Course Details
Understanding English as an additional language (EAL) and bilingualism
In many schools there are classrooms that include pupils whose first language is not English. Even experienced teachers find it challenging to work with EAL pupils. Any teacher who has worked with them will tell you how much knowledge and energy is required to answer their needs.
Even when an EAL specialist is present in school, the classroom or subject teacher bears responsibility for the well-being and educational progress of these pupils. It is a challenge to meet the needs of EAL pupils while catering for the needs of a class as a whole.
The aim of this course is to provide professional development for school staff and governors who want to know more about how to work with EAL pupils. It's based on the belief that staff who work with EAL pupils need to understand what it is to be bilingual and live in two cultures. They need to acquire a range of knowledge and professional skills to support these pupils and their families effectively.
As you work through the course, you will:
- understand what it means to be a bilingual
- learn about the process of acquiring an additional language
- reflect what it means to live in two cultures
- learn what enables EAL pupils to be successful learners of English
The course provides opportunities to consider recent thinking on EAL teaching together with research and suggestions for practical tasks in the classroom. Taken in conjunction with another course 'Supporting EAL pupils in the classroom' it provides a common language and understanding with which to discuss EAL pupils.
Author Biography
Meet the course author:
Coreen Sears spent 20 years in Brussels, Belgium, teaching English as an Additional Language in three international schools. At the International School of Brussels, she was head of the EAL department in the primary and early childhood departments. In 1995, she was awarded a sabbatical leave from ISB and a Fellowship in International Education from the European Council of International Schools. This time and funding enabled her to research and write her book: Second Language Students in Mainstream Classrooms (Multilingual Matters).
Since then she has given presentations and workshops in schools and at conferences around the world. On her return to the UK, she has made it her business to re-connect with the EAL and bilingual scene. She continues to write and speak on the needs of EAL pupils in our schools.