Using ‘literacy’ approaches to teach English language to Additional Language/Dialect learners

It is not uncommon for teachers to ‘see’ EAL/D students through their  ‘literacy capability’ eyes. Until teachers are made aware of additional language developmental needs and the specialist area of English Language Teaching, these students are often exposed to sub-standard Literacy teaching approaches, those that have been written for students who:

1. speak English, and
2. have reading difficulties, even disabilities!

Here is a newspaper article reporting on some research findings of such a program introduced to ‘solve the literacy problem’ of Indigenous Language-speaking students in remote communities in the Northern Territory.

$30 million federal government literacy program failed