The National Curriculum inclusion statement requires teachers to 'take specific action to help pupils who are learning English as an additional language by developing their spoken and written English'. Beginner pupils need the opportunity to ‘talk their way into meaning’ and also to scaffold their speech.  When working with early stage EAL learners, it is useful to:

• provide opportunities for planned talk such as short pair discussions 

• provide model responses ie ask the new learner a question based on the preceding one

• allow learners additional time to respond to questions

• use graduated questioning, starting with closed questions initially and moving on to more open questions as the pupil’s English develops. 

Additional appropriate oral activities may include;   

• Information gap activities  

• Problem solving tasks

• Cooperative oral activities 

• Classification tasks 

• Comparison tasks  

Some examples of these types of activities are included in the sample activities in the beginner programme

Group and collaborative oral activities are very helpful for pupils with limited English as they provide opportunities for reinforcement, modelling and reflection.  Beginner pupils will need to be included in a supportive group which includes competent speakers of English and if possible a pupil who shares their language.  It is important to bear in mind, however, that group work may be a new experience for pupils who come from backgrounds where the education system is more formal and so pupils will need a careful introduction to this type of activity.