What is EAL?

Increasingly, students attending English-medium international schools speak a language other than English at home. These students are said to have English as an additional language (EAL). Depending on the amount of time these students have spent in English-medium schools, pupils with EAL may have a range of proficiencies in the language, from complete beginners to highly proficient users of the language. Nevertheless, they are all still regarded as having EAL and, to a varying degree, somewhat different needs to native-speaking children.

At Saint John’s, we pride ourselves on the fact that we understand this point and cater to the wide-ranging needs of our EAL students effectively so that all students can achieve their full academic potential.

EAL support at Saint John’s – Our Philosophy

Our approach to meeting the needs of our EAL students is informed by key insights from research into bilingualism and bilingual education. It has been shown that, though students may achieve a level of basic fluency with English for social use in one or two years, they may take five or more years to develop the academic language skills of a native speaker of similar ability.

This means that many EAL pupils will continue to benefit from a language-sensitive approach to teaching throughout their school lives, and it is not appropriate to provide them with support only for the initial one or two year period when they first enter an English-medium school. Similarly, it is widely recognized that language learning must be tailored to the needs of curriculum subjects such as science, geography and history, since students need to develop the academic language skills that will eventually be required for exam success.  Based on these facts, we plan to support all pupils with EAL in some way, even those with advanced language skills. 

We also focus our support on the requirements of the broader curriculum so that students develop the language skills they need to learn effectively and express what they have learnt appropriately.

All pupils wishing to enroll at Saint John’s are tested by an EAL teacher. Depending on their level of language proficiency they may be identified as needing intensive support from the EAL department. If they require intensive support and are placed in year 7 or 8, they are supported through the Parallel Programme. In year 9 or above, they are supported through partnership teaching.

The Parallel Programme

In years 7 and 8, those students who are identified as requiring intensive EAL support are placed on the EAL Parallel Programme. These students study geography, history, English and science with teachers in the EAL department. The programme of study in each subject is planned around subject content and topics from the mainstream curriculum. However, the subject content is presented in a way that helps students with low English proficiency to understand what is being taught. There is also an emphasis on developing the language of the particular subject. This programme provides students with an important foundation in academic language, and experience has shown that students arriving as beginners in year 7 can go on to succeed in examination courses in years 10 and 11 with this support.

Partnership Teaching

Collaboration between mainstream classroom and subject teachers and EAL teachers is seen as crucial at Saint John’s. This kind of teaching, where EAL teachers and mainstream classroom or subject teachers work closely together to plan and teach lessons is called partnership teaching. In the secondary school, students in year 9 and above are also supported through partnership teaching. Teachers work closely together to plan lessons that help ALL pupils with EAL in the class, not only those with low English proficiency.

In effect, this involves considering the language challenges and opportunities for language learning that units of work in different subject areas present, and developing activities that both help students understand and learn subject content, and also develop academic language. For example, in geography, students may be taught how to argue a point persuasively whilst preparing for a role play or discussion activity.

Similarly, in history, students might be shown how to link ideas together effectively when they are explaining the causes of an historical event. Developing these academic skills is crucial if students are to become truly effective communicators, and is therefore seen as a priority. 

English as a Second Language Lessons (ESL)

To support the language learning of all pupils with EAL, including those with advanced language skills, all pupils in year 7, 8 and 9 with English as an additional language study 2 hours of ESL each week. These lessons focus on learning academic English, particularly writing skills. This work is planned to support the learning of language students will need in different subject areas.

The Sheltered Immersion Project

It is widely recognized that planning for language within subject areas such as geography, history and science can significantly enhance learning and achievement within these subjects. In order to further develop this aspect of teaching and learning, the school has initiated the Sheltered Immersion Project in secondary. The objectives of this project are to improve teaching and learning by further developing the consistency and quality of collaborative work between EAL teachers and mainstream subject teachers. The project this year involves EAL teachers in secondary, and subject specialists teaching geography, history, English (first language) and science in key stage 3 (years 7, 8 and 9). The project involves regularly scheduled planning meetings, where teaching and learning in these year groups is discussed, and strategies for developing academic language within these subjects are identified. It is intended that the procedures for collaboration and language planning within different subject areas that we identify through this project will eventually be implemented throughout the school.

Why is EAL important when choosing an international school?

If you are a parent of a child who has English as an additional language, you should consider the quality of EAL work within a school carefully. This is true whether your child has advanced language skills or is still a beginner.

It is important, for example, that schools understand the need for planned support based on the requirements of the curriculum; the kind of support we at Saint John’s offer through Partnership Teaching and the Parallel Programme. Schools may claim to employ an immersion approach to language support, but it is important that this involves collaboration between EAL specialists and mainstream colleagues, and is not simply “submerging” pupils in mainstream classrooms without appropriate support. At Saint John’s, we have developed our approach over a number of years and continue to strive for excellence in this area.