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Miranda, MEd. BA Hons Trinity Dip TESOL, Mindlab, is responsible for demonstrations and training in the Australasia region, as well as content development. She is an EAL specialist who has taught in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary organisations in the UK, NZ, Malaysia and Oman. She has worked as an academic leader and as a teacher professional development coach. She also has experience across a range of international curricula, including NZCEL, NCEA, PYP, IMYC and Cambridge. Her specific area of interest is blended learning to meet individual student needs in a relevant context.

Articles from this author

Early Stage EAL teacher with EAL learners

Supporting early-stage teachers with EAL learners

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL Specialist
Created: Thu 12th Dec 2024

We’ve covered the theory, we’re enthusiastic and ready to get stuck in! However, as an early-stage teacher, we might also feel overwhelmed by the task and intimidated by the expectations. So where do we start? Initially, the question is: What do I teach? This article answers some of the questions related to language teaching.

New EAL teacher with EAL learners

New to EAL teaching? Where to start

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL Specialist
Created: Thu 12th Dec 2024

You might be an experienced teacher, new to teaching, or support staff, but you have never taught any EAL learners before. You are in for an exciting journey! You may initially feel overwhelmed and frustrated by the barriers to communication with your new learners, but you will soon find that your lessons have potential to be creative, interactive and a heap of fun! 

Organising and planning writing with graphic organisers

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL Specialist
Created: Mon 2nd Sep 2024

We all know that there is often resistance to writing in the classroom. To break this barrier, we need to consider the reasons for this, which are probably due to lack of scaffolding and under confident learners. Working through a process of reading a model text, deconstructing it and then reconstructing your own text by following a scaffold, leads to more satisfactory outcomes. It is not just the content that learners have to consider. It is the genre, it’s features and organising of ideas. Using a graphic organiser is immensely helpful at the brainstorming and planning stage.

Illustration Of Oak Tree with language map overlaid

Why are there idiosyncrasies in English? A brief history of the English language

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL Specialist
Created: Tue 11th Jun 2024

By Miranda Howell

English is a language which has developed over 15 hundred years and has adopted words from over 350 languages. As a result, English has a rich tapestry of vocabulary and spelling patterns which can confuse learners. Having a brief background knowledge of the historical influences on the English language can support our teaching to both first language learners and EAL learners, especially around decoding words when reading. 

hands writing at a desk

Teaching pre-literate learners

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL specialist
Created: Wed 7th Feb 2024

I will never forget the ‘feelings’ I experienced during my EAL teacher training, when I sat in a class with a tutor who entered the room with a basket of goodies and greeted us in Swedish. My immediate reaction was one of confusion, which then led to frustration and finally a sense of hopelessness, before I even realised that I was actually expected to experience learning some Swedish without a single word of English allowed in the classroom.

an image of flags in front of children's desks in a model UN setting

UN children’s rights and refugees

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL specialist
Created: Wed 25th Oct 2023

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty that encompasses specific children’s rights bound by international law. It was put in place by the United Nations (UN) in 1989 and “defines universal principles and standards for the status and treatment of children worldwide.” It is important because it states children’s basic, fundamental civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights to promote a safe and fulfilled childhood.

teacher holding up flashcard

Vocabulary: What should we teach, and how?

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL Specialist
Created: Wed 26th Apr 2023

What should we teach?

Many of us have been in a situation where we want to communicate with someone who does not speak the same language. We resort to wild gestures, attempts to say unfamiliar words, grammar seems insignificant and feelings of frustration soar. Some basic vocabulary becomes our lifeline.

Mainstream teacher with EAL learners

Tips for mainstream teachers to support EAL learners

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL Specialist
Created: Fri 20th Jan 2023

How often does a classroom teacher approach an EAL teacher with the words, “I don’t know how to help this learner! I have no experience with English language learners”? There are a few key principles and strategies that can easily be shared to empower teachers to provide an educational environment that is conducive to language learning.

Child using graphic organiser

Why use a graphic organiser?

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL specialist
Created: Thu 4th Aug 2022

We all know that there can be resistance to writing in the EAL classroom. To break this barrier, we need to consider the reasons for this, which are often due to a lack of scaffolding and under-confident learners. Working through a process of reading a model text, deconstructing it and then reconstructing your own text by following a scaffold, leads to more satisfactory outcomes.

Child looking back from school gate

Transitioning from primary to secondary

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL specialist
Created: Wed 25th May 2022

The big day has arrived, the new uniform is looking smart, and now our 'senior' Primary school learners are about to become important 'junior' Secondary school students. For most of us, this is a memorable experience and, therefore, very significant. However, whilst some learners approach this milestone with great excitement and enthusiasm, others are nervous and anxious.

EAL students writing

Hook in your EAL learners at the start of a writing lesson

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL specialist
Created: Wed 23rd Feb 2022

The traditional way to start a lesson with Secondary school learners is with a 'do now!' activity. It works. You get a focused start to the lesson, with students calmly settling into an activity as soon as they enter the room. Moving on – and introducing the ‘learning intention’ – however, can be a little more challenging. This is especially true for EAL learners, particularly if the lesson is a tricky or more academic one, such as a writing lesson, that may have negative connotations for some pupils.

Child trying to pronounce

Teaching pronunciation in the classroom

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL specialist
Created: Mon 17th May 2021

As school teachers faced with EAL learners in our classrooms, we often push the teaching of phonics down the list, especially at secondary school level. Yet communication is dependent on comprehensive pronunciation when speaking, and on decoding graphemes when reading. Consider for a moment the impact mispronunciation can have on accurate communication. For example, if I ask for soap in a restaurant, I might be faced with a blank stare! This error is caused by confusing two very similar phonemes in soap/soup.

Girl with rulers

CLIL: Integrating language and curriculum teaching

Author: Miranda Howell, EAL specialist
Created: Mon 14th Dec 2020

For those of us who are EAL teachers in school, selecting our language learning outcomes is only one consideration in our planning. Our students attend our lessons primarily to be able to access the language they are facing in their mainstream classes. This means that we need to be very clear about our context, and about what vocabulary and language structures are relevant to that context.