EAL Learners and Reading
Bilingual Books
Bilingual books can help children and young people to access English texts. They also promote bilingualism and mean EAL learners feel both their languagues are of equal importance.
Bilingual books can be purchased from a number of sources:
http://www.alien-languages.com/
https://www.little-linguist.co.uk/
Reading Leaflets for EAL Parents
Please feel free to use these translated leaflets. They give advice on reading for EAL parents and are translated into a number of languages.
Identity Texts
"Books play an important role as mirrors for children; these stories and characters will affect how they see themselves and the world around them, their motivation to read, and their aspirations to become authors and illustrators of the future"
(Booktrust website, 2019)
Finding books that represent the diversity of families in the UK can be difficult. Book trust have developed a brochure with authors and illustrators from a black or ethnic minority backgrounds.
The Guardian published a list of the 50 best culturally diverse books for children and young people: