Supporting English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EALD) students in secondary schools SAETA Conference 16 th May 2015

Overview  EALD students in DECD  What EALD students bring to the learning context  Needs of EALD students  How the EALD Program meets these needs  How ACARA meets these needs  How secondary schools build upon the skills, experience and knowledge of EALD students and meet their needs  Considerations for the implementation of the new SACE English subjects

EALD students in DECD Who are they? (definition – NESB/ATSI with limited SAE, types – full fee payers, refugee/humanitarian visa holders, migrants, born in Australia including ATSI, asylum seekers in Community Detention or on BVE050) How many are there? (2 114 in IELP/NAP, 407 exited ASSoE in 2014, FTE EALD funded students in mainstream schools including FTE in secondary, EALD funded students are approximately 12% all DECD students, students not funded by EALD Program include international full fee payers, 627 in Anangu schools and 176 CDN or BVE050) Where are the funded students? (metro 86%, country and remote schools, 350 schools, 62 secondary schools, 49 other schools with secondary aged students e.g. area schools)

What EALD students bring to the learning context What skills, experiences and knowledge do EALD students have that can contribute to their learning and that of others?

Needs What are the wellbeing needs of EALD students? What are the learning needs of EALD students?

How the EALD Program meets EALD student needs

How the EALD Program meets EALD student needs Language and Literacy Levels Professional learning Intensive English Language Program Exit reports Transition (e.g. Students at risk plan) Australian Curriculum reporting and assessment guidelines Support for Teachers DTLA cycles (e.g. Year 9 English pp 1-4) Support for Students and Families Interpreting and translating BSSO program Community Liaison Officers Psychologists EALD Data EALD Funding

How ACARA meets EALD student needs

How ACARA meets EALD student needs EAL/D Overview and Advice The EAL/D Overview and Advice covers topics such as: Considerations for EAL/D students with limited schooling Characteristics of EAL/D learning Learning a new language Assessment and the EAL/D student Linguistic and cultural factors that affect EAL/D students’ learning Oral language development for EAL/D students Differences in the ways texts are constructed English vocabulary for EAL/D students EAL/D students’ prior schooling Assumed cultural knowledge EAL/D students expectations of schooling

How ACARA meets EALD student needs EAL/D Learning Progression The EAL/D Learning Progression includes broad descriptions of the characteristics of learner groups at each of four phases of English language learning. EAL/D students of any age may be in any of the language learning phases: o Beginning English — students with some print literacy in their first language. A subcategory, Limited Literacy Background, is included to describe the reading/viewing and writing behaviours typical of students with little or no experience of literacy in any language o Emerging English — students who have a growing degree of print literacy and oral language competency with English (e.g. Years 7-10 p 11-12) o Developing English — students who are further developing their knowledge of print literacy and oral language competency with English (e.g. Years 7-10 pp 18-19) o Consolidating English — students who have a sound knowledge of spoken and written English, including a growing competency with academic language

How ACARA meets EALD student needs Annotated Content Descriptions English Foundation to Year 10 This publication contains annotations that describe linguistic and cultural considerations implied by some English content descriptions. It also suggests teaching strategies to better enable EAL/D students to access the learning described in the English content descriptions (e.g. Year 10 English Language strand pp 74-75, Literature strand pp75-77, Literacy strand pp 77-79).

How secondary schools build upon the skills, experience and knowledge of EALD students and meet their needs How has your school used any of the resources from the EALD Program and/or ACARA to successfully support its EALD students? What other good practices does the school have that were developed independently of the EALD Program/ACARA??

Considerations for the implementation of the new SACE English subjects Currently there are two SACE Stage 2 ESL subjects. There will be only one SACE Stage 2 EAL subject. It will accommodate the needs of those students who currently do SACE Stage 2 ESL Studies. They tend to be in the developing/consolidating phases At Stage 2 the needs of emerging/beginning EALD students (typically full fee payers with a non-alphabetic first language and refugees with an illiterate background) will supposedly be met within the new SACE Stage 2 Essential English. Depending upon student numbers, the changes may result in SACE Stage 1 EAL classes not running in schools in favour of Stage 1 Essential English classes, because EALD students will be able to enrol in any SACE English subject, but English speaking background students will not be eligible to enrol in SACE Stage 1 or 2 EAL subjects.

Considerations for the implementation of the new SACE English subjects Consequences of this situation include: some emerging/beginning EALD students not enrolling in an English subject beyond compulsory Stage 1 English (EAL or Essential English) most emerging/beginning EALD students selecting Stage 2 (and Stage 1) Essential English English teachers having to teach Stage 1 and 2 Essential English classes consisting of emerging/beginning EALD students (and perhaps developing EALD students)

Considerations for the implementation of the new SACE English subjects Considerations for Essential English teachers will include how to: develop a positive learning environment (especially for those who are still experiencing learning and mental health issues related to trauma or refuse to produce less than perfect English in front of their peers/teacher due to cultural reasons) modify tasks that assume students already have an existing network in the community (e.g. part-time job, sports team) or the language/intercultural skills to develop them quickly support EALD students to develop sufficient understanding and use of language and literacy to succeed across the curriculum not just in subject English

Final questions EALD Program