It’s always important to keep in mind, however, each student’s unique learning profile and socio/cultural/economic background. EAL learners vary by age, country of origin, mother tongue, socioeconomic status, and degree of access and exposure to formal schooling. Variations among these factors influence the extent to which instruction practices can favorably impact learning to read in a second language” (Carlo, 2004; Olsen, 2010). EAL learners need the following: • Multiple Entry Points into English EAL learners benefit when they are able to draw on the full linguistic support of all four language processes—reading, writing, speaking, and listening—and all four language processes should be thoroughly integrated. EAL learners benefit from extensive aural support (read-alouds and audiobooks) as well as multiple opportunities to write. EAL learners should be encouraged to keep a reader’s notebook, using it to write about the books they are reading. The full spectrum of linguistic support through multiple language processes enables emerging bilinguals to enjoy and make sense of the grade-level books they are reading (Gibbons, 2009). • Supports for Academic Vocabulary Acquisition What about all-important vocabulary? Second-language researcher Diane August (2006) notes the value of the interactive read-aloud as a key instructional strategy that supports the acquisition of linguistic skills by EAL learners. Vocabulary is primarily acquired incidentally, through listening, speaking, and reading (Wong-Fillmore, 2014; Graves, 2006). Thus, teachers need to immerse students in rich language environments where students have many opportunities to use their target language (English) to learn rich content. –– Interactive shared reading successfully supports EAL learners as well as native English speakers (Silverman, 2007). It exposes students to rich book language and powerful vocabulary. Though many studies have been conducted with young children, there is evidence that this technique can be effective with older learners as well (Brabham and Lynch-Brown, 2002). –– Duke, et al. (2011) cite the high correlation between academic vocabulary and comprehension and offer several strategies that students can use to lock down the meaning of more sophisticated content words. These strategies include relating words to themes and to other similar words. These word associations help build networks of meaning that support reading comprehension. • Thematic Networks of Meaning EAL learners benefit immeasurably from thematic text sets that spiral in difficulty over the course of each school year, as well as across grade levels (Freeman et al. 2016). Reading multiple texts on the same theme automatically fosters close reading and deepens and refines subject knowledge. As noted by literacy researcher Peter Johnston, “To understand a text deeply, we need multiple perspectives. To understand a subject, idea, or concept more deeply, we need multiple texts because each text offers another author’s perspective on the subject” (2009).
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LEARNERS OF ENGLISH AS AN ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE (EAL)
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