Mainstreaming EALD Students in High School Classrooms: Investigating Policies, Practices and Participation

This research project examines secondary school English teachers’ pedagogical practices related to teaching English as an Additional Language/Dialect (EAL/D) in the Australian state of Queensland. Recent Queensland Department of Education policies have resulted in large-scale changes in the settings for and provision of academic and social support for students who speak English as a second or additional language in Queensland public schools. The study will be a case study utilising a qualitative design comprising focus group interviews with EAL/D students and focus group as well as semi-structured one on one interviews with teachers. The contribution of this study will provide new understandings of how specialist EAL/D programs position teachers, EAL/D students and English learning in secondary schools. In addition, it will provide pedagogical insights into how mainstream teachers who are not trained in second language pedagogy can incorporate such knowledge, skills and understanding into their practice. The study will also fill a gap in current research by analysing the perspectives given by EAL/D students on how they learn and the strategies they have developed in their endeavours to acquire academic English.

本研究项目针对澳大利亚昆士兰州境内，英语作为附加语言/方言（English as an Additional Language/Dialect，EAL/D）教学相关的中学英语教师教学实践展开考察。昆士兰州教育部近期出台的政策，促使该州公立学校内以英语为第二语言或附加语言的学生所享有的学术与社会支持体系，以及相关教学场景均发生了大规模变革。本研究采用质性研究设计的个案研究范式，研究方法涵盖针对EAL/D学生的焦点小组访谈，以及针对教师的焦点小组访谈与半结构化一对一访谈。本研究的学术贡献在于，将为学界厘清中学阶段专业化EAL/D项目如何定位教师、EAL/D学生与英语学习三者的关系提供全新认知。此外，本研究还将为未接受第二语言教学专业培训的主流学科教师，提供如何将相关知识、技能与专业认知融入自身教学实践的教学法视角。同时，现有研究尚未关注EAL/D学生对自身学习路径的看法，以及他们在习得学术英语过程中形成的学习策略，本研究将通过分析此类视角填补这一研究空白。