Welcome to the Teaching EAL Learners Knowledge Base

Supporting EAL learners in mainstream classrooms can be challenging.

Particularly if they are at the start of their English language journey.

In these situations, we as teachers often find that all those strategies and techniques we normally use to help our learners are either not quite suitable, or rely too much on a more advanced knowledge of English.

There is, however, always a huge amount we can do to support our EAL learners.

Whether its creating a sense of belonging, finding ways to bridge the communication gap, or helping learners who are at a more advanced stage of English language acquisition to understand the relationships between key pieces of vocabulary.

Language development takes time.

Progress is uneven.

Sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

And where a learner is at with their speaking and listening might not reflect where they are at with their reading and writing (or vice versa).

The key is to be flexible.

To try things out and, wherever possible, to work with your EAL learners to see what’s working for them.

Here, I have over forty strategies you can use to support your EAL learners and help them have positive, meaningful experiences in your lessons.

Plus, you’ll find articles unpicking some of the overarching principles you should consider when teaching EAL learners.

Most of the articles are short, sharp and to the point.

Practical ideas you can quickly adapt and apply.

If you want to go deeper and develop your thinking further, you’ll find blogs and articles clustered together in groups.

Reading a group is like reading a chapter of a book, giving you scope to dig deep into a particular topic.

Rest assured, there’s plenty to get your teeth into.

And to start using in your classroom.

(P.S. You can now download my freshly edited and redesigned EAL Toolkit. This easy-to-use resource has been viewed and downloaded over 300,000 times by teachers in the UK and around the world. Secure your copy today and use it to build your confidence, and your repertoire, for supporting the EAL learners you teach.)

Navigate the Teaching EAL Learners Knowledge Base

Supporting EAL Learners Through Whole-Class Teaching

Using Visuals to Support EAL Learners

Supporting EAL Learners with Words, Reading and Writing