In conjunction with this section, you will find it helpful to read the sections on both Spoken English development and Reading because the development of each of these areas is crucial to successful writing in English for EAL learners.
New-to-English learners come into UK classrooms with differing experiences of literacy in their first language(s). Very young children may not have any first-hand experience of writing in their first language(s) whilst children who come from countries where the school starting age is later than in the UK may have more limited experience of writing than children who joined the UK school system in Foundation Stage. Conversely, some 6- and 7-year-olds may have begun to develop their first language literacy skills and be able to write at an age-appropriate level. Pupils in later phases may be fully literate in their first language and may in consequence progress at an accelerated rate with their writing in English. The support needs of pupils will vary according to their prior knowledge and experience of literacy, and of writing in particular, so it is important that teachers familiarise themselves with background information about each pupil’s first language skills and experience in order to best utilise these to support their on-going learning.
Some pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2 may be familiar with a script that differs markedly in appearance from English and with differences in punctuation marks. For example, Arabic and Urdu are both written right to left and use a different script; Chinese languages are not alphabet-based and instead use a system based on characters; languages like Hindi and Nepali hang from the line rather than sit on it. Further, Phonological differences exist between English and many other languages that can cause problems to the new-to-English learner who may struggle to distinguish and to reproduce orally and in writing the sounds of English, whilst syntactic differences can cause problems with word order, prepositions, tense and articles, to name but a few. Often, such difficulties relate to the features of the first language so having a basic understanding of the features of a child’s first language can be helpful in identifying the root cause of issues such as these.
When children are in the early stages of acquiring writing skills in English, it helps if tasks are rooted in concrete experience, are supported by visuals and are preceded by plenty of talk for writing. This makes writing tasks more meaningful, enabling pupil participation and maintaining interest and engagement. Where possible, 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.
Where available, bilingual support from a Teaching Assistant who shares the same language as the child can be invaluable as a means of giving the child greater access to the lesson through the use of first language as well as the freedom to express themselves in first language.
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.
The following table sets out activities that will support primary aged pupils to develop their writing in English, many of which are also relevant to pupils in secondary phase. See links to English curriculum documentation supporting EAL writing activity for primary and secondary pupils after the following table.
Guiding principles when planning support for children who are:
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Guiding principles when planning support for children who are:
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Not literate in first language
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Literate in first language
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Reception/Kindergarten age
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Opportunities to engage in mark-making activities alongside their peers
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Access to print that uses a range of different scripts
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Access to good models of writing (age, interest and culturally-appropriate)
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Access to familiar/culturally relevant stories eg through dual language story telling with groups of children
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Writing tasks that draw on children’s lived experiences
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Opportunities to engage in emergent writing activities
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Opportunities to express their ideas in first language, and later in English (orally – ICTs such as Talking Tins can be very useful here)
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Use of tools such as BookCreator which enable pupils to produce their own books using an oral narration – in any language. Done collaboratively, another child could add in the written element – in English or in L1
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Opportunities to engage in emergent writing activities alongside their peers (in first language and/or English)
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Access to print that uses a range of different scripts
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Access to good models of writing (age, interest and culturally-appropriate)
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Opportunities to express their ideas in first language, and later in English (orally – ICTs such as Talking Tins can be very useful here)
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Opportunities to engage in emergent writing activities, including through the use of first language
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Opportunities to collaborate on a writing task eg to work with others to produce a dual language text
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Use of tools such as BookCreator which enables pupils to produce writing with an oral narration – in any language
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6 – 7 years
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Opportunities to engage in emergent writing activities
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Access to print that uses a range of different scripts
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Access to good models of writing (age, interest and culturally-appropriate)
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Access to good role models for writing (peer and adults)
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Access to familiar/culturally relevant stories eg through dual language story telling with groups of children
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Writing tasks that draw on children’s lived experiences
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Plenty of oral rehearsal prior to writing
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Plenty of opportunities to engage in meaningful speaking and listening activities to give them experiences they can draw on in their writing (including the use of first language)
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Access to translation tools that have an audio component – to encourage children to draw on vocabulary they may know in L1
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Prompts such as pictures to sequence or diagrams to label
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Sentence starters
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Substitution tables to scaffold the production of sentences and to begin to encourage choice and variation
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Matching activities and games that can be played collaboratively with supportive peers to provide opportunities for practising key vocabulary
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Use of ICTs such as talking photo albums which enable children to sequence a series of pictures/diagrams/photos and record an audio narration on the same page (in L1 or in English) in preparation for writing
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Access to print that uses a range of different scripts
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Access to good models of writing (age, interest and culturally-appropriate)
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Access to good role models for writing (peer and adults)
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Access to familiar/culturally relevant stories eg through dual language story telling with groups of children
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Writing tasks that draw on children’s lived experiences
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Plenty of oral rehearsal prior to writing
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Matching activities and games that can be played collaboratively with supportive peers to provide opportunities for practising key vocabulary
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Plenty of opportunities to engage in meaningful speaking and listening activities to give them experiences they can draw on in their writing (including the use of first language and also the support of parents)
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Opportunities to discuss, plan and draft in first language
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Prompts such as pictures, sentence starters, substitution tables and writing frames to help structure their writing
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Access to keyboards for different languages
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Access to translation tools
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Opportunities to collaborate on a writing task eg to work with others to produce a dual language text
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Use of tools such as BookCreator which enables pupils to produce writing with an oral narration – in any language
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Feedback (from peers and from practitioners) to help them identify strengths and suggest how to improve their writing
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Supported proof-reading to help correct specific grammatical errors (see section Personalising Provision for more information about how to do this)
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8 – 11 years
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Access to print that uses a range of different scripts
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Access to good models of writing (age, interest and culturally-appropriate)
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Access to good role models for talking as part of the writing process and for written recording (peers and adults)
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Access to familiar/culturally relevant stories eg through dual language story telling with groups of children
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Writing tasks that draw on children’s lived experiences
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Plenty of oral rehearsal prior to writing (in first language and later in English)
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Plenty of opportunities to observe/engage in meaningful speaking and listening activities (including the use of first language)
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Use of ICTs such as talking photo albums which enable children to sequence a series of pictures, diagrams and/or photos and record an audio narration on the same page (in first language or in English) in preparation for writing
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Occasional use of a scribe to capture the child’s ideas and demonstrate how to record what they’ve said in writing (can be done in any language and/or a mix of L1 and English)
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Prompts such as pictures and diagrams to provide a visual link between key words and ideas and the written word
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Access to translation tools that have an audio component – to encourage children to draw on vocabulary they may know in L1
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Sentence starters
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Substitution tables to scaffold the production of sentences and to begin to encourage choice and variation
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Resources such as word mats so they can copy high frequency/key words with increasing independence
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Feedback (from peers and from practitioners) to help them identify strengths and suggest how to improve their writing
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Recasting: orally repeating back what a pupil has said to provide a model of correct use of English in context
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Supported proof-reading to help correct the specific grammatical errors (see section Personalising Provision for more information about how to do this)
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Opportunities to discuss, plan, draft and write in first language.
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Access to print that uses a range of different scripts
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Access to good models of writing (age, interest and culturally-appropriate) in first language and English
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Access to good role models for talking as part of the writing process and for written recording (peers and adults)
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Access to familiar/culturally relevant stories eg through dual language story telling with groups of children
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Writing tasks that draw on children’s lived experiences
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Plenty of oral rehearsal prior to writing (in first language and later in English)
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Plenty of opportunities to engage in meaningful speaking and listening activities to give them experiences they can draw on in their writing (including the use of first language)
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Prompts such as pictures and diagrams to provide a visual link between key words and ideas and the written word
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Resources such as word mats so they can copy high frequency or key words with increasing independence (dual language where possible)
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Recasting: orally repeating back what a pupil has said to provide a model of correct use of English in context
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Access to keyboards for different languages
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Access to translation tools
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Opportunities to collaborate on a writing task eg to work with others to produce a dual language text
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Use of tools such as BookCreator which enables pupils to produce writing with an oral narration – in any language
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Feedback (from peers and from practitioners) to help them identify strengths and suggest how to improve their writing
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Supported proof-reading to help correct the specific grammatical errors (see section Personalising Provision for more information about how to do this)
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