Supporting Writing
In the previous section, we looked at supporting reading across the curriculum.
This final set of resources will explore ways by which we can support pupils with EAL with their writing, whatever the curriculum subject.
There are of course very close links between reading and writing, whether you are reading and writing in your first or an additional language.
Being aware of these links can help remind us to plan for any barriers that pupils with EAL might face when reading and writing different texts across different subjects.
Read this short article entitled ‘Developing Writing Skills in EAL’ from NALDIC. It is quite dated now, but presents some very useful ideas.
You might want to make notes on the following:
· Why might writing be more difficult for some EAL learners than others?
· Why is writing so complex, not just for EAL learners but for all – adults and children?
· How does written English differ from speech?
· What part does punctuation play in written language?
· What supporting activities should precede writing tasks?
There are some questions and useful suggestions on the final page which could be helpful when supporting pupils with EAL when they are writing.
You may also find the chapter from my book useful, which focuses on supporting pupils with EAL in terms of their writing.
There are ideas about modelling, shared writing, using texts as examples and identifying elements that might prove problematic, when writing in a second language.
Although this chapter was written for primary teachers, all the ideas are very relevant when thinking about how best to plan for and support any pupils with EAL, as they write across the curriculum subjects.
Here is the chapter:
When considering how best to support pupils with EAL as they engage with writing across the curriculum, it is easy sometimes to think of those who struggle and are at the early stages of engagement with English.
However, inevitably in secondary education we will have pupils who are at quite an advanced stage of English language acquisition and it is important to have an understanding of the types of support most useful for them.
When I did my doctoral study, I explored what I termed ‘positive othering’ and how this can negatively impact support provided.
For me, the concept of positive othering was when pupils with EAL were seen as doing well - socially, academically, linguistically - and appeared happy and successful.
They were ‘othered’ in terms of being seen as a well-motivated, academically able minority group (in this case, Nepalese girls).
Although this was very positive, it led to a lack of support to move them to a higher level.
When I examined their writing, there was little evidence of the use of complex vocabulary, and grammatical constructions were often incorrect.
However, the work was at a reasonable level, made sense and showed understanding and therefore ‘positive othering’ occurred, whereby the pupils were assessed as doing fine and not needing particular support.
We all need support with writing throughout our lives, whether it be drafting a job application using ChatGPT, writing an assignment for a further qualification and asking a friend to proofread, or collaborating with a team to write a new school policy.
In the same way, pupils with EAL - whatever stage of literacy they are at - will need appropriate and well-considered support.
The follow 2 articles provide ideas for this, particularly in relation to more advanced bilinguals:
Developing strategies to support writing across all curriculum subjects is similar in many ways to developing our practice to support pupils with their reading and can feel daunting at times, particularly when we have pupils at very different stages of English language acquisition.
Taking the ‘drip drip’ approach mentioned earlier is the best way forward - trying out small approaches, experimenting with different resources.
The following PowerPoint provides some ideas about the challenges writers of a new language might face and then goes on to suggest pedagogies and practices you might want to include in your planning and teaching.
Finally, I have included a very interesting reading by Aura Mor-Sommerfeld, looking at what she refers to as a ‘Language Mosaic’.
It is a useful article to remind us all of the complexity of becoming literate in a 2nd language and hopefully to inspire us all - whatever subject we teach - to be innovative, thoughtful and responsive, when planning and teaching to ensure the participation, involvement, engagement and motivation of all our pupils with EAL.
This brings us to the end of our EAL resources on this site and we hope they are proving useful!
If you have any questions or would like further ideas or materials, do contact us