In our modern education system many students are faced with the challenge of learning English as a Second Language (ESL). This can be a difficult transition period for students and a challenge for the educator as well. According to the U.S. Census in 2010 more than 55 million U.S. residents speak a language other than English at home (U.S. Census Bureau), the growing number of students who are learning English as a Second Language forces educators to become familiar with how we acquire and process language and develops new strategies for teaching English as a second language. Learning English as a second language is a barrier that must be overcome if the student is expected to progress through the American education system. It can have definite impacts on learning all other subjects, because if the student doesn’t have a mastery of English mechanics it affects the ability of that student to master other subject areas due to the language barrier.
Some school districts have implemented programs for teaching English Language Learners (ELL) but there isn’t a one size fits all approach that will work for all students. The problem we have discovered is in language acquisition; “the amount of time required for English proficiency depends on multiple factors such as age, prior schooling experiences, parents’ education level, the instruction provided, exposure to English, and teacher quality” (Johnson et al.,175). A popular debate centers on whether or not to use the students’ native language in the instruction or to immerse the student solely in English for instruction.
Understanding how language is acquired and processed can be beneficial to the learning process, and possibly find better way to teach ESL. ESL students face the dual c...
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...e to assist the students if the need arises. Once the ESL instructor has the weeks lesson plan they can begin developing content based instruction around whatever particular concepts are being covered. The ESL instructor should focus on core concepts and ideas and focus instruction on those areas, the ESL instructor should use vocabulary at grade appropriate level that is applicable to the subject matter. The content should be organized according to a theme, for maximum retention and the weekly instruction should be constructed in a way to have a series of related lessons on the same topic (Brown).
In conclusion, we have discussed the merits and flaws of several different methods of ESL instruction and found that the content based approach to ESL seems to be the most effective. We have examined different learning styles and how they are affect the learning process.
Flynn, K. & Hill, J. (2005). English language learners: A growing population. Mid-Research For Education And Learning, 1-11.
racie Allen of the comedy team of Burns and Allen was once asked how one should speak French. She replied, “Well, you speak it the same way you speak English; you just use different words.” When trying to assist in instructing English language learners, they usually have many concepts and language abilities that they need to master, as do the teachers that are trying to teach them. With the incorporation of the concepts and approaches to identify and assess the issues and concerns that we have learned in our classroom instruction, such as lesson preparation, building background, and comprehensible input, we can indeed teach our future English language learners all the right moves with all the right words.
With the rise of immigration, English Language Learners (ELL) population is growing fast. By 2025, 25% of the k-12 students will be ELLs. Therefore, a big challenge would be to help such ELLs improve their English language proficiency while there are English-speaking students (non-ELL) in the classes too.
English is a Language that many people struggle with in the U.S. It can be a daunting task that many American’s have to face. Especially because of all of the domains that make up the English Language.(reading, writing, speaking and listening). There are many factors that can lead to the failure of learning of the English Language. One component is English being a secondary language that is not attended to correctly. Even though there is many reasons the lead to English Language Learners lack of proficiency (example Mr. O’Malley classroom), a strong instructional input, scaffolding, theory, research, ELD standard, and a intervention will not be one of them.
Communicating what we want to say, how we want to say it is the goal of expressing ourselves linguistically. For English Language Learners (and their teachers), the ability to do that successfully in their new language presents a challenge. In the content areas of instruction, it is especially important to draw out the information that a student already knows in their native language – even when they do not have the linguistic ability to express themselves in English – in order to assess their level of understanding and engage prior knowledge. Using non-linguistic representations provides a way of bridging that gap between actual understanding and the ability to express that understanding for English Language Learners. For teachers, non-linguistic cues or representations are an effective alternative method in the process of delivering language and content instruction. In this essay, I will discuss why non-linguistic representations work differently than linguistic methods. I will also evaluate selected Teachscape video to discuss how some teachers use these methods, tasks that allow English Language Learner students to develop authentic use of their new language, and the difference between a student-centered and a teacher-centered classroom.
Because America is such a diverse country, public schools are faced with the challenge of providing students from all over the world with a quality education. As Chen points out “public schools have embraced the linguistic challenge presented by immigrant students” (¶1). Then, No Child Left Behind law was approved, and it required every public school should have an English Secondary Language (ESL) program that will provide the “academic support” for English Language Learners (ELLs). ELL parents are happy that their children are getting education help from the school, but it has raised the question of how successful are the ESL programs? Do ESL programs provide enough “academic support” to all ELL students? Do ESL programs have enough tools to help students learn English? Some ELL parents complain that ESL programs do not help their child learn English. A successful ESL program is not based solely on the test scores, but also the ability to connect parents, teachers, and students together to strengthen tools that will help ELL students to learn a new language in reading, writing, and speaking.
The growing numbers of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools require specialized instruction in order to succeed academically and become proficient in English. Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol, commonly known as SIOP, is one method of providing that instruction. SIOP is the product of several research studies conducted over the past fifteen years by two researchers, Dr. Jana Echevarria and Dr. Deborah J. Short (Echevarria, Short, & Powers, 2006) and is a method to help ESL and content teachers meet the needs of their linguistically diverse students. Although originally developed as an observation rubric for researchers to determine the degree of implementation of important sheltered instruction features in ESL lessons (Echevarria et al., 2006), SIOP has become an instructional model for English language learners (ELLs) that focuses on the simultaneous teaching and learning of academic content and language (Vogt & Echevarria, 2008). This paper will examine the reasons SIOP was developed, the basics of the SIOP model including ideas for classroom integration, and the benefits of using SIOP instruction with ELLs.
Of the several challenges that ELL students may face at school, one of the most important to remember is that these students not only have the pressure of learning at the same pace of their peers that have most likely spoken English their whole lives, but they have to do so while attempting to understand the English language. Graves' makes a paramount point on page 411 of his text where he states "it is not that English language learners come to school with a language deficit. They come with a lack of knowledge of the particular language that is used in the schools they will be attending-English."1 Therefore, it is easy to assume that even the most ready-to-learn student will have huge amounts of trouble trying to learn everything in a language that is foreign to them.
This article talks about helping out students with limited English proficiency and how they can better track their progress
The population of the United States increased with school age children speaking English as their second language. Strong community leaders and school districts are needed to ensure English language learners attend effective programs that teach them English and push them to graduate successfully (Buysse, Castro, and Peisner-Feinberg, 2010). School districts across America use their own approach to accommodate the learning of English language learners by having a single or combination of programs (Li and Edwards, 2010). Dual language programs allow children to collaborate in developmental levels such as cognitive with tasks in English and Spanish (Pascopella, 2011). English language learners and English proficient students learn from each other.
The purpose of this assignment is to explain the impact of English language learners in the classroom. As a foreign student, English language learner in the United States faces multiple challenges for achieving academic success. To successfully complete a task, they need to master both English as a language and how it is used in core content classes especially when they are an adult. When trying to assist in instructing English language learners, they usually have many concepts and language abilities that they need to master, as do the teachers that are trying to teach them. With the incorporation of the concepts and approaches to identify and assess the issues and concerns that we have learned in our classroom instruction, such as lesson preparation,
The English language has many varieties such as American English, Canadian English, Australian English, etc. Each of these have a standard form as well as additional dialects. Students who begin life with a dialect or vernacular other than Standard American English, though native English speakers, will often have a more difficult time adjusting to school. They may be misjudged as less intelligent, encounter prejudice, and face a more difficult time receiving the appropriate language reinforcement they need in order to thrive in the academic environment. According to Crochunis, Erdey, & Swedlow, “While most of us recognize that learning a new language presents challenges, we may not realize that for some children learning a new language variety (dialect) is one of the most daunting tasks they face in school” (2002, section III, p. 18 – emphasis added). In this essay, I will discuss the standard form of a language, dialects, creoles, and the difficulties or limitations they can produce. In particular, I will demonstrate the differences facing speakers of the AAE and ChE dialects, the effects on learning they produce, and possible ways to address and support those students in learning to function within the SAE world.
Thus, the book answers numerous practical questions that teachers have often struggled with; for example, how to increase the chances of academic success for language learners, how to use technology to teach language effectively, or how to teach language and content material concurrently. From the preface, the author makes it very clear that the book is designed to support language teachers in their journey as new teachers and throughout their teaching careers. In total, the book contains eleven chapters, which have been divided into four parts. The first part, "What Do Language Teachers Think About?" includes topics of foreign/ second language acquisition theories and language teaching methodologies. This part introduces the background knowledge readers will need in their journey as language teachers. The second part, "How Do You Teach a Language?" introduces approaches to teaching and learning that improve students’ writing, listening, speaking and reading abilities. Each chapter in this part includes suggestions for how students can be motivated and describes teaching and testing approaches to assess students ' language skills and academic literacy. The third part, "How Do I Know What to Teach?" is instrumental in helping teachers adopt teaching practices to particular teaching settings. The fourth part, "Where Do I Go from Here?" helps teachers gain a clearer perspective of what language teaching is all about; this section also considers teacher 's self-assessment and personal
Teaching students a language that is foreign can really be challenging for students as well as for the teachers. The dynamic rule for implementing instructing in a diverse class to English-learners is to use resourceful life skills such as diligence, hard work and patience. There are also methods that are involved in teaching English as a second language that can be creative for the teacher, yet beneficial to the student. First building a strong foundation that is essential to English learners will promote the language acquisition process. To do this teacher’s should always start with preparation. Advance preparation is essential in order to provide necessary adaptations in content area instruction and to make content information accessible for second language lear...
Lightbown, P., & Spada, N. M. (2006). How languages are learned (3rd ed.). Oxford [england: Oxford University Press.