# data[].attributes.headline
I thought that the dimension of 'Languages pupils speak in addition to English' struck me the most as I failed to remember that this could be the case with some EAL. They may know so much more than their language.  I also thought 'The educational backgrounds of their families' was another aspect I had not thought about being an advantage to them in fact, parents may be professionally successful.

# data[].attributes.subject
I thought that the dimension of 'Languages pupils speak in addition to English' struck me the most as I failed to remember that this could be the case with some EAL. They may know so much more than their language.  I also thought 'The educational backgrounds of their families' was another aspect I had not thought about being an advantage to them in fact, parents may be professionally successful.

# data[].attributes.headline
I think it could be a benefit to them, they will have confidence in other languages.  They may be more open to learning in general. The disadvantage is not having the language of the English language so barrier may arise, they may struggle with reading, listening and talking.  Communication of their overall emotions might be difficult to assess.

# data[].attributes.subject
I think it could be a benefit to them, they will have confidence in other languages.  They may be more open to learning in general. The disadvantage is not having the language of the English language so barrier may arise, they may struggle with reading, listening and talking.  Communication of their overall emotions might be difficult to assess.

# data[].attributes.headline
This could affect the learning of the pupil and set them back.  With the correct adaptive teaching methods this will hopefully be overcome.

# data[].attributes.subject
This could affect the learning of the pupil and set them back.  With the correct adaptive teaching methods this will hopefully be overcome.

# data[].attributes.body
Age of arrival - this could determine the speed or ability of the child to learn English in a positive/ negative way.

Pupils migration experience - some could experience trauma along the way, further challenging their ability to settle and learn English, or some might have family they are joining who can welcome them and help them learn etc.

# data[].attributes.body
This could either really help them, or set them back - the earlier you learn a language, the easier it is to learn it, therefore benefitting your ability to succeed in your learning.

Having wider family/ friends to help learn/ settle in at school could improve the chances of some students

# data[].attributes.body
Pupils contact with family and friends in their country of origin. This is something I never really think about but migrating to another country without knowing when or if you will see family & friends again would make the transition a lot more difficult.
- James, Business Studies

# data[].attributes.body
It could make it difficult for pupils to focus on their work as they might be worried about their family and friends' situations at home. They may feel guilty about having the opportunity to migrate for a better life which could impact their commitment to learning.
- James, Business Studies

# data[].attributes.body
Pupil's migration experiences - some will have experienced trauma, some will have had a much easier journey involving less emotional distress. this context outside the classroom massively impacts a child's ability to learn in a multitude of ways.

# data[].attributes.body
Possible trauma may lead to an emotional toll that reduces the child's ability to focus and therefore attain in the classroom. However, the experience of such difficulty may build greater resilience that is highly applicable in the classroom. Students will have already overcome many barriers and may be more adept than others at managing new ones.

# data[].attributes.body
One of the dimensions which had never occurred to me was that EAL pupils may potentially be trying to maintain a foothold within the education system of their country of origin. Trying to adapt to a new way of life, make friends, learn a new language, be taught in a foreign language, be assessed in a foreign language, and, on top of this, try to stay on track with the education delivered by your native country appears impossible. It would require lots of additional support (pastoral and educational) but worryingly, pupils trying to achieve this could quite easily fly under the radar if this dimension is unknown by the school.

# data[].attributes.body
Pupils' contact with friends and family in their country of origin struck me most as family/friends and culture really contribute to a person's sense of identity and belonging in a community. Pupils with less contact with people in their country of origin may feel more connected to the culture of their host country. Other students, for example, may find it difficult if the culture at home is very different from the culture at school.

# data[].attributes.body
Some of these dimensions could have a benefit to learning, for example awareness of other countries/cultures/languages etc. and alternative viewpoints. Lots of EAL students will have life experiences that other students won't have - this can be a good learning opportunity. On the other hand, EAL students can struggle with literacy, language barriers, and even struggle to adjust to a new academic system (if newly arrived). Every EAL learner will excel at different things and will struggle at different things. What can help one EAL learner may hinder another. This is why being adaptive is so important.

# data[].attributes.body
- The age of arrival: If a pupil arrives in secondary school, in particular during GCSE years, I feel their experience of trying to keep up, adapt and learn English will be a lot different will the pressure of qualifications. They would need a lot of support to be able to access the GCSE specifications. It could lead to them underperforming compared to their home country schooling system as they struggle to learn new content in a new language.
- Parents facility in English: For the pupil, if their parents speak very little English, there might be pressure on them to be a translator between home and school. They also won't be getting as much practice at home speaking English.

# data[].attributes.body
There could be a big emotional toll on the students, particularly if they are trying to be a translator between home and school. Also on the cultural differences, there is a lot of new thing to learn about living in the uk, which will be new to the students. It may all seem a bit overwhelming for the students. Not being understood can be distressing and the students will need lots of support.

# data[].attributes.body
Pupils migration experience struck me the most.

It is not only the EAL that is a consideration that needs to be taken into account, just like with PP learners if there many things going on in the childs life at home and with family members separated from them learning/school becomes secondary to all the other traumas/challenges the child and family are facing as a whole. If the migration experience has been negative regardless of the monetary factors, a learner will be dealing with too many other life altering experiences which add to school demands as well.

# data[].attributes.body
Pupil migration experience can either motivate a pupil to be in control of the only aspect of their life they do have control over or demotivate them as all the other challenges they face at home take precedence. Often parents can have very high expectations of their children and help with learning to make sure their children have a better life so there is always the chance that parents will be more supportive and motivating at home.

# data[].attributes.body
Maria - The oracy and literacy in English - I think it can be easy to forget that if a student who is EAL can hold a conversation with you, they may not be able to access the written part of the lesson with the same ability.

# data[].attributes.body
Maria - I think the impact could be that EAL students may be overlooked - there may not be the appreciation that some of these students have possibly experienced trauma in their journey to be here. I think also it's important to acknowledge the different education systems in each country, so that pupils may have either gaps or have covered in greater detail the areas that we teach.

# data[].attributes.body
I was aware that EAL was a very broad term but was still struck by the amount of different things to consider when it comes to EAL. I myself migrated FROM the UK when I was 13  so some of the things on the list I identified with. But there were still things in the list that I might not necessarily think of when thinking of EAL students.
This included whether or not there is already an established extended family network in the UK when they arrive. I know from experience that having an extended family in a country when you arrive can make a huge difference to how you adapt to a new country.
Another thing that struck me is to consider the degree to which a pupil and their family still has connections to their home country (either through relationships or the education system) as this can have an impact on how integrated in the host country they may feel.
Another thing that struck me is to do with what other languages that pupil speaks. I think this is often a misconception but even though a pupil is still learning English, they may in fact have an excellent grasp of languages if they are already bilingual when they arrive.

# data[].attributes.body
Some of these dimensions will have a direct relation to how students learn and achieve (e.g. their grasp of the language) while other things may affect them socially, emotionally etc which can have an indirect affect on their learning and achievement.

A traumatic experience can have profound effects on a pupils' emotion and mental health which can lead them to struggle to focus in lessons.

Their fluency level is important. Even if a child has a very good grasp of English, they may still struggle to understand things like idioms and sayings or local dialects. This can affect them both academically and socially.

Their age on arrival can effect how well integrated or accustomed to the country they are. If they are a new student they may still be adapting to the country and will likely experience culture shock and may struggle at times to understand and integrate with their peers. This can affect how they feel in the school environment. Furthermore this will affect how much prior knowledge they have of a subject. This can vary according to subjects - something like maths will vary less in content across countries then something like my own subject (history). If a student has no or little understanding of British history before I start teaching them it can be difficult for them to understand the context or chronology. They have no prior knowledge to stick their new knowledge to.

I think the language (and nationality) of their parents is another important thing to consider because this will determine how well they are able to adapt to living in the UK and how quickly they learn the language if it is new to them. For instance, if one of their parents are English they likely will speak in English at home, and will have familiarity with the culture and education system and so be able to help their child as they adapt. In my own experience, my mother spoke the language and so was able to help us (me and my brother) with our homework and to help explain any lessons we had struggled with.

# data[].attributes.body
The educational background of families.

I had not considered this as a dimention of diversity. The school i am currently in, has a high percentage of EAL students. We have already received some professional studies learning on EAL but this was not one of the areas covered.

# data[].attributes.body
The pupils will have no prior knowledge of how educational systems work , they would not have a reference point.

Parents could not be supportive of an educational system which could impact on their learning and achievements.

# data[].attributes.body
The age of arrival. Depending on the age of arrival, EAL can be either considered an additional/special need for the pupil, or can hardly be problematic at all.
EAL can be a barrier for students who arrive at an advanced age and without prior knowledge of English, but, on the other hand, can require little support to no support at all.

# data[].attributes.body
Some will impact academic achievement, others will impact emotional wellbeing or social interactions.
However, situations vary greatly between students, and some students achievement and/or wellbeing will not be impacted.

# data[].attributes.body
I thought I was pretty well-read on EAL students, but I did not know that students can "still study the curriculum, prepare for and take exams in their country of origin while attending school in the UK". This is not something I have come across, so it surprised me, and I am curious as to how this would work.

# data[].attributes.body
I hadn't really thought about 'pupils' legal status'. The amount of stress and uncertainty/anxiety this could cause is incredible. Even if the child themselves doesn't understand, they will still know that their parent/guardian is concerned about it, and this could cause disruption to their learning and concentration at the best of times. In worst case scenarios, if could cause severe domestic disruption.

# data[].attributes.body
A lot of anxiety and uncertainty could be caused by a lack of confidence with the language, or frustration at not being able to express themselves clearly to a teacher who doesn't understand their native/preferred langauge. There's no fault of the pupil that they can't speak a second language in the way they might need to, and it adds a lot more learning to an already overloaded curriculum.

# data[].attributes.body
The wide difference in immigration status

# data[].attributes.body
It is difficult to predict a student's aptitude for learning based solely on information recorded on EAL status

# data[].attributes.body
Pupils’ legal status - when focusing on EAL students there is a risk of only considering diversity in terms of languages spoken, whereas in fact the mention of legal status as a dimension of diversity caused me to considered the impact of personal circumstances in the lives of EAL students that are both unique to their demographic and independent of their language skills

# data[].attributes.body
Being aware of such dimensions is potentially a very beneficial thing. Being able to aid learners with an awareness not only of their language but also their cultural and familial backgrounds could make their experience more productive as opposed to ‘one size fits all’. However, it is of course important not to pigeonhole EAL learners based on their status as such, as there is of course diversity in terms of ability amongst this demographic.

# data[].attributes.body
Pupils literacy in their home language and in other languages they may know - it hadn't crossed my mind that some pupils may not even be able to successfully communicate in their home language, so trying to learn a new language would be incredibly scary. As it would feel that you have no ability to communicate with people from home or anywhere.

# data[].attributes.body
I think this could have a negative impact - as the pupil could feel very vulnerable and not know how to communicate their struggle. However, if they cannot confidently speak their home language it could allow them to learn the language quicker as they would be starting from scratch.

# data[].attributes.body
There are a huge range of possible impacts. They might struggle to adapt culturally, they might struggle with expectations. They might also be at a benefit because they already speak another language. They might not be literate in their mother tongue, which could make learning English even harder.

# data[].attributes.body
I was not aware that EAL could also simply mean that another language is spoken at home. I always associated EAL students with students who are not fluent in English.