With an estimated 1.6 million English as an Additional Language (EAL) learners in the UK, and over 5 million in the USA, EAL research is urgently needed to inform practice. This edited volume investigates the multifaceted elements that shape EAL pedagogy and research in a variety of settings and research areas including linguistic ability influences on subject-specific skills, integrating learners' home languages into classroom environments, and the importance of supporting EAL teachers in the classroom. In doing so, the contributors provide an international perspective on the emerging field of EAL research. The research-based chapters detail fundamental concerns related to EAL learner education.
The text is composed of three parts: Part 1 explores the question of what is EAL and how a definition can shape policy construction; Part 2 examines the challenges EAL learners face in the classroom, including the use of first languages and the relative impact learner language proficiency has on subject-specific classes; and Part 3 investigates concerns relating to supporting EAL teachers in the classroom. The volume draws on researcher expertise from a variety of universities and institutions worldwide. It explores diverse language backgrounds in multilingual contexts. It covers empirical studies with pedagogical, policy and further research implications.
The volume represents a single resource invaluable for EAL teachers, trainers and trainees, as well as researchers in the field of education, language learning and teaching, bilingualism and multilingualism, and second language acquisition.
About the Author: Gavin Brooks is lecturer at Kyoto Sangyo University. He has taught EAL and EFL in Asia and South America for over two decades. His research interests include second language vocabulary, especially the vocabulary needs of EAL students, corpus linguistics, and measures of lexical diversity.
Jon Clenton is associate professor at Hiroshima University, Japan. His research interests include the assessment of vocabulary knowledge, L2 vocabulary development in terms of bilingual models, word association studies, lexical processing, and L2 measurement tools. His research has resulted in several international journal article publications.
Simon Fraser is professor at Hiroshima University, Japan. His research interests include ESP, corpus linguistics, and L2 vocabulary development. His lexical analyses of medical English corpora have informed the development of medical English materials and wordlists, and he has published widely in this area.
