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Everyone is talking about differentiation for EAL in whole class teaching, but how do we actually approach it consistently and effectively?
At Across Cultures we have been developing some systematic ways of approaching this in a structured, yet flexible format. In the downloadable plan you'll see a framework to support EAL teachers with planning for content learning alongside language learning. The plan is based about the theme of sea pollution and provides a writing frame for a persuasive text.
This lesson follow a particular format:
1. Pre teach vocabulary of the text type. There are many games for supporting learners with remembering new vocabulary.
2. Introduce the theme, text type and ensure comprehension of text.
3. Reproduce sections of the text day by day with support of writing frames, the vocabulary learnt and the text.
4. Recreate the entire text without support.
I have been teaching English for over 20 years and in that time I have held various teaching titles; I had a different acronym depending on which country or school I was teaching in. Over the past 20 years, I have been an ESL, an EFL, an ESP, an ESOL and an EAL teacher. As you can see, ELT - English Language Teaching - comes with a whole host of acronyms. I will identify and describe them below.
*All terms below refer to students whose mother tongue is not English and who are learning English.
It is widely accepted that learners absorb and retain more information when they are engaged and having fun in the language classroom. Interaction between learners will occur naturally and consequently provide an environment for authentic communication practice. For the purpose of this blog, the word ‘fun’ is interpreted as being entertaining and engaging. A good test, as suggested by Wright, Betteridge and Buckby (2009), might be to ask: ‘Would the learners be happy to do this activity in their own language?’
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.