User Research for Week 4

These past two weeks I have been exploring users who are EAL (English as an Additional Language) learners starting in kindergarten or early primary. In trying to better understand these children, as well as the stakeholders involved in these particular group, I have been using a number of different resources for background research.

I started off by exploring what kinds of support the school system provides for EAL learners generally, which lead me to a number of government resources. In particular, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in Victoria had a good overview of the process EAL learners go through when enrolling in schools as well as a description of the New Arrivals Program newly arrived students attend before starting formal education. While there was a lot of information on these pages, a couple of things helped in better understanding the environment and context many EAL learners are in:

• Geographical location is a factor in whether you have other students around you who are also EAL learners (schools in metropolitan areas have greater numbers of EAL learners than in regional settings)
• Not all schools have support programs for EAL learners, especially if they are not located in metropolitan areas. E.g. in Victoria only 450 schools have funding for English language learning. The quality of a program is not standardised and depends on the school and its funding among other things.
• Newly arrived students who do not speak English at their time of arrival often attend a New Arrivals Program. They are only eligible to attend if they are permanent residents, although some categories of temporary residents are eligible. 
• Additional resource: 'Supporting Children Learning English as a Second Language in the Early Years (birth to six years).

On a national level, the Department of Human Services provided additional information on the types of support new arrivals to Australia receive, and links to community groups and agencies. This resource put the families/parents of EAL learners into more perspective.

• Parents may also require English language assistance (Adult Migrant English Program) as well as assistance with literacy and numeracy skills. (Communicating with schools or understanding what their children learn may be difficult for them)
• In addition, some parents do not have the skills required to get a job in Australia, or require additional examinations to transfer qualifications. This can be a costly process (school field trips or expensive toys/books can be difficult to pay for)

Migrating to a new country can be tough for parents too. They may also be adjusting to a new culture and language, and may sometimes not have jobs or a steady income when they first arrive. In this respect, I found some of the stories featured on the Department of Immigration and Border Protection website useful in understanding the wide spectrum of migrants who move to Australia. Families who move to Australia as refugees are under a very different set of circumstances than families who are skilled professionals.

I also came across an ongoing research project conducted by Macquarie University's Faculty of Human Sciences, 'A double transition - Migrant children entering formal education in Australia' that helped to further contextualise how EAL children may feel "different" when they attend school. The study conducted qualitative studies (semi-structured and in-depth interviews) on the experiences of migrant families and school practitioners dealing with newly arrived children between the ages of 5-8 in NSW.

• Language is not the only key point of difference: a migrant child, and their parents, are also dealing with the cultural differences between their home and Australia. Although support for English is concentrated upon in school, this aspect is not dealt with as much.
• Additional resource: talks about the emotional development of migrant children, and how they may express their emotions differently because of cultural differences in acceptable behaviour.
• Another issue that was mentioned had to do with gender roles and gender expectations: e.g. some parents would not like their children holding hands with the opposite sex
• Other cultural differences: extra-curricular activities such as sport or physical exercise may not be seen as important, or the practice of attending sporting clubs etc is unfamiliar to parents (different ideas surrounding exercise, physical education)
• Children feel frustration over their inability to do work on the same level as their peers. Also, the experience of being unable to follow directions or relate to others is traumatic for them.

I also looked at the websites for community organisations such as AMES which focuses on helping newly arrived migrants settle into the wider community. Looking at how AMES programs were structured helped in better understanding the timeline of how families settled into Australia. Support is provided for settling into Australia (learning English for everyday activities etc), getting a job, and finally going on to further education/training to get a better job. They also have programs targeting migrants in different circumstances (e.g. their Language, Literacy & Numeracy program versus their Skilled Professional Migrants program).

Related to this, I used previous experience that I have had as a volunteer tutor at a similar organisation, SAIL, which was targeted towards the Sudanese Australian community in Melbourne. A lot of my time there was used to simply help create an environment where the children felt comfortable speaking and socialising in English. Reflecting on this experience helped to highlight how out-of-school environment is also an important factor in considering the situation an EAL learner may find themselves in.

Finally, I watched a few YouTube videos that were aimed at kindergarten/early-primary teachers. These videos tended to be aimed at general kindergarten teachers, and suggest that situations where a teacher who does not come from a background of teaching EALs is quite common. Some of the videos also suggested activities which aid the language learning process (e.g. helping the child finish off a sentence to encouraging any sort of speaking, not dumbing down language, using physical motions and gesture to communicate meaning)

• Video 1: Supporting English Language Learners in the Preschool Classroom (American resource). Was also helpful because it recounted experiences by teachers dealing with EAL learners directly.
• Video 2: Adults recounting their experiences as children who were EAL learners (American-based)
• Video 3: More general video; a kindergarteners narrate their own day at school (Australian-based)