English as an additional language
English as an additional language (EAL) is the expression used in the UK to refer to the teaching of English to speakers of other languages. The term bilingual is also commonly used to describe EAL pupils.
A newly arrived EAL pupil is assumed to have very little or no English at all. An advanced learner is one whose social English is fluent but who still needs support to develop their cognitive and academic language proficiency.
A number of key documents have been published about teaching EAL learners, and they can be viewed and downloaded to print here.
EAL learners in Northumberland
Many of the EAL pupils in Northumberland are isolated bilingual learners. That means that they are learners whose first language is not English and who are learning in schools and settings where few (if any) of the other pupils share their first language. These learners are not a homogenous group but have different linguistic, educational, ethnic, religious, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.
EAL pupils require specific support and have the same entitlement to an inclusive education as any other child learning in a school setting.
Support to schools with EAL pupils
There are two types of support available to Northumberland schools with EAL pupils;
One to one tuition or classroom support is available from the Progress Coach, following an initial assessment of need.
The EAL Consultant can support classroom teachers and teaching assistants to build their capacity to work with EAL pupils through training, guidance and web-based resources.
Our approach supports the pedagogy of language acquisition promoted by the DCSF and National Strategies.
Language services
Information about interpreting and translating services and the use of bilingual resources is available here.
School self-evaluation and EAL
The National Strategies have developed a tool to support schools in their self-evaluation of provision for EAL pupils.
The Ofsted document Inspecting English as an additional language, guidance for section 5 inspectors, can be downloaded to print here.
