English as an additional language: a survey of effective practice in Key Stages 1–3 (original) (raw)
Related papers
English as an Additional Language: assumptions and challenges
Management in Education, 2010
The number of pupils who have English as an Additional Language (EAL) in our English schools is increasing with an increased influx of migrants from Europe. This paper investigates how schools are addressing the needs of these children. Using survey and interviews with teachers and paraprofessionals (teaching assistants and bilingual assistants), the identification of personal assumptions and challenges of EAL provision are explored. Early indications suggest huge differential practice for EAL provision, support and training. Many staff suggested that they are culturally unaware and have little experience of supporting EAL children. Furthermore, the key challenge for leaders is how best to cater for EAL children using a diverse workforce creatively and within tight financial constraints and competing school priorities.
Educational Review, 2017
This study looks at schools that serve English as an additional language (EAL) pupils and examines the factors behind their successful achievement. A complementary methodological approach of case studies and focus groups was used to explore performance and the views of teachers, governors, parents and pupils, and to evaluate and gather evidence on how well all pupils are achieving and the factors contributing to this. The main findings of the research identified strategies where schools were successful in raising achievement of pupils with EAL. Each case study school has its own character and emphasis but it is clear, from the evidence of the study, that they have common characteristics which underpin their success. These include providing strong leadership on equality and diversity, an understanding of pedagogy that best supported pupils with EAL, targeted support towards their progress, an inclusive curriculum which recognised and celebrated pupils' cultural heritage and the use of performance data for school improvement which included the tracking of individual pupils' progress and achievement. There are, however, some limitations to this study. While we do not aim to make generalisations from these case studies, we would argue that learning from the good practice in the case studies can make a difference to schools. The recommendation from this study is that there is a need for further research in different schools, Local Authorities (LAs) and regions in England to explore in detail what schools do differently, or more intensively, to support pupils with EAL.
2010
This article presents an initial review of research (published in English) on the impact, internationally, of English as an additional language (EAL) provision in the school sector. The impact is on English language learners (ELL): children and young people for whom English is an additional language and who are thought to need extra help with English to succeed in the school system. The review looks not only at the impact on children and young people, but also at the nature and efficacy of the teacher workforce, concluding that there are several gaps in provision and in research in the field.
International Education and Schools: Moving Beyond the First 40 Years. R. Pearce (ed) London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013
Forty years ago English was expected to be the language of instruction in the majority of international schools, and there was ‘accommodation’ for English Language Learners (ELLs) rather than any meaningful pedagogical strategy. At that time the complex factors underlying language acquisition were only just becoming recognised by researchers, and research showing the benefits of maintaining the mother tongue, and bilingualism, was little known in universities, let alone in schools. Those who did not know English were often left to ‘sink or swim’ or were given well-meaning but peripheral ‘support.’ Since that time huge amounts of research have taken place on language acquisition; and bilingualism, from being cast in a negative light, is now trumpeted in the popular press as staving off Alzheimer’s disease and contributing to cognitive benefits into old age (Pavlenko and Jarvis, 2002). Today, we know that maintaining the mother tongue at a similar level to the Second Language, English – or any other Language of Instruction (LOI) – will benefit learners; and also that raising linguistic awareness, training staff and instituting specific programmes will benefit Second-Language Learners (SLLs). However, it is necessary to provide appropriate programmes of instruction and carefully considered assessment procedures.
National curriculum: ESL in primary education in England: A classroom study
Language and Education, 1993
This study examined the type and amount of interaction taking place between mainstream class teachers and English-as-Second-Language (ESL) pupils in primary schools. Teachers at two primary school classes, each at a different school, identified two early-stage ESL pupils in their classes as subjects for the study. Teachers made weekly 30-minute recordings of normal class activities when pupils were expected to be actively engaged in learning tasks. Findings suggest that, while there was a good amount of teacher-pupil interaction, it tended to be teacher-directed. There also did not seem to be many opportunities for teachers and pupils to engage in negotiation of meaning and comprehension checking, which are believed to be important for second language acquisition. The data raise serious questions as to whether the ESL pupils were enjoying the same access to the curriculum as their monolingual English-speaking peers. (JP)
This book will be of interest to a broad readership, regardless of whether they have a background in sociolinguistics, functional linguistics or genre theories. It presents an accessible “meta-language” (i.e. a language for talking about language) that is workable and usable for teachers and researchers from both language and content backgrounds, thus facilitating collaboration across content and language subject panels. Chapters 1 to 3 lay the theoretical foundation of this common meta-language by critically reviewing, systematically presenting and integrating key theoretical resources for teachers and researchers in this field. In turn, Chapters 4 to 7 focus on issues in pedagogy and assessment, and on school-based approaches to LAC and CLIL, drawing on both research studies and the experiences of front-line teachers and school administrators. Chapter 8 provides a critical and reflexive angle on the field by asking difficult questions regarding how LAC and CLIL are often situated in contexts characterized by inequality of access to the linguistic and cultural capitals, where the local languages of the students are usually neglected or viewed unfavourably in relation to the L2 in mainstream society, and where teachers are usually positioned as recipients of knowledge rather than makers of knowledge. In closing, Chapter 9 reviews the state of the art in the field and proposes directions for future inquiry.
EAL and English: subjects and language across the curriculum
English is a core subject of the National Curriculum, and English is also the oral and written medium of instruction for the whole curriculum. ‘English across the curriculum’ conceptualises pupils applying their knowledge of these strands to other domains of subject knowledge. Subject English is highly politicised and contested; no other curriculum area undergoes such continuous scrutiny and revision. English as an Additional Language (EAL) is, in contrast, a ‘diffuse’ curriculum area which is not articulated as a distinct subject or a controversial domain of learning although, like English, EAL crosses all curriculum subjects. Part of an online series on EAL and curriculum subjects, the article discusses how pupils learning EAL apply their developing knowledge of English as well as their other languages in this particular subject area and how the curriculum in English can create additional linguistic and cultural demands on pupils learning EAL, making subject knowledge and understa...