Research School Network: Research2Teaching Seminar with Dr Naomi Flynn Successful practices for EAL: learning from classroom research in the US

Firstly, the Research2Teaching Seminars aim to provide an opportunity for educational researchers to share their work and explore the practicalities of translating their findings into effective strategies for the classroom. At Aspirer, we know how important it is to hear the key messages and findings from the people who have conducted the research which is why these sessions are always free. Research2Teaching Seminars are open to any who has an interest in the particular area being discussed.

For this seminar we invited Dr Naomi Flynn back to Wilbraham Primary so she could share her current research. We provided her with the opportunity to talk about her project working with the whole staff of one school with 98% EAL learners. Naomi demonstrated a rubric for teaching that has already been trialled in the US, and one that she has been using whilst working closely with the staff through Professional Development Meetings, classroom observations and peer coaching, to embed changes in practice that can raise the academic outcomes of EAL learners. She talked about what this teaching approach entails, what the benefits of it appear to be for English schools, and about the sheer pleasure of doing research with teachers that is embedded in schools’ own development needs.

What these seminars are not, are workshops that give you all the answers on how to teach EAL pupils. However, those who attended did leave with a range of different strategies that the research supports. Naomi used a number of different activities to exemplify the importance of structured talk to encourage all children to learn new vocabulary and language structures in context.

Naomi also signposted those who attended to some useful websites and these are linked below.

Great Ideas from The Bell Foundation https://ealresources.bell-foundation.org.uk/teachers/great-ideas-pages
EAL Assessment Framework from The Bell Foundation https://www.bell-foundation.org.uk/eal-programme/teaching-resources/eal-assessment-framework/
EAL Mesh Guide https://www.naldic.org.uk/eal-advocacy/eal-news-summary/New+EAL-MESH+Guide.html
NALDIC, the national subject association for EAL https://naldic.org.uk/
Naomi’s presentation is also available below.

We were lucky enough to film the seminar too if you would like to watch it.

This first video looks at the research that is available in the US and the UK about EAL learners and Naomi spends time explaining the different contexts in the two countries. She then continues to talk about what research-informed practice involves. Finally, this section of the video ends with some key ​‘take home’ messages.

This second video looks at some practical activities that Naomi asked the group to complete to demonstrate the impact that structured talk can have. Naomi uses a cloze procedure task and encourages the group to partake in a dictogloss.

In this third video, Naomi talks about this rubric and how it is being used in the US and how she is adapting it to work with a school in the UK.