English Language Learners
Overview
English Language Learners
Introduction
ELL (English Language Learners) students make up about 57% of the student population and continue to grow at a fast rate. These students suffer academically due to teachers not having the proper knowledge, proper curriculum, or enough class time to teach these students. There are many effective methods that can be used to help these students succeed academically such as building relationships, parent involvement, prepared strategies, teacher development and technology use among other methods. The following are a few examples on how to use the above mentioned methods to help these students succeed.
Building relationships/ Parent involvement
There are so many benefits for students, teachers, parents, and even the schools themselves when there is exceptional parent involvement. Not even just for ELL students, but for every student. Research shows that children learn best when they receive learning support at home. However, not all students get the support they might need at home. But, they will get the support that’s needed in the classroom. With parents' support, the children are able to have higher self-regulation when learning at home. When parents are involved, it enhances their child’s behavior at home and also in the class. The parents and teacher must work together to improve social functioning and learn to address problem behavior. It definitely involves teamwork raising children, so that’s why it is important for parents and teachers to be able to work together.
Teachers also benefit so much from parent involvement in their classrooms. Building relationships with the children and their families help you out in the long run. You are able to learn about their home life, and maybe come up with some ideas together to allow growth for the child. The teachers might also receive volunteers from parents when needed. Parents might help out in the students' learning process, which will help the child out in the classroom. These are just some of the many reasons it is important to build positive relationships with the family of each child in your care. Schools might also receive higher funds with more parent involvement, which might allow more opportunities and learning tools for the students.
Lastly, when parents build a relationship with their student's teacher they also are able to gain some resources. The parents are able to receive day-to-day information on their child. Such as their behavior, what they learned, and future events coming up in the school. The parents are invited to events that showcase their children’s work. Another great reason it is important for relationships and bonds is that the parents are able to have regular conferences with the teacher on their child’s progress in the classroom.
This little bit of information just goes to show how important parent involvement is and all the benefits that come with it for everyone. To learn more about all the benefits of parent involvement, here are some good websites that talk more about it.
References
Explore. create. collaborate. OER Commons. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.oercommons.org/
Myers-Young, Shayna, "Understanding Parental Involvement" (2018). Integrated Studies. 178. https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/bis437/178
Parent-teacher–student discrepancies in academic ... - ed. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ908212.pdf
Strategies to Help ELL Students to be More Successful in the Classroom
In order to help ELL students be more successful in the classroom, there are a few steps that can be taken/strategies that can be implemented that may increase a positive outcome for ELL students.
These steps/strategies include:
Doing research on a student’s culture (knowing where your student is from can help you know what is expected of them)
Learning a few basic words in the student’s native language (knowing a handful of basic words in your student’s native language can help your students feel more comfortable)
Pronouncing students’ names correctly so they feel welcomed and respected (when a teacher takes time to correctly pronounce your name it shows they care)
Labeling items in 2-3 different languages ( labeling items around the classroom can help students visually associate words with objects which can help them remember them better)
Having a student-centered classroom instead of subject-centered (students learn in all different ways which mean letting them decide how they approach or do a task can affect how well they do with the task)
Tailoring some lessons towards ELL students (taking into consideration what a student needs to effectively learn a lesson is essential)
Setting clear and attainable goals for your ELL students (when students see that there are goals in place for them it show that you believe in their abilities)
Enunciate while speaking (pronouncing words clearly and correctly benefits students when learning a word)
Repeating and rephrasing (saying words or sentences more than once or in a different way can help students better grasp a concept)
Read test questions aloud, explain definitions of words, or act out text (hearing words or seeing them in a physical sense can help students better understand what is being said or asked)
Word walls (having a place where you can see words being used can help students while reading, speaking, or writing)
Vocabulary Journals (writing or drawing the meaning of a word and being able to look back at it for future reference is very helpful)
Small Groups (beginning approach)
Sharing aloud to the class (more advanced)
Assessing strategies through self-assessment (tweaking strategies to help better a student’s learning outcome is essential)
Assessing students’ progress (monitoring students’ progress can help see what strategies are working and problem areas that need work)
These are just a few tips and strategies teachers can incorporate into their classrooms to help ELL students learn effectively as well as feel heard and welcomed.
References
Avella, Frank. “Ell & ESL Teaching Strategies.” YouTube, YouTube, 2 Sept. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyJ_pNaazso.
"English Language Learners: Misunderstood in Education" by Michaela Kehr, Leah Carruth, Faith Ybarra, Julia McKee is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Teacher Development
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have become more vigorous which calls for intense teacher development to help English Language Learns (ELL) be successful. Teachers need to have opportunities to gain professional development on strategies, content, and skills to correctly incorporate language development for ELLs. Even bilingual teachers should be engaging in some sort of professional development. Teachers can gain some knowledge by studying students' work and assessments to figure out how to achieve all of the required standards. Teachers can also gain professional development from articles and other resources that focus on their subjects. Providing professional development for teachers will definitely help achieve all of the goals of the standards. An example of professional development is “research-informed practice” which will only work if teachers are willing to work in collaboration.
CALL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Read the following scenario and think about the barriers that Ms. Plenner faced in implementing a CALL activity.
Ms. Plenner’s supervisor was pushing her to use the school’s new computer cart with 24 laptops. He assigned her a time slot in the middle of the week and strongly recommended that she have her students use some of the ESL software that the school had recently purchased. Ms. Plenner was not familiar with any of the software packages and had little experience with the Internet other than using a basic e-mail program. Her curriculum, already packed, did not include ideas for using technology, and she had not had any training in using technology during her teacher certification classes. She did not have time before the middle of the week to investigate the laptops or the software or even to talk to her colleagues about using technology with second language students.
Ms. Plenner’s students, most of whom did not have other access to laptop computer in the economically poor neighborhood in which they lived (although some students had smartphones), were excited (and nervous) about using computers in class and expressed their hope that their language learning would increase as a result. Ms. Plenner decided to give her students each a laptop and let them choose what they wanted to do, hoping that they would catch on to the software fairly quickly because they were highly motivated.
The class time in the computer lab was a disaster. Ms. Plenner did not know that each student would need a password to log on. She expected that there would be some kind of tech help or instructions, but there was not. After she had spent time getting the password from the principal and helping students access the computers, the students did not know which program to choose. Ms. Plenner picked one from the desktop that helped students practice grammar and asked everyone to do unit one. Two students said that grammar drills were not useful for them and that they wanted to talk to native English speakers online. After several other students seemed confused about how to answer some of the questions in the grammar unit because it used idiomatic language and contexts that they did not understand, Ms. Plenner told the students to turn off the laptops and put them back on the cart, promising that she would figure out how to use the computers better for future sessions.
► Overview of CALL Professional Development Opportunities
Pressure from the school administration to use technology contributed to Ms. Plenner’s problems using CALL. Because she was not given a chance to learn about the technology and its uses beforehand, she was not prepared to use the laptops, she did not consider using the computers as tools to help meet her goals, and she did not set up tasks based in CALL principles. This scenario is an exaggeration, but many teachers meet at least some of the same barriers to effective use of CALL: lack of time, training, freely accessible resources, and incentive. These barriers are often difficult to overcome, but many resources and tools exist to help teachers and administrators understand these barriers and to surmount them. This chapter outlines ways for teachers to get started in creating plans for professional development in CALL and to begin to develop strategies for CALL that fit the needs of their classrooms and contexts.
CALL: Computer-assited language learning
The video shows some strategies that can be used to help English Language Learners succeed and feel safe to learn. This goes to show how providing professional development to teachers can definitely help guide English language learners to read, write, and socialize with their classmates.
References
"Teacher Development to Support English Language Learners in the Context of Common Core State Standards" by María Santos, Linda Darling-Hammond, Tina Cheuk, Stanford University is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Education Week. “Differentiating Instruction: A Guide for Teaching English-Language Learners.” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Feb. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hekJsCOHLU.
"CALL Principles and Practices" by Joy Egbert, Seyed Abdollah Shahrokni is licensed under CC BY 4.0
ELL and Technology
Into the Book Activity: This online interactive activity is beneficial not only for students but also for the teachers who teach ELL (English Language Learners). When accessing the “Into the Book” website, students and teachers can use it as a guest or can create an account which allows you to create a personal account and saves all of your progress. The website also gives students the option to use in English or Bilingual mode. The students who are not yet fluent in the English language can use the bilingual mode which offers both English and Spanish texts. The student can switch between both languages during each activity. This program helps students with reading strategies, 15 minute videos with explanations provided and try it yourself activities. Teachers can access teaching guides for before and after assessments and teaching tips that can be used in the classroom. Below is a list of the features “Into the Book” provides.
· Summarizing– tell what is important in the story.
· Visualizing- create a movie in your mind while reading a story.
· Questioning– ask questions when reading.
· Inferring- clues in text.
· Evaluating– form an opinion.
· Making connections- connect to real life situations.
· Synthesizing- put the pieces together to see them in a new.
· Prior knowledge- use what you already know to understand something new.
· Strategies together- use strategies together.
There are many online activities like this one that can help English Language Learners. “Into the Book” is only one example of how interactive online activities can help English Language Learners in their path to success.
This online activity can be accessed from any device and students can use it at any time. Below is the link in which it can be found.
Into the Book: Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies (ecb.org).
Reference: “Into the Book.” Into the Book: Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies, https://reading.ecb.org/.
“Ideas to Enhance English Learners’ Motivation Through Technology Based Teaching Media.” By Emmi Naja (article)
Technology is evolving rapidly and is what is used daily to acquire information by everyone around the world. Technology also plays a big role in the education field and is now used by educators and students to access assignments, assessments, learning activities, and exams. English Language learners can benefit greatly from using technology in school and at home. This article provides reasons why and how it helps students succeed academically. One reason is how students tend to be very interested in using the internet daily, that being on their phone, tablet, and or computer. They may use it for various reasons such as playing games, to watch music videos, or to communicate with others, among other things. The article suggests that using teaching media usage is important in the learning process for both the student and teacher. For English Language Learners accessing activities assigned by a teacher can help them in learning English by translating words he/she does not understand. Another benefit is students are more motivated to complete the assignments when using a technological device. By using this source of education teachers can create and include the material of their choice in the assignments. For example, the vocabulary the students are working on that week can be provided on an online activity in which they can play a game, work on a crossword puzzle or word search to learn the pronunciation, spelling, and definition of the words. The students can also gain quick feedback on what they are doing wrong and instructions on how to correct it. In a situation where a teacher is unavailable, or the schools are closed for any reason students can continue to work using their home device and completing assignments from home. The disadvantage described in this article is the amount of money that is needed to provide each student with a device they can use to work online. Unfortunately, not every school or student has the budget to have access to these devices or internet at home to use, but those schools and ELL students who do will benefit greatly from it.
Reference
Naja, Emmi. Ideas to Enhance English Learners Motivation Through Technology Based Teaching Media, Nov. 2014, pp. 221–226.