1. An information evening for
parents at Panaga School
developing an understanding of
EAL and MT

2. Brainteasers!
• How many languages are spoken on the
island of Borneo?
• How many languages are spoken in THE
WORLD?

3. Languages at Panaga-can you spot yours?
Arabic, Indonesian,Bahasa Melayu,Tamil,
Bengali, Spanish,Hindi,Urdu,Telugu,German,
Dutch, English, Mandarin, Russian, French,
Chinese, Marathi, Assamese, Visayan,
Tagalog,Thai, Malayalam,Turkish,Konrani,
Swahili, Yoruba,Norwegian,Polish,Kannada

4. NO. OF CHILDREN
100
120
20
40
60
80
0
AMERICAN
ARGENTINA
AUSTRALIAN
BRAZILIAN
BRITISH
BELGIAN
BELGIUM
CANADIAN
CHINESE
COLOMBIAN
DUTCH
EGYPTIAN
FILIPINO
FRENCH
INDIAN
INDONESIAN
IRANIAN
IRISH
JAMAICAN
MALAYSIAN
MEXICAN
N. ZEALANDER
NIGERIAN
GERMAN
OMANI
PAKISTANI
PERUVIAN
NATIONALITIES POLISH
SCOTTISH
SINGAPOREAN
SWEDEN
SYRIAN
TURKISH
Series1
TRINIDAD
VENEZUELAN
ITALIAN
PANAGA SCHOOL NATIONALITY
RUSSIAN
THAILAND
Panaga School Nationalities
NORWEGIAN
PORTUGUESE

5. Support your child’s mother tongue!
• What does ‘mother tongue’ mean to
you?

6. Importance of Mother Tongue
• Part of the roots of
your children; cultural
identity
• Link to family, friends
and country
• Necessary for children
to reintegrate into their
home country, national
school or university

7. Role mother tongue plays in educational
development?
There are 4 steps according to Prof. Jim
Cummins, leading researcher in second
language acquisition, Ontario University

8. 1.Bilingual learners are the best learners !
• By learning two or more languages children gain
a greater understanding of how language works
• Knowledge and skills transfer across two
languages (review weekly learning targets)
• Develop greater flexibility in thinking skills across
subjects, due to processing of information
through 2 different languages.

9. 2. A strong supported mother tongue
does not hurt children learning English
• Parents worry that being bilingual will
hinder their child’s progress but these
fears are ungrounded.
• Sometimes they mix languages, but this
gets sorted out later.

10. 3.Developing literacy in your MT is an
efficient means of developing literacy in
second language
• accelerates the development of
reading ability in second language
• literacy in MT transfers into the
second language, even when writing
signs are different
• provides knowledge of the world and
helps with school

11. How parents can support?
Mother Tongue at home:
– Decide on a family language policy
– Reading (have a diverse library), videos,
games, friends…aim to be biliterate not
just bilingual
– Visit home country for extended
holidays
– Have lots of visitors from home!
– Support IPC in MT with research and
discussion

12. 4.Mother tongue is fragile and easily lost
in early years of school
• Children pick up ‘playground English’ really
quickly
BUT
• Children can lose their mother tongue as
quickly
• Extent and rapidity of language loss will vary
according to how much it is used
• Can lose within 2-3 years of starting school-
retain receptive skills but respond in English
to peers and parents

13. At school:
• Books for library; donation
• Come in and read story or teach
us some songs!
• Share your festivals
• Oral and written translations
• Language of the month
• Shell Educational Services may
offer an allowance enabling the
employment of MT teacher.

14. EAL at Panaga School
• Withdrawal and in-class support
• Survival language!
• Support with developing vocabulary linked to
other school subjects
• Speaking and listening skills
• Development of literacy skills (reading and
writing)

15. How can you help
your child at home
to develop their
English skills?

16. Helping with EAL at home.
• Have a family rule of when to speak
English (car, restaurant, shop, beach?)
• Radio, television, films, books, music and
family games.
• Label everyday objects in both languages
around home.
• Play dates – organize through parent
representatives.

17. Conclusion
Let’s work together to develop your
child’s language learning.
We need you to support your child’s
mother tongue and EAL!

18. References
• Bilingual Children’s Mother Tongue: Why is it important
for Education
Children's Mother Tongue: Why Is It Important
http://www.iteachilearn.com/cummins/mother.htm
• Krashen Stephen-http://www.sdkrashen.com/main.php3
• Website with a large number of books on bilingualism
www.multilingual-matters
• Pollock and Van Reken, (2001) Third Culture Kids
• Cunningham-Andersson, (2008) Growing up with two
languages, a practical guide
• Colin Baker, (2004)A parents’ and teachers’ guide to
bilingualism