Contents |
Introduction | 4 |
About this book | 6 |
The national picture | 6 |
What does this mean for your work with young children? | 8 |
Settings used for case studies | 10 |
Brief outline of each chapter | 11 |
Chapter one: EAL essentials | 13 |
What does EAL mean? | 13 |
Groups of EAL learners | 14 |
What is bilingualism? | 15 |
Key EAL matters | 16 |
Chapter two: How children learn languages | 22 |
First language acquisition | 23 |
Learning two languages simultaneously | 25 |
How do children learn an additional language? | 26 |
Stages of additional language acquisition | 27 |
Factors that impact on additional language learning | 29 |
Differences between languages | 30 |
Chapter three: Helping children to settle in | 33 |
Before the child starts | 33 |
The child’s first day | 37 |
The child’s first few weeks | 40 |
Chapter four: Creating a suitable environment | 43 |
Communication-friendly spaces | 43 |
Making the environment suitable for EAL learners | 44 |
Chapter five: Adult–child interaction | 54 |
Key principles for quality adult–child interaction | 55 |
Interacting with simultaneous learners (under 3 years) | 57 |
Interacting with children who are new to English | 57 |
Interacting with a child during the “silent period” | 61 |
Providing opportunities for children to use their home language | 62 |
The importance of play | 64 |
Cultural differences in play | 65 |
EAL language programs | 65 |
Chapter six: Building positive relationships with families and carers | 66 |
Developing partnership working with families | 67 |
What does a good relationship between a family and an educator look like? | 67 |
General advice to promote good relationship building | 67 |
Potential challenges to partnership working | 69 |
Overcoming potential challenges | 69 |
Key messages to give to families | 72 |
Working with interpreters | 74 |
Chapter seven: Observation, assessment and planning | 75 |
Involving families in the observation, assessment and planning cycle | 78 |
Assessment before transition to school | 80 |
Chapter eight: Working with children with communication difficulties | 84 |
Understanding language, speech and communication needs | 85 |
Identifying communication difficulties in EAL learners | 90 |
Supporting EAL learners with language, speech and communication needs | 94 |
Resources | 99 |
Home activity sheets | 99 |
Checklist for pre-start family meeting | 106 |
Checklist for determining a child’s skills in their home language | 110 |
References | 111 |
Acknowledgements | 114 |