Ecological Profiles

Compile individual language profiles of pupils

Use this section of the guidance to compile rich individual language profiles, which take account of the full ecology of a child’s life. These will inform your later language plan.

This section provides you with a language profile structure with suggested areas of focus and prompts for collecting information. The structure of these individual profiles reflects an ecological model as described in the introduction to the guidance. This ensures that the complexity of language and communication practices at home, school and other settings is captured along with the influences of different contexts on individual development. Ways to approach each section of the profile are illustrated in the exemplar language profiles in Appendix 2.

Language profile structure

1. LANGUAGE CONTEXTS
Profile Areas	Prompts for Collecting Information
Family and home contexts The home and family background	Family make-up: siblings, extended family etc. Home/family languages and cultures Other deaf family Family and child expectations for language development General engagement with school Activities outside of school
Information about individual deafness Audiological history and current support	Cause and type of deafness Date of diagnosis and length of time of deafness Audiological management in place Consistency of use of audiological support Identified benefits of audiological support
Educational background and management Experience of pre-school support and school placement	Experience of pre-school/early support How long in school Type of educational setting Age group and peer group Learning support arrangements and personnel
Individual language resources Repertoire of expressive and receptive sign and spoken language skills	Use of sign and spoken language Communication choices Communication confidence Identified specific language disorder or SEN impacting on aspects of language acquisition Language needs
Contexts of language use Language exposure and use at home school and other settings	Exposure to different languages at home and at school (e.g. BSL in class with ToD, SSE for assembly with TA spoken English with friends). Use of different languages for different purposes with different people at home and at school including mixed and/or blended use of spoken and sign language (e.g. with adults, friends, in class or socially).

2. LANGUAGE COMPETENCIES
Profile Areas	Prompts for collecting information
Language assessment information Measures, tools and protocols used to assess bilingual and bimodal language development	Tools or protocols used to assess separate languages and overall language competence What individual tools are used for How the individual tools are used Collated scores and outcomes Issues for forward planning Identification of gaps in the profile information

3. LANGUAGE PLANNING
Profile Areas	Prompts for Collecting Information
Language learning trajectory Target areas for receptive and expressive language development	Summary comment about the child’s language development pathway Particular areas of strength General targets and success criteria Assessment and monitoring protocols
Any other comments
Appendices	Language assessment data and reports

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