Writing in English as an additional language in UK schools

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Writing in English as an additional language in
UK schools

• Lynne Cameron
• University of Leeds

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The research projects

• KS4 and post-16 OFSTED funded (2003)
• KS2 DfES funded (2004)
• Writing in EAL
• Aims
• to identify in detail features of written English
  that bilingual students find difficult, and thus
  enable teachers to address them more
  systematically in their teaching.

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Research procedures

• Scripts and writer details provided by schools.
• Close analysis of scripts.
• Comparison of results across three groups
• EAL students achieving at average or below
• English mother tongue (EMT) peer group
• High achieving EAL students

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Key Stage 4

• Year 11 students
• Mock GSCE exams - English and other subjects.
• Focus group (N103)
• EAL, at least 5 years in UK, C/D borderline or
  below in English GCSE
• Gujerati, Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu others
• Time in UK education 10 years 4 months.

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Comparison groups

• EMT peers with English as first language
• (N 16)
• High EAL predicted A or B in English GCSE. (N
  20)
• First languagesBengali, Gujerati others
• Time in UK education 10 years 10 mths

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Key Stage 2

• Year 6 pupils.
• KS2 English National Curriculum Tests, Writing.
  Levels 3, 4, 5.
• EAL (N138)
• at least 5 years in UK
• (mean 7 years 2 months)
• First languages Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujerati
  others
• EMT (N 126)

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An integrated framework for writing
The text as a whole
Content ideas and topics composition purpose Lan
guage resources genre paragraphs linking
within the text
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within the text
Content the development of sub-topics,
storyline.. Language resources sentence
grammar words and phrases punctuation figurative
language
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Evaluating the whole text Genre

• Genres as socially conventionalised ways of
  writing a letter to a newspaper (KS4)
• a story, a radio advert (KS2)
• format
• style
• voice and purpose
• stance
• Does the writer consistently and effectively use
  the genre required?

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Format

• Letter openings and closings
• Explicit teaching of format seemed to help EAL
  students.

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KS4 Findings - style

• EAL students need support in developing their
  awareness of degrees of formality and the
  language typical of different genres (rhetorical
  adaptability).
• High EAL students need more advanced awareness
  to judge nuances of style.
• EMT students need more familiarity with written
  genres and their language.

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Style - EAL errors of language choice

• formality
• Hope you are fine
• I thank you extremely for your patience
• talk / writing
• I mean just look at
• relationship to reader
• dont just sit there - get moving
• overly explicit / academic essay genre
• I think I have given some good reasons as to
  why...

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KS 4 Findings - voice and purpose

• Writing in specific genres requires students to
  adopt and use multiple layers of voices.
• This seemed to lead to confusion about the
  writers role and purpose, audience, and how to
  address the audience.

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KS4 Findings - Content and Linking Ideas

• Texts were too short.
• Focus EAL group had most problems with content.
• Some had ideas but did not express them clearly.
• Ideas were not developed into detail.
• Paragraphing was not used well, by all writers.

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To produce extended writing on a topic needs...

• a range of connected ideas about the topic
• development of each idea
• connections made between the ideas as the writing
  progresses
• linking the sequence of ideas to the topic and to
  the purpose of the writing.

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Finding ideas to write about

• your experience
• your world knowledge
• task materials
• reading demands
• unfamiliar contexts
• different genre and register
• KS2 pictures

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Developing an idea

• get more precise
• give examples
• explain connections

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Developing ideas

• Riding bikes is a good exercise for life.
• It is a way of keeping fit and healthy
• An easly simple quick way of keeping fit is by
  just riding the bike for about an hour each week
• Riding bikes also makes sure that you have lower
  risk of getting a heart problem.
• helped me loose weight 3 stones ...

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Generating ideas to write about

• Think yourself into the writers role in the
  genre and situation.
• Use of drama to clarify voice and purpose.
• Practise changing voice and style.
• Brainstorm, mind-map around key words.
• Break topics down into sub-topics.
• Extract key words from task materials and use for
  ideas.

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Story genre format

• setting
• characters
• problem
• resolution
• (moral)

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KS2 Storyline Findings

• 68 did what they were asked
• 32 changed the storyline in some way
• they fight over a poster, not the game
• Problem - boy does not have enough money to buy
  the game
• EAL level 5 scripts were surprisingly likely to
  change the storyline (35, EMT level 5 - 10)

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Why, and does it matter?

• Do EAL students interpret the pictures in the
  same way as EMT / as intended?
• Do EAL students attach less importance to
  sticking close to the storyline?
• Do they change because of difficulties finding
  the language to describe the given storyline?
• Does it matter in NC tests?

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Narrative development strategies

• Description
• Direct Speech
• Figurative language - metaphors and similes.

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Narrative development Findings

• Level 3 EAL and EMT similar amounts of
  development Level 4 mixed
• Level 5 EMT did more development than EAL in all
  components except Setting
• Best scripts (level 5 / a lot) did most
  development of Character, then Setting. Least
  development of Problem.

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Narrative development strategies Findings

• Description most used. Then Direct Speech, then
  Figurative Language.
• Figurative language used more by EAL and more by
  higher levels.
• Levels 3 and 5 EAL used more Direct Speech than
  EMT.

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• Level 5 scripts used more variety of development.
• Level 5 EMT used more of each strategy than EAL,
  except for Figurative Language to develop
  Character.

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Story endings completeness

• EAL level 3 had highest number of incomplete
  endings
• Level 5 EAL much higher number than EMT
• Level 4 EMT higher than EAL, and EMT level 3.

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Story endings originality

• Just over 10 had interesting or original
  endings.
• Steady increase across levels.
• EMT stories consistently more than EAL.

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Helping with endings

• Listen to and read stories with different types
  of endings.
• Notice how writers end their stories and the
  effect on the reader of a satisfying ending.
• Work out how a story will end before starting to
  write.
• Write a story with a given ending.

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Paragraphing Findings

• Use varied by level, rather than language.
• Level 3 20 of stories showed no use of
  paragraphs.
• Overall use of paragraphing better than in Key
  Stage 4 project.

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Evaluating language use within the text

• Sentence level language
• What use is made of the possibilities of English
  clauses and sentence grammar?
• Words and Phrases
• What use is made of the possibilities of phrases
  within clauses?
• Range of vocabulary used.
• Accuracy
• How accurate is the use of language?

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The basic structure of an English clause

• the government should allow
• S V
• more space in trains for bikes
• O A A
• S V O/C A
• Subject Verb Object/Complement Adverbial

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Joining clauses

• Co-ordination
• and, but, or
• Sub-ordination
• when, if, because, who, that

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KS 4 Findings - sentence and clause grammar

• High EAL make most use of grammar resources
• High EAL show most variety in clause and sentence
  types.
• Focus EAL use simple clause and sentence
  structure.

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Sub-ordinators

• Basic sub-ordinators
• that, because, if, so, as, when, who
• Advanced sub-ordinators
• which, where, although, after, until, unless etc.
• High EAL made twice as much use of advanced
  sub-ordinators as Focus and EMT.

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Sub-ordination at KS4

• High EAL used lowest number of sub-ordinators.
• EMT used most.
• High EAL used most variety of sentence types.

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Subordination at KS2

• Different pattern from KS 4.
• EMT use more subordination than EAL.
• For both groups, the amount of subordination
  increases from level 3 to level 4 to level 5.
• Does the use of variety of clause types come with
  maturity?

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• At KS4, very little use of Subject relative
  clauses
• the people (who) I talked to all agreed
• At KS2, EAL use more Subject relative clauses
  than EMT.
• Not much use of Adverbial clauses
• As you may already know, there are ...

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Filling the Adverbial slot non-finite clauses

• High EAL used more non-finite clauses,
• I have written this letter to tell you my
  reasons
• By Burning body fat and raising your metabolic
  rate,
• you can loose weight
• but there were very few of the more advanced
  types of non-finite clause
• after listing the reasons, in agreeing to
  this,

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Filling the Adverbial slot

• More Adverbials could be used.
• More phrases could be extended into clauses.

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Findings Length of Subjects

• At KS 4 and KS 2 level 4, EAL writing uses more
  single-word Subjects
• EMT also use short Subjects
• KS 4 high EAL use longer Subjects
• At KS 4, high EAL and EMT vary Subject length
  with type of writing.

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Findings - bare noun phrases

• Focus and EMT groups use short and simple
  phrases
• the school, the adults, a good idea
• KS 4 high EAL use longer phrases with more
  interesting words
• an easly quick simple way
• a larger number of young people

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Findings - Words and phrases

• Greatest differences between EAL and EMT writing
  was in accuracy at word and phrase level.
• EAL errors
• formulaic phrases and collocations
• small words
• endings and agreements
• consistency of verb tense and modality

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Formulaic phrases

• are words that are bound together
• they waited for long (for a long time)
• for a lot of time
• after some couple of weeks (a)
• Strong differences between EAL and EMT as at
  KS4. At least twice as many errors.

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from KS2 Script 1

• his class girl
• lots of people at the front of him
• very amazed
• I am not going to buy you a game any more

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small words

• prepositions e.g. in, with, up
• help on pollution
• regret of what they did
• delexical verbs e.g. make, put, do
• it will do a really good help to us
• schools dont give enough interest

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Learning formulaic phrases

• Students should meet / notice / learn words as
  parts of phrases, as well as separately.
• Errors in phrases should be corrected, in speech
  and writing, sensitively and consistently.
• Explicit teaching of thematic sets of phrases may
  be useful e.g. time phrases

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articles

• omitted
• used wrongly
• it will decrease (the) traffic
• A statistically significant difference between
  EAL and EMT at KS4 but not at KS2

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Agreements

• Subject -Verb agreements
• there are so much traffic
• Everyone else are looking
• Noun-pronoun agreements
• I think bike-friendly measures should be
  introduced.. Because it will
• Plurals
• Next times he is going to

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Agreements findings

• At KS 4, EAL made significantly more errors than
  EMT writers.
• This persisted even for High EAL writers.
• At KS 2, there were very few errors and no
  significant difference.
• EMT made more errors, largely due to spoken
  language influence
• int they
• he hurt his self

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Verb endings and tenses

• Verb endings
• riding bikes doesnt only helps
• the girl knewed
• Particular problem for some students at KS4 and
  for level 3 at KS 2.

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consistency in modality

• It would be a great idea
• if you all make some kind of meeting
• and should pay 1
• if you cant ride a bike
• you can (should) not go to main Roads
• because you can (might) have an accident

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Verb tenses and narrative

• it was the game
• everyone was longing for since last month
• (had been)
• Peter was becoming tired since, he queued up at
  seven in the morning
• (had been queuing from)

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• All the adults queue at the counter
• to get ready to pay
• (were queuing)
• His family were not as wealthy he did not buy
  accessories
• Nevertheless, he saved up his money since he was
  seven
• (had saved)

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• Comparatives and superlatives
• the most easiest, more oftenly, very less

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Metaphors and similes

• In 70 of 264 stories at KS2.
• Mostly similes
• glooming eyes like oval pebbles
• he ran like a bullet
• Mostly one-off some parallel pairs (script 2).
• EAL Level 5 used most (5 per story)
• time flew by like pigeons and I was a rock laying
  under a tree

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Animal metaphors and similes

• the children rushed in like if loads of elephants
  saw one little rat
• like a group of cheetahs

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Errors in figurative language

• Comparison doesnt quite work
• eyes sparkled like fireworks
• looked like dogs eyes
• Inaccurate
• burst into happiness
• pouring with tears down their faces

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Conclusions

• Written language makes different demands from
  spoken language.
• to organise long stretches of text
• to imagine the reader
• to use variety of clause and sentence types
• visible accuracy
• EAL students had learnt what had been taught

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Teaching writing

• We need to teach written English.
• Different aspects of written English need
  different teaching approaches
• awareness raising
• strategy training
• practice
• explicit instruction
• corrective feedback

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Awareness raising

• exposure to good writing through reading
• directed attention - noticing
• range of genres
• how writers end their stories
• how they express their ideas
• how paragraphs are signposted
• how verbs show the timing of events
• the use of task materials and pictures

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Strategy training

• thinking yourself into the role and voice of the
  writer
• generating ideas through
• brainstorming
• pictures
• key words in task materials
• plan the end before starting to write

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Practice

• Extended writing needs practice in writing - fast
  and at length
• with gradually reducing support
• on realistic (for the students!) tasks
• spotting errors

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Explicit instruction / modelling

• sets of phrases / collocations
• structuring paragraphs
• punctuation as part of subordination
• the use of Adverbials in clauses
• agreements and endings (KS4)
• building text development e.g. the timeline of a
  story with verbs, time phrases and clauses

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Corrective feedback

• Writing makes correct and incorrect forms
  visible is slow enough to notice.
• Feedback on errors modelling of correct forms
• prepositions and formulaic phrases
• articles (KS 4)
• agreements (KS4 and KS 2 level 3)

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The process of writing?

• How do pupils find ideas to write about?
• How do they interpret pictures?
• How do they organise their ideas?
• Do they think themselves into the genre?
• How do they compose sentences?
• Do they check their writing for errors?

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Research reports

• (1) Writing in EAL at Key Stage 4 and post-16.
• Inspection report More advanced learners of
  EAL in secondary schools and colleges.
• www.ofsted.gov.uk (Publications)
• (2) Writing in EAL at Key Stage 2.
• www.dfes.gov.uk/research
• Inspection report Could they do better? The
  writing of advanced bilingual learners at KS2
  HMI survey of good practice.

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