Ethnic Minority Achievement

Planning for EAL

Pathways to learning for new arrivals - setting suitable learning challanges, overcoming potentional barriers to learning and assessment, responding to pupils' diverse needs. Primary National Strategy EAL Programme - supports improvement in the standards of attainment in English and mathematics of bilingual learners.

Planning for EAL learners proceeds from an understanding that differences are an asset not a deficit. Challenge is kept high and language needs are supported by scaffolding. Differentiation may be by outcome, organisation and structure, or additional support. Learning takes place in a relevant context. The context reflects and is relevant to the culture and experience of children.

Lesson Planning takes account of language needs as well as content:

• New vocabulary, syntax, concepts are displayed in a relevant context.
• Questions are planned. Open and closed, concrete and abstract, higher order. (see Blooms Taxonomy) Where appropriate they are supported with pair talk.
• Language functions and structures are made explicit.
• They inform question stems, which are matched to activities and available in an appropriate form for EAL learners.
• Models showing the different features of the focus genre type are available.