English Language Acquisition

Highly supportive language learning environments

With a truly international student body, encompassing children from many countries, cultures, and linguistic backgrounds, the MBIS English as an Additional Language (EAL) Department is an integral part of the MBIS academic program. Our qualified, well-experienced teachers work closely with students at both the Elementary and Upper School levels, with a primary mission to support student development of academic English, so that they can successfully access the mainstream curriculum at MBIS. EAL support classes are offered for students in grades 1-6 and Grade 8. (There is no Grade 7 EAL class in the 2021-2022 school year).

Our EAL program includes:

Highly supportive, small class environments.
Co-teaching model in Grades 2-5.
A focus on developing all four language domains: speaking, reading writing, and listening.

Curriculum overview

Grades 1-6

In order to support the diverse multilingual needs of students Marist has transitioned to a co-teaching model. Best practice and current literature prove the effectiveness of collaborative teaching practices to support ELLs (Pardini 2006; Zehr 2006) has prepared us to move towards a co-teaching model. Co-teaching involves collaborative planning, teaching, assessment and reflection between two teachers to ensure that all students are engaged with the core curriculum and are being supported to develop the essential language to integrate language and content to fully address the linguistically diverse needs of students.

This model of teaching provides students, regardless of their language ability, the opportunity to receive the majority of academic and language-specific instruction, inside of the general classroom. When language learners are provided instruction inside of their general education classroom, through a co-teaching model, they have the opportunity to acquire academic content as well as language skills. Teachers collaborate together to share their knowledge and expertise with one another and develop inclusive instruction for all language learners.

This academic year, Marist is excited to begin a co-teaching model as we know it will bring a more collaborative, inclusive approach that is necessary to guide the learning and teaching of all students.

Grade 7

Grade 7 English Language Learners is an Upper School class offering additional English language support during the time allotted for English and foreign language courses. The class focus is on the core elements of reading comprehension, composition, grammar and mechanics, vocabulary development, and speaking. A further aim of the course is to effectively use the English language, both orally and in writing. Students will read classic and contemporary selections with the goal of strengthening fluency while providing an introduction to literary analysis and criticism. Students will write reflective, research, analysis, and comparison/contrast essays, understand literary elements such as theme and characterization and gain an understanding of the writing process. The program will rely on scaffolding and differentiation to meet the language needs of each student in order to boost their English language ability while teaching them critical thinking and analysis skills as well as writing structure and grammar. Students will learn vocabulary and word patterns through the Words Their Way program.

Grade 8

The Grade 8 English Language Learner course uses the theme of “Challenges” to introduce students to more sophisticated levels of literature and analysis, while continuing to build on the basic skill sets developed in the previous course. Classic and contemporary works of literature are utilized and students are expected to engage in sustained critical discussion, responding to a wide variety of texts, including novels, short stories, poems, plays, and films. Students will begin to engage in extended projects and assignments. The program will rely on scaffolding and differentiation to meet the language needs of each student in order to boost their English language ability while teaching them critical thinking and analysis skills as well as writing structure and grammar. Students will learn vocabulary and word patterns through the Words Their Way program.