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.

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