Welcome to EAL

The Bavarian International School welcomes you to our English as an Additional Language Programme. In the Lower School, the teachers who will be working with your children are Monica Letts de Folger, Karen Elmitt,  Elizabeth Ströhlein and Rebecca Van Sciver.  In the Middle School, the teachers are Jennifer Trople, Claudia Kelemen and Rebecca van Sciver.  In the Upper School, teachers working with ELLs are Jim Sangster and Eugene Davis.

Our objectives are to:

• Value and encourage learning of the student’s native language
• Build upon the cultural and language experience the child has had
• Provide a happy, relaxed and caring atmosphere in which students feel secure, confident and stress-free
• Make learning enjoyable and successful by providing a language rich environment and by involving students actively in relevant tasks
• Provide as much individual in-class support as possible to give optimal support
• Enable students to integrate as quickly and successfully as possible into the academic programme by supporting the work of the mainstream classes

Programme Description

At Bavarian International School, approximately 50% of all learners have a language other than English as their primary language. As an English Language Learner (ELL), students are not only learning English, they also use English as the main means of communication for their mainstream courses.  ELLs face the challenge of learning in, through and about English simultaneously.  Not only are they expected to learn content material and participate in high-level courses, they must also continue to improve their language skills. 

In order to help assist ELLs to integrate as quickly as possible into their mainstream classes, the EAL (English as an Additional Language) Programme at BIS uses several strategies, including pull-out classes and in-class support for ELLs, as well as Professional Development for mainstream teachers. EAL teachers communicate and collaborate with content-area teachers, planning instruction and assessments for both inside and outside mainstream classrooms.  By working in conjunction with the content-area teachers, EAL teachers are able to plan activities, which help to make the language of the mainstream classrooms more accessible to ELLs.   Therefore, teachers are best able to meet the needs of the ELLs.