English as an additional language policy : issues of inclusive access and language learning in the mainstream

English as an additional language (EAL) in school education has been mainstreamed in England since the mid-1980s. The current EAL policy, rooted in a time when there was a perceived need to tackle racism, has been strongly motivated by principles of equality of access to educational provision. The integration of EAL students into the mainstream curriculum has been a policy priority. However, the development of EAL as language pedagogy within the mainstream curriculum has received insufficient attention. The three-fold aim of this article is (a) to give a conceptual account of the current EAL policy, which is built on a view of EAL as a pupil-support strategy without a recognised curriculum base, (b) to identify some of the strengths and problems of this policy in terms of curriculum provision, teacher practice and teacher training, and (c) to discuss some of the curriculum and pedagogic tensions and contradictions facing EAL within an educational environment that has been shaped by extensive curriculum specification and prescription. This discussion assumes that mainstreaming of EAL students is a necessary step toward genuine educational integration, but by itself it is not sufficient to promote effective language and curriculum learning.19 page(s