Abstract
Children learning English as an additional language (EAL) often experience lower academic attainment than monolingual peers. In this study, teachers provided ratings of English language proficiency and social, emotional, and behavioral functioning for 782 children with EAL and 6,485 monolingual children in reception year (ages 4–5). Academic attainment was assessed in reception and Year 2 (ages 6–7). Relative to monolingual peers with comparable English language proficiency, children with EAL displayed fewer social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties in reception, were equally likely to meet curriculum targets in reception, and were more likely to meet targets in Year 2. Academic attainment and social, emotional, and behavioral functioning in children with EAL are associated with English language proficiency at school entry.
Highlights
As a result of greater international mobility, an increasing proportion of children around the world are growing up learning multiple languages
English language proficiency in children with English as an additional language (EAL) at school entry is predictive of concurrent academic attainment and social, emotional, and behavioral functioning, as well as academic attainment 2 years later
These findings highlight that children with EAL are a heterogeneous group, and caution is required when interpreting data from national assessments for children with EAL, without considering English language proficiency
Summary
As a result of greater international mobility, an increasing proportion of children around the world are growing up learning multiple languages. 19.4% of children attending state-funded primary schools in England speak English as an additional language (EAL; Department for Education, 2015). In England, children with EAL, as a group, display poorer attainment throughout primary school than monolingual children This trend is revealed in data from the 2014 national education assessments, which measured the attainment of all state-funded primary school pupils who were at the end of their 1st year of school (reception year; ages 4–5), Year 2 (ages 6–7), and Year 6 (ages 10–11; Department for Education, 2014a, 2014b, 2014c). These assessments revealed that the attainment gap between children with EAL and monolingual peers is widest in the curriculum area of speaking in reception year, speaking and listening in Year 2, and reading in
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