The Distinctiveness of EAL Pedagogy
[online] Available at: https://www.naldic.org.uk/eal-teaching-and-learning/outline-guidance/pedagogy/ Accessed on: 19.01.2020
EAL is not a subject specialism
EAL in England is as an 'aspect' of compulsory education
Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils' . (DfE, 2011)
Standard 5
'including those with special educational needs; those of high ability; those with English as an additional language; those with disabilities; and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them'.
EAL pedagogy
set of systematic teaching approaches
evolved from classroom based practices
theoretical and research perspectives
specialists or class or subject teachers, will:
be able to assess pupils' understanding of curriculum content and use this information in their planning;
take account of the variables that apply in different contexts, and capitalise on the potential for working in partnership with their mainstream or specialist colleagues.
incorporate first language knowledge and use appropriate staff resources where available;
draw on pupils' bicultural and bilingual knowledge and experience
understand progression in additional language learning;
Activating prior knowledge in the pupil
Rationale
Bilingual pupils' experiences will vary
ulturally specific frameworks for learning
In second or additional language learning, prior knowledge of content and language plays a major role in helping to make second language input comprehensible.
Finding out what pupils
know about a topic through questioning
supporting self-monitoring
using KWL (Know, Want to find out, Learned) charts
brainstorming in small groups
discovery tasks
enabling use of first language
The provision of a rich contextual background
make the input comprehensible
Pupils learning EAL require opportunities to draw on additional contextual support to make sense of new information and language.
Content learning for pupils learning EAL can be greatly improved through the use of visual support.
help learners to conceptualise learning tasks
diagrams
maps
charts
tables
time-lines
Videos
Actively encouraging comprehensible output
produce spoken and written language from an early stage of the lesson(s) onwards.
important for both cognitive and linguistic development.
provides opportunities for learners to be more conscious of their language use
process language at a deeper level.
collaborative learning
drama and role play
opportunities for scaffolded teacher-pupil and pupil-pupil interaction
oral feedback
questioning strategies
Drawing the learner's attention to the relationship between form and function
key grammatical elements are pointed out and made explicit
Attention should be drawn to language and how it is used to express the content knowledge.
explicit comment on forms, structures and functions of the language
more indirect ways of calling attention to language.
recall past events or to express doubt (e.g. 'may' and 'might') in texts
modelling
providing opportunities for practice
ways of expressing politeness when asking for something
noting how paragraphs present information
in different subjects
how subtitles are used.
Developing learner independence
drawing on metacognitive (e.g. organisational planning)
cognitive (e.g. grouping/classifying)
social-affective (e.g. co-operation) awareness
assisting learners
apply strategies which develop self-reliance
scanning texts to look at sub-headings and diagrams prior to reading
dictagloss
note-taking
teaching study skills
Adapted from Working Paper 5: The Distinctiveness of EAL: A Cross-Curriculum Discipline. (1999) Watford : NALDIC