Language Support Program

Back to:

Module 3.1 Resources for identifying and profiling students

Curriculum and the ICPAL language framework

Module 2 focused on providing a definition of language, a discussion of language frameworks generally, and a specific analysis of the ICPAL language framework. Module 3.1 assumes that you will be able to apply this knowledge of the aims and content of the ICPAL framework and relate it to the formal curriculum, with which you will be familiar.

Curriculum planning allows teachers to take account of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment in catering for the learner, including students with language difficulties. It recognises that catering for the learner requires a holistic view of the formal and informal curriculum.

Curriculum Planning

Figure 3.1.1 The learner is at the centre of all decision-making about learning

 

The formal curriculum

The formal curriculum is comprised of curriculum documents usually developed by a curriculum authority or board of studies, and which define the essential knowledge, skills and behaviours within a curriculum discipline or domain. This sense of ‘curriculum’ contrasts with the more general idea of curriculum that encompasses all formal and informal teaching and learning in a school.

Depending on the stage/s of schooling in which you teach, you may be familiar with some or all of the formal curriculum documents that describe student learning outcomes at particular level/s. If you teach in a primary school, you will more likely be using curriculum documents covering a range of disciplines or domains. If you are a teacher in a secondary school you will have a detailed knowledge of some curriculum disciplines or domains, but not others.

Professional learning activities

  • Locate, gather and interpret resources

If you are individually engaging with Module 3.1, locate and refer to one curriculum document (e.g. Mathematics) as you progress through the session.

  • Participate in collegiate professional development

If you are participating in a collegiate professional learning activity you might like to locate, refer to and compare curriculum documents from a number of disciplines or domains. Each participant might take responsibility for, and report back to other participants about a particular discipline or domain.

The formal curriculum will usually provide high-level standards that students within a discipline or domain are expected to reach during specific years or at specific levels of schooling. Curriculums can also provide you with more detailed scope and sequence documents against which student progress can be mapped. These can be part of the formal curriculum, or they may be Curriculum Support Materials.

Students acquire language in all disciplines or domains within the formal curriculum, and as a consequence, all teachers must see themselves as teachers of language. For example, students with language difficulties may potentially experience particular problems with the language of Science (e.g. domain-specific words, sentences, discourse and topics). If you teach Science, you need to be able to understand how to identify when students are experiencing language difficulties, and develop, and use appropriate curriculum content, pedagogy and assessment practices to meet these needs. This may be less of an issue if you are a primary school teacher, where you teach both the English and Science (or Technology) curriculum.

Professional learning activities

  • Locate, gather and interpret resources

If you are using a curriculum document other than English, try to identify any general references to language or literacy in the document. Then, select a curriculum level appropriate to a class level at which you teach (e.g. Grade 5, or Year 7), to see if there are any specific references to literacy and/or language learning at that level.

While formal curriculum documents will usually refer to literacy or language learning, frequently these references may be implicit rather than explicit.

Back to Top

Using the ICPAL language framework across the curriculum

You will remember that the components of the ICPAL language framework are Ideas, Conventions, Purposes and Ability to Learn. These components can be used to analyse and unpack implicit language content from any curriculum document for a curriculum discipline or domain. You may like to reflect on the ‘Ideas’ or meanings that students need to know, and be able to use, which are implied in a specific curriculum document.

Professional learning activities

  • Locate, gather and interpret resources

Use, or adapt the sample curriculum standard and the template provided to identify the language learning that takes place in a Physical Education classroom during the Middle Years of schooling. Focus on ‘Ideas’ and meanings (i.e. words, sentences, discourse, topics) that are implied in the Standard.

 

Curriculum Support Materials

While the formal curriculum may list standards or outcomes at each level of the curriculum, it is often necessary to know the ‘Indicators of Progress’ in order to recognise actual and detailed levels of language proficiency that a student is expected to reach. On such occasions, all teachers, not just teachers of English, need to be able to comprehend and appreciate Indicators of Progress in the English curriculum.

An example of Indicators of Progress that reflects the ICPAL framework is the ‘English Developmental Continuum P–10’ (EDC P–10) (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development 2008a) [8] developed by Dr John Munro, who also developed the ICPAL language framework.

The EDC P–10 has been designed to assist Victorian teachers to:

  • deepen their understanding of the English domain
  • monitor individual student progress towards achievement of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards in English
  • enhance teaching skills to enable purposeful teaching
  • identify the range of student learning levels within English classes
  • develop a shared language to describe and discuss student progress.

The EDC P–10 provides evidence-based Indicators of Progress linked to Teaching Strategies. These are aligned to the progression points and the standards for the English Domain of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards.

Professional learning activities

  • Locate resources on the internet

Access a copy of the English Developmental Continuum P–10 online. Familiarise yourself with its parts. Explore how it links a curriculum standard to achievement in ‘Reading’, ‘Writing’ and ‘Speaking & Listening’ at a curriculum level.

You can see the relationship between the ICPAL language framework and the language of the English Developmental Continuum P–10 in Table 3.1.1 below.

ICPAL

English Continuum P–10

 

Ideas

Ideas communicated:

meanings of words, sentences, discourse and topics of language

Conventions

Conventions of language:

rules governing the sounds, words, sentences and genres of language

Purposes

Purposes of communication:

use of oral language within social interaction

Ability to Learn

Communicating orally:

necessary skills and their prerequisites for the acquisition of oral language

 

Professional learning activities

  • Locate, gather and interpret resources, participate in collegiate professional development

If you are participating in a collegiate professional learning activity, select a particular level (e.g. Level 4) for ‘Speaking & Listening’. Read as a group how the standard is explicated into progression levels. Divide up, and individually or in pairs, read how the progression levels are further divided into ‘Ideas communicated’, ‘Conventions of language’, ‘Purposes of communication’, and ‘Communicating orally’ in order to describe ‘Indicators of Progress’ and ‘Teaching Strategies’.

Back to Top