Speech, language, and communication skills are the building blocks for learning, and you are crucial to supporting children’s speech, language & communication development.

There may well be support from other professionals in your community that you could raise initial concerns with e.g., community early years practitioners, health visitors or Local Authority language leads. There may also be referral pathways to local groups that support children’s language and communication.

There may well be support from other professionals in your community that you could raise initial concerns with e.g., community early years practitioners, health visitors or Local Authority language leads. There may also be referral pathways to local groups that support children’s language and communication.

Each area in South Yorkshire has guidance on accessing Speech & Language Therapy services and support.

Find out what to do in your are area by selecting one of the areas below:

Being able to speak more than one language is advantageous. It can enhance a child’s self-esteem and identity, as well as supporting cognitive and thinking skills.

Some children will learn to speak two languages from birth and other children may learn one language first and then a second language.

It is important for children and families to maintain the language/s they use at home. This supports communication in the family and a sense of identity and community.

As a practitioner you may be monolingual or speak more than one language but not the same languages as the children in your care. This is not a barrier to working with children with and supporting children with EAL.

One of the most important things is to show you value and respect all languages and that children and families feel welcome, valued, and respected in the setting.

 Top Tips

• Work with parents and find out about the languages spoken by the family. Find out the keys words a child uses e.g., mum and dad, toilet. Start to keep a book for each language. This can become an extremely useful resources in your setting. Put a picture of the word in the book, write word down in the script used by the child. Write down how to pronounce the word. You can also make a picture card / key ring card of important words that children can carry and point to as they need e.g., the toilet, drink, mum.
• Pronounce and spell children’s names correctly. Ask parents to write their child’s name in the script they use. Put this on the child’s coat peg. Make some sticky name labels to be put on paintings etc.
• Use visual timetables to explain the day’s routines and visual clues e.g., photos on toy boxes.
• Use song boxes and activities with visual prompts. Learn and sing songs and rhymes and listen to music in children’s home languages.
• Use story sacks, tell stories with puppets, and find stories in a children’s home languages.
• Time is key in supporting children with EAL – time to settle, build relationships and time to take in a new language while keeping their first / home language.

More detailed advice can be found in the following documents:

Supporting children with EAL in the EYFS

EAL Strategies for Early Years Practitioners (naldic.org.uk)