28 October 2009
AIMS
1)Be aware of potential barriers for EAL learners
2)Consider second language acquisition
3) Consider some strategies to assess and
support the learning of EAL pupils
1) New to English: little receptive and productive skills
2) Becoming familiar with English:
produces more language but with errors
3) Becoming confident as a user of English:
less errors, more vocabulary
4) Competent user of English in most social and learning contexts:
engages well with class content/language
5) Fluent user of English: native-like fluency,
needs language refinements
Stages of English Language Acquisition
New to English
Early Acquisition
Developing Competence
Competent
Fluent
One language processing unit
Previous learning → New understanding
Language 1
Language 2
BICS Basic Interpersonal Communicative
Skill
1-3 years to acquire
CALP
Cognitive and Academic Language Proficiency
5 + years to acquire
Two types of language
Cummins’ Model of Academic Language Progression
C
D A
B
(concrete)
(not much thought)
(abstract) (deep thinking)
C
A D B
BICS
CALP
↑
→ → →
X
CUMMINS’ MODEL OF ACADEMIC LANGUAGE PROGRESSION
Transformation of information
No transformation of information
Possible activities at each stage
C
D A
B
Talking about weather Tells own stories
Describes what (s)he has just seen Watches demonstration
Matches pictures to words
.
Recites nursery rhymes Listens passively to story Copies from board or book Colours in with no prompts
Reflects on feelings Argues a case Justifies an opinion Interprets evidence
Applies principles to new situation Answers open questions
Compares and contrasts
Summarises/ Recalls /reviews Problem solving
Explains and justifies Role play
Scaffolding for each stage
C
D A
B
Observing demonstration Multiple choice questions
Matching pictures to key words Narrating own experience
Colouring in using prompts in English Finding single words in text
.
No scaffolding required as tasks do not encourage cognitive or
linguistic development Cloze without answers
Multiple choice predictions / opinions Models and visuals for imaginative writing
Questions to support note taking writing frame
Extending story Multiple choice questions
Cloze with answers Creating a mind map
Sequencing a familiar story Classifying activities
Tops and tails matching
Finding information or phrases in text writing frame
Exercises based on pupil’s own work
DARTS – Direct Activities Related to Text
(Scaffolding ) some examples
Look at the exemplars and note
how they have been adapted
Using Cummins’ Model
Plan lesson with quadrant in mind
EAL pupils will use same text but with different outcomes
e.g. Concentrate on comprehension of text
Use scaffolding to support
language and understanding and to promote independence
Avoid red sector, whenever possible
Cognitively Demanding
Context Reduced
Cognitively undemanding Context Embedded
