In the classroom, teachers are routinely tasked with making their lesson content accessible to all students. In order to ensure that we are delivering an inclusive experience, it is important to consider student’s uniqueness and individual needs. As educators, we should be aware of ways to support those that are learning with English as an additional language (EAL). In this article, I will summarise some of my research into this area and provide some practical tips to assist teachers in creating the optimal environment for our bilingual learners.

The ‘Catering for all’ Philosophy

In order to approach this matter effectively, it is important that educators approach these diverse environments with a positive attitude. ‘Catering for all’ must be the goal and to do this, we must understand the barriers that our bilingual students are likely to come across. In addition to this understanding and empathy, we should view these barriers as problems for the teacher to solve, and not as an issue within the student. It is therefore on us, the educators, to remove barriers and make our lessons accessible to EAL students (Causton-Theoharis & Theoharis, 2008).  To apply this philosophy practically, it is essential that teachers are reflective and willing to adapt resources and lesson plans to support bilingual students.

Common Misconceptions

It is extremely easy to fall into the trap of simply providing easier work to those EAL students. While this may be done with the best intentions, it is possible that over-simplifying the work may inhibit the progress of the student. I have found that a student’s understanding of English does not necessarily predict their academic capabilities. This is also supported by Leyton et al, (2002). It is important that interventions are designed to allow EAL students to access the main learning outcomes, rather than setting the bar lower and having a lower expectation.

Recognising the potential of bilingual learners

As well as recognising the barriers that our EAL students may face, we should also remember that this does not hinder their academic potential. Students in a classroom, not understanding 100% of the words being used by the teacher and their peers, may feel isolated from the learning process. This is not helped by overly differentiated tasks or being given separate resources. From my experience, it is safe to say that language intervention is usually beneficial to the whole class and not just those that are not fluent in English. When providing additional resources for EAL students, such as dictionaries, why not hand them out to the whole class? Even those fluent in English will likely have room to improve their language skills and approaching the lesson in this way means that bilingual students are less likely to feel separated from the rest of the class. As well as providing an inclusive environment, we should make sure that our bilingual students feel valued in the class. We should recognise their achievements in being able to communicate in more than one language. Praising students for their language skills and having them share it with the class can help to create a better learning environment.

Suggested teaching tips

Through a combination of research and my experience of teaching in secondary schools, here are some of my tried and tested tips for teaching bilingual students.

• Bridge the gap in word understanding – it is important that EAL students have access to key words that may be missing from their vocabulary. This could be done by providing dictionaries, tablets, laptops, or phones at key points in the lesson. While these resources are useful for every student, ensure that EAL students are given time to look up words that may improve their understanding of lesson content.
• Be aware that our EAL students may find it challenging to understand concepts in texts if they are struggling with some of the words. I have found that students often avoid asking questions even if they do not understand. I have tackled this by teaching students to annotate printed texts, writing down any questions, or highlighting words that they do not understand. Students that have highlighted words can then be supported without bringing it to the attention of the whole class.
• Provide opportunities for bilingual students to share words from their first language with the rest of the class. Praise them for their ability to be able to communicate in 2 or more languages.
• EAL students have often pointed out that visual resources are helpful. Pictures that support the text on lesson slides can make it easier for students to understand the concepts that are being taught. I would recommend adding images to all lesson slides and worksheets, not just those that will be seen by EAL students.