§ Lord Dholakiaasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is their policy that, where possible, children with English as an additional language should be taught in mainstream classes. [HL6034]
§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland:Her Majesty's Government are committed to ensuring that all children learning English as an additional language receive the support they need to access the curriculum as quickly as possible. The consensus among practitioners in England is that EAL teaching is most effective where it is firmly embedded across all national curriculum subject areas. This ensures that pupils have the opportunity to learn English in a meaningful subject-specific context. My department's role is to ensure that the particular needs of bilingual learners are properly taken into account in all policies and programmes aimed at raising standards. Recent examples include the development and dissemination of EAL modules as part of the national literacy and numeracy strategies and key stage 3.