English-language learner: Difference between revisions

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'''English-Languagelanguage Learner''' (often abbreviated as '''ELL''') is a term used in some English-speaking countries such as the [[United States]] and [[Canada]] to describe a person who is learning the [[English language]] and has a native language that is not English. Some [[Education in the United States|educational]] [[advocacy|advocates]], especially in the [[United States]], classify these students as non-native English speakers or emergent bilinguals.<ref>{{cite book |id={{ERIC|ED524002}} |last1=Garcia |first1=Ofelia |last2=Kleifgen |first2=Jo Anne |last3=Falchi |first3=Lorraine |title=From English Language Learners to Emergent Bilinguals. Equity Matters. Research Review No. 1 |date=January 2008 |publisher=Campaign for Educational Equity, Teachers College, Columbia University }}{{pn|date=June 2023}}</ref> Various other terms are also used to refer to students who are not proficient in English, such as [[English as a second or foreign language|English as a Secondsecond Languagelanguage (ESL)]], English as an Additionaladditional Languagelanguage (EAL), limited English proficient (LEP), Culturallyculturally and Linguisticallylinguistically Diversediverse (CLD), non-native English speaker, bilingual students, heritage language, emergent bilingual, and language-minority students. The legal term that is used in federal legislation is 'limited English proficient'.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wright|first=Wayne|title=Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners|publisher=Caslon|year=2010|___location=Philadelphia|pages=3 and 4}}</ref> The instruction and [[Educational assessment|assessment]] of students, their [[cultural background]], and the attitudes of classroom [[teacher]]s towards ELLs have all been found to be factors in the achievement of these students. Several methods have been suggested to effectively teach ELLs, including integrating their home cultures into the classroom, involving them in language-appropriate [[content-area instruction]] early on, and integrating [[literature]] into their learning programs.

== History of English-Language Learners ==

The term "English-language Language Learnerlearner" was first used by Mark LaCelle-Peterson and Charlene Rivera in their 1994 study. He defined ELL students as students whose first language is not English, including both limited and higher levels of language proficiency. The term ELL emphasizes that students are mastering another language, something many monolingual students in American schools may never attempt outside of the limited proficiency gained from foreign language class requirements. In adopting the term, LaCelle-Peterson and Rivera gave analogies of other conventional educational terms. The authors believed that just as we refer to advanced teaching candidates as "student teachers" rather than "limited teaching proficient individuals," the term ELL underscores what students are ''learning'' instead of their limitations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lacelle-Peterson |first1=Mark |last2=Rivera |first2=Charlene |title=Is It Real for All Kids? A Framework for Equitable Assessment Policies for English Language Learners |journal=Harvard Educational Review |date=1 April 1994 |volume=64 |issue=1 |pages=55–76 |doi=10.17763/haer.64.1.k3387733755817j7 }}</ref>

Since 1872, an English-only instruction law had been in place in the United States. It was not until 1967, that the legislation was overturned by SB53, a policy signed for California public schools to allow other languages in instruction. A year later, after SB53 garnered support by the immigrant community, the [[Bilingual Education Act]] (Title VII) was passed. Nationally, public schools were then provided funding for programs that met the educational needs of ELL.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ingersoll |first1=Richard M. |title=Teacher Turnover and Teacher Shortages: An Organizational Analysis |journal=American Educational Research Journal |date=2001 |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=499–534 |doi=10.3102/00028312038003499 |jstor=3202489 |s2cid=8630217 |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1093&context=gse_pubs }}</ref>

Not long after the installment of [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Title VII]], the "taxpayers revolt" came to fruition and California's Proposition 13 was drafted. It proposed funding cuts for large portions of California's public schools, backed by those who disapproved of immigrant progress. In opposition to this, cases like ''[[Castañeda v. Pickard|Castaneda v Pickard]]'' fought for educational equality and standards focused on developing ELL students, as well as an overall sound plan for school districts. <ref>{{Cite web|title=Sutori|url=https://www.sutori.com/story/sf-cess-historical-timeline-of-public-education-in-the-u-s--R4BQwQWU9qnFGZQk3x1WAbcN|access-date=2021-05-12|website=www.sutori.com|language=en}}</ref> An additional setback occurred in California in 1998 when Proposition 227 passed, banning bilingual education yet again.  To combat this, education advocates in the Bay Area began to open all-inclusive schools to promote the acceptance of ELL students.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Small Autonomous Schools as a District Policy: The Oakland Plan {{!}} Coalition of Essential Schools|url=http://essentialschools.org/horace-issues/small-autonomous-schools-as-a-district-policy-the-oakland-plan/|access-date=2021-05-12|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Models of instruction ==

There are a wide variety of different program models that may be used to structure the education of English -language learners (ELLs). These program models vary depending on the goals of the program and the resources available. Some researchers describe program models as existing on a spectrum from more monolingual forms to more bilingual forms.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Colin |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.21832/baker9899 |title=Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism |last2=Wright |first2=Wayne E. |date=2021-03-31 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |doi=10.21832/baker9899 |isbn=978-1-78892-988-2 |s2cid=241801261}}</ref> Others distinguish between English-only program models and bilingual program models.<ref>{{cite book |id={{ERIC|ED517794}} |last1=Moughamian |first1=Ani C. |last2=Rivera |first2=Mabel O. |last3=Francis |first3=David J. |title=Instructional Models and Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners |date=2009 |publisher=Center on Instruction }}{{pn|date=June 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Professional Development SIOP.jpg|thumb|At a professional development seminar, educators learn about the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model, a specific model of sheltered instruction used to accommodate English language learners in mainstream classrooms.]]

Fast-track to English programs encourage students to use English as quickly as possible and offer little to no native language support. In transition-bilingual programs, instruction begins in the student's native language and then switches to English in elementary or middle school. In [[Dual language|dual language programs]] (also known as two-way bilingual or two-way [[Language immersion|immersion]] programs), students become fluent simultaneously in their native language and English.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Learning and Thinking Differences in English Language Learners |date=5 August 2019 |url=https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/special-services/english-language-learners/understanding-learning-and-thinking-differences-in-ells}}</ref> [[Sheltered instruction]] is another approach in which integrates language and content instruction in the mainstream classroom environment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hansen-Thomas |first=Holly |date=2012-07-13 |title=Sheltered Instruction: Best Practices for ELLs in the Mainstream |journal=Kappa Delti Pi Record |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=165–69|doi=10.1080/00228958.2008.10516517 |s2cid=144305523 }}</ref> Program models utilizing sheltered instruction may also be referred to as content-based instruction (CBI) or content language integrated learning (CLIL).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ping |first1=Wang |title=Understanding bilingual education: an overview of key notions in the literature and the implications for Chinese university EFL education |journal=Cambridge Journal of Education |date=2 January 2017 |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=85–102 |doi=10.1080/0305764X.2015.1118439 |s2cid=147483836 }}</ref>

=== "Push-in" programs versus "Pullpull-out" programs ===

Two specific models of instruction include the push-in program and the pull-out program.

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=== Labor-based grading ===

In Asao Inoue's work "Labor-Based Grading Contracts", he proposes an alternative to traditional content-based or quality-based methods of assessment in writing classrooms.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Inoue|first=Asao B.|date=2019|title=Labor-Based Grading Contracts|url=https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/books/labor/contracts.pdf}}</ref> Inoue outlines his own innovative classroom design, which assigns grades based on set standards for how much work is put into each assignment through quantitative methods such as word counts. High marks are earned by students who go above the baseline requirements, which earn students a "B" on the A-FA–F grading scale. The intent behind Inoue's design is that students are rewarded for their efforts rather than deterred, and students who traditionally score poorly when graded on quality (such as ELL students) are equally capable of receiving a certain grade as any other student, despite any educational setbacks or challenges they endure. A unique aspect to the labor-based grading design is that students collaborate as a class to decide what the terms on conditions of grading scales are. This way, all student's voices are heard and considered when developing a method of evaluation for their work.

== Potential issues faced by ELLs ==

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=== Culture ===

A study to examine anti-racist pedagogy within predominantly white versus predominantly Mexican classrooms concluded that Mexican elementary-level students had a firmer grasp on cultural inequalities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Borsheim-Black |first1=Carlin |title='It's Pretty Much White': Challenges and Opportunities of an Antiracist Approach to Literature Instruction in a Multilayered White Context |journal=Research in the Teaching of English |date=2015 |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=407–429 |jstor=24398713 }}</ref>  According to the findings, the social and cultural maturity of the Mexican students is a direct result of having faced the inequalities themselves.  Another study{{fact|date=August 2022}} on Caucasian first-grade teachers and their ELL students indicated biases that ultimately affected students' desire to learn. A combination of misinformation, stereotypes, and individual reservations can alter teachers' perception when working with culturally diverse or non-native English speakers.  Teachers are placed in the position to teach English-learning students, sometimes without the necessary training, as mentioned above. From a Walden University study, a handful of teachers at an elementary school expressed not having the energy, training, or time to perform for these students.<ref>{{cite thesis |id={{ProQuest|305224931}} |last1=Couch |first1=Marsha |date=2010 |title=First grade teachers' perceptions of and expectations for ELL students }}{{pn|date=June 2023}}</ref>

An ESL teacher, in a study called "Losing Strangeness to Mediate ESL Teaching", "connects culture to religious celebrations and holidays and the fusion invites students to share their knowledge".<ref name="Rowsell2007">{{cite journal |last1=Rowsell |first1=Jennifer |last2=Sztainbok |first2=Vannina |last3=Blaney |first3=Judy |title=Losing Strangeness: Using Culture to Mediate ESL Teaching |journal=Language, Culture and Curriculum |date=July 2007 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=140–154 |doi=10.2167/lcc331.0 |s2cid=144057826 }} p147.<!-- Rowsell, J., Sztainbok, V., & Blaney, J. (2008). Losing strangeness: using culture to mediate esl teaching. --></ref> This has encouraged students to open up and talk about their cultural backgrounds and traditions. "Teachers who encourage CLD students to maintain their cultural or ethnic ties promote their personal and academic success."<ref name="Herrera2007">{{Cite book|last1=Herrera|first1=Socorro|title=Assessment Accommodations for Classroom Teachers of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students|last2=Murry|first2=Kevin|last3=Cabral|first3=Robin|publisher=Pearson/Allyn and Bacon|year=2007|isbn=978-0-205-49271-8|___location=Boston}}</ref>{{rp|90}} Students should not feel that they need to lose their identity in the classroom, but rather that they gain knowledge from both their culture and the world around them. It have been proven to be beneficial to bring culture into the ESL classroom in order for the students to feel a sense of worth in school and in their lives. Similarly, the sharing one different cultural backgrounds can benefit other students in the mainstream classroom who may not have the cultural maturity or dual identities that these students are able to shed a light on.

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== ELLs with disabilities ==

Of the 5 million ELL students in the 2019–2020 school year, 15.3% of these or 766,600 were identified with disabilities and qualified for special education services.<ref>{{Cite web|title=COE - English Language Learners in Public Schools|url=https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgf|access-date=2021-10-16|website=nces.ed.gov|language=en}}</ref> ELLs with disabilities follow the same path to receiving services for special education: '' ''academic struggle is observed by those working with the student, the student is referred to a team of professionals for intervention and/or assessment, if a disability is found they are then placed in special education programming for support.<ref name=":3" />

Researchers have found that there is a disproportion in ELL students identified into special education.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> There can be an overrepresentation where ELL students can be qualified into special education services but do not truly have a disability, or there can be an underrepresentation where a disability exists but the ELL student is not qualified into special education because it is deemed a language development related issue.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=lbreiseth|date=2016-06-10|title=Challenges in Special Education Identification for ELLs|url=https://www.colorincolorado.org/special-education-ell/identification|access-date=2021-10-16|website=Colorín Colorado|language=en}}</ref>

Most ELL students qualify under the [[Specificspecific learning disability]] or [[Emotional and behavioral disorders|Emotionalemotional Disturbancedisturbance]] categories.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=WIDA>{{Cite web|last=WIDA|date=May 2017|title=Focus on: Identifying ells with specific learning disabilities: facts, advice, and resources for school teams|url=https://wida.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/resource/FocusOn-Identifying-ELLs-with-Specific-Learning-Disabilities.pdf|website=WIDA}}</ref> According to [[WIDA Consortium|WIDA]], states with the highest identification of ELLs with disabilities, the specific learning disability category is the highest category for special education qualification. (See the [https://wida.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/resource/FocusOn-Identifying-ELLs-with-Specific-Learning-Disabilities.pdf "WIDA Focus On: ELLs with Specific Learning Disabilities" fact sheet]<ref name=WIDA> for a detailed map breakdown by state on percentages of ELLs identified into this category.)

== Enriching the classroom environment ==

In order to maintain an environment that is beneficial for both the teacher and the student, culture, literature, and other disciplines should be integrated systematically into the instruction. Postponing content-area instruction until CLD students gain academic language skills bridges the linguistic achievement gap between the learners and their native-English speaking peers.<ref name="Herrera2007"/>{{rp|173}} Relating to culture, teachers need to integrate it into the lesson, in order for the students to feel a sense of appreciation and a feeling of self-worth rather than ostracization. When working with English language learners, it is suggested that teachers try to understand the cultural background of their students in relation to education. What might be incorrect in English, might be correct in one's native language. If this is the case, then the student may transfer information from his/hertheir first language to the second.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|title=Literature Review {{!}} Teaching Diverse Learners|url=https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-alliance/teaching-diverse-learners/literature-review-1|access-date=2021-10-13|website=www.brown.edu}}</ref>'''.''' Students will benefit substantially from the use of literature in instruction, as well. "Reading texts that match learner interests and English proficiency provide learners with comprehensible language input—a chance to learn new vocabulary in context and to see the syntax of the language."<ref name="Rabideau1993">{{cite web|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED358749 |id={{ERIC|ED358749}} |last1=Rabideau |first1=Dan |title=Integrating Reading and Writing into Adult ESL Instruction. ERIC Digest |date=March 1993 }}</ref> Students can also gain additional motivation and enjoyment from the addition of literature. Students also can gain motivation in writing by teachers allowing them to write about culturally relevant topics that allow students to express where they come from and aspects of their culture .<ref name=":02"/>'''.''' By integrating other disciplines into the lesson, it will make the content more significant to the learners and will create higher order thinking skills across the areas. Introducing language in other contexts focuses not only on learning a second language, but using that language as a medium to learn mathematics, science, social studies, or other academic subjects.<ref name="Reilly1988">{{cite web|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED296572 |id={{ERIC|ED296572}} |last1=Reilly |first1=Tarey |title=ESL through Content Area Instruction |date=May 1988 }}</ref> These varying approaches aid ELL students' awareness "that English is not just an object of academic interest nor merely a key to passing an examination; instead, English becomes a real means of interaction and sharing among people".<ref name="Oxford2001p5">{{cite magazine |last1=Oxford |first1=Rebecca |title=Integrated Skills in the ESL/EFL classroom |magazine=ESL Magazine |volume=6 |issue=1 |date=2001 |pages=1–7 }}</ref> Therefore, students will be able to communicate across the curriculum, acquire higher level skills, and be successful in their daily lives.

=== Strategies for supporting English-language learnersELLs in the classroom and beyond ===

Allowing students to translanguage, or alternate, between English and their native language is an essential strategy for English language learners. In the classroom, English language learners can often feel intimidated when asked to speak, so when students are allowed to use their first language to help produce their second language, it lessens some of the anxiety that can occur.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web|first=Jennifer|last=Gonzalez|date=2014-12-11|title=12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom |url=https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/supporting-esl-students-mainstream-classroom/|access-date=2021-10-13|website=Cult of Pedagogy|language=en}}</ref> Oftentimes in the classroom, teachers ask students to communicate complex ideas and translanguing helps students do this. In this case, teachers are not concerned so much about their language output, but rather if they are able to communicate their ideas.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web|date=2016-07-26|title=What is translanguaging?|url=https://ealjournal.org/2016/07/26/what-is-translanguaging/|access-date=2021-10-13|website=EAL Journal|language=en}}</ref> By allowing students to translanguage in the classroom, it allows students to process and convey their ideas in a lower-risk output situation (worksheets) that can lead to more high-risk output situations (essays and projects).<ref name=":22" />

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Experiential learning is another strategy to support ELL students. The teacher can provide opportunities for English Language Learners to acquire vocabulary and build knowledge through hands-on learning.<ref>Schecter, S. R. (2012). The predicament of generation 1.5 English language learners: Three disjunctures and a possible way forward. Canadian Journal of Education, 35(4), 322.</ref> This can include activities such as science experiments and art projects, which are tactile ways that encourage students to create solutions to proposed problems or tasks.

A strategy that requires more involvement from educators is supporting the students outside of the school setting. To respond to deficiencies in the public school system, educators and student activists have created spaces that work to uplift ELL and their families. &nbsp;Labeled as family-school-community partnerships, these spaces have sought out cultural and linguistic responsiveness through encouraging participation and addressing needs outside of school. &nbsp;It is an interpretation of growth through art and community bonding meant to prime student development.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chappell|first=Sharon Verner|title=The Arts and Emergent Bilingual Youth: Building Culturally Responsive, Critical and Creative Education in School and Community Contexts|publisher=Taylor & Francis Group|year=2013}}{{pn|date=June 2023}}</ref>

== Future ==

== The future of English-language learners ==

While there have been several advancements in both the rights and the strategies and support offered in the United States and Canada for English-Languagelanguage learning students, there is still much work to be done. Despite International students (who often make up the bulk of ELL students in higher education, in addition to immigrants) being sought out as sources of profit and their boosts of collegiate diversity statistics, there are not always additional funding and resources curated to support these students at their respective institutions. With efforts like former U.S. president [[Donald Trump|President Donald J. Trump's]] proposed deportation of Internationalinternational students as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing debate whether to continue to support pathways to citizenship and achievement by the children of undocumented immigrants, such as [[Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals|DACA]], there are still many hindrances to this group of students occurring today. Adoption of socially-just classroom pedagogies such as those proposed by Asao Inoue, and the re-examination of the privileges inherent in the existence of "[[Academic English|Standard Academic English]]" are current steps towards a trajectory of inclusion and tolerance for these groups of students in both K-12K–12 and higher education.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Inoue |first1=Asao B. |title=Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future |date=2015 |publisher=Parlor Press LLC |isbn=978-1-60235-775-4 |doi=10.37514/PER-B.2015.0698 }}{{pn|date=June 2023}}</ref>

== References ==