EAL or SEN?
‘A child must not be regarded as having a learning difficulty solely because the language or form of language of the home is different from the language in which he or she will be taught… the identification and assessment of the special education needs of children and young people whose first language is not English requires particular care. It is necessary to consider the child within the context of their home, culture and community.‘ (SEN Code of practice 2001 5.15)
This paper aims to raise awareness of the issues involved in the assessment of EAL pupils
(also referred to as bilingual learners) for those involved in identifying Special Educational Needs. It outlines key questions to ask and key points to consider when investigating possible special educational needs.
The Primary and Secondary National Strategies Inclusion Development Programme provides further information on EAL/SEN issues.
Fundamental principles underpinning this guidance
- Bilingualism is an asset and the first language has a continuing and significant role in
identity, learning and the acquisition of additional languages.
- Bilingual learners can access the curriculum at an appropriate conceptual level with
with appropriate linguistic and contextual support..
- English Language acquisition develops hand-in-hand with cognitive and academic
development, with an inclusive curriculum as the context.
- Oracy and Literacy skills are transferable - if a learner has good oracy and/ or literacy
in mother tongue, they will acquire good oracy and literacy in English.
- Language acquisition is a process, requiring exposure to English over a period of
time, in a supportive context. This process can be accelerated through appropriate
intervention or slowed down through inappropriate provision.
- EAL pupils should not be put on the SEN register unless there are
concerns, and P levels are not appropriate for use with EAL pupils
unless SEN have been identified.
- EAL status and languages spoken /written are major factors which need
to be taken into consideration and therefore must be recorded on all
documentation and pro- formas from the school and other agencies.
1. Pupil progress through the stages of English language acquisition – some
questions to inform discussion….
- How long has the pupil been exposed to English speaking environments?
- At what stage of English Language Acquisition are they? ( EMAS/QCA steps). What
progress has been made? Is this less progress than expected even with additional
support?
- What transferable skills do they have in oracy and literacy in first language?
- What differentiation is done to access learning?
- Is the pupil's first language competence appropriate for their age and educational
experience?
- Does the pupil show progress when taught in their first language?
- Has the pupil had all routine health screenings, e.g., hearing test, sight test,
developmental checks, particularly recently arrived pupils or those returning from an
extended homestay who might have missed routine screening?
1a. English Acquisition – a very brief description of three stages
a) The silent period.
Listening and understanding comes before speaking, and many newly arrived pupils or pupils exposed to English for the first time go through 'a silent period' while they 'tune in' and feel confident enough to speak in the classroom. This can last for a few months.
b) Superficial fluency
After approximately 2 years in school, the EAL learner has usually acquired superficial fluency, and operates well in the classroom, responding appropriately to peers and adults. Pupils may have a local accent as well as slang / vernacular speech, and are able to access most of the curriculum, but with gaps in vocabulary and grammatical accuracy.
c) Academic language
The acquisition of technical and academic language takes between 5-7 years. Learners need to understand and use technical and increasingly complex sentence structures especially in written work. Some aspects of English may need to be explicitly taught, e.g. complex sentences and clauses, higher order vocabulary, tense accuracy, nuance, inference skills, genre appropriateness, and correct use of adverbial and prepositional phrases.
Points to consider:
- Skills in oracy and literacy are transferable, if you have learnt the process of reading f
in Arabic, it is highly likely you will learn to read in English. If you are articulate in your
first language, it is likely you will learn to speak English extremely well.
- Pupils whose own first language is not well established by school age are likely to be at
significant disadvantage in acquiring an additional language as the underlying conceptual
and linguistic proficiency will be insufficiently developed to aid transfer.
- Pupils who maintain their home language as they learn English are likely to be more
successful in school later on.
- The experience of learning two (or more) languages conveys an understanding of the
ways in which languages are organised. This has a positive effect on intellectual
performance. Bilingual people statistically out-perform monolingual people on IQ tests.
- Use of the first language is not a hindrance to learning English, but a valuable support
for teaching and learning. School staff should avoid advocating the use of English only,
either at school or at home.
- Language is closely tied up with personal, family and community identity
- It can take up to 2 years to develop basic communication skills in English, but
between 5-7 years to acquire the cognitive academic English needed for A-C pass at
GCSE level.
- Pupils who made rapid progress during the early stages of learning English may
‘plateau’ if their continuing needs as more advanced EAL learners are not recognised.
Aspects of more academic English need to be explicitly taught in order for continued
progress.
Relevant information about first language may be gleaned through conversations with pupils and family, depending of age of pupil. Some questions are listed below – but make sure this is a conversation, not an interrogation!
What is your first language? What language were you taught from birth? What
languages were/are spoken at home? Which parents* /family members speak
which languages? In which language do you speak to your parents /family? Do
your parents /other significant family members speak English?
How old were you when you first started to learn English? Was this at home,
nursery or school? Did you receive your education through the medium of
English? If not, in what language were you taught? What opportunities did you
have to speak English outside your school?
What do you consider to be your dominant language? At what age did this
language become your dominant language? Do you consider yourself to be
bi/tri/multi-lingual? In which languages?
Can you read and write in your first language? How well? Did you have difficulty
in learning to read, spell and write in your first language? If so, at what age did
you first notice these difficulties? Did you have any extra help or assessment?
Have you learned any other language beside English as a foreign language? Did
you have any difficulties learning this language?
1b. Making and marking progress
Bilingual pupils may not show progress in the same way as pupils who are fluent in English. However, they may have acquired skills and be making considerable progress, shown by:
- Transfer of skills from the first language - Oracy and literacy
- Progression through the stages of EAL acquisition - EMAS teachers use an
extended version of the QCA ‘Language in Common' assessment steps, which are
recommended to schools. *
- Amount of progress from a baseline assessment - EMAS teachers carry out a
variety of language based assessments to ascertain the stage of language acquisition.
- Strengths in first language – so that pupils can demonstrate competence in subjects
other than English.
- Progress when something is taught and assessed in first language – when English
is not a language barrier to cognition.
- Greater interaction with peers and adults – as bilingual learners become more
confident users of English, particularly for newly arrived pupils.
- Social integration and improved personal skills - as bilingual learners become
confident and understand personal expectations, routines, procedures etc.
- Ability to use self-help skills or non verbal skills to compensate for lack of
English – observe how the pupil is able to access tasks, resources, etc.
- Skills shown in another context, e.g., community language classes, home, or other
areas of the curriculum.
- Progress towards curricular targets - teachers working with bilingual learners should
identify aspects of their EAL development which require particular attention in planning
for the achievement of these.
- Retention of skills learnt – The ease and speed at which the bilingual learner retains
new vocabulary, information and concepts.
- Improved self-confidence – as English is acquired and the pupil settles into new
routines.
* QCA EAL assessment steps - download on www.qca.org.uk; reference number
QCA/00/584).
1c. Assessment
Gathering information -EMAS teachers compile profiles of all supported EAL pupils which provide a baseline from which to start tracking progress. This includes background information on educational experience, linguistic repertoire and other relevant background information.
Assessments over time -assessments of different types and in different contexts need to be built up over time. Assessment for Learning ( AfL) provides a systematic way of building up a picture of the pupil which contributes to an ongoing dialogue about their needs.
Socio-cultural and affective factors are important. EAL learners need to feel secure, valued and understood. They need to know their first language is valued. Anxiety levels need to kept low and expectations high in any assessment or testing context.
Standardised tests- Tests standardised against a monolingual population are not always a reliable basis on which to base decisions on ability. Tests have limited usefulness and validity due to socio-linguistic or socio -cultural bias, EAL learners may not be familiar with the objects of reference or contexts used in assessments. Non verbal tests still rely on familiarity with previous problem-solving experience, and recently arrived pupils may find it difficult to fully understand what the questions are asking of them, or how to approach them.
The range of assessment for bilingual learners may include:
· Initial assessment or profile on entry to school
· Qualitative data such as work sampling, question level analysis
· Observations of pupil access and engagement in class
· Day to day assessment over time to check understanding and progress in
language use
· Involvement of parents /carers in providing evidence
· Use of first language by learners to show what they can do
· Assessment of first language for a specific purpose
- Conscious, considered and confirmatory observation of bilingual learners provides
evidence of learning and language use across the curriculum. This involves watching,
listening and note-taking in a variety of contexts to develop a picture of the learner’s
participation and skills across a range of activities.
- Oral sampling is extremely helpful in ascertaining progress in speaking and listening.
EMAS teachers may make transcripts of pupils engaged in curriculum tasks to analyse
patterns of speech, persistent errors and identify further needs.
- Maths skills for beginners can be assessed using the guidance 'Assessment in
Mathematics toolkit to support pupils for whom English is an Additional Language' -
available via www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/keystage3, reference DCFS 0284/2003.
- If the pupil has siblings in school, any information on their progress may add to the
identification needs.
For more information on assessment, see the National Strategies / EAL guidance:
www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/ethnicminorities/raisingachievement/763697/?section=4
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