As a future educator, I tend to find myself wondering about my students. I think about the challenges that may arise and the tasks that I will need to accomplish. I know that there will be many joys and rewarding times during teaching; I also recognize the potential struggles. I wanted to make my focus for this paper a learning experience. I wanted to dive into information on a topic that I was unsure of and learn more about how to handle it. I aimed to find information about ELL, English language learner, students and how I could assist them in the classroom.
My Topic and What I Already Knew about My Topic
I will explain in this section why I wanted to research within the topic of ELL students. I will also provide my past knowledge and experiences that include being with ELL students due to my observation in a public school for my F200 class. The few weeks I spent observing shed a new light on the subject for me.
Topic Choice
I decided to focus my research on the topic of ELL students. I knew that understanding ELL students would be important to my future. I knew that it would be critical to find out information on ELL students because I only speak English. I wanted to know what I could do as these students’ teacher to help them learn as much as possible.
Past Knowledge and Experience
If you would have asked me about ELL students any time prior to this year, I would have not been able to tell you one thing about them. I honestly never had the thought of having to teach a student who spoke a different language than me. I grew up in a small, rural town with all English speaking students. I never saw my teachers faced with the dilemma of having a different language spoken in the classroom. Not being exposed to ELL studen...
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English language learners. (2013). Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgf.asp
Ernst-Slavit, G., Moore, M., & Maloney, C. (2002). Changing lives: teaching English and literature to ESL students. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 46(2), 116-128. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com
Goldenberg, C. (2008). Teaching English language learners. American Educator, 32(2), 8-44. Retrieved from http://www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneducator/summer2008/goldenberg.pdf
Heining-Boynton, A. L. (n.d.). Keys to success for English language learners. Retrieved from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/760
Vacca-Rizopoulos, L. A., & Nicoletti, A. (2009). Preservice teachers’ reflections on effective strategies for teaching Latino ESL students. Journal of Latinos and Education, 8(1), 67-76. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com
Much research was completed for the making of this article. It was found that ELL’s need time to develop oral English proficiency, teachers need to use ongoing authentic formative assessments throughout the year due to
The purpose of the study is to compare divergent teaching methods in Canada and China, and to identify which teaching approaches are effective to Chinese ELL students. The research contains pre- and post-tests, and one open-ended survey for 20 Chinese ELL students at one university in Canada.
...ell can work together to solidify the learning environment for the student in need and create a better learner as a result.
These days, schools are facing financial issues too. Lack of budget does not allow all the schools to design English language proficiency classes for ELLs. Also, putting ELLs in such classes in which they only practice the English language may not necessarily help them to learn in the content classes. So what is the solution?
There are a lot of students being placed whose primary language is not English. Students walk into a mainstream classroom not being able to speak English. Students in this situation are call English Language Learners(ELLs). These students are not receiving appropriate language support to succeed in their language development which is causing them to not have the ability to acquire language.
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.
There are several key ideas that are crucial to understanding the best way to teach young, ELL students. The first idea is the importance of recognizing ELL’s feelings of isolation and alienation. When a teacher recognizes this, they are more capable of helping the student feel a part of the class. The student will struggle to participate if they do not feel like they belong with the other students. There is not only a language barrier, but also sociocultural differences that prohibit them from feeling accepted. Tiffany emphasizes the importance of acknowledging this problem and being aware during classroom activities. She suggests that you get a deep understanding of their cultural background, not just a “touristy” one.
Many female ELL students are coming from countries that may not place importance on the education of females past a certain level which may be an educational demotivator for many of our students. Much of the job as an ELL teacher is to develop a relationship with the students, one of trust where they are comfortable enough to make mistakes and to ask questions for clarification on the background and vocabulary that they do not understand. The use of language is transactional, where we are constantly negotiating meaning to make ourselves understood. A student’s identity is closely linked with who they are in society or what they view their societal role should be. Learners are conditioned by the encounters that they have experienced, and how
There are many different ideas about teaching ELL students and the above articles discuss some of the laws and history behind some of those laws and methods that direct out instruction of ELL students here in the United States.
English Language Learners range from Newcomers learning survival English and developing foundational literacy skills to Long-Term English Learners who have had 6 years or more of their education in English yet continue have significant language gaps. These students may speak English with little or no accent and still lack the vocabulary, grammar and grade level literacy to be successful in school. English language learners may remain silent in the classroom as they adjust to a new school, environment, and culture unless he is a native language comrade to interact with. The English language learners are concerned about decoding verbal and non- verbal communication as well as understanding the social culture framework of the school. Most of the time English language learners are observing during instruction, trying to repeat words used by others, memorizing simple phrases and sentences, tired by midday or be frustrated attending long lectures unaccompanied by visual and gestures, relying on first language translation used peer translation or bilingual dictionary, as the students begin to learner they become more involved in the classroom, they can respond non-verbally to commands, statements, and questions in simple form. As their oral comprehension increases, they begin to use simple word and phrases and may use English spontaneously. They can understand short conversation on a simple topic when reading students can understand a narrative text and authentic materials, although they will be below
After viewing the panel discussion about how our local school districts have implemented English Language Learning in their school, I am very intrigued. From what I gathered the field of ELL is a growing industry in education, especially in Colorado Springs. We have ELL’s students coming from all over the world. Here in Colorado Springs alone, school districts have to accommodate for over fifty different languages spoken by ELL’s. I can only imagine the challenge that comes with such a diverse group of non- English speakers in our community schools.
If the students do not understand the language, then it 's very hard for them to do the assignments that an English speaking student would have. An example of an alternative assignment would be if a teacher gives an assignment for the class to write definition from a book, instead of having the ELL students write definitions, have them look up the word in their native language, so they know what the word is. I believe the key to being effective when helping LLE students learn is to move gradually at a pace that works for the
ELL students in particular benefit from the implementation of student questioning during direct teaching as a strategy for active participation because it is so successful at activating prior knowledge. Since activating prior learning is a key component in
Curtin, E. M. (2006). Lessons on effective teaching from middle school ESL students. Middle School Journal, 37(3), 38–45.
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...