How do I offer support and differentiate for EAL learners in the mainstream classroom?
Gemma Fanning – EAL Teacher, Dwight School London
What is an EAL student?
 EAL – English as an Additional Language or ESL English as
a Second Language.
 Only speak English at School.
 Limited Vocabulary.
 Poor Grammatical sentence structures.
 May have only just arrived to the country.
 Easily distracted.
 Unable to write in Roman script.
What challenges do EAL learners face in the
classroom?
 Understanding oral instructions.
 Being able to read and write in English.
 Being able to process language quicker than they are
able to do.
 Isolation – both academically and socially.
 Little or no support from parents.
My student can’t speak any English - they
shouldn’t be in my lesson!
Carol Dweck - a pioneering researcher in the field of motivation,
why people succeed (or don’t) and how to foster success.
The power of YET!
My student(s) are unable to access all of my curriculum YET! What
do I need to do next?
Getting Started
 The Classroom - a rich resource of language.
 Engage with the student - talk to them, say their name,
learn some phrases in their language.
 Don’t Panic - Students are listening and absorbing.
 Sit students at the front - give them attention.
 Be aware of students cultural backgrounds
Making the classroom as rich with language
as possible
• Put key words on the wall
• Allow students to use a dictionary
• Have a variety of visual aids available.
• Make sure you are including visual and kinaesthetic activities
• Use stories from the students culture and background.
• Reflect the students culture in your curriculum where
possible.
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I’m teaching a new topic - how do I include my EAL students to see what they know?
 Concept Cartoons www.conceptcartoons
.com
 Spider Diagram
 KWL Grids
 Wonder Walls
 Textbook Post-it
 Puppets
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How do I plan for EAL students?
 Planning for cognitive challenge
 Planning for language development
 Cummings Model
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What can I do for beginners?
 Showing visuals and real objects that give clues about instructions.
 Providing short, targeted instructions followed by active responses.
 Using small-group sharing to rehearse answers before raising hands
to address the entire class.
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Simple Activities for new starters
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What can I do for Early and Intermediate levels?
 Beginning lessons on any topic with meaningful
vocabulary instructions.
 Provide opportunities to develop oral fluency with
language games.
 Providing response boards for students to write
answers
 Providing literary development in all subject area
disciplines
 Providing a purpose for reading assigned passages.
 Demonstrating how to take notes and making what
to write down explicit during class talks and
discussions.
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Moving up the ladder
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Moving up the ladder
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Useful Online Tools for Teachers and EAL
Students
 Learning Village - http://ealteaching.com/
 EAL Nexus by British Council https://eal.britishcouncil.org/
 Pinterest for visual aids – www.pinterest.com
 World Stories http://www.worldstories.org.uk/
Thank You - Any Questions?
Gemma Fanning
EAL Teacher at Dwight School London
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @GemmaFanning1
Pinterest:
www.pinterest.com/gemmaealteacher
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