An Evaluation of Strategies in place for EAL pupils in Music Education

PGCE Course project

Project Report from the year 2010 in the subject Musicology, grade: none, London Metropolitan University, course: PGCE music, language: English, abstract: I chose the subject of this survey for a number of reasons. Firstly, I could be classed as an EAL student, because, coming from Malaysia, English is not my first language. Secondly, St Paul's College, the school where I am taking my 2nd placement as a trainee music teacher has a high proportion of EAL pupils- 281 out of a total of 1069. There are 35 languages spoken by pupils at this school and it has problems in caring for the requirements of so many EAL speakers- mainly connected with the lack of trained staff able to deal effectively with EAL. There are two part time EAL teachers, one of whom shares this subject with teaching English, and one other voluntary assistant. The shortcomings of the way EAL is managed in the school are discussed and attempts made to improve on it at various staff meetings. One point which is of particular concern is that many EAL pupils have a lower level of achievement than English speaking pupils of the same age. The school does have a detailed policy on EAL teaching, including interviews with EAL pupils, assessment of their situations and a list of strategies for teaching and assimilating them into the school community.