Language Support
The Language Support program and Language Acquisition courses at Pan-American School exemplify our mission of being a leading bilingual school in Central America. At PAS we recognize that language learning is a process, which is integral to both student engagement in learning and participation within the school and local community. Furthermore, language learning is an essential component to developing international citizens with a global mindset.
The Language Support program in PYP identifies students who need support in either the Spanish or English language. Students are immersed through the regular classroom content, while supported by language acquisition specialist teachers in collaboration with the homeroom teachers.
Language support strategies consider the needs of each individual child, and as such, are diverse in method. Beyond developing communication skills, the program seeks to foster inclusion in order that students may access the classroom content and be integrated into the holistic learning environment.
Students at the MYP level are placed in Language Acquisition courses, in either Spanish or English, based on what is appropriate for their language proficiency level, personal goals and learning needs. These courses are taught by second language acquisition specialist teachers and follow the IB language acquisition scope and sequence, which corresponds to their current IB language phase or level.
Students in MYP content courses are provided language support when they are still developing the skills to be able to access the content fully. Language acquisition specialist teachers work with content specific teachers to collaborate on strategies, which make the content comprehensible. This allows students to be successful without their current language level impeding integration into any area of the curriculum.
