Developing language and literacy skills to support refugee students in the transition from primary to secondary school.
Cranitch, Maya
Introduction
Refugees from Sudan have come to Australia either from Egypt or
from refugee camps in Kenya or Uganda with experiences which constitute
somewhat different readiness for school in Australia. For children from
refugee families Egypt provided no welfare services, very little or no
opportunity for education and no exposure to English. These children
arrived mostly pre-literate. By contrast, children in refugee camps had
access to some formal education in English even though resources were
few, with teachers mostly poorly trained and mainly using transmission
teaching strategies (Burgoyne and Hull, 2007). Both groups of children
had to some degree experienced violence, suffered chronic malnutrition
and health problems which have been shown to impact severely on
development (Grantham-McGregor, 1995; Lustig et al., 2004; Newman, 2005;
O'Sullivan, 2006).
The Literacy Transition Pilot Program (LTPP) grew out of an
awareness that existing programs designed for new arrival, non-English
speaking students from countries such as Sudan were found to be
inadequate to meet the special needs of refugee students. Too young to
be enrolled in an Intensive English Centre (IEC) on arrival in
Australia, students were placed in upper primary classrooms with only
limited new arrival support. Usual arrangements for new arrivals assume
that upper primary learners have developed cognitive skills as well as
literacy from previous schooling in their mother tongue. However, it
became rapidly clear that the needs of pre-adolescent refugee students
were not being met and that they were at serious risk of educational
failure in secondary school because of poor English language and
literacy skills.
During 2006, 11 students, 6 females and 5 males aged between 12 and
15 were nominated by Primary schools and invited to be part of the LTTP.
Each student selected their own pseudonym for the case study research.
Within the cohort there were varied needs--Koka, Gabriel and J-D had no
meaningful experience of schooling before arrival in Australia and went
straight to IEC; Christina, Tasha, Monarita, Victoria, J-Zee and Fedelle
had spent between two years or less in mainstream upper primary classes;
and Macy and Roberto experienced 3-4 years in Primary school. Of the 11
students, Fedelle and Gabriel showed evidence of giftedness while Macy,
Roberto and J-D were identified as special needs. During 2007, these
students were a separate cohort within the IEC with a curriculum that
was specially designed to reflect specific learner needs , fill gaps in
skills and knowledge about the world and provide background knowledge
required for key learning areas (KLAs) in high school. Teaching
strategies targeted special learning, language and literacy needs and a
high level of counselling support was provided.
Literature review
Settlement in a new country inevitably involves culture shock which
is associated with varying levels of emotion from mild panic to deep
psychological distress and even physical illness (Brown, 1986). A case
study by Herbert (1995) of new arrivals in Australian school settings
noted behaviours such as confusion, lack of concentration, over
compensatory behaviour or detachment, difficulties forming friendships
and physical symptoms such as headaches, insomnia and nausea. For
refugees, culture shock is compounded by conflicting emotions: sorrow at
the many losses of the past and fear of the future as well as hope.
Lustig et al., (2004) suggest there is value in 'school based,
trauma and grief-focused groups which reduced post traumatic stress,
depression and grief symptoms' (p. 34).
New arrivals in Australian schools are not only faced with the task
of learning to communicate in English for different purposes and in
different contexts but also need to learn new and often complex content
in English. There has been considerable research into the processes and
rate of second language acquisition for the purposes of learning in a
formal academic setting. Cummins (1979) identified the distinction
between Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and
Communicative Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) and suggested that
while BICS language can be acquired in approximately 2 years, CALP
language can take up to 7 years. Studies of students with disrupted
schooling suggest that it takes significantly longer for these students
to acquire academic language proficiency (Hakuta, Butler & Witt,
2000). Collier (1995) has found that the most significant variable in
the rate of English language acquisition is the amount of formal
schooling students have received in their first language.
In a study of African refugees with interrupted schooling in
Victorian high schools, Miller, Mitchell and Brown (2005) identified
some key gaps for these students. They have missed the staged cognitive
development which occurs in formal schooling, have little
age-appropriate experience of literacy, numeracy, use of print and
multi-modal texts, limited content knowledge of the world and little
experience of problem based learning. Such students require more time
and more focused support than is currently provided in Australian school
systems (Oliffe & Couch, 2005; Kirk & Cassity, 2007). There is
also significant evidence from a study of adult African refugee students
(Burgoyne & Hull, 2007) that pre-literate learners from an oral
culture with rich traditions of story-telling have particular
difficulties in moving to printbased literacy The school teachers
surveyed by Miller et al. (2005) report that in addition to significant
deficits in content knowledge and English language proficiency, refugee
students without stable previous schooling have poor organisational
skills and time management.
A study by Gow and Cassity of 65 young African refugees in high
school in Western Sydney in 2006 found the following:
Overall ... the schooling system is not working well for new
African students. There are success stories but, in general,
students are struggling with new institutional settings and
unrealistic expectations. Young people are attempting to integrate
into a schooling system with which they and their relatives are
almost totally unfamiliar. (p. 55)
Schools and teachers have faced a number of significant new
challenges in managing behaviour as well as planning and teaching
lessons which many have found overwhelming. (Miller et al., 2005; Centre
for Multicultural Youth Issues, 2006; Kirk & Cassity, 2007). The
LTPP program was a significant initiative that was developed in the
light of such research and resourced to face these challenges in a new
way.
Method
This case study collected data about the LTTP from February 2007
until the middle of June 2008. Weekly classroom observation and
interviews with both students and teachers provided information about
student learning and the effects of special provisions such as targeted
teaching strategies, modified curriculum and counselling support.
Student work samples were analysed according to the ESL Scales levels
(Curriculum Corporation, 1994) to measure English language development.
Students were also given a NSW ELLA (English Language and Literacy
Assessment) test at the end of 2007 to provide a comparison with an
'average' year 7 cohort. Data were analysed in order to
extract key issues and themes which took account of a variety of
perspectives, teachers, parents, counsellors and students. Evidence from
the various kinds of data served to contextualise, describe and evaluate
the outcomes of the 2007 LTPP.
Findings
The development of the 11 students during 2007 was remarkable as
evidenced through the analysis of data obtained from classroom
observations, work samples and interviews. The following discusses the
findings in relation to how the LTTP attempted to address student
general well-being, development of learning skills, acquisition of
English language and literacy skills and the transition to secondary
school.
Data from classroom observations: general well-being of students
Classroom observations of LTTP students throughout 2007
corroborated studies about the effects of culture shock (Herbert, 1995)
and past trauma (Miller et al., 2005). Interviews with teachers
confirmed that most students, even after some years in Australia, were
still experiencing significant stress related to flight and
resettlement: two students spent time in refuges for the homeless,
another 2 moved house and 4 of the 11 students lived in single parent or
blended families. Monarita wrote in June 2008:
... I have seen lots of stuff and real pain in the eye of everyone
older than me.
Unsettled behaviour in the classroom continued for at least two
terms and included difficulty staying seated, or on task, attention
seeking behaviour, inappropriate outbursts such as anger or weeping,
hyper-vigilance and withdrawal or complaints of physical symptoms.
Classroom observation particularly in early 2007 showed that, whenever
routines were disrupted by events such as a change of teacher or a
special celebration, students became restless and often agitated. Time
and again, students were observed to regain composure when required to
perform apparently tedious tasks such as handwriting or copying text.
Clearly, these tasks allowed students to feel in control and relieve the
tension of managing uncertainty.
Students in the LTTP were supported in a number of ways, including
smaller class sizes, a Sudanese teacher's aide, specialized
counselling support, all of which helped to create a highly pastoral
care classroom environment. Teachers were able to develop close
relationships while the Sudanese teacher's aide at the CIEC who
spent at least a part of the week in the classroom, provided a familiar
adult role model as well as a linguistic and cultural bridge between
students, teachers and parents. All students participated in a special
program for adolescents, 'Settling in', designed by STARTTS
(the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and
Trauma Survivors) and had regular, individual access to counsellors.
Lunch time 'drop in' sessions run by counsellors included
craft activities or games which allowed for 'time out' from
the playground. The benefits of these features of the LTTP were
increasingly evident during 2007 in more mature class room behaviour as
well as in their disposition towards learning.
Data from classroom observations: Learning how to learn
Students were generally successful and enthusiastic learners. One
teacher remarked at the end of 2007:
All except for J-Zee who was a largely unwilling participant and
had significant family issues were highly motivated learners.
Using everyday classroom equipment was a major task for all
students. Even those students such as Christina and Roberto who had
spent time in primary schools in Australia had great difficulty in
organising and using everyday equipment such as rulers, scissors, or
glue. Several students lacked the fine motor skills needed to cut
straight, rule lines or paste paper. Handwriting continued to be an
issue as students initially struggled with simple writing conventions
such as letter formation and spaces between words. Christina wrote:
'At the beginning of the year, I could not hold my pen
properly.'
The effects of disrupted schooling on cognitive development and
general concepts about the world were also evident on a regular basis:
for example most students could not tell the time at all in early 2007
and even at the end, one of the most able students, Fedelle could only
read a digital watch. In a science lesson in March 2007, all students
had difficulty sorting laboratory apparatus into objects made of rubber,
glass and plastic. The problem seemed not so much one of language or
even the unfamiliarity of the objects, but the operation of sorting and
classification according to stipulated criteria.
Reading strategies as well as reading processes reflected LTPP
students' limited understanding of literacy practices. In April,
the English teacher confirmed that foundations in literacy were almost
non-existent for LTPP students. In May 2007, students were required to
create a power point presentation about an Australian animal but many
had great difficulty skimming web based text to identify images with
captions identifying them as Australian animals. In June 2007, students
were asked to sort picture books into categories of factual and
fictional texts. Only one student was able to predict accurately from
the covers even though one cover included in the title 'Picture
Facts'. This task also demonstrated gaps in visual literacy in so
far as students could not recognise that a photograph of a truck was
more likely to belong to a factual text than a cartoon image of a truck
with a smiling face. In August 2007, students were observed having
difficulty identifying the name of the author. After some scaffolded
tasks with factual texts students were better able to identify purpose
and audience, recognise and use text conventions such as chapter
headings and indexes. By December there was increasing confidence in
using both print and web based material. But even at this stage, the
History teacher commented on the difficulty of providing relevant
content knowledge within the limitations of texts at an appropriate
linguistic level. Unlike English language learners with age appropriate
education and literacy experiences, LTPP students often did not have
mother tongue concepts to provide field knowledge to support reading in
English. Initially teachers attempted to use resources which related to
previous life experiences by selecting texts and topics with an African
theme. But as the History teacher commented:
Most students had either been too young or had only experienced a
refugee camp or a crowded apartment in Egypt. I changed the topic
back to Australia.
Interestingly, classroom observation repeatedly showed that
students engaged with multi-modal texts, regardless of subject matter,
much more readily than with print-based material.
The life experiences of these students which produced a need for
predictability also resulted in aversion to risk-taking and a
corresponding high dependency on teacher direction. Classroom
observations repeatedly showed that students had a low tolerance for the
kind of open-ended tasks which characterise constructivist pedagogy and
needed a great deal of scaffolding before engaging in simple problem
solving tasks or group activity which involved cooperative learning
skills. Such explicit modelling provided important learner training.
LTPP teachers repeatedly made detours to fill gaps: for example in
a science lesson to construct a 3-D model of the digestive tract, the
teacher needed to stop and explain how to roll plasticine. Teachers
frequently broke instructions down into micro skills more familiar in
lower primary classes: for example tasks checking posture for
handwriting writing or modelling how to rule a margin. Much patience,
repetition and a great deal of practice was needed to achieve learning
outcomes.
Interestingly, it seems that for these refugee students, the length
of time spent in primary school did not necessarily result in better
learning how to learn skills. For example, Christina who had 10 terms in
an Australian primary school was no better prepared than Koka who
arrived at CIEC in February 2006 with no experience at all of formal
schooling. A comparison between Macy who also had 10 terms primary
education and J-D with 6 terms at CIEC revealed both students assessed
as mildly intellectually disabled, suggesting little difference between
them.
Data from work samples: English Language development
Work samples also showed some remarkable progress. The LTPP was
conceived with the aim of supporting students to move from levels 2-3 in
oral interaction, reading and responding and writing as measured by the
competencies identified in the ESL Scales document (Curriculum
Corporation: 1984) to levels 3-4 by the end of 2007. Initial assessment
of students at the end of 2006 demonstrated that all students were
post-beginner learners of English. They had developed 'BICS'
(Cummins: 1979) with some degree of oral fluency though most lacked
accuracy in the use of basic grammatical structures such as pronouns and
verb tense. Reading and writing skills lagged behind. When Victoria,
Christina, J-D and Macy left primary school they were all assessed as
operating at a Stage 1 level which is equivalent to Year 1/2.
Table 1 shows the progression of individual students from November
2006 before LTPP to December 2007 as measured by teacher reports as well
as the ELLA test. While all except one student showed significant
progress, it is important to note that one student, Macy arrived into
the LTTP as a funded Special Needs student, while J-D and Roberto were
tested and identified during 2007 as working in the range of mild
learning disability.
The table also shows that 4 students exceeded the targeted outcomes
of level 3-4 on all three strands of the ESL Scales. The ELLA test,
administered in 2007 and marked externally, measured three aspects:
Writing, Reading and Language (punctuation and spelling). Given that
ELLA tests are designed for mainstream native speakers and are not
moderated either in content or marking criteria for English language
learners, the ELLA results are remarkable: Fedelle and Roberto, students
with the least amount of time in Australian schools but all of it spent
in the IEC, scored Proficient in all three strands, Monarita, Victoria
and Tasha scored Proficient in writing and Koka, who arrived at the IEC
as a pre-literate student with no previous schooling, scored Proficient
in reading, an impressive result.
Oral language development clearly reflected the students'
cultural background with its strong oral traditions. Teachers regularly
noted the students' superior listening skills and well developed
auditory memory. When engaged, students were able to remember and
process quite complex information particularly if presented in a
narrative form. This quote comes from an oral re-telling by Koka in
March 2007 of a story the teacher had read aloud a number of times:
She went to the big city and she asked the old man to give him the
address and after that she went to her uncle and her uncle said
'you can help to clean the animals and she was a good cleaner and
one day the Emperor was about to arrive, the animals must be very very
clean. (Koka)
A running record from the same text, showed that Koka at that stage
was an emergent reader, had limited word attack skills, lacked
confidence and needed constant prompting. By Term 4, the various
instruments for reading assessment showed that all students except for
J-D, were able to read increasingly complex texts with improved word
attack skills, greater confidence, self-correct more often and answer
comprehension questions with reasonable accuracy. However, most students
had predictable difficulty with inference and reading figurative
language since competence in reading beyond literal meanings tends to
occur around level 6 on the ESL Scales. Written work samples collected
during 2007 demonstrated significant development in writing in different
contexts and for different purposes at both text and sentence level as
LTTP students. Extracts of writing collected from 2 students at
different times during the LTPP demonstrated the range of individual
progress from different starting points. Victoria's writing
represented the more proficient students, Christina the less proficient.
Victoria's work samples (Table 2) illustrate the gains won
through explicit teaching. Weekly observation of lessons in a variety of
KLAs provided many examples of instructional scaffolding (Gibbons, 2002;
Michell & Sharpe, 2005; Dufficy, 2005) of grammatical structures and
language features relating to different text types and text forms. While
teachers in primary and to a lesser extent in secondary schools use
similar explicit strategies, what was different in the LTPP was the
slower pace of lessons, the frequency of repetition and the amount of
recycling required for students to develop new skills and understanding.
At the end of November 2007, students were asked to write about how
they felt about learning in the LTPP. All students fore-grounded the
development of their English language communicative skills: ten students
mentioned writing, eight mentioned reading and six mentioned speaking:
At the beginning of the year I could not read or write a story. But
now I am able to read and write a (little) short story. Christina
I am now able to read and write better than before. Before I can
say that I could read and speak. But that was not enough for High
school. Tasha
Transition to Secondary School in 2008: data from student
interviews
While participation in the LTPP resulted in often remarkable gains
in learning skills, cognitive development and English language
competence, transition to High School was problematic. Even though there
were frequent explanations about the purposes of LTPP, a carefully
staged orientation to high school and reminders that the extra year at
CIEC would support successful learning, 8 of the 11 students were
dismayed when in the beginning of 2008 they found themselves in Year 7.
Despite acknowledging that they found the Year 7 work challenging, they
resented their placement and lobbied to be placed in Year 8. The
students who were content in Year 7 included the special needs student
J-Dee whose sporting skills aided peer interaction and the highest
achievers, Fedelle and Gabriel who were motivated learners and mature
enough to recognise the advantages of their placement. None of these
students had arrived into the LTTP from year 6 in primary school and so
had no sense of being one year 'behind' their peers.
Interviews with the other students in 2008 revealed specific concerns
about age, height and relationship with peer groups.
J-Zee wrote this in April 2008:
When I made friends I then felt confident and happy. The subjects
that I have realy enjoyed are English because when we have English
I feel relaxsed and feel that I can put my hand up and answear
something ... The things that I don't like when I first came to
(school E) when they had put me in year 7 ... I was very angry ...
I felt like fight I was very sad ... I just felt very down.
Most students, like J-Zee, valued social relationships as the most
important feature of their school experience were unable to link their
placement in Year 7 with their language and learning needs.
Interestingly, J-Zee's perception of his participation in English
is inconsistent with the English teacher's comments in the April/
May interviews. When students were asked to reflect on their learning,
several commented that topics covered to some extent at CIEC during 2007
gave them confidence and important background knowledge. Tasha remarked:
I like history ... Ancient Egyptians ... it helped that I already knew
about it. Predictably, other issues raised during interviews included
those typical of most transitions from Intensive English Centres
including difficulty of adjusting to learning in large noisy classes and
listening to teachers who talk fast and do not modify their language as
at the IEC. These issues merit additional enquiry and are beyond the
scope of this article.
Conclusions
This case study demonstrates above all the complexity of the
challenges facing both teachers and students in the LTPP in 2007.
English language acquisition for learners with a history of disrupted
education and who arrive at school essential preliterate is a slow
process where progress needs to be measured in small increments.
Expectations about what constitutes successful outcomes need to be
contextualised by the life experiences as well as the starting point of
individuals. English language learning is only one facet of a much more
complex educational process which has to address the inevitable gaps
which result from disrupted schooling: gaps in cognitive skills,
concepts of literacy, undeveloped or culturally distant understandings
about the world. This requires the flexibility to provide the kind of
skill and cognitive development common in lower primary classes while at
the same time preparing adolescent learners to become independent
learners who can deal with complex concepts.
Though the small size of the cohort makes wider application of
findings inappropriate, there are some relevant patterns in the outcomes
for refugee students who arrive with disrupted education in Australia.
However, data suggests that there is no necessary relationship between
length of time a student has been enrolled in an Australian school and
the development of English language competence. Time in primary school
is not especially helpful unless foundational skills and understandings
are developed.
Positive educational outcomes resulted from particular features of
the LTPP such as the small class size, the use of a specially designed
curriculum, responsiveness to students' learning styles, the
integration of language with all KLA content and the explicit teaching.
The amount of repetition, recycling and practice of language required
for learning to occur is a key characteristic which distinguished the
LTPP from typical mainstream primary or secondary teaching. In addition,
the pastoral care at CIEC created a safe nurturing environment which
could respond flexibly to individual needs.
The data from reports and work samples clearly demonstrates that
these students are far better prepared for secondary school in 2008 than
they would have been in 2007 without participating in the LTPP. However,
this conclusion must be set against the evidence from 8 of the 11
students interviewed in 2008 which show significant resistance to their
placement in year 7. This resistance, if it develops into negative
attitudes towards school could undermine some of the educational
benefits of the LTPP.
Therefore there is a need to better balance English language,
literacy and learning needs with the social and emotional needs of
students in cases where students lack the maturity to recognise the long
term advantages of delaying the start of secondary school. This could be
achieved by exploring ways of integrating the best features of the LTPP
model in an earlier intervention. Instead of waiting until students exit
primary school with insufficient English language, learning and literacy
skills, an intensive program should target upper primary students.
Placing more resources into new arrival education for refugee students
in the latter years of primary school would result in better preparation
for secondary school while responding to students' need for
positive, age appropriate social relationships.
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Maya Cranitch
Australian Catholic University
Table 1. Summary of Transition Student Results
* Name ESL Nov Term Term Ella test High
* Gender : Scales 2006 1/07 4/07 Nov 2007 School
Age
* Date of
arrival in
Australia
Fedelle Oral 2-3 3 5 A
F: 6.6.93 Reading 2-3 3 4 Proficient
15.9.05 Writing 2-3 3 4 Proficient
Language Proficient
Gabriel Oral 2-3 2-3 5 B
M:31.12.93 Reading 2-3 2-3 4 Proficient
3.9.06 Writing 2-3 2-3 4 Proficient
Language Proficient
Monarita Oral 3 2-3 5 E
F: 3.3.94 Reading 2-3 2-3 5 Elementary
15.10.2005 Writing 2-3 2-3 5 Proficient
Language Elementary
Victoria Oral 2 3 5 E
F: 2.5.94 Reading 3 2-3 5 Elementary
20.7.04 Writing 3 2-3 5 Proficient
Language Elementary
Tasha Oral 2-3 2-3 4 E
F:14.4.93 Reading 2-3 2-3 4 Elementary
7.3.04 Writing 2-3 2-3 3 Proficient
Language Elementary
Koka Oral 2-3 2-3 3-4
M:3.2.93 Reading 2-3 2-3 3 Proficient
10.12.05 Writing 2-3 2-3 2-3 Elementary
Language Elementary
Christina Oral 2-3 2-3 3-4 C
F: 10.5.94 Reading 2 2 2-3 Elementary
9.5.04 Writing 1 2 2-3 Elementary
Language Elementary
J-Zee Oral 3 2-3 3-4 E
M: 21.5.94 Reading 3 2-3 3-4 Elementary
15.8.04 Writing 3 2-3 2 Elementary
Language Low
J-D Oral B 1-2 2 2-3 D
M: 28.7.93 Reading B 1-2 2 2-3 Elementary
15.12.05 Writing B 1-2 2 2-3 Elementary
Language Low
Macy Oral 3 2-3 3 C
F:27.9.04 Reading 2 2 2-3 Low
4.11.03 Writing 2 2 2-3 Elementary
Language Elementary
Roberto Oral 2-3 2-3 3-4 B
M:6.6.94 Reading 2 2 3 Low
17.6.03 Writing 2 2 2-3 Elementary
Language Low
* Name ESL * Educational
* Gender : Scales background
Age * No. of school
* Date of terms
arrival in
Australia
Fedelle Oral 2 / Primary, 6 /
F: 6.6.93 Reading CIEC = 8
15.9.05 Writing disrupted
Language schooling--
Egypt
Gabriel Oral 5 /CIEC = 5
M:31.12.93 Reading disrupted
3.9.06 Writing schooling--
Language Kakuma
refugee camp
Monarita Oral 3 /Primary, 5 -
F: 3.3.94 Reading CIEC =
15.10.2005 Writing 8 disrupted
Language schooling--
Egypt
Victoria Oral 6 / Primary, 4 /
F: 2.5.94 Reading CIEC = 10
20.7.04 Writing disrupted
Language schooling--
Egypt
Tasha Oral 5 / Primary 6 /
F:14.4.93 Reading CIEC = 11
7.3.04 Writing disrupted
Language schooling--
Egypt
Koka Oral 8/ CIEC = 8
M:3.2.93 Reading no previous
10.12.05 Writing schooling -
Language Egypt
Christina Oral 10/ Primary 4/
F: 10.5.94 Reading CIEC = 14
9.5.04 Writing
Language
J-Zee Oral 10/ Primary 4/
M: 21.5.94 Reading CIEC = 14
15.8.04 Writing
Language
J-D Oral 6/ CIEC = 6
M: 28.7.93 Reading mild range of
15.12.05 Writing intellectual
Language disability
tested July
2007
Macy Oral 12/Primary /
F:27.9.04 Reading CIEC = 16 mild
4.11.03 Writing range of
Language intellectual
disability
tested Dec
2006
Roberto Oral 14/Primary /
M:6.6.94 Reading CIEC = 18 mild
17.6.03 Writing range of
Language intellectual
disability
tested July
2007 CIEC
NB Students have chosen pseudonyms and schools have not
been identified
Table 2. Victoria's texts
November 2006 Yesterday was Sunday Shows a logical
and first thing I did sequence of events
I went to the church showing good use of
and after church I simple past tense
went to my aunt house regular verbs, some
at 1.45 and we stay time connectives but
there in about 7 hours little sense of
and after that ... audience,
inconsistent use of
capitalisation and no
full stops.
September 2007 On Friday I slept in Shows understanding
until 10.00 then I had of recount text
to clean the kitchen. structure, sense of
One hour later it was audience, use of text
sparkling clean. connectives,
Afterwards I watched evaluative language
Rollercoaster on T.V. and more consistent
Much more fun than capitalisation and
cleaning! punctuation.
ELLA test A big ugly dragon came Shows control of
November 2007 out and I called her narrative text
big ugly grey dragon structure, complex
and it got angry with sentences and use of
me and when it got descriptive
angry with me it adjectives though
burned my house so I punctuation is still
said your not ugly you rudimentary.
are the most beautiful
dragon I ever seen .
