English as an Additional Language

A supportive and comprehensive EAL (English as an Additional Language) programme is available to students who need help with their acquisition of English from Years 1 to 11. Our immediate goal is to support the students to succeed in all their coursework and to help them fully respond to the tasks and expectations of all their subjects. At the same time, we are augmenting their acquisition of English through vocabulary development, grammar and writing practice, reading and listening comprehension activities, and oral presentation opportunities. These build both the competence and confidence required for students to eventually handle the language demands of academic work independently.

Our EAL support follows the IB inquiry based approach and the EAL work is built on the same principles as the Unit Of Inquiry in the homerooms. Through the Unit Of Inquiry elements, our EAL support focuses on three equally represented language aspects: Vocabulary, Language Structure and Pronunciation, that are crucial to the development of the four basic language skills: Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. With our support, students work through the levels at their own pace and are carefully monitored and tracked via the WIDA model, providing us with a holistic and thorough Language Profile of our students.

As a school member of the WIDA international school consortium, Chatsworth’s EAL programmes are aligned with their standards and assessment system for English language development.

We believe that the key to success lies in permanent collaboration in an atmosphere of mutual respect, trust and encouragement, amongst the EAL support specialists, homeroom teachers, parents, guardians, and students.