Parental Involvement in Relation to Learners of English

Pupils in the early stages of English Language acquisition may come from countries or schools where there is minimal to no English is used. Also, some of them may have some speaking and writing skills. Children born and raised in the United Kingdom are likely to have had minimal exposure to English in their early age and before joining the school. The beginner bilinguals once they become orally fluent they fall under advanced Learners of EAL. At this level, the pupils have adequate skills to operate in spoken English but they lack proficiency in using academic language. 1 percent and 13. 6 percent respectively, a change from 17. 5 percent and 12. 9 percent the previous year. The NALDIC figure indicates a 25 percent increase between 2004 to 2008 of EAL learners will an accompanying 8 percent increase in EAL teachers within the same period (Andrews, 2016).

This results draw impetus from the fact that proficiency in the English language is a crucial factor in understanding and interpreting teacher message and it also facilitates reading (Hoff, 2013, p. The UK policy since the mid-1980’s requires equal access to the National Curriculum for all learners. This model encourages a focus to the delivery of National Curriculum English, and it serves both new and first language learning well, with no specific curriculum for EAL learners. The schools use English as the preferred teaching language, and academic evaluation is also done in the same language. This policy exposing EAL learners to the mainstream classroom learning through National Curriculum raises concerns for both pedagogy and language as well as to issues revolving around equality, entitlements and social integration.

The government’s support has been instrumental through its program duped Ethnic Achievement Grant (EMAG) that aims at promoting EAL learners programs at local authorities. The scheme allows local authorities to retain EMAG grant through maintaining centrally employed teachers (Arnot et al. , 2014, p. The system came into existence in 1999 towards reducing the academic achievement gap between learners from minority ethnic groups while at the same time addressing an issue that led bilingual pupils to underachieve. As Henderson and Mapp (2002) postulate parental and school collaboration is instrumental in facilitating better results for children learning as opposed to when parents and schools work in isolation. Parental involvement Previous research engages theoretical models and framework to interrogate the role of parental involvement. It is critical to explore the theory used in this research before focusing on research that targets parents of EAL students.

According to Johnson (1995), the school-home partnership is critical in facilitating student learning outcome. Underutilization of parental expertise in schools has adverse effects on children performance. Morgan model explains how the true collaboration is shaped through shared responsibility and roles thus promoting a harmonious and productive relationship. Initial teacher training should encompass development of strategies and awareness that promote the role of parents in a learning environment. Learning institutions should review their current practice and design workable policies. Practical methods that facilitate dissemination of information between school and home should be put in place. Stakeholders in the education sector should provide an environment that allows teachers and parents to work together and cultivate confidence in each other’s role, by enhancing co-operation.

Schools should organize for special projects and events that help parents and teachers to learn about the role each one of them plays towards enhancing corporation. The idea of academic socialization encompasses; parental discussion of learning strategies, discussing with children on the parental expectations pertaining to education and the value of achieving academically and linking events and other topics to school work. Others include inspiring leaners to make plans for the future, helping students to build on problem-solving and decision-making skills thus facilitating their ability to make informed decisions on their own. This model is instrumental in creating a child’s autonomy thus enabling them to make independent goals, anticipate for consequences related to their actions and draw lessons from their failures and successes.

Parental role construction The level of parent’s involvement regarding the amount of effort and time input is highly dependent on they perceive themselves as actors in their child’s learning process. It follows that parental role construction plays a central role in the possibility of the parent getting involved in the education process. According to this principle, a parenting style that is emotionally distant but requires children to achieve academic excellence culminates to low levels of self-esteem and in the event lead to adverse effect on the child's academic achievement. Parental engagement in relation to learners of EAL The above analysis of different models by several researchers indicates that parental engagement has a positive impact on student's educational achievement. The aspects of ethnicity and socioeconomic status affect academic success.

According to previous research promoting parental involvement is key to a learner's success. For over three decades researchers have been keen to study various ways in which parents get engaged in the learning process of their children. Researchers highlight the need for a positive teacher-parent relationship that is based on mutual respect. Negative attitudes towards the role of parents in the academic achievement of their child will make it hard for such collaboration to exist and this will further negate any attempts to make EAL learners achieve academic excellence. Schools will not be able to come up with projects and events that bring both parents and teachers together since they hold the view that the parent educational background limits his efficacy to engage the child.

The teachers tend to focus on the educational background of the parent as opposed to how the two can come together under the given circumstances to design a working formula where the can cultivate a conducive environment for the students learning. The parents will tend to limit the parent's role to parental participation and leave them out when it comes to parent involvement. Adams & Christenson (2002) in their framework offer a solution to this kind of scenario where teachers have negative perceptions about parental abilities. The researchers argue that a high level of teacher-parent relationship exists in the early years of schooling and depreciates during higher academic levels. The model advocate that, to foster high levels of trust between schools and parents, home-school communication is critical.

The level and quality of home-school communication serve better to cultivate trust compared to constant home-school contacts. Therefore, open communication is highly cited to facilitate a positive relationship between family and schools (Fantuzzo, MacWayne, & Perry, 2004). They should not make parents feel out of place but rather they should design methodologies that will facilitate equal playing ground (Todd & Higgings, 1998, p. It remains the responsibility of schools and teachers to come up with the initiative to embrace partnership as a good practice towards achieving EAL learner's academic achievement. Factors such as school structure, management approach to issues, school environment among others define parents and teacher ideas. The early teacher training programs should strive to instill in teachers the importance of parent-teacher relations towards enhancing learner achievement.

Topping (1986) is keen to highlight the specific purpose and aims of parental liaison. act. gov. au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/807433/150897-Engaging-with-EALD-families. pdf Adams, K. , & Christenson, S. , & Davies-Tutt, D. School approaches to the education of EAL students. The Bell Foundation. Retrieved from https://www. educ. London: Department for Education and Skills,. Don, L. Parents and Schools. Academia Press. Elish-Piper, L. Developmental Psychology, 4-14. doi:10. 1037/a0027238 Lareau, A. Social class differences in family-school relationships:The importance of cultural capital. Oxford: University. Within- and cross-language relations between oral language proficiency and school outcomes in bilingual children with an immigrant background: A meta-analytical study. Review of Educational Research, 1112-1150. doi: 10. 3102/0034654315584685 Sander, E. , Fox, S. English as an Additional Language (EAL) ans Educational Achievement in England: An Analysis of the National Pupil Database.