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E A L H A N D B O O K
E n g l i s h a s a n A d d i t i o n a l L a n g u a g e |
E A L H A N D B O O K
E n g l i s h a s a n A d d i t i o n a l L a n g u a g e |
All students applying for admission to GWA are screened to see if any support is needed through English as an
Additional Language (EAL). If Admissions screening determines that a student may need EAL support, then a full English
Assessment (WIDA) is administered to determine the specific level of EAL support required. Parents are then notified that
EAL support will be needed in order to help their child access the English curriculum. Our primary assessment tool - called
WIDA - can be administered up to three times a year and places students into one of 5 proficiency levels based on their
abilities in reading, writing, speaking and listening. EAL support is an extra service that costs 3750 AED per semester across
both divisions, Elementary and Secondary.
GWA’s EAL Elementary Department
offers four kinds of support for
students.
Intensive Pull-Out
This support is for learners who are
very new to English and cannot use or
understand much English. These students
spend the majority of their day in their
regular classroom but are pulled out
three times a day - normally during Arabic
classes and during Language periods.
These students often score a 1 or a 2 on
the WIDA proficiency scale.
Language Pull-Out
This support is for students who can
access some of the English language but
still need help to access the language of
their grade’s curriculum. They speak in
English but make some errors that hinder
communication. These students often
score a 2 or 3 on the WIDA proficiency
scale.
In-Class Support
In-class support happens when EAL
teachers go to students in their
mainstream class and help them with
language usage, activities, and summative
tasks. These students often score 3 or
higher on the WIDA proficiency scale.
At GWA we usually support students at
this level for one full academic year and
then their classroom teacher becomes
primarily responsible for supporting and
differentiating.
Monitoring
After students ‘exit’ our EAL program
we keep their names and assessment
information on our roster for up to one
year. Although these students no longer
need EAL support, we periodically check
in with teachers to ensure students
are thriving academically and have no
setbacks as they start to independently
access the English curriculum.
EAL Exit Process
In order to be considered for exit from
the pull-out program, students must
score an overall 3 or above in the EAL
Exit Assessment in all four language
strands:
a.
Oral Assessment
b.
Listening Assessment
c.
Reading Assessment
d.
Writing Assessment
Most students require a full year of
intensive pull-out support but some
exit in just one semster while others
may need support for up to two years.
Our language program at GWA-
Dubai is structured around the belief
that “every teacher is a language
teacher” and is capable of providing
high-quality, differentiated language
teaching to all of their students. For
this reason, EAL students are only
pulled out of their classrooms in the
early stages of their English learning.
Learners usually exit back to their
mainstream classes when we see that
their English is “Developing - Stage
3” (For Elementary) or “Expanding -
Stage 4” (for Secondary). At this point
they are capable of working with
limited support inside themainstream
classroom.
I D E N T I F Y I NG e a L
s u p p o r t i n E L EME N TAry
Intensive Pull-out, LANGUAGE PULL-OUT, In-Class supporT & Monitoring.