An influential report on speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) has noted that the definition of English as an additional language (EAL) in the School Census is not a measure of competency and recommends the collection of national data on pupils’ stage of competency in English.
The Better Communication Research Programme (BCRP) was commissioned as part of the Better Communication Action Plan, the Government’s response to the Bercow review of services for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. When looking at the evidence of over and under representation of different groups, researchers found that:
Having English as an additional language is strongly associated with being identified as having SLCN in the early stages of education.
- Ethnic over- and under-representation for both SLCN and ASD is pronounced:
- A child in one of the Black groups is almost twice as likely to be designated as having SLCN than a White British pupil.
- The odds of a pupil of Asian heritage having ASD are half those of a White British pupil.
Both SLCN and ASD are associated with low achievement but pupils with SLCN are lower achieving compared to those with ASD.
The reports also found that confusion about the use of the term SLCN is particularly problematic in reception, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. This is likely to reflect the pupils’ developing language skills, the progressive demands of the curriculum and reduced opportunities in classrooms to develop oral language competence. For example:
- There is a substantial reduction in the proportion of pupils with SLCN receiving additional support at the School Action Plus level over Key Stages 1 and 2, suggesting that for many pupils SLCN identified in the early years of primary school are temporary and transient.
- This applies to both those pupils for whom English is an additional language and those for whom it is their first language.
In addition, researchers unearthed a complex relationship between EAL and ASD. ASD identification varied substantially with age, with no difference related to EAL in identification in Y1/Y2 (age 5-6), but from Y2 onwards monolingual English speakers being increasingly more likely to be identified whereas EAL pupils were simultaneously less likely to be identified. The reasons for this variation with age are not clear. It is important to note
that EAL as recorded in the School Census is a measure of exposure (either at home or in the community) to another language in addition to English, irrespective of the pupil’s proficiency in English. The association with EAL may reflect a wide range of cultural differences not necessarily poor fluency in English.
Overall pupils identified as EAL are almost half as likely to be identified with ASD as those with English as their first language.
The research reports recommend that DFE 'give consideration to the collection of national data on pupils’ stage of fluency in English to allow clearer interpretation of the impact of limited English fluency on identification of SLCN and ASD'
Linked External downloads and briefings
Department for Education, The Better Communication Research Programme: Improving provision for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs, (27 December 2012)
The Department for Education, The Bercow Report, (July, 2008)
Warwick University The Better Communications Programme Website
I Can – helps children communicate, Responds to Launch of Better Communication Research Programme(December 27th 2012),
HMCI (Ofsted) Annual Report 2010-11
Support and aspiration: a new approach to SEN and disability – progress and next steps
