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What is EAL?
EAL means English as an Additional Language. It refers to the teaching provided in schools to students who are not yet confident users of English. These are learners who are learning English, but who have their own home language (or in many cases, languages).
EAL teaching is designed specifically for English-medium environments. It’s not an ‘add-on’, but an essential means of understanding and accessing the language of the country and/or of learning.
There has been some controversy about the term EAL, which could be seen as valuing English over the home language or other languages that the learner speaks. Another term that could be used in its place is ‘multilingual’, or other words representing the use of many languages.
Why teach EAL in schools?
EAL teaching takes place in an environment in which pupils will also be mixing with friends at break times and outside of school, carrying out day-to-day activities in English-speaking environments, and accessing English-speaking media. It’s therefore not the sole way in which pupils will learn English. However, correctly structured EAL provision greatly accelerates language acquisition and makes it possible for children to learn, and teachers to teach, much more effectively.
Research shows that it is only at the highest levels of proficiency – which they calculate take more than six years to reach – that learners are able to fully access the curriculum, and as a result, are properly able to achieve their academic potential. It is this that is provided by a properly structured EAL programme.
How to teach EAL in schools
Arrivals in a new country who are completely new to English need immediate, basic help with ‘survival’ language. Essential phrases and words help them take the first steps towards interaction with teachers and peers.
Separate, individual or small-group teaching, in a structured fashion, is the next step. In this environment, learners can be taught grammatical structures and new vocabulary and have a chance to practise language drills.
Immersion in the mainstream classroom, and in social settings, develops this taught language further. However, much differentiation is required in the classroom. It is good practice to ‘pre-teach’ the elements about to be covered in a class topic, to provide differentiated materials for learners of differing language abilities, and to revise the vocabulary and language structures covered after the class.
Learning Village is an award-winning comprehensive EAL programme for 6-16 year old learners which supports all of the above. It is an immersive platform offering image as the language of instruction and blended learning suitable for learners of any language background, including those not literate in their own language.
It can be seen from this that EAL is not simply the responsibility of the EAL lead in a school. Helping a new-to-English pupil to develop their language, and to use it to access the curriculum and achieve their full academic potential, is the job of every teacher in the school.
You can read the full article, including links to useful resources, and other articles here.
Learning Village joined the #naldic30 conference as one of our Gold Sponsors. This guest post is an advertisement.