What is the role of an EAL teacher?
An EAL teacher is a professional specialising in working with learners for whom English is an additional language, such as refugees, asylum seekers or children of migrant families.
Teresa has worked at St John’s C of E for over 2 years. She differentiates for all ability levels but, up to now, she has never had to consider the needs of a child new to English in her class. Teresa admitted to initially feeling a little anxious, however, after seeking advice, referring to the new arrivals procedures at the school, working closely with her teaching assistant, Rumena Aktar, and giving a lot of careful thought to her planning, Teresa put the following in place:
Before arrival:
On reflection, Teresa explained she felt she was using similar skills to when she taught English as an Additional Language in France. Teresa feels that Elaine has felt welcomed and involved. She doesn't feel that Elaine is isolated and feels she is always included and successful.
As a proud year 3 teacher, she is excited to see how much Elaine has learnt and the rate of progress although slightly worried she about constantly challenging her with higher order thinking skills alongside learning the language!
Note that the new arrival’s name has been changed for confidentiality purposes.
An EAL teacher is a professional specialising in working with learners for whom English is an additional language, such as refugees, asylum seekers or children of migrant families.
"Parental involvement is invaluable for any new arrival in transition. The learner’s family may be the only group of people who truly understand their transition. The parents may have very little understanding of what happens in an English-speaking school or the approach you have to education. Parental involvement will help you to understand more about the child’s life as well as build a valuable rapport and level of trust between all parties.”
(Scott, 2012)
Despite legitimate claims that EAL students devote over half of their time to listening when functioning in English (Nunan, 1998), this is often not reflected in the time that we dedicate to the four main skills in the classroom. In fact, Nation (2009) states that listening is arguably the least understood and most overlooked of the four skills in language teaching.