Professional learning paper:
Assessing progress and achievement in Literacy and
Gàidhlig
Introduction
This professional learning paper builds on the Principles and Practice paper which summarises
the educational rationale underpinning Literacy and Gàidhlig:
Language and literacy are of personal, social and economic importance. Our ability to use
language lies at the centre of the development and expression of our emotions, our
thinking, our learning and our sense of personal identity. Language is itself a key aspect of
our culture. Through language, children and young people can gain access to the literary
heritage of humanity and develop their appreciation of the richness and breadth of
Scotland’s literary heritage. Children and young people encounter, enjoy and learn from
the diversity of language used in their homes, their communities, by the media and by their
peers.
This resource develops the statement on assessment provided in the Principles and Practice
paper:
Assessment of progress in literacy and Gàidhlig will focus on judgements about the success
of children and young people in progressing spoken and written language and applying
their skills in their learning across the curriculum, in their daily lives, in preparing for the
world of work and in cultural activities.
Learning Gàidhlig shares with learning in other areas of language and literacy the concept that
language lies at the centre of our thinking and learning. Learning Gàidhlig helps learners develop
an understanding of the interconnected nature of languages and contributes to learners’ wider
education and life experiences.
As recognised in the Principles and Practices Paper, developing the knowledge and
understanding, skills, attributes and capabilities of Literacy and Gàidhlig involves learning
through immersion as part of Gaelic Medium Education. This has considerable implications for
assessing progress and achievement in Literacy and Gàidhlig. These implications are further
considered in the final section of this guidance paper, Setting the Gaelic Medium context for
assessing Literacy and Gàidhlig.
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Significant aspects of learning
Assessment in Literacy and Gàidhlig 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 Literacy and Gàidhlig 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 Literacy and Gàidhlig as in
Literacy and English, Gaelic (Learners) 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 Literacy and Gàidhlig 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.
What do breadth, challenge and application look like?
Well-planned learning, teaching and assessment of literacy and Gàidhlig 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.
This needs to include enabling learners to listen and talk to fluent speakers of Gaelic; accessing
fluent, authentic and idiomatic Gaelic adds a rich dimension to learners’ experiences which in
turn provide them with challenge.
Breadth
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
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range of texts. The definition of texts provided in the Principles and Practices paper identifies
the broad range of texts on which practitioners can draw. 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.
On those occasions where an equivalent Gaelic text is not available, learners will require to use
an English text. The Education Scotland report, Gaelic Education: Building on the successes,
addressing the barriers1, makes clear that activities associated with, and responses to, these
English texts, for example discussion and writing, should be carried out through the medium of
Gaelic; the simultaneous translation required for this is a high order skill. Such activities add
breadth and challenge to learning.
Challenge
Practitioners have many opportunities to plan learning that is challenging when learners
develop their knowledge and understanding, skills, attributes and capabilities in Literacy and
Gàidhlig in a wide range of contexts, familiar and less familiar. Challenge is afforded when
learners work out for themselves the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary and structures. 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 use more complex vocabulary and
language structures at a natural pace. 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
Coherent planning which provides breadth and challenge across the significant aspects of
learning also provides opportunities for learners to apply in new and unfamiliar contexts the
understanding, skills and capabilities which they are developing in Literacy and Gàidhlig. These
contexts provide ready opportunities to extend the range of purposes for which learners
produce language. Applying their learning motivates children and young people as they
experience and perceive progress in listening and talking, reading and writing, as well as in
knowledge of language and understanding of Gaelic culture.
Learners may apply and extend their knowledge and language skills 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
1
Gaelic Education: Building on the successes, addressing the barriers, Education Scotland, June 2011
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skills and capabilities in Literacy and Gàidhlig in contexts which develop their skills for life and
work, such as working with others, solving problems and presenting information.
Application may include opportunities for learners to use and extend their knowledge, skills and
capabilities in Gaelic by participating in:
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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
major sporting and cultural events such as the Camanachd Cup, Celtic Connections and
the Royal National Mòd.
Planning for progression through breadth, challenge and application
In listening and talking, learners can demonstrate their progression as they move from
understanding and using familiar language to 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 from pronouncing familiar Gaelic words and phrases to listening to 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 learners 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 situations outside the classroom or school, such as
contexts provided by the local community, by other schools and on-line; in these learners will
interact with a range of speakers, some of whom will make use of vocabulary unfamiliar to the
learners. In these contexts the topics discussed will extend from the personal and local to
include ultimately issues of national and global concern. Interdisciplinary learning will further
extend 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
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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. It is important that listening and talking
skills are transferred across all areas of the curriculum; therefore, assessing listening and talking
in different contexts within the school is important in assessing progression and to ascertain
whether a learner has achieved a level.
Increasing complexity of conversations is demonstrated as learners progress from responding
verbally and non-verbally to a range of requests from practitioners and others (asking for help, if
needed) through using simple or familiar learned phrases and words to questioning
independently and effectively. As they progress they encourage more open responses and
maintain the flow of communication by entering into conversations involving at least two other
people.
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 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 Gaelic dictionary
and thesaurus with growing confidence and skill and using the context to work out what less
familiar vocabulary means. They will require progressively 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.
The development of a range of reading strategies begins from the early years. Listening to and
interacting with stories being read aloud are important features of developing fluency at the
total immersion stage. The learner progresses to learning to read, decoding, building
vocabulary, analysing and evaluating. Learners thus progress from listening to and joining in
with story-telling, games, rhymes and songs to finding and using information from scripts with
questions, simple close reading passages, posters advertising events and postcards. As they gain
more in-depth critical skills and deconstruct texts in different contexts and across curriculum
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areas, they progress to reading and selecting specific information from a variety of complex
texts for a variety of purposes. It is important that a focus is kept on learners reading in Gaelic
on a regular basis; learners need to have access to Gaelic texts across the curriculum to ensure
that the skills of understanding, analysing and evaluating are being developed and evidenced.
Reading for cultural appreciation is a feature of the development of Literacy and Gàidhlig from
the early stages of learning. Learners 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 and to access organisations which
promote Gaelic 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 they 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 texts making use of this vocabulary. They will be able to
use their knowledge of language to build up their understanding of the ways in which words can
be derived. Learners will develop their capacity to make use in their writing of a growing range
of range of tenses and sentence structures, including complex sentences.
In these ways, learners will produce written language which is increasingly complex and
accurate in terms of vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure. Writing becomes more
sophisticated as the learner develops and uses a wider vocabulary, adopts spelling strategies
and uses punctuation to enhance meaning and communicate more sophisticated ideas.
Practitioners should provide opportunities for writing in a variety of contexts such as report
writing, argumentative and discursive writing and personal and creative writing. They will write
in different genres, including reports, lists of key points, instructions and recipes, e-mails, poetry
and narrative prose. These different types of text will require learners to use a range of
appropriate vocabulary, grammatical structures and sentence and paragraph structures.
Learners will become more independent as they progress, planning and creating their own texts
for a range of audiences with less teacher input at all stages of the processes of writing.
In order to achieve a level the learner should be able to write in a variety of genres and apply
their writing skills in different contexts across the curriculum. By the third curricular level, they
will have developed the capacity to use a broader range of language structures such as idiomatic
expressions, irregular verbs and a variety of tenses.
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Range of assessment
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 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 demonstrate progression of skills through planned activities such as
accessing 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 a learner’s 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, making notes or writing an account of
their opinions on a theme.
In all of the significant aspects of learning, learners will provide evidence not only of their
understanding, skills and capabilities in using language but also of their knowledge of language
and of their understanding of cultures and societies where Gaelic is used.
Holistic judgements about achieving a level in Literacy and Gàidhlig
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.
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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
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. Practitioners will make holistic judgements using a range of evidence of achievement
in the significant aspects of learning in Literacy and Gàidhlig: listening and talking, reading and
writing. This range of evidence will include evidence of the learner’s use of knowledge of
language to support his/her ability to communicate and of the learner’s enjoyment and
understanding of Gaelic culture.
Monitoring and tracking progress
Monitoring and tracking should relate to learners’ progress in the significant aspects of learning
identified above. Monitoring and tracking progress is an ongoing process which supports
learners to build on their prior learning to ensure that they are making sufficient progress. At
the heart of it is dialogue which directs children and young people to reflect on what they are
doing well and supports them in understanding how they will improve. This process is done
through the medium of Gaelic.
Setting the Gaelic Medium context for assessing Literacy and Gàidhlig
Acquiring Gaelic involves learning through immersion as part of Gaelic Medium Education. This
has considerable implications for assessing progress and achievement in Literacy and Gàidhlig.
The Education Scotland report, Gaelic Education: Building on the successes, addressing the
barriers2, describes the principles of immersion as being a continuum of learning from 3-18. This
3-18 continuum of learning is referred to as Gaelic Medium Education and can take place in
stand-alone Gaelic medium schools or operate alongside English medium provision. The initial
stage of immersion is defined as total immersion. This will begin, depending on the learner’s
access to Gaelic Medium Education provision, in early years provision or in P1. Total immersion
will continue to the end of P3 or P4 by which time the learner will have achieved the early and
first levels of Literacy and Gàidhlig. The duration of total immersion and the timing of
assessment are dependent on learners developing a strong and secure base in fluency of Gaelic
which is confirmed by teachers’ monitoring of progress and achievement.
2
Gaelic Education: Building on the successes, addressing the barriers, Education Scotland, June 2011
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During total immersion, learning will have a very strong focus on listening and talking in Gaelic.
This involves grouping experiences and outcomes together to give opportunities firstly to listen
to, understand and then talk in Gaelic. As learners master these skills, they will then be
introduced to reading and writing in Gaelic. In doing this, groupings of experiences and
outcomes will be revisited to include developing reading and writing. Over time, as learners
become secure in their fluency of Gaelic, all skills will be developed together in an integrated
way, using grouping of experiences and outcomes. This will be reflected in assessment practice.
Learners’ development of Gaelic outwith school will also impact on the length of time in which
they will need to be totally immersed in the language. During the total immersion stage,
learners will be learning through the medium of Gaelic in the four contexts of the curriculum –
the curriculum area, interdisciplinary learning, the life and ethos of the school and personal
achievement within and beyond the school. This will include developing knowledge,
understanding and skills in other curricular areas through the medium of Gaelic. Assessment in
other curricular areas and subjects will be completed through the medium of Gaelic and will
afford opportunities for the assessment of Literacy and Gàidhlig. Teachers will carefully plan the
timing of assessment in other curricular areas, especially if learners need to use their Gaelic
language knowledge, understanding and skills in assessment. All four contexts will present a
range of types of opportunity for development of fluency in Gaelic.
Learners will not be assessed in English language during the total immersion phase. They will
begin assessment in English language after P3/4, during the immersion phase, by which time
they will be embarking on the second level experiences and outcomes of Literacy and Gàidhlig.
Some learners commence their study of the early level of Literacy and Gàidhlig experiences and
outcomes with some fluency in Gaelic from the home. Through careful planning of learning, the
four contexts of the curriculum present these learners with challenging opportunities within the
total immersion stage. The fluency of these learners tends to be most evident in listening and
talking. When practitioners are confident that these learners have a secure base in listening and
talking in Gaelic, they should be supported to develop reading and writing skills at an
appropriate pace.
Within the total immersion stage, there is a clear emphasis on developing fluency in Gaelic first
and foremost. Assessing literacy skills comes later as learners become confident in their mastery
of Gaelic. The processes involved in developing fluency in Gaelic embed literacy skills and,
through time, learners will show readiness to demonstrate their progress in these skills.
Following the total immersion stage, learning continues through the immersion stage. The
entire curriculum in primary school continues to be delivered through the medium of Gaelic
while in this immersion stage skills in reading and writing English are introduced. Gaelic
Education: Building on the successes, addressing the barriers, which provides additional advice
on the principles of total immersion, recommends that secondary schools aim for a proportion
of the curriculum to be delivered through the medium of Gaelic. The report defines the
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immersion curriculum as being created and planned to provide progression around the
significant aspects of learning – listening and talking, reading and writing.
As learners progress through the Broad General Education and into the senior phase, there will
be occasions when planning learning will return to total immersion experiences. This has
implications for assessing progress and achievement in Literacy and Gàidhlig in that tracking of
learners’ progress in Literacy and Gàidhlig should support the development of fluency at a
sufficient pace and depth while learners also apply their understanding and skills in Gaelic in a
range of challenging contexts.
The benefits of bilingualism are well-documented. These include the children and young people
in Gaelic Medium Education by P7 attaining equally well or better in English language3.
Bilingualism in Sardinia and Scotland: Exploring the cognitive benefits of speaking a ‘minority’
language4 provides information on other benefits of Gaelic Medium Education.
3
Gaelic Medium Education in Scotland: choice and attainment at the primary and early secondary school
stages, Fiona O’Hanlon, Wilson McLeod and Lindsay Paterson. University of Edinburgh. 2010.
4
Bilingualism in Sardinia and Scotland: Exploring the cognitive benefits of speaking a ‘minority’ language,
Fraser Lauchlan, Marinella Parisi & Roberta Fadda. University of Strathclyde. April 2012
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