Issue 121
Term 2 2022
EAL/D in school libraries
Martin Gray and Nikki Moore investigate how school libraries are supporting EAL/D teaching.
At Singleton High School in New South Wales, Nikki Moore is an EAL/D teacher who is based in the school library. Situating Nikki in the school library has led to collaboration between the library staff and the EAL/D teacher, as well as the non-native English-speaking students who often use the library.
This natural collaboration has led the library to become a more inclusive space, according to Nikki. She says the library has become a space where students can access first language dictionaries, multicultural texts and, most importantly, specialist staff intervention for research, language skills, targeted subject areas and technological support with translation services.
This collaboration between key specialist teaching staff ensures that the students are supported every day of their schooling lives, and not just the days that the EAL/D specialist is present onsite. They are aware that they can seek advice from the librarian and learning support team related to accessing both physical and digital resources, researching across a range of search engine platforms, accessing first language resources
(where available) and receive assessment assistance.
The library as a space also provides them with a quiet and engaging environment within the school grounds where they can meet with other students or relax in order to improve their own wellbeing.
Examples like that of Nikki’s school have led the New South Wales Department of Education to conduct a recent survey exploring the extent to which EAL/D programs and their students may be supported by school library staff. In the past, figures on the commonality of such collaborations have been hard to come by. This initial survey, which began in New South Wales but was expanded to include other states and territories, revealed that collaborations that bear resemblances to Nikki’s are, in fact, reasonably common. The table below summarises some findings from the survey. A full report can be read on the SCIS blog.
| Statement | Percentage of respondents who agreed |
|---|---|
| The EAL/D teacher bases themselves in the library as an office. | 14 (12.3%) |
| The EAL/D teacher carries out all lessons in the library. | 7 (6.1%) |
| The EAL/D teacher carries out some lessons in the library. | 39 (34.2%) |
| The EALD Teacher is able to request field relevant additions to the collection. | 52 (45.6%) |
| The EALD Students are encouraged to use the library in break or study periods. (for study) | 38 (33.3%) |
| The EALD Students Are encouraged to use the library in break or study periods. (for wellbeing) | 40 (35.1%) |
| The EALD students voluntarily use the library in break or study periods. (For study) | 45 (39.5%) |
| The EALD students voluntarily use the library in break or study periods. (For wellbeing) | 51 (44.7%) |
| The library has a collection of reference books specific for the language learning of the students, e.g. bilingual dictionaries, language learner textbooks | 49 (43%) |
| The library has a collection of general literature representative of the EALD Students cultures, e.g. cooking books, literature by home nation authors. | 59 (51.8%) |
| The librarian assists the EALD teacher in choosing appropriate texts for targeted work in English classes | 36 (31.6%) |
| Library has an after hours homework centre with extra support for the EALD students | 14 (12.3%) |
| My school has no EALD students | 12 (10.5%) |
| My school has EALD students, but the library does not support them in a way different to native speakers. | 20 (17.5%) |
The library as a space also provides them with a quiet and engaging environment within the school grounds where they can meet with other students or relax in order to improve their own wellbeing.
Examples like that of Nikki’s school have led the New South Wales Department of Education to conduct a recent survey exploring the extent to which EAL/D programs and their students may be supported by school library staff. In the past, figures on the commonality of such collaborations have been hard to come by. This initial survey, which began in New South Wales but was expanded to include other states and territories, revealed that collaborations that bear resemblances to Nikki’s are, in fact, reasonably common. The table on the below summarises some findings from the survey. A full report can be read on the SCIS blog.
From this survey it can be observed that 72% of schools have libraries whichoffer extra assistance to students from non-English speaking backgrounds. Collection support being the most common form of assistance. If these numbers are reduced to only government schools, that is 81 of 98 schools, 82%.
This shows that school libraries often play a role supporting LOTE students in a range of roles. As a general trend, the more EAL/D students a school has, the more services the library offers in a targeted manner. This may be due to economic factors e.g. more funding for EAL/D teachers, or a library targeting its own school needs.
Use SCIS to develop your EAL/D Collection
To encourage librarians to keep developing their EAL/D resources, SCIS has produced a short video detailing how to search for resources you might add to your library collection.