Writing in English as an Additional Language at Key Stage 2

Writing in English as an Additional Language at Key Stage 2 18
Percent of EAL and EMT girls achieving level 4 or above in KS2 English (2003)
100
90
80
70
88 89
69
82
77
66
87
75 75 74
82
69
77
73
94
85
85
64
81
72
60
50
% 4+ EMT
% 4+ EAL
40
30
20
10
0
Any other
White
background
Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Any other Black African Any other
Asian
Black
background
background
Chinese
Any other
ethnic group
All pupils
Figure 4 % of EAL and EMT girls achieving level 4 or above in KS2 English (2003)
A pattern of under-achievement is visible at Key Stage 1, and after increasing at Key
Stage 2 as seen above, is maintained at Key Stage 3 (age around 14 years). At schoolleaving
age, only 34.7% of boys of Pakistani background learning EAL pass 5 or
more GCSEs at grade C or above, as compared with 46% of boys whose mother
tongue is English.
The development of English as an additional language is assumed to take place
through immersion in mainstream schooling, combined with some specialist
assistance at the early stages from Language Support or Language Development
teachers. Research in other countries, particularly North America, suggests that it
takes between 5 and 7 years for children’s additional language to reach a level
comparable with their mother tongue peers (Collier, 1996). By the end of Key Stage
2, therefore, we would expect differences in achievement due to first language to be
disappearing, rather than to be widening. While a range of other factors, including
socio-economic background, may influence achievement, it is important to consider
language issues so that children can be given appropriate support and teaching in the
primary school.
1.3 Links to the “Writing in EAL at Key Stage 4 and post-16”
project
The project was designed to follow an earlier, Ofsted-funded research study of writing
by more advanced learners of EAL at Key Stage 4 and post-16 (Cameron, 2003). In
that project, the writing of bilingual learners was analysed and compared with writing
from first language peers and from higher achieving EAL learners. It was found that
some language features were still causing difficulties for bilingual learners,
particularly at the levels of genre and phrase.