Difficulties with reading comprehension for EAL pupils

Unfamiliar contexts and cultural barriers:
•	Cultural references
•	Alien contexts (e.g. texts set in or about a past time, or in an unfamiliar place)
•	Unfamiliar genres

Grammar:
•	Pronoun reference chains – difficulties in recognising what the pronoun refers to
•	Ellipsis (sentences including words that are implied but not actually stated e.g. ‘Some cats like cheese, but some don’t. (‘like cheese’ is omitted)
•	Complex sentences – understanding that the subordinate clause is extra information; understanding how the subordinate clause relates to the main clause.

Vocabulary, in particular:
•	Homonyms (words with multiple meanings)
•	Colloquial language
•	Dialect
•	Connectives
•	Old fashioned English

Figurative language:
•	Imagery
•	Irony
•	Idioms e.g. ‘all bark and no bite’, ‘eye opener’, ‘make ends meet’, ‘keep an eye on’, ‘save face’

Difficulties with reading skills:
•	Reading for inference and deduction
•	Reading for detail
•	Skimming and scanning
•	Adopting an appropriate reading strategy to suit the purpose (e.g. knowing when to read for detail and when to skim read)