Pupils whose mother tongue is not English often make mixed progress in their first two years at a British school, a study suggests.
Gaps in support for children who speak English as an additional language (EAL) stem in part from a lack of national guidelines on how to support them, according to a team of academics from Cambridge, Anglia Ruskin and Durham universities.
A book by the team, Language Development and Social Integration of Students with English as an Additional Language, builds on three years of research involving more than 40 schools across the East of England.
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The research suggests that while many EAL pupils become competent English speakers, their written English often lags behind. Funding cuts for EAL support may exacerbate this pattern, the academics say, and a more structured support framework is needed.
Call for more support for EAL pupils
Dr Karen Forbes, a lecturer at the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, said: “At the moment, it is often left to individual teachers or schools to decide how to handle the challenges of a multilingual classroom.
“While many do excellent work, EAL pupils inevitably have a variable experience.
“Teachers and schools should be able to draw on a structured framework and a proper knowledge base so that they can give these pupils the sustained linguistic and educational support they often need.”
The research suggests that while many schools rightly prioritise the integration of EAL learners into mainstream lessons, some will need ongoing one-to-one support.
This would help to develop more academic English, long past the point where pupils appear socially integrated and able to hold a casual conversation, the study authors conclude.
Many of the schools surveyed actively encouraged an inclusive and positive environment for EAL pupils.
The research reveals that teachers used various tactics that could form part of a wider support framework, such as group learning and buddy systems, translated texts and different visual aids.
But the research also shows that many such interventions are devised locally, by schools or individual teachers, in the absence of more structured or systematic guidance.
The authors point out that this can lead to inconsistencies: for example, teachers varied their approach to when EAL pupils could use their home language, which often left students confused about when to use English.
Michael Evans, emeritus reader in second language education at the University of Cambridge, said: “Overall, there is a need for a more systematic, whole-school approach to the education of EAL pupils.
“This includes supporting teachers to develop their skills, providing them with a knowledge base on which to draw, and developing an effective communication system to promote parental engagement in schools.
“If that can be achieved, the benefits will be felt far beyond schools and EAL pupils alone.”
