University of Sunderland

Faculty of Education and Society

EDE 368- Learning to Learn in a

Second Language
2014-15

Learning to Learn in a Second Language

Portfolio Tasks
Task 1: The second language learning environment
Despite the weighted questions, it is worth reflecting on the reasons for
your answersthe how? of your Yes answers and the why? of your
Nosas well as the awareness-raising implications of this module.
I have often felt overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness in meeting the
language and learning needs of my students who are all EAL. I have only just
begun reading for this module and I am already far more conscious of the
needs of my learners, adjusting my lessons to suit them. It feels like one lightbulb moment after the other as I see how theory explains my day-to-day ah
and argh moments in the classroom, why some things have worked and
others havent. My teaching is already starting to reflect my heightened
awareness, which feels empowering.
In my classroom, there is a safe, secure environment where students are
encouraged to take risks in order to learn (1). My approach to learning is
experiential and takes into account different learning styles, e.g. Kung Fu
Punctuation (5). Language is used purposefully such as creating antipoaching posters or giving a speech on a topic they are passionate about
(persuasive/informative language) (2)(3). Resources are provided to scaffold
learning, e.g. planning frameworks (13).
Moreover, students often work in pairs/groups, which allows for peer modeling
(8) (9) (10). I choose my language carefully, but also use vocabulary that is
challenging, writing key terms on the board (6) (7). I spend the lesson
circulating in order to check work-in-progress, modeling language as well as
supporting students as they use the language (9). I feel I have high
expectations of all my students and this is reflected in feedback from student
voice questionnaires (14).
Initially when I completed the questionnaire I felt I had set clear language
objectives in all curriculum areas: speaking, listening, reading and writing (4).
However. I should be even more detailed in order to best reflect the learning
needs of my students (5).

As I speak French I often refer to the first language of two French students
during class. I do not generally acknowledge the first language of the majority
of my students because I know very little about the Swahili language and
culture (12)

Task 2: Your teaching situation

Write a short description of your teaching situation, including school,
what classes you teach and your students
As a full-time secondary teacher at an international school in Tanzania, I teach
English language and literature to Year 7, 10, 11 and 12.
The majority of the students would be classed as advanced EAL learners,
having completed all of their schooling in English-medium schools. There is,
however, a small minority of students who have only learned English as a
subject; for example, students who have attended Tanzanian primary schools
where the medium of instruction is Kiswahili or who have received their
schooling under different education systems (e.g. French school in
Burundi/Senegal).
Barriers to success:
School and teachers lack of recognition of their mother tongue and
what they bring as learners to the classroom
Students speak an unwritten language (e.g. tribal languages)
Misconceptions surrounding language acquisition, (e.g. Parents insist
on speaking English at home and mother tongue falls into disuse in
order to help their children)
Underdeveloped learning skills and strategies
Poor self-esteem/lack of motivation
Lack of motivation
Teacher constraints: No EAL policy or support in secondary; lack of
resources; no EAL or linguistic and cultural training, which results in language
and cultural barriers; limited parent involvement; lack of student motivation
In order to address my EAL students need, I have used the following
strategies and means of support:

Encouraging students to read what they enjoy, even comic books

Visual support e.g. posters, exemplifying literary terms
Dicto gloss
Oral scaffolding
Use of writing frames, particularly in literature classes.
Teacher and Peer modeling

 Collaborative learning
Study skills: flashcards, highlightingetc
Reflection
Growing up in the Seychelles, I learned French as a second language. When
my family and I went on holiday in France, I sometimes felt frustrated that I
could not communicate as well as I wanted. For example, in bakeries, I often
ended up pointing at what I wanted to buy. I also spent the holiday reading
French comic books, but often need to rely on the pictures to help me
understand what was happening.

Task 3: ESL Teaching and Learning Theory

Make brief notes about the implications of what you have read for your
approach to teaching, particularly on addressing the language needs of
your EAL students.
Maurice Carders three-programme model is ideal and has implications for the
schools approach to meeting the language needs of its EAL students. It also
shows how far we fall short. For instance, although we have a mother tongue
programme, offering Kiswahili from primary to secondary, it is not particularly
valued. The teachers are paid substantially less than other subject teachers
and the programme itself does not differ between L1 and L2 learners. As a
result, it is not as academically rigorous as it should be for L1 learners.
Although my teaching situation is disheartening, Ive been inspired by
Cummins call to arms for schools or individual educators to step forward. If
my school cannot or will not change, I can and therefore what I have read still
has implications for me as an individual teacher.
Recognition of L1 in the classroom
Valuing and recognizing students mother tongue fosters a safe and secure
learning environment. It also appreciates what the prior knowledge of the
learner

Continuing language support

I should not assume because a childs BICs is excellent, they do not need
EAL specific support in developing their CALPs. Moreover, I need to scaffold
all my students academic writing. Research has shown even advanced EAL
students need continuing language support.

Scaffolding
I rely too heavily on oral scaffolding. I sometimes write key terms on the
board, but need to be more consistent in providing visual scaffolding.

Inclusive Planning
I am already using many of the strategies and activities recommended, but
need to do with conscious language objectives in mind.

Task 4: Support the L2 Learner

Use zoom (300%) to view the spider-graph below, which illustrates the
different kinds of support available for the EAL learners at Valentines High
School, in Redbridge.

Reflection
How do the situation and EAL support compare/contrast with your own
teaching context?
I was completely blown away by the support the school offers EAL students. It
is truly a whole school initiative and is in complete contrast to my school
where there is very little in place to support ELLs. There is no official school
policy, although Primary has a referral system in place, which provides
support to students who have a particularly poor language proficiency (See
Appendix 1). The interest in students proficiency in other languages as well
as the distinction made between language proficiency and learning difficulties
reflects an understanding of EAL research, but this is not reflected in the Staff
Handbook. It has therefore been largely left to individual teachers who feel
inadequate, as they do not have the necessary training to teach and support
advanced EAL students who are struggling to develop CALP. I have observed
lessons, which take into account the language and learning needs of students
and other which have not.
A contrast I found particularly striking was the value placed on the students
mother tongue. Even though it is taught in school, it seems to be undervalued.
Kiswahili teachers are paid substantially less than other subject teachers.
Moreover, native and non-native speakers are not in separate classes, which
might suggest the programme has not been designed to be academically
rigorous enough for native speakers. Their proficiency in Kiswahili may be
limited, which may have a negative knock-on effect for their English
proficiency. Lastly, other mother tongues (e.g. Arabic, Kikuyu, Kirundi,
Lugandaetc) are not acknowledged.

Task 5: Planning to meet the needs of L2 Learners

What is your schools policy for providing support for its EAL learners?
Briefly describe your schools policy for providing support for its EAL
learners in the table below and consider how effective it is in providing
for their needs.
School policy regarding withdrawal/immersion
It has been difficult to ascertain my schools policy regarding withdrawal and immersion.
According to the Staff Handbook, a programme would be in place to support students,
withdrawing them from lessons in order to improve study skills, English language
skillsetc
This programme was never fully implemented in Secondary, although I know there is a
learning support programme fully implemented in Primary. Speaking to the Head of
Secondary on the matter, he stated that the school does not have an Equality and
Diversity policy at the school and in practice EAL students do not have a specific
programme and are taught with other students in class.
What he says would suggest the school adheres to a policy of immersion, which a
lecturer described as throwing children in the deep end and helping them to swim.
Advantages

Disadvantages

The school, by default, has adopted a

The existing policy, which was never

policy of immersion, which is favoured by

implemented, favours a withdrawal

researchers like Cummins as more

programme. Research shows this is not

effective in supporting language learning.

the most effective way of students

improving their academic language

EAL support is available in Primary and

proficiency.

students are withdrawn from French. If

they are French, they are withdrawn from

By default, the school has been operating

Kiswahili. They do not miss English,

an immersion programme for EAL

Maths, History or Social Studies and

students. Research shows this is the more

opportunities for content-integrated

effective option, provided there is clear

language learning.

support for the pupil across all mainstream

classes. Observations indicate that this is

Primary EAL support differentiates

not the case.

between students with language needs

and students with learning difficulties.

There is no policy specific to EAL in place

for the whole school, which means, at best,
there will only be pockets of good practice
throughout the school (Maggie Gravelle)

Task 6: Classroom Observation

Focusing on one lesson in your teaching context, identify and describe
the L2 learners in the class and briefly outline the lesson.
Year 7, English (14 students)- 20th April 2015, Period 1
L2 Learners
All of the students are EAL.
The majority are Kiswahili speakers.
There is a new arrival whose mother tongue is French. Her parents are
very supportive and she is a good language learner
(http://esl.fis.edu/parents/advice/good.htm)- call her Marie.
Lesson Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.

Whole-class discussion on the topic of war/conflict

Teacher reads passage out loud and guides class discussion
Group work: Comprehension tasks
Students personal response to the storys ending

Observation
The tables in the classroom were arranged in clusters of four, which is ideal
for pair and small group work, which was a key component of the lesson.
Marie was sat near the whiteboard, so she could see the teacher at all times
to aid her comprehension through visual cues. (Linda Harklau, 1994, p. 25).
Although the teacher did not actively encourage students to use their L1,
Marie had her bilingual dictionary to help her as she reread and completed
work on the passage in her group. The tasks extended the students
linguistically, introducing them to new vocabulary relating to the topic of
war/conflict, but also academically as it required them to infer and evaluate
material.
The lesson used talk as a tool throughout and discussion sentence starters
are a prominent display on the classroom wall and a resource for scaffolding
learning. To improve accessibility, each table could have a copy. This would

have perhaps helped in the starter when students were discussing the topic
as a whole class.
I felt the starter could have been even more effective if the mixed-ability
groups could have discussed this as a group before the teacher initiated a
whole-class discussion and created the semantic web. This would have
particularly helped Marie who was quiet at the beginning of the lesson, but
contributed to the plenary. It seems the opportunity to listen to others and test
her opinions in a small group situation beforehand emboldened her to express
her opinions in a whole-class discussion.
The language functions and structure of the lesson were not explicitly stated,
but were evident throughout: describing what had happened, sequencing
information and expressing and justifying a point of view. The teacher
modeled academic language in her responses to the class as a whole but
also to individual groups. The collaborative nature of the task facilitated cooperation and engagement for all students. When necessary, the teacher
used repetition and rephrasing to help weaker students access the material.

Task 7: Making it work in the classroomevery teacher is a

language teacher!
Choose 5 strategies/activities, which you would consider using in your
own teaching situation. Note their potential for helping to meet both the
languages and learning needs of your L2 students
Recognition of L1 in the classroom
I have found my knowledge of French invaluable in supporting French EAL
students I wish to recognize and value my students multilingual and
multicultural backgrounds and even though I cannot possibly learn all my
students mother tongues, I can make them a part of my classroom. This will
increase my students sense of well-being and by extension, their motivation.
Directed Activities Relating to Texts (DARTs)
My former Curriculum coordinator advised me to give comprehension practice
to my EAL students with weak reading skills. I now know straightforward
comprehension doesnt necessarily require students to understand the
material but to extract it. By contrast, text transformation tasks challenge
students to comprehend and rework it, e.g. writing a friend an email about
their holiday cruise, using information from a brochure.
The use of speaking and writing frames
The use of both speaking and writing frame will help students to organise their
ideas and express themselves clearly. In debates students often repeat points
and do not structure their ideas to lead from one to another (discourse
markers). This is also reflected in their written work. The use of speaking and
writing frames, particularly sentence starters, will be beneficial,
Key visuals
Key visuals are a good pre-reading strategy, which would help my students
access the content of different passages. I will have to model how to construct
these and giving them opportunities to practise in class. They can be used for

pre-teaching and reviewing key vocabulary and grammar structures in relation

to the text type being studied.
Group Hot-Seating
Hot seating has not worked in my classroom. This could be because the
students felt pressured as they each had to play a role. However, if I grouped
students together to speak as one character, they could try out their ideas and
rehearse their response within small supportive groups before presenting to
the whole class.

Task 8: Planning a lesson

Plan a lesson for your teaching context, which embodies features likely
to be effective for your EAL students.
Teaching Context and L2 Learners
The majority of students in Year 7 are EAL learners who have attended
English-medium schools since nursery. There are two students in the class
who have only recently started learning English, having attended Kiswahiliand French-speaking schools.
All of these students demonstrate good social English but need to develop
CALPs across all four key language areas. Like many bilingual students,
speaking skills are far stronger than their reading and writing skills and this is
reflected in their work and was taken into account during my planning.
Strategies and Activities
I planned the following lesson for my Year 7 English class mid-way through
the course. I believed the lessons emphasis on collaborative learning; its
inclusion of key visuals, teacher-student and peer modeling; and lastly, its
scaffolded approach to learning would be effective for all my EAL students.
Having delivered and evaluated the lesson and undertaken further research, I
have updated the language framework to indicate the need to use speaking
frames in Episode 2. Their absence in the lesson itself was a missed
opportunity for scaffolding peer modeling and discussion.
The lesson was carefully staged with scaffolded tasks as my students are
sometimes overwhelmed if too many instructions are given at once, so this
approach was beneficial.
Collaborative Learning was a key feature of the lesson. Students worked in
designated pairs, discussing the instruction and using talk as a tool to explore
ideas before co-constructing their key visual (sociogram/KWL grid). They then
shared their work with a group who had created a different key visual. These
opportunities to try out their ideas in supportive groups built their confidence
and all students were keen to contribute to the plenary. In addition to peer

modeling, I was able to model academic language throughout, going from

group to group.
The use of key visuals resulted in student engagement with the text, moving
beyond literal comprehension into the inferential. It is an excellent strategy to
give students focus and promoted purposeful discussion and close reading.
Although immediate, rich feedback was provided to encourage students to
practise language functions, the use of speaking frames wouldve scaffolded
pupil-pupil interactions more effectively.

Final reflection
In an integrated curriculum, children learn language, learn through language,
and learn about language. They learn in the process of using it. They learn
through language when they use it to construct knowledge across all areas of
the curriculum. And they learn about language when there is a focus on
language as object. In a well-planned integrated program, all three aspects
of language development have the potential to be brought together.
(Gibbons, 2002: 138)
This quote summarises what this model has sought to convey. Make
some notes; consider the claims Gibbons makes and their implications
in your own teaching situation

Gibbon emphasises the need for schools to adopt well-planned and integrated
programme[s] to develop EAL students CALP. However, if the school does
not bring these three aspects of language development together, an individual
educator can do so in his or her classroom. For example, as an English
teacher, I am in an unique position to teach all subjects through fiction and
non-fiction texts. Working with colleagues, I can find out what topics they are
teaching and identify the content-specific vocabulary and grammar structures
and then teach these through a careful selection of texts. They, in turn, would

be made more aware of the language demands of their subject. This would
enable students to learn through language, learn about language and learn
language using it.
Moreover, the concept of language as an object emphasises the importance
of adopting social constructivist and critical pedagogies in my own teaching.
Language is not to be transmitted, but examined and deconstructed as an
object. I want to empower my students to be language detectives, moving
from a traditional, banking concept of education to one that is liberating (Paulo
Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed).

Appendix 1
Name __________ DOB _______
Class _____

Age on September 1 st 2014 ______

Area of language difficulty (speaking, oral comprehension, reading, writing)

How long has the student been studying in English

Other languages spoken (please comment on proficiency of other languagesif you can find out)

Would benefit from support in

Do you think the child has learning difficulties, in addition to ESL? List the
reasons/evidence for this. (do they struggle in other areas of the curriculum)

Oxford Reading Level _________

Referring Teacher_________________

Appendix 2

Appendix 3: Pauline Gibbons Planning Framework

Appendix 4: Maggie Gravelles Planning Framework

Search For My

Tongue:

Empowering multilingual students as a

school and as an English teacher in East
Africa
I ask you, what would you do
if you had two tongues in your mouth,
and lost the first one, the mother tongue,
and could not really know the other,
the foreign tongue.
(Sujata Bhatt, Search For My Tongue)

In Africas post-colonial setting, language is inherently politicized. The

multilingual history of Tanzania itself shows how language has been used to
unify the country with one common language (Kiswahili), but also to separate
the neo-colonial elite from the masses through their knowledge of and level
of proficiency in English (Alexander, 2001, p.11). This history is reflected in the
countrys language policies, which Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir describe as
being confusing, contradictory and ambiguous (2004, p. 68).
International schools have been largely sheltered from this policy, which
requires English to be taught in government schools as a compulsory subject
in primary and then become the medium of instruction thereafter (Ibid, p. 69).
However, international schools are still implicated; the act of sending ones
children to a private school is a political one. It is made in the hopes of
maintaining the childs and, by extension, the familys elite status as one of the
privileged few who speak the colonial and now global language of power:
English (Ibid, p.68). The researcher has listened to parents voice their
concerns about their childrens future in an increasingly globalised world
where their ability to speak English determines their future prospects in and
outside of their country of origin (Kaltantzis et al, 1989, citied in Cummins,
2000, p.104). The researcher feels that it is deplorable that many international
schools seem to be guilty of promulgating the linguistic hierarchy built into the
colonial system (Alexander, p.11), strengthening English at the expense of
their students mother tongues. In the years to come, international schools in

East Africa will be defined by their ability to not only cope with but to capitalise
on their students increasingly multicultural and multilingual backgrounds.
Schools are already beginning to experience an influx of children from across
the continent, compelled to relocate because of disease, war or famine as
well as seeking relative safety and better job opportunities. It is therefore
surprising that little research has been carried out on the subject of
multilingualism in East African international schools. The majority of research
relating to EAL learners language and learning needs applies to teaching
contexts in the UK and US where EAL students [enter] a new school where
they must acquire the language of the majority student population, English
(Collier, 1995, p.2). As Birgit Brock-Utne points out, even the terms L1 and L2
have been developed in a setting dealing with immigrants and minority
cultures in Europe and the US and do not often fit the scene in Africa where
most children are born into multilingual settings (2007, p. 488). However, the
researcher seems to think that from this body of research, international
schools in multilingual contexts can extract principles that to inform school
policy and the educational practices of its staff members. This essay therefore
seeks to establish the role of the school and the educator in empowering its
multilingual students, evaluating the researchers schools current approach
as well as envisioning the ideal classroom environment, according to current
EAL research.

The role of the school

And if you lived in a place you had to
speak a foreign tongue,
your mother tongue would rot,
rot and die in your mouth
until you had to spit it out.
(Sujata Bhatt, Search For My Tongue)

Much like the country in which it operates, the researchers school language
policy can best be described as confusing, contradictory and ambiguous
(Brock-Utne et al., p.68). In the staff handbook, it states that an Academic
Support Withdrawal Programme would be implemented this academic year.

This would have involved students being excused from lessons to receive
intensive learning support.
This in line with language policies adopted by international schools in the
1970s and early 1980s, where EAL students were withdrawn from class for
additional language support (Carder, 2014, p. 86)
The justification given in the staff handbook for this traditional approach is:
Historically, a significant number of our students need [such a
programme], for a variety of reasons, includingpoorly developed
English language skills, poor study habits, limited learning disabilities
[sic]

Although this model was not implemented, it is concerning that this is the one
that the school would choose to adopt for several reasons. Firstly, the schools
policy seems to make no clear distinction between language needs and
special education needs. EAL and SEN are not the same, as reflected in the
SEN code of practice, which asserts that a lack of competence in English
must not be equated with learning difficulties (Rosamond, S. et al., 2003,
p.10). It is fortunate then that documentation relating to EAL withdrawal
support in the primary school differentiates between language and learning
difficulties (Appendix 1) and is reflected in its implementation and delivery.
However, even that partial implementation of this programme of language
support, shows an outdated approach to EAL learning. As Carder (2014, p.
87) points out:
ESL teachers were seen largely as an adjunct to English departments,
and peripheral to the traditional subjects taught by the main
departments: maths, science, humanities, English, foreign languages,
arts, and PE.

This seems to be true of the school, in which the ESL department in primary
and the English department in secondary are delegated the task of developing
students levels of proficiency and literacy in English (Dooley, 2014).
Secondly, the approach does not take into account that research has
demonstrated immersion programmes are better suited to meet the language

needs of EAL students than withdrawal programmes (Cummins 1981; Collier

& Thomas 1989; Franson, 2011).
A lecturer has described immersion as throwing [children] in the deep end
and helping them to swim (English as an additional language, 2008). But
what if the school does not have anything in place to help its EAL students to
swim? In response to a request for all EAL documentation, a senior
administrator stated:
We do not have an Equality and Diversity policy at the school. In
practice EAL students do not have a specific programme and are taught
with other students in class. Most of our students are not Native English
speakers and could easily be classified as EAL learners, though they
have been taught using English from reception and that leaves a very
small group of students that would be considered in this category.

It is interesting that the administrator does not regard EAL as a homogenous

group, which is a typical misconception (Davies, 2012). However, his
understanding also seems to be flawed; what he says suggests that as there
are only a handful of true EAL students, the school has not designed and
does not need to design a specific programme, resorting instead to an
immersion model by default. His definition of an EAL student is at odds with
research (British council, 2014) and he has possibly mistaken developed
BICS for fluency in CALP (Cummins, 1999; 2000; 2003).
It seems the school is guilty of the worst mistakes it could make in serving
ELLs: denying the needs of all their EAL learners, delegating the tasks to the
EAL and English department and indicating they would remediate the problem
if they had the chance (Crawford & Krashen, 2007, cited in Carder, 2014, p.5).
I would therefore like to compare and contrast the schools model (or lack
thereof) with Maurice Carders three-programme model for international
schools to show three key areas the school must build on in order to create a
highly effective learning environments for its students, who are all EAL.
Maurice Carders research primarily focuses on international schools in the
USA, Canada, Australia and England. In Bilingualism in International Schools,
he presents a three-programme model, which involves mother tongue

instruction, cultural and linguistic training for staff and Content and Language
Integrated Learning (CLIL) (Carder, 2007). Although his justification of the
proposed three-programme model to improve second language acquisition is
drawn from bilingual schools in an European context, it is still of relevance to
the multilingual school, which occupies an international space (Carder, 2010)
The researchers school has expressed great concern regarding the poor
levels of English proficiency and literacy. At the beginning of the year, staff
were reminded that all teachers are language teachers and a literacy week
was set up with a view to raising students reading and writing levels across
the curriculum (Dooley, 2014). A small minority felt that they did not have time
to do the English departments job, which shows a limited understanding of
how students learn language and learn through language (Gibbons, 1993). As
Mohan states, the integration of language and subject is relevant to all
teachers whether they teach language or subject matter (Mohan, 1986, p.iv).
It is, however, promising that the majority wished to help, but felt ill equipped
to tackle the task of explicitly teaching language. This is evident in the
observations the researcher has carried out, which seem to indicate that
teachers do not know how to take into account the language needs of their
students when planning their lessons. This serves to highlight the need to
plan for language across the curriculum and to train staff to be culturally and
linguistically aware and fulfil their role as language teachers (Carder, 2007).
Cummins states in the foreword to Bilingualism in International schools that
research on the benefit of mother tongue development is so unequivocal that
every effort should be made to enable students to attain literacy skills in the
language(s) of their parents as well as the languages of the school (Ibid,
2007). Gibbons is one of the researchers who also advocates this approach,
believing the cognitive development of mother tongue is inextricably linked to
developing proficiency in English: "if there is a gap in a learner's language
resources, then the thinking processes that are dependent on them will also
be restricted" (Gibbons, 1993, p. 17). A programme, which does not recognise
the crucial role of the mother tongue in second language acquisition, denies
students the natural benefits of their multilingualism and effectively disables
them academically (Cummins, 2000; Gibbons, 1993; 2002).

However, it is important to note that many of the researchers schools

students mother tongues are indigenous languages with no written form. This
makes providing a mother tongue programme like the one developed at the
International School of Vienna more difficult. It would be nearly impossible to
provide a mother tongue programme for all students, but it would be possible
to provide one for the majority of EAL students in the school, the students who
speak Kiswahili. The school already has in place the rudiments of a mother
tongue programme, teaching Kiswahili in both the primary and secondary
schools. It doesnt appear to be as academically rigorous as it could be, as
the programme itself does not differ between L1 and L2 learners.
Consequently, it does not challenge L1 learners to higher levels of proficiency.
The Kiswahili teachers are also paid substantially less than other subject
teachers, which suggests that even though the language is included in the
curriculum as an academic subject, it is not highly valued (Carder, 2007). The
mechanism for mother tongue instruction for the majority of EAL users is in
place, but it is not capitalised on and developed. Researchers emphasise the
importance of students mother tongue for developing proficiency in English,
and if the school cannot provide a mother tongue programme for all students,
it should at least inform students parents how crucial it is to maintain and
develop their childs mother tongue (Carder, 2007; Cummins, 2000). Parents
are often misinformed and insist on speaking English at home in a misguided
attempt to help their child; a myth often sadly perpetuated by the school
(Carder, 2007; Cummins, 2000).
In conclusion, the lack of a policy to guide planning and practice is inherently
problematic. It leaves too much to chance and too much up to the individual
teacher who feels untrained to meet the language needs of the students. To
ensure progress and to help students realise their potential, the researchers
school needs to set itself apart and become one of the few international
schools that see its multicultural and multilingual student body for what it is,
an incredible asset (Carder, 2007, ix)

The role of the educator

(Sujata Bhatt, Search For My Tongue)

Educators in East Africa must challenge the long-term coercive relations of

power in schools and in society, raising awareness and combating
misinformation of a system which excels in self-deprecation (Cummins, 2000,
p. 105; Okonwko, 1983, p.377). However, if they cannot overturn a coercive
education system they must counteract its effects as best they can. As
Cummins asserts, it is their right but also their responsibility as an educator
to do so (Cummins, 2001a). The remainder of the essay will focus on how a
teacher of English can create a classroom environment and lessons that
nurture the spirit of multilingual children (Cummins, 2001b).
The Classroom
The classroom environment should celebrate and value the multicultural and
multilingual backgrounds of its students (Karaoglu, 2008). This helps to create
a safe and secure environment in which students feel valued and respected,
increasing motivation and in turn, developing language proficiency (Makewa
et al., 2013). This could be done through language projects where students
share different aspects of their languages and cultures. Students should also
be encouraged to write in their mother tongue. This work can then be
displayed in the classroom, which helps to personalise the learning space
(Karaoglu, 2008).

Planning and Teaching

Although literature relating to multiple cultures should be readily available,
carefully planned teaching should make European literature, the mainstay of
the British National curriculum, accessible to all students. The lesson plan
and language frameworks provided in the appendices demonstrate the
importance of planning that takes into account what the learner brings to the
task, what demands are being placed on the learner and what support
needs to be in place (Gravelle, 2000, p.8). For instance, teachers can make
deliberate reference to students L1, thus accessing their prior knowledge;
MacGahern and Boaten assert this is a way of maintaining motivation and
development in the classroom (Gravelle, 2000, p. 122).
However, this all depends on teachers knowing the language and learning
needs of their students, which is vital for effective planning (Makewa et al.,
2013). The lesson plan shows awareness of all the language needs of the
class, catering for both the advanced EAL learners who form the majority of
the class and the two new arrivals that have only been learning in English for
a year. The range of EAL strategies were used in the lesson evidences this
awareness: key visuals, oral scaffolding, teacher and peer modelling.
Moreover, the inclusion of paired and small group work was particularly
beneficial to EAL students. It engendered a sense of community, in which
students were fully engaged and challenged by the tasks set. This is arguably
the ideal Vygotskian classroom environment for EAL students, in which
students work together autonomously, as evidenced by the research gathered
by Makewa et al (2013, pp. 38-42)
During the course of a lesson, teachers must correct students mistakes in
order to help them learn. Directly correcting students, especially verbally, can
induce anxiety, which has been shown to interfere with second language
acquisition (Makewa et al., 2013). The following correction techniques,
provided by Cumbria Country Council (2015, p.14) should be used to avoid
this:

Additionally, when correcting written work, especially for advanced EAL

learners, teachers could highlight their mistakes, giving the students the
responsibility to figure out their mistake (Gunette, 2012). However, it is
important to note that this should only be used for corrections that are within
an individual students competence. Anything beyond a students reach could
result in anxiety (Krashen, 1995, cited in Makewa et al., 2013, pp.38-39).

Conclusion
Every time I think Ive forgotten,
I think Ive lost the mother tongue,
it blossoms out of my mouth.
(Sujata Bhatt, Search For My Tongue)
This essay has sought to establish that East African international schools,
initially set up to meet the needs of expatriates, need to evolve and adapt to
meet the language and learning needs of their new clientele, one which is
much more culturally and linguistically diverse. If they do not rise to the
challenge of ushering in a transformative pedagogy that would empower both
students and teachers, individual educators must ensure mother tongues
blossom in the safety of their classrooms (Cummins, 2000, p. 104). This
essay gave a snapshot of what this might look like in an English classroom
during a single lesson.

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