1.1 Define the terms: • English as an additional language (EAL) • bilingual • advanced learner of EAL

This guide will help you answer 1.1 Define the terms: • English as an additional language (EAL) • bilingual • advanced learner of EAL.

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

English as an Additional Language refers to a situation where a person speaks a language or languages other than English at home or in daily life, and is learning or using English alongside those languages. This term is often used in education in the UK to identify pupils whose first language is not English.

The first language may be the one a person learned from birth, or the language most often used within their family. A child who speaks Polish at home with their parents, but uses English in school, is considered to be an EAL learner.

Some points to remember:

• EAL is not an indicator of ability or intelligence.
• An EAL learner can be at any level of English proficiency, from beginner to fluent.
• The term focuses on language background, not ethnicity or nationality.

Teachers and support staff use the EAL label mainly for planning and recording purposes. It helps identify any extra language support a pupil might need to access the curriculum fully.

An EAL learner may use more than one language in different settings. For example, English at school, Urdu at home, and Arabic for religious study. The EAL term includes both those who have arrived in the UK from elsewhere and those born in the UK who speak another language at home.

The educational aim for EAL learners is to help them become confident and independent users of English while respecting and valuing their other languages. This includes both written and spoken English and the specific academic language used in schools.

Common features of EAL learners include:

• Having to translate in their head before answering in English
• Relying on gestures or visual aids to support communication
• Having strong skills in one language but needing to develop equivalent skills in English
• Using a mix of languages in conversation (code-switching)

Understanding a pupil’s EAL profile helps teachers adapt lessons, use visual support, and create clear verbal instructions, which can make learning more accessible.

Bilingual

Bilingual means a person can use two languages confidently in daily life. This can include speaking, reading, writing, and understanding both languages. The level of skill in each language may be equal, but it can also vary. Some bilingual people read and write better in one language but speak more fluently in the other.

Bilingualism can develop in different ways:

• Simultaneous bilingualism – learning two languages from early childhood at the same time.
• Sequential bilingualism – learning one language first, then introducing a second later, often at school age.

In the context of education, bilingual learners may have strengths that support their learning. Knowledge of two languages can help develop good listening skills and problem-solving abilities. It can also mean they can switch between languages depending on the social or academic situation.

Being bilingual is not the same as EAL. EAL is about learning English when another language is already learned, while bilingual describes the ability to operate in two languages. A person can be bilingual and no longer classed as EAL if they have mastered English to the same standard as native speakers.

Advantages of bilingualism include:

• Communication with a wider range of people
• Strong awareness of different cultures
• Flexibility in thinking and expression
• Transferable literacy skills between languages

Children can maintain bilingualism by continuing to use their home language alongside English. Families can support this by keeping up with reading, writing, and speaking in the first language, which can help preserve cultural links and identity.

In schools, bilingual pupils may act as interpreters for others, which can be an asset when welcoming new EAL learners. However, it is important that their own educational needs are not overlooked simply because they speak two languages.

Advanced Learner of EAL

An advanced learner of EAL is someone who has been learning and using English for a number of years and appears fluent in everyday situations, but still needs further development for full academic language proficiency.

This stage often occurs in secondary school, where the pupil may speak and understand conversational English well but still face challenges with the academic vocabulary, grammar, and complex sentence structures found in school subjects such as science, history, and maths.

Typical characteristics of an advanced EAL learner include:

• Speaking English fluently in social conversations but struggling with academic writing
• Having gaps in subject-specific vocabulary
• Using shorter or simpler sentences than native speakers in written work
• Possible misunderstanding of idioms, figurative speech, and less familiar cultural references
• Needing support with exam questions where wording is complex or contains abstract concepts

An advanced EAL learner may have been in the UK for much of their schooling, so their EAL needs might not be obvious to teachers at first. Their high level of spoken fluency can mask underlying gaps in language needed to excel in academic assessments.

Educational support for advanced EAL learners can focus on:

• Explicit teaching of subject-specific terms
• Practice in structuring longer written pieces
• Exposure to a wider range of complex sentence patterns
• Encouraging advanced reading to expand vocabulary and comprehension
• Developing understanding of figurative language and idioms

For these learners, progress can be supported through targeted intervention in language-heavy subjects, creative writing tasks, and guided reading. Teachers can also give feedback on sentence variety, organisation, and clarity to help refine their written English.

It is important to understand that reaching advanced EAL status means the learner has surpassed the beginner and intermediate phases of English learning. However, this does not mean their EAL journey is complete. The academic demands of later schooling still require continuous language growth.

How the Three Terms Relate

There is a clear connection between the three terms. EAL is a broad category. Anyone learning and using English while having another first language falls under EAL, whether they are a beginner or advanced learner.

Bilingual is about the ability to operate in two languages. Many EAL learners are bilingual, but bilingualism can exist without the EAL classification if the person is already fluent in both languages, including English.

An advanced learner of EAL is a subset within the EAL group. They have reached a high level of fluency but may still need support for the more complex demands of academic language. This stage is common among older EAL pupils who have been in the UK for several years.

Visualising it:

• EAL – all pupils using English as an extra language
• Bilingual – some EAL learners and some fluent speakers of both languages without EAL needs
• Advanced EAL learner – a group within EAL at the upper stage of proficiency

Examples in Practice

• A child recently moved from Romania speaking only Romanian is an EAL beginner. They are not bilingual yet if they cannot use English independently.
• A child born in the UK to Punjabi-speaking parents can speak both Punjabi and English well. They are bilingual. If they use English fluently enough to match their peers in class, they might not be considered EAL anymore.
• A teenager who came from Poland five years ago can chat easily in English but uses short, simple sentences in written essays. They are an advanced learner of EAL and will still benefit from language-focused teaching.

Language Support Strategies

For EAL learners in early stages:

• Use visual aids and gestures
• Provide sentence starters for writing
• Pair with supportive peers

For bilingual learners:

• Encourage use of both languages at home
• Connect cultural references to learning topics
• Allow them to use their stronger language to aid understanding

For advanced EAL learners:

• Teach explicit academic vocabulary
• Use peer review to encourage richer sentence structures
• Provide text analysis to build comprehension skills

Final Thoughts

Understanding the difference between EAL, bilingual, and advanced learner of EAL helps teachers give the right support in class. It stops assumptions being made based on accent, appearance, or social fluency and keeps the focus on actual language needs.

These definitions also remind us that every learner’s profile is unique. Two pupils with the EAL label can have completely different strengths and needs. Bilingualism is a benefit that should be valued alongside the need for English development in school. For advanced EAL learners, continued language growth is possible and should be encouraged to allow them to reach their full potential in all subjects.