Moving English and EAL forward?

OfSTED have recently released the results of their 3 year study into the teaching an learning of English, carried out between 2008 and 2011. The report makes limited reference to the teaching and learning of EAL despite the fact that one in six pupils are learning EAL and many of the visits took place in schools with high percentages of bilingual pupils.

One of the findings (p 19) was that in the most effective lessons, inspectors noted the:

effective use of phonics to support pupils who were in the early stages of acquiring English as an additional language

More interestingly, the report notes the importance of speaking and listening, particularly in the early and also notes that too few secondary schools are currently developing literacy effectively across the curriculum. The report praises one secondary school where:

the literacy coordinator (in a school where 90% of students speak English as an additional language) has launched a ‘Language Focus’ component in the programme for tutorial work. The intention is to provide staff with the skills and understanding of language issues needed for the programme, which will then be followed up in the teaching of their own subjects. The first unit was based around oral language used in telephone calls. The teacher responsible identified that their students had difficulty adopting a range of transactional tones and registers and switching between informal and formal language. A range of materials was produced to support analysis of the language used in different conversations, leading to modelling by teachers and students practising different language for different contexts. Students then applied these newly learnt language approaches in role plays or real telephone calls.

The report also praises Early Years Foundation Stage provision providing a 'curriculum rich in spoken language':

Their priority is to get children talking and to model effective talk themselves. What is particularly effective is the school’s use of role play. This is identified as a priority and planned accordingly. Children are not left to ‘get on with it’ themselves. The teacher joins the role-play area and uses talk constantly to question, explain, motivate and model. On the day of the visit, both boys and girls enjoyed visiting the ‘Baby Clinic’ and maintained their interest for a considerable period, supported by the teacher. Literacy was built into their play as pupils took it in turns to act as receptionist, writing notes in a file while the doctor frequently consulted his/her clipboard to write things down or check the daily programme. At all stages, the teacher was directly involved, often in role, asking questions and using language, including technical language, for pupils to imitate. Plans ensure that there is always a member of staff working with pupils in one of the role-play areas…The approach is ‘to bathe children in language all the time’.

The full report can be read below or downloaded