TESOL seminars

Hello everyone thank you for joining me Isabelle KY today to talk about bilingualism at the first of 202's UTS seminars in today's session speak your language understanding bilingualism in the learning environment we'll be exploring what bilingualism means common myths associated with it and how we can better support bilingual Learners in our classrooms in the second session we'll look at practical bilingual strategies for New South wal schools and moving beyond the monolingual mindset to get started I want to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which we all live learn and work and to pay my respects to Elders past present and emerging and to extend that respect to all First Nations people joining us today we'll begin today's session by looking at what bilingualism is some of the myths surrounding it and we'll have a look at the New South Wales context in terms of its diversity and its multiculturalism we'll then talk about how bilingualism is a challenge to traditional approaches in education and how we can be moving beyond monolingualism in the classroom we'll also talk about the idea of um of of English being your second language as a deficit which has um commonly been um part of the education discourse and we'll look instead about H we'll look Instead at how language is a resource that can be used to both empower the student and to enrich the classroom in which the student is in finally we'll look at practical implications of bilingualism for teachers so to begin what is bilingualism a bilingual person is someone who can use two or more languages in their daily life and that doesn't necess necessarily mean that they have equal Proficiency in both languages um but it does mean that they have um a reservoir of knowledge Beyond just a single language did you know that more than half the world's population is bilingual in fact bilingualism is the norm globally rather than the exception and yet in many English-speaking countries including Australia bilingualism is often seen as unusual or even problematic in schools broadly we can categorize bilingualism into two types we've got simultaneous bilingualism and this occurs when a child learns two language languages from birth um so for example the child grows up in a home where one one parent speaks Mandarin and the other speaks English and they use both languages consistently that's simultaneous bilingualism and then there's also sequential bilingualism and that is when a person learns a second language after they've learned their first um and when their first is already established so for instance if a child speaks Arabic at home and then doesn't learn English until they begin formal schooling that's sequential bilingualism what can occur in everyday uh discourse and and in society is that people can have the impression that learning two languages can be confusing or that bilingual children can fall behind in schools and these beliefs are surprisingly persistent even though research has debunk them so I just want to take a moment to break down some of the common myths about bilingualism so this first one as I've said is that learning two languages confuses children and that's really rooted in the idea that children's brains can't handle two languages at once but in reality children are incredibly capable of distinguishing between languages in fact research shows that bilingual children can differentiate between two languages within the first few months of life but in practice what can sometimes happen is that children mix languages occasionally um and this is part of um normal development or or code switching and their brains will naturally sort out which language to use with different people or in different contexts over time so for example that child who speaks um Arabic at home and English at school at first they might mix words from both languages in the same sentence um and this isn't confusion this is actually a sign of linguistic flexibility and over time they learn that the the when to use each language based on the context that they're in another common fear about encouraging bilingualism is that it will make it harder for children to succeed in school but research actually constantly and consistently shows the opposite there are cognitive benefits to biling ISM as it can strengthen their problem Sol students problem solving skills their multitasking their critical thinking SK skills they also develop stronger literacy skills so um they often transfer the skills of their home language into th into their um into their burgeoning English language learning and studies also show that bilingual students tend to perform as well as well or even as be better than their monolingual peers in the long term and you may have seen examples of that of a very high performing students who um speak a different language as their first language at home the third myth I want to touch on relating to bilingualism is that students should really focus on English when they're at school historically many SC schools have operated under the belief that students should leave their home languages at the door and focus only on English but this actually ignores a key reality which is that the first language is a powerful learning tool in itself when students maintain their home language it can support their English development it strengthens their identity and well-being and it also keeps a family and a cultural connection um through their first language and that's really important um to Young people's identity building so the research-based realities are that bilingualism does not confuse children but it enhances their cognitive flexibility bilingual children do not struggle academically they in fact gain cognitive and lit literacy advantages and that focusing on English actually limits students learning because their home language is a valuable resource so when thinking about this language diversity take a moment to think about your own classroom or your own school and how many of your students speak a language other than English at home and now imagine that across the entire New South Wales school system so linguistic linguistic diversity in our schools is greater than ever and then and the numbers are growing every year as of March 2024 nearly 40% of students in New South Wales came from a a background where English wasn't their first language and that's over 300,000 students across the state and I'm drawing this data from from the New South Wales um d report which you can see here um and in 2022 alone New South Wales schools welcomed more than 8,600 newly ared students and they came with 138 different languages so this really means that classrooms are increasingly multilingual and Educators really need to adapt um in and ensure that they're cons considering um students backgrounds this need for teachers to adapt is reflected in the move Beyond monolingualism within our schools traditionally eal practice really leaned into an English only model or full English immersion and this was the idea that if students were surrounded by English then they would learn faster and in this kind of model the students's first language or L one is really seen as a temporary scaffold to support their English learning like training wheels on a bike and once a student gained enough English proficiency the L1 is removed from the learning process perhaps you can think of and take a moment to think of an instance where a student was discouraged from using their home language in the school Um this can be during your your time as a student or even as a teacher because this attitude still very much exists in our schools in some contexts so taking a moment to think about that and also thinking what was the reason um behind that push for monolingualism in that instance well while this approach may seem logical research actually shows that it has unintended consequences particularly for the bilingual learner so students can struggle to express complex ideas when they're restricted to one language and the frustration that can occur can lead to disengagement this insistence on English only can also lead to language attrition for students so the loss of their home language over time and this can impact not just their ability to communicate with family but also their identity and can have consequences for cognitive development fin finally students can also feel that their language and culture isn't valued in the classroom if they're being asked to only use uh English and this can affect their confidence and their performance as well as their engagement so the key takeaway is really that moving beyond monolingualism doesn't mean abandoning English learning it just means broadening your focus to recognize that students home languages are assets they're not obstacles um and they can be leveraged to support deeper learning um for students so let's explore how bilingualism can be a resource in the classroom if we acknowledge that New South Wales classrooms are multilingual then the question is how can we use this to our advantage What If instead of treating bilingualism as a challenge we saw it as a resource when we encourage students to use their home languages we're not just supporting their language development we're supporting deeper learning and the building of identity and engagement students bring Rich linguistic and cultural knowledge when they come to the classroom and this can really enhance the learning for everyone and when students use their home language they can demonstrate knowledge beyond what can be demonstrated via their English proficiency it's important to recognize that for many eal students the Gap isn't in their understanding it's in expressing what they understand in English for example a a student might fully understand a maths Concept in Arabic but then they may struggle to explain it in English but if we allow them to process and even to discuss ideas in their strongest language first we can help to remove unnecessary barriers to their learning so rather than thinking of L1 as extra or separate from learning we can integrate it into our teaching so take a moment to think about how first language can be seen as a resource in the classroom think about your own classroom how often do students use their home language is it encouraged or is it discouraged as well as thinking about your own classroom how a think about your your your staff rooms as well have you ever heard a student described as lacking English skills or being behind their peers because their English um wasn't their first language or they didn't speak English at home these statements really come from a deficit discourse or a way of thinking that focuses on what students don't have rather than what they bring to the classroom and I've included a quote here uh from a research paper that looked at how teachers viewed non-english speakers or those without English as their first language and how their language skill was really equated with their ability in the thinking of many of these teachers so one of the key problems with deficit thinking is that it positions bilingual students as lacking something rather than recognizing the skills that they possess and it's a common but problematic way of framing eal Learners and suggest that students who come from a non-dominant language background are at a disadvantage because their home language and culture doesn't align with the school system but this actually ignores the fact that students already have a strong linguistic Foundation or or usually already have a strong linguistic Foundation just in a different language it reinforces a monolingual Norm where English is only as seen as the only language that matters so again think about the way that language Learners are talked about in your school and in your staff room are students positioned as lacking English or as bringing valuable linguistic skills this deficit thinking can shape everything from classroom practices through to school policies and it can make students feel like their home language is a barrier to their success rather than an asset some of the impacts of deficit think on E Learners can include lower expectations where students are seen as behind because of their English language skills um and that they they shouldn't be challenged academically uh it can it can result in them feeling their culture and language is invisible and not valued within the learning and it can also erode their confidence um leaving them feeling discouraged or disengaged so think of an example where a student writes a sophisticated argument in Mandarin but struggles to transfer that into English if we only assess their English ability we miss their deeper critical critical thinking skills so if we want to move Beyond deficit thinking we need to ask what happens when we shift our Focus from what students lack to what they bring to the class and how how can we make the most of that so this is the idea of moving towards an asset-based approach so this is about recognizing students home languages as valuable resources in learning using by Lang bilingual strategies to bridge understanding and encouraging students to draw on their full linguistic repertoire in their learning in doing so we'll be recognizing that bilingualism is a strength rather than a challenge as we've touched on one of the recurring myths about bilingualism is that if students use their home Lang language it will slow down their English development but in fact we know the opposite is true and that home language is critical as a learning tool it helps with cognitive development in that bilingualism strengthens me memory attention and problem solving skills and students who build literacy in their home language first tend to develop stronger literacy in English it also facilitates English learning because language skills are transferable so a student who knows how to structure an argument in Arabic or Vietnamese they already have that skill they just need to support it um by they just need support in applying it to their English language learning using L1 also helps with enhancing comprehension if students can grasp a concept in their strongest language they're more likely to retain and understand it in those early stages of learning English so for example if a student's learning about photosynthesis and they've already learned about it in their home language they already understand the concept the challenge isn't learning about what the concept of photosyn synthesis is it's about finding the words for it in English and by allowing them to use their home language we remove an unnecessary barrier to their learning bilingualism also helps to create an inclusive and effective classroom where multilingual students feel valued and included and students are more engaged because they can access their full linguistic repertoire it this also reflects the reality of the multilingual World in which we're living bilingualism is is an asset that that has qualities that that can enrich students lives beyond the classroom so in order to get the most out of our bilingual students and to enrich our classrooms it's really important that we adapt um a a monolingual sorry a multilingual or or bilingual mindset and that we are that we encourage each other as teachers to adapt bilingual strategies and TR trans languaging strategies in our classrooms and that's what we're going to have a look at in the next session before diving into that second session I encourage you to take some time to really reflect on your own practice and your own experiences in the classrooms and in schools um and and to think about how um deficit discourses affect the AL Learners and of how um adopting a a multilingual mindset can enrich your classroom I'm also going to include a reading for you to do before you then dive into the next session and I'll see you there

welcome back everyone and thank you for joining me for part two where we're looking at practical strategies for New South whale schools and moving beyond the monolingual mindset so so far we've explored the benefits of bilingualism and the challenges of a monolingual approach and now I'd like to turn to some practical strategies and how we can apply these ideas in New South Wales schools in this session we'll start by looking at New South Wales policies on bilingualism and and their practical implications for teachers and then we'll have a think about what trans languaging is see examples of it in action and discuss why it works and finally we'll reflect on how these strategies can be applied in your own teaching so let's begin with New South Wales policies and what support structures are in place to guide our teaching we've talked about why bilingualism is valuable but how does New South Wales policy Practices Act how do they actually support bilingualism in schools so you can see here the New South Wales Department of education's Multicultural plan um up until 2027 and this outlines the Department's commitment to fostering social cohesion and delivering Equitable education educational outcomes in our culturally diverse society and there are also key New South Wales policies that support bilingualism so the Multicultural education policy for example it mandates culturally inclusive teaching and support for eal students there are bilingual support initiatives such as the inclusion of slso or school learning support officers who are bilingual as well as interpreting and translation services there's um the eal curriculum which um ensures flexibility for diverse Learners and also provides specific strategies that supports English language development and the teaching of eal and then there's the community languages program which helps students to maintain and develop their home language alongside English so there are some important commitments to bilingualism that have been made by New South Wales education policies um and these policies influence how schools support multilingual students one of the key aspects of the policies is recognizing linguistic University there's a clear acknowledgement that multilingualism is not the exception but the norm in many New South Wales schools and Beyond just this recognition there's also targeted support for eal Learners to ensure that students learning English um receive the assistance they need to develop their skills the policies really make an effort to frame bilingualism as an asset which shifts away from the out outdated deficit perspectives and instead really places the value on the strengths that bilingual students bring to the classroom schools are also provided with funding and with strategic guidance to support L bilingual Learners and and this includes a commitment to culturally inclusive education encouraging schools to create environments where students linguistic and cultural backgrounds are both acknowledged and act ly incorporated into the teaching and learning and again that Community languages program that I touched on really reinforces the idea that maintaining a first language benefits students academically cognitively as well as socially so while these policies do provide a strong foundation for supporting bilingual Learners policies alone don't drive change implementation does and so how these commitments translate into daily classroom practice is what will truly make the difference it's you the teachers in the classroom that can really Drive change and that's what we're going to focus on next the Practical strategies that can be embedded um in the classroom to make sure that bilingualism is part of the teaching and learning in terms of key strategies for teachers one of the most important things they can do is recognize and value students home languages when we see students um who are speaking a second language and we acknowledge this and allow them to use it in their learning this reinforces their sense of belonging and their identity it can be as simple as allowing them to discuss Concepts in their strongest language before expressing them in English or displaying multilingual resources in the classroom another key strategy is the use of bilingual resources and technology so there's many tools available from bilingual dictionaries trans at ated materials dual language texts and digital resources and these can all help students to bridge their understanding between Languages by encouraging students to use these resources and giving them access to them it can make learning more accessible another key strategy is communicating with families in their home language when schools engage with parents in a language that they're comfortable with whether through translated newsletters interpreters slso um and other bilingual staff it strengthens the partnership between the home and schools so families are more likely to support their child's education when they feel included and they feel that they can touch base with this with the school and with their teachers when when there's an issue that arises or when they just want an update about their students learning we should really never underestimate the power of communication with with parents we certainly don't with our um English-speaking parents um and the same consideration should be given to our uh bilingual parents and a final strategy I want to touch base with here is the integration of trans languaging strategies into everyday teaching so this is where rather than seeing languages is separate we can allow students to move between languages in a way that supports their learning so this can include bilingual note taking peer discussions in home languages or scaffolded writing tasks some of these strategies you may already use in your teaching but do take a moment to consider whether there's areas where you could make more space for students home languages in learning and we're going to explore Trans languaging in more detail and how it works in the classroom incl incl including um looking at a video example trans languaging is about working between languages rather than treating them as separate So In traditional bilingual education languages are often kept distinct with strict rules about when where when and where each one should be used so for example in some bilingual programs students might speak their first language in one lesson and English in another without mixing them but this isn't how bilingual ISM Works in real life for bilingual students language is fluid and a student doesn't consciously pause and think now I'll use English now I'll use my first language instead they move naturally between the languages using the words and structures that best Express their ideas in that moment and again in in monolingual classrooms many students are expected to leave their home language at the door and only to operate in English and this creates an an artificially monolingual approach and it limits their ability to process and express complex ideas so trans languaging allows students to strategically use all their language resources not just to communicate but also to access content content knowledge to develop literacy and demonstrate deeper understanding by allowing flexible movement between languages we help students to bridge Concepts to F skills across languages and to fully engage with their learning so trans languaging ties in with core principles in Multicultural schools when we integrate trans languaging into our teaching we're not just allowing home language we're leveraging students full linguistic repertoire rather than forcing them to work within an artificially monolingual environment and this is so important in New South Wales schools where 40% of our students speak a language other than English at home it provides a mirror of the bilingual students real world and helps to build a new and and more positive I would argue classroom culture these classrooms are more inclusive because culture is recognized rather than erased and students engage with learning in a way that reflects their lived experiences and where they can make space for col cultural knowledge that the the kind of cultural knowledge that's so tied to their language it also supports the acknowledgement of their prior learning because so many bilingual students arrive with Rich knowledge in their first language that often gets overlooked um when they're only assessed or only able to use English students are given the opportunity to demonstrate what they know even when they they're still developing Proficiency in English and it also um values multiculturalism by valuing the linguistic diversity within the classroom because when students see their languages represented it reinforces the idea that bilingualism is not just a personal asset but it's a fundamental part of Australia's social and educational landscape so trans languaging isn't just making space for first language it's about actively using it to support learning identity and academic success so as Garcia says Garcia who's the real Guru of trans languaging trans languaging can dissolve the rigid language boundaries um while creating new learning opportunities where traditionally education is treated languages as separate where we only use one language at a time trans languaging allows students to use use all of their repertoire it also benefits all students by creating the opportunities for language awareness and and um and deeper understanding of multiculturalism within the classroom so bilingual students don't come to the classroom as blank slates they already have well-developed skills in their first language that we can build upon so they're already in many cases strong communicators they can switch between formal and informal speech they can adapt their language based on their audience and purpose purpose um just but just maybe not able to do it yet in English they also um have meta language skills if they have Lang literacy in their first language so they already understand Concepts like sentence structure parts of speech how language works and these are skills that you can transfer to English um to make new literacy Concepts easier and they also come with cultural knowledge so language is embedded with culture so students bring Rich perspectives histories and way ways of understanding the world that can really shape how they learn and interact and this can be really valuable and enriching in cross-cultural discussions in literature analysis and in social studies and all of these strengths can be leveraged to build students English if we create the opportunities for them to to use their linguistic resources so what do these students need even though they come with a strong foundation in their first language they still need targeted support to fully engage with learning in English they need explicit teaching in how to transfer vocabulary writing structures and academic language across languages and trans languaging trans languaging strategies such as allowing bilingual note taking or pre-writing in L1 can really help with this process they also need help understanding Australian cultural norms so language is as we've said deeply tied to culture and so some students May struggle with informal classroom interactions with things like humor or social expectations or even just expressions in an Australian context and so they need opportunities to develop this awareness in low stake supportive environments students also come to the classroom needing um a cultural awareness beyond their own so particularly um students who are recent arrivals they may not have exposure to different cultures beyond their own um so those who come from the Middle East for example may not have a lot of exposure to those um from Southeast Asia and vice versa um and so so building cultural awareness through the use of trans languaging um can be a really enriching experience within the classroom so I've talked a lot about what trans languaging is I want to actually talk now about how it can be used in the classroom by giving some examples from speaking and writing and then um showing some actual examples so in terms of oracy or speaking strategies there can be multilingual partner discussions because often students are asked to respond to questions or to participate in discussions in English before they've really had time to process their thoughts and for bilingual students this can really be a big hurdle so instead of immediately requiring students to contribute in English one trans languaging strategy is to allow them to First discuss concepts with a partner in their strongest language so this gives students time to develop ideas before having to express them in English it can reduce anxiety by allowing them to clarify their thinking and that's that is a benefit for all students anyway and that's why the pink the think per share um strategy is is so well used in class CL rooms because even um monolingual students benefit from taking the time um to clarify their thinking and it also leverages peer learning because students can support each other in making sense of the content so it's it's not a stress if there are some students who who aren't um bilingual they can do the similar activities using their first language which is English but once they have taken the time to develop their understanding they can then share their in their insights in English with the wider class another strategy is bilingual note taking and selft talk because often writing and speaking in a new language requires thinking in in first language first for bilingual students allowing them to take notes and process ideas in their home language before transitioning to English can can be highly effective it can both encourage deeper thinking it can also act as a scaffold um and a reference point for students as they um begin to express their ideas in English another strategy is comparing and contrasting um across multiple languages so um this is a powerful way to develop the awareness and the understanding of meta language and also to deepen learning so students can compare how a particular word or phrase um functions in both their home language and in English and and this can give them a a deeper and more broad brush understanding both of the the grammatical structures of English but also of their own language which they may because when you learn um language innately you may not have actually um thought about the the the structures that um underly it this strategy also helps students to develop academic language um by linking new English vocabulary to um familiar uh first language terms and it can also help bilingual Learners to engage in higher order thinking as they're analyzing how meaning is constructed across languages and the differences um across languages in terms of um writing strategies pre-writing in home language can um be really useful um if students can organize their their thoughts in their first language before um trying to produce a well structured piece of writing this really supports their idea Generation Um as well as encouraging fluency since they're able to articulate their ideas freely in first language before refining them in English another strategy is the development of bilingual glossies and world word walls sorry word wall s because academic language is is one of the biggest challenges for bilingual Learners and by providing a glossery students can help to develop subject specific vocabulary in both languages it can include key academic terms um in English as well as home language and it can also just use frequently used vocabulary but it helps students to recognize and use those key terms more consistently in English and the third writing strategy I wanted to t uh to touch on is scaffolded trans languaging tasks so for example writing in in first language or um undertaking peer translation where students work together to translate Key Parts in into English or vice versa um and also refining in English where with teacher support students can edit and polish their English writing so this strategy breaks down the writing process making it less overwhelming for bilingual Learners it can encourage collaboration as students learn from one another and it can also develop that high higher level thinking um skills as students engage in Translation and refinement but again with all of these strategies and with all teaching strategies um it's about you using it in a targeted way um in a way that'll be most most effective and impactful for students and which benefits all the class as a whole um and doesn't leave anyone out including um monolingual uh learners but so the goal is not to replace English learning but really to create bridges that make English language um and English language learning more meaningful and accessible for our students there are lots of resources available to you to help you to embed bilingual and trans languaging strategy into your classrooms and they are really and they can be really effective and impactful so here's a set of strategies that Riff Off the think pair share approach but that build in opportunities for first language use and so I I encourage you now to pause the video here and to think about in what context you might use these strategies in your own classroom and whether you think they might add value and then after doing that for a minute or two we're going to come back and look at a video of trans languaging in action as we get to the end of this session we're going to watch a video of an eal class learning about the concept of mood as part of a poetry unit in this in this Suite of lessons trans languaging plays a key role in the lesson sequences and it helps students to access and express complex ideas as you watch consider how these strategies create a more inclusive and engaging learning experience and think about how you might incorporate similar approaches in your own teaching to build on students bilingual repertoire so without further Ado this is teaching mood we've done quite a few lessons previously on poetry what we hadn't looked at was mood mood is a very difficult um concept for students to learn in their second language we started by using colors any word that hits you in English write it down any word that hits you in your first language write it down I had the opportunity to put down any emotions that they feel when they see a color firstly and then a second opportunity to write down the kind of pictures that they see in their heads how do you feel when you see this [Music] using language one allowed students to really get across their true meaning in in English um we then um built up this V vocabulary spent a bit of time def um defining words um and then sharing what the words that they had collectively Gloom bloy and Silent silence great one Cherry silent lonely and so what we thought was really important about this lesson was that we were giving students the opportunity to build language in their first language um and then transfer them into English and try and develop a broader vocabulary then we applied them to songs we are going to listen listen to four different pieces of music I want you to listen to the piece of music and decide what color it makes you think of when you decided what color it is you're going to hold it up for [Music] us they listened to four different songs and the first time they listened to them all the students thought about what uh independently thought about what color the song them think of and they put them up in the air and we were able to talk about well why is that what is the what is the mood or the images that come up um again and again when you when you listen to that song they use their word BS to write down what color the song made them think of what mood it it they thought it was and also what images went with the songs when I hear this song I think of the color BL because the Moon of the song is this and cold I see water see in Ocean beautiful so the mood of the the the song is peaceful that was an introduction to mood and from here we're going to go on to to um looking at poems and seeing how the images that poets use as well as um the the techniques that they use what mood are they trying to transfer um to the audience I found that using language one was a really um good way for students to tap into their um first language vocabulary and then build on um build on language too so build on their English so to summarize bilingualism is not just about language proficiency it's about identity agency and intellectual growth when students are given opportunities to use their full linguistic repertoire they're really empowered to take ownership of their learning so through language one use students can see their first language as a valuable valuable academic resource not just something to hide or leave at home and it Fosters pride in their linguistic and cultural identity by using their strongest language their students are more likely to take initiative to lead discussions to help peers and it enhances their confidence and their engagement expressing ideas in language one also helps students to analyze evaluate and synthesize information more effectively rather than being limited by their English proficiency and students can build on their existing knowledge rather than starting from scratch in English and this can accelerate their comprehension of new Concepts bilingual students also have nuanced understandings that are difficult to articulate in a second language and strategies like trans languaging can uh trans languaging Strat can help them to fully engage with ideas before refining their expressions in English and when students are able to think write and discuss using all their languages they perform to their full potential rather than being assessed solely on their English proficiency so by empowering bilingual students we're not just providing linguistic support we're creating an environment where students skills and experiences are all valued and I look forward to discussing these ideas and and giving you the opportunity for discussion when you join me on Saturday the 15th thank you so much

Hello and welcome to a presentation on Arrow's latest research about how long it takes to learn English while learning the curriculum.
This research has produced new evidence using 9 years worth of data from 110,000 students in New South Wales public
schools who are learning English as an additional language.
This project was conducted by members from from the analytics and strategic projects team at Arrow. Myself, Olivia
Groves, I'm a principal researcher, my senior manager, Dr. Lucy Louu, and our lead statistician, Dr. W Yin Wang. We
were joined on this project by associate professor, Jenny Hammond.
Also, the project had strong input and support from members of the New South Wales Department of Education multicultural education team and we
thank them for their contribution to the research.
My aim today is to provide you with an overview of the research including the aims and approach as well as the key findings and implications of the
Before I start with the overview, I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands on which I'm on today, the Awab people, and pay my respect to elders past and present.
In Australia, about a quarter of the student population come from a language background other than English and require English language support in the classroom.
These students are learning English as an additional language or dialect or are e students. During schooling, these
students face the challenging task of learning English at the same time as learning the curriculum through English.
English language is important for accessing all parts of the curriculum.
For example, if students are not able to talk or read or write science, then they are not able to do science. It is widely
recognized that EAL students need targeted, systematic, and explicit instruction based on their language needs.
Without appropriate instruction and support, EAL students are at risk of academic underachievement and plateaus
in their English language and literacy skills.
However, in Australia, there is limited evidence about how long it takes students to learn English, about how long it takes them to have the language
skills they need to participate in curriculum learning in the same ways as their peers who speak English as their first language.
Considerable research into how long it takes students to learn English has been undertaken overseas over the past 40 years.
But until this study, only one piece of research has been conducted in Australia to date. That study by Susan Cray and
colleagues colleagues looked at language learning in four areas of Queensland.
The aim of this project, therefore, was to contribute more evidence as to how long it takes Australian students to develop the English language skills they
need to equitably participate in curriculum learning.
Another aim of the project was to describe students progress through the phases of English language development.
For this aim, we used the language developmental phases as outlined in AARA's EAL learning progression since
this was the tool used by teachers who produced data included in this study.
It is worth noting that while the learning progression is a useful national resource for teachers as it describes the typical pathway of
language skill development, it does not provide information on how quickly we might expect a typical student to progress from one phase to the next.
Our research provides this information which can help teachers who are already using the national tool to better
support their students English language development.
The learning progression outlines four phases of English language learning shown on this slide. Beginning, emerging, developing, and consolidating.
These phases of language learning are therefore central to the research and the contribution it makes.
Furthermore, much previous research has focused on how long it takes from the beginner level.
points because as we know students can enroll in our schools schools with a range of English skills.
Research into how long it takes to learn English is challenging. There's a range of factors which we know impact learning in general and learning English as an additional language.
Researching this topic requires rich data, that is data containing as much information about students as possible,