Teachers will vary in their understandings of bilingualism and the processes of second language acquisition. Some student teachers will be bilingual or plurilingual themselves and have a wealth of personal experience to draw on. Others may be very familiar with multilingual school environments. Some may have had no contact with bilingual or EAL learners.
In this section we outline aspects of bilingualism and the development of first and additional languages which can inform teachers' approaches to bilingual and EAL learners in schools. Student teachers should, for example, be aware that:
- The learner’s first or home language plays a significant role in the learning of the additional language in terms of cognitive, linguistic and socio-cultural influences.
- Learning a second language will not necessarily proceed in an orderly and systematic fashion. Learners will use prior linguistic, learned and world knowledge. They will learn when there is a need to communicate and to learn.
- Most EAL and bilingual learners will develop a functional level of English in the first two years of schooling in English but they will need continued support to develop the cognitive academic language proficiency necessary for academic success.
- Bilingual education can be very beneficial in the development of the second language
- Learning a language and becoming bilingual is also about learning and living in different societies and cultures. It is not just about acquiring a new language, but also about understanding another culture and developing another identity.
The materials in this section provide an introduction to bilingualism and second language acquisition and its implications for the classroom. Most providers include sessions on bilingualism and second language acquisition within their programmes.
Section editor and author
Charlotte Franson
On this page you will find web pages from the archived ITTSEAL site for teacher educators new to initial teacher training. Much of this material is being substantially rewritten and incorporated into our new site but we have maintained this archive to support referencing and site users.
The PDF pages are arranged in the same structure as on the original site. Please note that embedded hyperlinks in the documents will not work and external weblinks are no longer necessarily live. If you are searching for a particular resource which you cannot find, please contact us and we will try to help
Bilingualism and second language acquisition
What is Bilingualism?
Bilingual language acquisition
Bilingual Education
The Bilingual learner
