Language Policy

Philosophy/Beliefs - The School welcomes students from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Linguistic diversity is embraced across the School community.  The Alcuin School Language Policy provides a framework for creating individual plans for students to encourage retention of the Mother Tongue and the acquisition of language skills that will enable them to function as citizens of the international community.  All guides/faculty members, whether in Montessori or IB classrooms, are responsible for language development, acquisition, and encouragement of the Mother Tongue.  Guides/faculty members embrace language development as a necessary cognitive basis for learning across all disciplines.  We aim to foster a close collaboration between parents and guides/faculty members regarding the student’s language and cultural background.  Language acquisition allows students to experience and appreciate the diversity of the thinking and traditions of another culture. Encountering new perspectives through this study prepares students to participate in an increasingly global community.  The School believes language development and language acquisition foster understanding and support the School’s mission of developing compassionate global citizens.

Language Instruction - English is the language of instruction at Alcuin School. All Montessori and International Baccalaureate^® guides/faculty members recognize that they are language teachers. Students are given a variety of experiences in reading, writing, listening, and speaking to develop their skills. All subject guides/faculty members further the advancement of student skills by giving feedback on presentation and language use, as well as subject-specific content.

Development of language skills is embedded in all Montessori classrooms from Toddlers through 6^th Level.  As students move into Middle School and Upper School, they complete the International Baccalaureate^® Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme Language and Literature courses in English for students who are competent in English or claim English as a Mother Tongue.

Language Acquisition - To provide the broadest exposure to language acquisition, the school provides a single bilingual Montessori Toddler classroom.  All Montessori Primary classrooms include Spanish acquisition classes.  In Montessori Lower Elementary classrooms, all students are exposed to both Mandarin and Spanish acquisition classes. When students reach 3^rd level, students choose to continue language acquisition in either Mandarin or Spanish.  Throughout Middle School and Upper School, students complete the International Baccalaureate® Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme Spanish and Mandarin acquisition courses.  The provision of Mandarin and Spanish enables students who already have native competency in Spanish or Mandarin to acquire another language.  Assessment in language acquisition classes through Upper School 10^th Level (sophomores) uses the International Baccalaureate^® Middle Years Programme rubrics appropriate to each course, adapted through the interim objectives. To enable the highest level of mastery, all language classes meet or exceed the 50 hours per year minimum prescribed by the International Baccalaureate^® Organization and fulfill the objective of concurrent learning.  In the Upper School 11^th Level and 12^th Level (junior and senior) International Baccalaureate^® Diploma Programme acquisition classes, assessment fulfills all requirements of the International Baccalaureate^® Diploma Programme Course Guide for Language Acquisition.  All Diploma Programme courses meet or exceed the requirement of 150 hours of instruction for Standard Level and are taught over two complete school years thus enabling students to reach the highest possible level of mastery.

Summary throughout Curriculum - As English is the language of instruction, student success in all areas is predicated on their competency in this language. Guides/faculty members in all areas must help students develop language skills that are relevant to a specific subject. Comprehension should be developed through listening, reading, viewing, and writing. Students will use a variety of means of expression to develop their writing and speaking in their assessment tasks. The integration of language instruction within all subjects helps students to see their own literacy as a process of lifelong learning and contributes to their own understanding of their perceptions about the world.

As students encounter different languages and cultures in their exploration of the curriculum, guides/faculty members and students will discuss and compare form and expression in language; however, no one form of a language should be held as standard.

Encouraging the Mother Tongue - The Mother Tongue is an important part of a student’s cultural heritage and contributes to the student’s formation of identity. The development of the Mother Tongue is essential to a student’s cognitive skills, particularly forming the basis of the student’s learning for all languages.

Guides/faculty members are committed to encourage each student’s Mother Tongue through professional development and use of multiple instructional strategies which may include the following.

• Encouraging collaboration between parents and faculty members regarding the student’s language and cultural background

• Providing books, magazines, and instructional resources for individual students in the student’s Mother Tongue where available

• Providing dual language books where available

• Providing separate copies of classroom textbooks in English and the student’s Mother Tongue where available

• Using online resources to translate materials into the student’s Mother Tongue when appropriate

• Allowing and encouraging students to do tasks in both English and their Mother Tongue when appropriate

• Enabling the student to first translate into the student’s Mother Tongue when translating from English to Spanish or Mandarin or from Spanish or Mandarin to English

• Providing signage in the Mother Tongues represented in the classroom when possible

• Encouraging the student to use the student’s Mother Tongue

• Sharing techniques for encouraging of the Mother Tongue during faculty collaboration meetings

• Exhibiting curiosity regarding the student’s Mother Tongue and culture

• Encouraging parents to maintain and develop the student’s Mother Tongue

• Providing to families referrals to lessons and materials to develop competency in the student’s Mother Tongue when possible

• Demonstrating sensitivity to cultural differences

English Language Learners (ELL’s) and Differentiation - Specific goals based on the student’s identified needs will be developed for any student who is an English Language Learner with a Mother Tongue other than English. Students who have less competence in English will be given extra support in English.

English Language Learners will remain with their class for all subjects to benefit from immersion and the modeling of English from their peers and guides/faculty members.  Guides/faculty members are committed to encouraging English Language Learners through collaboration with parents, professional development and use of multiple instructional strategies which may include the following.

• Providing a low-stress instructional environment

• Providing opportunities for success independent of English proficiency

• Adapting teaching style to meet individual needs of English Language Learners

• Increasing awareness of scaffolding learning when planning and delivering lessons

• Using multiple mediums to present information

• Adapting teaching materials, if necessary, to meet the individual needs of English Language Learners

• Simplifying language during instruction

• Simplifying language on instructional materials

• Providing written copies of presentations and notes

• Pairing students with other students whom speak their mother tongue when feasible.

• Seating paired students in close proximity to one another in order to scaffold their understanding of tasks administered in English

• Using paired reading

• Linking grammar and construction in English to the student’s Mother Tongue

• Using sentence frames as a framework for instruction, a support to aid in understanding of classwork, and support for student understanding of the structure of the English language in general

• Providing tutorials and seminars using tutors and outside experts designed to address individual needs as needs arise

• Providing dual language books where available

• Providing copies of classroom textbooks in English and the student’s Mother Tongue where available

• Using online resources to translate materials to provide materials dealing with difficult concepts in the student’s Mother Tongue when appropriate

• Providing referrals to external lessons and materials to help the development of English competency when appropriate

• Providing extra time when appropriate

• Providing individual help with the classroom guide or faculty

• Reducing, if necessary, homework assignments

• Accepting cultural learning differences

• Exhibiting curiosity toward cultural different ways of expressing specific discipline content, such as different algorithms for division used in Spanish speaking countries

Policy Review - This policy will be subject to review by a committee appointed by the Division Heads and the Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Review will take into account best practices, the needs of the school community, and the guidelines set forth by the International Baccalaureate Organization®.