Language needs or special needs? A review of the guidance given to teachers about the assessment of learning difficulties in literacy among children learning English as an additional language

Symposium; EAL

Thursday stream 6 Session 14.00 - 15.40 Length 25 minutes

Language needs or special needs? A review of the guidance given to teachers about the assessment of learning difficulties in literacy among children learning English as an additional language

Tony Cline

University of Luton, Centre for Education Studies tony@clines.demon.co.uk

Abstract

Identifying learning difficulties in literacy at an early stage is important, but there appear to be particular obstacles to effective identification in the case of children learning English as an additional language (EAL). How can we best distinguish between literacy problems which are due to EAL and those which are due to special educational needs (SEN) such as specific learning difficulties? There is often a degree of confusion: a problem that arises solely because of language difference may be treated as a more deep-seated learning difficulty; alternatively, a severe problem of learning may be ignored because it is assumed that the child will overcome it as fluency in English improves. This paper will review the guidance offered to teachers and schools in a sample of local education authorities in England that have a high proportion of pupils from ethnic and linguistic minority communities.