Great Idea: Comprehensible English

What is comprehensible English?

Comprehensible English is classroom language that creates access to all aspects of the curriculum for learners using English as an Additional Language (EAL). When teachers use comprehensible English to give instructions, present content, set tasks, and deliver feedback, they create the conditions for learning English and learning through English.

Comprehensible English doesn’t mean oversimplifying: learners need exposure to all levels of vocabulary and to the language structures that are particular to the subjects they are studying if they are to access the curriculum successfully. But, to make sure that English is comprehensible, teachers need to be conscious of how they speak, and of the language choices they make, so that learners at all levels of English proficiency can make sense of what they need to do and know.

Examples of comprehensible English

1. Clear and explicit instructions:   

Pauline Gibbons (2002) reminds us that one of the tasks that learners using EAL struggle with the most is following and remembering a list of instructions. To make instructions more comprehensible, teachers can do the following:

• Make conscious decisions about language to eliminate unnecessary language that adds to the linguistic burden. For example, cut out elaborate explanations about what will be happening, such as, “in a minute I am going to be telling you…” When composing on the spot, there is more likely to be backtracking and false starts, which can be confusing to learners new to English. Initially, if you have the time, you could prepare yourself a script; with practice, it will become automatic.
• Present instructions in the correct order, so that the sequence of actions is clear. For example, “First, talk to your buddy. Next choose three words. …” and so on. Notice that each instruction in this example is short and simple.
• Repeat a language structure to minimise the amount of language a learner needs to access. For example, use an action verb at the start of each instruction like this: “Pour the water… Switch on the kettle…. Heat the cup….”
• Scaffold spoken language with appropriate actions and gestures. For example, mime simple actions like cutting out a shape.
• Use visuals to illustrate key concepts, items, or processes as you talk, for example, point to a large map to show places or show a diagram with simple labels to illustrate a process like the germination and growth of a plant.
• Ask questions to check that children have understood, for example, ask "How often must you water the seeds in your pot?" The responses will help you to confirm they have understood.

2. Contextualised and scaffolded academic vocabulary:

Research conducted by Beck and colleagues (2013) categorised classroom language into three tiers. Tier one vocabulary are words that appear frequently in everyday use, for example "listen", "sit", "book". Tier two vocabulary are words that are used generally for learning, for example, "essay", "describe" or "dictate". Tier three words are those that are specific to a subject, for example, "impressionism" in art or "pipette" in science. As Robert Sharples (2021) explains, some words appear in more than one tier and need to be taught explicitly.

Older learners, who are in the earlier bands, will have significant gaps in tiers 1 and 2, and these will need to be explicitly taught.

To support vocabulary development, teachers can do the following:

• Use a combination of familiar and new vocabulary, so that learners can draw on what they already know and use that context to learn new words. For example, when introducing the term, "alternate", first say: “Change the numbers around.” Then say: “Alternate the numbers.”
• Repeat new vocabulary by using it in multiple ways. For example, when introducing the term "evaporation", say: “When the water gets hot, it evaporates. Evaporation happens when water turns into steam.” Learners need to hear new terms multiple times.

When introducing new terms, say them slowly and with emphasis, and sound out each syllable clearly, for example: suff-ra-gette.

What makes English comprehensible?

In addition to using the strategies provided above, there are features of classroom language that can affect how comprehensible classroom English is.

• Speed of delivery: speaking quickly and rushing through numerous instructions or a lot of content creates barriers to understanding. Speaking slowly will help teachers to pronounce words more clearly and to be more in tune with how learners are following and responding. Emphasising key words or concepts and using those words more than once will draw learners’ attention to the important content they need to focus on.
• Idiomatic and colloquial language, which we often use without thinking, can add barriers to accessing meaning. For example, expressions like, “Put your thinking cap on” or “Fingers crossed” may be understood literally by learners who use EAL, especially those new to the UK. Expressions like, “have a go,” and “have a little look,” may not be familiar to learners using EAL. Use language that is not metaphorical in nature, e.g., instead of have a go, simply say try doing this.
• Types and complexity of sentences: complex sentences with several clauses, like this, “Is there any shape that you can see that’s left that you think, ‘No way, there is not a right angle there!’“, create a barrier to understanding. It is hard for learners to know what to focus on or to separate out the different parts. Break such sentences up into simple one-verb sentences or make them into one sentence, where possible, e.g., Which shape doesn’t have a right angle?
• Multiple meanings: many words and phrases in English can have multiple meanings. For example, the phrasal verb “put up” can mean several things and the word “table” has an everyday and maths subject meaning. The strategies outlined above, including using visuals and actions to illustrate can help to remove ambiguity and confusion.
• Nominalisation: as texts become more academic, speakers and writers increasingly use nominalisation, where they turn a verb or phrase into a noun, for example: "make clear" becomes "clarification", or "evaporated" becomes "evaporation". Teachers can scaffold how they introduce learners to new vocabulary in the form of a nominalisation, by using the concept in a narrative form first e.g., “The water became hotter and turned into steam.” Followed by, “The water evaporated.” and then, “Evaporation occurred.” This careful scaffolding and repetition will help model the language that learners will be required to use in their reporting and writing.

Top tip: Repetition of instructions or content can reinforce language and give learners multiple opportunities and time to absorb what it is they must do or know. For example, repeat a set of instructions by saying them first, then asking children to repeat them back to you, as you write them on the board.

Why is comprehensible English a Great Idea for EAL learners?

After several decades of research into how learners acquire a new language, Lightbown and Spada (2006) concluded that “[L]anguage which is modified to suit the capability of the learner is a crucial element in the language acquisition process.” They showed that when adults modify and control the language they use, as families and teachers do with young children, for example, they create greater opportunities for learners using EAL to understand and participate actively in their learning.

Learners using EAL have a double challenge: they need to learn English and learn through English. Using comprehensible English in the classroom provides these learners with much-needed support and multiple opportunities to hear and read new vocabulary and new language structures in context. As Gibbons (2002) has shown, scaffolding learning using strategies such as contextualising and modelling new vocabulary, speaking slowly and clearly, and supporting talk with visuals and gestures, can be effective in creating access to the world of learning in English.

Learners who use EAL are a heterogeneous group. Multiple factors, including the previous education they may have had, and the stage that they entered schooling in the UK will impact on the linguistic challenges they face and on the amount and type of support they will need to access English. When teachers are aware of the language choices they make and use multiple strategies in order to make classroom English comprehensible, they can provide that “crucial element” that Lightbown and Spada identified to successfully break down barriers to learning.

References

Beck, I., McKeown, M.G. and Kucan, L. (2013) Bringing Words to Life (Second edition). New York: Guilford Press.

Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning. Teaching Second Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Heinemann.

Lightbown, P. M. & Spada, N. (2006). How Languages are Learned. (Third edition). Oxford. Oxford University Press.

Sharples, R. (2021). Teaching EAL. Evidence-based Strategies for the Classroom and School.