first it was a bit difficult to handle as obviously they did not know our language, which is Maltese, and some of them not even English. Together with my colleagues, I created adapted resources to help them learn basic Maltese and English. However, a few years ago we created migrant-learners classes, in which students are taught English and Maltese for one scholastic year before joining the mainstream classes. As from last year, we also have A1 classes which are basic Maltese lessons especially for foreigners that can communicate in English. Patrizia Patrizia try to treat all students equally and help who is in need for this - I tell to all that more languages you speak more richer you are Daniela Roversi. Italy Daniela Roversi. Italy I'm from year to year surer, that the approach of the teacher to his/her subject is extremely important. Only when the teacher reaches his/her students can he/she reach his/her goal. Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta Miriam Grech, Gozo, Malta A colleague of mine, had a foreign student in her class. Unfortunately the student barely knew English. Together with the complimentary teacher, they managed to compile resources to help him with the basic needs of the language and then later on move on to academic subjects. Filomena Montella, Italy Filomena Montella, Italy HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY HASAN TURGAY ÖZÇELİK-TURKEY Language awareness increases teacher responsibility. The teacher who cannot reach his / her student is ineffective. The right to education of the student is violated. the teacher should know not only his / her language but also the culture. the real success comes after that.

@mjgsm from Spain

majegsm — 2018-10-01 16:44:54 UTC

My ESL students are Spanish born, in their vast majority, but some Chinese and students from Morocco are also starting to come to the small school where I work, so not only language awareness is important but also culture awareness as regards the activity proposals that I may design.
Besides I am also ready to use as peer learners and to 'take advantage of them' in order to widen the language learning of their Spanish peers.

antonella p.

avenusitita — 2018-10-01 16:49:25 UTC

As a L2 teacher I have a lot of problems not only with my foreign students who have to learn a third language, but also with my Italian students because they all perceive the foreign language not as a way to communicate their ideas and eventually meet new friends, but as a sort of mathematics of which they have to learn all the grammar rules to solve the exercises.

It is not so easy to teach a foreign language avoiding to explain the grammar rules as we don’t have much time to make the students acquire the language in a “natural way”. Moreover , it is also very difficult to explain the grammar rules to my students because sometimes they are not conscious of the linguistic structure they use also in their mother tongue.

That’s why I try to use original materials ( videos, recorderd conversations) as much as I can, and as the majority of my students are not of Italian origins, I always avoid to use the translation exercises contained in our course book.

Raquel Oliveira, Portugal

2018-10-01 18:08:22 UTC

In my new school I found a couple students from Eastern Europe (namely Romanian and Ukrainian). The language barrier is important but most times the culture is a more relevante obstacle to communicate.

anabelavieiratv2004 — 2018-10-01 18:45:24 UTC

Upasana Tripathi from India

upasana181069_cce — 2018-10-01 18:47:24 UTC

Presently, I'm a trainee teacher at a school and in my class there are students of different level . As there mother tongue are different from learning language so for that i had to learn there mother tongue to understand them better. Eventually, I mean to say that language can never be an obstacles in learning.

Miroslava

miroslavafilipi — 2018-10-01 18:51:19 UTC

The teachers should be taken for granted to learn how to teach students who come from other countries with different abbilities for understanding

Victoria

2018-10-01 19:12:52 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers and crucial for learning. To create the projects and the climate for deafferents languages acceptance and make it creativity is not easy. Theater and arts help to bring to the surface ways of communication.

Martina

mrnmtn — 2018-10-01 19:54:59 UTC

being language-aware means that we are conscious of the linguistic backgrounds of our students in both their mother tongue and in the foreign language. Once we are aware of their level of competence we can design learning units that are appropriate for the students' needs and skills.

Majlinda

2018-10-01 20:12:00 UTC

I think it is important for teachers to be aware of language difficulties and also to be ready to help students.I don't have students from different countries but I think it would be great to be prepare for that.

Aleksandra, Macedonia

aleksandrita_10 — 2018-10-01 20:12:25 UTC

I think language awareness, it’s the understanding of the fact that, when we teach

learners, whose fir

language is not English, we need to be aware of the fact that they may have different needs from those

taught in their first language. Therefore, language awareness is, kind of, sensitivity to those needs, and

ability to accommodate those needs in our teaching and planning.

Francesca, Italia

2018-10-01 20:15:44 UTC

I think the language awareness can be important especially for contemporary teachers, because they work in a global world , opened to every kind of cultural exchange. As I teach in a linguistic school, I would often benefited of a greater language awareness designing projects or teaching units where informations were relayed in different languages, including english or spanish, in order to grant a real transmission of knowledge and to facilitate relationships

Niyazi ALKAN

niyazialkan1549 — 2018-10-01 22:47:35 UTC

I usually give examples to my students about my life and I tell them how learning language changed my life.I can speak English,German and Russian..And learning all these languages made great effect in my life..

Cristiana

2018-10-01 23:10:21 UTC

Language interference is important to bear in mind when we teach a foreign language. Then knowing that in languages there are different intonations, body language, etc. is important to avoid cultural misunderstandings. For example, if you are Italian and you teach English, you must be aware of how the langauge of humour works differently in the two cultures. Then you must be aware of what the English understatement is, because in Italian we do not have it, yet we need to be able to recognize it and reproduce it to really enter the British culture.

D., Italy

2018-10-01 23:53:16 UTC

Well, few years ago I used to teach Italian to foreigners, and they came from many places all around the workld, previously the Usa, but also Northern Europe and some Asiatic too. I think that it would have been easier if I was more language aware, as while with English speakers I made it quite good (as well as with Spanish, Brasilian, French), when it came to people who came from other areas it was not easy to let help them out.

Paulo Dionisio, Portugal

paulo_dionisio — 2018-10-02 05:25:34 UTC

In the classroom, taking into account cultural diversity, linguistic diversity is a dimension that should be considered by the teacher as an asset not only for the challenges and opportunities that can be established between all the actors in the classroom and the richness of the languages that are shared by students from different countries.

Tihana :)

tmudrovcict — 2018-10-02 07:09:19 UTC

I am an English and German as a foreign language teacher so I have to deal with this all the time. Especially when it comes to German languuage because most of the students aren't really surrounded with the language, they come in contact with it more or less only during German lessons in school. So one needs to help them understand the lanuage, find as many similarities and common points in their own language to make them understand the foreign one even better. And it can be quite challenging sometimes.

Sirpa, Finland

2018-10-02 07:31:54 UTC

I've teached for 20 years students of different linguistic backgrounds and have noticed from the very beginning how important language awareness is, especially since I teach both history and politics. To clarify difficult issues I've always used simple examples, so that the students will understand the difficult terminology such as legislative power.

Rosy, Italy

2018-10-02 08:29:55 UTC

The language awaewness is fondamental. The presence of students of different linguistica backgruondshight in my school. Teachers do their best, but the difficulties in subjects like History are always reallc

Sofia Kotsou

ksofia2008 — 2018-10-02 08:42:50 UTC

It is very important for teachers, because they create and make a better world, where alla people can join the education with freedom. Teachers can help the society to be more flexible in diversity.

Augusta, Italy

2018-10-02 09:30:09 UTC

I noticed how language awareness is important during CLIL lessons .
It is of paramount importance to start from the language scaffolding each time a new topic is presented to the students for example by focusing on the keywords making them explicit in order to allow further learning for any single student

Martine, Norway

2018-10-02 10:28:17 UTC

In my classroom most of the students speak norwegian fluently, but a majority have other mother tongue than norwegian. Using their knowlegde in mother tongue languages to explain the norwegian curriculum is important. Most of the students are learning a foreign language (they have to elect a foreign language, such as german, spanish or french, some of them with urdu as mother tounge can choose urdu). I believe we should be better using their chosen foreign language also when teaching norwegian. There is also a difficulty when teaching students beeing here a short time (migrants) along with students beeing born in the country. My colleagues and I "baths" the students in language, using writing and reading as a key to understand language better.

Sien

2018-10-02 13:42:02 UTC

Being a language-aware teacher can help establish a constructive relationship with the pupils/students. It can start with simple things, like showing genuine interest for the right pronunciation of an "exotic" name and its meaning. This authentic attention creates an atmosphere of mutual trust, which is the foundation for an effective learning process.

Language awareness

2018-10-02 15:06:08 UTC

VANESSA-ITALY
I Am an italian and english teacher s o i have to deal with this all the time.I think that the language is fundamental; teachers do their best cause they

Lucia Alonzo LA for language teachers means that you are the most important intermediary in embracing cultural differences ,enhancing the linguistic diversity of all your students.

alonzolucia63 — 2018-10-02 15:21:35 UTC

Alice, Italy

severi_alice — 2018-10-02 16:05:34 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers; I remember when I took clil lesson about plastics. Different use of this materials and different names of plastic substances is important, in a multicultural school.

Dilek Yildirimyilmaz

2018-10-02 16:06:06 UTC

Dilek, Turkey

2018-10-02 16:09:12 UTC

I am

Hande Türker, Turkey

hande_28_hy — 2018-10-02 17:20:32 UTC

I think language awareness does not only mean "recognition of different concepts(words) " but it also means understanding people's point of view and and their differences.
I want to improve myself in order to be a better English language teacher; i don't have foreigner students in my school but this doesn't mean that i won't have. Back to my Univertsity profession as an instructor, i had Afghan students and they were able to speak English very fluently but they had difficulties in understanding some contexts. I designed flexible materials for moth Turkish and Afghan students to make them included in the lessons. Those were generally our basic context, such as music,health,etc.

Maria Candida-Italy

mpetillo — 2018-10-02 17:38:35 UTC

I think that La is first of all thinking in that language.Consequently it means fluency and ability to use the language in the classroom.I never had problems in designing the learning.Sometimes I encountered difficulties in keeping my initial purposes and not to shift from L2 to students' mother tongue.

Maria Luce Spagnolo, Italy

maluspagnolo — 2018-10-02 18:33:14 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers because they can be aware of students’ competences. Speaking English with new no Italian-speaking pupils made me able to comunicate and undestand their real needs

Isabella - Italy

2018-10-02 18:49:17 UTC

Language awareness and cultural awareness are very linked. So, before teaching a language you should be sure that your students have understood what is behind what you are saying. A good communication is a really difficult task.

Natalja, Austria

2018-10-02 19:15:54 UTC

As a language teacher I always try to also include all other mother tongues my students are speaking by asking them what that word we are learning would be in their mother tongue or by (when it comes to material, etc.) always including examples of people from the same country as some of my students. This helps that the students feel recognized and to give importance to other cultures.

Chiara, Italy

chimancini — 2018-10-02 20:13:17 UTC

teacher aware in languages can involve students. For example foreign
students can be integrated into the group just finding a medium language.

Maria Paola

2018-10-02 20:23:22 UTC

Most of the students are Italian in my school, but in the last years there are students who come from different part of Europe, therefor it is very important and useful to communicate in Engish. Some of these students have different levels of linguistic competences, so I think is very important to use the cooperative learning with pair or in group work in order to somministrate them activities of different kinds, in this way I motivate them, because as we know there is no learning process without motivation. I use a lot of teaching tecniques (mind maps, association of word with pictures, key words) and tools (Kahoot, Padlet, tablet), I use internet to encourage foreign and Italian students to use English for comminicating each other. They have just realized the importance of improving this language. I motivate them to know each other better, to know each other culture and reinforce their sense of belonging not only to a country but to Europe. The exchange of good teaching practive will create holistic learning andan active school environment

Ivana, Macedonia

ivannast16 — 2018-10-02 21:00:20 UTC

Being a language teacher means dealing with various situations and students. My biggest challenge was teaching adults. They felt embarrased when they mispronounce a word, therefore I had to switch from English to their mother tongue to clarify some things. It was difficult for them at the beginning but at the end of the course they managed to communicate with simple words without fear. I used varoius techniques such as mind maps, pictures,cards). I believe that creating a climate of trust is the most important for effective learning.

Sara, Spain

2018-10-02 21:53:16 UTC

Having learnt other languages has given me the chance of explaining my students the origin of some words and confusing words . You can always make cultural connections and references.

Livia, Romania

catincaoanalivia — 2018-10-03 07:18:48 UTC

For me, the language awareness was the most important when I showed my stundents that I care about their mother language and sometimes I go and use some of theirs mother language words.

Anna, Barcelona

erasmus_coordinators — 2018-10-03 08:36:43 UTC

Language awareness in a multicultural, multilanguage setting is core to design CLIL resources.

Elena, Italy

elenalzano — 2018-10-03 14:37:03 UTC

Being aware that language plays a vital role in learning subject content, allows the teacher to pay attention to what is happening around him

Maja Hadžić, Serbia

2018-10-03 15:46:46 UTC

Language awareness helps teachers regards their students as real persons, not just students who need to do certain tasks in classes. Years back we had refugees from Middle East in our school. I dare say those children were more language aware than us teachers, because they tried to learn as much Serbian as they could, because they realized it helped them in everyday situations, both in personal and in school life. On the other hand, I, as their English teacher, tried to teach them English, which they did not know. I asked them to teach me a few phrases I needed so I could communicate with them and that was like magic. Our relationship improved greatly, as did their motivation to learn English (which they needed because Serbia was a stop on their journey to other countries).

ANTONIETTA, ITALY

miaaba — 2018-10-03 15:47:46 UTC

Language awareness is crucial not only fpr students but for teachers to as it simply permits communication and mutual understanding.

ROSA, Milano

roslaguzzetta — 2018-10-03 17:24:16 UTC

In order to language awareness, I realized that in this teaching you can work on two different levels: the cognitive one, in order to the comprehension of the subjets, and in order to the communicative leavel, that the use of the language active.

IRENE - GUARDA, PORTUGAL Language is the vehicle to conceive the world, since it’s the vehicle to think, to communicate, to argue, to express feelings and idea; so, it’s obviously the main key in the process of teaching and learning. This way, when we find students who have problems with the knowledge of the language they must use at school, they often loose interest and motivation. Yet, it doesn’t mean they don’t have the skills or the capacity to learn: they just need a different thing, a different strategy, a different way to achieve their goals.Our mother tongue is the vehicle we use in the Portuguese public schools. But in our days, we have students coming from different countries, with different languages and cultures and we must be aware of the difficulties we can find. And we also need to be aware that those students need us, they need our support, our attention, our work: they are expected to learn different subjects in our mother tongue, not in their own, which makes it more difficult for everybody. I believe that the most important factor in this process is that they feel comfortable at school, that they feel like they matter, that their success is the success of the teacher. It’s also very important that the other students feel a part of this process and help those who have a different mother tongue to improve their knowledge and to achieve success.And when it comes to a foreign language classroom, it’s crucial that all the students feel comfortable too, that they all participate without fears or embarrassment: we all make mistakes when we use a different tongue from our own. I truly believe that we must all be constantly learning and improving our skills, and this happens more easily if we learn to think in the language we are working with. And that’s something my students, unfortunately, aren’t used to do.

2018-10-03 17:30:50 UTC

Margherita, Italia

2018-10-03 17:48:58 UTC

I think that we have to able teaching in a different language. Language is the only vehicle or the best vehicle to teach. So if I am not familiar with the different language of my students I am not able for teaching. Often the dialogue is very hard, and the real problem is the language of instruction, not just the student’s background.

Ancuta Lorina, Romania

2018-10-03 19:46:23 UTC

Language awareness has given me the possibility to understand some of my students who speak a mixture of Romanian and Italian and have to learn English now. It is difficult for all of us, to understand one another during the class but we try to make connections and make it easier for all.

SEMA,TURKEY

semasaltik78 — 2018-10-03 19:49:10 UTC

Although language is the key vehicle for communication it is also essential for acquiring skills for future jobs. Language itself is also one of the key component of culture where many issues such as the usage of mothertongue or the improvement of attitudes considering the concept of identity should be taken into consideration seriously in the multi-linguistic& multi-cultural classrooms. In this case, the LA teacher will play the great role in this process by being able to make students more integrated and comfortable in learning.

Noe, Catalonia

2018-10-03 20:48:20 UTC

We are human alives and we are able to talk. So, we use (and enjoy) different languages "codes" to fullfil our basic need of communicate each other. Once we are able to communicate each other then we are able to learn one from each other. And that's the key starting point of teaching. Nowadays, due to globalisation and so on, let's be aware of the new and challenging new communication tools within any different ways, with the idea to keep into the loop.

Laura, Italy

luchelau11 — 2018-10-03 20:52:59 UTC

The language awareness teacher can make students more integrated and confident in learning.

Cecilia, Italy

2018-10-03 21:24:31 UTC

I had only one experiens about CLIL in art in two forth classes.I'm aware of my limits. So I would acquire more confident about skills.

Lucia, Italy

luciaferrari111 — 2018-10-04 10:20:34 UTC

I often help foreign students with different subjects. If they don't understand the key words in the text they miss the whole meaning. A language-aware teacher shoud take care that students can get subject-specific key words (ie democracy in history).

Fernanda, Portugal

soares_fernanda — 2018-10-04 14:12:20 UTC

Language awareness is definitely important for teachers! If students don't understand what the teacher and classmates are saying, they will easily lose their interest and it will be very difficult for them to have successful results.
I once had a Indian student learning English and as she had a greater knowledge of the language than my other students, she was always very enthusiastic and eager to participate. I was talking advantage of one of her assets and it made her feel confident in front of her classmates.
On the other hand, I also have Brazilian students who feel Portuguese people speak way too fast. In these cases I try to speak slower and make sure they are getting the message whether in Portuguese or English.

Alessandra, Italy

2018-10-04 14:45:35 UTC

cristina

2018-10-04 14:52:09 UTC

i use the non verbal language. language awareness make kids more confident and interested

I try to use non verbal communication, synonims, translations or examples in context.

2018-10-04 14:58:18 UTC

Mary

Francesca

2018-10-04 15:16:27 UTC

Language awareness is important to most of all in order to involve foreign children who often feel isolated. To avoid misunderstandings that can cause the non-verbal language, I learned to use the drawings or diagrams formed by keywords and cause / effect arrows.

I give an example in which LA would have helped me to speed up the learning processes of a new arrived foreign student from Asia. In this situation the priority needs of the student was to communicate in order to trust in teacher and in rest of the classroom. It was clear that the first step to learn in a new cultural environment is to acquire LA. This make the student awareness in the efficiency of communication and make him more confident. This represents the foundation by which the teacher and the student can construct an effective process of learning. DINO

2018-10-04 16:17:49 UTC

Isabel, Portugal

2018-10-04 17:38:25 UTC

Being an English teacher, all my students are in the same position. By learning chunks of language they become language aware.

Stefano, Australia

2018-10-05 08:47:12 UTC

As a second language teacher I employ a multitude of different strategies to communicate with students.

2018-10-05 10:49:34 UTC

During my History of Art lessons I use a large number of pictures and comparisons of images. I found that Italian native speakers also have difficulty describing works of art in their own language and that sometimes foreign students can better use the vocabulary of the discipline. Some other times I found really difficult to communicate with foreign or not native italian speakers (especially with those that come outside UE) and to find teaching materials.

Ersin GENÇOĞLU

gencoglueylul — 2018-10-05 10:59:12 UTC

A good language helps you know your pupils better, capture their attention, motivate them to feel attracted to the matter and as comfortable as possible at school.

During my History of Art lessons I use a large number of pictures and comparisons of images. I found that Italian native speakers also have difficulty describing works of art in their own language and that sometimes foreign students can better use the vocabulary of the discipline. Some other times I found really difficult to communicate with foreign or not native italian speakers (especially with those that come outside UE) and to find teaching materials.

2018-10-05 13:25:35 UTC

laura brazzabeni - italy

laura_brazzabeni1 — 2018-10-05 14:17:10 UTC

when students are not native and beginners teacher has to be very carefull and has to use either verbal or non verbal language

İnci süzer

2018-10-05 14:46:51 UTC

Evren the Fingers on our hands are different so why we think all students should be same

Chiara

2018-10-05 14:56:36 UTC

Chiara- Italy

2018-10-05 14:56:38 UTC

In my first class of primary school I often use images, pictures ... because the new words that we are learning, aren't empty words and meaningless. It's important to me, propose activities through the game and LIM

Violeta Korkucyte- the UK, London

violeta7519 — 2018-10-05 15:58:55 UTC

Language awareness helps teachers to understand the needs and abilities of their pupils. Then, they can cater for the students' needs by providing inclusive and differentiated activities, involve them, motivate them and make them feel comfortable. Language awareness of pupils helps to increase their participation and engagement.

Paola, Florence-Italy

paola_riello — 2018-10-05 16:44:57 UTC

Language awareness refers to Cumminns's BICS and CALP, that is the knowledge of the language, its conscious perception when teaching, learning and using it...
I'm quite aware of my pupils needs and perception of the language I'm teaching them, but I'm not perfect, and sometimes I make mistakes. But I want to learn, to improve and to be a better teacher : I firmly believe in what I love doing

Foreign languages

2018-10-06 13:57:15 UTC

It has been especially difficult to teach English or Swedish to immigrants when their Finnish is not fluent enough and I can´t use examples in a mediating language.

MRC - Italy

2018-10-06 14:23:21 UTC

I am a high school teacher, I teach Physics. In my subject many teaching materials are in other languages, especially in English, which is the official language of the scientific community. Having good skills in languages makes it possible to provide students with a greater number of good quality resources, in particular videos of experiments, articles, texts not translated into Italian ... and so on.
Also in our classes there are several foreign students who, very often, do not speak Italian. Having skills in other languages can help with the teaching and placement of these pupils.

What about you?

anna_carolina_loddo — 2018-10-06 17:07:23 UTC

Reflecting on language awareness

Different ways of teaching

2018-10-06 19:51:45 UTC

For geography or history teachers is easy to use different strategies apart from the language. Pictures, maps or graphs are useful to strengthen the contents in a language different of your mother tongue.

Miriam, taly

miriamscafatihpg23 — 2018-10-06 20:54:54 UTC

Language awareness is important to create good relationship with our students

Kristina, Croatia

jakic_kristina — 2018-10-06 21:22:00 UTC

Language awareness is very important for teacher because they can't allways use pictures to show everything and they have to speak with their students to develope good relationship.

SP_RUGGERI - Italy

referenteclilsiciliani — 2018-10-07 05:36:31 UTC

As Maths and Physics teacher I have to teachdifferent ways of languages of Maths and Physics too as graphic, algebraic, so students have to learn different ways to express same concept. Therefore I have to use words, graphs, image, videos to help my students' learning.

Gulay,TURKEY

gulay_yazman — 2018-10-07 11:54:51 UTC

Language awarness give opportunity both students and teachers set good relations and warmer learning area.

Cinzia, Italy

2018-10-07 14:59:34 UTC

Language does not simply consist of vocabulary and grammar. There is much more in language
that makes it work. It has functions and involves nuances when people use it for
communication.
Teachers have to provide students with experience how to use
language in expressing their opinion, sharing ideas, investigating a variety of interpretation‘s as
well as thinking critically.

Dimitra, Greece

2018-10-07 16:31:13 UTC

Language awareness is very important for teachers since it helps them design their lessons according to their students' language needs. Even when teaching a subject in the students' mother tongue, knowing exactly the level of their students' language competence can help them formulate the language they use in such a way so as to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding based on unknown vocabulary.

Duccio, Italy

2018-10-07 18:02:04 UTC

I'm a Maths and science teacher and I think that language awareness is so important in every subject: Maths has its formal language and sometimes it could be a barrier for learning. It's important use a lot of kind of language (formal, not formal, symbolic) to help student to learn maths concepts.

Christos, Greece

christos_chachoudis — 2018-10-07 18:41:06 UTC

I am a special education math teacher. In my school we have two students from Albania they speak Greek but their language knowledge isn't that good. From my side I try to communicate with by pictures in order to give them clear and accurate directions. You know I don't speak their mother language. I see that we have a good communication.

Elisa C.., Italy

2018-10-07 19:33:58 UTC

Language is a vehicle for learning for all students. It's through language that they access the content of the lesson and communicate their ideas. So as a teacher, it's our responsibility to make sure that language isn't a barrier to learning. I used a lot of body language as a game or images to communicate.
Working with foreign students I experiment every day that teaching and learning through an additional language encourages understanding between cultures, improves students' cognitive ability and prepares them for life beyond school.

NicolettaItaly

2018-10-08 06:25:08 UTC

It's essential focusing the attention on communication.
I believe in the importance of an inclusive approach because it will let students feel comfortable at school.
Trying to understand their needs I feel more confident with a more inclusive didactic planning. Creating a good relationship with mu students, I succeed in sharing ideas,thoughts, feelings and motivation. This is the vital role that language plays to me.
The students'awareness of the importance of speaking, understanding and communicating without borders let them feel citizens of the word.

Elisabetta, Italy

porceddaelisabetta — 2018-10-08 09:07:58 UTC

Language awarenessa is the first attention a teacher must have to his/her pupils, because it determines their success at school and consequently their self-esteem . It is also important in order to assess our being in the classroom, as well as correctly evaluate students' process in comfortable environments of learning. I experimented it during my meetings at school with foreign students, in particular having the Arabian language, and during my CLIL lessons. I can say that it's also important in the teachers training, to avoid misunderstandings...

Dilek ,Turkey

2018-10-08 15:58:24 UTC

I thin I have language awareness skill.I think communucation is the starter of everything.We get our needs by talking, expressing ourselves so ıts very important.In my classroom some Iranian students, I know they cant understand or they get difficulty in undertanding my own language and I dont know Persian so we get in touch with English.I tell the subject to Turkşsh people Turkish and To Iranian students by English.

Maria Covino, Italy

2018-10-08 16:45:56 UTC

Language awareness is very important for a teacher because it allows to communicate with students that have another native language. I have a Sirian student in my class, she can speak a bit Italian and the English language is the medium we use to talk and to communicate.

Valentina, Italy

ditranivale — 2018-10-08 16:54:15 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers to make lessons really inclusive. I teach in a multicultural and multilingual high school and I think that every language brings with it a way to think, to learn, to communicate.

Daniela, Italy

dnldirosa — 2018-10-08 19:13:22 UTC

I think that, even if the mastery of the linguistic forms is important such as introducing traditional holidays, food, and folk songs of the target culture and incorporate a framework that enables students to understand the social aspects of the culture as well, opportunities must be created for teachers and students to examine and reflect on the target culture and that of their own country. As the world becomes more interconnected, we must help our students understand that it is important for them to understand not only other cultures, but their own as well. In doing so, they will be better prepared to participate more fully in the global community of which their local community is a part. We must also stress that culture is just one of the many aspects of human behaviour. We all differ from one another in a number of ways. Because of our gender, age, personality, or abilities, all human beings are unique individuals.

José Carvalho, Guarda, Portugal

joseantoniocarvalho — 2018-10-08 21:03:36 UTC

In my case, not a matter of necessity in the classroom that sparked the need to develop language skills. It is the recognition that we need to prepare students for the challenges of the future and in them, bilingual communication is essential. In order to provide a teaching in two languages, of course, as a teacher, I must have mastery of two languages. The development of two languages in students is to open up numerous opportunities in the future.

Patrizia Italy

2018-10-09 02:16:39 UTC

In the teaching of my subjects language awareness is essential to communicate with foreign students who do not have mastery of Italian.For example, last year I had to ask the mother-tongue teacher for help to allow a Chinese student to learn the new concepts and communicate them to me.

Rachel,

2018-10-09 02:49:50 UTC

As a teacher who often works with students from a variety of backgrounds and countries, I often hear students say things like "I know the answer, but I cannot explain in English". This frustration can be demoralizing for them and I try to look for ways to overcome this problem, but it is difficult.

Iulia, Romania

julix_2007 — 2018-10-09 05:47:39 UTC

As a teacher who teaches foreign languages and works with students from a variety of backgrounds , I often try to motivate my students to use more French or English, to create good relationship with our students, to make them realized the importance of communication in 2-3 foreign languages.

Carla, Italy

2018-10-09 11:26:16 UTC

I find essential that the teacher has a high level of English (or any other second language she/he teaching or is using to teach). Trainings, webinars, reading books, spending time abroad are all important parts of being a language aware teacher too: make yourself more confident will make your lessons different from a static and traditional one. Language will come out of curse from your planning activity but mostly from your enthusiasm which is crucial working with kids. The more we know them as teachers, the more we are ready to prevent their needs when planning a lesson and scaffolding the activities. If the right support is given, students' results and linguistic grow and awareness can be great.

Odete Teixeira (Arouca, Portugal)

odete_teixeira — 2018-10-09 13:45:53 UTC

In current language diverse classrooms, language awareness is an essential skill for teachers. This course is awakening this language awareness. I liked the “iceberg metaphor” by the famous linguist Jim Cummins very much because it calls the attention to the shared skill and the central operating system that is common across languages. The knowledge of the common underlying proficiency can help teachers communicating more effectively. I’ve already had Chinese and Pakistany students. I was so much focused on Portuguese language teaching that I’ve never valued their language or culture. Sarah Breslim in her Webinar quoted Haggman: “each language reflects a particular way of thinking, carries a memory, a literary heritage, and is the legitimate basis of cultural identity”. She said that if this is not acknowledged, it will have a serious impact on learning; we should focus on the learner and on what they bring into the learning environment. I should have brought their language and culture to class, translate some word, find similarities, make posters with “good manners vocabulary”: Hello, thanks, please; invite their parents to school to share traditions, eating habits,... It is important for parents to know that someone wants to know about their language. Sarah Breslim referred “When you bring the home languages the lights come on”. I think it says a lot about what children learn.

Rosaria, Italy

2018-10-09 15:52:57 UTC

My English language awareness helped me to communicate to a Polish pupil arrived at my school in August and so she could do maths exercises with other Italian students.

Alfonso, Italy

2018-10-09 17:18:47 UTC

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Clara, Portugal

acjesus — 2018-10-09 17:32:37 UTC

It´s very important for a teacher to be LA.
If we have foreign language students in our class, it´s our duty to help those students to learn and to try different methodologies to involve students in learning process. We must create specific learning environments in order to “force” students from different countries to develop communication and collaboration competences. It helps us to improve their knowledge of language and awareness as well.

Catalina Vrinceanu

vrinceanu09 — 2018-10-09 18:36:05 UTC

LA is important for teachers because they have to encourage their students to express their attitudes and feelings not only language itself ; to find the relationship between form and meaning, to overcome the grammar ‘rules’.

Andrei, Bucharest

2018-10-09 18:36:13 UTC

Nowadays foreign languages represent a must-have in a person's linguistic portfolio. Students should be encouraged to study as many foreign languages as they can.

Giuseppina Tumino - Italy

2018-10-09 19:15:06 UTC

Because language is communication, means to transmit something to someone. Language is a cultural vehicle. Know a second language is important for welcome a foreign pupil so that him can insert himself in a short time.

Language awareness is important for teachers to make lessons really inclusive and to communicate with students that have another native language.

Oana

2018-10-09 20:01:48 UTC

Language sets the tone for an efficient communication. Taking this into consideration, language awareness provides useful tools in designing classroom activities.

Mustafa BOZOĞLAN Mersin Turkey

mdbozoglan — 2018-10-09 20:41:34 UTC

The field of chemistry is actually a common symbolic language structure. this language can be developed and used as a common language. foreign language can be spread with a language composed of terms.

Maria, Vinchiaturo (CB), Italy

mariaminicucci — 2018-10-10 09:11:00 UTC

Hi, I’m Maria. I have never worked with students who highlined great difficulties with the language used for teaching in the classroom. I have six classroom and only five foreign students (one from India, one from Morocco, three from the East of Europe, all of them with a good knowledge of the Italian language) on eightysix students.

However I think that a greater language awareness expecially in the english language, could help me to make my lessons different (and not static or traditional), to improve my pupils curiosity about the arguments of my subject (that is technology), to make my pupils more conscious about the importance of the foreign language in everyday life and not only in school.

Gülseren KESERCİ

2018-10-10 10:28:13 UTC

Kdz.Ereğli,Turkey
Language awareness is part of WHAT the teacher chooses to teach. As language teachers know, there is much more to a language than simply knowing vocabulary and grammar and reproducing them in either written or oral form. Becoming aware of the nuances and meanings of a language is part of language learning. By increasing students’ language awareness, the students are better able to understand, appreciate and use the language

Anna, Caserta, Italy

2018-10-10 15:30:57 UTC

Nowadays, the new ignorant people do not know English (and computer science) and those who teach can not ignore it. Two years ago I had an Indian student and I could communicate with him only in English, if I had more experience I could get excellent results and not just good ones

Hu

2018-10-10 20:21:31 UTC

Thanks c

Eleonora, Estonia

eleonora_volovik — 2018-10-10 20:47:45 UTC

I think we should not mix up language knowledge and language awareness. The teacher just can't speak all the languages his students speak. It's great when you know the student's first language and thus can explain something in his language and I had such situations, I just translated my instructions. But I really can't imagine a 1st grade student from China speaking only his mother tongue in my class. I would feel lost

Marianna, Italy

2018-10-11 12:53:30 UTC

I totally agree!! I don't think we risk to mix up language knowledge and language awareness. I strongly believe that being aware means being able to put him/herself in his / her learners' shoes. If I experience the difficulty of feeling lost while people are talking in a language I don't understand and I need to express myself, than I'm aware of the cognitive and psychological complexity of learning a language. I teach Italian as a second language mostly to Chinese students and adults from all over the world, at the beginning I could not understand why some of them had so many difficulties in reading... you study the pronunciation rules, you exercise a lot and you just read... but it was not so automatic. So, I tried to figure out the problem from different points of view and I became more and more aware that I was using and teaching my personal learning strategies, because they worked (with me). During my teaching experience I've learnt that sometimes I have to use teaching strategies that maybe let me feel uncomfortable but are what my learners need in that moment.

Zeynep, Turkey

zeyneptas0 — 2018-10-11 15:24:56 UTC

I sometimes come across with problems while I'm teaching English to Turkish students although I'm also Turkish. I think language awareness can be acquired by focusing on students' individual differences and abilities. For example, if I am a language-aware teacher, I have to give alternative tasks to students who are good at Maths and something else to the ones who are good at languages. Therefore, I think getting to know your students better and their abilities or way of learning is the key in multilingual classes.

Brigitta, Romania LA helps the teacher bring diversity into the lesson.

2018-10-11 17:38:24 UTC

IRENE – GUARDA, PORTUGALUnfortunately, I was never in front of a class with students of different mother languages, so I don’t know exactly what I would have done. But from my experience, I think that I would have find it very interesting, because I love a good challenge.The most similar challenge I’ve faced was with a student who communicated with sign language, a student who showed me his language, a student from whom I learned a lot, a student that will always stay in my heart: the challenge he putted me made me change, made me grow, made me improve, made me a better teacher. In fact, I believe that the challenges we face make us grow, make us improve, because, as god teachers, we are always studying, learning, searching for new strategies to motivate our students, trying to improve our practice. That’s the beauty of being teachers! That’s why I love this job! That’s why I can’t imagine myself doing anything else! That’s why I feel young, despite my age!

2018-10-11 18:01:39 UTC

Mariagrazia Magni - Italy

mariagraziamagni11 — 2018-10-12 12:19:45 UTC

I think that language awareness consists also in taking into account the feelings which are linked with the language a student speaks ( most of all if it is his/her mother tongue) . I currently teach eight classes with an average of 35-40% foreign students per class. As I am convinced of the importance they express themselves in their native languages , I often encourage them to do so . Sometimes it is very effective and useful for the whole class : the pupil is happy to speak and proud of his/her master of the language . Some other times instead the pupil is very shy and I can't get him/her to speak a single word . I read that it is a kind of self deence as they are afraid that speaking to others they could loose theur cultural identity . So I try to get to them through other ways , with games or songs or rourtines like the foreign word of the day ...to sum up I think that language awareness has much to do with social and emotional aspects of a pupil school life. To be aware of this means, for a teacher , to spend time and energies to get the pupil confident and trustful .

Aysun , Turkey

2018-10-13 05:39:52 UTC

Personally , ıt is a key to create an efficent learning atmosphere for each student.Also, I want to teach English in another country like Germany or Italy .So I will have to consider it when I will make a plan.Moreover , there are some false start words which are acrucial barriers.
In conclusion, each teacher must aware the languages of his students if they want to teach foreign langugae effectively.

Paulo Dionisio, Portugal

paulo_dionisio — 2018-10-13 11:35:11 UTC

So far, I have not yet had students from different languages in which it was necessary to communicate with them in their native language. However, I believe that language awareness is important for teachers because they must be aware that the language barrier in a classroom prevents the student from acquiring the necessary skills and abilities appropriate to their learning. In this way, the language barrier must be eliminated by creating new conditions and opportunities so that everyone has access to knowledge.

lan

2018-10-14 09:53:48 UTC

BHAVIKA, INDIA

2018-10-14 09:53:48 UTC

yes as a teacher i also feel that language awareness is important for teachers as well. For e.g students from different religion have different languages and to make them understand in their language teacher must know how to make the concept clear for all the students and this will be only when teacher is herself aware of languages.
no till now i didn't faced any situation where LA has helped me to design the learning for the students.

Language awareness

2018-10-14 10:00:19 UTC

Hi I am aanchal from India.Yes, language awareness is important for teachers.for example there are many students in the class who knows different languages in a class.so it is important for teachers to be a language aware teacher .no, i have not faced any situations till now.

Maribel, Spai

2018-10-14 10:45:14 UTC

My students are beginners, I try to speak English but sometimes I must speak Spanish to be understood.

Important of language awareness

aanchal181001_cce — 2018-10-14 11:21:15 UTC

Language awareness is important for a

Importants of language awareness

aanchal181001_cce — 2018-10-14 11:30:11 UTC

Because It's very important for a teacher . Language is communication means to tranmit something to someone. Language is a cultural vehicle know a second language is important for welcome a foreign pupil so that him can insert him self in a short time.It is important for a teachers to make a lessons really inclusive and to communicate with students that have another native language.

Konica,india

konicakumar97 — 2018-10-14 17:22:13 UTC

Yes language awareness is important i have an example on India our first language is hindi and kids in my class are small their command over language is obviously not strong so there was a foreign teacher in our class for some days so sometimes they were unable to make her understand what was she saying and vice-versa so i used to translate them and her or used to tell them in more simple words so as i was aware of the language properly i was able to deliver the same. So, you might see it is of great importance.

ÖZGÜL ;TURKEY

ozgaydos — 2018-10-15 06:48:24 UTC

Language awareness refers to the development in learnes of an enhanced consciousness of and sensitivity to the forms and functions of language

2018-10-15 16:18:03 UTC

LANGUAGE AWARENESS

I think that language awareness is very important for teachers. I teach in a Primary school, and some years ago there were two american pupils in my classroom. They stayed there only one year,but they couldn't speak italian. So the only way to comunicate each other was english language. It was a great experience for me and the pupils were very happy and they felt good, but also it was useful for the whole class. Nowadays in my classroom, there aren't foreign students, and as I teach Italian and English, I sometimes try to explain using english language.

José María, Spain

2018-10-16 17:53:32 UTC

Even if there is no language diversity in a class, it is always important to orientate towards other languages if one thinks, for example, of information searches. In my opinion, a teacher should feel comfortable looking for information in other languages and involve their students in the wealth of knowledge and culture that is beyond our

Brigida, Italy

2018-10-16 18:03:19 UTC

I usually teach in classes with multilanguages students. They need to express themselves in their native languages to feel accepted and at easy and I let them speak in their native language and then we focus on the topic we're studying in English. They feel involved because they give their contribution.

Liliya UK

Liliya_B — 2018-10-16 18:23:11 UTC

Language awareness is not limited to understanding the challenges that language may presents to learning a subject by native versus non-native speakers. As a second language teacher, I know that learners of English from different language backgrounds may be challenged by the same language point to a different extent. For instance, learning something like using capital letters for proper nouns will be relatively easy to speakers of Russian who can transfer similar skills from their native language and acknowledge/adjust to the differences, e.g. writing the days of the week with lower-case letters in Russian but with a capital letter in English; however, the same topic may be quite problematic for speakers of Arabic or Chinese simply because there is no such thing as ‘capital letters’ in those languages, thus the learners are baffled and need more time to (a) understand the concept, (b) practise identifying when it’s applicable in addition to (c) learning to distinguish between lower- and upper-case letters and (d) shaping them.
Michael Swan and Bernard Smith published ‘Learner English: a teacher guide to interference and other problems’ – a practical reference guide which compares the relevant features of 22 languages with English, helping teachers to predict and understand the error-patterns and problems their students may have with pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, etc.

2018-10-16 20:28:03 UTC

LA means to be able to understand our students needs and to help them during their progress.

Teresa Wisniewska

teresap651 — 2018-10-17 04:34:16 UTC

I only teach Polish students. It is a pleasure for us to highlight the differences in thinking and comprehending the life phenomenon that different languages elicit. We learn not only how to say things but also how to think in order to understand different reality better, We even sometimes look for values hidden behind "strange" ways of expressing the same situation opening our minds to another point of view. We learn to be tolerant and free.

Natalia , Italy

2018-10-17 11:39:46 UTC

In Italy the fear of speaking in a different language is still rooted and not being understood effectively, I use civilization a lot and games

rach

2018-10-17 14:04:20 UTC

LA means a student will be able to make others understand and deliver owns thought to others, LA brings confidence in students

Francesca Barile

francesca_barile50 — 2018-10-17 15:27:22 UTC

In my opinion students, with a different native language, have to feel to be accepted by the other students of the class and of the school in general. As a teacher of English, I work much in explaining that these students can be a richness fot all cthe class, and everyone must help them to integrate and assimilate not only our language but also our culture.

Konstantina, Greece

konstantinakokmotou — 2018-10-17 16:44:36 UTC

In my opinion, language awareness is very important for teachers in order to make students feel part of a whole. Feeling integrated is an accomplishment for students and therefore will develop more advanced skills.

Nicoleta,Romania

2018-10-17 19:07:12 UTC

I don't have students with different languages but I have met a lot of students with a different level of language understanting so I truly believe that LA is very important for teacher to make a confortable climate during class.

Pablo, Spain

2018-10-18 08:16:56 UTC

In my case I have students from south America and their way to speak Spanish is different, and even-though being the same language, they have different background. So knowing that they can explain us how they use words that we use here in different situation and the other way round. That interchange of information also helps to integrate those students in the class.

Marta Tarantino

martatarantino — 2018-10-18 10:37:39 UTC

I think that greater language awareness would have helped me tackle with difficulties aroused by the presence of students with different languages in my classroom, turning those challenges into valuable opportunities. I'm thinking about the chance of offering those students and their classmates the opportunity to feel competent by taking charge of the learning experience

Batur Recep, urkey

2018-10-18 21:22:54 UTC

For an inclusive lesson language awareness is a must...

Luz, USA

2018-10-19 01:41:13 UTC

Sure thing. There was a student who was very smart , arrived at class one month after classes have started because he came from another country due to a new job of his father. He knew a lot about the grammar of the English language, could understand the readings and have a good level of educated and academic vocabulary, but his listening skills were betraying him, since he was getting used to new suprasegmental features of the oral English of our region. Since the teacher noticed this, the child was not taken to a lower level class and after two months his listneing skills were superb. There was even a geography contest , called "Geography Bee" that he won at school level. All this was possible because his teacher was an awesome observer of his needs as a learner.

Manuela Vattimo,Italy

2018-10-19 14:27:35 UTC

In my classes , I've students speaking different languages; Students ,whether are learning through their first language, language is a vehicle for learning.

Angelamaria Galderisi, Italy

soleemare_a — 2018-10-19 14:42:30 UTC

I’m an Italian English teacher so I teach English as a foreign language at a secondary high school. I well know what means teaching in a different language than the one students are familiar with, that becomes the vehicle to delivering the message to the students. So if they are not familiar with the language you are using for teaching, they might feel discouraged and lose interest in the foreign language, when in reality the problem is the language of instruction.

Therefore, acquiring a good command of academic language – that is the language of the classroom - goes hand in hand with the learning of a foreign language. This is the reason why I usually face situations where language awareness helps me to design the learning for the students.

Natalie, Malta

natcal126 — 2018-10-19 14:51:12 UTC

I truly believe that language awareness is important and that every teacher should be aware of this aspect. In our country most of the schools start their teachings with the international language - English. However, since a good amount of them are native speakers they find it difficult to focus and to carry out the task at hand, At the same time, the children with foreign nationality finds it difficult to communicate with the rest of the class who are native speakers. Once I had a child of Italian nationality and I did not know much of Italian so I really struggled to make him feel welcome and to know if he is understanding the given tasks.

Aurelia, Romania

2018-10-19 17:37:59 UTC

I strongly believe that language awareness is very important to the teaching process, especially when teaching a foreign language, because it is important to recognize students' needs and to try to create a better environment for them. We should do our best to help them develop properly.

Giac,Italy

tecnologiasuardo — 2018-10-20 05:51:40 UTC

I think it is important for students and teachers to achieve a very high level of linguistic knowledge

rachna pahal,India

2018-10-21 16:47:58 UTC

it is important for teachers to understand their students and to recognize the students needs.

Elena

2018-10-21 17:28:55 UTC

In my training practice with 3-years-old students in a school with pupils from various different cultures, whose parents have immigrated in recent years, I realize the importance of knowing and planning strategies when teaching in order to ensure that those students with an L1 different from the language used in school were able to carry out the same learning like the rest of the peers. The main strategies were working through visual resources and the step by step explanation of the procedures through their demonstration.

Rania, Greece

ranialampou — 2018-10-21 17:56:00 UTC

My essential motive as a language teacher lies in stimulating pupils to develop an ability to think critically about language and to create a challenging and an inspirational environment. This implies the importance of language awareness, of being able to understand one’s own way of thinking and the use of language as a medium in order to learn a foreign language.

nicoleta, romania

bnicoleta2003 — 2018-10-21 18:47:52 UTC

nicol

bnicoleta2003 — 2018-10-21 18:47:53 UTC

Eleni Tychola

2018-10-21 19:41:05 UTC

La awareness is a crucial tool for a teacher in order for students to develop abilities such as communication in all spoken languages, critical thinking skills and self confidence in using the la.

Irina, Romania

2018-10-22 12:59:40 UTC

The importance flows from teacher's abilities to understand student's need and also their feelings about they have to learn.

Claudya, Romania

claudia_neacsa — 2018-10-22 17:29:39 UTC

As a foreign languages teacher, I am all the time put in this situation

Laura Patregnani, Italy

2018-10-22 17:45:12 UTC

Language is a key issue for any classroom. All of us have needed support throughout our education in understanding new concepts, whether our first language is English or not. An appreciation of language needs cannot be separated from that of content.

Veronica, Italy

vb_keohane — 2018-10-22 19:11:07 UTC

As a teacher of English in a secondary school, I sometimes have students whose native language is not Italian. It can be difficult to make all the students feel comfortable with their learning and I hope this MOOC will make me more able to assess and fulfill such students' needs

VALENTINA, ITALY

2018-10-22 20:26:10 UTC

I try to use original materials ( videos, recorderd conversations) as much as I can, and as the majority of my students are not of Italian origins, I always avoid to use the translation exercises contained in our course book.

Importance of LA

2018-10-23 11:26:17 UTC

LA is important there are some students who speak different language at home which is different from formal language. Even their parents are not familiar with formal language used at the schools. In such cases, it’s very important we conversate/teach them in a language where they feel at the same level as the other students do. It boosts their confidence thus we are contributing towards beautiful future of the nation.

Michela, Italy

2018-10-23 13:32:49 UTC

I think LA is very important for teachers because you can express better an idea if you have the right tools to do it

FEDERICA P.,ITALY

2018-10-23 14:05:04 UTC

LA is important for teachers as it can help them reflect on their work, understand why something is going wrong in the relationship with some students and even find reasons for cases of drop-out or poor school achievement. If I had been more language aware in the past, I would have used more ICT during my lessons, e.g. internet, films and Youtube videos.

2018-10-23 14:45:40 UTC

Hi
I’m mandeep kaur
Language is a key of all problems in the class.
So communication and knowledge of language
Is very important .

yeah awareness of different languages is very much important for teacher..so that se can able To understand her students.

2018-10-23 17:15:55 UTC

Iriny, Ukraine

iryna_danyliuk — 2018-10-23 20:43:34 UTC

Each teacher must be an example for his pupils. And I had bright example with my students while we were travelling abroad. We live near Poland, but not all people speak Polish. We worked in an eTwinning project with our Polish friends. I could easely cooperate with both groups, but my children had some difficulties. This showed how importante is language awareness. Also this was great motivation for my students to study foreign languages

2018-10-24 02:43:51 UTC

Language is very important in teaching because we know which language our students understand we should teach them in that language our first language is English but if they don't understand we should teach them in mother language so they understand clearly

Teresa Wisniewska

teresap651 — 2018-10-24 04:52:36 UTC

language awareness helps so much in understanding context while you are missing words but you understand the situation. There are so many cases that people understand what to do not knowing the language of their partners at all.

Candida Peters, India

2018-10-24 06:55:28 UTC

As humans we are able to better connect with people who speak the same language as we do. therefore as teachers if we have a greater language awareness we will be able to find out exactly what our students need and how we can help them better.

Selvaggia

2018-10-24 07:54:42 UTC

Language awareness allows me to make students reflect, comparing in a simple way the Spanish language I teach, with the Italian language (school language) and with the mother tongue (when it’s possible) of not-Italian speakers. In this way I help my students to learn a certain awareness of the language and not to consider the second or third language as obstacles to communication.

Cinzia, Italy

2018-10-24 09:34:13 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers who build intercultural awareness. To practise different languages means knowing different cultural worlds, promote inclusive education.

Awareness of language

2018-10-24 09:36:03 UTC

Language is more important because every teacher and students have their own language but in awareness of language we are able to teach all kind of childrens and students.

Sonali , India

2018-10-24 13:14:19 UTC

The teacher should have a proper knowledge of every subject and if you dont know particular thing its very difficult for students also to understand. Children would understand concept more clearly.

Ekta

2018-10-24 14:42:15 UTC

Language is important in teaching because we can express better ideas.

DHAIRYA BAJAJ, INDIA

2018-10-24 14:49:15 UTC

In a classroom senario if the teacher cannot make clear what she actually wants to say just because of a language barrier and the class is multilingual then definitely the teacher needs to work on language skills as the students lie at no fault.

MANSI UPPAL, INDIA

2018-10-24 15:16:56 UTC

In my opinion the motive of every teacher is to make her each and every child understand the concepts and the moto of her topic. so language can be barrier if the students are not able to understand her teacher.

Amita Mahendroo

amita_mahendroo — 2018-10-24 16:59:14 UTC

learning by providing guidance and support that challenges students based on their current ability, helping them to gain confidence and independence in using new knowledge or skills. This helps students to develop their understanding in stages.

Language is the most important the for a teacher because thats the basic requirement of a classroom for students to understand.

2018-10-24 17:26:17 UTC

Anjali Kohli

2018-10-24 17:36:27 UTC

language forms the basic first step towards understanding for students

Kritika Kanwar

2018-10-24 17:54:07 UTC

According to me language awareness involves students gain a positive attitude towards foreign language by developing the confidence .

Doina

doinacta — 2018-10-24 17:57:59 UTC

yes, I am a Romanian language teacher and I had to use English to communicate with a turkish student . Wish I knew turkish , because he would understand me better...his English skills werent helping him very much.

Aija, Latvia

2018-10-24 19:01:29 UTC

I have heard some sad stories where teachers actually do not know how to integrate foreigners in their lessons and the foreigner just sits in the class and does nothing. Language is a bridge, and with no bridge there is no communication.

Aarushi Chawla

2018-10-25 02:52:48 UTC

Language diversity is very important in a classroom. One must be multilingual for better communication.

Jeane de Fatima, Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

2018-10-26 13:19:44 UTC

In Brazil we have a large population and among them we have several Japanese, Chinese and other nationalities
Many students learn our language early because of school life and there is no established standard for this inclusion, since the school is public and serves everyone.
There are bilingual schools with the intention of teaching two languages to their students, for example private schools that offer a differentiated teaching, but it is not accessible to all.

Marina A., Croatia

marina_antolkovic — 2018-10-29 13:19:53 UTC

Unfortunately, I don't have much to write about my experience with language awareness because I don't have it. I never had the need to think about this in my classroom since all my students speak Croatian, which is their mother tongue. Nonetheless, I am aware that many teachers nowadays deal with bilingual students and I can imagine meeting bilingual students in my own class in the future. After reading the introduction, I am thinking of several situations in which language awareness could be important: when interpreting a literary text, for example, the teacher should be aware that the student can recognize the grammatical and lexical meaning of a word, but may miss its cultural or idiomatic meaning. I see this as an opportunity for both this student and other students, including myself, to learn something new.

2018-10-29 13:38:43 UTC

In several classes there are students speaking different languages: they learn better through their language

Angela Dimitriu

grupa_meteo2017 — 2018-10-29 17:59:57 UTC

We can collaborate within etwinning projects

2018-10-29 18:03:10 UTC

The language awareness is important for teachers who wants to arrive at the heart of the pupils,Only in this way they can open minds

2018-10-29 22:22:35 UTC

Of course The importante

Jolana

2018-10-30 12:25:26 UTC

The language awareness is absolutely important. I don´t teach students with the same mother tongue but international project, partnerships proved that languages are simply essential in nowadays world.

Silvana Italy

silvyalba57 — 2018-10-30 19:59:47 UTC

I'm an English teacher I know that sometimes some students do not understand the importance of learning a foreign language if they are in their classroom in Italy but they are more aware when they are abroad and I've seen how they change their mind abroad because in that condition they feel aware of the foreign language.

I think we need information exchange

2018-11-12 21:47:52 UTC

salih Türkiye

Azra S.

2018-11-13 13:56:12 UTC

Giving place to other languages in your classroom all can learn more and get more.

pınar Yıldırım

2018-11-21 12:01:24 UTC

Turkey
We can collaberate within etwinning projects.

Gülay, Turkey

PUFUM — 2018-11-27 16:47:51 UTC

It is very important. Sometimes they have difficulty to understand the language and with awareness you need to make some changes for your students while teaching

Adela Gabriela Muresan

muresan_gabriela_adela — 2018-12-05 18:11:53 UTC

It is very important.

özge,Türkiye

ozgeozdemirduran48 — 2018-12-08 16:26:23 UTC

It is realy important to express yourself and have a good code of conduct

Nurten KARAKIŞ

mertberil55 — 2018-12-26 20:01:28 UTC

It is realy

Suzzne , Jordan

2019-04-12 22:19:53 UTC

having a good code of conduct & sharing the awareness of collaborative work can make great changes

I love this methodology. It helps me to open wings to intercultural teaching aproach in classroom.

2019-09-17 16:30:12 UTC

It's important because you can reflect on your own language.

jandayra_dasilva — 2019-11-09 21:32:20 UTC

Language awareness helps you to connect with your pupils better, which in turn makes the whole learning process a lot easier for the learners.

2020-04-08 05:45:42 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and

2020-04-15 17:54:18 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's ver

2020-04-15 17:54:19 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's ver

2020-04-15 17:54:20 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's ve

2020-04-15 17:54:20 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's vey

2020-04-15 17:54:21 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's vey

2020-04-15 17:54:21 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's vey im

2020-04-15 17:54:22 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's vey impo

2020-04-15 17:54:22 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's vey importa

2020-04-15 17:54:23 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's vey important

2020-04-15 17:54:24 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's vey important

2020-04-15 17:54:24 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's vey important

2020-04-15 17:54:24 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's vey important

2020-04-15 17:54:25 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's vey important

2020-04-15 17:54:25 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's vey important

2020-04-15 17:54:25 UTC

I am a primary teacher, I saw multicultural classrooms and It's very important being aware of our linguistic proficiency and the barrier that we can create. Personally, I think a good relationship can change everything, it's the first aim to teach and learn, the LA is the direct consequence to be a good teacher.

2020-04-15 17:54:26 UTC

GEOGRAFIA

2020-04-26 17:21:37 UTC

ibrahim2683 — 2020-08-18 11:42:13 UTC

It is not easy to teach English as a foreign language, so it is better to use both language actively. It makes students more comfortable.

2020-11-20 10:58:39 UTC

Zia

2020-12-02 14:04:52 UTC

Mother toungue is important because it can be easy for us to know that it i indivizual task online. ike now we our on online class.

Connecting with your students

2021-09-25 15:27:43 UTC

Knowing about you students' language is as important as knowing their name and their parents. Teachers should show that all languages are equally important.