[Johnny]

Hello all, I was recently asked the following question from my curriculum coordinator and was wondering what your advice would be?

“Ignasia and I have been fielding some questions from Year 10 students who are currently in EAL in Year 10 but who will not be eligible for EAL in Year 12. They are about to submit their booklist and they are wondering if they should be in EAL in Year 11 or English in Year 11 in order to prepare them for Year 12 English. Which then raises the next question of whether students from an EAL background who do not qualify as EAL in Year 12 should be in mainstream English or in a EAL class with dual courses (EAL and English) running simultaneously.”

Thank you

[Anna-Lise]

Hi Johnny,
Interesting questions. As a VCE EAL teacher and exam marker, I would recommend that the students do mainstream English in Year 11, if they are not eligible for EAL in Year 12. In Year 11, a lot of time will be spent on acquiring skills and knowledge that will not be tested in the final exam, such as the new listening task and note-form summaries. So even if the students struggle in the mainstream class, the lesson content will directly relate to what they need to know for the Year 12 exam. As the exam is worth 50% of their final mark, and can pull their SAC marks up or down, it is really important that they are prepared for it.

If the students do not qualify for EAL in Year 12 there is not much point in running dual classes, as the EAL students will have to do the English exam anyway. However, additional support from an EAL teacher could be really beneficial, as grammar and language structures/features etc are not taught as explicitly in the mainstream classroom.

I hope this helps!

[Rabecca]

I totally agree with Anna-Lise. As EAL Coordinator, I ensure that all the EAL students who will not be eligible for EAL in Year 12, they should be moved in Year 11 mainstream to help them to prepare well for their VCE English. The new VCE study design has also triggered the need to take this option.

In some cases, extra support has continued to be provided to such students when they have been moved to mainstream English. This arrangement has proved successful/helpful.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by Susanne. Reason: Privacy of forum participant- surname removed

[Johnny]

This is really helpful feedback- thanks for responding

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by Susanne. Reason: Internet privacy (surname removed)

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