English as an Additional Language

At East Preston Islamic College, students study English as an additional language right from the Foundation level till Year 12. The language is taught on the lines of the Australian Curriculum.

The educational domain of the EAL fulfils the individual learning needs of international students and second generation migrants. Approximately 50 Primary and Secondary students are a part of this learning program and the classes are held daily.

English-as-an-Additional-Language

The Primary and Secondary EAL Programs are guided by efficient teachers in the amalgamation of Literacy, Language and Literature. To support development of the English language and to empower the learners, a phonographic tool called THRASS is used. The analogy of words helps learners to become aware of the phonemic differences. 

The division of words into syllables helps to memorise the words and their spellings with an ease enhancing the vocabulary. The reading process is thus easier and one can comprehend the text well. Attention is given to Guided Independent Reading to make the studies flexible and provide a deeper understanding with the selection of quality narratives. While going through the texts, students become engrossed discussing the literal, inferential and applied meaning. 

The focus on the cohesive devices used by the Author helps to understand the versatility of the text. Language input is necessary to help students gain knowledge and enhance their writing skills cognitively. To bring the knowledge into action is important. Hence, the study of nominalization in the Secondary EAL Program is an effective tool to help students learn and construct written tasks or deliver convincing reasoning for academics. Some students under EAL program have taken part in the Interschool Debating Program. 

The collaboration of EAL and English teaching staff has been supportive for the students at different year levels to study and decipher the orientation, complication, cohesiveness and conclusion of selected texts. Students learn the structure and features of the written text in response to variety of media for oral and written practice. Individual learning style has its own importance. Therefore, instructions are given through whole group, small groups or pair work using interactive or hands-on activities.

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”