All children will enjoy the experience of learning a new language in a primary school, but there will be some who display a particular talent for languages and who will require particular attention to address their needs.

When teaching able linguists, you might pay particular attention to children’s accuracy, fluency and pronunciation, suggesting alternative ways of expressing ideas, to widen a child’s repertoire. Support in identifying gifted children is available in the Key Stage 2 Framework for Languages, Part 3, section 4, ‘Inclusion – Languages for all’.

Questions

- Why may it be difficult for teachers to identify those children who show signs of being linguistically able?

- What strategies can you use to support those children who are linguistically able?

Activity

• Read the criteria suggested on page 56 of Part 3 of the Key Stage 2 Framework for Languages on identifying linguistically able children.
• Do you agree with all the descriptors identified on page 56?
• Are there any other descriptors which you would add to this list?
• Share instances when you have identified more able linguists within a teaching and learning situation.