Slides from Ethnic Minority Achievement Service lecture 21.10.15

1. EMAS
Ethnic Minority Achievement Service
Meeting the needs of Children with EAL
Sarah Berliner
Christine Booth
Kaneez Rahman
Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS)

2. EMAS – Who are we?
Ethnic Minority Achievement Service
We are a group of specialist teachers, teaching
assistants, BLAs (bilingual assistants) and home
school liaison officers who support children and their
families coming in to our schools and pre-schools
with limited or no English.
We work in nursery settings, infant, junior and
primary schools as well as some secondary schools
and special schools in Brighton and Hove supporting
in many different languages.

3. Definitions of Terms
► Bilingual (bilingual learners) – those with a
different home language to English. It does not
always mean they are fluent in English.
► Multilingual – those who have 2 or more
languages other than English.
► Monolingual – those who only speak one language
e.g. English
► EAL – English as an Additional Language
► ESOL – English speakers of other languages (this
refers to post 16 learners)

4. Learning in another Language
Put yourself in their shoes…

5. Learning in another Language
How did you feel?
What helped you?

6. How can you
help?
What can you do?
A child with no English starts in your class…

7. Don’t panic!
. Smile, be welcoming & make an effort
to communicate – gestures go a long way
. Make the parents feel welcome, they will
be feeling more nervous than you
. Find a good buddy to show the child around
the school and take care of them at playtime
. Help them to learn the class routines and use visual support e.g. picture
fans, Makaton symbols, visual timetables and photos
. Find time to get to know the child and don’t put too much pressure on
them to perform initially.
Remember a child that feels welcome will settle quickly

8. 23,494
10,408
11,278
4,188
2,184
1,799
Non UK/British White
Mixed / multiple ethnic
group
Asian / Asian British
Black/African/Caribbean/
Black British
Arab
Any other ethnic group
220,018
53,351
English / Welsh /
Scottish / Northern Irish
/ British
Black & Minority Ethnic
(BME)
20% or 53,351 B&H residents are
BME….
44% of BME residents are Non
UK/British White
The BME population is increasing…

9. A changing demographic
91.8%
8.1%
English / Welsh / Scottish
/ Northern Irish / British
Black & Minority Ethnic
(BME)
…just 8.1 per cent of over 65 year olds are
from BME backgrounds
In 2013 just over a quarter (26 per cent)
of births in Brighton & Hove were to
mothers born outside of the UK.
One fifth of our children and young people are from a BME
background

10. 0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
White UK/British (n=220,018) White Irish (n=3,772)
Other White (n=19,524) Mixed/multiple ethnic group(n=10,408)
Asian/Asian British (n=11,278) Black/Black British (n=4,188)
Arab (n=2,184) other ethnic group(n=1,799)
BME residents’ age profile is younger

13. The diversity of EAL students
► Diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds
► Different educational experiences
► Different background experiences
► Different emotional contexts
► Transferable skills in L1
► Part of a community or an
isolated learner

14. A Refugee Story

17. Support Systems
What support systems to you regularly access?

18. neighbours
Family & friends
social security
library
Careers advice
doctors
dentists
school admissions
housing advice
banks family centres
midwives
health visitors
pharmacies
schools & colleges hospitals
Some Support networks we access regularly…
pre - school

19. Take all of these support networks away
and this is how it is for our Newly Arrived families

20. The Diversity of EAL pupils
You can find out….
Languages spoken and country they’re from
Previous school experience if any
Trauma suffered although parents may not be
ready to share this
Literacy skills in home language etc
If the Newly Arrived child feels welcomed and valued this will make a significant
difference to them settling quickly and becoming a happy member of the class.
It is important to find out the history
of the child but this is not always easy
A meeting with the parents is invaluable if they
speak some English. If not, and you have a
bilingual assistant, then a three way meeting could
happen

21. The voice of the child with EAL
What might they say?

22. The Voice of the child with EAL
I want my parents
to know about all
the things that
happen at school
I might want to
be silent and just
take things in
I want people to
understand my religion
and not make fun of
me
I want you to
know I can read
& write in my
MT
I would like to share
my culture with you
and tell you about
my country
I might get cross
sometimes because I
can’t express myselfI want to feel safe in
the playground as I
can’t say if someone
hurts me
It helps me to
have pictures and
diagrams so I can
understand
I don’t want to be
given easy work just
because I can’t
speak English yet
…most of all I want to be treated like everyone else
I am naughty
sometimes
because I just
want to fit in

23. How long does it take?
Me toilet
go please
II can balance the
ball on my head
without losing
control of it

24. How long does it take to learn a new
language?
Superficial, conversational
fluency takes about 2 years
(BICS – Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills)
Academic fluency can take
between 5 and 9 years
(CALP – Cognitive Academic Proficiency)
Remodel mistakes sensitively rather than over correcting
II can balance
the ball on my
head without
losing control
of it
Me toilet go
please

25. Re-modeling mistakes
You went to a farm
yesterday and saw
some sheep? Who
did you go with?
Yesterday I go-ed to
the farm and I see-ed
sheeps I go-ed with
my mum
You went with
your mum, how
lovely.
Yes I went
with my
mum

26. The Early stages of learning a
language
►The silent period
►Understanding first
►Using gestures
►Echoing others
►Using common phrases
e.g. ‘sit down’
Don’t worry during this stage or try to insist the child speaks as this can be
stressful for them. Remember if the child is happy they will still be taking
everything in and therefore learning even if they are silent
(the silent stage is different from a refusal to speak as in selective mutism)

27. The Language Aware Teacher

28. What do bilingual learners need?
► To have thinking time before answering
questions so they can process language
► To have home language and culture valued
► To have language modelled for them
e.g. being last to speak in circle time so they can copy others
► To have opportunities to speak e.g. give questions requiring one word
answers or give them a choice of answers, so child is able to join in
even when a beginner
► To use language structures they can easily build on e.g. I can… / I
can’t… / I like… / I don’t like…
Importantly they need to feel safe enough to take risks

29. You can….
Create stress free situations where…
language can be practiced in a non-
threatening way e.g. home corner
encourage games where the child can
play alongside their peers
use non verbal activities e.g. taking
a message with a partner or giving out
work so child learns names of their peers
use other children with the same home language to help child feel settled,
this also shows them their Mother Tongue is valued by everyone
encourage child to socialise and sit with children who are good language role
models and use trios instead of talk partners taking pressure off beginner
Adapt activities so child is doing similar work to peers e.g. drawings related to
topic that can then be labelled so they begin to learn topic language
The child who feels included in the class will progress quickly

30. Support with Writing
Provide children with story mats or
writing frames to support their
writing. This means even at the
early stages of writing they can still
access a task
Give key words with
pictures related to familiar
stories so the EAL child can
write simple sentences

31. The Benefits of Bilingualism
► 70% of the world live with two or more languages
► Bilingualism can have long term advantages to our brains
► Bilingualism builds a natural awareness of how languages work. It’s called ‘meta-
linguistic- awareness. Children can find it easier to learn third or fourth languages
► Choosing between languages gives children greater flexibility of thinking. They can apply
this to other areas. For example they can be good at problem solving. They can also be
more sensitive to others from a young age
► Multilingual children can outperform monolingual children at secondary school, if their
first language is acknowledged and supported alongside English.
► New research suggests bilingualism has long-term cognitive advantages. E.g. protecting
against dementia in old age
► Children need to be strong in their first language or they may develop ‘limited
bilingualism’ when they are not strong in either language. This ‘half half’ situation
means they will lack a rich vocabulary. For example, this will affect their ability to write
imaginatively when they are older
Remember EAL is not a Special Educational Need but an asset

32. Teaching Practice Task
► What is the system for supporting children with EAL in the
school?
► Find out the languages spoken in your class/ the school
► Are there any children receiving EMAS support? What do
they receive?
► Identify a ‘language aware’ teacher. What strategies to
they use?
► Be language aware in your lesson planning and teaching
► Look at how the learning environment supports children
acquiring English
► How do the school monitor achievement of children with
EAL?

33. EMAS, Fairlight School, St Leonard’s Road, Brighton. BN2 3AJ Tel:01273-
292521