V
EAL Supporting the Oral Language Skills & Developing Literacy Skills of Learners of EAL
Aoife Merrins-Gallagher
March 22nd & April 18th (7pm)
This series of webinars have been specially designed and developed for primary teachers of learners of EAL. Over the course of two one-hour workshops, attending teachers will develop evidence-informed and practical skills to support oral language and literacy in linguistically diverse contexts. An array of handouts and resource-sourcing guidelines ensure informed, competent and equipped practitioners post webinar participation.
Webinar participants will be enabled to:
- reflect on current oral language and literacy knowledge and practices
- define and justify the need for oral language and literacy for learners of EAL
- explore oral language and literacy development strategies
- acquire a bank of activities to support the language and literacy development of learners of EAL
Aoife Merrins-Gallagher (B. Ed, MTeach, PhD)
Aoife qualified as a primary school teacher in 2013. She taught in mainstream and support settings in Scoil Íde, Clondalkin, before commencing full-time doctoral research between 2018 and 2022 (DCU-INTO150 PhD Scholarship). In that time, Aoife developed a bilingual oral narrative programme, Tell-a-Tale | Inis Scéal, in response to the academic needs and linguistic strengths of children with EAL. Aoife currently job-shares in Gaelscoil Phortlaoise and lectures part-time for MU Froebel. She is a member of Mother Tongues Ireland, English Language Support Teachers’ Association of Ireland and the Children’s Research Network. Her experiences as a teacher, lecturer and researcher can demystify the world of EAL for workshop attendees.