Language Support and Cultural Diversity in Early Childhood Education

This assignment requires you to discuss the significance of providing language support and promoting cultural diversity in early childhood education settings. It involves analyzing how to create an inclusive environment for children whose first language is not English, including strategies for supporting their linguistic and cultural needs.

The Child in Society

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
Understanding of philosophical, sociological and educational principles that underpin
inclusive practice and the celebration of cultural awareness......................................................1
LO3. ................................................................................................................................................4
Historical and sociological aspects of inclusivity in early years education................................4
LO4..................................................................................................................................................6
Issues concerned with the execution of inclusive practice..........................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

TITLE: - “Do Early Years Practitioners Provide Enough Support for Families with English as an
Additional Language (EAL)?”
INTRODUCTION
England has been considered as the country of migrants as a large number of population
of the nation has come from different nations and settled here permanently. So, it can be said that
their first language is not English and this was analysed through census report of 2011. It stated
that people residing in England and Wales who could not speak English were approx. 138,000.
From this, research topic has been extracted out that supports early practitioners like teachers
provide enough support for the families who has English as an Additional Language (EAL). This
is a reflection on the issue whether teacher and staff are able to understand cultural background
of kids or not and if they are providing them enough resources to support them in learning (Ball,
2010).
Although many practitioners might have experience of working with children who have
English as an Additional Language, there is dispute on the value of support offered to such
children in their early years. This is taken as a research topic because the number of children who
have EAL and live in England are increasing every year and thus, putting a pressure on those
who work in the Early Years Sector (Lancaster and Kirby, 2010). To gain more knowledge about
this social wrong, there will be analysis on the philosophical, sociological and educational
principles aspects concerned with this issue. There will be reflection on the importance of this
topic to cultural diversity of UK.
LO 1
Understanding of philosophical, sociological and educational principles that underpin inclusive
practice and the celebration of cultural awareness
In today's world, the definition of preschool has elaborated and it has not been only
restricted to playing and having fun activities with the age mates. Concerning about the
educational attainment of country's kids have refocused attention on early child settings as the
place where children also get prepared for the school (Rodger, 2016). This has become an issue
that how the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity can be managed at the pre-school setting.
There are various reasons why individuals move from one country to another as some may move
because of better opportunity, lifestyle, etc. This has been an issue to prepare children from
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different backgrounds so that they can be successful in their school in future. Many children with
EAL are at the early level in learning English and they go through a “silent period” when they
are in any unfamiliar environment setting. The time frame for this can be either six months or
can also last for longer period. This is the time when the children observes, learns, listens and
explores their surroundings actively. Thus, they come with an experience and get to know about
different meanings. So, they will be inter relating their past knowledge with the new aspects
which have observed or experienced by them (Cheminais, 2014). It is necessary that the children
should not feel any kind of pressure to speak till they feel confident enough to do. The society
was based on key principles of crucial philosophical ideas which highlights that if any
civilization needs to grow, they should have education and practical knowledge about the things
which are happening around them.
This research is done to analyse the existing literature discussing about the educational
goals that a particular segment wants to achieve. There has been different opinions about the
education setting in early years and this has been important that what kind of things should be
taught to the children (Dowling, 2014). This is the time when children hardly speak and
communicate with non-verbal modes. The first language of children acts as an asset because as it
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Illustration 1: Total number of pupils with EAL from 1997 to 2013

plays important role in in identifying, learning and the acquisition of other languages. . It has
been observed that children most of the time spend time at their home in the initial stage and so,
he learns the language which their parents speak. It increases their capability to transfer
themselves easily on the new language. Making him understand about the English language thus
ignoring their native language will make them depressed and they will not able to corporate with
the social setting. Previously, there has been researches which has be carried out in the last two
decades on the language development of young bilingual learners and this has given birth to the
number of theories and principles about children learning in schools (García and Kleifgen,
2010). Following are the key theories which support this issue:-
 The importance of developing on their current knowledge related to the language;
 The influence of behaviour towards them personally and their culture, language, religion
and ethnicity on learning and their background identity.
Below are some of the important principles concerned with learning English as an
additional language:-
 Encouraging regular development of first language and promoting its usage in learning
process for the new opportunities.
 Cognitive challenge should be kept high through the concept of linguistic and contextual
support.
 Acquisition of English language will be supported with cognitive and academic
development through a mix curriculum in the scenario.
All factors which are concerned with sociology, philosophy and education principles
should support the cultural diversity. All children have the freedom to practice their cultural
background and use their first language without any fear in social setting. They should not face
any kind of discrimination and it has been observed that many schools or early practitioners
support the concept of diverse learning environment by giving different kinds of resources from
a various nations and cultures (Halle and et. al., 2012). It is important that there should be
promotion of different cultures at a single place and thus making the world an interactive place.
The practitioners can bring dolls and puppets with different ethnicity. This thing will have the
positive outcomes on children and on the other hand they should know what are the ideas they
are focusing on. There will be cultural differences, so it is a quite challenge task for the
practitioner to adapt sociological, philosophical and education principles under one roof. For
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this, they can adopt different processes and strategies to align each of them and make the
children comfortable in their yearly education.
LO3.
Historical and sociological aspects of inclusivity in early years education.
The results of the research focuses on the historical aspects of education and history of
childhood thus focusing on the changing ideals of education and the issues prevailing in it. All
around the globe children are excluded from the schools due to their disability, race, language,
religion, gender and poverty. For this the researching focusing on the language. It has been
analysed from the past that it is the teacher who is responsible for building the confidence in
children. It helps them in knowing who they are and from what background they belong from.
Giving them the historical knowledge about their ancestry helps them in brining moral values in
them (Darling-Hammond, 2010). It brings a sense of belonging to the place, cultural from where
their grandfathers have came from. In the past the teacher had played an important role in the
shaping the interest of the students on certain issues thus making them responsive. Right from
starting they had been delivering the quality service according to the requirements of the students
who has English as an additional language. They see, observe and understand their nature and
decides that what is the key style which can be adopted by them to give them certain knowledge.
In earlier days knowing the other language or English was not much compulsory as there was no
globalization and improvement in the business market (Driscoll and Perdue, 2012). With the
adoption of new technology people started moving from one place to another thus increasing the
importance of cross culture communication.
The term inclusive education can be defined as the different and diverse students learning
side by side in the same classroom. With this kind of education it shows the importance of
diversity and the contribution of the society in encouraging it. With this kind of inclusive
education a kind can feel safe thus creating a sense of belonging. There is great importance of
exclusive education setting in UK as this promotes the cultural diversity and also helping them in
eliminating discriminatory behaviour (Brock, 2010). It is the school who introduce a relationship
of a children with the outer world thus making them socially interactive. The discrimination
attitudes can be removed through ensuring that students whose first language is not English
belonging from different diverse background play, socialize and learn new things altogether. The
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practitioner can also separate children who needs some sort of special attention like any student
who has EAL finding it difficulty to cope up with his classmate so they should give him special
training and teachings. In the process there should be introduction of the English chapter on daily
basis so that the children can understand and learn the language slowly and gradually. The basic
aim of all these is to hit the sociology of the children.
The practitioner has to frame a strategy where they try to pair the child with another to
whom they can talk and show their friendship. To adapt them into the learning process of
English language it is necessary that they should more focus on listening time of the students.
They should not expect much from the children in quick time. The teacher should check the
pronunciation of the child and ensure that everyone should try to say it properly. Those students
whop have less command over English should be communicated in non verbal means with the
help of gestures, body contact, personal contact and etc. The individuals who are part of any
institutes should try to know the psychological behaviour of child like they should know how
they feel and what are the things which makes them happy at the school (Ado, 2013). They
should know what are the factors which worry the child and how he or she react in front of
everyone. The children should not come across the feeling of loneliness and should not feel that
he is weak as fearing to go in public. Most of the students who comes to the pre-school either cry
or feel difficult to adjust as they never been in such environment. They become shy in nature and
does not talk with other by thinking that the people will language when they will speak. They
become confused with the matter that why they are not allowed to play with the other children of
their age and what they should do next. There might be chances that those children have tried to
learn and speak English but failed and now they are in delima that what they can do to overcome
this.
To gain proper knowledge about the culture from which the student is coming so for that
they should invest in good admission process. This is important for both the parties and
especially those who are new to English. This is an initiative which has to be taken by the
practitioners and before the admission they should carry a counselling session so that they can
know the cultural background of the family from which the child is coming (Easterbrooks,
2010). They should ask all the necessary information in the admission form and should give an
induction pack to the children parents consisting information on the English school system or the
other crucial information. It is analysed that a person or any child learns quickly if the visual
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audio process is followed by the organisation. They should show pictures to the children who has
English as an Additional Language (EAL).
LO4.
Issues concerned with the execution of inclusive practice.
Following are the barriers for the implementation of inclusive education for EAL families:-
Attitudes:- It is observed that the norms related to the society is considered as the biggest
barrier to inclusion or cultural diversity. Many of the people or practitioner has the old attitude
and thinks that students who falls in the category of EAL belongs to the inferior culture.
Prejudices against those with differences can lead to discrimination, thus affecting the education
process of the institution (Parish‐Morris and et. al., 2013). The challenges for inclusive will be
blamed on the students instead of improving and bringing changes in the education system.
Curriculum:- The practitioners might have a rigid curriculum that does not allow for the
experimentation which can be only useful if there is adoption of a single type of teaching method
which is an issue in implementation of the inclusive education process. Those schools who don't
follow different teaching style may may also defeat the leading process for not only EAL but for
all the students (Conti-Ramsden and Durkin, 2012). Although the curriculum should be single
for all the students but it is required that it should in different prominent languages spoken in
UK.
Teachers:- They can be also an barrier if they don't have proper training or does not have
any experience, unenthusiastic will not be useful for the inclusion system. They fear that giving
training might not bring the real effectiveness and with this their workload will also be increased
thus find it difficult to handle the situation. They will have the additional duty to explain the
same chapter in two different languages which is quite a tough task. In the environment, where
the students have different cultural background and does not have the English as their first
language (Spencer and Slocum, 2010). It highlights that how the person should perform or react
in the cases when they are dealing with students of another background. To be effective they
have to ask own self that what they want to achieve from this and what they find hard about the
teaching in classroom concerned with the diversity.
Funding:- For the inclusion or for getting the resources to teach EAL students funding is
required. It is analysed that schools lacks proper facilities, qualified and properly trained teachers
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and the other staff also. They need educational materials and basic support and in the case if they
lack in these resources is not allowing the early practitioner to bring the change at institutions.
There should be subsidies given to the educational institutes so that they can change the structure
and incorporate certain required changes.
Organisation of the Education System:- The centralized education system in UK are
conductive to positive change and initiative. The decision making power is with the higher
officials of institutions and they hardly focus in quality learning. The board members hardly have
the ideas about the issues which are prevailing in the schools (De Boer, Pijl and Minnaert, 2011).
There should be audit of the institutes as well as the children who are part of that body. After
having the deep analysis of what is required and how things can be changed they should frame a
plan to bring the positive outcomes.
Policies as Barriers:- Most of the leaders in England don't understand the concept or
does not believe in imparting inclusive education. Such leaders hamper the learning for the
students who has English as the additional language for them. This will prevent them enjoying
the same kind of benefit as the English speaking students are getting in schools. This can affect
their future growth and reduce the chances of employment in future. It is the duty of the
government to ensure that they support the rights of each and every culture whose population is
living in England (Miles and Singal, 2010). The Department of Education in UK has to follow a
single policy where they look for ensuring that students are set liable for any discrimination on
the child who has EAL. The government can make a policy that those who are coming to UK
needs to attend English learning classes till they have fluency in English.
Lack of Confidence:- This is one of the factors which makes the children feel
marginalised as they don't feel confident enough. It might happen that they they are not able to
understand the language of the teacher so they are not able top ask them the doubts or express
them. On the other side they also don't talk to their age mate in the school as this is making them
feel inferior on the certain issues (Lonigan and Shanahan, 2010).
To ensure that non English speaking children are given support so that they can learn new
things and for that they needs an extra funding. The most important thing which is required is the
change in the old behaviours.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that development of the young children is
based on what they learn at the school. In UK, every year there is increase in the families who
has English as an Additional Language (EAL) and when the young children start their schooling
they face a lot of issue in adapting into the English Education system. In such cases, the early
years practitioner plays a key role to ensure that the children are given full assistance in learning
English. They have to respect the cultural diversity and should understand that how they can be
given certain knowledge. The institutions needs to adopt inclusive practice where they students
who belongs to different culture are included into the general education classroom. Those
students who are not able to cope up with the situation and setting are focused especially. With
this the social harmony is maintained and it ensure that there is no social discrimination with the
children who has English as an additional language (EAL). The barriers which are coming in the
way of implementation process of Inclusive education concept should be removed with proper
planning and strategy.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Ado, K., 2013. Action research: Professional development to help support and retain early career
teachers. Educational Action Research. 21(2). pp.131-146.
Ball, J., 2010. Enhancing learning of children from diverse language backgrounds: Mother
tongue-based bilingual or multilingual education in early childhood and early primary
school years. Victoria, Canada: Early Childhood Development Intercultural
Partnerships, University of Victoria.
Brock, T., 2010. Young adults and higher education: Barriers and breakthroughs to success. The
Future of Children. 20(1). pp.109-132.
Cheminais, R., 2014. Every Child Matters: A practical guide for teachers. Routledge.
Conti-Ramsden, G. and Durkin, K., 2012. Language development and assessment in the
preschool period. Neuropsychology Review. 22(4). pp.384-401.
Darling-Hammond, L., 2010. Teacher education and the American future. Journal of teacher
education. 61(1-2). pp.35-47.
De Boer, A., Pijl, S. J. and Minnaert, A., 2011. Regular primary schoolteachers’ attitudes
towards inclusive education: A review of the literature. International journal of
inclusive education. 15(3). pp.331-353.
Dowling, M., 2014. Young children's personal, social and emotional development. Sage.
Driscoll, D. L. and Perdue, S. W., 2012. Theory, Lore, and More: An Analysis of RAD Research
in" The Writing Center Journal," 1980–2009. The Writing Center Journal. 32(2). pp.11-
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Easterbrooks, S. R., 2010. Evidence-based curricula and practices that support development of
reading skills. The Oxford handbook of deaf studies, language, and education. 2.
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García, O. and Kleifgen, J. A., 2010. Educating emergent bilinguals: Policies, programs, and
practices for English language learners. Teachers College Press.
Halle, T and et. al., 2012. Predictors and outcomes of early versus later English language
proficiency among English language learners. Early childhood research
quarterly. 27(1). pp.1-20.
Lancaster, Y. P. and Kirby, P., 2010. Listening to young children. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Lonigan, C. J. and Shanahan, T., 2010. Developing early literacy skills: Things we know we
know and things we know we don’t know. Educational Researcher. 39(4). pp.340-346.
Miles, S. and Singal, N., 2010. The Education for All and inclusive education debate: conflict,
contradiction or opportunity?. International Journal of Inclusive Education. 14(1). pp.1-
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Parish‐Morris, J and et. al., 2013. Once upon a time: Parent–child dialogue and storybook
reading in the electronic era. Mind, Brain, and Education. 7(3). pp.200-211.
Rodger, R., 2016. Planning an Appropriate Curriculum in the Early Years: A guide for early
years practitioners and leaders, students and parents. Routledge.
Spencer, T. D. and Slocum, T. A., 2010. The effect of a narrative intervention on story retelling
and personal story generation skills of preschoolers with risk factors and narrative
language delays. Journal of Early Intervention. 32(3). pp.178-199.
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Online
London children whose first language isn’t English are doing better at school than native
speakers. 2016. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/children-whose-first-language-isn-t-
english-are-doing-better-at-school-than-native-speakers-a6827631.html>.
Is EAL language support confused with cultural diversity in childcare?. 2016. [Online].
Available through: <http://www.earlyyearscareers.com/eyc/enabling-environment/eal-
language-support-confused-cultural-diversity-childcare/>.
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