The English Language Learning for Indigenous Children (ELLIC) trial aims to improve English literacy outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander preschool children for whom English is a second or subsequent language.
ELLIC aims to improve English literacy outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander preschool children for whom English
ELLIC supports the Australian Government’s commitment to Closing the Gap in literacy achievement between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and non-Indigenous children.
In May 2017, the Australian Government announced the English Language Learning for Indigenous Children trial to be conducted over the period 2017–18 to 2020–21. This initiative aims to improve English literacy outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander preschool children for whom English is a second or subsequent language.
The initiative supports the Government’s commitment to Closing the Gap in literacy achievement.
The ELLIC trial will involve development of a series of digital play-based apps for use by preschool children in the year before full-time school, with the content aligned to the Early Years Learning Framework. Apps will also be developed for parents and educators to assist them to support improved literacy outcomes for the children.
Children will access the apps on tablet devices supported by educators who have been trained in how to integrate ELLIC into the preschool’s learning program.
A minimum of 20 preschools will take part in the trial in ELLIC in the 2019 and 2020 school years, focusing on preschool communities with high representation of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children who speak one or more Indigenous languages at home.