Teaching in English in multilingual classrooms

Overview

Teaching in English in multilingual classrooms (TEMC) is a globally recognised professional learning program designed for teachers of EAL and multilingual students. The course equips teachers with practical strategies to accelerate language development, strengthen academic learning, and support student success across the curriculum in multilingual classrooms.

Designed for whole-school impact, the TEMC train-the-trainer program supports teachers and schools to develop a shared, consistent and explicit approach to literacy that strengthens teaching practice and improves learning outcomes for multilingual students across all disciplines.

The TEMC course has been delivered by Certified Tutors in hundreds of schools worldwide. It remains the go-to professional development course for EAL teachers seeking to deepen their expertise and advance their careers.

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Who is this course for?

The Teaching in English in Multilingual Classrooms (TEMC) program is designed for schools seeking to implement a whole-school and explicit approach to literacy that strengthens teaching practice and improves learning outcomes for multilingual students across all disciplines.

TEMC is for classroom teachers working with multilingual learners. It is particularly suited to teachers who:

  • teach multilingual students aged 8–18 years
  • work in contexts where students are learning through a language that is not their primary language
  • want to better understand how language impacts learning across all subject areas, not just English
  • are seeking to improve the achievement outcomes for their multilingual students, not only in their classroom but in the whole school
  • are seeking to advance their professional practice and career, including teachers looking to deepen their expertise in EAL, take on leadership roles, or contribute to whole-school language-informed teaching initiatives.

How does the whole-school model work?

When a teacher does a tutor course with Lexis Education, they not only learn the skills they need in the classroom, but they also learn how to be a Tutor for other teachers. This train-the-trainer method ensures that schools can roll out the course across their whole school and benefit from our professional development in a cost-effective way; one that creates ongoing, in-house literacy expertise.

Teachers attend a Tutor Training course to become Certified Tutors. Once certified, they are fully qualified and licensed to deliver the Teacher Course in their schools and professional learning settings, upskilling as many educators as needed, as often as needed.

Why a whole-school approach?

✓ Equitable outcomes: Built on the principle that language is deeply implicated in learning in all subjects, TEMC benefits all students.

✓ Evidence-based, results-focused: TEMC transforms teacher practice and raises multilingual student achievement in diverse school settings.

✓ Empowers leadership and sustainability: The train-the-trainer model produces in-house expertise that ensures a self-reinforcing PD cycle, reducing reliance on external presenters.

✓ Cost-effective and scalable: After the initial investment, the PD model continues to benefit future cohorts at minimal cost (see 2026 schedule of costs).

What will teachers gain?

In TEMC, teachers will develop a deeper understanding of:

  • the language-related needs of students learning through a language that is not their primary language
  • the ways in which language underpins all learning, regardless of subject area
  • how literacy is a capacity for making meaning across the whole curriculum.

Teachers will also learn to:

  • design and implement teaching practices that explicitly and holistically address students’ language and learning needs
  • build students’ language and visual resources so they can access, engage with, and demonstrate learning across the curriculum
  • use positive strategies for self-reflection and self-appraisal to strengthen their professional practice
  • develop collaborative working relationships with teachers across subject areas
  • share learning and leadership by supporting language-informed teaching practices across the whole school.

By the end of the course, teachers will be able to:

  • confidently identify the language demands of your subject area
  • plan and teach lessons that improve learning for multilingual students
  • support students to use language and visuals effectively to show what they know
  • work collaboratively with colleagues to strengthen whole-school approaches to multilingual learning.

 

Implementation overview

Tutor Training (5 days)Necessary to become a Certified Tutor, this is intensive face-to-face or remote (live via Zoom) training that equips Certified Tutors with pedagogical expertise and facilitation skills.
Teacher CourseDelivered by Certified Tutors, the Teacher Course includes group workshops, practical readings, and classroom-based activities. The course entails 23 hours of face-to-face learning.
ModulesCover core concepts—including language as meaning making, scaffolding, comprehension and composition strategies, vocabulary development, writing support, listening and assessment, and establishing sustainable whole-school programming.
Flexible DeliveryRemote or in-person options suit various contexts; modules can be adapted for primary or secondary contexts.

What does it cost?

Pricing reflects the scope of a whole-school professional learning program designed for sustained impact over a number of years. The cost of the TEMC Tutor Training (per Certified Tutor) is:

  • Face-to-face, full fee: AUD 5,350
  • Face-to-face, early bird: AUD 4,850
  • Remote: AUD 4,850

GST will be added for participants based in Australia. The cost includes the training, certification, training materials and, where it is delivered face-to-face, lunches and refreshments on the training days. Other costs, such as for transport or accommodation, are not covered.

We do offer significant discounts for schools wanting to train more than 4 Certified Tutors.

Ready to lead transformative PD in your school?

Get in touch to book a free consultation with one of our experts, so that we can better understand your context and needs.

Course Content

Module 1: Working with multilingual students

The first module asks participants to:

  • consider the needs of our students in multilingual classrooms
  • discuss how the diversity of knowledge and experiences that students bring can be a valuable resource to be drawn on for the benefit of all learners
  • experience for themselves what is involved in learning another language so as to gain insight into the challenges for all students of learning in the language of the curriculum.

Module 2: Language and literacy in teaching and learning

In this second module, participants:

  • explore how we can make meaning though a range of meaning-making systems, principally language but also through other means such as visuals and music
  • consider the notion of literacy and how it links to meaning-making and discuss the implications for our teaching practices
  • focus on the literacy demands that are inherent in curriculum statements.

Module 3: The role of language in learning and scaffolding

In this module, participants are introduced to the major underpinnings of the course. They consider:

  • the model of language that underpins the course
  • scaffolding at three levels: macro-scaffolding, meso-scaffolding and micro-scaffolding
  • cycles of teaching and learning that allow for language to be considered in an integrated approach.

Module 4: Learning about language: supporting students to comprehend texts (part 1)

This fourth module has a strong focus on ways to build a student’s capacity to comprehend a range of texts expected of them across the curriculum. Participants:

  • explore the different language choices we make at different points along the Register continuum and the demands this makes on students
  • appreciate the challenges school contexts make on students and the need to support students to comprehend and compose texts across this range of contexts
  • explore the language patterns of simple Procedures and Recounts
  • consider the function of active and passive voice, and the implications for their teaching practice
  • consider how the relationship between the visuals and language of any text impacts on a student’s capacity to comprehend that text
  • are introduced to a series of metalinguistic strategies that will allow all students to access the meanings in any given text.

Module 5: Learning about language: supporting students to comprehend texts (part 2)

In this module, participants continue to focus on the comprehending side of meaning making but now with a focus on the resources that make a text a cohesive whole. Participants consider:

  • the role of different kinds of conjunctions
  • two key resources that build the cohesion of a text: the reference system and word chains
  • practical ways they can help students understand the causal relationships holding within a given text, which will be critical in comprehending more complex texts
  • the role of modality, a crucial resource in English for expressing both how certain we are about something and how often some phenomenon occurs, as well as meanings to do with obligation and necessity.

Module 6: Developing students’ vocabulary

This module is comprised of two options that are based on the age of the students.

In Option 1, participants consider:

  • key language resources for expressing the content of any text, both fiction and non-fiction
  • the range of resources needed by a student writer in constructing the imagined worlds of stories.

In Option 2, participants consider:

  • how students can develop their knowledge while expanding their vocabulary
  • how to support students to express more abstract and technical meanings.

Module 7: Supporting writing

The focus of this module is on three main strategies that support writing. Participants:

  • use the notion that the content of texts can be set up through guiding questions, and that this process can be modelled for student writers
  • experience a dictogloss activity, which is a key strategy for supporting students in maintaining the appropriate Register in their writing
  • explore the various resources available for joining clauses to make longer stretches of text and use this knowledge for understanding how students can control how a text unfolds by varying sentence beginnings.

Module 8: Supporting listening and assessing language development

In this module, participants consider how:

  • students can be supported when they are listening to and viewing extended, dense texts, such as speeches and documentaries
  • we can evaluate language development in students and see what their learning looks like on a continuum where language and learning are interdependent.

Module 9: Programming and assessing: setting up successful frameworks

In this final module, participants:

  • draw together all the understandings they have built over the course to inform their programming and assessment practices
  • explore some of the key issues related to programming and assessment by reflecting on one of their own teaching and learning programs using the notion of ‘backward planning’
  • evaluate how their school is addressing the needs of EAL students
  • consider some of the ways the setting up of successful whole-school frameworks can be achieved over timeframes that are manageable and sustainable.
  • “Even better than I had imagined. The impact this can have for GEMS schools is huge. So relevant and applicable immediately. Looking forward to taking this forward!”
    Niamh Drysdale Allen, Corporate Head of EAL, GEMS Education
  • “Great course! Loved the very practical and organized approach to supporting the language development for MLLS.”
    Mats Haaland, Strategic Learning and EAL Coordinator, Hong Kong Academy
  • "Fantastic – exactly what our school was looking for. Full of practical strategies to effectively teach language."
    Thomas Hawkey, EAL/D Teacher, Mabel Park State High School
  • “Absolutely loved the course. It has had a major impact on me as an EAL teacher."
    Caroline Delhommeau – EAL Specialist, Bali Island School
  • “A very valuable course which has helped me a great deal and prepared me well to help others to help their students.”
    Jacob Huckle, Head of Multilingual Learning and Language Development, Dulwich College Suzhou

Upcoming Venues

3L: Language and literacy for learning

Location: Adelaide, Australia
Date: 24/03/2026 - 27/03/2026

Teaching in English in multilingual classrooms

Location: Remote (Europe, via Zoom
Date: 11/05/2026 - 22/05/2026

Teaching in English in multilingual classrooms

Location: Remote (Asia, Australia), via Zoom
Date: 30/06/2026 - 08/07/2026

3L: Language and literacy for learning

Location: Remote (Australia), via Zoom
Date: 01/07/2026 - 08/07/2026

Teaching in English in multilingual classrooms

Location: Brisbane, Australia
Date: 17/08/2026 - 21/08/2026

3L: Language and literacy for learning

Location: Brisbane, Australia
Date: 18/08/2026 - 21/08/2026
All Upcoming Venues