1. ACARA’s EAL/D Teacher resource
Assisting teachers to help their EAL/D students
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

2. What is this resource?
A series of documents designed to assist teachers with no specialist EAL/D training to better meet the needs of their EAL/D students in the classroom
A simplified description of the typical pathway of development in an additional language or dialect
Simple strategies or considerations that will assist EAL/D learners in the classroom
Examples of work that is ‘typical’ at each phase of language acquisition
This workshop aims to provide background on the creation of ACARA’s English as an Additional Language or Dialect Teacher Resource and to explore both the EALD Language Learning Progression and the EALD Annotations which were written for the content descriptors of English F-10. Participants will use student work samples to identify where EALD students sit on the Language Learning Progression. The EALD Annotations on the English content descriptors will then be used to investigate strategies that could be employed to enable greater access for the students to the Australian Curriculum: English.
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

3. Why was it created?
To inform teachers’ practice and delivery of the curriculum content
And because:
on average, it takes a student 7 years to acquire the academic language proficiency needed to meet the needs of the Australian Curriculum.
language learning is developmental. There is little point in trying to get a student to learn something that is beyond their developmental level.
not all teachers have access to specialist EAL/D support.
Time taken – page 5 of the overview
World English. Dialects etc. Talk to this.
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

4. How was it created? Equity and Diversity Advisory Group 2009 – 2010
EAL/D Working Party 2010 – 2012 (page 107)
Appointment of two writers
Consultation with state authorities and language experts from universities
Consultation with ‘critical friends’
Members of the working party all contributed to this document and many consulted with their colleagues to create a collaborative effort. NSW had particular input in the Advice to Teachers section thanks to HS.
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

5. Validation
NSW trial of the reliability and validity of the EAL/D Learning Progression conducted by the NSW Department of Education and Communities, January 2013.
Findings:
“The ESL/D Learning Progression has provided sufficient reliability and validity evidence for the instrument to be used in NSW government schools as a broad measure of English language proficiency for resource allocation.”
In 2012, the department conducted a trial of the EAL/D Learning Progression instrument, which was developed by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to support the implementation of the Australian curriculum.
The trial shows very encouraging results. Teachers report the new instrument as easy to use for making reliable judgements of English language proficiency, and it can be used in place of the current NSW English as a second language (ESL) three phase tool. This improved method of assessing English language ability will enable better targeting of support and funding to assist the development of students' English language proficiency.
Existing measures to identify aptitude of students learning English as an additional language or dialect vary significantly among the states and territories. A nationally consistent measure will be important for future national school funding arrangements.
The NSW trial suggests that the EAL/D Learning Progression is suitable for use in NSW government schools for the purpose of allocating ESL funding to schools.
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

6. Source documents used to create the progression
References can be found on pages
English Language Proficiency Standards. Alexandria. VA: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
Council of Europe. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR)
The English Language Learning Progressions – New Zealand Ministry for Education
The scales were mapped over one another and the commonalities were identified. Additional information that was pertinent was included. Much of the SA document is found in the annotations and advice section as their scales work differently.
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

7. Where are the EAL/D documents?
Now moved onto the Curriculum page but also still on the ACARA site.
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

8. Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

9. Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

10. The Introduction
Students for whom English is an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) enter Australian schools at different ages and at different stages of English language learning and have varying educational backgrounds in their first languages. While many EAL/D students bring already highly developed literacy (and numeracy) skills in their own language to their learning of Standard Australian English, there is a significant number of students who are not literate in their first language and have had little or no formal schooling.
This statement is in each of the curriculum documents
Real acknowledgement of the diversity of the cohort – what works for one will not work for another.
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

11. Suggested adjustments
While the objectives of the Australian Curriculum are the same for all students, EAL/D students make progress towards these objectives while simultaneously learning a new language and learning content and skills through that new language. As a result, EAL/D students may require adjustments in relation to curriculum, instruction, and/or environment to ensure equity of access to the Australian Curriculum. This may include additional time and support, along with teaching that explicitly addresses their individual language learning needs.
Important to note and important to share. Adjustments are crucial in enabling the students to demonstrate what they know. Translating takes time.
This is in the diversity of learners part in EACH curriculum document
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

12. A summary of the resources
The Overview and EAL/D learning progression document
An outline of EAL/D students (pages 3-8)
A language learning progression (by stage and phase)
Advice to teachers (pages 83-99)
A glossary
Annotations on content descriptors (one book per KLA = 4 books)
Annotated work samples (an additional booklet)
This document offers mainstream teacher an accessible port of call to better understand the journey of their EALD learners – and for new educators its an important resource for supporting their understanding of language learning as a journey in the first place.
Give time to flick through each section
However a document in itself, despite being one so connected to the Australian Curriculum will not in itself change the way in which our learners are taught. And in fact the document does not purport to give guidance on how teachers can work with the content of the Australian curriculum so that they
See the language challenges embedded within it or
Do anything about them
Those are important parts of the jobs of the TESOL professional – but the education of our students is the responsibility of all teachers. So what are the opportunities within the Australian curriculum for really meeting the needs of the learners.
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

13. The overview An outline of EAL/D students (pages 3-8)
Who are EAL/D students?
Considerations for students with limited schooling
English in Australia
Intercultural understanding
Characteristics of EAL/D learning
Assessment and the EAL/D student
Important to note that they may be born in Australia.
Limited schooling students can take up to 10 years to develop the skills needed to function successfully in school. Things like timetables, books, filing etc. can be difficult for these students.
Intercultural understandings are an integral part of teaching EAL/D students. Teachers will constantly need to ‘back fill’ cultural references, nuances and expectations, particularly to meet the requirements of the Literature strand.
Language learning is developmental. It is important to understand that there is a sequence and that students may not be able to demonstrate the language elements of the English curriculum as they have not yet had sufficient time to acquire these elements.
Assessment – page 7 – “Students who do not meet the age-related benchmarks when assessed against learning area achievement standards are not necessarily underperforming, but rather they are achieving at levels commensurate with their phase of English language learning.”
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

14. The language progression’s aim
This resource describes the English language learning progression typical of EAL/D students. It is designed to assist teachers to identify and track where EAL/D learners are on their English language learning journey.
The language progression is a broad synthesis of existing state and territory EAL/D documents and has been developed primarily for teachers who are not EAL/D specialists.
Other information is designed to assist teachers modify their teaching to be inclusive of these learners
N.B. this document is aimed at mainstream teachers
Ref to NLLIA Bandscales, ESL scales, SA scales, DoEWA progress map, NT Bandscales, green stripey and pink stripey docs from QLD.
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

15. The Progression
A language learning progression (by Stage of Schooling pages , or by Mode pages 45-82)
The language progression has three components:
an introduction about the nature of EAL/D learners and the language and cultural considerations that affect their engagement with curriculum content (pages 9 – 11)
a general description of learner characteristics for listening, speaking, reading/viewing, and writing for each of four phases of language proficiency: Beginning English, Emerging English, Developing English, Consolidating English (pages 12 – 82)
a progression of language learning that provides details of an English learning pathway typical of EAL/D students for three stages of schooling (F - 2, , 7- 10)
Look through this section of the resource
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

16. Advice to teachers Grouped under question and answer headings
General advice
Responds to commonly asked questions
Gives general background
Do feedback activity to then generate discussion.
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

17. EAL/D annotations and samples of student work
learning area annotations provide additional advice for some English, Mathematics, Science and History content descriptions
Geography is currently being written
annotated EAL/D student work samples exemplify student progress along the EAL/D learning progression.
Activity – what I learnt…
ACARA makes a clear distinction between the learning area ‘worksamples’ (these exemplify the learning area achievement standards) and the EAL/D ‘samples of student work’ (these illustrate the EAL/D learning progression).
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

18. Looking at the annotations
Consider the annotations:
What did you learn? (whole group sharing by phase of schooling)
Which strategies could you incorporate into your classroom?
NB: If a student enters into a classroom in later years, then some of the strategies in the earlier years (particularly morphemes, graphemes, sight words etc.) can be helpful
In pairs or groups
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

19. Samples of student work
Choose your year level or phase
Look at the work samples provided and the annotations that link these to the language learning progression
Identify how the decision was made to place these in this stage
Take the new sample provided on the table and identify which stage the student is in – note reasons for your placement
Discussion
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

20. How can the ACARA documents be used?
As a guide to understanding the broad phases of English Language Learning that students are likely to experience
To identify where the students are on this progression, the nature of their skills across the modes and their linguistic progression
To do at least one thing each lesson that provides greater access to the English curriculum for these students.
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

21. In summary
These documents have been written for mainstream teachers who have EAL/D students in their classrooms
They provide a starting point for supporting and monitoring these students
They are not designed to replace the fine-grained, EAL/D-specialist documents that exist in most states/territories
The annotations are illustrative and not exhaustive
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12

22. Thank you Sophia Sabatier EAL/D consultant K-12
The Association of Independent Schools of WA
Sophia Sabatier. AISWA. EAL/D K-12