Teach Secondary - Issue 14.6

Equal opportunities How can English teachers ensure that EAL learners get to be fully involved and engaged in the subject? Iva Miteva offers her thoughts... T here can be a number of challenges that cause EAL learners to struggle at secondary school. Gaps in language proficiency; learners’ background and prior experience; the particular language journey they’ve taken; these can all present difficulties. Research has shown that it can take five to seven years to master the kind of academic language that these students will be studying in English lessons, before they can have full and effective access to the curriculum. Issues specific to English, as a subject, can encompass certain areas of grammar, specific vocabulary, complex sentence structures and use of abstract concepts, such as metaphors or symbolism. There can also be a lack of familiarity with cultural references, like those they’ll encounter in texts such as An Inspector Calls or Hamlet . ‘Pre-teaching’ sessions ahead of lessons with teaching assistants can be very helpful here. Ideally, these would first familiarise EAL learners with the concept(s) that will be covered, followed by the idea, and then the vocabulary. Once learners are able to verbally discuss the concepts in question, they’ll then be able to write about them. EALadvantages English teachers should also be aware of howEAL learners are likely to interact, communicate and take part in lessons, and that there may be some cultural differences at work. It’s common in English lessons for all-class discussion to be ABOUT THE AUTHOR Iva Miteva is an EAL specialist at Learning Village, having worked at a number of different schools for over 18 years; for more details about the support, language resources and programmes available from Learning Village, visit learningvillage.net used as a teaching tool. Chinese students, however, or students fromEastern European countries, may be unfamiliar with this approach, instead expecting teachers to address questions to individual members of the class and wait for responses from them alone. That said, there are some ways in which EAL students can actually be at an advantage in English lessons, compared to their classmates. As bilingual, or evenmultilingual speakers, EAL students will be much more sensitive to the construction of English as a language , in terms of grammar, word order, nouns, gender, use of the plural and singular, adjectives, adverbs and so forth. At the same time, English teachers – as well as teachers of other subjects – should hone their own awareness of the language they’re using in class, and consider the type of language they’re expecting to see their EAL students using. If the EAL learner’s English proficiency is sufficiently advanced, clear explanations of language concepts – such as the 12 tenses used in English, the placing of adjectives before nouns, or that the determiner ‘an’ may not have a direct equivalent in the learner’s first language – can help harness their multilingualism and improve outcomes. This can be extended into practical linguistic activities, such as tasking the learner with highlighting all the nouns, adverbs or prepositions within a paragraph, before translating the passage into their home language – if they can, of course – and spotting the similarities and differences between their translation and the original. Misplaced assumptions Teachers should avoid adopting a one-size-fits-all approach to supporting EAL learners, though that’s always going to be difficult with a class of 30 working at different levels, some of whommay have differing SEND or EAL needs. It’s important to bear inmind that just within the EAL grouping alone, you’ll have learners who can differ hugely with respect to their English proficiency, point of arrival and overall educational journey up to that point. There can also be a misplaced assumption that EAL learners will be able to write long pieces of writing immediately, when they may actually need to engage in extensive verbal practice first – because if they can’t talk about something, how can they be expected to write about it? One strategy that works consistently well is the use of scaffolded worksheets. Now, with the advent of new technologies like ChatGPT and other such tools, it’s become much easier for teachers to produce differentiated and scaffolded resources that specifically target learners working at certain levels of English proficiency. Other forms of effective practice can include translating key vocabulary into learners’ first languages with accompanying images, or sending pre-teaching information home, so that parents might be able to to help. As an EAL specialist, I’ve often sought out opportunities for working and collaborating as part of a teamwith a subject teacher (whether that’s in English, or any other subject).. EAL teachers can’t be expected to know everything about the subject at hand, or the topics being covered in class – but if a school’s resources and timetable allows for it, we can certainly advise subject teachers on the various language challenges their EAL students might encounter. 65 teachwire.net/secondary E N G L I S H