Language awareness by EUN Partnership aisbl

Silvia, Romania

munteanusilvia2000 — 2021-09-20 10:44:11 UTC

Language awareness is a must for teachers. Language is a living organism, old words die or get new meanings (e.g. an anorak - a strange person) and new ones are born everyday.

2021-09-20 11:37:06 UTC

I used to teach german as a foreign language in Kyrgyzstan. In my class I had students at beginners level and the classroom language was German and Russian. Some of the students only spoke Kyrgyz and a little Russisan and some English. So I had to pay much attention on the translations of the students if explenations were neccessary in German. Once I´ve explained it in Russian, some students translated it to Kyrgyz and others translated that back to Russian to make sure nothing got lost on the way. That was a nice approach for me to include the students and to make them speak in different languages when the target language is still at beginners level. Later the classroom language was just German and we tried to include Kyrgyz and Russian as often as possible for comparison of the languages (so that it was still clearly comparable and not a wild mix of everything).

2021-09-20 11:47:09 UTC

Teaching EFL, FLE and DaF/DaZ, linguistically it is a plus to be language- aware because you can create lesson conceptions comparing the language constructions inside the class that help my students to a better understanding of the formation of the language in use- and can help avoiding mistakes in this language. Culturally spoken, it is a plus to play with the language- awareness of my students to create new texts and open a comparision of cultural awareness and conception of each student.

VA, Portugal

2021-09-20 11:52:36 UTC

In Portugal the official language is Portuguese, but most students understand English. We have recently faced situations where greater knowledge of the language would have helped to design learning for students. We welcome refugees from different countries with which the communication process has demanded a lot from everyone.

Ivana M., Croatia

2021-09-20 12:23:00 UTC

I teach Italian to students who are beginners and to students who are at the intermediate level. They are in the same class and it is important for me to keep that in mind when preparing for each lesson- I organize lessons in a way that intermediate level students help and educate lower level students or give different level students diffferent tasks.

jessegarcal — 2021-09-20 12:44:41 UTC

I teach in English in Spain. I have found some pupils who dont know neither spanish nor english, so i need tu use different sources to help this students with activities which use basic words to facilitie their comprehesion.

Monica Arotaritei

arotariteimonica — 2021-09-20 12:54:01 UTC

I teach English as a foreign language in a school from Romania. Everyday I can see how a foreign language influences a child's education.

Daniela Russo, Italy

2021-09-20 16:42:51 UTC

When I welcomed some foreign students into my class, I learned the basics of their languages in order to know them better, communicate more easily with them.

Catherine Creusefond, France

catherinecreusefond2 — 2021-09-20 16:45:53 UTC

I teach English my 2 classes school where pupils start at 3 yo and leave the school at 11 yo : every year, some pupils are more aware to English than others, e.g if they are younger or if they arrive from another school : these ones will be listener at first, trying to catch and understand by interacting with their pairs. It's my job to propose various activities during a lesson so these pupils won't feel too lost in the language ocean. Maybe it's part of language awareness ?

When I was living in England I made lots of friends and some of them came to visit me in Italy, which is my Country. There was an English family, young parents and little children, who couldn't speak Italian so everybody would speak English in my home. They were not in the least language aware, and couldn't understand some of my little mistakes and similar word swapping ect., and this made me feel uneasy, never mind the fact that I was doing them a favour by speaking their language while in MY Country and in MY house. When an English person speaks Italian and makes some mistake, I know exactly why they make such mistake because I know how both languages work, and this makes me feel closer to them. I know what's going on in their mind.

2021-09-20 17:17:40 UTC

Christos T., Greece

christsapan — 2021-09-20 18:17:05 UTC

In Greek school the official language is Greek but all students are familiar with the English language. During last year, I had in my classroom students from Bulgaria who were also familiar with English. So, the English language became the vehicle to delivering my lesson to these students.

Beatriz Sousa, Portugal

2021-09-20 18:46:07 UTC

I teach young Portuguese children English but now I also have children that are from an English speaking country in my classroom that don't speak any Portuguese. So I try to balance both by combining the two (when possible) and incourage students to help each other

Lana, Croatia

lana_matijakovic — 2021-09-20 19:36:01 UTC

I find it lucky to be in this course since only today have I met a pupil from Kosovo whose mother tongue is Albanian. He came to our school today. He can't speak Croatian and his English is very poor. I hope I will be wiser after this course on how to teach him more efficiently.

Mihaela Epure

2021-09-20 19:52:19 UTC

A few years ago, I used to teach EFL to a mixed group of Romanian and French students. While the native languages were both of Latin origin and share some common ground, there are obvious different cultural and linguistic differences. Therefore, when teaching vocabulary, for instance phrasal verbs (knowing the predilect use of particle verbs in spoken English), I tried to offer synonyms of Latin origin, more easily understandable for the students (e.g. pull out - extract; look forward to - anticipate; hand in - submit;
make up - fabricate; stand for - represent). Knowing the origin or the evolution of words could help. The history of both English and Romanian cuisine registers massive influence from French, so this is a cultural aspect which explains why in English we say beef and not cow steak, or why in Romania we have Boeuf Salad. Both come from French. This is an example of language awareness, I believe.

Paula, Portugal

mpaulacosme — 2021-09-20 20:00:00 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers when they develop interactive activities envolving pupils of different languages. Music or drama, for example, are tools to share culture but can also help teachers to upgrade language skills.

Susana Mendes, Portugal

2021-09-20 20:03:55 UTC

The knowledge of the language is important for teachers and is fundamental in the diagnostic assessment and in the student's integration in the school and in society life in a country different from his/her origin. I've had experiences at school that I really needed to start a conversation in another language (English) and even resort to an online translator (Mandarin). It is clear that if we were proficient in these languages the students' learning would be clearly favored, their performance much better and our work would clearly benefit.

Ali ÇETİN, Turkey

2021-09-20 21:02:49 UTC

Languages are the basis of cultures. If we respect our students, we also have to support their mother tongue. Fate is what determines who will be born in which country, but we teachers have the opportunity to change their geographical destiny in their development. Learning simple concepts such as good morning or hello in children's native language makes a lasting impression on them.

Kimie, Portugal

2021-09-20 21:19:52 UTC

Being Portuguese and knowing some French helped me plan better English lessons for students from DRCongo since I could predict some "false friends" situations.
Having students from arabic countries and no previous knowledge or background reinforced the need to research more about their culture in order to built a better rapport.

Eman Bani Salman

2021-09-20 21:33:54 UTC

For many learners following Cambridge programmes, English is an additional language. For some, it might be their second or perhaps their third language. Depending on the school setting, students might be learning all of their subjects through English or just some of their subjects.
Throughout the resource we will ask you questions that will help you to think about the specific needs of your learners and how you can take steps to become more language aware. At the end there is a glossary of key words and phrases.

Listen to these teachers discussing what language awareness means for them and why they think it is important. How do their definitions

Mohamed OMRI,Tunisia

omrimed20 — 2021-09-20 22:07:23 UTC

Despite the difficulties that Arab students like mine face in learning French as a foreign language, I think they find it very enjoyable to learn new words. This foreign language gradually influences their education and social behaviour.

Sharon, Australia

2021-09-20 23:44:15 UTC

Working with First Nations students who speak languages that are often oral-based is quite challenging - therefore, teachers need to be aware of this and plan scaffolded instruction that meets the needs of their learners.

Roberta, Italy

roby_filardi — 2021-09-21 05:37:13 UTC

Languages can be a sort of barrier, but also a great challenge to achieve student’s integration. For this reason teachers have to teach and learn at the same time through different cultures and background of their pupils. This is it my challenge as a teacher.

Aphrodite, Greece

2021-09-21 06:51:32 UTC

Hello, all! I teach English in Greece and we often have Albanian, Bulgarian or Romanian students, who know a little English but can speak Greek, having lived in Greece for quite some time. For those who can speak little Greek, I use both English and Greek when explaining something. It is important for the teacher to diagnose the language level of the students in both languages so that he can address their needs.

/Evi , Greece

2021-09-21 09:21:10 UTC

I have worked at summer schools for students from different countries (mainly refugees) and from Greece, including volunteers all over the world. I used a lot of the body language, pictures and videos. Also the language of play which is common for all the children (and adults).

Maria

ajt59 — 2021-09-21 10:29:40 UTC

Multilingualism for a sustainable society

Elín, Iceland

ethsbolungarvik — 2021-09-21 11:03:55 UTC

So it is posseble to comunicate with students.

Visnja, Croatia

2021-09-21 14:06:30 UTC

As I already said, in my classes, althought I teach biology, I constantly have short videos on English for students to see and hear. So language awerness is important for us.

Ayat Rabee

2021-09-21 14:55:20 UTC

A teacher who is language aware thinks about the school setting and circumstances, and the language profiles of their learners − that is, their different levels of competence. You need to have a good understanding of your learners’ language experiences both in and out of school. This helps you to plan the best way to support their continued learning and set realistic targets and challenges for them.

Célia Branco - Language awareness

2021-09-21 17:01:27 UTC

First a teacher consider each class characteristics, respect students origins and cultural background in order to bridge eventual gaps.

There are many strategies that can be implemented to help students gain language awareness:

.promoting activities that imply social interaction (a study trip, for example) will give learners reasons to engage with the language and thinks about how it works;

.developing exercises that involve the analysis of some language rules improve the awareness that language is a system with rules (and exceptions J):

.making students aware of the processes used for language learning by asking them to conduct self-assessments tasks;

. (…)

Antonella Z.

antomakena — 2021-09-21 17:13:36 UTC

In my experiences a pupil learns another language if he/she is motivated to do, if we encourage him/her, they must feel that for us is very important their contribution. Above all during play time : children have a kind of international language! we must not be scared of their silence ...maybe it's a signal they are listening and recording something

Voicu Corina Valentina, Romania

voicucorinavalentina — 2021-09-21 17:36:50 UTC

The students learn very easy another language and we must encourage them to learn more and more! Maybe they will visit another country or work and travel in another country! There are so many oportunities!

dirigente240 — 2021-09-21 17:45:42 UTC

People generally learn better if the are motivated and encouraged to do it.

Sylvain, France.

2021-09-21 18:14:42 UTC

I teach english to young pupils. Learning english helps to improve in French. We often do comparison between the two languages especially on the making of words.

Maria P. GREECE

mpapado66 — 2021-09-21 18:21:46 UTC

It is important to help students with language difficulties in many ways.

First of all, it is good to strengthen the communication between the students.

In this way they learn the language in a more natural way and without assessment

Ksenija, Croatia

2021-09-21 21:55:52 UTC

I have ESL students of diffrent ethnicities and yes, the teaching differs: much more didactic tools, visual aids, mimics and gestures than in a class with one ethnicity only. It is interesting to see how the whole class becomes language aware: they communicate in English to overcome the barrier.

Sandrine, France

2021-09-22 07:11:54 UTC

I had a student coming from abroad and language awareness helped me bound with this student. I used English to communicate about her feelings, we talked about the differences between the school systems (sharing assemblies, star of the day ... )

Nada, Croatia

nadatodorovska — 2021-09-22 07:21:15 UTC

Although I don't have this sort of experience yet, I think that this would be common practice-to comunicate with foreign students and teaching in language they don't understend like their own. Mathematics is difficult to understand by itself, so this kind of "problem" is surely chalenging. I look forward to read other people's experiences.

Barbara, Italy

barbaragalavotti — 2021-09-22 08:05:59 UTC

I teach in a multicultural class and the language is the only way to communicate needs and feelings.

María José, Spain

mariajosefa_garcia5 — 2021-09-22 08:19:19 UTC

The school where I work is located in a rural area in southern Spain and immigrant families (mostly from Morocco) constantly come here to work in agriculture. The children of these families attend school practically from the first day of their arrival in Spain, with total ignorance of the language. The situation is very difficult for classmates, teachers, but above all, for these children, because language is a great barrier to communication. For this reason, I consider that it is so important to become aware of the language, and to find a really effective method so that these children are correctly integrated from the first moment, setting realistic short-term goals.

Andrijana, Croatia

Shipwreck1 — 2021-09-22 08:43:27 UTC

LA is imortant for teachers because the more aware they are about different languages and their importance, the more opportunities they will give to thier pupils to use those languages in the classroom. But this use has to be occasional and meaningful. By doing so, languages can enrich each person and we may all learn new something new which is good for our future communication.

Ida, Croatia

2021-09-22 09:19:01 UTC

Here I would also list teachers who work with Roma, bilingual schools, dialects, voiceless…

Those who are language-aware teachers will:

find out in which all languages these students communicate (eg. Chinese, but also understands English so it will be easier in English to communicate)
allow the use of the mother tongue in class to make it easier for the student to memorize a new word;
be psychologically aware: be aware of the fact that it is already difficult for them in foreign country, and learning a foreign language can cause stress and teacher need to put extra effort into teaching
let them to learn in their own language
not allow stagnation in communication and active language learning
use games to make learning easier, even by pointing, (Tarzan learned to speak;)),

use didactic tools and materials, ICT tools so that the student acquires competencies and understands the content of work and learning.

And finally, most importantly, that the student could live and work in foreign environment in the future, and that there is no fear of speaking, expressing thoughts, attitudes, and feelings.

The teacher who has achieved this is remembered and can be proud of himself. His work is done on the best possible way.

Özge, Turkey

ozgekoc824 — 2021-09-22 10:33:01 UTC

I have not faced any students whose mother tongue is different in my classroom when I am teaching English. However, I had to talk in English when I was teaching different subjects, outside of the classroom in order to expose my students to English. They were just 3rd graders, they were at the beginnings of their academic life and journey of learning English. So, they always wanted to talk to me in Turkish. It was easy for them to express their ideas, emotions in their mother tongue, but they were required to talk in English to acquire it. That's why I followed some steps. I used drama in my classes. With the help of drama, I could easily deliver the meanings of the target words, structures in a communicative atmosphere and they had a chance to see the cultural aspects of foreign language. They could see and experince the cultural differences. They detected that it's a part of language learning. Moreover, I was teaching English to high school students and they had difficulty in using English while communicating. Most of my students expressed that it is difficult to choose and use appropriate words, structures. I think it was the key point for me as a teacher to have language awareness. It was difficult for them because the languages they know and learn were different. I always indicated that I respect to them but it's a part of language learning and when you are ambitious to learn it, you discover the language and cultural points.
This year, I will have international students and this course will contribute to my teaching skills.

Inés, Spain.

2021-09-22 11:43:38 UTC

I think being language aware means that you acknowledge the different languages students may have in your class ( as well as their cultural background). That means looking for opportunities where they can talk about the culture of their countries of origin using the target language and also their mother tongue. For example in a lesson where they present the most typical dishes in their region and the y describe them and talk about it using the original words in their mother tongue.

Alba, Spain Language awareness is important for teachers because it makes you be more emphatic with your students. Your methodology could turn to be more personalised. It would be easier to adapt to your students' necessities. As a teacher you can promote some trips to do linguistic immersion and you would become an enthusiastic teacher who motivates your students to study English for different purposes , being realistic and considering the importance of English as a lingua franca in this twenty first century

2021-09-22 13:00:05 UTC

Manuel García

2021-09-22 14:27:43 UTC

Some years ago I started teaching Maths in the middle of the term.

I had an australian student who didn't speak a word of spanish (the language I was using to teach Maths). She felt discouraged and thought she was a bad student, as the previous teacher was not able to communicate properly with her.

I started explaining the lesson twice. Each explanation was given first in Spanish, and then in English. Her face when she saw she could follow the lessons was something I still remember. That student is now 17, she went back to Australia, and will for sure attend to the University next year.

Angelika, Poland

2021-09-22 14:30:51 UTC

I believe that we understand something better if we have faced with some difficulties or if someone from our close circle (I mean, friends, relatives, etc) has experienced something. I also believe that we, teachers, must do everything to help our students overcome the language barriers and show them that it's nice to understand and be understood. At my school i have to be really creative to prepare lessons for students with different mother tongues. However, it makes me happy, I become a student myself, when i learn something new about their countries, traditions and even superstitions J

I know that many pupils, students and adults are afraid of making mistakes and it’s so stressful for them to start speaking. The fear blocks tchem! And it means, that as a teacher I should help them to cope with fears and show them that mistakes are a part of education and it’s better to make them while you study something.

The aforementioned points let me conclude that language awareness is crucial for being a language teacher.

Carla Dias, Portugal

2021-09-22 14:39:07 UTC

Language awareness is important because I have students from abroad and we use English to communicate and interact with each other.

Anagnostou Konstantina

2021-09-22 14:55:03 UTC

Sometimes, I have in my class pupils from other countries who does not know to read or wright but only to speak in Greek so I have to find a way to help them to succeed in these fields in order to fill in to the class.

Language is the key for communication

2021-09-22 17:25:36 UTC

Hana Haimour/ Jordan

2021-09-23 05:22:55 UTC

To open up to the world and get outside the fence

Alice - Italy

2021-09-23 08:14:01 UTC

Language awareness is also important for teachers to facilitate relations between children born in that State and those who come from another State and have a first language different from that one spoken in the classroom. So, LA helps the integration of children and young people who come from other countries. I have faced this situasion when I had students who had recently arrived in Italy and had to learn the Italian language.

2021-09-23 09:21:58 UTC

Language awareness is important for me when because I have a lot of interactive activities in my class between students of different languages. Team work is a good tool to share culture, but can also help upgrade language skills.

Language awareness

2021-09-23 12:26:37 UTC

This key concept becomes crucial in our daily teaching practice. It is usual in León, Spain, to meet students from other Spanish speaking countries like Equator or Colombia, from Morocco (some French speakers, which is helpful), Bulgaria and other countries. It is a wonderful chance towards collaborative and challenging learning. A win-win situation.

Konstantina Eirini Koufou, Greece

2021-09-23 15:04:56 UTC

My students differ in terms of mother tongue [greek, french, albanian, russian] so language awereness is important to make connections and to learn based on similarities and linking elements between the languages. When there is a phenomenon in grammar, syntax or vocabulary we try to find something to facilitate all and others to know about a different language.

Danijela, Croatia

dmolnarprof — 2021-09-23 16:01:19 UTC

Language awareness is extremely important in lengthening the subject I teach. I don’t have students of another language area but I teach math and I realize that math communication to children is like speaking in another language. In math, every word is important and each has its own weight and meaning, each comma or period changing the whole concept. Being aware of this also helps me to better prepare for word-choice classes to bring mathematical communication closer to children and facilitate it. It often happens that the child thinks correctly, but in mathematical communication he says a completely different thing without even being aware of it.

Veronica,Spain

2021-09-23 16:13:04 UTC

Language awareness is the key for loving languages

Enrique,Salamanca,Spain

2021-09-24 10:23:33 UTC

Language awareness is a rule of the tumb in language learning. It refers to the development in learners of an enhanced consciousness of and sensitivity to the forms and functions of language.
One year I had several students in a kind of cultural exchange with AFS organization.They were in the bilingual programme in 4ESO at my high school.They were from Austria and the Czec Republic and had come for two terms toSpain, and the best way to teach them the English grammar was in English, although I knew that the Spanish students in the same group were not happy about that and I had to explain in Spanish for them.

Rosario, Spain.

2021-09-24 16:53:07 UTC

Spain is a country where migration has been ans still is an important issue, in the past, due to the great number of spaniards who had to leave the country during the civil war and the post-war years. In the last decades , because of the African people, East European migrants an South Americans who leave their countries trying to find a better life in Europe.I would like to mention all those volunteers working for different charities (Red Cross, Cáritas and other organisations) who help migrants learn a new language, which will help them find their place in a new country. They help adults and children. I find that first step of inclusion in our society really important.

María Teresa, Spain

2021-09-24 17:47:50 UTC

I teach in a village where many students come from Portuguese and Cape Verdean origin, so language awareness is more necessary than ever. What´s the way of taking advantage of it?: Involving the teaching of English in relation to these countries too, for example in terms of comparing traditions, festivities, food or customs: Enriching and useful for perceiving the world in a different way.

Brigitta Heidelbacher, Romania

2021-09-24 18:08:51 UTC

Language awareness is important because the language becomes the means to deliver the message to our students. It is important for the students to understand the language used in the classroom, it is the bridge between the student and the Subject they have to learn. The students can easily loose interest in a certain Subject at school when they have language barriers and it affects their learning process. Language goes hand in hand with the development of comunicative skills and Subject knowledge understanding.

Alina. Poland

al_d — 2021-09-25 10:23:11 UTC

I think we teach children of many origins and we must be aware of difficulties they face learning a foreigh language.

Caterina Fantini - Italy

caterina_fantini1 — 2021-09-25 13:35:08 UTC

I teach in a primary school and my class is a mutiethnic class. It is not always easy to be understood by non-Italian students, but as a teacher I look for various strategies to be followed by everyone

Margit, the Netherlands

2021-09-25 15:36:52 UTC

Being aware of your students language background is just as important as knowing their name or meeting their parents. Language awareness creates the connection between the students and the teacher.

Roxana, Castilla y León (Spain)

letrarevuelta — 2021-09-25 15:55:54 UTC

Fundamental, as it is the key to communication. CLIL is a very important example of this.

Carole M., France

2021-09-25 16:34:37 UTC

I've been teaching for few years in Nursery School and Language awareness is very important, you have to introduce a lot of vocabulary and make sure that the students understand. Now, I'm starting CLIL in Primary school and it's the same, Language awareness is the first step.

Emilia Frinculeasa, Romania

2021-09-25 16:51:21 UTC

Having to teach English as a first, second and third language has definitely taught me to start each lesson with my students' needs, experience and priorities in mind. I have also noticed that peer learning and peer assessment can be very useful under such circumstances.

Tania - Spain

2021-09-25 19:48:35 UTC

LA is important to create an inclusive environment, make students see the importance of languages an culture and, last but not least, create a rapport with tham.
I used to have a group class where most of my students came from a wide variety of countries and I think if In had been more LA, in terms of diversity, the teaching process would have been more efficient.

Diana, Italy

2021-09-26 07:58:26 UTC

LA is important for teacher because if student does not understand the subject, he will lose interest and motivation to study. And every teacher knows how bad is when there's no motivation in classroom.

Christina,Greece

2021-09-26 08:27:59 UTC

For a teacher language awarness is very important when he has a multilingual audience or teaches a new language. He has to be able to know the differences and the similarities of the words/cultures in order to avoid misunderstanding, faulse interpretations. For example one word in one languange has a totaly differend meaning in another. He has also to focus on the similarities in ordrer to gain interest.

Ana, Portugal

2021-09-26 08:54:40 UTC

In fact, language awareness is very important to be considered by teachers, especially in a classroom where linguistic and cultural diversity is a reality.

Simona Italy

2021-09-26 10:18:29 UTC

Language Awarness is the key to built the first relation with a new student in my class. I teach in a small Primary School and each year there is a new student in my class, at the moment I have all the continent in one room.
When a new student arrive, we always start from his or her language, asking the greetings words or the the kind words of his/her mother language.
Very often we discover similarity in the use and tradition, as well as differencies that helps to built a positive relationship.

Thomas, France. "Eh, what's up, doc?"

2021-09-26 20:13:47 UTC

Diagnosis is one of the activities language-awareness could help the teacher with. If a teacher is language-aware, he might quicker notice one student's dyslexia, he could understand better the mother tongue influence on student foreign language performance, he would be more tactful when dealing with language as part of students identity and culture.

Yue, China The first step to intercultural teaching

2021-09-26 20:28:23 UTC

Language awareness can be the first step to intercultural teaching, multilingual learning, and both teacher and student translanguaging skills training. In the past, I have taught foreign-born Chinese students. They had their own Chinese dialects, but lacking any knowledge about my own country's dialects except for mine, I couldn't build on their mother tongue to have a more efficient standard Chinese language teaching. With such a better knowledge, I would have been able to easily point out ways of improvment to them and draw parellels to help students grow a global Chinese languages skill, making their heritage language more valuable and useful to class.

Angeliki, Greece

agg_aggelopoulou — 2021-09-26 20:29:19 UTC

Teaching students from different cultural backgrounds means different linguistic backgrounds as well. Being aware of that can make us understand difficulties our students have better. Let's accept the fact that they are different and of different abilities.

Olivier, France

olivierdelaporte12 — 2021-09-26 20:51:55 UTC

Language is the basis of communication, whatever the country you live in.
Being language-aware can help you to improve your proficiencies and also your pupils in difficulty.
In my classroom, I like to make analogies and differencies between franch and other european languages. Pupils love it !

Sara Carvalho, Portugal

saracarvalho1 — 2021-09-26 21:39:13 UTC

In December 2020 a refugee student from Iraq joined a class of mine. She only spoke her language and English. I had no experience and I had difficulties teaching math in English and Portuguese at the same time in the same classroom! I did the best I knew how!
I wish I could have done more and better!

LA, Caterina Italy

2021-09-27 09:18:45 UTC

When we teach learners, whose first language is not the language spoken in the country, 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.

Daniela Eugenia Dinu/Romania

danielastoian80 — 2021-09-27 15:12:55 UTC

I faced this situation during the eTwinning projects. But, as a teachers we helped our students to understand but also to be understood.

Francesca Italy

furnarifrancesca1967 — 2021-09-27 16:02:20 UTC

I experienced this situation when I took part in an Etwinnning project as a teacher. I realised how important is to be aware of students' different languages and how you can deal with them.

Evren Uygun,Turkey

2021-09-27 16:42:26 UTC

The best way to know and learn this is an eTwinning project

Teresa, Spain

2021-09-27 16:43:31 UTC

Language awareness is a very important aspect to take into account in class. Fortunately, as a person who loves learning new languages I do not see barriers in speaking a different language from the mother tongue of everybody else. I think the hint is in trying to let the students express themselves in the language or in the way they need to. If it implies to start drawing what they think or what they want to say, that is perfect. As far as I am concerned, the most important thing for a child or even for a teenager is to be listened. When you, as a teacher, create that environment in which everybody can express what they need in the way they can, they feel more comfortable, and they learning of the new language grows exponentially. For me, it is a matter of giving space to express themselves and trust.

Constantine, Canada

constantineioannou — 2021-09-27 16:50:53 UTC

In working with fellow educators we employ many instructional coaching techniques in order to develop better curricula and teaching strategies to create a more inclusive classroom. Our philosophy here that I always simplify with my teams are: everyone IS a language teacher, and, many effective strategies can be useful for all learners but are essential for some. Having more language awareness means teachers will be better informed about their judgement of student responses and products especially if they understand the kinds of errors that may come up due to language transfer. We often look at the various types of strategies that are effective for language learning and help content teachers implement them in their instruction if not already there: graphic organizers, key word walls, chunking content, comprehension checks, key visuals, cooperative groups etc.

Cristina, Spain

2021-09-27 17:47:44 UTC

language awareness is essential especially to avoid communication problems

Gülbahar,Turkey

2021-09-27 18:55:05 UTC

I m an esl teacher and also a professional tour guide thats wht I can easily say that being an aware person about languages gives me a lot of opportunities in education world and the real social one indeed.

Jelena, Serbia

uciteljicajelenababic — 2021-09-27 19:48:52 UTC

Teaching kids from different cultural backgrounds means different linguistic backgrounds as well. In Serbia lives many Roma people and I try to Many Roma live in Serbia and I try to bring them language and culture closer to my students. That's why I made the first Serbian-Roma dictionary for children.

Regina, Italy

regina_marrazzo — 2021-09-27 20:41:11 UTC

I teach French to teens and I notice that learning a second foreign language is very helpful to their cognitive development. So when I invite my students to reflect on the similarities that exist between Italian, French, English... and also their dialect, they have fun and become more motivated

Fernanda, Portugal

ferfreitasrbe — 2021-09-27 20:42:52 UTC

It is through language that students access the content of the lesson and communicate their ideas. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to ensure that language is not a barrier to learning. One way to do that is to make me more "language conscious", use proper vocabulary

Emiliana, Italy

emiliana_rufo — 2021-09-28 08:10:06 UTC

I teach English in Italy and I help my students learn English (as a third language) by using loans, cognates, similar words and images so they can identify concepts and new vocabulary by developing their cognitive skills and competences. Comparing different languages and using pictures, situations, videos and gestures can help them familiarize with new vocabulary and grammar structures.

Z.Elif Eser-Turkey

elifsozeri — 2021-09-28 10:01:46 UTC

I teach English in Turky whose mother toungue is Turkish. but there are some students that can speak some local languages. When they have a problem to understand a topic I try to explain it by compaing and contrasting with a local use of language behaviour.

Graça Casimiro, Portugal

2021-09-28 14:12:09 UTC

Language awareness is something teachers should have under their belt as it will guide them as far as teaching their students is concerned respecting their level of proficiency. Also, it is guide teachers and students to bridge the differences learning from them, this way being more permeable to dissimilar scenarios.
A few years ago, as a younger teacher and also less knowlegeable of the world that surrounded me, I think I would have "used" students with different backgrounds as a more effective tool to learn about language and its barriers.
I do it now; therefore it's never too late.

Monica, Romania

monicaiordache — 2021-09-28 20:12:21 UTC

During one of the Erasmus programs from our school, I realized that it is an important aspect that facilitates communication between students of various nationalities.

Ebru, Turkey

ebruozcam — 2021-09-29 07:53:56 UTC

I realized that I shouldn't use idioms. Children who receive education other than their mother tongue may not know idioms and old words.

Mihaela Reiter, Romania

2021-09-29 14:34:03 UTC

I think that language awareness is important for us as teachers, because that's the only way we can make students aware. As a French teacher, studied as a foreign language in Romania, I must always make my students aware of the power of language, of the connections they can create using what they know. It is a real challenge to make them think in a foreign language but with the help of analogies with their mother tongue or with English and many similar words nothing is impossible.

Dóra, Hungary

2021-09-29 15:59:14 UTC

It is a huge responsibility to create an atmosphere where the language learners feel safe. To me this is the first step when I want to motivate them to dare to use the languge.
So I always encourage my students who learn English to dare to speak in front of the other students because we all learn from each other.

The Importance of Language Awareness

2021-09-29 17:21:43 UTC

Language awareness is a vital trait that all educators of all grade levels should embrace, knowing not all students will speak the same language since their mother tongue might be different from the tongue used in school. As a prospective educator, I have never faced situations where greater language awareness would have helped me to design learning experiences for students speaking a secondary language. If I had to place myself in an educator's shoes, knowing when to use the child's mother tongue in any lesson and other aspects of a child's education is somewhat of a challenge, especially with languages that are not commonly spoken worldwide.

Austin Nicholas Dragoș [United States of America]

Bojan, Croatia

labojan — 2021-09-29 20:19:04 UTC

At the beginning of this school year we've got a new student. He is of national origin the same as other students in classroom, but he grew up in another country. He speaks the mother language and writes it such as other students do, but with some gramatical and orthographic difficulties. So, we are all very patient working with him, repeating more what he should write down to his notebook, speaking easier in front of him, writting printed letters on the blackboard and even preparing the full text he should rewrite to his notebook later.
So, language awareness, as it is necessary in this case, is more than aplicable in this classroom and we are practising it totally.

Natália, Portugal

2021-09-29 23:00:56 UTC

Teachers must be aware of the difficulties students may experience when they are learning a language, in particular when it is very different from their native language.
In my opinion it's better to use from once in a while the student's native language to explain something. But I believe that teachers should use the language their are teaching as much as possible, because it's an opportunity to learn vocabulary and pronunciation and at the same time challenge students to do their best to understand and speak a foreign language.

DrSuha Ababneh

islambabneh — 2021-09-30 10:57:01 UTC

I usesd difference languge in Sciencetific terms in biology

Teresa, Spain

2021-09-30 18:24:37 UTC

One of the first things I do in my CLIL classes is to ask my pupils for trust. At first they find very troublesome to follow whole sessions in English, just with some free translations by their mates in the most crucial aspects of the tasks. Their tendency at the beginning is to "close ears", as they are not able to understand every word that is said in class. When they realize that they do not need to do so to be able to follow the session and the activities that are proposed, they change attitude and, eventually, in a few months, they gain a lot of self confidence, at least in terms of understanding. In Spain we are very shy about speaking a foreign language, which leads us to a lack of practice which ends in failure at learning it.
I am sure that language awareness will help me to catch the attention and the interest of my pupils from beggining to end of my sessions.

Raluca ,Romania

raluska — 2021-10-01 15:23:17 UTC

Language awareness is essential for communication between students or between students and teachers.

Ifigenia, Thessaloniki

2021-10-01 21:01:56 UTC

Language awareness is important, especially when there are students of different language backgrounds in a classroom

Patrizia, Italy

2021-10-02 14:58:10 UTC

Language awareness lets teachers and students learn the essence of language, so doing students can learn effectively, understand the cultural differences between languages and better promote the use of a language.

I am not a language teacher, but teach mechanical engineering at a vocational school. Like in all European countries we have got a lot of students with a migration background in our classes. So the only possibility to be successful is to prepare worksheets on different levels. The difficulty for a native speaker is to discover and anticipate the difficulties a foreigner might have with our language.

Erz — 2021-10-02 20:30:11 UTC

Emma, Spain

enavascarbonero — 2021-10-03 18:21:14 UTC

Language awareness is crucial when designing activities in the classroom. Thus, when teachers know their students’ L 1 and L2, they understand better their difficulties and how they struggle to become proficient.

Maria João Marques, Portugal

mjvmarques — 2021-10-04 11:36:07 UTC

Language awareness is vital when you face a multilingual class. But to be aware and master the student's language is a whole different story. In my class I have students who come from Portugal, China, India, Brasil, Canada and England. English is the common language in class. This is clearly an advantage for the students who are from English speaking countries. For the Portuguese and Brazilian students is also easy because I can switch to this language easily. My concern is about the Chinese girl. I master some words of mandarin, but not enough to be comfortable with it...

VA, Portugal

2021-10-04 11:55:08 UTC

When refugies students from Iraq joined my class, it was very difficult to teach Sciencs because they only speak arabic. I wish I could do it better! At mobilities of Erasmus projects all the team realises how language is important to communicate.

Katerina, Greece

2021-10-04 14:34:25 UTC

Language awareness is essential when it comes to teaching refugees and immigrants.

Silvia, Italy

2021-10-04 16:11:30 UTC

It often happens to have foreign students from other realities or from the circus, it is therefore essential to be attentive to their needs to increase their language ability.

Izaskun, Basque Country

2021-10-04 16:40:21 UTC

Language awareness is not only important as a vehicular language for subjects, it is also important to help all the students to express feelings.
Language can be an obstacle for students and make them feel unconfident. This is also a reason to have language awareness when students need to expess their feelings.
Worksheets and dictionaries help a lot, but the most important thing is the emotional education.

Najoua. Tunisia

NajouaSlatnia — 2021-10-04 17:48:02 UTC

I think language awareness is important because each language reflects many important things, not just grammatical rules or vocabulary. So the way of thinking and learning in one language or culture may be different in another. So it is important to know how to personalise and vary the teaching methods in these cases.

Prado, Spain

pradodtoro — 2021-10-04 18:13:11 UTC

In my opinion, language awareness plays an important role in teaching because the students can learn and use any language more effectively, they can develop intercultural consciousness and embrace cultural diversity by understanding (and respecting) the cultural differences between their mother tongue and any other language being aware of the richness of its environment and culture.
As teachers, the implementation of language awareness in our classroom depends on our ability to create a motivating environment and provide instruction or verbalize ideas in the most clear and enjoyable way for our students (we can use and draw picture, make videos, perform plays, use body expression, organize debates,..) This way we can engage and support our students developing their autonomous learning.

Mirela, Croatia

klaricmi — 2021-10-04 20:33:59 UTC

I teach native language to native speakers so I don't have much experience with language diversity. Although, I could be more language aware in situations when I am dealign with students from different backgrounds who didn't have same opportunities to read, communicate with various groups of people, travell... and whose language is poorer for those reasons. To those students I should use different assessment approach trying to keep their progress in mind without comparing them to other students' achievements.

Ana Maria Cruz, Portugal

anacruz2 — 2021-10-04 21:16:22 UTC

I teach English and French as L2 . I really don't have much experience with multilingual classes. I have already had one Chinese pupil some years ago... I assume it wasn't a successful experience... I think when teaching L2 to a whole class of Portuguese pupils may be different than teaching non- latin origin language learners. This MOOC will surely help me enhance my skills and competences in this area.

Javier, Spain

2021-10-04 21:51:15 UTC

Just thinking about something that happened to me a few years ago.

It was the first time I was travelling abroad. I have never met someone from another country before.

How I was supposed to know that not all people kiss twice the first time they meet. Or that you must take your shoes off before entering the house? Or how I found myself carrying the dictionary everywhere I went.

Can you imagine how a child who does not know anything about the language you are speaking is experiencing?

Glyka,Greece

glyka350 — 2021-10-05 04:55:46 UTC

We live in multicultural societies and classrooms host a large number of foreign students who feel quite apprehensive with the new linguistic codes. So, yes I have been through many awkward moments when I tried to communicate with them using English as a lingua franca.

Valentina, Romania

roberta_raul07 — 2021-10-05 12:20:17 UTC

Language awareness is essential for communication between students or between students and teachers. In our days you need to know the most used languages like english that is spread and used all over the globe, plus that the majority of the sites and apps are in english.

Carmen, Zamora (Spain)

2021-10-06 20:23:27 UTC

Some years ago I taught Spanish to two primary British pupils who were spending that year in my town. Language awareness of their difficulties and the differences between English and Spanish became classes funnier and the learning-teaching process has been one of the most interesting ones

Seda DAŞKIN, TURKEY

2021-10-07 07:19:37 UTC

I teach Engish in Turkey and Turkish Language has many rules. But in Engish, there is always rules and excepts. While I teach the words who has different pronounciation, I say that it's like a magical words :) Don't think it's hard, think about the difference and enjoy it! :D
for example; island, punctual, action...

Stefania , Italy

2021-10-07 17:30:13 UTC

In the past I tought French in a class where students and immigrants spoke in neapolitan , it was simpler for them to understand and learn French , as the Neapolitan is the result of the heritage of different languages.
Nowadays I teach in classes where students come from Maroc, Ukraina, Poland, Cube, Venezuela, it is useless say they represent a wealth for the school , they help native students to enlarge they boundaries, avoiding prejudices against other languages and cultures.
Language awareness is fondamental to facilitate comprehension, peace and learning

,

Maria, Portugal

2021-10-08 20:19:08 UTC

Language is a vehicle for learning and when we teaching in a different language of the students, this language becomes the vehicle to delivering the message to our students.

Federica Carminati, Italy

2021-10-09 13:00:40 UTC

Few days ago, I went in a classroom to substitute a colleague. I started reading an illustrated book and I showed it to pupils, but one of them seemed lost and looked out of the window. Then I asked what was wrong with her, and her mates told me she wasn't able to understand neither one word of what I was saying. So I started from the beginning, trying to translate in english while I was reading, asking for help from the other pupils. It has been a brilliant experience. Everybody laughed and I felt so effective!

AIKATERINI SIDERI

kate_sideri — 2021-10-11 15:25:23 UTC

When I have pupils from India and Pakistan - and that occurs regularly- , teaching English is quite easy because it is already their second language. When I have a newcomer from Albania I usually use other Albanian pupils for mediation until the newcomers feel confident enough to participate in the conversation using the target -language (English). In that way their mother tongue is not forshaken and they feel its importance as a scaffolding for a new acquired knowledge, even if their own mother tongue doesn't belong to the same family of languages with English language.

Alina Bogdan, Romania

2021-10-12 07:20:03 UTC

my students are 5-6 years old. last year I had only one child who spoke another language. It is very important how the teacher approaches the design of activities in this case, the child's adaptation to the kindergarten environment depends on this.

Beatriz I., Spain

2021-10-12 09:44:43 UTC

Although all my students are Spanish, they are learning English as a foreign language. Since all the lessons are in English, language awareness is vital to be able to communicate, not only teacher - students but also between students.

I teach diferent subjects in Spain, sometimes I use L2 in those non English nor bilingual lessons. Students are used to it and They normally understand. It works.

2021-10-12 11:54:17 UTC

Marta, Poland

2021-10-12 18:25:53 UTC

Language awareness is important especially to teachers who have students from different cultural=language backgrounds to the one they are being taught. It helps to understand nuances within languages.

Clara, Portugal

2021-10-12 20:00:54 UTC

As a science teacher, I may think that language support is not my role. However, I agree that it is my responsibility to create an inclusive classroom where all students can access the curriculum and where barriers to learning are reduced as much as possible. Being aware of the language needs of my students, I try to use this awareness to help reduce obstacles that learning through an additional language might present. This is all the time because this school year I have several students from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Iraq.

Aybuke,Turkey

etwininng — 2021-10-16 08:33:43 UTC

Everyone is different. Working for a common purpose in the classroom by respecting differences. Languages bring together a common point

deniz eryılmaz

dnzkay9 — 2021-10-17 14:19:50 UTC

language awareness helps us to communicate positively and effectively with our students who use different languages and to increase intercultural interaction.

Edurne, Basque Country

2021-10-18 07:24:21 UTC

I have foreign students and I teach foreign language. Every student have a different backgrounds and some of them have different needs in language, so awareness is essential in this terms.

Viorica, Romania

vigyorika477 — 2021-10-18 08:28:24 UTC

I have learned a lot since I attended various European courses. I had to learn on the go. In order to improve myself, for my continuous training, I realized that this is the only way I can manage

Şermin,Turkey

ayansermin — 2021-10-18 14:58:25 UTC

language awareness helps us to communicate positively and effectively with our students who use different languages and to increase intercultural interaction.

Alina, Romania

2021-10-18 17:26:41 UTC

Language awareness is important for teachers while designing their lessons because they have to know the needs of students who are the same native's tongue as in school.

Danijela, Croatia

2021-10-19 18:44:33 UTC

I have students whose mother tongue is Croatian, so I did not find myself in a similar situation. My students occasionally have problems with their mother tongue because they read too little and they have lack vocabulary. Many of the terms, used in the history textbook, they don’t understand at all, and we adults assume they know them. The last example is that they did not understand, in seventh grade, the word CRITICIZE.

Fernanda, Freitas

ferfreitasrbe — 2021-10-21 15:29:27 UTC

When we master the language, its concepts, we easily get students the ideas in question. It becomes easier to communicate, transmit and then be understood.

Violeta, Ro

2021-10-22 16:31:08 UTC

Language awareness is very important, especially when students of different language backgrounds meet themselves in a classroom and learn together.

Claudya, Romania

claudia_neacsa — 2021-10-23 21:00:20 UTC

Language awareness is a great tool for communication. It breaks down the barriers. It is very useful in projects with kids from other countries.

Cristina, Spain

2021-10-24 11:01:45 UTC

Making myself and the rest of students language aware is something important in order to create a comforable clime for language learning

Zlata Hrženjak, Croatia

zhrzenjak1 — 2021-10-24 17:24:04 UTC

Since internationalization is one of the important elements of modern schools and participating in international projects such as Erasmus and eTwinning makes students and teachers aware of the importance of language. It is also important to raise awarenes that multilingualism is one of the key competencies which modern education should be based on.

Carla Dias, Portugal

furnarifrancesca1967 — 2021-10-25 14:41:31 UTC

I haven't experienced this type of situation yet. I have students from other nationalities, but they speak English.

rasha

rashaalomari448 — 2021-10-26 18:19:49 UTC

language awareness is very important, especially when students of different language backgrounds meet