Theme: Understanding Multilingual Children’s Language Development
This event is for classroom teachers and speech and language therapists (SLTs) interested in knowing more about multilingual children’s language development.
It showcases University of Reading research alongside insights from expert practitioners.
Structured around our successful Future Learn Course, presentations will focus on:
- Multilingualism and identity
- The importance of heritage languages
- Assessing multilingual children with language difficulties
- Successful school approaches to multilingualism
A panel discussion will promote inter-professional dialogue supportive of all practitioners working with multilingual children.
Schedule
1.00 pm – Welcomes
1.10 pm – Session 1: Holly Joseph and Heba Al-Jayoosi – Multilingualism and Identity
1.40 pm – Session 2: Ludovica Serratrice and Soofia Amin – The importance of understanding children’s heritage language experiences
2:15 – Break
2.25pm – Session 3: Emma Pagnamenta and Rebecca Simmons – Assessing multilingual children with language difficulties– reflections from practice
2.55 pm – Session 4: Naomi Flynn and Emma Kerrigan Draper – Whole school approaches to celebrating multilingualism
3:25pm – Discussion Panel
3.50 – Closing remarks
Speaker bios
Holly Joseph
Holly Joseph is a Professor of Language and Literacy Development at the Institute of Education, University Reading, and also Director of the Centre of Literacy and Multilingualism there. Her research interests focus on reading development and difficulties, including for multilingual children, and much of her research uses eye movement methodology to understand how children understand what they are reading in real time.
Heba Al-Jayoosi
Heba is the Assistant Head at Mayflower Primary School in Tower Hamlets, London. She is also seconded to Whole School SEND (NASEN) as a regional deputy lead. Heba’s research interests lie in implementing innovative whole school adaptations for pupils with SEND, and she is currently completing a PHD at UCL on home-school communication for parents of children and young people with ASD from culturally and
linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Soofia Amin
Soofia Amin is an Assistant Head Teacher at Kensington Primary, which is part of TTLT academy. She is a Specialist Lead in Education for Multilingualism and has vast experience in supporting multilingual pupils and their families. Soofia is passionate about developing excellent practice for multilingual pupils whilst promoting their first languages as a resource in the classroom and the wider school.
Ludovica Serratrice
Ludovica is a professor of bi-multilingualism in the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences at the University of Reading where she teaches on the MSci and the MSc Speech and Language Therapy programmes. Ludovica’s main research interests are on language development and processing in bilingual children, specifically the role of inferencing and of crosslinguistic influence in language comprehension.
Rebecca Simmons
Rebecca is a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist working in Solent NHS Trust, working with an early years and mainstream school caseload. As the bilingualism “champion” for her team, Rebecca is passionate about promoting bilingualism and encouraging families to maintain their home language, as well as supporting her colleagues to provide the best possible service for bilingual children and their families.
Emma Pagnamenta
Emma is an Associate Professor of Speech and Language Therapy in the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences at the University of Reading. Emma is the research lead for the University of Reading speech and language therapy clinic and teaches on the MSci and the MSc Speech and Language Therapy programmes. Her research interests include interventions for speech, language and communication needs in
childhood, in particular for children with Down syndrome and their families, and multilingualism in the context of communication disability.
Emma Kerrigan-Draper
Emma Kerrigan-Draper is Executive Headteacher of Maytree Infant and Nursery School, and Mount Pleasant Junior School, in Southampton. These schools have 98% multilingual learners and teachers work with an intentionally dialogic, enquiry-based approach to teaching and learning.
Naomi Flynn
Naomi Flynn is Professor of Multilingual Education at The Institute of Education, University of Reading. Her research with teachers in linguistically diverse settings is focussed on bringing a US-designed talk-oriented model for teacher professional development to the UK. She is currently doing this in collaboration with Hampshire’s Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service.