Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia
Abstract
The three volumes which make up this study describe in detail how a number of teachers in different school situations in different parts of Australia undertook the assessment of young children\u27s development of English as a second language. Most of the teachers worked in pre-primary to Year 3 classrooms where the majority of the children were aged between five and eight years. The majority worked in a mainstream context in which the number of children speaking English as a second language (ESL) varied from more than half the class to two or three students. About a third of the teachers whose assessment practices we studied worked in classrooms in which all the children came from homes or communities in which languages other than English were the main means of co.mmunication. A minority of the teachers acted as ESL specialists who provided support to mainstream teachers often throughout the primary years. Over half the teachers in the study had undertaken some form of professional development focused upon working with ESL children..
