Bitesize Research: Understanding How Proficiency In English Impacts Student Progress

By Jaya Carrier

At WA, we teach a large proportion of students who would be classified as EAL. As such, new research published by the University of Oxford and Bell Foundation in March 2021 looking at proficiency in English, progress and LA variation. 

Objectives: To understand the impact of proficiency in English on student progress.

Summary:  

The key overall themes are:

• As the term ‘EAL’ represents a very broad and heterogenous group of students, this study argues that it is a blunt tool to provide meaningful information about a student’s likelihood of fulfilling their potential. This study therefore argues that the idea of ‘proficiency in English’ is the most valuable and important factor in determining the support required by different EAL learners.

• At high levels of proficiency there are positive associations between speaking more than one language and achievement. What is typically a barrier to achievement is low proficiency in the language of instruction at school.

• For most pupils, it takes up to six years for students to move from the lowest to highest level of proficiency in English. This does not seem to be impacted by the age of the child upon starting learning English, and therefore students are likely to need up to six years of support following their first learning of English. There is some variation between ethnic groups here too - wherein, minorities groups encompassing ‘White Other’ on average take longer to reach higher proficiency levels in English.

• The study also suggests that making judgements about students’ proficiency in English is more impacted by the assessor than the student themselves. Therefore, accurate, consistent assessment is necessary in order to ensure that pupils are given appropriate support to progress in proficiency in English and gain access to the curriculum.

• There is no evidence that in schools with high levels of students with low proficiency in English that academic achievement more broadly is impacted.

How does this impact me and my practice?:

Some reflection questions arising from this that might be helpful to consider are: 

• How can I work with the EAL team to support students who currently have low proficiency in English?

• Where on the 6-year journey from low to high proficiency are students you work with? How might this impact their ability to access your curricula? 

• What am I currently doing to support my EAL learners? How effective is this? What do I need in order to bring them on further?

If anyone would like to discuss this further with me - please let me know! I’d be delighted to open up these discussions and conversations.