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The Great Ideas pages are a collection of different strategies that any teacher could use in their classrooms to support learners who use EAL.

Many of the teaching resources on this website refer to various tried and tested approaches and strategies which are recommended for EAL learners.

In this section of the website the rationale behind these methodologies and why they are called 'Great Ideas' are explained.

The majority of these approaches can be used with everyone in the class, but they are particularly important for EAL learners because they provide a rich context, additional support, opportunities for collaborative learning and exploratory talk, and all the important features of good practice in meeting the educational needs of EAL learners.

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EAL Strategies and Great Ideas - The Bell Foundation

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EAL Strategies and Great Ideas The Great Ideas pages are a collection of different strategies that any teacher could use in their classrooms to support learners who use EAL. Many of the teaching resources on this website refer to various tried and tested approaches and strategies which are recommended for EAL learners.

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Learn English Online | British Council

English for the workplace | British Council

English for adults | British Council

Mobile apps | British Council

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Bell Foundation - Five Principles to guide EAL Pedagogy

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Bell Foundation - Five Principles to guide EAL Pedagogy

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Principle 1

Multilingualism as an asset
Encouraging learners to use and develop their full linguistic repertoire is highly beneficial.
Learners' multilingualism - their ability to listen, speak, read and view, and/or write in one or more languages and/or scripts beyond English - is a valuable resource. Maintaining and further developing learners' home languages and other languages they know results in greater cognitive flexibility and stronger academic performance. Teachers and support staff should, where possible, deploy pedagogies which include the use of different languages. Learners using EAL should be encouraged to codeswitch and translate between any languages they know to support their subject content learning and the acquisition of academic English.

Principle 2
Having high expectations of learners using EAL while offering them the language support that they need is beneficial to their learning.
Principle 3

Integrated focus on content and language
Focusing on language while teaching subject content is crucial to the progress and attainment of learners using EAL .
Principle 4

Effective and holistic pupil assessment
EAL assessment builds a broad picture of the learner , which enables teachers to plan appropriate and targeted support.
Effective assessment provides teachers with the information needed to adapt teaching for EAL learners. Initial diagnostic assessment should gather linguistic and educational information, such as information about learners' language and literacy practices, prior education, and current cognitive skills. Initial assessment of learners' proficiency in English should include assessment of listening, speaking, reading and viewing, and writing.

Conducting a first language assessment provides useful information. Formal standardised tests designed to assess the reading age, verbal reasoning, spelling, and reading comprehension of first-language English learners are not always suitable for assessing learners using EAL.

When assessment is used to evaluate conceptual understanding, it helps to reduce the linguistic demands of the instructions. Continuous formative assessment should include both assessment of English language development using an EAL-relevant assessment framework, and teacher assessment of learning in different subjects.

Principle 5
Including learners using EAL and their family in all aspects of school life improves their wellbeing and motivation for learning and is beneficial for the school.
In order to have opportunities for success in school, learners using EAL need to feel safe and secure from day one and need not be excluded from any aspect of school life. Schools should foster an inclusive culture in which learners using EAL are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities and to join mixed-language friendship groups.

Social inclusion is successful where schools create respectful relationships with learners' families and the wider communities, striving to understand families' backgrounds, cultures, and prior experiences. S ome parents of children who use EAL , especially those who are new to English and to the English school system themselves , face additional challenges to parental participation. Therefore, schools should have accessible communications and expectations for all staff, schoolwide, to build reciprocal relationships which actively promote family involvement and mutual understanding.

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Five Principles for Effective Teaching of EAL Learners

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The five EAL Principles are intended to guide schools as they develop and embed effective provision for EAL learners.

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What is EAL in Education? - The Bell Foundation

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What is EAL in Education? The term “EAL” is used to describe a diverse and heterogeneous group of learners who speak English as an Additional Language. In England, such learners are defined as those who have been ‘exposed to a language at home that is known or believed to be other than English’ (Department for … Continued

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Why provide multilingual support in school?

Research shows that it is beneficial to provide opportunities for learners to use all their languages to both access the curriculum and to develop their proficiency in English as an Additional Language (EAL). This is because learners' expertise in their first language/s, for instance, grammatical knowledge, can be used to develop expertise in English also.

In contrast to more traditional approaches that look at one language at a time, Cenoz & Gorter (2011) 'propose a holistic approach that takes into account all of the languages in the learner's repertoire'. They warn against 'the monolingual bias' and explore helpful multilingual practices such as codeswitching and translanguaging, which can be extremely useful in the classroom.

Whilst the benefits of using the first language/s may seem more obvious for learners who are New to English, they also apply to more advanced EAL learners, who may be able to use their first or other languages they know to discuss new concepts and hypotheses in subjects such as science and history; this will enable learners to articulate their thinking at a higher level.

What are the advantages of being multilingual?

There are many advantages of being bilingual or multilingual - and therefore many reasons why schools should attempt to support and develop the full linguistic repertoire of their learners:

Knowing more than one language is a great skill and asset, to be valued and viewed positively; there are many research findings about the benefits of being bilingual linked to creativity (Marian & Shook, 2012), the delay of brain ageing (Bialystok et al, 2004) amongst others

Maintaining and developing skills in the learner's first language will aid the acquisition of English

The first language and other languages that they know provides a means for learners New to English to develop new concepts

Bilingualism has a positive effect on educational attainment when both languages are developed to an academic level

If learners arrive with a solid foundation in their first language and/or other languages, they can transfer the skills learned in one language to help them develop stronger language and literacy abilities in English. Research shows that there is a variation in the attainment of children from particular language groups, with three groups (i.e. Tamil, Chinese and Hindi) having Key Stage 2 attainment above the national expected standard. However, six language groups (i.e. Pashto, Panjabi, Turkish, Portuguese, Czech and Slovak) have attainment below the national expected standard; this suggests that schools need to have full information about learners' language profiles in order to target EAL support most effectively. Further information can be found in the report ' Educational Outcomes of Children with English as an Additional Language' Jo Hutchinson, Education Policy Institute and the Learners with Limited First Language Literacy page.

In his analysis of the National Pupil Database, Strand (2015) found that within the White Other ethnic group, English, Russian, Spanish, French and Italian speakers attained equally well at school overall, with Spanish, Russian and Italian speakers doing better than monolingual English speakers. However, a number of other language groups (e.g. Lithuanian, Polish, Albanian and Romanian) did less well or significantly less well.

In addition, Strand (2015) found that within the Black African ethnic group, there were noticeable differences in attainment depending on language groups, e.g. Igbo and Yoruba speakers achieve as well as English speakers at Key Stage 2 whilst Somali, Lingala and Portuguese speakers achieve less well than Black African English speakers at Key Stage 4.

The first language plays a central role in the learner's sense of identity

Bilingual learners may be able to learn a third language more easily. Research from Abu-Rabia & Sanitsky (2011) found that 'fluency and skills in one language assist in the language acquisition of a second language, and possessing skills in two languages can boost the learning process of a third language' because languages reinforce and strengthen one another in terms of phonology, morphology and syntax.

Which pupils will benefit from multilingual support?

Pupils using EAL form a diverse group; more information please visit the Diversity of EAL Learners page. Exploring learners' language backgrounds is essential and ideas to help with this can be found in the New Arrivals and EAL Assessment pages. In order to value linguistic diversity and build on the learners' prior language skills, teachers should find out as much as they can about learners' other languages. The more the school engages with parents and learners in a dialogue about home languages, the more accurate their picture of the learner will be and therefore the better the bilingual support which can be provided for the pupil. The use of interpreters is recommended to ensure that the quality of discussions with parents and pupils is optimal.

What opportunities are there for using the first language for learning?

Discussion in the first language or another language the learner knows with a peer who shares that language (e.g. during a science investigation)

Researching a topic in first language

Using a bilingual dictionary (e.g. to translate a list of key topic words or for the pupil to use independently)

Making their own bilingual glossary

Sharing dual-language books with peers and parents

Writing in their first language (e.g. with L1 peers or independently so the content/concepts can be explored without addressing the English language demands until later)

Listening to stories in the first language (e.g. using the World Stories website or asking multilingual parents to do so)

Why use Bilingual Teaching Assistants?

Bilingual teaching assistants can support learners using their first language or other languages they know. This helps develop a school learning culture which values multilingualism; if teachers and other staff members are also multilingual, these skills can be drawn upon too. Bilingual Teaching Assistants and other multilingual staff have an important role in modelling multilingualism which can encourage learners to draw on their cultural, religious and linguistic knowledge. This helps learners using EAL to access the curriculum and feel more included, leading to higher self-esteem and better academic outcomes.

How can Bilingual Teaching Assistants support pupils' learning?

Bilingual assistants working under the supervision of the class or subject teacher may be able to use the learner's first language to:

Assess prior knowledge from previous education

Assess first language proficiency

Pre-teach concepts in the first language

Translate key words and discuss the meanings with learners

Interpret and explain instructions

Use the first language to explore concepts and develop higher order skills

Support learners in making connections between the first language and English

Translate or interpret examination papers (for example maths SATs)

Assist with teaching home language GCSEs

Raise teachers' expectations about EAL learners' performance by championing the learner's multilingual skills and cognitive ability in the first/second languages

Develop positive home-school communications about learning.

How can Bilingual Teaching Assistants support pupils pastorally?

Bilingual teaching assistants can also assist in pastoral support. They may:

Support the induction of newly arrived EAL learners

Facilitate contact with parents (for example at parents' meetings)

Support schools in developing and extending links with local communities

Liaise with other outside agencies

What are the benefits of bilingual support?

For bilingual teaching assistants to be most effective, planning time with the class/subject teacher is crucial. This enables them to:

Establish and agree the pupil's language and learning needs

Provide information to ensure that the learner's well-being needs can be met

Receive information about the learning objectives in advance of the lessons

Support the teacher in finding learning activities that will develop learners' first language skills

Contribute ideas for assessment for learning

Prepare strategies and resources for targeted learners

Accommodate different learning preferences

Identify, adapt and develop a range of culturally appropriate resources

Provide feedback to teachers on learner progress

Facilitate a positive home-school relationship

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How to Provide Multilingual Support in the Classroom - The Bell Foundation

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How to Provide Multilingual Support in the Classroom Why provide multilingual support in school? Research shows that it is beneficial to provide opportunities for learners to use all their languages to both access the curriculum and to develop their proficiency in English as an Additional Language (EAL).

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The use of visual skill cards

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Classroom Support Strategies: Primary Settings

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Classroom Support Strategies: Primary Settings

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How confident are you in supporting learners with EAL in your Subject/Phase

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Benefits of integrating students who use EAL into mainstream lessons

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Benefits of integrating students who use EAL into mainstream lessons

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The Bell Foundation - Changing lives and overcoming exclusion through language education

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The Bell Foundation is a charity which aims to overcome exclusion through language education by working with partners on innovation, research, training and practical interventions.

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Sec-Ed: Six ways teachers can support studends

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Sec-Ed: Six ways teachers can support studends

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EAL and SEND: Six ways teachers can support students - SecEd

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A number of EAL students will also have SEND. How can teachers best support these learners and address both their linguistic and special needs? Glynis Lloyd offers guidance, some practical ideas, and six key messages

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The SecEd Podcast: Teaching students who use English as an additional language (EAL)

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The SecEd Podcast: Teaching students who use English as an additional language (EAL)

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Pete Henshaw,The Bell Foundation,Kamil Trzebiatowski,Georgina Vince,Pedro De Almeida Jarnalo

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The SecEd Podcast: Teaching students who use English as an additional language (EAL) - SecEd

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This episode looks at how we can effectively teach and support students who use English as an additional language in the classroom.