First Language and Home Language

The first language is the language a child was exposed to in their early years i.e mother tongue. The DfE recommends that schools should record the language which was communicated with the child until s/he is one year old as the child's first language. Home language is the language the child now speaks at home. So if the child's first language was Italian and they now speak English at home they would be classed as EAL.

A first language other than English should be recorded where a child was exposed to the language during early development and continues to be exposed to this language in the home or in the community.

If a child was exposed to more than one language (which may include English) during early development the language other than English should be recorded, irrespective of the child's proficiency in English.

EAL

What information is used to establish that a pupil is EAL

First language code is used for this. Many bi-lingual pupils therefore miss out on funding because schools give English as their first language instead of the language used at home or with a parent/parents or family. Schools can use their discretion when entering this information if it is difficult to ascertain this with pupils’ parents.

EAL - The Department of Education definition

A pupil’s first language is defined as any language other than English that a child was exposed to during early development and continues to be exposed to in the home or community. If a child was exposed to more than one language (which may include English) during early development, a language other than English should be recorded, irrespective of the child’s proficiency in English.

EAL - The Ofsted definition

English as an additional language (EAL) refers to learners whose first language is not English.

These definitions therefore cover the following:

Pupils arriving from other countries and whose first language is not English

Pupils who have lived in the UK for a long time and may appear to be fluent, but who also speak another language at home. These pupils are often not entirely fluent in terms of their literacy levels.