Social and Emotional Learning: Where is the Evidence for English As An Additional Language Learners?
| dc.contributor.author | Becker, Emma L. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-08-20T16:16:50Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-08-20T16:16:50Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-08 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This scoping review explores research on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and English as an Additional Language (EAL) learning in Canadian K-12 public schools, with focus on whether SEL aids newcomer and refugee students as they navigate unfamiliar cultural and linguistic contexts. Following Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) framework for scoping reviews, this study compiles literature from academic databases to identify instructional strategies and critical gaps in existing research from 2000 to 2025. Results emphasize the importance of SEL competencies, such as identity affirmation, self-awareness and self-esteem, and socialization, in fostering academic performance and social integration for EAL learners. Effective SEL practices follow identity-affirming and culturally responsive instructional methods, offering opportunities for collaborative learning and multilingual classroom activities. Following these approaches can foster EAL learners’ confidence, promote socialization with peers, and facilitate successful acculturation, thereby positively fostering language proficiency and overall mental health. Results reveal minimal research conducted within Canada, with limited explicit instruction of SEL, emphasizing the necessity for research on implementation of structured culturally and linguistically sensitive SEL curricula in Canadian public schools. Implications include targeted SEL interventions within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) frameworks to address the diverse needs of EAL learners in Canada, particularly students with a refugee background. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ec.msvu.ca/handle/10587/2347 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Mount Saint Vincent University | |
| dc.title | Social and Emotional Learning: Where is the Evidence for English As An Additional Language Learners? | |
| dc.type | Thesis |