Language support for new arrivals works when it starts from what people need now (health, housing, school,
safety), fits their literacy and lives, and is delivered in a safe, predictable way.
scripts/learner_pathways.py turns intake data into pathways and class groups.
Trigger Conditions
Activate this skill when the user:
- Sets up or runs English (or other host-language) classes for refugees or migrants
- Organises intake, assessment and class grouping for new arrivals
- Asks what to teach first, or how to teach sensitively
- Trains volunteers to support refugee learners
Literacy: adult-literacy-esl-lesson-builder. Work English: esp-english-course-designer. Outcomes: can-do-statement-writer.
Workflow
1. INTAKE -> interpreter or L1 helper; oral interview; literacy check; goals; availability; childcare
2. PATHWAYS -> python scripts/learner_pathways.py intake.csv
3. PRIORITY -> settlement topics in the order learners need them (references/settlement-language-syllabus.md)
4. DELIVERY -> rolling units, timing, childcare, real materials, visits, volunteers
5. PRACTICE -> trauma-informed routines and topic care (references/trauma-informed-practice.md)
6. LINK -> literacy, employability, EAP, support services
7. REVIEW -> can-do checklists and portfolios; move learners between pathways as they progressKeep intake records to learning information. Do not ask about or record asylum claims, trauma or journeys; if learners share such information, follow the organisation's confidentiality and safeguarding procedures.
Output Format
Programme plan: pathways with hours and class sizes, class groups from the script, the priority syllabus with can-dos for the first term, delivery arrangements, a sample lesson (for example "making a doctor's appointment"), and the safeguarding and referral contacts the teacher should have.
Scripts
python scripts/learner_pathways.py intake.csv [--max-class 12]Columns: name, english, l1_literacy, l1_script, schooling_years, goal, availability, childcare (name and english required). Exit codes: 0 printed, 2 read error or missing columns.
Additional Resources
| File | Content |
|---|---|
| settlement-language-syllabus.md | Priority topics with can-dos, intake and delivery, linking to other provision |
| trauma-informed-practice.md | Principles, topic care, classroom practice, signs of distress and referral, teacher wellbeing |
academic-english-eap-course-planner
Plan English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses: pre-sessional, in-sessional, foundation, IELTS preparation and discipline-specific EAP, with syllabus strands (academic reading, lecture listening and note-taking, essay and report writing, paraphrase, summary and synthesis, referencing and plagiarism, seminars and presentations, academic vocabulary, critical thinking), a 10-week pre-sessional outline, exit assessment, IELTS-CEFR alignment and academic style (formality, hedging, cohesion, reporting verbs). Estimates study hours and weeks to close an IELTS gap from overall or per-skill scores (IELTS rounding, minimum per skill, priority skills, feasibility before a deadline), and checks learner texts for contractions, informal words with academic alternatives, unhedged claims, 'you', And/But/So starts, rhetorical questions and missing citations.
actfl-proficiency-curriculum-mapper
Map world language curricula to the ACTFL framework: proficiency levels (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, Distinguished with sublevels), functions, contexts, text types and accuracy, proficiency vs performance, the three modes of communication (interpretive, interpersonal, presentational), the 5 Cs World-Readiness Standards, backward-designed thematic units with Integrated Performance Assessments, typical programme targets and FSI time estimates. Looks up approximate ACTFL-CEFR-ILR equivalences with what each level can do, and checks a unit map for missing modes, rehearsed skits mislabelled as interpersonal, translation or word lists as interpretive tasks, and units without an integrated performance assessment.
adult-literacy-esl-lesson-builder
Build lessons for adult ESL learners who are developing literacy (LESLLA learners: pre-literate, non-literate, semi-literate, literate in a non-Roman script): learner profiles and sensitive initial assessment, principles (oral language first, known to new, systematic phonics with adult-relevant text, repetition, classroom skills, respect for experience), a lesson routine (oral warm-up, review, new grapheme, blending, segmenting, decodable text, writing, functional literacy, Language Experience Approach), a phonics sequence for adults, sight words, functional literacy targets (forms, signs, medicine labels) and portfolio assessment. Checks whether a reading text is decodable with the letter-sound patterns and sight words taught so far, catching untaught digraphs, listing non-decodable words with the untaught part, and suggesting the most useful next patterns.
authentic-material-lesson-adapter
Turn authentic material (news articles, podcasts, videos, songs, menus, timetables, adverts, social media posts, forms, infographics) into language lessons by grading the task rather than the text. Selects texts for interest, relevance, exploitability, coverage, cultural load and rights; finds the 4-6 words to pre-teach, words to gloss on the page and words learners can ignore, plus names and cultural references to explain, with reading time by level; and builds a lesson shape (lead-in, pre-teach, gist or scanning, graded detail task, language focus on chunks and register, response) with task ideas per material type and level from A1 to C1. Covers copyright, fair dealing and fair use, Creative Commons and attribution.
can-do-statement-writer
Write and review can-do statements for language courses, units, lessons and learner self-assessment, CEFR or NCSSFL-ACTFL style: action (observable verb) + text or situation + level-specific conditions, learner ('I can') and descriptor ('Can') versions, progressions of one activity from A1 to C1, and coverage of reception, production, interaction and mediation. Includes a verb bank by mode and level and condition and text-type banks. Lints statements for teacher-centred phrasing, knowledge instead of use (learn, know, understand the passive), missing context, two skills in one statement, vague quality words, grammar items as outcomes, overlong statements and missing modes in a set.
cefr-aligned-syllabus-builder
Build language course syllabuses aligned to the CEFR (A1-C2, plus levels, Companion Volume 2020): entry and exit levels, guided learning hours and course length (with an L1-distance adjustment), syllabus type (topic, functional-notional, task-based, skills-based, multi-strand), unit-by-unit can-do outcomes, grammar from a core inventory by level, vocabulary, functions, pronunciation, balance of reception, production, interaction and mediation, recycling and assessment points. Checks a syllabus for units without can-do statements, core grammar for the level not covered, items above the course level, skills missing from most units and units with no vocabulary or functions.