Many of our students come to CIS without complete mastery of the English language. We are so proud of how their skills evolve during their time with us with the help of our EAL teachers. Here are some recent short stories that were produced by EAL students – bravo!
Languages
at CIS
We are proud of being home to multilingual students and do our utmost to help our students be multi-literate and multi-cultural.
English as an Additional Language
What is EAL?
- English as an Additional Language.
- Academic and social support for students whose home language is/languages are not English.
English as an Additional Language Mission Statement
The goal of the EAL department is to offer a strong foundation on which English language learners can build their language skills and meet the challenges of communicating, learning and thinking at an English medium school.
We believe…
- Our program exists to provide language instruction and support
- Standards should be the same for all students but goals are individualized to allow for equal access to the school curriculum.
- A student’s home, school and community experience not only enriches and enhances their language development but also the school community.
- Learning in a new language at such high stakes can have a significant emotional impact on students
- School success for non-native English speakers is dependent on many factors (social, personal, familial, academic).
- All teachers are accountable for applying best practices for all EAL students.
- We believe that our school building, especially hallways and classrooms, should display languages and cultures which represent our student and staff population.
- Competence in your home language/s aid/s in the learning of additional languages and plays a key role in maintaining cultural identity and emotional stability.
- Our school should, within its capacity, assist families in developing and maintaining the home language/s of our students.
- Home languages should be valued and used in the mainstream classroom (interlingual teaching)
Who are our English language learners?
CIS is home to a large number of students who speak English as their second, third or fourth language. Our students come to us from around the world. Our school has a multilingual student population with varying levels of English language proficiency, and we welcome and celebrate the contributions that each student brings to the diversity of our school community.
CIS EAL Program Description
We are proud of being home to multilingual students and do our utmost to help our students be multi-literate and multi-cultural.Each CIS teacher enables the EAL students to fully participate with understanding in the school curricula and to encourage risk-taking and inquiry:
- Through the use of scaffolding and modification strategies. These strategies help to develop language skills (e.g. listening, speaking, reading and writing) while learning grade-level academic content.
- By integrating explicit language objectives to provide the fundamental vocabulary and language structures needed for each lesson.
- By supporting EAL students as they develop social, cultural and academic competence; our goal is to assist them in becoming socially integrated at the school and have a sense of self and belonging.
Did you know?
- When learning a second language research shows it takes 3-5 years to acquire social language and 5-7 years to fully master academic language.
- As a school community, students and staff at CIS speak more than 60 languages and represent more than 82 nationalities.
- The more highly developed a children’s home language is, the more successful they will be at acquiring a second language.
Read more about our Primary School EAL Program and our Secondary School EAL Program.
Danish Language
We prepare our students for Folkeskolens prøver i faget dansk – 9. klasse (FP9) consisting of four individual tests; these are goals set by the Danish Ministry of Education. This enables students to either continue with Danish A in the Diploma Programme in grade 11 and 12, or to continue in the Danish Gymnasium.
Non-native Danish students follow Language B Danish as required by Danish law until grade 10.
Mother Tongue Program
Learning languages allows your child to engage with different cultures and people worldwide. Some students also want to develop their native language further. We offer native level language teaching to students from grade one and up so your child can build on their existing language skills.
