What Is English As An Additional Language (EAL)?

As an English teacher or an English learner you’ve probably seen more common expressions to refer to the context in which English is used such as English as a Second Language (ESL), and English as a Foreign Language (EFL). But what is English as an Additional Language (EAL)? 

Different Language Contexts

The field of English Language Teaching (ELT) has created different acronyms to refer to different language learning situations.

You can think about the expressions native language, mother tongue, or first language, for example. They are used to refer to the primary language acquired by someone during their childhood.

The expression English as a Second Language (ESL), however, describes the case of a person who speaks a language other than English as their mother tongue but is learning English in a place where English is the preferred used language for everyday activities. For example, a French person moves to New York and has to learn (or improve their) English to be able to communicate effectively with other people on a daily basis. This person is said to speak English as a Second Language (ESL).

English as a Foreign Language (EFL), on the other hand, refers to the case of a person who speaks a language other than English as their mother tongue but is learning English in a place where English is NOT the preferred used language for everyday activities. For example, a Chinese person is learning English in China. They are not moving to an English-speaking country. They are studying English to use it when they need it in their own country and maybe for traveling. But the most important language for them in their everyday activities is still Chinese. 

You can notice from the examples above that learning English as a Second Language (ESL) implies that you live in an environment that forces you to be in contact with the language daily, whereas learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) does not necessarily. 

What Does EAL Mean?

As you’ve probably noticed above, the acronym EAL means English as an Additional Language. It was coined as an alternative to the expressions English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Read on to find out why.

What Is English As An Additional Language?

The expression English as an Additional Language (EAL) comes up to fill in a gap in the terminology used in reference to a person’s linguistic repertoire. It refers to any language a person speaks other than the person’s mother tongue.

This is a contemporary expression that emphasizes that the English language is another language a person has at their disposal. Thus, it doesn’t rank the languages in terms of first or second language, suggesting different degrees of importance between them. The expression second language can even be misleading, since a person may have learned other languages before English.

The expression English as an Additional Language also opposes itself to the idea the term foreign brings up. This term refers to something that belongs to other people, establishing an uneven relationship between the people who are thought to own the English language and the people who are thought not to. This doesn’t make sense anymore. Since we accept the idea that English has become a global or international language or a lingua franca, we have to acknowledge that this language belongs to the world and everybody who speaks it. People from all over the world use English in their everyday life in their own contexts. It’s not something foreign anymore. In this sense, American English and British English are just a small part of the World Englishes. Thus, the use of the expression English as an Additional Language frees one from a colonial perspective in language teaching.

Conclusion

English as an Additional Language (EAL) is an expression that tends to be more democratic than English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL). It acknowledges all languages a person has in their linguistic repertoire without assigning or implying an order of importance to them. Not only this, but it also implies a political stance regarding the ownership of the English language in the contemporary world. You are free to adopt any expression you want but you have to understand what their implications are. Which one do you think is the most appropriate for your context?