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Case study
Asha is a Somali woman in her fifties. She arrived in New Zealand as a refugee and has only recently begun full-time English language study in a beginner class at her local polytechnic. Her Somali cultural background is based on an oral tradition and she is not literate in her mother tongue.
Her spoken English is now at a level where she can respond to questions and comments in a short conversation about everyday topics, but she is unable to speak at length or take the initiative in a conversation.
She can understand basic listening texts, such as announcements at the bus station and the Lotto draw on television. She can follow the gist of more complex texts (for example, she can listen for familiar place names in a weather report), but she cannot follow detail (she cannot extract details such as the forecast weather conditions for the place where she lives).
She has made friends with an English speaking neighbour and she wants to be able to have conversations with her.
Teaching suggestions for Asha
- Develop flashcards for weather conditions, using pictures and words.
- Follow the steps in ‘Knowing what to do’ above (present, practise, record, produce).
- Build language experience books about relevant topics or themes, or about her life stories during which you can introduce relevant new vocabulary.
- Read language experience books over and over again to reinforce the use of vocabulary.
- Plan for regular social chats to encourage Asha to speak and listen.
- Listen to, then talk about, short items on the television or radio, such as the news headlines.