Best Practice

Practical strategies for assessing students who use EAL

EAL Pupil Attainment & Progress Pedagogy research
How can we assess learners who use English as an additional language, taking into account their often diverse and distinctive language needs? Emily Curran offers some practical strategies, pointers and signposts to useful resources
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Assessment is a fundamental aspect of teaching and is well-addressed in schools. Assessing learners who use English as an additional language (EAL) though may be a new challenge for some teachers.

Carrying out EAL assessments during the autumn term can provide a baseline for the year which can be used to inform teaching. As such, this article outlines some strategies for conducting effective and holistic EAL assessments so that you can better understand your EAL learners, including their proficiency in English, curriculum knowledge, and home language proficiency.

Having a deeper understanding of these areas will inform planning and teaching, supporting you to ensure that your learners have the best chance of succeeding.

 

Why assess proficiency in English?

Research by Strand and Hessel (2018) found that proficiency in English is a key indicator of attainment, accounting for 22% of the variation in EAL students’ attainment (compared with the 3-4% attributed to gender, free school meals status, and ethnicity). As such, there is a need to assess proficiency in English to set language learning targets and inform appropriate support.

Proficiency in English assessments are best carried out drawing on curriculum materials and where possible by in-class observations. If you are not directly involved in carrying out proficiency in English assessments it can be useful to work with your school’s EAL lead (if available) to ensure that the assessment of a learner’s proficiency in English is embedded within the curriculum.

 

Using proficiency in English assessments to inform planning

The support that learners need to access the curriculum will vary depending on their proficiency in English:

  • Learners at band A (new to English) require significant support to access curriculum content.
  • Band B learners (early acquisition) still need a significant amount of support to access the curriculum.
  • Learners at band C (developing competence) require on-going EAL support to access the curriculum fully.
  • Band D learners (competent) may need some support to access complex curriculum materials.
  • Band E learners (fluent) operate without EAL support across the curriculum.

Learners can also have “spiky profiles”, meaning that they may be more proficient in some areas of English than others. For example, in speaking and listening a learner may be at band B (early acquisition), but in reading and writing they may be at band A (new to English).

This information about a learner’s proficiency in English can be used to inform approaches or adaptations to lesson content.

For example, if you know your learner is band A in reading and writing, you could use more visuals and allow/encourage use of translation software, while avoiding text-heavy materials where possible.

For more information on adapting lessons, see the Bell Foundation’s Classroom Support Strategies (see the end of this article for all cited resources).

 

Assessing curriculum knowledge.

As teachers, you will already be used to assessing your learners’ knowledge of curriculum content. However, standard curriculum tests designed for monolingual English-speaking children are not always appropriate for learners using EAL, especially those who are new to English or in the early acquisition stages. Barriers to understanding are often due to:

  • Complex grammar/vocabulary items.
  • Unknown meanings of known words (e.g. “power” in maths).
  • Cultural references (e.g. referring to raising money for charity to establish the context for a maths question).
  • Unfamiliar task types (e.g. learners may be used to short answer questions based on recall rather than questions that ask for extended writing).

Using adapted curriculum assessments helps identify whether a learner needs support with content, language, or both. For instance, a science teacher might ask a learner to draw particles in different states, with translations for the terms “solid, liquid, gas”. If the learner completes this accurately, it shows they understand the concept, allowing the teacher to focus on the learner’s English language skills rather than reteaching the concept.

 

Practical strategies for assessing curriculum knowledge

Allow extra time: Multilingual learners have a double job to do – understand curriculum content and understand the language (English). This means that they may need more time to process instructions or questions, as well as to formulate a response. Extra time is allowed for some multilingual learners in GCSEs as part of access arrangements, but this must be part of their normal way of working. For more information about access arrangements for learners who use EAL, see this recent article in SecEd written by my colleague Glynis Lloyd.

Make use of translation technology: Some learners may be new to English in reading and writing, so it can be useful to make use of technology, such as the “conversation” mode on Google Translate. In this mode, two people speak into the microphone in different languages and the app translates the speech to text, which can also be listened to. This allows learners to give their answer and access the translation in the form that is most accessible to them (spoken or written).

Promote the use of learners’ first languages: Encourage learners to draw on all the languages they know to make sense of curriculum content and demonstrate understanding. For example, give learners the opportunity to develop efficient and effective use of bilingual dictionaries, which is also good preparation for access arrangements at GCSE. To use bilingual dictionaries during exams, learners need to be able to say that this is their “normal way of working”. It is therefore important that this “normal way of working” is established from the outset.

Avoid tasks that require lengthy written or verbal responses: While your learner may understand the content, they may not yet be able to articulate that understanding fully in English. It is important to acknowledge that assessments often involve reading and writing, sometimes with quite dense texts. While it is necessary to prepare students for this before their GCSEs, this process can be gradual.

Wherever possible, assessing through speaking or alternative methods will provide a more accurate and therefore useful measure of the student’s learning. Allowing students to demonstrate their understanding and knowledge through different means is likely to build their confidence and resilience. The following strategies provide ideas of different ways to assess understanding without requiring a lengthy written or verbal response:

  • Use recognition tasks: Using recognition tasks allows the learner to demonstrate their understanding without having to give a lengthy written or verbal response. For example, you might ask a learner to:
    • Identify something (e.g. a science teacher might point to a diagram of the water cycle and say “Show me where the water is evaporating”).
    • Match words or phrases to relevant images (e.g. a history teacher could ask learners to match specific dates to events).
    • Sequence words, phrases, sentences, short paragraphs, or images (e.g. a geography teacher might ask a learner to sequence different diagrams that show the correct order in which a waterfall is formed).
  • Ask learners to show you, rather than explain: For example, in a maths lesson, rather than asking the learner to explain their workings, have them show you.
  • Ask learners to complete graphic organisers: Graphic organisers are visuals that present information in a structured, organised way. For example, you may ask a learner to:
    • Label diagrams/images: This is particularly useful in science but could also be used in other subjects such as geography, history (for instance, labelling a map), or English (annotating an image of a character). Encouraging and normalising the use of students’ home language(s) will also be helpful here.
    • Complete a timeline in history.
    • Complete a flowchart for a process in science.
    • Complete a table with or without a key word bank, and/or a bilingual dictionary.

 

Assessing home language proficiency

Strand and Hessel (2018) found that learners who are competent or fluent in English score significantly above the national average, which supports the view that multilingualism is an asset.

Therefore, it is important to promote multilingualism and the development and maintenance of a learner’s home language. Home language assessments can be a useful first step, and provide valuable information about your learner, such as:

  • An understanding of a learner’s preferred language(s) and literacy skills. Literacy skills in a learner’s home language(s) can be used to support their literacy development in English.
  • An indication of possible learning needs and strengths in the home language. This can be used to inform whether a learner may need SEND support. If you are interested in learning more about EAL learners who may also have a SEND, we have specific guidance (see resources).
  • Information about possible educational experiences and attitudes the learner may have towards learning and school.

 

Final thoughts

By making a few small changes to the way assessments are approached, you can help to ensure that learners using EAL can engage equitably with their peers and that they are not disproportionately disadvantaged by assessments that overlook their diverse and distinctive language practices and language learning needs.

You may want to discuss the approaches from this article with those responsible for leading on EAL to ensure a consistent approach across your school.

 

Resources from The Bell Foundation

 

Further information & references