Introduction
Australian primary and secondary schools play an important role in supporting the integration of refugee and migrant students into the broader school community. However, many of these schools have limited resources and tools to effectively address the complex challenges faced by these students, including learning a new language and adapting to unfamiliar education systems, social settings and expectations (Block et al., 2014).
A range of initiatives, including the EALD/ESL program have been implemented in Australian schools to support migrant and refugee learners to improve their linguistic skills as soon as practically possible, hoping this could fast-track their integration into the dominant Anglo-Celtic systems and norms. However, even these seemingly good initiatives often face several external and internal challenges (Oliver, Rochecouste & Nguyen, 2017).
The term EALD is now often used in Queensland state schools instead of English as a second language (ESL) to recognise that some migrant and refugee students speak more than one language or dialect before they begin learning in standard Australian English (Department of Education, 2018). This policy paper, authored by ECCQ in collaboration with members of the Network, offers recommendations for tailored support through the strategic delivery of ESL/EALD.
