Language made fun: Supporting disadvantaged children in their English language development
Dr Raffaella Folli, Dr Christina Sevdali, Dr Catrin Rhys, Dr Jacopo Romoli and Prof Alison Henry (Ulster) In linguistically diverse societies, language issues are recognised to mediate social inclusion and hence be significant for social inclusion policies. More specifically, failure to support the language needs of newcomer pupils can lead to social exclusion and underachievement in education. This presentation reports on ‘Language made fun’, a play-based language intervention programme for primary school newcomer pupils from refugee families. The project is a joint initiative between Ulster Centre on Multilingualism (UCoM) and Barnardo’s NI. UCoM, established by the linguistics team (Ulster’s School
Understanding differential educational achievement within and between areas of multiple deprivation in Northern Ireland: a case study approach
Prof Ruth Leitch (QUB) This presentation presents the findings of the ‘ILiAD’ research study (Investigating Links in Achievement and Deprivation), a 3-year study funded by the Office of First Minister and the deputy First Minister, which will finish in March 2015. The study aims to understand the reasons for 2 differential educational achievement within and between deprived areas in Northern Ireland. Previous studies have concluded that there is a positive correlation between deprivation and underachievement. However, some areas of high multiple deprivation in Northern Ireland have high levels of GCSE attainment, whereas other less deprived areas have much lower levels