ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE (EAL)

The vision of the Department of Education is ‘to educate and develop the children and young people of Northern Ireland to the highest possible standards, providing equality of access to all’.

This includes children and young people who have English as an additional language (EAL). These are children and young people who do not have English as their first language and do not have satisfactory English skills to participate fully in school.

Because the number of children and young people with English as an additional language enrolling in schools in Northern Ireland has been rising, we need to deal with this issue by finalising a formal English as an additional language policy.

The intention of the policy is to assist the promotion of equality of opportunity for children for whom English is an additional language by enabling them to access the Northern Ireland curriculum.

Various types of research were carried out to help us develop the policy.

Review of English as an additional language (EAL) – November 2005 PDF 329 KB

EAL Consultation with Pupils, Parents and NGOs – December 2006 PDF 295 KB

Summary of Principal and Teacher Interviews – November 2006 PDF 124 KB

Education and Training Inspectorate - The quality of learning and teaching and the standards and outcomes achieved by the learners in relation to the provision for English as an additional language - PDF 233 KB

The consultation on this policy has now closed. The policy documents and questionnaires are still available for information only.

English as an additional language policy document PDF 323 KB

English as an additional language response questionnaire PDF 146 KB

English as an additional language summary document PDF 132 KB

(Cantonese Summary) PDF 1660 KB