Learning | Languages
English as an Additional Language (EAL)
The EAL programme aims to help students gain competence in English so that they may succeed in the academic programme and integrate fully into the social life of the school.
We recognise that it takes time to learn a new language, and therefore, beginner EAL students must spend a certain amount of time each day in classes designed especially for them.
However, we believe that they also benefit from contact with other students in the regular classroom and the greater school community. At ISL, we aim for an appropriate combination of formal instruction in the language, participation in the regular curriculum, and social interaction outside it.
Objectives
- To help students learn the basic listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in English
- To encourage students to use these skills
- To provide students with the opportunity to learn language in an active way, building on natural motivation and interests
- To provide language that is meaningful to situations in which students find themselves, and to give them the opportunity and freedom to communicate their own ideas, feelings and experiences
- To help students gain confidence to use their acquired language to socialise with their peers, and in the wider school environment
- To help students widen vocabulary and master both sentence structure and the basic elements of English grammar so that they can more easily understand the texts used in their classes
- To encourage reading, both within and outside the course, in English and their first languages
- To promote a sense of achievement and confidence in students so that they can understand and make themselves understood
- To enable students to self-identify as valued members of an international school community
Upper School English Language B / English as an Additional Language
Programme Overview
At ISL, multilingual students are immersed in academic English language development and content-area learning simultaneously.
With the exception of Modern Language courses such as French and German, all students take all other classes in English, including Science, Maths, Social Studies, PE/Health and Arts.
Through the English Language B (ELB) / English as an Additional Language (EAL) Programmes, we support multilingual students to communicate confidently and reflectively in a challenging academic programme delivered in English.
Current English course offerings are:
- English A (English, IGCSE English A, IB English A) - English courses for students who are proficient in all areas of academic English: speaking, listening, reading, writing, language usage and vocabulary
- EAP (English for Academic Purposes) - English courses for students who are still developing academic English skills in one or more of these areas: speaking, listening, reading, writing, language usage and vocabulary
- EAL (English as an Additional Language) - English courses for students who are still developing English proficiency
We also offer the IB English Language B course in Grades 11-12 for students whose Language A course is not English.