Professional learning paper:
Assessing progress and achievement for Gaelic (Learners)
Introduction
This paper builds on the advice in the Gaelic (Learners) Principles and Practices paper which
states that children and young people, as they learn Gaelic within Curriculum for Excellence, will
develop:
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awareness of the skills required to be an effective learner of languages
awareness of social and cultural aspects of Gaelic culture, heritage and tradition
knowledge about Gaelic language structure and idiom that allows the learner to
check the accuracy of her/his language use and to create new language
the ability to communicate in relevant and realistic contexts.
Learning Gaelic shares with learning in other areas of language and literacy the concept that
language lies at the centre of our thinking and learning. Learning Gaelic helps children and
young people to develop an understanding of the interconnected nature of languages and
contributes to learners’ wider education and life experiences.
Significant aspects of learning in Gaelic (Learners)
Assessment in Gaelic will focus on learners’ knowledge, understanding, skills, attributes and
capabilities in the following significant aspects of learning:
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listening and talking
reading
writing.
These significant aspects of learning in Gaelic relate directly to the structure which is described
in the Principles and Practice paper and which underpins the organisation of the Experiences
and Outcomes. The same organisers are used in Gaelic (Learners) as in Literacy and Gàidhlig,
Literacy and English and Modern Languages.
Teachers and learners will focus on developing the knowledge and understanding, skills,
attributes and capabilities detailed in the experiences and outcomes. Progression in the
significant aspects of learning of Gaelic will be evidenced as practitioners and children and
young people gather, observe and reflect on evidence of learners’ progression in knowledge and
understanding, skills, attributes and capabilities in:
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moving from familiar to less familiar language
understanding and using a range of vocabulary
understanding and using more complex sentences
understanding and using a variety of spoken language
increasing complexity of conversations
understanding and using a range of texts
deploying a range of reading strategies
producing written language with increasing complexity and accuracy
reading for cultural appreciation.
Learning Gaelic has a further specific value. It enables children and young people to experience
what is special, vibrant and valuable about an indigenous language and it encourages them to
broaden their horizons as they explore the importance of the language and Scottish culture.
Planning learning, teaching and assessment includes embedding breadth, challenge and
application to develop the significant aspects of learning – listening and talking, reading and
writing – and to enable children and young people to communicate in purposeful, real‐life and
meaningful contexts. The planned development of grammar and vocabulary needs to be
embedded in learning, teaching and assessment which enable children and young people to
become increasingly independent and fluent in communicating with others.
The use of the four contexts of learning – the classroom, interdisciplinary learning, the life and
ethos of the school, personal challenge within and outwith the school – provides opportunities
for applying language in a range of purposeful, real‐life and meaningful contexts, including those
which are less familiar. This involves grouping experiences and outcomes together to give firstly
opportunities to listen to, understand and then talk in Gaelic. As learners master these skills,
they will be introduced to reading and writing in Gaelic.
When learners progress within a level they will develop each of the significant areas of listening
and talking, reading and writing in an integrated way to enable them to gain access to and
appreciate a very rich and diverse heritage. In doing so, learners will develop an understanding
of Gaelic idiom and grammar so that they can observe how the language is structured and
therefore be able to generate new language. These elements of language learning need to be
planned across all significant aspects of learning in Gaelic to allow progression across levels and
to provide opportunities for breadth, challenge and application.
What do breadth, challenge and application look like in Gaelic (Learners)?
Well‐planned learning, teaching and assessment of Gaelic provides opportunities for learners to
enjoy breadth, challenge and the application of learning in new and unfamiliar contexts as they
develop their knowledge and skills in listening and talking, reading and writing.
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Prioritising the use of Gaelic, by both teachers and learners, in all learning situations provides
rich experiences which develop fluency in purposeful, real‐life and meaningful contexts.
Learners should enjoy opportunities to listen to and talk with fluent speakers of Gaelic, including
through the use of the internet. Accessing fluent, authentic and idiomatic Gaelic adds a rich
dimension to learners’ experiences which in turn provides them with challenge.
Breadth
As learners enjoy breadth of learning in Gaelic they will have opportunities to demonstrate their
achievement in terms of:
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new areas of language content and language use
increasing awareness of language rules, including knowledge about language.
Learners will regularly draw on their own experiences and interests when learning in and
beyond the classroom. Practitioners will encourage learners to extend this range of contexts
beyond those of immediate interest. Learners will thus have opportunities to access a wide
range of texts. The definition of texts provided in the Principles and Practices paper identifies
the broad range of texts available to practitioners. The choice of texts from this range will take
account of learners’ interests, their cultural identity and the background of the school and
learners. Practitioners will harness learners’ interest in popular culture and in the types of texts
that they regularly use and create with ease in their lives beyond school.
Texts should also include those produced by children and young people both in their own school
and beyond. Learners can extend their learning through producing and responding to a wide
range of types of texts such as anecdotes, folktales, ‘easy readers’, games rhymes, instructions,
recipes, poems, text messages, e‐mails, interviews, plays, simulations, jokes, riddles, posters,
and presentations. As they do so they will develop their knowledge of language and extend the
range of language registers which they can use.
An increasing range of Gaelic texts can be drawn on from various online resources; these may
be texts created to support and challenge learners as well as authentic texts. These include
songs and games, Gaelic Learners in the Primary School (GLPS) materials, mygaelic.com, BBC
Alba website, Glow, Acair, Comhairle nan Leabhraichean and Stòrlann publications.
Opportunities for interdisciplinary work are invaluable in providing opportunities for breadth
and nurturing awareness and understanding of Gaelic culture. Practitioners can provide learners
with opportunities to explore Gaelic heritage and develop cultural awareness through learning
about customs, food and traditions. Learners can develop their knowledge and understanding of
Scotland and of the place of Gaelic in Scotland, through activities such as exploring and
experimenting with songs, folklore and place names and through participating in the arts and
festivals. Interdisciplinary work affords rich opportunities for extending the learners’
communicative competence in Gaelic, both in listening and reading critically and in talking and
writing for a range of purposes.
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Challenge
Opportunities for challenge will allow learners to demonstrate:
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increasing independence and reduced level of support, including peer or teacher
support and support through wordlists, dictionaries and writing frames
increasing length and complexity of text and task in listening and reading
increasing length, complexity and accuracy of response in talking and writing
increasing confidence in taking the initiative (including asking for help) and sustaining
communication.
Opportunities for challenge in listening and reading are offered as learners meet and use a
wider range of language in contexts unfamiliar to them. This affords opportunities for learners
to be challenged through the use of some unfamiliar vocabulary and structures. Such challenge
supports learners in developing the skills required to work out independently the meaning of
unfamiliar vocabulary and structures by using context, word structures and word association. A
level of unpredictability also provides challenge. Hearing a range of speakers of Gaelic with
different accents encourages learners to look for, recognise and deal with differences in
language delivery. Open-ended questioning, by practitioners and peers, is in itself challenging
and provides opportunities for learners to present evidence of having successfully met
challenges in their learning.
Working with learners in other schools and communities for whom Gaelic is their first language
affords opportunities for learners to understand and to use texts, oral and written, which are
longer, are more complex in structure and grammar and use new and unfamiliar vocabulary.
Information communications technology offers a wide and readily available range of
opportunities to use authentic materials which are likely to be more demanding in one or more
of these ways than those produced for classroom use. Practitioners need at all times to
challenge learners by setting consistently high expectations for them in terms of the creativity,
the appropriateness to context and audience and the technical accuracy of the language which
they produce.
Application
The understanding and skills which learners are developing can be applied in a wide range of
situations which are new and unfamiliar and will extend the purposes for which learners
produce language. These may include:
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presentations, debates and simulations within the classroom
events in the life of the school such as assemblies and celebrations
performances in the expressive arts
interdisciplinary learning, involving, for example, social studies, religious and moral
education, religious education in Roman Catholic schools, religious observance, health
and wellbeing, food and health
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major sporting and cultural events such as the Camanachd Cup, Celtic Connections and
the Royal National Mod.
Such a range of applications will require learners to make progress and demonstrate their
achievement in terms of new areas of language content and language use, increasing knowledge
about language and increasing confidence in taking the initiative and sustaining communication.
Learners will develop communicative competence in the significant aspects of learning: listening
and talking, reading and writing. Learners may further apply and extend their knowledge and
understanding, skills and capabilities in language and understanding of Gaelic culture through
partnerships, including on-line partnerships, with other schools. Learning in real-life contexts
out of school includes making links to the world of work. This affords opportunities for learners
to apply their skills and capabilities in Gaelic in contexts which develop their skills for life and
work, such as working with others, solving problems and presenting information.
Planning for progression through breadth, challenge and application in Gaelic (Learners)
Learners’ prior knowledge of Gaelic needs to be taken into account when planning challenging
learning. Children and young people’s learning in school of Gaelic, as an indigenous language,
may be developed from the use of Gaelic in the home or community as well as in school. In
these situations, listening and talking are more commonly emphasised than reading and writing.
Some children start to learn Gaelic in the later stages of primaries; others start to learn Gaelic in
secondary. In these instances, it is not essential to start with the experiences and outcomes of
the early level; learning should be planned using age appropriate experiences and outcomes.
The principles of the Broad General Education facilitate the flexibility to allow a focus on
developing aspects of language that may be less strong to the same level as more developed
language aspects. Such an approach ensures that children and young people are advancing their
fluency of Gaelic within the most appropriate curricular level. Recording progress to ensure
articulation between levels and settings is very important.
As they develop their knowledge, skills and capabilities in listening and talking, learners can
demonstrate their progression as they move from understanding and using familiar language to
understanding and using unfamiliar language. This will be evidenced as they move from taking
part in play activities and games linked to simple poems, familiar stories and short role-plays
and pronouncing familiar Gaelic words and phrases to listening, reading and understanding an
increasingly complex range of sources and speakers, including previously unheard and
unfamiliar language.
Progression in the range of vocabulary which learners can understand and use in talking is
evident as they move from acquiring vocabulary and phrases related to immediate personal
contexts and interests to communication in a range of less familiar situations about new and
less immediate topics. These will extend to include situations and contexts outside their own
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classroom or school; in these learners will interact with a range of speakers, some of whom will
make use of vocabulary unfamiliar to the learners. Interdisciplinary learning will support this
extension of the range of vocabulary employed by learners.
As learners progress they will develop their capacity to understand more complex sentences
with connectors, conjunctions, adjectives or adverbs and to understand sentences with a range
of tenses and structures. On occasion, structures which they hear may be unfamiliar and require
them to use their prior knowledge of language to comprehend.
Learners develop their ability to understand and use spoken language in a variety of ways,
including individual talks, presentations, debates and paired and group discussions. Learners
need to be given opportunities to interact with different audiences, using the four contexts of
learning. Progression is evidenced as they choose more challenging topics and develop ideas
more fully; these include more complex references to aspects of Gaelic culture, society and life.
Talking in groups and debating enables the use of more sophisticated vocabulary and grammar
in more specialised areas. Additionally, through deeper questioning, higher order thinking skills
are built as learners justify their viewpoints. As learners progress in their learning of Gaelic they
become less dependent on support from the teacher.
Increasing complexity of conversations is demonstrated as learners progress from responding
verbally and non‐verbally to a range of requests from teachers and others and asking for help,
using simple or familiar learned phrases or words, to questioning independently and effectively,
encouraging more open responses from others and maintaining the flow of communication.
Learners will develop the capacity to engage in more spontaneous conversation.
In developing their skills in reading, learners demonstrate progression in terms of the level of
the familiarity of language used and in extending their range of vocabulary; they become more
confident in reading single words and phrases and progress from this to reading longer texts on
less familiar topics. As they progress learners will make use of a wider range of types of text and
of genres; they will read texts intended for a variety of audiences and with a range of types of
content. This will provide ready and valid opportunities for learners to read less familiar
language (in terms of topic, style and structures) and to extend their vocabulary. They will draw
on their developing knowledge of language to support them in doing so.
As learners progress they will develop their capacity to read fluently and understand more
complex sentences with connectors, conjunctions, adjectives or adverbs and to understand
sentences with a range of tenses and structures.
Learners will understand texts more independently as they progress, using a bilingual dictionary
with growing skill and confidence; they will require less support from word banks or the teacher.
Working with others allows learners to share the development of their understanding of longer
and more complex texts and to develop their responsibility for managing their learning.
Learners will progress in using a range of reading strategies from listening to and joining in with
story‐telling, games, rhymes and songs; they will move on to finding and using information from
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scripts with questions, simple close reading passages, posters advertising events and postcards;
and finally learners will be able to read and select specific information from a variety of types of
text for a variety of purposes.
Reading for cultural appreciation is a feature of the development of Gaelic from the early stages
of learning. Learners will progress from reading simple Gaelic texts, often with others, discussing
these and sharing simple facts about the life of Gaelic communities in Scotland to researching
such topics as the Celtic languages and traditional Highland food. In doing so, they may use the
internet to carry out research on organisations which promote Gaelic and may access and use
Gaelic sections of websites connected to the language and culture.
In writing, learners will draw on the knowledge and understanding, skills, attributes and
capabilities which they are developing in the other significant aspects of learning as they move
from familiar to less familiar language, understand and use a range of vocabulary and
understand and use more complex sentences. As learners hear and read a growing range of
types of texts and as the texts of any one type become more complex, they will have
opportunities to acquire knowledge and understanding of an extended vocabulary. They will be
afforded opportunities to respond and to write short texts of different types making use of this
vocabulary. Learners will be able to use their knowledge of language to build up their
understanding of the ways in which words can be derived. They will develop their capacity to
make use in their writing of a growing range of sentence structures, including complex
sentences. By the third level they will have developed the capacity to use a broader range of
language structures such as prepositional pronouns, verbal nouns and the past tense of irregular
verbs.
Planning progression, coherence and continuity in learning Gaelic needs to involve practitioners
in pre-school, primary and secondary planning together programmes that provide clear
progression in terms of the experiences and outcomes of learning. This planning involves
consideration of grammar, topic, context and vocabulary across the significant aspects of
learning. Effective planning will respond to learners’ emerging interests and needs. The
processes of profiling and pupil profiles will record and provide evidence of learners’ progress
and achievements in Gaelic and of the learners’ strengths. The pupil profile is one of the sources
to be used by staff as learners move from stage to stage to ensure progression, coherence and
continuity in learning.
Range of assessment
Assessment in Gaelic focuses on learners’ knowledge and understanding, skills, attributes and
capabilities in the significant aspects of listening and talking, reading and writing. A balance of
ongoing and periodic assessment opportunities ensures that learners can demonstrate their
achievement of a body of learning built up over time and their capacity to apply their knowledge
and skills in different contexts. By planning for ongoing assessment opportunities and periodic
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assessments of various types, where learners use their skills in an integrated way, learners can
demonstrate, over time, how much and how well they have learned.
In listening and talking, practitioners can use class activities as powerful evidence of the
learner’s ability to understand and respond confidently in a conversation or role-play. Learners
may also be asked to listen for information such as key facts from a story. Practitioners can plan
to use the learner’s performance in paired or group talking activities to build up an ongoing
picture of the learner’s ability to respond in conversations or role-plays. Some of these may be
recorded for evidence purposes. Learners may also be assessed on presentations given to their
peers.
In reading, learners will demonstrate developing skills through planned activities such as
searching the internet for information on a project in Gaelic, reading from a range of texts for
information on events or reading an extract from a novel. They may demonstrate their
understanding and progress in a range of ways, such as summarising key points or following
instructions.
In writing, practitioners may use learners’ performance in a range of writing activities in class as
ongoing indicators of progress. These could include writing instructions for a game, entering
news on a class blog, composing slides for a presentation, or simply writing their opinions on a
theme.
Evidence derived from learning in the classroom will be supported by evidence drawn from
interdisciplinary learning, learners’ participation in school activities and, where appropriate,
from personal achievements in and out of school. Learners will provide evidence not only of
their skills in using language but also of their understanding of knowledge of language and of the
cultures and societies of Scotland.
Holistic judgements about achieving a level in Gaelic (learners)
Practitioners will make holistic judgements about a level in each of the significant aspects of
learning:
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listening and talking
reading
writing.
Learners may progress more quickly in one aspect of learning than another. A learner may, for
example, have achieved second level in listening and talking but not yet in writing.
The assessment evidence which demonstrates achievement of a level will show that the learner
has had opportunities to participate in a range of learning related to the experiences and
outcomes at the level at which he/she has been working. This requires each learner to have an
understanding of a significant body of knowledge. He/she will have used a range of skills to
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produce and respond to texts, to have responded consistently well to challenging learning
experiences and to have been able to apply what they have learned in new and unfamiliar
contexts.
Monitoring and tracking progress
Monitoring and tracking should relate to learners’ progress in the significant aspects of learning
identified above.
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