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The University of Oxford, with The Bell Foundation and Unbound Philanthropy, have published a report which is the fourth and final in the research programme which investigated the relationships between English as an Additional Language (EAL), Proficiency in English and the educational achievement of EAL learners at school.
The University of Oxford, with The Bell Foundation and Unbound Philanthropy, have published a report which is the fourth and final in the research programme which investigated the relationships between English as an Additional Language (EAL), Proficiency in English and the educational achievement of EAL learners at school.
It is important to note that this research has been published in March 2021. Over the last year the global pandemic has caused schools to close for significant periods of time, as a result of which most children have experienced some degree of learning loss, and that loss is significant for pupils who speak English as an Additional Language who may have also experienced language learning loss during this period. This is why this research programme is so important as it provides schools and policy-makers with key insights on EAL learner attainment and the need for appropriate catch-up support and resources to enable EAL learners to mitigate the language and learning lost during school closures.
As with the 2020 report, the research team Professor Steve Strand and Dr Ariel Lindorff, Department of Education, University of Oxford, analysed Proficiency in English data from the Welsh Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC). The Welsh Government has been recording the Proficiency in English of pupils annually since 2009, which provided data for this cross-sectional and longitudinal study. In total 3,528,064 anonymised pupil records across a nine-year period (from Reception to Year 11) were analysed. As the data is recorded using the same five-point Proficiency in English scale as the one used in England in 2017-2018 the research team found that the EAL group in Wales is therefore comparable to that in the English National Pupil Database and therefore the findings are as relevant in England as they are in Wales.
One of the key findings in the latest report is that schools and Local Authorities (LAs) vary substantially in their approach to the assessment of Proficiency in English, the result of which is a marked variation in the average time it takes pupils to progress between Proficiency in English levels. The report concludes this variation is strongly influenced by the person conducting the assessment, rather than a difference in pupils themselves. This is important as previous research has shown that Proficiency in English is central to understanding achievement and levels of need for language support among pupils who use EAL, and therefore consistent and accurate assessment is crucial.
The latest report builds on, and extends, previous research (Strand, Malmberg and Hall (2015), Strand and Hessel (2018) and Strand and Lindorff (2020)) which show that, amongst other findings, EAL learners are a hugely diverse group, that two-thirds of pupils who start as new to English require more than six years to gain the academic linguistic proficiency to fully access the curriculum, and the empirical link between Proficiency in English and pupil achievement and, as a result, the level of support learners need in order to achieve their academic potential.
This study set out to answer four questions which are of central importance for teachers, curriculum developers and policy-makers:
The research programme demonstrates the importance of robustly assessing and recording the Proficiency in English of all learners using EAL. Through initial and on-going assessment of both language proficiency and cognitive skills, schools can establish the level of need among individual learners. Through setting tailored targets and support strategies for teaching and learning, teachers can support their learners to progress to higher levels of proficiency. Through achieving academic linguistic proficiency learners will be able to fully participate in school and access the curriculum and, as a result, to fulfil their academic potential. This is particularly important after prolonged school closures, or absence from school, as it will help to mitigate any learning loss during those periods. School staff can download free assessment tools and resources here.
The executive summary of the report is available in Welsh and the full report in English.