Teaching reading comprehension across the national curriculum with EAL/D learners : are we brave enough to really take it on?

Teaching English to EAL/D learners as a cross-curricula priority, not just the purview of the English classroom or language specialist, is now officially endorsed in the national curriculum. Yet many teachers, including subject English teachers, feel ill-equipped for this task. This paper presents an action research project conducted with a teacher of junior secondary English and Geography. The focus of the project was developing metacognitive reading strategies among EAL/D learners to enable them to access content area information more effectively and more independently. We discuss the particular strategies that were beneficial for students at the Emerging level of English and present a range of research-based reading strategies that teachers can embed in regular teaching in order to enhance reading comprehension. Examples from Geography and English lessons will be provided to show how the teaching of explicit ‘second language’ reading strategies can position EAL/D learners as valuable members of the classroom.