Supporting Children with English

as an Additional Language

Christine Booth and Shipa Chowdhury

Early Years Leader and Bilingual Assistant

Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS)

What do you think?

• It is best to treat everyone the same so there is no discrimination

• It may take an EAL learner 5 or more years to acquire English to the same level as their monolingual peers

• Speaking another language interferes with learning English

• EAL learners should only speak English at school and speaking English at home will really help

• EAL is a special need

• An intial period of silence when learning a language is quite normal and can be beneficial

• Code-switching (moving between one language to another) is often beneficial to children learning. It should not be discouraged

Bilingualism is an asset, and the first language has a continuing and significant role in identity, learning and the acquisition of additional languages.

Supporting Children Learning English as an Additional Language; guidance for practitioners in the Early Years

Foundation Stage (2007)

Download pdf from www.naldic.org.uk

Guiding Principles

• Children from diverse backgrounds need to

feel secure, safe and included in school

• Bilingualism is an asset, with the first

language having a continuing role to

play in identity and learning

• Intervention and support focused on

addressing achievement gaps – ‘closing the

gap’

The diversity of EAL students

• Diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds

• Different educational experiences

• Different background experiences

• Different emotional contexts

• Transferable skills in L1

• Part of a community or an

isolated learner

Communities in Brighton and Hove

What does EMAS do?

• Central Service

• Team of teachers, bilingual

assistants and home

liaison officers

• Work with families

• Promote home language

• INSET

• Multi agency work

• Monitor achievement

EAL acquisition

• ‘Silent period’ – Stephen Krashen

• Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills

(BICS) - Jim Cummins 2 years plus

• Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

(CALP) - 5-7 years

• Welcoming body language

• Good visual support

• Repetition

• Slow, clear and simple speech

• Think about when and how to give information

• Allocate a buddy or key person

• Find out as much as you can about the child and family and the language/s they speak

• Learn key words in a child’s home language

• Spend time with the child and parent together

• Give things a family can take away and look at e.g.photo

• Allow children to be observers

• Have high expectations of the children but allow time

Some strategies for a positive start

New arrivals in

primary/secondary Buddy up new

arrivals with strong

language and

behaviour models ,

or someone who

shares their

language.

Help new arrivals to

settle in and start to

socialise with

peers.

Students learn from

other students.

Use group work to help EAL

students hear positive

English language models.

Think about grouping and

setting – Vygotsky’s ZPD.

The Language Aware Teacher

Provide children

with a list of words

and phrases

appropriate for use

in a writing task.

It is important to pre-teach

vocabulary

Recasting

Children may remain in their comfort zone

when developing EAL.

A way to avoid this is recasting.

If a child gives an answer or statement

that is grammatically incorrect, praise

them for the content of their answer

and then recast it to them as the prefix

to a follow-up question.

e.g.

‘We play football yesterday’

‘You played football yesterday…..tell me

who you played with.’

Thinking Time

This allows all children to reflect on questions and content. Children learning EAL may further benefit from the extended time for processing. Give children time to rehearse their answer Build thinking time into the

lesson – “30 seconds silent

thinking from now.”

Back to start

Model Speaking and Listening

• Model speaking and

listening exchanges.

• This could be done

with another adult or

with a child.

• Teach the importance

of active listening.

Allow time to observe others and

rehearse

• Think about where you

position children at circle

time

• Children need lots of

repetition e.g. core

rhymes and stories

• Look for opportunities for

children to talk 1-1 with

adult or in role-play

• Keep cognitive challenge

high

Providing a mirror and a window

Planning and resources should reflect the cultural experiences of the children in the class and provide positive experiences of diversity and promote inclusion.

Ensure lesson starters are culturally familiar to all children. This will help engage and motivate EAL learners from the beginning.

Back to start

Pictures speak louder than

words

Use ‘Key visuals’ , i.e.

diagrams, charts, grids,

tables, flow charts,

graphs, mind maps. Use

real objects where

possible for younger

children. Makaton and a visual

timetable are very

helpful.

What support?

• It is November. It is Fatima’s first day in Y4. She has recently come from

Afghanistan with her mum and dad and three younger siblings. She is very

distressed

• Maia has just started nursery. She was born in the UK and speaks Polish at

home. Likes to play on the bikes and in the sand. Has only just settled.

Does not interact with adults or children. Speaks in single words in first

language and English

• Rabi is Bangladeshi. He is in Y2. He is good at speaking English. He is

below expected levels in reading and writing

• Ho Yi is Chinese. Her mother is at university. She is now entering Y1. She

was newly arrived in Reception. She is quite shy, but had bilingual support

in Reception and spoke very fluently in Mandarin. Her EYFSP scores were

slightly below expected levels

Top Tips

• Make your classroom a welcoming place

• Work with the family and other agencies

• Encourage first language

• Use visuals eg. visual timetable

• Plan for talk

• Model and scaffold

• Be language aware

• Provide concrete examples

Teaching Practice Task

• What is the system for supporting children with EAL in the school?

• Find out the languages spoken in your class/ the school

• Are there any children receiving EMAS support? What do they receive?

• Identify a ‘language aware’ teacher. What strategies to they use?

• Be language aware in your lesson planning and teaching

• Look at how the learning environment supports children acquiring English

• How do the school monitor achievement of children with EAL?

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