With a little tweaking, EAL learners who are New to English (N2E) can and should be set homework similar to their peers. I think this is the essential part of setting homework for N2E EAL learners that homework should be similar and not completely different to their peers. It might seem more effective to set homework which helps develop general language e.g. learning parts of the body, school equipment, days of the week etc.
I believe that for N2E EAL learners, homework tasks should reflect what they are learning in the mainstream curriculum. Or homework should reflect what learners will be learning in future weeks. Hence, homework acts as a way to pre teach or prepare learners who use EAL for subsequent lessons.
Remember that according to the DfE Proficiency in English scale descriptor for an EAL learner that is N2E suggests that ‘May use first language for learning and other purposes. May remain silent in the classroom. May be copying/repeating some words or phrases. May understand some everyday English expressions but may have minimal or no literacy in English. Needs considerable amount of EAL support’
Creating dual language glossaries – if learners are literate in their home language, then utilising their language(s) can be extremely supportive.
Create graphic organisers to learn new vocabulary. For example, learners could create Frayer Models which are a great way to learn new vocabulary or learn concepts that learners will study in upcoming lessons.
Creating picture dictionaries – you could give your learners around 5 words to learn from an upcoming topic they will encounter in their mainstream lessons. They could then create their own picture dictionaries with their own drawings of new vocabulary learned.
Getting the learner to watch a video prior to a topic in their home language / use the caption function on YouTube to watch videos in English with home language captions
Read a text / book using Immersive reader – read alouds, translation into home language, picture dictionary, practice pronunciation. Of course, learners will need to have access to a smart phone, tablet or PC to be able to do this.
Practice writing, spelling and saying new vocabulary learned. To practice pronunciation, you could point learners in the direction of a learner dictionary such as https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/learner-english/ I find this dictionary really helpful for N2E learners because it allows learners to hear words and then repeat. Also, I find the dictionary definitions are often easier to understand for N2E EAL learners.
EAL in the Daylight 