Adaptive teaching is rising up the agenda. We hear from a large number of schools who work with Prospero that effective, yet time efficient, adaptive teaching in a key priority or is on their school improvement agenda. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has also underlined that EAL pupils benefit from targeted, high-quality classroom strategies alongside whole-school approaches. The key question is: how well are schools equipping all staff to support multilingual learners, not just EAL specialists? 

Reframing Multilingualism as an Asset

The Bell Foundation stresses that “multilingualism is an asset – for the learner, for the school, and for society.” Recognising the value of pupils’ linguistic and cultural knowledge is the first step. Schools that build on learners’ existing strengths, rather than focusing solely on what they lack in English, are better placed to help them thrive. 

Practical Steps to Support Students

Drawing on the EEF’s guidance and The Bell Foundation’s evidence-informed resources, there are several strategies teachers can adopt across all subject areas: 

1. Scaffolded Learning

Scaffolding is more than just providing worksheets: it’s about giving learners just enough support so that they can engage with tasks they couldn’t yet tackle independently—and then gradually removing that support. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) describes scaffolding as “temporary support that is removed when it is no longer required,” and highlights visual scaffolds (task planners, diagrams), verbal scaffolds (teacher modelling, corrective feedback), and written scaffolds (writing frames, structured templates) as effective tools. In UK studies of EAL learners, those who receive well-designed scaffolds make stronger gains in comprehension and writing than their peers who are left without such supports, especially in early years and primary settings. The Bell Foundation’s “Classroom guidance and strategies” also argues that scaffolding allows the school to maintain high expectations without simplifying the curriculum too much. Teachers should plan for how scaffolding can be reduced over time, fostering independence.

2. Visual and Multimodal Support

Visual and multimodal strategies help bridge the gap between subject content and English language proficiency. Diagrams, images, timelines, graphic organisers, gestures, role-play and realia allow learners to access meaning even when their vocabulary or grammar in English is still developing. The Bell Foundation emphasises that integrating content and language together helps EAL pupils by making language learning contextualised and relevant. The EEF’s guidance on literacy, particularly in Key Stage 2, shows that embedding reading comprehension strategies—such as prediction, inference, clarifying—alongside these supports, enhances understanding for all children.

3. Planned Opportunities for Talk 

Deliberate and structured talk—in pairs, small groups or through scaffolded classroom discussion—offers multilingual learners “low-stakes” settings to practise both thinking and speaking in English. This is critical: according to Bell Foundation research, the path to proficiency tends to include social integration and opportunity for language practice, not just formal instruction. When learners are encouraged to verbalise their thoughts, negotiate meaning with peers, and rehearse academic language before writing or formal tasks, they can more confidently access challenging content. Also, EEF guidance suggests that talk helps develop oracy, vocabulary, and reasoning skills, all of which correlate strongly with later written and reading achievement. 

4. Assessment That Looks Beyond English Proficiency

Assessment tools must recognise that EAL pupils may have cognitive and subject knowledge even when their English is still developing. The current DfE definition of EAL (based on a pupil being exposed at home to a language other than English) does not distinguish levels of proficiency, and this masks large differences in outcomes between learners. For example, the “Proficiency in English” (PiE) data collected in 2018 showed that levels of reading, writing and spoken English are strong predictors of later attainment. Also, The Bell Foundation found that at age 5, 44% of EAL pupils achieved a “good level of development” compared with 54% of non-EAL peers; by GCSE, the gap in achieving five A*-C including English and Maths is narrower but still present and varies by factors like arrival age and first language. Best practice, although time consuming, would be that teachers and schools need assessment practices that capture what EAL pupils can do (in home language, or via alternative modes), but also track their progress in acquiring English, so support can be targeted and timely.