Writing for beginner EAL learners
WRITING IN ENGLISH FOR BEGINNER EAL LEARNERS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
As pupils develop stamina as writers, graphic organisers and more sophisticated writing frames, substitution tables and sentence starters can be helpful additions to the strategies outlined for new-to-English learners, gradually extending the amount of writing a pupil produces and building confidence. For pupils with greater fluency in their first languages, discussing, planning and drafting in first language – or in a mix of first language and English - remain supportive activities, enabling pupils to organise their thoughts and express their ideas more freely and fluently prior to writing in English. This can help with engagement and motivation, and it can be a productive way of engaging parents in their child’s learning if set as an alternative homework task.
Clarity about the meaning of new language (phrases as well as words) is important, particularly where idiomatic language is used or where there are subtleties in terms of shades of meaning. A focus on defining new vocabulary is important alongside contextualised examples of its use and opportunities for children to orally rehearse new structures. Explicit modelling which draws attention to specific features of the genre being explored provides further opportunities for children to notice how the target language is used whilst talk prompts and speaking frames are good ways of drawing on oral rehearsal to prepare children for using the same target language in their own writing.
Collaborative writing tasks where the EAL learner is an active participant in group discussions around the drafting and editing process can be very supportive, providing peer support for writing rooted in meaningful contexts. Alongside this, clarity about the features of a good piece of writing in the target genre can help all pupils develop the skills to constructively evaluate their own and each other’s writing, identifying strengths as well as areas for development.
With all learners of EAL, whether they are new to English or developing their confidence, establishing a baseline and tracking progress using an EAL-specific tool or framework are important activities. There are various options including NASSEA’s EAL Assessment Framework EAL Assessment Framework | Nassea and The Bell Foundation EAL Assessment Framework EAL Assessment Framework - The Bell Foundation (bell-foundation.org.uk)., the latter being free to download. Bell traces the journey from new-to-English (Band A) to full proficiency (Band E) for the 4 skills of listening, speaking, reading & viewing and writing with use of the online tracker giving immediate access to further generic support strategies that may be helpful for the focus pupil.
WRITING IN ENGLISH FOR BEGINNER EAL LEARNERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
When pupils are in the early stages of acquiring writing skills in English, it helps if tasks are rooted in concrete experience, are prefaced by plenty of opportunities to orally rehearse the target language and are supported by visuals. This makes writing tasks more meaningful and enables pupil participation and success. Tasks should link with whatever the rest of the class is doing. In this way, peers will be able to support and to see that the pupil is participating in the same curriculum as them.
Drafting and note-taking can be usefully carried out in first language or a mix of first language and English. This helps pupils maintain their focus for longer as well as giving them something they can independently refer to later. Where available, bilingual support from a Teaching Assistant who shares the same language as the pupil can be invaluable as a means of giving the pupil greater access to the lesson through the use of first language as well as the freedom and confidence to express themselves more fully in first language.
As pupils develop stamina as writers, writing frames and sentence starters can be helpful additions to the strategies outlined above, gradually extending the amount of writing a pupil produces and building confidence. For pupils with greater fluency in their first languages, discussing, planning and drafting in first language – or in a mix of first language and English - remain supportive activities, enabling pupils to organise their thoughts and express their ideas more freely and fluently prior to writing in English. This can help with engagement and motivation, and it can be a productive way of engaging parents in their child’s learning if set as an alternative homework task.
With all learners of EAL, whether they are new to English or developing their confidence, establishing a baseline and tracking progress using an EAL-specific tool or framework are important activities. There are various options including NASSEA’s EAL Assessment Framework EAL Assessment Framework | Nassea and The Bell Foundation EAL Assessment Framework EAL Assessment Framework - The Bell Foundation (bell-foundation.org.uk)., the latter being free to download. Bell traces the journey from new-to-English (Band A) to full proficiency (Band E) for the 4 skills of listening, speaking, reading & viewing and writing with use of the online tracker giving immediate access to further generic support strategies that may be helpful for the focus pupil.
A wide range of EAL language and literacy activities can be found on the NALDIC site.
