• English Language Learning (ELL) Specialists

  EAL or NOT EAL

  Posted by expired-member on December 12, 2023 at 3:24 pm

  Dear Team,

  A frequent debate at our school is this:

  The student has been at the (English speaking) school for many years and can therefore no longer be identified as “EAL”.

  My initial thoughts are:

  a) if the student has attended an English speaking school for many years and is NOT making any progress, we need to do assessments to determine if they have a special need that is hindering their ability to improve (dylexia, adhd..etc.)

  
  

  b) Additionally, assuming they continue to use their first language (L1) at home (which I hope they do, as it would promote additive bilingualism), it’s reasonable to expect that their language development may not progress as rapidly as our subtractive bilingual students who have abandoned their L1. Although they can still be considered English as an Additional Language (EAL) students, they do not receive the same exposure to English as our monolingual students who have over 16 hours of English immersion per day. Instead, they may only have around 8 hours of English at school and 4+ hours of their L1 at home.

  
  

  All in all, I think it is reasonable to keep them listed as an “EAL” student even if they have attended an English speaking school for many years.

  
  

  What are your thoughts? Feel free to disagree. 😛

  expired-member replied 2 years, 8 months ago 1 Member · 0 Replies
• 0 Replies

Log In to Reply