English as an additional language

English as an additional language is used to refer to the learning of English by speakers of other languages. The term is commonly abbreviated to EAL and is effectively synonymous with ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language).

Some people believe that EAL is more politically correct than ESL as it avoids the apparent assumption that English would always be the second language to be taught following one's native language, but defenders of the use of ESL point out that the expansion has always been "English as a second language", so that "second" here simply means secondary or subordinate.

See also

• TOEFL - "Test of English as a Foreign Language", an Educational Testing Service test of English language proficiency.
• IELTS - International English Language Testing System; the IELTS tests are accepted by most tertiary academic institutions in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and by many in the USA.
• Idiom dictionary
• Writing with constraints
• Initial-stress-derived noun. This page could be very useful to those learning English as an additional language.

External links

Internet ESL Journal

Activities for ESL Students

Teacher Resources

simple:English as an additional language