Children who develop competence in the linguistic aspects of English as an additional language (EAL) also become aware of the diverse cultural practices, values and expectations of Australian society.
In early childhood settings the nature of the program encourages learners to take part in predictable routine situations and in spontaneous child–adult and child–child interactions. This leads to the children and the educators using referents that are present in the immediate context, embedded in concrete objects, actions and social events.