How to Help EAL Learners to Learn
The acronym EAL stands for English as an Additional Language and describes the teaching and learning of English to those who are native speakers of another language. The amount of English knowledge EAL learners have varies from none at all to those speaking English as well as another language at home. There are currently 1.56 million EAL learners in English schools, just under one-in-five (19.6%) of all children aged 5-16. This number has more than trebled since 1997 (Demie, 2018.) While a quarter of schools have fewer than 1% of pupils recorded as EAL, in around 1 in 11 schools EAL children constitute more than 50% of the school population. Many teachers work in a multilingual classroom.
Research published in February 2022 by the Education Policy Institute found that “at the end of primary school, late arriving EAL pupils are 15.5 months behind native English speakers; at secondary, they are 20.7 months behind.” Why is this? One reason might be that as a group EAL learners face triple challenges in their learning in comparison to their native English speaking peers:
They have to learn both colloquial and academic English.
They have to learn through both colloquial and academic English.
They have to learn about the cultural aspects of learning and education.
It is not surprising that “EAL learners, particularly new arrivals, may struggle in these three areas for a while as they learn to catch up with their peers” (NALDIC, 2009.)
Helping EAL Learners in the Classroom
So that they can help the EAL learners in their lessons, it's vital that teachers understand the difference between categories of English language learning. Many teachers assume, with very good reason, that a child who is able to converse fluently in English does not need EAL support. This if often not the case, and an understanding of different categories of English learning can help teachers understand what type pf support an EAL learner might need.
BICS and CALP (Cummings, 1984)
James Cummins is a professor at University of Toronto where he focuses on the language and literacy development of EAL learners. He coined the acronyms BICS and CALP to refer to different processes of English acquisition, as he noticed that learners with fluent conversational English would often score poorly in English assessments. In order to explain this discrepancy he developed a model to distinguish between ‘everyday English’ and English for academic purposes.
According to Cummings’ model, Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) are the conversational skills picked up when learners first start to speak English. BICS is the language you would use at the dinner table to describe your day or have conversations with friends.
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) describes the specific type of language acquisition needed for reading and writing for academic purposes, focusing on technical language and ‘low frequency’ words. CALP is more abstract and subject focused than BICS, relying on the learner having a good understanding of the 'passive voice' in which many text books, articles and exams are written.
To explain the difference between BICS and CALP, the word rain is BICS, while precipitation is CALP. Both words mean the same thing but whereas BICS is everyday language, CALP is a technical word.
One key issue in moving from BICS to CALP for children whose parents speak English as an Additional Language is that they are not always exposed to the 'passive voice' nor to subject specific language at home. This is one reason that those who might be able to converse with others at the level of a native English speaker might still struggle during comprehension and writing activities.
In order to support teachers to plan for progression from BICS to CALP, Cummings proposed a quadrant model in which learners should begin in Quadrant A, moving through Quadrant B to Quadrant C, the aim being to increase the cognitive demand while reducing the contextual support. He made clear that Quadrant D should be avoided as it provides little if any opportunity for learning.
Quadrant A: Activities are cognitively undemanding but are embedded in a supportive context, such as those involving naming, matching, retelling and sequencing.
Quadrant B: Activities are cognitively demanding and are embedded in a supportive context, such as those involving comparing, summarising, planning and seeking solutions.
Quadrant C: Activities are cognitively demanding and the contextual support is reduced. They include tasks such as evaluating critically, interpreting information, forming hypotheses and applying principles.
Quadrant D: Activities are both undemanding and abstract, such as rote learning and imitating. Cummings recommends that these tasks should be avoided as they provide little opportunity for learning.
Cummings' model has proved to be an effective way to support EAL learners to acquire English to a level in which they can make progress academically rather than remaining at a conversational level. Given time and the right kind of support to do so, many EAL learners will pick up English, begin to make progress in their learning and settle in socially and culturally to the education system.
How long does English acquisition take? When might it become clear that there is another issue?
It is estimated to take learners between 1-2 years of English language instruction to acquire BICS fluently, and between 4-7 years for a student to acquire CALP to the level of a native English speaker of the same age. If however, having had the right support in place for an appropriate amount of time an EAL learner is making slower than expected progress in English and across the wider curriculum, the question of whether they may have Special Educational Needs (SEN) in addition to being an EAL learner will need to be addressed. This is a question that needs very careful consideration.
Over-Identification and Under-Identification of SEN
Schools must be careful to ensure that SEN is neither over-identified, nor under-identified in EAL learners who are struggling to learn.
Over-identification is when it is incorrectly assumed that difficulties are due to a learner having SEN rather than EAL while under-identification is when it is incorrectly assumed that difficulties are due to a learner having EAL rather than SEN.
EAL and SEN are not the same thing and the SEND Code of Practice (DfE, 2015) makes explicit reference to this:
“Schools should look carefully at all aspects of a child or young person’s performance in different areas of learning and development or subjects to establish whether lack of progress is due to limitations in their command of English or if it arises from SEN or a disability. Difficulties related solely to limitations in English as an additional language are not SEN.”
Research shows that pupils with EAL are likely to be under-identified in terms of specific learning difficulties (such as dyslexia) and over-identified in terms of speech and language difficulties. It also highlights that certain ethnic groups are over-represented as having moderate and severe learning difficulties and social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH) in comparison to white British pupils.
To get this right, schools might want to seek help from an Educational Psychologist (EP) to clarify whether or not an EAL learner has SEN, and how to support them if they do. Schools should be aware that there is no single test that will serve to answer the question of whether or not an EAL learner has a learning difficulty. In any case, it would not be appropriate for the school or EP to conduct any tests which have not been standardised on an EAL population, as these would contain inherent cultural and linguistic bias and would therefore not produce a fair or accurate result. Any assessment would need to be conducted from an evidence-based and holistic perspective, gathering and interpreting information from a range of sources.
