EAL in the early years

This CACHE endorsed short course covers the essential features of early years – the acquisition of early language and how early childhood practitioners can guide the children learning English as an Additional Language (EAL). Enrol in this course to learn the stages of learning for children with EAL, the correct approaches and strategies to encourage development, the common communication challenges that they regularly face, and the ways to respect and encourage home language.
This course is suitable for practitioners working with babies and young children.

Learning outcomes

You will know the stages of language acquisition, and the expected pattern of language development in the early years
You will know what approaches and strategies work well with children learning EAL
You will be able to respond appropriately to 'code switching' and understand the importance of learning a bit about a child's home language

Advantages of this course

In this multi-cultural society we live in, you’re likely to have children at your early years setting who are bilingual or multilingual and have English as an Additional Language (EAL). You need to know how this will affect their speech, language, and communication development and how best to support these children and include them in life at the setting.
To know how to support children with EAL, we have to understand early language acquisition. This course will cover language acquisition in the first year of a child's life in the tutorial, and the reading section provides information on how children learn languages and the stages of learning for children with EAL.
This course will help you to understand good EAL practice in the Early Years Foundation Stage, and how to support children with EAL and their families.
Additional activities encourage you to reflect on your learning
There is also suggested extended reading that gives both practical information and links to websites to expand knowledge
On completion of this course, you will have the option of purchasing a CACHE certificate. This certificate must not be confused with nationally regulated qualification achievement.

Endorsement statement

Our short course has been reviewed by a Subject Specialist in childcare and endorsed by CACHE demonstrating the quality and rigor. CACHE is a trading name of NCFE (registered company number 02896700) and CACHE; Council for Awards in Care, Health and Education; and NNEB are registered trademarks owned by NCFE. This is an unregulated programme and is not a nationally recognised qualification.