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Everyone is talking about differentiation for EAL in whole class teaching, but how do we actually approach it consistently and effectively?
At Across Cultures we have been developing some systematic ways of approaching this in a structured, yet flexible format. In the downloadable plan you'll see a framework to support EAL teachers with planning for content learning alongside language learning. The plan is based about the theme of sea pollution and provides a writing frame for a persuasive text.
This lesson follow a particular format:
1. Pre teach vocabulary of the text type. There are many games for supporting learners with remembering new vocabulary.
2. Introduce the theme, text type and ensure comprehension of text.
3. Reproduce sections of the text day by day with support of writing frames, the vocabulary learnt and the text.
4. Recreate the entire text without support.
Stories are a powerful way for children to develop language skills and connect with their culture. Specifically, for EAL families, storytelling in their home language is a way to preserve cultural traditions and is an essential part of their children’s multilingual development.
The popularity of bilingual schools is increasing. This can be seen, for example, in the growing number of French schools in London, where the students follow a bilingual programme.
In many countries there is an emphasis on learning two languages (The Linguist, 2017). In Scotland in 2011 the government pledged to follow the European model of 1+2 languages. Every child would learn two languages in addition to their mother tongue, to celebrate linguistic and cultural diversity and thus facilitate the inclusion of other languages within the school.
From November 2025, Ofsted will look more closely at how schools recognise and support learners at the early stages of learning English as an additional language. The new ‘State-funded school inspection toolkit’ (Ofsted, 2025, page 20) makes it absolutely clear that EAL provision is about unlocking multilingual potential.