Best Practice

The importance of home language for early years EAL children

EAL Teaching resources Pedagogy Quality First Teaching Reception
Almost one-third of nursery-age children use English as an additional language. From classroom practice to family engagement, Sheila Hopkins considers how early years educators can ensure their EAL learners thrive
Every classroom: Department for Education figures show that 3 in every 10 nursery children use English as an additional language - Adobe Stock

With more than one million children in state-funded nursery and primary schools using English as an additional language (EAL) – 30.4% nursery and 22.8% primary (DfE, 2024) – the government’s commitment to improving early years language skills is very much welcome.

However, revisions made to the 2024 Early Years Foundation Stage framework may continue to have adverse implications. Last year, the DfE made the following change:

We went from: “For children whose home language is not English, providers must take reasonable steps to provide opportunities for children to develop and use their home language in play and learning, supporting their language development at home.”

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