Growing up in Vietnam with English as an additional language (EAL), I found digital technologies highly valuable for developing my language skills.
My own experience led me to wonder how schoolteachers in Australia are using digital technologies to support EAL students.
Most research on classroom technologies in EAL education focuses on active collaborations between researchers and teachers, for example, based on classroom interventions or professional learning programs. But what happens when it’s just teachers, students, and the everyday realities of school life?
My PhD research examined teachers’ everyday use of digital technologies with EAL students in Victorian schools, where one-third of students are EAL learners. I surveyed 20 teachers across different school sectors in Victoria and interviewed 10 of them to hear their stories in depth. I found that these teachers use digital technologies in highly contextualised ways and that their practices when supporting EAL students reflect their professional knowledge about EAL students and pedagogy. However, their aspirations are often constrained by school factors.
To reduce linguistic and cognitive demands on EAL learners, the teachers opt for applications that are less text-dense, more visual, familiar to students, and user-friendly. The teachers also use digital technologies to differentiate their instruction, such as providing alternative ways to meet learning outcomes (e.g. encouraging students to use PowerPoint instead of more advanced tools like Canva). Some new arrivals to Australia also need additional support with everyday technology use, for example, instruction on how to click, copy, and paste.
While seeing clear value in using digital technologies, the teachers also worry about EAL students’ misuse of GenAI. They suspect this stems from issues like writer’s block, misconceptions about AI-generated language, or simply not understanding what counts as ethical use. This isn’t just an EAL issue – it’s something all students grapple with. To tackle these, the teachers talk with students about the pros and cons of GenAI and provide opportunities for them to experiment with GenAI tools. Emergent practices with GenAI tools are a focus of the teachers’ ongoing professional reflections as they determine how best to guide students to use GenAI responsibly.
The teachers’ school contexts feature strongly in their accounts of everyday technology use. Whole-school device policies (e.g. Chromebooks) and school subscriptions (e.g. curriculum-specific platforms like Essential Assessment) significantly influence their decisions, shaping what is available and expected. The teachers also link their classroom practices to working conditions, noting that workload pressures often affect how much they can use digital technologies to differentiate their instruction for EAL students.
Through this research, I hoped to shed light on what is often invisible in research: teachers’ everyday use of digital technologies with EAL students. The findings showcase their everyday expertise and efforts to use digital technologies to meet the diverse needs of EAL students, despite heavy workloads and limited resources to cater for student diversity in schools.
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