Panel Discussion:- How best can we support the Learners in our Classrooms for whom English is an Additional Language? (Session 5 in a 6 Part Series)

Panel Discussion

How best can we support the Learners in our Classrooms for whom English is an Additional Language?

Date:   Wednesday, 3 November 2021

Time:   7 – 8:30pm

Cost:    Free

Facilitator: Annie Asgard

Webinar Description

Catering for the language and literacy development of English language learners is a long-term, shared school community commitment. The most effective EAL provision involves a whole-school approach. This means that English language learners and their families are acknowledged, consulted, included, and active participants in the school community.

This panel discussion will concentrate on effective strategies teachers and schools have put in place which have made a positive difference for teachers, learners, families and school communities and have improved for young people. It is important for developing multilingual young people to not only learn English, but to maintain their home language(s) and feel a sense of belong both in their school and in their community. A strong home/school/community network can foster a strong sense of cultural and linguistic identity in young people.

There will be inputs from a school leader, EAL, teachers, an SNA, a school secretary, an English language learner and parent.

By participating in this webinar, you will be better equipped to further enhance a supportive, and diverse school environment that will make English language learners and their families feel welcome.

By attending this webinar we expect that you will have an understanding of the ‘big picture’ as with regards to working with English language learners.

When you complete this webinar, you will:

·       be better equipped to further enhance a supportive, and diverse school environment that will make English language learners and their families feel welcome.

·       Have practical planning, teaching, assessment, and communication resources that will guide you in working as a SET/EAL or EAL teacher or as a mainstream teacher with English language learners in your class.

You will be encouraged to ask questions / clarify aspects of webinar content throughout the session.

The Facilitator: Annie Asgard

Annie Asgard is an English Language Support Teacher in Claddagh National School in Galway City. She has been active in the area of EAL teaching since 2006. She is active in working with families who are under the International Protection System (who are seeking asylum in Ireland) and in refugee education as an advocate for parents and an activist. She is a strong advocate for multilingualism and speaks Farsi (spoken as a mother tongue), English and has also studied Spanish, Japanese and French.

She is passionate about encouraging children and parents to maintain and advance their mother tongue/s as she learned English herself as a young child at school after moving to the USA from Iran as a young child.

She studied at Temple University for a B.Ed and M.Ed. She works as a field researcher on the Children’s Lives Study at UCD and engages with multilingual families in case study research in the area of children’s voice and the daily lived experiences of children in primary school.

In late September 2020, she was elected Chairperson of the English Language Support Teachers’ Association of Ireland (ELSTA). Annie hopes to bring much-needed professional development and training to all teachers in Ireland who work with English language learners.