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13th May 2019
Author: Yasmin Malik, Senior Education Consultant Maths is often a subject that is not given the same priority as others when it comes to the […]
21st March 2019
Author: Stuart Scott This ‘Introduce Me’ activity is a fun and rewarding way to introduce a new topic, while developing language skills. It’s ideally suited to […]
28th February 2019
Author: Caroline Scott In cases where you have an absolute beginner to English, an induction-to-English is supportive. Yes, we need to be differentiating for the curriculum content […]
22nd January 2019
Author: Sarah Jones Introduction Lea Forest, my school in Birmingham, has been using the Learning Village for over three years. It has proved a highly effective learning […]
12th December 2018
Authors: Caroline Scott, Heather Day, Ragini Patel Three years ago, Heather Day, an EAL consultant, contacted us about piloting the Learning Village in an inner London […]
27th November 2018
Author: Caroline Scott, author and director The National Learning and Work Institute (2018) completed a randomised controlled trial of a Community-Based English Language intervention aimed […]
3rd October 2018
Author: Sarah Jones, EAL Coordinator There is a plethora of things to consider when piloting a new learning resource or scheme of work, so having a […]
5th September 2018
Author: Gemma Fanning, Head of EAL How can you take your EAL department forward to play a part in a whole school development strategy? Over the […]
13th July 2018
Author: Emma Mijailovic, EAL Teacher Many researchers agree that note-taking is an important skill, as it facilitates learning from text (Kobayashi 2006, Rahmani and Sadeghi […]
19th June 2018
Author: Gemma Fanning, EAL Specialist Marking and feedback is a crucial part of any teacher’s workload, and is essential for EAL learners. The importance of […]
19th May 2018
Author: Sarah Jones, EAL Coordinator Studies have found that learning a skill yourself, and then applying it, not only brings immense personal satisfaction (among other valuable […]
15th April 2018
Author: Anita Bamberger The popularity of bilingual schools is increasing. This can be seen, for example, in the growing number of French schools in London, […]
6th March 2018
Author: Gemma Fanning, EAL Specialist The term 21st Century skills is becoming significantly part of the classroom learning environment, but what exactly does that mean? […]
3rd January 2018
Author: Sarah Jones, EAL Coordinator, Lea Forest Academy “One look is worth a thousand words.” Barnard (1921), Chinese proverb. Images are powerful as they can usually […]
7th December 2017
Dr Anne Margaret Smith Truly inclusive practice extends beyond adapting materials or managing the classroom so that everybody can access the course content. It is about […]
2nd November 2017
In my experience, teachers often have quite strong feelings about the use of a pupil’s L1 (first language) in the classroom – it is either encouraged […]
9th October 2017
Author: Gemma Fanning, EAL Specialist While it can be argued that EAL learners have an entitlement to experience a full and varied curriculum through complete class […]
7th September 2017
EAL: Excluded by inclusion By Kamil Trzebiatowski Here’s an extract: “Have you ever seen a child cry because they couldn’t understand a language? Crying their eyes out […]
6th September 2017
When we attempt to facilitate effective communication or collaborative learning between pairs or groups, we must acknowledge that our pupils are not only exchanging information; they […]
28th July 2017
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Collaborative Learning site, it’s full of excellent resources that are completely free. Last month, Gemma Fanning talked […]
7th July 2017
Author: Emma Mijailovic, EAL Teacher ‘Mainstreaming’ (teaching second language learners in the mainstream class, as opposed to withdrawing pupils for EAL lessons) has been a favoured approach […]
21st June 2017
Author: Gemma Fanning, EAL Specialist Learners in classrooms are often faced with the challenge of carrying out research for class project work. Often, schools invest heavily in […]
23rd May 2017
Author: Gemma Fanning, EAL Specialist Brewster, Ellis and Girard (2012) discuss the idea of playing Bingo or Dominoes as games for connecting various curriculum areas. Brewster explains that playing […]
25th April 2017
Author: Gemma Fanning, EAL Specialist Play is a crucial part of language development and ideas for play and games are an essential part of any teacher’s toolkit. […]
14th March 2017
Gemma Fanning, EAL Specialist In Science, EAL learners need to understand scientific language, both written and oral, as well as being able to work with command […]
9th February 2017
Author: Gemma Fanning, EAL Specialist “Stories and storytelling are fundamental to the human experience.” Nunan (2012) Stories help our learners understand their world and share it […]
5th January 2017
Author: Gemma Fanning, EAL Specialist The language of Maths is often considered a language of its own – and this can sometimes present a difficulty for EAL […]
11th December 2016
Author: Anita Bamberger, EAL Specialist Holidays and homework can seem an incongruous mix – and this is especially true for EAL students, who need both time off, […]
2nd November 2016
Author: Gemma Fanning, EAL Co-ordinator An additional adult can be very effective in supporting teachers with EAL learners in the classroom. Such an adult may be a […]
27th October 2016
Parents are integral to schooling for any learner, and one of the key opportunities to discuss how a learner is developing is during Parents’ Evening (Macbeth, […]
29th August 2016
Author: Anne Margaret, ELT well Sometimes our students who have English as an Additional Language (EAL) seem to be having more difficulty than expected in […]
4th July 2016
Author: Caroline Scott Most schools with early-stage learners of English will have some form of guided reading record. This record supports the learner, parents and teacher […]
16th June 2016
Writing essays and short stories at Secondary level can be a daunting experience – and even more so when you are asked to write in a […]
11th May 2016
In previous articles, we considered the importance of avoiding the use of a ‘Whole Language’ approach, in isolation, as a primary method of literacy instruction. We […]
7th April 2016
As educational pedagogies continue to move cyclically, with new strategies coming in and out of favour, the battle of reading approaches rages on. There are three […]
5th April 2016
As well as interpreting for peers, young learners often find themselves interpreting for adults. This does give rise to a myriad of potential issues. There are […]
3rd April 2016
11 fantastic resources to promote elements of international mindedness… Culture shock for new EAL students is more or less extreme depending on the extent of the […]
3rd April 2016
Language-learning strategies are tools to facilitate language learning that should be adapted to suit the needs of each individual. There isn’t one single set of language-learning […]
3rd March 2016
Often, for busy EAL teachers, the focus is on the child; however, it is important to remember that the transition period can be just as difficult […]
3rd February 2016
Across Cultures début the Learning Village at GESS 2016 EAL/ESL specialist, Across Cultures, will be showing the Learning Village – an online English language-learning portal for […]
6th December 2015
NASSEA (Northern Association of Support Service for Equality and Achievement) have recently revised their EAL assessment framework with a few interesting differences. Designed to provide a, […]
6th December 2015
As the season ends and holidays are almost upon us (or in full swing in some cases!) we have provided you with some new Learning Village […]
25th September 2015
The lack of a common language between children can be frustrating so we often assign buddies who have a common language to help our learners. Someone […]
14th August 2015
Check out Caroline Scott’s recent article on EAL new arrivals: //www.bismagazine.co.uk/strategic/curriculum_articles/non-native.html
6th August 2015
On the last day of term I asked a student who was leaving her school in London to return to Italy about the best and worst […]
29th June 2015
Authors: Anita Bamberger and Caroline Scott Many of us learned to spell as children without being specifically taught sounds. In the past, the teaching of […]
30th May 2015
In previous articles we discussed the need for learners to obtain Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS). These skills need to be the initial focus of learning […]
6th May 2015
This morning, my 4-year-old woke up and said, “Mummy, there are two languages – child’s language and adult language”. I asked her what she meant and […]
13th April 2015
The transition from EAL beginner to intermediate learner can take from one term to a year depending on the learner. A beginner EAL learner is learning […]
2nd March 2015
Recently we have been looking closely at the power of using online learning through the Learning Village by studying the assessment results of learners who were […]
13th January 2014
It is Friday morning; the Head teacher comes to tell you that on Monday morning you will have a new student arriving who does not speak […]
21st January 2014
I watched this clip recently and certain elements stood out: Collaborative planning which supported pre teaching EAL learners The use of mentors and a special room […]
2nd February 2014
Instantly translate printed words using an app! Check this: Word Lens
7th February 2014
EAL students are often placed in a situation in which the tools they need for building conceptual understanding of the world (their home language and home […]
12th February 2014
A few useful tips on supporting new arrivals, note the induction and the need for both withdrawal and in class learning. Video:
16th February 2014
It’s hard to even start to highlight the challenges of teaching EAL students in such a short article but there are a few key areas to […]
16th February 2014
Here’s a summary (the bare bones) of a procedure that gives you first steps to accomodating for new EAL arrivals. This is for those of you […]
23rd February 2014
Key Stage 2 Assessment and Reporting Arrangements 2014 states: “4.9.4 How children’s test and teacher assessment results are used in the performance tables All children who have […]
24th February 2014
Helping our students to be better language learners How can the new to English language learners and their teachers work together to provide a successful language […]
3rd March 2014
Teresa has worked at St John’s C of E for over 2 years. She differentiates for all ability levels but, up to now, she has never […]
30th March 2014
Have a look at these tips on culture change: //www.globalkidsoz.com.au/_things_to_discuss_about_another_country.php Also see an array of multicultural resources on this site as well as a few other […]
21st April 2014
The use of children’s home language is another extremely important element of learning a language. Cummins highlighted that: “bilingualism has positive effects on children’s linguistic and […]