EAL Confusions PLS HELP! :')

[KickassAsian]

Hey there, I have a few confusions I would like someone to clarify for me because teachers in my school are unreliable when it comes to explaining EAL.  I go to a rural school so it is understandable that teachers there are not experience with EAL, plus English is my third language and I'm the only Asian in my year level so I totally need help! 

1) I was told recently that EAL is structured differently from mainstream English's exams and SACs. I DID NOT KNOW THIS. Although I wasn't that shock considering my teacher was in his 2nd year of teaching VCE, and first year in Year 11 English last year. Still, at the end-the-of-year exam 2014 I was told to write a LA. BUT instead of doing it the EAL way, I wrote a mainstream LA. And no, I'm not going to complain about my score coz it is last year and I managed to pull off an 'A' and got an honour award. But was I meant to write it differently and do you have any examples that you could show me?

2) I came across a topic in regards to EAL, and someone mentions that she has 5 people in her year level whom are doing EAL and she is allocated in a different class from the mainstream and says that her texts are completely different from the mainstreams?! I'm so afraid now that school is about to start because I have been put into a class with other mainstream kids and I'm not sure if that is actually "okay" because if it's not I would like to take the advantage to request a small class (as in 2 people in the whole year level) to the principal, and have an experienced EAL teacher teaching us if that's ever possible. Also, this girl said that her texts for EAL is completely different from mainstream English, so I'm just wondering is that what's supposed to happen? Because I have the same texts as other mainstream kids...

3) I know that in exams and sacs, the main difference is LA. But then I read the Study Design in Unit 3, Outcome 2 (it's about drawing on ideas and/or arugments suggested by a chosen Context).
For Mainstream Student:
at least one sustained written text created for a specific audience and context, with a written explanation of decisions about form, purpose, language, audience and context
or
three to five shorter texts created for a specific audience/s and context.s with a written explanation of deicisions about form, purpose, language, audience and context.
For EAL Student:
at least one sustained written text created for a specific audience and context".
or
three to five shorter texts created for a speicific audience/s and context/s.

You see the difference? This was straight from the EAL & English study design. I thought it was only LA that is different...

[literally lauren]

tl;dr: L.A. is where the biggest differences are, though there are minor changes in SAC conditions/ requirements throughout the year.

1) I was told recently that EAL is structured differently from mainstream English's exams and SACs. I DID NOT KNOW THIS. Although I wasn't that shock considering my teacher was in his 2nd year of teaching VCE, and first year in Year 11 English last year. Still, at the end-the-of-year exam 2014 I was told to write a LA. BUT instead of doing it the EAL way, I wrote a mainstream LA. And no, I'm not going to complain about my score coz it is last year and I managed to pull off an 'A' and got an honour award. But was I meant to write it differently and do you have any examples that you could show me?

The primary difference is that mainstream English kids have to write about 800 words of analysis for L.A. whereas EAL students do a note form summary, and then ~600 words of analysis, with no requirement for an introduction or conclusion. The Assessor's Reports from previous years have some good examples for both tasks.

2) I came across a topic in regards to EAL, and someone mentions that she has 5 people in her year level whom are doing EAL and she is allocated in a different class from the mainstream and says that her texts are completely different from the mainstreams?! I'm so afraid now that school is about to start because I have been put into a class with other mainstream kids and I'm not sure if that is actually "okay" because if it's not I would like to take the advantage to request a small class (as in 2 people in the whole year level) to the principal, and have an experienced EAL teacher teaching us if that's ever possible. Also, this girl said that her texts for EAL is completely different from mainstream English, so I'm just wondering is that what's supposed to happen? Because I have the same texts as other mainstream kids...

I'd say it's probably better to be in a mainstream class (unless you're really struggling with English, which doesn't seem to be the case,) provided your teacher is able to give you proper guidance. Studying the same/different texts is up to the discretion of the school, so don't worry about it being "okay." If there is an EAL teacher at your school, or at least a teacher with experience in marking EAL essays, it might be worth having a chat with them throughout the year just so you know what to expect.
In terms of Text Response and Context though, you'll probably benefit more from class discussions and activities than you would from being in an environment with just a teacher and two or three other kids. All that's really different in the exam for these two sections are the marking criteria (ie. more leniency for grammatical errors; focus on clarity and expression equivalent to ideas and development, etc.)

3) I know that in exams and sacs, the main difference is LA. But then I read the Study Design in Unit 3, Outcome 2 (it's about drawing on ideas and/or arugments suggested by a chosen Context).
For Mainstream Student:
at least one sustained written text created for a specific audience and context, with a written explanation of decisions about form, purpose, language, audience and context
or
three to five shorter texts created for a specific audience/s and context.s with a written explanation of deicisions about form, purpose, language, audience and context.
For EAL Student:
at least one sustained written text created for a specific audience and context".
or
three to five shorter texts created for a speicific audience/s and context/s.

You see the difference? This was straight from the EAL & English study design. I thought it was only LA that is different...

The Written Explanation is a paragraph that mainstream English kids have to write to explain the choices they make in your Context piece. It's a kind of weird requirement, and some schools put a lot of emphasis on it (eg. 20 marks for the actual piece, 10 for the W.E.) whilst others gloss over it entirely. My understanding is that it gives you an opportunity to make yourself clear if you're writing in a creative style, but since you're not meant to write Written Explanations for the exam, I don't know why they make it compulsory for SACs.
But you won't have to worry about this! So your Context SACs will just involve writing the piece itself. You'll probably still have to take audience and purpose into consideration (your teacher will hopefully explain all this in more detail) and if they're harsh they might modify the time conditions slightly. Other than that, don't worry too much about the differences.

Best of luck with your studies! Let me know if any of this didn't make sense