English as an Additional Language (EAL)

At Level BL students communicate simply but effectively in familiar, social and classroom contexts, using simple formulaic and some creative structures. They learn through English that is well supported by context. They contribute relatively complex ideas through simple English, and use simple English to respond to the ideas of others.

Students’ oral expression in English is characterised by short utterances, varying grammatical accuracy, simple subject–verb–object construction and over-generalisation of rules. They use common adjectives and adverbs to describe or add emphasis. They use repetitive grammar patterns copied from stories, songs, rhymes or other short texts. Students’ pronunciation, stress and intonation are comprehensible but carry elements of...

At Level BL students communicate simply but effectively in familiar, social and classroom contexts, using simple formulaic and some creative structures. They learn through English that is well supported by context. They contribute relatively complex ideas through simple English, and use simple English to respond to the ideas of others.

Students’ oral expression in English is characterised by short utterances, varying grammatical accuracy, simple subject–verb–object construction and over-generalisation of rules. They use common adjectives and adverbs to describe or add emphasis. They use repetitive grammar patterns copied from stories, songs, rhymes or other short texts. Students’ pronunciation, stress and intonation are comprehensible but carry elements of home language pronunciation. They use some basic communication strategies, asking for repetition, and questioning to check, clarify or confirm understanding. They use some basic strategies to initiate and sustain simple conversations in English, restating, repeating or re-pronouncing as appropriate.

At Level BL students read a wide range of familiar, short, simple, repetitive fictional and everyday texts, and complete basic structured activities based on them. These texts may be print or digital, including visual, multimodal and interactive.

Students retell a simple and familiar story, and sequence a process with sentences and pictures. They show early understanding that texts are written for a variety of purposes. They show beginning understanding of the letter–sound relationships of English. They read some familiar words and phrases in context, and recognise, name and know the sounds related to all letters and some common letter groups. They recognise that meaning is carried by intonation, and they listen for key words and for repetition of words and phrases in texts read aloud. They focus on illustrations and other non-written features when reading. They use word lists and simple dictionaries to assist them to read new words.

At Level BL students communicate their ideas and experiences simply through written, drawn, copied or dictated texts. They contribute to whole-class or small-group shared writing activities. They demonstrate an early awareness that written texts in English are presented according to certain conventions, which change according to context and purpose. They write simple sequenced descriptions, recounts and procedures, following models. They write or draw for specific audiences.

Students’ writing reflects their oral structures. They link ideas using common conjunctions and show awareness of the uses of basic punctuation. They demonstrate knowledge of some English letter–sound relationships and spelling of high-frequency words, and show evidence of some planning. They model their writing on shared writing activities and published texts, and use some basic strategies, such as copying words or phrases from lists, using images and asking how to write a word. They begin to form letters and place text appropriately. They copy texts using computer software applications.

At Level B1 students communicate verbally and non-verbally in routine social and classroom situations, understanding controlled English that is supported by its immediate context. They use formulas, well-rehearsed and common sentence patterns, and short, simple utterances to contribute relatively complex ideas, usually concerning concrete subject matter.

Students follow simple instructions, answer predictable questions, make basic requests and express needs simply. Students show initial understanding that English changes according to context and audience, and modify their use of English in response to a range of familiar classroom and social purposes. They use appropriate social formulas and non-verbal language. Students’ utterances are characterised by varying...

At Level B1 students communicate verbally and non-verbally in routine social and classroom situations, understanding controlled English that is supported by its immediate context. They use formulas, well-rehearsed and common sentence patterns, and short, simple utterances to contribute relatively complex ideas, usually concerning concrete subject matter.

Students follow simple instructions, answer predictable questions, make basic requests and express needs simply. Students show initial understanding that English changes according to context and audience, and modify their use of English in response to a range of familiar classroom and social purposes. They use appropriate social formulas and non-verbal language. Students’ utterances are characterised by varying grammatical accuracy. They use common adjectives and adverbs to describe or add emphasis. Students use basic communication strategies, asking for repetition, and questioning to clarify and confirm understanding. They restate simply, repeat or re-pronounce when necessary.

Students working at Level B1 read short familiar texts, based on simple language structures and features, common vocabulary and familiar contexts. They retell simply, predict likely outcomes, sequence ideas, and complete basic comprehension activities. These texts may be print or digital, including visual, multimodal and interactive.

Students show understanding of the basic purposes of texts, and choose texts appropriately. With support, they read and gather basic information from simple, accessible texts. They combine their basic knowledge of English letter–sound relationships, their developing oral and sight vocabulary, their beginning knowledge of the conventions of text organisation, and their emerging knowledge of English grammar as they read. They use appropriate intonation and phrasing when reading aloud, showing an understanding of the text’s meaning and the function of basic punctuation. Students show a beginning understanding of the purposes of text organisational features such as headings, labels, diagrams and contents pages.

At Level B1 students write and present simple texts for a variety of basic classroom and personal purposes. With support, they communicate familiar ideas, events and experiences, writing simple narratives, recounts, descriptions and reports. Students use some of the basic structures and features common to these text types, demonstrating their beginning awareness that purpose influences the way texts are written and presented.

Students’ written texts incorporate the basic grammatical features of their spoken English. They spell some common words correctly and their attempts at spelling show a beginning understanding of the patterns of English letter–sound relationships. They use some simple strategies for spelling words, such as checking word lists or books. With support, students plan and edit their texts, providing additional information through visual images. They use the basic features of computer software applications to write and present their texts.

At Level B2 students communicate and learn English in predictable social and learning situations, understanding some de-contextualised English and expressing simple messages in basic English. They negotiate simple transactions and ask and answer basic questions on familiar topics, using familiar structures.

They identify and describe people, places and things using simple vocabulary. They describe a series of events or actions using some detail. They initiate and manage interactions appropriately in a range of familiar contexts. They understand instructions, recounts and explanations when supported by clear contexts. They use simplified English, with varying grammatical accuracy, combining known formulas, learnt grammatical features and new vocabulary to construct...

At Level B2 students communicate and learn English in predictable social and learning situations, understanding some de-contextualised English and expressing simple messages in basic English. They negotiate simple transactions and ask and answer basic questions on familiar topics, using familiar structures.

They identify and describe people, places and things using simple vocabulary. They describe a series of events or actions using some detail. They initiate and manage interactions appropriately in a range of familiar contexts. They understand instructions, recounts and explanations when supported by clear contexts. They use simplified English, with varying grammatical accuracy, combining known formulas, learnt grammatical features and new vocabulary to construct new utterances. They use basic time and sequence markers and simple negative forms. They use verb endings with some consistency. They use some of the terminology of new topics. They pronounce familiar words comprehensibly. They employ basic strategies to sustain and enhance communication in English.

At Level B2 students read familiar and unfamiliar texts containing predictable structures and familiar vocabulary. These texts may be print or digital, including visual, multimodal and interactive.

Students follow simple written instructions and questions. They identify the basic purposes of simple texts, and recognise the basic stages of common text types. They use their developing vocabulary and their knowledge of sentence structure and English letter–sound relationships to predict and self-correct. They modify intonation to differentiate questions, exclamations or dialogue when reading aloud. They follow simple time and logical relationships between events and ideas expressed by common cohesive devices. They sequence sentences from known texts or a text on a familiar topic or experience. Students use simple strategies to assess text difficulty and to choose new texts to read.

At Level B2 students write for a range of purposes on familiar topics. They write simple, organised texts demonstrating a developing use of specific vocabulary and simple sentence structures. Their writing demonstrates an understanding of the purposes of common text types, and their structures and features.

Students’ written texts include basic information and detail. They use a number of common conjunctions to link ideas, using pronoun references with some noun–pronoun agreement, simple phrases to express basic comparisons, and some basic punctuation with consistency. Their attempts to spell new words are plausible, and based on known English letter–sound relationships. They use a range of strategies for spelling words, checking word lists or keeping personal dictionaries. They base new sentences on known sentence structures. Students draw on a developing knowledge of the writing process to plan and write simple texts, and with support, redraft them. They use more advanced software functions to write, edit and present their texts.

At Level B3 students generally respond to and use the structures and features of English appropriately in an increasing variety of familiar formal and informal contexts. They demonstrate awareness of the register requirements of spoken English necessary for a variety of purposes. They understand the essential meaning of unfamiliar topics expressed in familiar spoken English, and extract specific information. They use appropriate sequence markers and consistently use most common irregular past tenses. They provide greater detail through the use of longer noun groups and adverbial phrases. They use comprehensible pronunciation, stress and intonation. They access English from a range of oral and written sources, and extend their oral skills by incorporating new vocabulary...

At Level B3 students generally respond to and use the structures and features of English appropriately in an increasing variety of familiar formal and informal contexts. They demonstrate awareness of the register requirements of spoken English necessary for a variety of purposes. They understand the essential meaning of unfamiliar topics expressed in familiar spoken English, and extract specific information. They use appropriate sequence markers and consistently use most common irregular past tenses. They provide greater detail through the use of longer noun groups and adverbial phrases. They use comprehensible pronunciation, stress and intonation. They access English from a range of oral and written sources, and extend their oral skills by incorporating new vocabulary from these sources into their own repertoire. They are able to self-correct some errors, reformulate language to convey meaning more clearly, and add essential details.

At Level B3 students read for a range of purposes and identify main ideas and specific information in classroom texts. These texts may be print or digital, including visual, multimodal and interactive.

Students demonstrate understanding of the main storyline and most key information when retelling, paraphrasing, and answering questions, and they compare some details in texts. They demonstrate some awareness of how information is organised in English texts. They recognise the cohesive devices connecting ideas and the organisation of information in a text, and use appropriate metalanguage to talk about the structure and features of a text. They recognise how relationships are signalled by an increasing range of conjunctions. They integrate a number of strategies to help them read new texts. They use accessible English dictionaries to check the meanings of new words and use contents pages, indexes, glossaries and headings to find information.

At Level B3 students communicate for a range of purposes on a variety of familiar topics, using a basic repertoire of text types. They write sequenced and ordered factual texts, and narrative texts that maintain a cohesive storyline and characterisation. They demonstrate an awareness of how effective writing is tailored to a purpose, the requirements of the topic and the needs of the reader. They gather and present information appropriately in texts. They write texts that demonstrate some overall cohesion and coherence.

Students can combine and sequence simple sentences and paragraphs using common conjunctions and pronouns. They generally maintain appropriate tense throughout their texts. They discuss and reflect on their own writing, incorporating feedback when planning, reviewing or presenting their texts. They revise texts during writing and proofread after a first draft has been written, improving spelling, punctuation and sentence structure. They present their writing appropriately, in print and digital forms.