Useful links:

SCILT, Scotland’s National Centre for Languages

Education Scotland’s Parent Zone – advice and tips on

Bilingualism Matters – information and advice about

British Deaf Association – information about British

Developing literacy
through language
learning:
A guide for parents
Developing literacy Language learning in Scotland How can I help improve my
through language In Scotland, additional languages have been part of
child’s literacy?

learning
the curriculum from primary through to secondary for
a number of years. While this is still the case, local
There may be lots of opportunities to help develop
authorities and schools are working towards a new way
literacy at home:
of learning languages, known as the 1+2 approach to
language learning. The new approach entitles every child
• A positive attitude towards learning new languages
Literacy is more than the ability to read and write. and young person in Scotland to study two languages at
can help raise your child’s motivation, which can
When we talk about literacy, we mean a range of school in addition to their mother tongue language. This
improve their language learning. Read more about
develops and strengthens their literacy and language
language skills that help learners participate in all skills in a number of ways:
the benefits of learning languages
aspects of their lives and learning. Learning new
languages can play an important role in helping • Language learning will be part of the everyday http://bit.ly/Benefits_of_Langs
life of the classroom from P1. This gives teachers
children and young people to develop their literacy
the opportunity to spend more time developing • Singing songs and rhymes together can help
skills, including literacy in their first language, children’s language skills and knowledge of develop literacy. You could start by asking your
whether this is English or another language. language so that the children are likely to have a child to teach you the songs and rhymes that they
greater understanding of how languages work as learn in school. A range of songs and rhymes from
they go through school. around the world is available on the Mama Lisa’s
• Learning two additional languages gives learners World website
How does learning languages help more opportunities to build on their literacy skills.
Being able to use their existing skills to understand http://bit.ly/mamalisa
my child develop literacy? new languages can encourage them to try new
things, which may improve their confidence. This
makes for much better learners all round! • Ask your child to tell you about similarities and/or
differences between any of the languages they learn,
Learning languages involves participating in activities • Schools continue to plan together to make sure that
including their own language. Share what you know
that help develop literacy skills. Through languages, what children do in secondary school builds on what
about your own and/or other languages.
learners have opportunities to: they have done in primary school. This ensures that
learning languages remains a suitably challenging
• Gently encourage your child to take advantage of real
• develop and improve their skills in listening, and rewarding experience for children as they move
life opportunities to use the language(s) they know
talking, reading and writing 1 into secondary.
at home or abroad, e.g. meeting and greeting family
• get a feeling for how languages work • This approach is inclusive and entitles all children members/friends who are fluent in other languages,
• learn how to communicate ideas and information in and young people to learn new languages. In this buying and asking about things in shops, reading
their own language as well as in the new languages way, the lives of all learners may be enhanced from newspapers, etc.
they study learning about other languages and cultures.
• become familiar with different texts and media in • If you or family/friends have some knowledge of
different languages For more detailed information, download the new language your child is learning, plan an
‘A 1+2 Approach to Language Learning: Information for enjoyable activity in which you can use the language
• consider new points of view
parents’ (SCILT, 2014) together. For instance, follow a recipe written in
• use new technologies to communicate in other the new language, watch a language-specific film,
languages, which boosts their learning and helps • http://bit.ly/1plus2parentleaflet
read a story or play a game together. This blog post
them develop literacy skills for the digital age suggests some language and thinking games that
1
For children who use British Sign Language (BSL), this can may be adapted to other languages
References are available from include producing and understanding BSL face to face and on
http://bit.ly/languagesliteracy video. For visually impaired children it may include using Braille, http://bit.ly/literacy-games
large print or computers with speech output.