EAL Assessment
Assessment of learners with English as an Additional Language is an important facet of providing quality support for these pupils. It enables recognition of what they can already do, as they both develop English proficiency and learn content taught through English, and allows teaching staff to identify appropriate targets for short-to-medium term progress.
Contrary to some assumptions, English as an Additional Language is not the same as Literacy. The rudiments of Literacy, which may not be explicitly taught in the mainstream curriculum (such as verb endings and agreements between nouns and pronouns), represent the unknown for pupils new to English. Beginner EAL learners are likely to have similar patterns of development as they acquire increasingly competent and ultimately fluent English language ability; at the same time, learners from different language backgrounds and experiences are likely to vary according to their first languages and past schooling, among other factors. Further, each may demonstrate some unevenness between the 4 language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) as well as some inconsistency in the pace of their individual development across any or all of these skills.
EAL Assessment Frameworks
There are several effective EAL assessment frameworks available to schools seeking to monitor the progress of their EAL learners and plan for their next steps. Perhaps the best known of these are NASSEA and The Bell Foundation. Another particularly useful framework is that of Solihull.
NASSEA EAL Assessment Framework:
- is a tool kit with a CD Rom for schools to buy
- contains description of stages of progress in learning English, including more advanced stages
- covers EYFS to KS4
- has practical advice for teachers, teaching assistants and learning mentors
The Bell Foundation's EAL Assessment Framework
The Bell Foundations's EAL Assessment Framework for schools:
https://www.bell-foundation.org.uk/eal-programme/teaching-resources/eal-assessment-framework/
Here Constance Leung outlines how this assessment system support schools.
First-Language Assessments
We can provide first-language assessments for pupils. Please contact us to find out more via equalityanddiversity@lancashire.gov.uk
Assessment in mathematics toolkit to support pupils for whom English is an additional language
Although this toolkit comes from the KS3 National Strategy it has assessment objectives and activities from reception to year 8.
This document is subject to Crown copyright and has been reproduced under licence from the Office of Public Sector Information.
Lancashire's Equality and Diversity Team offers training for teaching staff on Assessment, Setting Targets and Tracking Progress for EAL Pupils. The objectives of this training are:
- To have increased confidence in assessing EAL children and the ability to choose an appropriate EAL assessment framework for your setting
- To know how to use the assessment frameworks to track progress and set targets
- To become familiar with what typical progress looks like
If you would like further information, please contact us at equalityanddiversity@lancashire.gov.uk