Benjamin Franklin offers English as an Additional Language (EAL) for student who qualify in grades 1 through 10.  Students whose first language is one other than English are tested in September to determine whether or not they are eligible to receive EAL services.  Each student is re-evaluated on a regular basis to measure growth in English and determine if the student is ready to exit the program.  The LAS Links Assessment is our tool for measuring English language proficiency. 

Admission of students in grades Nursery through 4th grade is not dependent on their level of English language proficiency.  Admission of students in grades 5 through 12 is dependent on their level of English language proficiency.  Therefore, before a student is admitted to grades 4 through 12, his or her English language proficiency must be assessed.  Students in grades 9 through 12 must be proficient listeners, speakers, readers and writers in order to be admitted toBFIS.

This year, BFIS has refined and adopted the inclusion model for EAL services.  EAL specialists will be teaching English through the content areas such as literature, science, social studies and math.  EAL teachers will continue to offer small group instruction in the EAL classroom for beginners.  However, the specialists will work with intermediate students in the regular classroom to offer English language development through small group instruction or collaborative teaching. 

While social language is easy for students to acquire, specialized academic language is much harder for students to learn and use.  Research shows that the inclusion model is a way to help students acquire academic language more efficiently.  Research also shows that beginners often need a basic knowledge of English to allow them to build further vocabulary and language concepts.  Small group instruction in the EAL classroom allows students to master this basic knowledge.  Most experts agree that it takes about one year to acquire the English needed for basic communication and an additional four to six years for students to be competent in academic English.