Preamble

IISA is a multicultural school with a majority of Arabic speaking students. We deliver the IBO’s PYP (Primary Years Program) from pre-school to grade 5, are a candidate school for the IBO’s MYP (Middle Years Program) and the IBO's Diploma Program in Grades 11/12. Our language policy reflects our vision, philosophy and pedagogy.

Statement of Philosophy

We believe that strong language skills are essential to communication, learning, and the development of the whole child. Regardless of role, all teachers, all assistants, and all other staff at IISA are language teachers. Language is the connecting element across the curriculum.

Key Understandings

• Language consists of oral language, written language, reading, viewing and presenting;
• Language learning should provide success within defined structures and allow our students to express themselves creatively;
• Mother tongue is the foundation for all language learning and enables students to maximize their potential in any other language;
• Language and language learning are not values-free, but are inextricably bound with cultural identity, ways of viewing the world, and ways of expressing ourselves;
• Acquiring another language enriches our view of the world and enhances our ability to understand other peoples;
• Although English is our language of instruction, it is not our intent to replace the student’s native language with English;
• Cultural and linguistic differences in students are observed, valued, and enhanced whenever possible;

Expectations

Students will be able to:

• Communicate effectively in more than one language;
• Appreciate and enjoy literature;
• Develop the skills to access information;
• Transfer their language skills across the different areas of the curriculum, and reflect on themselves as language learners.

Beliefs

We believe in honoring the mother tongue of all students and respecting the different ways in which students express themselves;

We believe children can maximize their language acquisition if language is learned through meaningful tasks in authentic contexts;

We believe that teachers should employ a wide range of strategies to provide a balanced language program that is not printcentric.

Assessment

We believe that teachers must view our students individually in terms of developmental stages and learning styles.

We believe that we must encourage students to reflect on themselves as language learners – evidence of this will be reflected in the student portfolios and other student products that reflect achievement.

We believe that criteria, rubrics, and anecdotal remarks are the most effective assessment tools to offer parents clear and meaningful information concerning their children. Reports are translated into Arabic. In the Middle/High school our reporting is based on the generic IBO criteria.