Teachers’ and Administrators’ Perceptions of English as an Additional Language Students in
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Date
2019-01
Authors
Aisicovich, Margaret
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Abstract
Abstract
The following study explored how one school Division in central Canada interpreted ‘inclusion’ of newcomer English as Additional Language (EAL) students and how the perceptions of teachers and administrators affected the development of policies and programming for these students. In this Division, inclusion is defined as placing EAL students directly into regular public-school classes; however, teachers in mainstream classes reported feeling unequipped to meet the specific needs of EAL students. Placing EAL students in mainstream classrooms puts tremendous pressure on them, to learn English, while at the same time using English to learn content. Teachers and administrators were interviewed regarding their views and practices toward EAL; an interpretive constructivist lens was used to analyze the findings. Findings suggested that there is a need for greater connection between the development of divisional policies, processes and practices with provincial policies related to literacy and numeracy as they pertain to EAL learners.
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Keywords
EAL programming, inclusion, mainstream classes