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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.
Feedback is the buzz-word and, as with most things, it is not being reinvented, but constantly readapted. In recent years, we see more formal national approach. One can become overwhelmed with the copious elements that need to be considered when feeding back to learners.
Trust is the foundation of any meaningful school-family relationship. When it is strong, parents feel welcome, students feel supported, and schools can create the best conditions for learning. Research shows that trust between families and schools is directly linked to improvements in student engagement and achievement (Bryk and Schneider, 2002).
Sometimes our students who have English as an additional language seem to be having more difficulty than expected developing their language, and accessing the rest of the curriculum. Most teachers have become more aware of the signs of dyslexia (and other specific learning differences), but the overlap with the language learning process makes it much more complex to identify EAL learners who also have a SpLD.
In previous articles we discussed the need for learners to obtain Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS). These skills need to be the initial focus of learning alongside curriculum content in the early days. Class teachers are required to make significant adjustments to their programme of learning which is not an easy task, especially for those teachers who are new to teaching foreign languages.
Attending a recent woodwind ensemble concert made me think about language use in the classroom - quite an unusual connection, right? ‘How so?’ you might ask. Perhaps it was because the musicians each had a different heritage, played a different instrument, and spoke another language. Yet, they all tuned their instruments together at the start and communicated in English before creating something beautifully fluid for the audience to immerse themselves in.
When I was teaching early literacy to adults some years ago, I had two teenage students from a refugee background join one of my classes. They were beginner-level English as an Additional language (EAL) learners and both were non-literate. They had been expelled from the local high school for fighting. At the time, there was a national fundraising campaign to support children in troubled parts of the world.
EAL learning should balance meaning‑focused output, form‑focused instruction, and fluency development to support communicative competence. As educators, we are naturally reflective creatures, habitually revisiting lessons in our minds to see if we could somehow improve. Could the outcomes have been better? Were the discussions rich and high in quality? Was the balance of activities right to get the best possible language learning progression? Here, we will explore how to get the right balance in lessons, as well as suggesting activities.
In previous articles we discussed the need for learners to obtain Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS). These skills need to be the initial focus of learning alongside curriculum content in the early days. Class teachers are required to make significant adjustments to their programme of learning which is not an easy task, especially for those teachers who are new to teaching foreign languages.
The term 21st Century skills is becoming significantly part of the classroom learning environment, but what exactly does that mean? There are a few definitions, however, in essence, these are the skills that our learners need to prepare them for their future (Puchta & Williams, 2014), taking them from their studies, to their futures as adults.
The Four C's
Many researchers today acknowledge the 4C’s. They are known as:
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.
Including a useful EAL Progress Review and links to different EAL assessment continua
When teaching EAL, assessment procedures need to be in place in order to have a concrete analysis of student starting points.
This area is a minefield! Without other references or expertise to hand, a new teacher often turns to an expert for help… Google! Results popping up on the first page of a search shows the Oxford placement tests on the first page, but are they the answer?
This morning my 4-year-old said, "Mummy, there are two languages, child's language and adult language". I asked her what she meant and she explained that when her friend was crying the teacher told her to read her the "owl" book. She then said, "The teacher reads the words but the child changes it." A young child may not be able to read, or retell the story using the actual words but often can retell it in their own words. A bit like a translation, as my daughter illustrated. The key factor is not the actual words, but the story behind the words.
Everyone recognises the importance of staying safe online - but it's not always straightforward. For many of us, computing - including social media, information technology and cybersecurity - is a whole new world, with its own conventions and language. Now consider the added element of dealing with all of this quite literally in a different language! That's the situation our EAL learners find themselves in. Having arrived in a new country, they need to learn English as quickly as possible, for social as well as academic reasons.
There is no denying that in the 21st century, teachers have gone from strength to strength in using technology in the classroom and this has changed the classroom landscape significantly. The digital age has introduced new avenues to explore for learning and teaching beyond the traditional classroom methods.
Whilst reading a book on reclaiming childhood ('Their name is today' by Johann Christoph Arnold) the chapter on 'learning differences and how to cater for them' triggered thoughts on teaching differences. At the end of the October article it was mentioned that EAL teaching should be evaluated in a different way due to the very nature of the subject and I shall try to clarify why.
New to English can be supported in many different ways. Here's one school's approach:
Assessment
All learning is based on assessment. Children arrive and sit a baseline assessment. After analysis of result children are provided with appropriate provision. Interim progress reports on progression in EAL, phonics and writing are reviewed every half term.
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.
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.
Last week I saw a film called 'Shadow in Baghdad', it was a film that pulled my heart strings. I was brought up in Manchester, both my parents spoke Arabic at home, both were from Baghdad. What struck me the most after I watched the film was how much I missed hearing that particular dialect of Arabic, the familiarity and warmth of the Middle Eastern people, the sense of security that came with it as well as a sense of longing and regret for a disappearing culture.
Effective assessment for learning (AfL) is ‘informed feedback to pupils about their work’ (Shaw, 1998). As Broadfoot et al discuss, there are five key ways that 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. They are:
Holidays and homework seem incongruous especially for the EAL students who need to concentrate extra hard in order to understand curriculum content. It is therefore crucial that the homework is fun and rewarding, workbooks and worksheets, although pleasing to parents, may be off putting for students who may start with good intentions but then put off doing them. Generating enthusiasm and motivation are the key factors.
Beckmann (2009) defines the term ‘cross-curricular teaching’ as ‘instruction within a field in which subject boundaries are crossed and other subjects are integrated into the teaching (how and for whatever purpose or objective)’.
The language show this year in Olympia made me even more aware of the gift of having more than one language. One of the stand's motto was 'monolingualism can be cured', another 'Speak to the Future' (www.speaktothefuture.org) campaigns to promote the teaching of languages in schools in the UK. Since this September all children in primary schools will be taught a language as the government finally realised that, in a mobile world, a second language is essential for a country's economic development.
New to English can be supported in many different ways. Here's one school's approach:
Assessment
All learning is based on assessment. Children arrive and sit a baseline assessment. After analysis of result children are provided with appropriate provision. Interim progress reports on progression in EAL, phonics and writing are reviewed every half term.
Every learner is unique! This includes your SEND learners. Sometimes you need to create a bespoke resource to support their individual needs.
Tip or Idea: Using multimodal resources can provide a multi-layered approach to learning, removing barriers for learners and creating a fun, engaging learning environment.
As exam season is coming up soon, this is the perfect opportunity for schools to rethink their current practices in supporting EAL children and families during this time. For multilingual families, exams can have the added stress of getting to know unfamiliar exam procedures, whilst facing their own language or cultural barriers. Below are some practical tips and strategies to help you offer high quality support to your EAL families during this demanding period.
We’ve covered the theory, we’re enthusiastic and ready to get stuck in! However, as an early-stage teacher, we might also feel overwhelmed by the task and intimidated by the expectations. So where do we start? Initially, the question is: What do I teach? This article answers some of the questions related to language teaching.
In schools where English is the language of instruction we welcome new arrivals with limited English and, step by step, they become skilled in speaking English. These young learners have a gift, the gift of bilingualism. A skill that has a profound effect on their lives. This skills may affect their identity, the way they are educated, their employment, the friends they keep, marriage, where they choose to live, travel and how they think. The consequences are significant.
AI technology can offer adult learners of English or multilingual families a supportive, fun and engaging environment in which to learn and practise their English. Schools can play an instrumental role in guiding those families through this process and therefore home-school collaboration is always encouraged. Let’s look at four different ideas for school staff to encourage their multilingual families to engage in an enjoyable language learning experience through AI.
As a Head of Early Years in an international school following the EYFS and IPC curriculums it has always been important to ensure that the teaching of the English language is done in the classroom without the help of specialist EAL support. Early years teachers are great physical, visual talkers!
One of the key principles of teaching in the Early Years is that bilingualism has an advantage and that as the first language it has a continuing and significant role in identity, learning and the acquisition of additional languages.
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.
I have taught ESOL (English for speakers of other languages who live in an English-speaking environment) for over 15 years. Many of my students have recently moved to England. Their reasons for learning English have varied greatly; from learning it out of necessity to learning it just for fun. Likewise, their learning backgrounds have been vastly different. Some students have had very little or recent education, while others have had higher education.
There are many similarities between music and language, in the way they are organised, processed and produced. Music therefore has enormous potential as a language-learning tool, and one that can be appealing to even the least engaged or confident learners.