The ‘how long’ question: EAL students’ progression through phases of English language development in Australian schools

Abstract

Abstract This article addresses the question of how long it takes students who are learning English as an additional language (EAL) in the Australian context to develop the level of English necessary for equitable participation in the curriculum. Extensive previous international research has investigated this question, however, except for one study, little relevant research has taken place in Australia. In response to this gap, this article presents outcomes from a large-scale research project undertaken in collaboration with the NSW Department of Education. The project involved analysis of two major sets of data: students’ NAPLAN test results over a period of 9 years, and teachers’ judgements of their EAL students’ progression, using the national EAL/D Learning Progression (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2015), also over 9 years. This article addresses the outcomes and implications from analysis of the teacher judgements, while outcomes from the NAPLAN analysis are reported elsewhere (Lu, Hammond et al., 2025b). The article provides details of the research methods and statistical analyses that were employed in the project, including the use of survival analysis, to investigate the average rate of student progression in learning English. Findings from the project provide evidence of the overall time taken by students to learn English; the impact of their level in English when they enter school in Australia; and the average time taken by EAL students to progress through subsequent phases of English language development. They also address the potential impact of other factors on students’ rate of progression, including the year level at which students started school, gender, geolocation and socio-educational advantage. The findings contribute new knowledge regarding EAL students’ likely rates of progress in learning English. They have implications for funding and evaluation of EAL support programs; for school leadership and organisation of whole-school EAL support programs; and for professional development for EAL and mainstream teachers.