Date: 01 December 2021
Time: 12.30 – 13.30
Platform: Zoom
Cost: BAISIS member £40 / BSA member £60 / Member additional attendee £15 / Non-member £120
Audience: Admissions and marketing staff or non-specialist academic and pastoral staff who work closely with international learners with EAL
Course Outline:
Understanding an international pupil’s level of English language proficiency and whether they will be able to fully participate academically and socially impacts everyone, from the learner themselves, to their classroom peers and teachers, through pastoral, administrative and support staff. Making sure your school is in the best position to help your international learners thrive depends on being EAL aware – right from the moment the pupil and parent engage with your marketing materials and admissions teams. This session aims to equip you with the basic knowledge required to become an ‘EAL informed’ community.
Training topics will include an examination of:
- The importance of language level to learning, progress and attainment
- The typical ways schools currently describe their language requirements on websites and in marketing materials
- How to improve the description of your language requirements and develop a shared understanding of language proficiency using international standards
- Relating language levels to English language qualifications and ‘real life’ tasks at school
- How much EAL is really necessary for a pupil to achieve their full potential
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the session participants will have:
- An understanding of the language learning journey from basic communicative competence to full academic linguistic proficiency for an EAL learner
- An understanding of the CEFR levels used to describe different levels of language proficiency, how these relate to both language exams and day to day school life
- Insight into what makes a clear admissions statement on language levels required
- Insight into what ‘excellent EAL learner support’ requires from the whole school community
Trainer: Dr Helen Wood, Head of School Partnerships, Password English Language Testing Ltd
Helen is Head of School Partnerships at Password, an online testing company specialising in assessment for EAL learners, where she supports schools in utilising Password’s test platform gathering feedback from them for future product development. Prior to that she was Head of EAL at d’Overbroeck’s in Oxford for nearly 18 years.
