English as an Additional Language

A Little Book of Strategies

Peta Ullmann

May 2017

DfE Stages of English as an Additional Language Acquisition

Stage A – New to English

May use first language for learning and other purposes. May remain completely silent in the classroom. May be copying/repeating some words or phrases. May understand some everyday expressions in English but may have minimal or no literacy in English. Needs considerable support to operate in English.

Stage B – Early Acquisition

May follow day to day social communication in English and participate in learning activities with support. Beginning to use spoken English for social purposes. May understand simple instructions and can follow narrative/accounts with visual support. May have become familiar with some subject specific vocabulary. Still needs a significant amount of support.

Stage C – Developing Competence

May participate in learning activities with increasing independence. Able to express self orally in English, but structural inaccuracies are still apparent. Literacy will require ongoing support, particularly for understanding text and writing. May be able to follow abstract concepts and more complex written English. Requires support to access the curriculum fully.

Stage D – Competent

Oral English will be developing well, enabling successful engagement in activities across the curriculum. Can read and understand a wide variety of texts. Written English may lack complexity and contain occasional evidence of errors in structure. Needs some support to access subtle nuances of meaning, to refine English usage, and to develop abstract vocabulary.

Stage E – Fluent

Can operate across the curriculum to a level of competence equivalent to that of a pupil who uses English as his/her first language.

NB. For the school census, the code N should be used if the pupil with EAL has not been assessed.

Stage A – New to English

Listening
Pupils will need to / Teaching Strategies
Hear clear and consistent language supported by gestures and non-verbal cues. / Provide lots of visual support: objects, pictures, non-verbal gestures, facial expressions, peer actions.
Choose the language of instruction carefully and vary only when the child is secure.
Experience structured opportunities to observe and imitate their peers. / Provide plenty of small group collaborative activities where talk & interaction are central to the learning going on. The new arrival may initially take a passive role but s/he will be learning a lot while listening.
Provide lots of opportunities for the child to rehearse/practise new language items and to hear peer use before being asked to respond. E.g. being positioned last in turn taking activities.
Have simple, everyday language structures reinforced. / Provide verbal support: repetition, closed questioning which requires nods/yes/no/single word response, clear & jargon free instructions and explanations.
Use illustrated stories/texts, rhymes, poems with repeated structures.
Use carefully chosen recorded material/TV/computer programmes.
Speaking
Pupils needs / Teaching Strategies
Opportunities to work in small groups with good role models and if possible with speakers of the same first language. / Do not worry if s/he isn’t offering any English; understanding comes before speaking and many pupils go through a silent period. Insisting on an oral response might hinder progress. Provide the child with roles and responsibilities requiring little or no English. E.g. giving out equipment, non-verbal role play, accompanying a peer to take a message/piece of equipment.
Language games.
Circle time used with sensitivity and bilingual support if available/appropriate.
Structured programme to learn key survival language. / Familiarise children with the language of the school classroom, school and timetable including daily routines- use photos, tours of school, bilingual resources, and translation engines. Model survival key language, e.g. polite requests for basic needs using visual cues. E.g. photographs, gestures and real objects.
Reading
Pupils will need to / Teaching Strategies
Have opportunities to participate in supported reading activities / Pair and small group work is vital. Helping pupils to understand the content and scope of texts before they begin to read gives them a much better chance of making sense of the written word.
Use texts with rhyme, rhythm and repetition.
Plan active reading tasks which allow pupils to focus on limited amounts of text and reread passages several times. Children need to hear text language read aloud on a regular basis. Strategies include:
  • Text sequencing
  • Gap filling
  • Representing information in key visuals such as tables and diagrams
  • Text underlining and text highlighting
Use of first language/bilingual support where available/appropriate
Support to develop reading skills.
Older pupils literate in their first language will need opportunities to transfer their skills. / In addition to developing child’s mechanical skills as a reader be mindful of the need to develop their comprehension skills:
Provide pictorial cues.
Simplify the text & exemplify meaning through gesture, actions, pictures (and translation if/where appropriate)
Encourage parents to develop/maintain child’s skills in first language sharing texts in one or more languages.
Writing
Pupil needs / Teaching Strategies
To have the opportunity to participate in supported writing activities / Teacher/LSA/modelling of the writing process will be very important. Where possible try to make the activity context embedded using pictures, immediate environment, shared experiences, etc.
Where appropriate, encourage pupils to write in first language and to begin to develop their own key vocabulary lists.
Enable pupils to engage in simple copying, labelling, and gap filling activities.
Some pupils may need support in the formation of letters and directionality. Pupils literate in other scripts, e.g. Urdu, Chinese, and Arabic may need extra support in forming letters and writing from left to right. / Teacher/LSA modelling.
Older pupils can also model for younger pupils.
Simple books about themselves/everyday routines/likes & dislikes/ etc.
Make links between the spoken and written word.
Provide materials for pupils to practise mechanical skills, e.g. handwriting pattern sheets.

SUPPORTING NEW ARRIVALS IN THE EARLY WEEKS

Main language focus
& language functions / essential vocabulary / possible language patterns
Identifying people (names & roles)
Giving/asking for names / Titles: Mr, Miss, Mrs, Ms
Adults’ names
Pupils’ names
Adult roles: secretary, teacher, etc.
First name/surname / What’s your/his/her name?
His/Her/My name is….
This is ….
That’s ……
Identifying places around school
Locating places / Library, classroom, dining room, toilet, hall, cloakroom
Playground
……………………………….
Some common prepositions
Upstairs/downstairs / This is the…
Please, can I go to the toilet?
Where is the….?
It’s next to/upstairs
Go to….
Identifying & locating things in the classroom / Classroom objects/equipment
Tools
Furniture
Personal equipment
Classroom areas
Some common prepositions / Please get me the….
Thank you/Please
Where’s the…
It’s next to/in/on..
Please can I have..?
Have you got…?
Talking about school routines/activities/timetable / Days/months
Today, tomorrow, yesterday
Numbers
Parts of the day
Names of daily activities
Lessons/subjects
Dinner/break/playtime
Assembly
Registration
Sequencing words (before, after, next, first, second.) / We’ve got…today/this afternoon
It’s …now
Here/present, Miss
Dinners please
Are you having dinners or sandwiches?
You need your….
Asking about food/cost
Identifying common foods
Understanding prices/money / Money
Names of common foods/meals
Names of meats
Knife/fork/spoon/cup/plate/tray / How much does…/that cost?
It costs….
Can I have…?
I haven’t got a …
I like/don’t like…
Has it got pork in it?
Please
No, thank you
Identifying clothes & PE kit
PE activities / Names of clothes
Names of equipment
Sport/activity names / Put on your…
Take off your…
It’s gym today.
Basic greetings
Polite forms
Expressing lack of understanding / Hello/goodbye
Please/thank you/ sorry / Good morning/afternoon
I don’t understand
I don’t know
What does …mean?
Making simple requests / Can & simple verbs
Can I have/go/get/borrow, etc. / Can I go/have/take/borrow?
Can you….?
Following instructions / Make, read, write, copy, draw, look, listen, put, line up, stand up, sit down, get, give, bring, put, take, get, etc. / Put on/take off
Take out/get
Give me…
Listen to me/her/him
Look at the board
Write the heading/date/title
Understanding number/time / Numbers (names/numerals)
Analogue & digital time
times, plus, subtract, divide, equals,
now, tomorrow, yesterday, today
maths equipment / How many are there?
Count
What’s the time? It’s….
When is ….?
Understanding computers / Computer, mouse, screen, keyboard, disc, printer, scanner, laptop, iPad, whiteboard, etc.
Switch on/off
Press, Move, Touch / Switch on/off the computer
Press the …..
Move the …..
Click on…

Stage B – Early Acquisition

Listening
Pupils will need to / Teaching Strategies
Experience structured opportunities to observe and imitate their peers. / Language games/activities across all curricular areas
Grouped with positive role models (language and behaviour)
Role play, turn taking activities, drama, P.E.
Collaborative pair/group work.
Time to stand back, observe, listen, copy and imitate
Have simple language structures reinforced. / Listening is supported through key visuals, e.g. diagrams and charts, immediate environment, objects and actions
Hear comments, explanations and descriptions modelled clearly and consistently / Provide verbal support: repetition, closed questioning which requires nods/yes/no/single word response, clear & jargon free instructions and explanations.
Clarify important concepts through examples that pupils are familiar with.
Be prepared to reword figurative/idiomatic expressions which can be misleading.
Be aware that the child may become confused if a number of pronouns are used.
Speaking
Pupils needs / Teaching Strategies
Opportunities to rehearse/initiate talk in small group situations with good role models and where appropriate with speakers of the same first language. / Provide activities where the same vocabulary or sentence structures are repeated and reinforced e.g.
Games- Enquire and eliminate
Sequencing
Describe and draw
Kim’s game
Practical tasks following a particular, clear sequence
Give thinking time for the child to mentally rehearse responses
A structured programme to extend and build upon their classroom vocabulary (cross-curricular) and that related to a range of topics/contexts associated with simple phrases/structures / Model, repeat and reinforce vocabulary within context.
Scaffold oral responses through careful questioning
Recast and repeat simple models of language- expand and extend.
Respond to the content of what the pupil says
Organise opportunities for pre-teaching key terminology for the classroom context/activities
Reading
Pupils will need to / Teaching Strategies
Have opportunities to participate in supported reading activities / Pair and small group work important. Helping pupils to understand the content and scope of texts.
  • shared reading (books with pictures)
  • find letters in words/ words in text
  • match letters in words/words with words
  • model following print with finger/pointer
  • synchronise spoken with written word
  • individual alphabet strip upper & lower case
  • alphabet wall chart upper & lower case
  • talking text- e-books/Clicker 7
  • provide visual cues
  • rich, clearly contextualised print environment (cross curricular)
  • peer modelling
  • read back any writing, pupil and teacher
  • ask/provide/demonstrate meanings of words
  • word games e.g. Lotto, pelmanism
  • find phrases in text
  • match phrases in text
  • picture dictionaries/ bilingual dictionaries

Writing
Pupil needs / Teaching Strategies
Structured programme to teach phonics and names of letters of the alphabet. / Teach initial sounds
Alphabet matching games with visuals
IT software- sound picture matching
Letter formation sheets
Dual language resources/dictionaries/software
See and hear text modelled including simple language structures. / Where possible, link to language structures/vocabulary/genre of shared text to provide continuity and repetition
The opportunity to participate in supported writing activities. /
  • use of peer modelling in small groups
  • shared writing - teacher modelling
  • scribe for individuals
  • make books as a group
  • talk about writing as it’s done
  • paired writing
  • labelling pictures (with example)
  • Cloze procedures
  • use of writing frameworks – across the curriculum
  • literacy games
  • initial sound collections e.g. pictures, objects, display tables
  • aural discrimination activities, e.g. short/long vowels

Stage C- Developing Competence

Listening and Speaking
Pupils will need to / Teaching Strategies
Understand unfamiliar vocabulary
Understand more complex linguistic structures
Understand longer stretches of language / Draw attention to key language- Use language consistently, stress important words, highlight key words on the whiteboard, encourage pupils to collect/list key words for new topics/cross-curricular subjects
Use increasingly more complex structures rephrasing/dramatizing what has been said. Use questions to check understand. Model, repeat and elicit using good peer models to further model particular forms of language.
Be more explicit and structured. Think about style of delivery. Use words such as now, first, then, finally to clearly indicate sequencing in your talk.
Precis and summarise
Use visuals/diagrams and charts when speaking at greater length.
Begin to use pronouns, prepositions, different tense forms, longer sentence structures / Use texts read aloud and draw attention to key features of language use. Use questioning to clarify particular uses of language and use good peer models to scaffold responses.
Encourage oral re-telling in small groups and paired situations
Use picture prompts for recalling and retelling.
Use dictogloss activities.
Be encouraged to participate more fully in whole class situations. / Monitor situations where pupils may lack confidence and listen more than speak
Prompt responses and be prepared to scaffold responses/participation
Use guided talk
Be supported with more complex structures associated with exploratory language, e.g. comparison, hypothesis, prediction, generalisation / Ask different question types especially ‘how’, ‘why’ and ‘what will happen’ varieties.
Model, repeat and draw attention to compound verb types, e.g. conditionals
Revise and reinforce the use of comparative language including the use of comparatives and superlatives.
Use talk frames to elicit particular types of language associated with different language functions.
Be encouraged to build and develop their ability to draw on wider vocabulary / Model and elicit
Encourage the use of vocab in context
Talk about when it appropriate to use a particular term and when not
Synonyms and antonyms
Talk about gradations of meaning & different meanings in different contexts
Build on their understanding of how language works- range of verbs/adjectives/phrases/clauses/connectives / Sentence jigsaw activities
Cloze
Open ended gap fillers
More powerful words focus
Identifying word use/sentence structure in texts
Awareness of the difference between talk and writing/ standard English / Make explicit
Role play and drama
Link spoken language to text and vice versa
Directed activities related to texts (DARTs)
Be supported with expressing an opinion, preference or argument / Model modals and causal connectives
Scaffold speech with talk frames using models and examples
Talk partners
Encourage note taking when listening and then reconstruction of notes when speaking to summarise key points
Dictogloss
Reading
Pupils will need to / Teaching Strategies
Have support to access the meaning of a text over and beyond the gist / Mapping the story
Repeating the story with scaffolds
Use of stop, check and discuss key points/particular uses of phrases/sentences/collocations
Read play scripts of familiar texts (developing intonation and expression, and understanding of character)
Drama and role play
Explain cultural references, e.g. mad as a March hare
Talk about idiomatic uses of language
Talk about/discuss ambiguity
Have support with accessing the content of different types of layout in texts / DARTs, e.g.
Highlighting and linking parts of a text
Highlighting phrases and vocabulary
Text restructuring
Table completion
Rank ordering key points
Have support with understanding written instructions and questions / Matching instructions/questions with responses
Highlighting/underlining contextual phrases & key terms
Explaining differences between words such as compare, describe and explain.
Writing
Pupil needs / Teaching Strategies
To see and hear text modelled. / Use picture word and sentence cards to model and structure writing.
Jumbled sentence games
Talk through ideas prior to writing
Paired/group discussions
Jigsawing
Semantic webs to explore themes/concepts prior to writing
Quality feedback
To talk through ideas prior to writing / Paired/shared writing
Writing frames
Sentence/phrase banks
Use first language as a tool prior to writing
Use first language to write if appropriate before writing in English
Support in writing in different genres / Writing frames & linguistic structures
DARTs- noticing features of a particular texts
Comparison and contrast activities relating to texts of different genres
Explicit teaching of key features of text types
Quality feedback
Support in developing richness and variety of written language / See suggestions under speaking and listening
Support in using a range of cohesive devices / Identifying use in texts
Sentence imitation
Vanishing cloze activities
Dictogloss
Sentence sequencing
Text restructuring
Redrafting
Quality feedback
Support in using grammatical structures accurately / Models and examples of patterns of use
Oral rehearsal before writing
Guided writing
Individual/pair redrafting
Monitor pupil’s writing for common structured errors to inform teaching and targets
Quality feedback

Stage D- Competent