Blog: ITT and EAL – how to assess learners using English as an Additional Language

In November 2022, The Bell Foundation launched its third and final module for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers. Module Three focuses on assessment of learners using English as an Additional Language (EAL). To accompany the launch of the module, the Foundation ran a webinar to explore the materials in more detail.

This blog is a summary of the webinar, presented by Emily Curran, and Sheila Hopkins, trainers at the Foundation.

This blog explores the following key points from the webinar:

• Why it is important to consider EAL in ITT.
• What is covered in ITT Module Three.
• Why it is important to understand and assess proficiency in English of learners who use EAL.
• How to carry out assessments of learners using EAL.
• How to access the ITT modules.

Why it is important to consider EAL in ITT

The webinar began by exploring why it is important to consider EAL in ITT. As Professor Leung states: “Ethnolinguistic diversity and EAL can now be fairly regarded as ordinary and permanent features of schooling education.”

Sheila Hopkins explained how this is good news for schools. As many teachers have testified, multilingual learners are an asset to their school. They help to create thriving, diverse school communities, and extend aspirations in the broader school body.

To illustrate the diverse landscape in schools, findings from the 2022 DfE School Census were shared, which show that 19.5% of all learners in the UK were recorded as using English as an Additional Language[1] (EAL), almost 1 in 5 of all pupils. Sheila then pointed towards the TALIS survey, which indicates that nearly half of all teachers will be teaching pupils from diverse backgrounds[2].

Next, some key findings from a research study (Foley et al., 2018) of ITE and EAL were shared, which showed that “many student teachers and teacher educators across the teacher preparation routes feel that they lack confidence and experience as they work to address pupils’ needs within linguistically and culturally diverse settings”[3]. This highlights an explicit need for EAL pedagogy (approaches to teaching and learning relating to learners who use EAL) to be further embedded within ITT programmes.

Towards the end of the webinar, I picked up on this point again, explaining that the Foundation has developed three ITT modules to support teacher educators to give student teachers a grounding in specific EAL knowledge and strategies. Although these individual EAL-focussed sessions are useful in providing that grounding knowledge, the Foley et al. report suggests that the bulk of input and requirements for reflection and action should be infused throughout individual subjects and across all core concerns of an ITE programme. For example, when looking at scaffolding or assessment in ITE programmes, it is useful to bring in an EAL lens and consider how to scaffold content for learners who use EAL, or how to assess learners who use EAL.

What is covered in ITT Module Three

The webinar then provided an overview of the design features and content of the ITT modules:

• Module One: 'Understanding EAL: Contexts, policies and pedagogy'.
• Module Two: 'Language for Learning'.
• Module Three: ‘Assessing Learners who use EAL’.

We then focused specifically on Module Three, providing an outline of the module and explaining that, on this course, student teachers learn briefly about the different levels of proficiency in English, and why it is important to understand a learner’s proficiency in English. The module then goes on to explore practical strategies for assessing the following:

• Proficiency in English.
• Curriculum knowledge.
• Home language.

Module Three is underpinned by research, and it is linked to the standards that student teachers are assessed against (i.e. the Teachers’ Standards and ITT Core Content Framework).

It contains optional pre- and post-session tasks, which can be set by tutors to support student teachers to further engage with and embed EAL assessment within their own teaching practice.

Why it is important to understand and assess proficiency in English of learners who use EAL

During my explanation of the content, I also touched upon the reason why it is important to understand and assess proficiency in English of learners who use EAL. As Strand and Hessel’s research (2019) shows, “proficiency in English is central to understanding achievement and levels of need among pupils with EAL”. In fact, the research found that low proficiency in English is the single most important reason for low attainment and accounted for 5% of the variance in attainment for a child who speaks EAL, compared to the 3-4% variance associated with race, gender, or free-school meals. Therefore, ongoing assessment of a learner’s proficiency in English is essential.

The Teachers’ Standards, Section 6, notes that teachers must “make use of formative and summative assessment to secure pupils’ progress”. If we consider Strand and Hessel’s research, we can see that progress is linked to proficiency in English, and therefore to be able to secure pupil’s progress, teachers need to be able to formatively assess a learner’s proficiency in English and be able to make use of these assessments to appropriately support and challenge learners.

How to carry out assessments of learners using EAL

In the final part of the webinar, I talked through some ideas presented in Module Three of how to assess a learner’s proficiency in English, curriculum knowledge, and home language. The key points covered can be summarised below:

Formatively assessing proficiency in English

Teachers should:

• Use a robust, evidence-informed assessment tool, such as The Bell Foundation's EAL Assessment Framework for Schools.
• Assess proficiency in English regularly.
• Ensure assessments are curriculum-embedded.
• Use assessments to inform instruction.

We also introduced a practical suggested procedure of how to carry out formative assessment of proficiency in English, thinking about stages before, during and after the lesson.

For more detailed information on this topic, see the blog post by Caroline Bruce on ‘Why it is important and how to assess EAL learners’.