creative approaches to raising the achievement of pupils with english as an additional language
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Presentation given by Diana Sutton, Director, The Bell Foundation, at Renaisi's 2014 London schools conferenceTRANSCRIPT
Creative Approaches to Raising the Achievement of Pupils with English as an Additional Language
Diana Sutton
About The Bell Foundation
Cambridge based charitable Foundation, started in 2012, working on two thematic areas:• Children with English as an additional language
- Research- Practical programmes with schools- Partnerships
• Offenders
The Bell Foundation’s EAL Programme
Research and Thought
leadership
Schools partnerships
Capacity Building
SHARING GOOD
PRACTICE
Some of our EAL Partnerships
• EAL awareness workshops • EAL department creation
• EAL classes• Initial placement tests
• EAL resources• Buzz in the air!
• Bell Foundation Awards winners 2012• Work with schools in South London to
link theatre productions to curriculum• Improvement in reading & writing
Thomas Clarkson Academy
Blue Elephant Theatre – Creative
Minds
Research• Research report to be
published in April 2014
Luton Teaching Schools Alliance • EAL CPD and ITE work
• CPD programme for Primary school teachers & EAL coordinators
The national context
In 2013
there were
1,069,890
school-age students
whose L1 was other
than English
13.6 % of secondary school studentsspeak a language other than English as a L1
Students with EAL in England
Numbers of secondary pupils whose L1 is other than English
Current situation in UK
Children• 1 million EAL students• 360 languages• Doubled in 10 years• Typically underachieve
Teachers • No EAL discipline in ITE• ‘patchy’ and inconsistent CPD• No official credential for EAL
teachers
Schools • Mixed practice within schools and
practice not shared• No dedicated EAL curriculum• Assessment designed for native
speakers
Policy • No EAL policy• Limited educational research on EAL
learners• Limited funding from Government
External contexts - EAL
Schools forced to splurge on teaching pupils English
Primary schools are having to spend an estimated £270million a year teaching young pupils English because their parents are failing
to speak
the language at home. (Daily Express – 6/4/13)
Ministers planning immigration crackdown on 'education touristsThe emails from civil servants advising the IMG – which includes schools Minister David Laws and immigration Minister Mark Harper – suggest that the group considered banning illegal immigrant children from schools. (Guardian 27/3/13)
School where English is foreign to all pupils A primary school with more than 440 pupils has revealed that not one of them speaks English as a first language (Sunday Times 24/2/13)
Facts & Figures from around the World
USA• Number of ESL speakers (5-17yrs)4.7m 1980 UP TO 11.2m 2011
(21% of population)• 2011 Obama administration
changed policy to allow each state DoE to customise curricula
in schools to reflect ELL provision.
AustraliaVictoria – Rigorous, coherent & systematic approach
to English Language policy development.-15% ESL students in metropolitan schools.- Access to new arrivals ESL Programme.
- - State funding to support ESL students in ELL across curriculum.
Germany Stiftung Mercator Foundation -
GSL now a mandatory part of ITE in North Germany & on course to become national
policy.
Canada - British Columbia• Primary – full immersion with
6 hours systematic language support .
• Secondary – new arrival programme to transition into
mainstream education
Sweden• Preparatory programme for new
arrivals (6-12 mths)• SSL explicit curriculum
Germany The Mercator Institute for Language Training and German as a Second Language.
• Goal: improving second language training in the German education system
• The Institute aims to advise policy-makers on how to improve language training in early child care and schools, and to held states with the introduction of the GSL Module for teacher training to provide teachers with the ability to teach German in every subject.
• The Institute has a budget for funding research and connecting researchers in this field.
EAL provision:
Current government policy
Schools free ‘to develop
local solutions to local issues.’
‘No single
“silver bullet”
intervention
that achieves
the best results for
every child.’
Overington (2012)
Broad approach
No specific
national EAL
curriculum in
England.NALDIC (2011)
Funding support for EAL learners
‘Pupils with English as an additional language (EAL) often require additional support. We have considered the evidence on how much support is needed and […] have decided that 3 years – from the point at which the pupil enters compulsory education in England – should be sufficient.’ (DFE 2012)
Policy and reality
Read the summary of current government policy
Mentally situate yourself in your school contexts Consider:
1. How is government policy in relation to EAL learners being implemented in the schools you’ve been and are currently placed?
2. In your experience what is the actual impact of government policy on the lives of EAL learners, their teachers, other learners, the school as a whole?
‘Pupils learning EAL are generally taught in the mainstream class alongside their peers.’
3 years’ additional support from the point of entry ‘should be sufficient’ for pupils with EAL.
Policy and reality: demands on students with EAL
The starting point for students with EAL is radically different from other students
It may take 7 or more years to achieve academic parity with their monolingual peers
(NALDIC, 2002)
The Distinctiveness of EAL
Students with EAL • are learning
– the curriculum through English– English at the same time as Science, Maths, etc.
• have to – learn the social and academic practices inherent
in the AL– accommodate the values, expectations and
culture inherent in the ALFranson, Brown, Cameron and South (2002)
Finding from the pilot phase
• Parental engagement is challenging• The loss of LA funding leading to loss of
expertise.• EAL not well addressed in teacher training.• EAL delivered by PE teacher, TAs. • No agreed methodology or curriculum. • Few organisations working on this issue.• Children may not achieve to their full potential
What we learned so far….
• Feel ‘at a loss’ as to how to help students with EAL
• Often use inaccessible language in the classroom
• Rely on bilingual TAs and Google translate
Staff Staff
“I know I am failing these (EAL) pupils as they come into class and stare into space but just don’t know how to help
them without spending hours translating everything”
Teacher.
Students
• Feel isolated from other pupils• Are often bored during class• Would like the opportunity to
improve their English• Have high aspirations
Idioms
Questions?