Jo Higgins-Cezza

Beaumont Training & Consultancy Ltd

www.beaumontcoaching.co.uk/ealtraining

What is an Advanced Learner of EAL?

• 5 years + in the UK ?• Born in the UK but English is not first language

Issues of an Advanced learner

• Comprehension v ability to respond• Comprehension v ability to write at length• Comprehension v ability to produce coursework/respond to exam questions• Street talk v academic genre

BICS and CALP

• Cummins (1979, etc.)

• Basic Interpersonal Skills (playground talk, classroom chit chat)

• 5-7 years to develop Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

• Context embedded

Luke and Freebody 1999• coding competence (the ability to decode text, i.e.

phonics) • semantic competence (the ability to make

meaning, i.e. comprehension) • pragmatic competence (everyday, functional

literacy, i.e. writing a cheque, reading the newspaper, filling out a job application, etc.)

• critical competence (the ability to critically select and analyze texts, e.g. determining reliable sources of information)

The four factors affecting L2 acquisition

• Academic development in L1 (knowledge, skill base)

• Emotional aspects of schooling

• Cognitive development in L1

• Language development in L1

(metalinguistic awareness)

Writing strategies

• Use of passive voice

• Nominalisation

• Complex sentences

• Collocation

• Technical lexis

“it is an essential component of any strategy to improve writing”

(National Strategies)

• Learning as a social process (Vygotsky 1986)• Comprehensive Input Theory (Krashen 1985)

“Children, we now know, need to talk, and to

experience a rich diet of spoken language,

in order to think and to learn. Reading,

writing and number may be the

acknowledged curriculum ‘basics’, but talk

is arguably the true foundation of learning. (Alexander 2004)

An RE case study

Mantle of the Expert: A different approach

• Not role play but experiential learning

• Cross curriculum quest

• Involves all four skill areas – talk into writing

• Context embedded

• Focuses on language in context

• Empowers, includes and enthuses!

Jo Higgins-Cezza

Beaumont Training & Consultancy

www.beaumontcoaching.co.uk/ealtraining