David Partridge
David Partridge is an experienced EAL educator based in Armidale, Australia. He has worked extensively with EAL learners from refugee backgrounds. David currently works in an advisory capacity supporting school leadership teams to cater for EAL learners in their schools. He also works as a sessional academic at the University of New England (Australia).
What we can learn about using EAL students’ home languages in the classroom
There are numerous challenges in teaching EAL learners, and many different approaches to classroom pedagogy.
As an EAL educator I am passionate about supporting teachers to strengthen their practice to maximise the learning outcomes for EAL students.
Through my work at the University of New England, I was part of an EAL study in a rural Australian city.
The study captured data on how EAL teachers used their students’ first languages in their teaching, and the data revealed a range of ‘enabling factors’ that leveraged this practice for the teachers. We found a number of effective strategies to support EAL learners, which I will detail here. But, before diving into the practical tips, I must mention the context of the study. We nicknamed the site-specific conditions that came to the surface ‘Goldilocks conditions’. They were ‘pretty much’ the perfect conditions under which EAL teachers could use their students’ home languages.
The study focused on the practices of five specialist EAL/D teachers (we use this term in Australia to includes speakers of other dialects of English) as they worked with a cohort of refugee students from a single cultural group. The refugees had recently arrived in Australia with minimal English and with generally low levels of literacy in their first language. Of course, not every EAL teacher around the world could create these same conditions. However, there is still a great deal to learn from the teachers in the study and how they approached EAL education.
Key contexts of EAL teaching: barriers and opportunities
Teaching EAL learners is incredibly complex and there are some specific barriers to success.
Planning to teach EAL learners in the beginning phases of English language learning can be especially challenging. In mainstream schools, teachers can often feel pressured by the pace and breadth of the whole- school curriculum, coupled with managing the language learning needs of their students.
Fortunately, in the EAL space, we are often sheltered from the pressures of the mainstream curriculum demands. We have the benefit of slowing down and placing our focus on our students’ language development.
In this environment, we are reminded of the rich language knowledge our EAL students bring with them to the classroom and how tapping into this can be a very effective teaching and learning tool. It is helpful for us to remember that home languages are always present in the mind of our students. Utilising these home languages gives EAL teachers an opportunity to enhance learning and understanding, even if the teacher does not share the same first language.
Two key strategies from the study: maximise the resources available to you
It was clear from the study that using our EAL learners’ home languages in our lessons not only gives us additional teaching tools but also gives our students additional learning tools.
Bilingual school learning support officers (SLSO), otherwise known as teaching assistants, play a major role in facilitating using students’ home languages.
Often bilingual SLSOs work as cultural and linguistic brokers. They support teachers, schools, students and their families in the settlement and education process. For schools that employ bilingual SLSOs, there are increased opportunities to enhance students’ access to the curriculum.
Bilingual SLSOs can collaborate in the lesson design phase to advise teachers on potential cultural and language challenges that students may face. In the classroom, bilingual SLSOs:
- Enact formative assessment – checking student understanding and providing the teacher with feedback to inform next steps in teaching
- Lead group work sessions to consolidate student learning in the students’ home language
- Lead micro-teaching sessions in the students’ home languages to enhance student learning, especially when students have not understood aspects of the lesson in English
If your school setting does not have bilingual SLSOs, then start with the EAL specialists who are available. It is commonly reported that mainstream teachers feel ill-equipped to cater for their EAL learners. Invite the EAL specialist in your context into the stages of planning for and teaching of EAL students. This has the potential to refine teaching and assessment practices that better support our EAL learners.
Encourage EAL students to work with their home languages. Explicitly planning opportunities for students to use their first languages in the classroom increases their access to the curriculum. This is especially important for students with interrupted schooling histories and students in the early phases of learning English. We know that our EAL learners bring rich cultural and linguistic knowledge with them to the classroom, so why not capitalise on this?
Some simple ways to incorporate your students’ linguistic resources into lessons could be:
- Grouping students by language backgrounds for specific learning tasks.
This will allow the students to discuss content and concepts in their home language. They could also make notes in this language to aid their comprehension.
- Providing students with access to bilingual resources, such as dictionaries or audio-visual material in home languages.
- Encouraging students with higher proficiency in English to interpret and explain aspects of the lesson for their peers in their shared languages.
This can aid students’ understanding of key concepts, making the process of learning the English associated with these concepts a little easier.
Next steps in incorporating home languages
Explore the study in more detail here! and look for opportunities to use the findings in your own context.
While each EAL setting is unique, with individual pressures and advantages, EAL students all face the same challenge: acquiring English.
Engaging with the most up-to-date EAL guidance will equip you as a teacher in your professional development and empower to you incorporate impactful practices into the classroom.
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