How to Support EAL Students as a Teacher

As UK classrooms become increasingly multilingual, supporting pupils who speak English as an Additional Language (EAL) is now part of almost every teacher’s role. 

According to The Bell Foundation (opens in a new tab), one in five pupils speaks a language other than English at home. In some locations, that figure is much higher. For example, the Education Endowment Foundation (opens in a new tab) puts that figure at 56% in Inner London.

With the right classroom strategies, you can help all pupils to excel. Indeed, teaching in an EAL-friendly manner will improve literacy skills across the board.

This guide offers practical, evidence-informed steps for teachers who want to know how to support EAL students effectively.

Key Takeaways

• Focus on both language and learning: Teach content and English development side by side. 

• Small changes, big impact: Modelling language, pre-teaching key terms and celebrating multilingualism will improve the classroom experience.

• Challenges: EAL learners face diverse challenges: language acquisition, cultural adjustment, curriculum access, and building confidence.

• Language transparency: Use clear, accessible language with pre-taught vocabulary, visuals, gestures and sentence modelling.

• Engage with EAL families: Encouraging EAL students to read at home requires the support of parents and guardians.

Key Challenges Faced by EAL Students

EAL learners are a highly diverse group. Some will be new to the UK, while others will have been born in the UK but speak an additional language at home.

Language Acquisition

Learning a subject alongside acquiring a new language, English, is a major challenge. Research (opens in a new tab) shows conversational fluency can take up to two years, but academic proficiency often takes five to seven. Many EAL students will have a narrower English vocabulary, and will also need to learn subject-specific terminology.

Cultural Adjustment

Many EAL pupils are adapting to new social norms and expectations. Group discussions, teacher questioning, or classroom humour may be unfamiliar. Predictable routines, visual timetables, and clear behaviour expectations help pupils feel secure and confident.

Curriculum Access

Dense academic texts, idioms and subject-specific vocabulary can make learning inaccessible. Consider the following common idioms: “It’s raining cats and dogs”, “Break the ice”, “Hit the nail on the head” or “A piece of cake”. 

Many EAL students could be utterly confused without proper explanations. If this support is lacking, pupils may appear to struggle academically when they simply lack language exposure.

Confidence and Belonging

Many EAL learners avoid speaking out in lessons for fear of making mistakes or for being derided due to their accents. Always ensure your classroom is a safe space, where students understand that making mistakes is a key part of the learning process. Praise effort over short-term outcomes.

Classroom Strategies for Supporting EAL Students

Below is a list of practical, easy-to-implement teaching strategies that will make your lessons accessible and inclusive without diluting academic challenge.

Use Clear, Accessible Language

Clarity isn’t about lowering standards. Instead, “it’s about making language transparent so learners can access the challenge”, according to Dr Naomi Flynn (opens in a new tab), EAL expert at the University of Reading.

Be precise and consistent in your instructions. Use short, direct sentences and write key points on the board. 

Model full sentences and encourage pupils to do the same:

Instead of “What’s next?”, say “What will you do next?”

Instead of “It’s on there,” say “The example is on the worksheet.”

Pre-Teach Vocabulary and Concepts

Identify key vocabulary before a new topic. Pre-teach these words using images, examples and repetition. For instance, at the start of a geography lesson on rivers, the keywords could include source, mouth, erosion, tributary and flow. 

Use Visuals, Gestures and Scaffolds

Visuals bridge the gap between unfamiliar language and meaning. Use diagrams, maps, labelled pictures and real-life objects. Combine this with gestures (e.g. “open” (mime opening a book), “listen” (cup your ear), and “write” (mimic holding a pen)), facial expressions and demonstrations (e.g. during a practical lesson).

Scaffolds like sentence starters (“I think that…”, “The reason is…”) or writing frames can prevent students from getting stuck. Encourage students to come up with their own sentence starters, too.

Encourage Peer Support and Structured Talk

Peer learning accelerates language development. Pair EAL pupils with supportive, empathetic classmates and use talk structures such as think-pair-share or jigsaw reading. 

Assign clear roles in group work (reader, summariser, questioner) to give every pupil a voice. 

Build on Pupils’ Home Languages and Cultures

Having multilingual students should be viewed as a strength. Diversity of experience enriches classrooms and enables all students to better understand the world. Celebrate the different heritage of the students. Display maps showing pupils’ countries of origin or showcase multilingual word walls to encourage inclusivity and provide a learning opportunity for all. 

Differentiation 

High expectations should remain consistent; what changes is the route to get there.

For example, in English Literature, you could set the learning objective as follows: All pupils analyse a poem, but some will receive sentence starters, vocabulary prompts, or highlighted key phrases to support their analysis. 

Visuals, examples or models are invaluable too. For example, when teaching about electricity, show a diagram, demonstrate a circuit, and display key terms. Every student accesses the same knowledge, but through different modes of understanding.

When assessing pupil progress, consider allowing students to demonstrate understanding in varied ways, such as voting, whiteboards, diagrams or oral summaries.

Tracking Progress and Assessing EAL Learners

You should always track and assess your pupils in line with your school’s assessment policy. However, in 2025, Ofsted reintroduced EAL into its inspection framework. 

As such, it is worth considering the Bell Foundation's EAL Assessment Framework (opens in a new tab) for Schools, which suggests that teachers record progress across four key domains - listening, speaking, reading and writing - which can be built into formative assessment opportunities.

Share goals with pupils and celebrate milestones, such as writing full paragraphs or contributing during classroom discussions.

Working with EAL Families

EAL students are far more likely to start secondary school with a reading age below their chronological age. This puts them at a distinct disadvantage compared to their peers. 

The main reasons include lack of access to English reading material (e.g. books) and not acquiring English vocabulary during conversations at home. 

Teachers of EAL students should use every opportunity to encourage their pupils to read at home. Indeed, a recent report by BookTrust (opens in a new tab) found that children who read for pleasure are twice as likely to have above-average reading skills compared with children who don’t.

Building trust with parents is key to ensuring they implement your recommendations. Some ideas to get EAL families onboard:

• Using translation apps for essential communication.

• Offering short parent workshops on the school system or homework routines.

• Ensuring you have translators to hand during parents’ evenings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to plan separate lessons for EAL students?

No. Effective support happens within your normal teaching. Adapt tasks through scaffolding and language support rather than creating entirely new plans. EAL inclusion works best when pupils learn alongside peers.

Can I use AI or translation tools to support EAL learners?

Yes, but use them thoughtfully. Translation tools like Google Translate can support comprehension and confidence - particularly for beginners. Always check accuracy and encourage balanced use with English development.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need to be an EAL expert to make a real difference. Supporting EAL students is about clear communication, inclusive practice and genuine curiosity about each learner’s story and needs.

Win win: If you make your lessons accessible for EAL learners, you make them better for all pupils. Modelling language, pre-teaching key terms and celebrating multilingualism will improve the classroom experience.

References

• English as an Additional Language (EAL) and Educational Achievement in England: An Analysis of Publicly Available Data: https://www.bell-foundation.org.uk/our-work/with-schools/research/eal-and-educational-achievement-in-england-an-analysis-of-publicly-available-data/ (opens in a new tab) 

• Education Endowment Foundation - English as an Additional Language (EAL) and educational achievement in England: An analysis of the National Pupil Database: https://www.education.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/EAL_and_educational_achievement__Prof_S_Strand.pdf (opens in a new tab) 

• Feyisa Demie – “English as an Additional Language: How long does it take to acquire English Fluency” (2013, Language and Education): https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1386683/english-as-an-additional-language-how-long-does-it-take-to-acquire-english-fluency (opens in a new tab) 

• The Bell Foundation - EAL Assessment Framework: https://www.bell-foundation.org.uk/resources/eal-assessment-framework/ (opens in a new tab) 

• National Literacy Trust - What are the benefits of reading?: https://literacytrust.org.uk/reading-for-pleasure/families/ (opens in a new tab)