Teacher guidance

13th May 2019

Is Maths really a universal language for EAL learners?

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

Try your own ‘Introduce Me’ activity

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

A pathway for induction-to-English

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

How do I pilot an edtech learning tool? A tool for linking to whole-class teaching

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

EAL Development at Tudor Primary – A school using the Learning Village

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

Friendship building for new arrivals

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

Piloting the ‘Sentence Analyser’

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

Working with an EAL Development Plan: Steps to Create Whole-School Change

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

Teaching note-taking skills

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

Marking and Feedback

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

Giving learners ownership over their learning

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

My experience of bilingual schools

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

21st Century skills for EAL learners

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

What does a picture tell you?

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

Raising (self) awareness of neurodiversity: learning about ourselves in comic form

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

The importance of the mother tongue in the classroom

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

Should EAL learners be withdrawn from the mainstream classroom?

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

How can you possibly feel included if you don’t understand the language at all?

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

Collaborative learning – how do I group learners for the most effective learning experiences?

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

Collaborative Learning

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

The importance of collaborative planning

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

How do I use non-fiction texts to inspire and engage my EAL learners?

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

What games work well in the language learning class?

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

How do I structure play to support language learning?

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

How do I support EAL learners with scientific language?

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

Why not try some new ideas to inspire storytelling with your EAL learners?

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

How do I support EAL learners with mathematical language?

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

What useful holiday homework can I set my intermediate EAL Learners?

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

How do I effectively use additional adults to support EAL students?

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

How do I support EAL parents during Parents’ Evening?

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

EAL Learners: First steps in identifying dyslexia (and other specific learning differences)

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

Why should we use an EAL learning record?

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

Scaffolding writing for teens

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

Synthetic versus Analytical Phonics: Which is best for my EAL students?

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

Should I teach my EAL learners phonics? If so, how?

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

Are your young learners interpreting for adults?

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

We are one world and one team…

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

Are you teaching your learners language-learning strategies?

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

How do I support parents in maintaining their child’s mother tongue?

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

Fantastic progress seen by learners using online EAL/ESL language learning portal for new-to-English learners in the mainstream

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

Have you seen the new NASSEA assessment framework?

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

Looking to teach Christmas vocabulary to your new arrivals?

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

Do learners in your school often translate for others?

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

New arrivals… a few tips:

Check out Caroline Scott’s recent article on EAL new arrivals: //www.bismagazine.co.uk/strategic/curriculum_articles/non-native.html
6th August 2015

Teaching students to be good buddies

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

Do your EAL learners need some help with their spellings?

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

The Role of an EAL Teacher

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

The importance of literature

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

What more can you do to help your intermediate EAL Learners?

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

The Power of Online Learning

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

A Recipe for a Successful Start for New Arrivals in School (Part 1) – Free Empathy Cards Attached!

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

One Secondary School’s Approach to New Arrivals

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

Ever wished you could translate print to the language of your choice instantly?

Instantly translate printed words using an app! Check this: Word Lens
7th February 2014

Welcoming New EAL Arrivals

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

Teachers TV: Engaging Pupils Learning EAL

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

I am going to work in a school with a high number of EAL learners. What are some key elements I need to consider?

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

New to English Arrivals Procedure

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

Uk Info: Can new EAL arrivals be exempt from SATS?

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

Can we help students to be better language learners?

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 McNally, a Year 3 teacher from Tower Hamlets, London, tells us about her experience with a new EAL arrival

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

Ten things that you can discuss in class about another country if a child in your care is about to travel

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

Should learners use their mother tongue in the classroom?

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 […]
Across Cultures

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