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“Scaffolding is the process a teacher uses to model or demonstrate how to solve a problem (in the case of language learning, to support learners with using the language needed to articulate themselves). After modelling, they step back, offering support as needed.”
Scott, 2019
A useful EAL resource can provide significant, supportive scaffolding. “For English language learners, this high challenge classroom must be one where they are given the kinds of scaffolding and linguistic support that will enable them to engage in learning and be successful learners, in terms of both their English language development and the development of subject knowledge.” (Gibbons, 2009)
The quality of the scaffolding provided can be significantly enhanced by the use of appropriate resources. At the Learning Village we were faced with this challenge when creating one of our newest features: the EAL Scaffolding Resources designed to support the scaffolding of text. Supportive resources can provide an element of scaffolding anywhere along their learning cycle. We use Pauline Gibbons’ ‘Teaching and Learning Cycle’:
Throughout this focused cycle, the phases can be broken down into easy-to-use resources. We aim to create ‘scaffolding resources’ that assist in developing the language needed to create a variety of texts, from reports to narratives. We use the following steps:
1. Setting the scene - associated flashcards for speaking and listening
2. Setting the scene - sentence building
3. Modelling the text
4. Text deconstruction
5. Text reconstruction
These kinds of scaffolding resources, whether they are sourced from the Learning Village or created yourself, can provide teachers and learners with the tools to assist in the tough task of building up to writing in a particular genre. These resources include academic words and language focuses and note the specific technical vocabulary covered in each resource.
In creating the resources, we’ve been inspired not only by our own experience of teaching EAL learners, but by work such as that of Gibbons (2009), English Learners, Academic Literacy and Thinking. This EFF report notes the problems that learners with low literacy levels encounter in secondary school, as they struggle to access the curriculum. It argues that literacy must be grounded in the specifics of each subject (so-called ‘disciplinary literacy’), covering the vocabulary and grammatical structures needed for each individual discipline. It’s a supportive document for any mainstream teacher. It notes that ‘reading, writing, speaking and listening are at the heart of knowing and doing Science, Art, History, and every other subject…’.
The guidance talks about the importance of developing Tier 2 and 3 language:
Tier 1: words of everyday speech
Tier 2: high-frequency words found in many different subject disciplines
Tier 3: subject-specific vocabulary
In the EAL scaffolding resources we have created, we aim to provide the subject-specific vocabulary and the high-frequency ‘academic’ words and structures that will allow EAL learners to build the language they need, from initial speaking and listening to vocabulary and language structures, all the way through to writing text.
References:
Scott, C. (2019), An English as an Additional Language (EAL) Programme: Learning through Images for 7-14 year olds, Taylor and Francis, Abingdon.
Education Endowment Foundation: Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools - Guidance Report.
Gibbons, P. (2009) English Learners, Academic Literacy and Thinking, Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH.
As well as being interesting and engaging, non-fiction texts help to develop learners’ academic vocabulary and support learning across the curriculum. Learners can use non-fiction texts to develop knowledge, retrieval, and comprehension skills, and this can be developed even further with higher level skills such as analysis and evaluation. Learners with SEND may find the bite-sized facts, clear sections and subheadings, and accompanying diagrams or illustrations in non-fiction texts less overwhelming than a longer narrative text.
Many of us have learnt to spell as a child without being specifically taught the sounds. In the past, the teaching of phonics was discouraged in schools, however, we learnt a lot through sounding out words independently. At a recent course on voice production, the importance of vowel sounds was emphasised as central to pronunciation. They were also emphasised as central to sounding out to help with spelling. Chunking (breaking up words into syllables) also helps to sound out and spell longer more challenging words.
Effective assessment for learning (AfL) is ‘informed feedback to pupils about their work’ (Shaw, 1998). As Broadfoot et al (1999) discuss, there are five key ways in which we can enhance learning by assessment. These steps can be universally applied to all learning and all learners, and thus address the learning needs of EAL learners in physical and virtual classrooms. They are: