“I don't like English; I don't like writing”: An exploration of perceptions and practices to support secondary school learners with English as an Additional Language in England

The demand for quality practice to support learners with English as an Additional Language (EAL) in educational settings across the globe remains ever present (Cunningham, 2019). Educators in secondary schools are constantly seeking effective ways to enable learners with EAL to effectively access their teaching and to succeed in all areas of the curriculum. This paper focuses its attention on the issues that learners with EAL face in the core subject of science. Findings, drawn from original research conducted in an English secondary school, suggest that a suite of practical strategies and professional support is needed to positively address issues associated with vocabulary and writing that learners with EAL encounter. The paper recognises the significance of these findings for international contexts such as Kazakhstan that are adopting a tri-lingual system of education and who seek to embrace the model of English-medium science education in their secondary schools.