Foundation to Year 2 Band Description
The nature of learners
Children in this pathway enter the early years of schooling with established oracy skills in Hindi, English and sometimes other languages or dialects. There will be variation in terms of proficiency in Hindi, depending on variables such as home language environment, generational language shift and parental cultural and linguistic background. Children will have varying degrees of literacy capability in both/either Hindi and/or English, and share the experience of belonging to worlds in which languages play a key role. Cognitive and social development at this stage is exploratory and egocentric. The curriculum builds on children’s interests, sense of enjoyment and curiosity, with an emphasis on active learning and confidence building. Hindi is learnt in parallel with English language and literacy, which for some children will be being learnt as a second or additional language. Learning in the two areas differs significantly but each supports and enriches the other.
Hindi language learning and use
Rich language input characterises the first stages of learning. Children are familiar with the sounds and patterns of Hindi, and their fluency and accuracy are further developed through activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games. Children identify and use high-frequency expressions and phrases, and recognise the purpose and intention of simple texts. They use culturally appropriate non-verbal strategies, and produce statements and expressions in response to prompts and cues. They are supported to use Hindi for different language functions, such as asking and responding to questions, expressing wishes, responding to directions, and taking turns in games and simple shared learning activities. They notice that the languages that they know are used differently in different situations and that they themselves communicate differently in some situations when using Hindi, English or other languages. Creative play provides opportunities for exploring these differences and for using Hindi for purposeful interaction in some less familiar contexts.
Contexts of interaction
Children interact with each other and the teacher, with some access to wider school and community members. Information and communications technology (ICT) resources provide additional access to Hindi language and associated cultural experience, connecting children’s social worlds with those of Hindi-speaking children in communities other than their own. Hindi is the dominant language used in classroom interactions, routines and activities, supported by the use of English when required. The early stage of language and literacy development is supported by use of concrete materials and resources, gestures and body language. Play and imaginative activities, games, music, movement and familiar routines provide essential scaffolding and context for language development.
Texts and resources
Children engage with a variety of spoken, visual, written and digital texts. They listen and respond to teacher talk, share ideas and join in songs, rhymes, stories and chants, and various forms of play and simple conversational exchanges. Written and digital texts include stories, shared Big Books, wall charts and teacher-generated materials, such as games, labels, captions and flashcards.
Features of Hindi language use
Children’s familiarity with the spoken form of Hindi supports their introduction to the written form of the language. They make connections between speech and writing, and are introduced to the Devanagari script, recognising and reproducing written forms of the 13 sounds classified as vowels and the 33 consonant sounds. They become familiar with the syllabic structure of the script and the use of matra and conjunct forms of consonants. They recognise basic elements of grammar, such as the subject-object-verb order of sentences, the placing of adjectives before nouns, सुंदर लड़की, छोटा बच्चा, रंग-बिरंगी तितली, agreements for number and gender, मैं, हम, मेरा, तुम्हारा, variable use of pronouns and postpositions and the use of simple verbs to describe actions, गाना, खाना, खेलना, दौड़ना. Writing skills progress from labelling and copying familiar words and phrases to co-constructing simple texts using familiar vocabulary, language features and sentence structures. As children learn to adjust language to suit different purposes and situations, they begin to understand how culture shapes language use. They compare how they feel when they use different languages and how they view different languages and people who use them. This introduction to the meta-dimension of intercultural learning develops the ability to ‘decentre’, to consider different perspectives and ways of being, and to become aware of themselves as communicators and cultural participants.
Level of support
Learning is supported via the provision of experiences that are challenging but achievable with appropriate scaffolding and support. This involves modelling, monitoring and moderating by the teacher; provision of multiple and varied sources of input; opportunities for revisiting, recycling and reviewing; and continuous cueing, feedback, response and encouragement.
The role of English
While learners are encouraged to use Hindi whenever possible, English is used when appropriate for discussion, comparison, reflection and explanations. Mixing the two languages is common at this level; it reflects children’s experience in their home communities.