English as an additional language or dialect

Introduction:
The culturally diverse Australian society is reflected in Australian schools as approximately
one in four students is learning English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) (De
Courcy et al 2012, p.1). Students who are EAL/D are amongst several other students who
has diverse learning needs that are needed to be met. This calls upon the necessity of
inclusive education. Inclusive education is a process of catering to the unique individual
student learning needs through providing accessible learning activities for them to engage
in (Hyde et al 2013 p.11). All children are legally entitled to be taught the skills, knowledge
and understanding that the Australian Curriculum embodies (Knowles 2010, p.8). Without
teachers creating inclusive learning environments that responds to individual needs, it will
create a barrier for these students and will not maximise their educational opportunities
(Molbaek 2018, p.1048). Inclusive education is a high priority as identified by the
implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability standards for
Education 2005 which calls upon the needs for teachers to focus on inclusive rather than
separate activities (Hyde et al 2013, p.25). Hence, inclusive education is recognised as
vital in school today to ensure equitable outcomes for all students which correlates to the
first goal of the Melbourne Declaration of ‘promoting equity and excellence’ (Hyde et al
2013, p.17).

English as an Additional Language or Dialect

According to the Australian Curriculum, EAL/D students are overseas, Australian-born or

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals whose first language is a language or
dialect other than English (ACARA 2016). EAL/D students therefore requires additional
support for them to develop language proficiency in Standard Australian English (SAE)
(ACARA 2016). EAL/D students have diverse cultural and linguistic characteristics which
stems from their unique cultural background and experiences. Some may have come from
advantaged or disadvantaged family, or they may have suffered hardships in their home
country which affects their disposition and learning in schools (Maadad & White 2016,
p.8). Some EAL/D students may have some proficiency in SAE, whilst others have
minimal or no literacy experiences in SAE or in their home language (De Courcy et al.
2012 p.2). For this reason, there is no single EAL/D learner as each EAL/D student brings
a different background story to the classroom which impacts upon their learning in school

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(Taplin 2017, p.48). Likewise, the Australian Curriculum has highlighted four phases that
describes the progression of an EAL/D learners in their acquisition of SAE proficiency.
Depending upon an EAL/D students’ characteristics and experiences, they can be
classified under one of these learning phases which best describes their current capability
of SAE:

Beginning English: EAL/D students who are starting to learn English and can speak and
read age-appropriate print literacy in their first language. Some EAL/D students in this
language learning phase are learning English for the first time and therefore has limited
literacy background. Therefore, they will display difficulty in meeting the achievement
standards in the curriculum, particularly in the areas that rely heavily on language
proficiency. (ACARA 2016)

Emerging English: This learner group is similar to the previous group however EAL/D
students within this phase can speak basic English as well as their home language. They
have a growing knowledge of print literacy and can understand and participate in
classroom behaviours and procedures. However, they will have difficulty in displaying
their understanding through language-reliant activities (ACARA 2016).

Developing English: EAL/D students within this learning phase is quite competent in
functional English in both spoken and written modes. They are more active in the
classroom as they tend to participate more in the classroom routines. They are able to
understand the value of code-switching which is the ability to change language to suit the
given context. Thus, they are able to meet some of the achievement standards for their
year level (ACARA 2016).

Consolidating English: These students have a sound grasp of English which allows them
to engage more purposefully with curriculum demands. They have the ability to produce
spoken and written texts for a range of unique purposes with a sound understanding of
the appropriate text features and subject-specific vocabulary. EAL/D students within this
phase have the language skills to meet many of the achievement standards of their year
level (ACARA 2016).

Despite whichever learning phase an EAL/D student is in, all EAL/D learners do share
some common characteristics that creates a barrier for them to fully engage and

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participate in meaningful learning experiences within the classroom. Though not all EAL/D
students will have knowledge of SAE, some would have the ability to decode or read print
however they have difficulty in the ability to comprehend them (De Courcy et al 2012, p.
6). It is also difficult for EAL/D students to successfully interact and engage with other
students within their classroom due to the cultural and linguistic barriers (Monobe et al.
2012, p.347). This creates difficulty for them to build a sense of belonging in the classroom
which impacts upon their engagement in meaningful learning experiences resulting in
academic underperformance (Monobe et al. 2012, p.247). Additionally, due to migrating
to a new country, it is most likely that EAL/D students have experienced disrupted
schooling which also contributes to their limited literary levels (Maadad & White 2016, p.8)

Considerations and accommodations for EAL/D students in the classroom

EAL/D students can achieve the same standards as their peers who are already familiar
with language through appropriate strategies and accommodations in the classroom. The
characteristics of EAL/D students informs educators to use strategies that not only
supports their acquisition of SAE, but also their confidence, motivation and belonging
within the classroom. The strategies used to accommodate EAL/D students in the
classroom is beneficial for all students and thus creating an inclusive learning environment
through not isolating EAL/D students (Taplin 2017, p.48).

Knowing and understanding how students learn correlates to the AITSL Standard 1
(Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 2017). In order to know EAL/D
students, teachers can ask them to write an introduction about themselves to gain a
deeper insight on their unique upbringing stories (Taplin 2017, p.48). Through this,
educators can then complete a sociolinguistic profile to determine which language
learning phase they are in for effective planning and to ensure they can meet their
linguistic and cultural needs (Hyde et al 2013, p.50).

Social interactions in the classroom is important in helping EAL/D students linguistically

and developing a sense of belonging for them. Small group or partner peer to peer
interactions can support EAL/D students as they require time to process their thoughts
and ideas (Hyde et al 2013, p.60). Social interaction provides a platform of learning in a
shared context which exposes EAL/D students to how language is used by their peers, it
allows them to practise their use of oral language in a non-threating way and to also

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discuss their ideas on a task. This is more beneficial in opposed to a class discussion as
reporting back to the class in pairs could relieve stress and pressure off EAL/D students.
(Hyde et al 2013 p.60). Encouraging collaboration with a peer that is speaking English as
their first language also helps EAL/D students to develop confidence, build relationships
in the classroom (Monobe et al. 2017, p. 347; Hyde et al. 2013, p.53). This is significantly
important to assist students to develop a sense of belonging to the classroom as research
shows that there is a direct correlation between language acquisition and a sense of
belonging for EAL/D students (Sellars & Murphy 2017, p. 493).

Research has shown that scaffolding task and language rich learning focus environment
is extremely beneficial for EAL/D students (Freeman 2017, p.37). Scaffolding learning
allows educators to provide guidance through amplifying the messages in class rather
than simplifying it (Taplin 2017, p.49). This can be done through implementing think-pair-
share activities during teaching where all students can analyse and discuss the topic
which allows teachers to pre-teach the ideas and subject-specific vocabulary (Freeman
2017, p. 38). There are many vocabulary items that pose problems for EAL/D students so
having activities such as jumble sentences activities, images of common vocabulary,
explaining the use of abbreviation and simply having a subject-specific vocabulary wall
displayed in the class would be beneficial for EAL/D student’s linguistic learning (Liu 2010,
p.35). Exposing EAL/D students with SAE through reading and writing and modelling how
to use the correct language conventions is also a necessity in supporting them in the
classroom (Hyde et al 2013, p.50). However, to further engage EAL/D students, teachers
should not be reliant on verbal skills as they can also invite students to act out poems,
strike a pose whenever they articulate a specific word or practise different gestures to also
support their understanding of some English words in any subject area (Monobe et al.
2017, p.348). Similarly, teachers should also incorporate information visually to further
engage and communicate information to EAL/D students (Guliz 2012, p. 34).

The home language/s of EAL/D students is an asset in their development of becoming

proficient in SAE. Evidence suggest that EAL/D students utilise their home
language/dialect to make better sense of their thoughts and therefore construct better
developed ideas (Liu 2010, p.27). Just like every student, EAL/D students are not blank
slates as they bring their funds of knowledge to learning experiences (Liu 2010, p.28).
Therefore, teachers can use translation sites and other resources to help EAL/D students
understand English words in their home language/s or dialect (Monobe et al. 2017, p. 348)

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This allows EAL/D students to engage in meaningful learning experiences as they can
comprehend their thoughts more. Embracing their culture in the classroom is equally
important as utilising their home language as it also strengthens learning outcomes and
develops one’s confidence and acceptance within the classroom environment (Taplin
2017, p.48). Teachers can simply do this by displaying the different cultures in the class
and have students share their cultural backgrounds.

Release of teacher’s guidance and feedback is also critical in supporting EAL/D students
in the classroom. Feedback should develop one’s understanding of the incorrect attempt
they’ve made and not to simply correct them. Explicit language feedback for EAL/D
students is important for their language development in which teachers re-articulate the
correct use of language through scaffolding (Freeman 2017, p.38). Once the support of
the teacher is given, EAL/D students require a lot of time practising using language
through different modes by themselves so that they can employ their new learning to
complete a given task (Freeman 2017, p.37).

Support services and resource for EAL/D students

The Australian Curriculum has created an informative EAL/D teacher resource which
provides a more in-depth explanation of the characteristics of each learning phase as well
as strategies to accommodate in the classroom (ACARA 2016). The South Australia
Department for Education has a program for teachers that supports the delivery of
culturally inclusive approach (South Australia Department for Education 2018). Using
culturally diverse resources is important for the inclusivity of all students. Scholastic
provides a wide range of resources for teachers to use and how to implement them in their
classrooms (Scholastic 2019). An application called Duolingo can also assist with EAL/D
language development in SAE through using their first language as a mode of translation
(Duolingo 2018). Multicultural literature in the classroom is also a way to embrace
diversity, some books that teachers can use are: Whoever You are by Mem Fox, The
Arrival by Shaun Tan, Let’s Eat by Ana Iamorano and You and Me: Our place by Leonie
Norrington and Dee Huxley (Manglaras, R 2019).

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Critical issues

As mentioned above, embracing the cultural differences in the classroom would require
teachers to also use text from different cultures to create more meaningful learning
experiences particularly for EAL/D students. However, the issue that arises is the lack of
published books that are outside the white, middle-class heterosexual world (Boyd,
Causey & Galda 2015, p. 380). Teachers would need the support of culturally diverse
resources to create a more accessible curriculum for EAL/D students and therefore, a
range of culturally diverse books is required. The National Assessment Program – Literacy
and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests is a standardised test for students to provide various
stakeholders information about student achievements in literacy and numeracy (Brady &
Kennedy 2012, p.125). This is problematic particularly for EAL/D students as the test is
based on SAE proficiency performance and is culturally bias towards students from
western cultures (Dooley & May 2013, p.5). The validity and fairness of the test then
becomes an issue as it does not fully provide information on a student’s knowledge in a
learning area. Parents are critical stakeholders in any child’s learning, however for EAL/D
students, their parents tend to also speak limited English. EAL/D students are often asked
to be the translator between families and teachers rather than the parent assisting their
child in their language development (Bilingual education, 2007). As mentioned above,
there is no single EAL/D learner as there are some EAL/D students who have experienced
emotional, psychological and/or physical trauma in their life which will impact upon their
learning in the classroom (De Courcy et al 2012 p. 2). This also accounts for EAL/D
students who are refugees and asylum seekers because they tend to be withdrawn, have
difficulty to concentrate, difficulty in sleeping and find the school culture alienating (Sellars
& Murphy 2017 p. 493). Therefore, this additional layer of diverse characteristics would
impact on EAL/D student’s language develop and class engagement and thus it is
imperative for teachers to use a wider range of support services and resources to meet
their specific needs.

Student profile:
Lia is a newly arrival student from Japan who is learning English as her second language.
She is within the Emerging English language learning phase. She does have some
understanding of SAE and can use it in some context. She is quite shy and reluctant to
voice out her opinions in class discussions. She also has difficulty in making friends so
she needs support in building a sense of confidence and belonging in the classroom.

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Lesson plan:
Topic: Year level: 3
Procedure text
Content Descriptor
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts demonstrating
increasing control over text structures and language features and selecting print, and
multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose (ACELY1682)
Lesson Plan | 2 Lesson in unit Modification and accommodation
Introduce:
Students are to be seated on
the floor. Introduce the
procedural writing topic. Tell
students that we will by
constructing a procedural text
together about how to get
dressed for a cold winter day.
Refer to what was learnt in the
previous lesson.
Write down the following
materials on the board: Jacket,
gloves, scarf, beanie. Tell
students that these are the
items that are required on a cold
winter day.
Develop:
Ask students to indicate what is
needed at the topic of the page.
Ask students to indicate what is
the goal and materials.
Type the procedure on the
interactive whiteboard as
students orally dictate the steps.
Ask the class if the instructions
were explicit enough or if there’s
Sub-strand/subject: English
When introducing the procedural writing topic, refer to
the previous lesson on some common vocabulary used
in a procedural text. Create a word wall for these
terminology that is accompanied by a picture: title,
goal, materials, instructions, test. This is to help all
students, particularly Lia, to understand the meaning of
these words.
Add to the word wall different order words and action
words (firstly, next, then, before after, put, move, get).
Ask students to discuss with their partner what are
some other action words that they know. Invite each
pair to share their response back to the class.
Talk about what are some countries that experiences
cold weather and would require these items to stay
warm in a cold day. Talk about which countries have
snowy weather and ask students to share to the class
where they’ve been in the world that snowed or was
cold. Share pictures of these countries including Japan,
South Korea, Poland, Australia, Chile and Italy.
Instead of writing these materials on the board, have
these items as props so the teacher can act out the
procedural text during joint-construction. Explain what
each item are to the whole class so all students know
what each item is.
Ask students to engage in a think-pair-share and
discuss what could be a possible title and goal for this
procedural text. Encourage the other partner in each
partner group who hasn’t reported back to the group to
share back. This allows Lia to report back the
discussion she made with her partner as all students in
the class will be developing that confidence in reporting
back.
When writing the materials, explain to all students that
we dot point the materials as we are just listing them.
Explain and show the use of dot points to the whole
class.
Explain and show to the class that we number our
steps to show that the instructions are a step by step
process. Encourage students to engage in a think pair
share again to think of what the first step could be. Ask
pairs to act out the first step using the props and then
Kylie Rivera 110231567 7
another way to be clearer on the
instructions
Tell students that they will now
individual write their own
procedural text on making a
sandwich.
Conclude:
Instruct students to have a
gallery walk around the room to take turns in reading out the steps so that everyone in
look at what other students have the class speaks. After each pair share, show
written.
Provide students with yellow
and green coloured paper to
give glow and grow peer
assessment feedback.
Word count: 2911
articulate what the first step could be. Provide feedback
to the pair and whole class by asking if the instructions
were clear enough.
Continue this with a couple more steps alternating with
whole class questioning and think-pair-share.
As you go through each step, model to the whole class
the correct way of writing to reinforce the structure of
the sentence of starting with a capital letter and ending
in a full stop. Use a different colour to highlight the
order words and action words in each instruction.
After writing the instructions, read the instructions back
to the whole class and act out each step using the
props provided.
Instead of an independent write up, carefully divide the
class into pairs and instruct them to do a joint-
construction of a procedural text on making a
sandwich. Pair up the EAL/D student with a peer that
speakers English as their first language.
Provide equipment of the deconstructed toy sandwich
for students to manipulate as their write their
procedural text. Show images on the white board of
each ingredients.
Instruct students to also illustrate a picture for each
step to visually show the instruction for the step.
Display a visual of the instructions that the whole class
need to complete. Leave this on display till end of
lesson.
Ask each pair to share their instruction section of their
procedural text. Ensure that each partner in the pair
appreciation through clapping. (the incorporation of
social interaction and joint-construction is to help meet
the goal of Lia interaction with her peers which is stated
in her NEP plan).
Still do glow and grow peer assessment feedback but
teacher will also do this and give language specific
feedback to all students.
Kylie Rivera 110231567 8
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