Community Village

Breda Matthews, MA, B.Ed, Dip TESSOL, is responsible for demonstrations and training in the Australasia region, as well as content development. She is a facilitator and teacher of English language learners and has wide experience and expertise in programme design, teaching and assessing English language learners, resource creation and professional development in New Zealand. Breda has designed and delivered face-to-face and online programmes to English language learners. She is the founder of the English Language Resources Centre in New Zealand.

Articles from this author

How do EAL learners become effective writers?

Author: Breda Matthews, EAL specialist
Created: Mon 15th Apr 2024

Linguists including Derewianka (2001), Droga and Humphrey (2003), Knapp and Watkins (2005), and Gibbons (2009) suggest that scaffolding writing is critical in helping English as an additional language (EAL) learners become effective writers. 

Literacy: Student writing

Supporting students with basic literacy skills

Author: Breda Matthews, EAL specialist
Created: Wed 7th Sep 2022

Schools often have a number of students who are not yet literate in English. Whilst this includes English-speaking children who are only just learning to read and write, it also covers other groups of learners, including:

  • 'pre-literate' learners who come from an oral language tradition where there is no written form of the language. This can make the concepts of reading and writing very difficult to grasp.

Pupils speaking

Text types: helping EAL learners achieving the learning outcomes

Author: Breda Matthews, EAL specialist
Created: Fri 1st Jan 2021

Teaching in a way that is responsive to the diversity in our classrooms has a huge impact on the learning outcomes of English language learners. Strong school-family relationships, culturally responsive classrooms, and the deliberate use of effective teaching strategies can help English language learners to succeed at school.

Assessment on computer screen

An approach to EAL assessment

Author: Breda Matthews, EAL specialist
Created: Wed 7th Oct 2020

Assessment in an EAL context takes many forms. It can be formal (e.g. tests and examinations), informal (e.g. teacher observations) or learner self-assessment.