EAL is short for English as an Additional Language. It is the name schools — especially in Britain and some other English-speaking places — give to teaching English to children (and sometimes adults) who already live there, but who did not grow up speaking English at home. “Additional” is a kind idea: English is extra, on top of the language they already have, not a replacement for it. Though actually, you will meet sister labels. ESL (English as a Second Language) is the older, very common name for a similar idea. EFL (English as a Foreign Language) is what we often mean by English class in Taiwan, where English is not the language of the street. EAL is a label on a course, a department, or a student's support. You do not really say “I eal”; you say someone is an EAL learner, or they get EAL help.