Who Are English Language Learner Students?

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Recommended: Review of the no child left behind act

Who Are English Language Learner Students? The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) uses the acronym Limited English Proficient (LEP) and labels an English-Language Learner (ELL) as an individual who “is between the ages of 3 to 21 years, has enrolled or is preparing to enroll in elementary or secondary school, was not born in the United State or English is not the native language, comes from a background in which the English language has had a considerable impact on an individual’s English Language Proficiency, comes from an environment where English is not the individuals primary language and has had prior or previous difficulties in speaking, writing, reading, or understanding the English language that has denied the individual the ability to meet the state’s proficient level of achievement of the English language” (Wolf, 2008, p. 2). English-Language Learners are not considered to be a homogenous group; rather, they are a heterogeneous group. According to Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary (2011), homogenous is defined as “of the same or a similar kind or nature” and Heterogeneous is defined as “made up of parts that are different”. English-Language Learner’s are considered to be derived from heterogeneous groups because they come from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and have varying prior academic backgrounds and levels of language proficiency. A language other than English is used as the primary language in their teaching. The acronym ESL refers to students being taught in English only. Teachers of English-Language Learner’s use many literacy strategies when teaching their students, these include the following, but are not limited too: building vocabulary and background knowledge, using visual aids to scaffold learning,... ... middle of paper ... .... Learning nonfiction in an ESL class: the interaction of situated practice and teacher scaffolding in a genre study. The Reading Teacher, 62, 580-589. Rothenberg, C., & Fisher, D. (2007). Teaching English language learners: A different approach. New York: Pearson. Silverman, R. D. (2007). Vocabulary development of English-language and English-only learners in kindergarten. The Elementary School Journal, 107, 365-383. Teale, W. H. (2009). Students learning English and their literacy instruction in urban schools. The Reading Teacher, 62, 699-703. Wolf, M. K., Kao, J., Herman, J., Bachman, L. F., Bailey, A., Bachman, P. L., et al. (2008). Issues in assessing English language learners: English language proficiency measures and accommodation uses. National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, 731, 1-35.

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