English-language learner: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:54, 5 February 2024

Revision as of 22:55, 5 February 2024

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=== Assessment biases ===

[[File:No Child Left Behind Act.jpg|thumb|George W. Bush signing the No Child Left Behind Act.]]

The [[Every Student Succeeds Act]] or ESSA passed in 2015 replaced [[No Child Left Behind Act|No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)]], also requires all ELLs attending public schools from grades K-12K–12 to be assessed in multiple language domains, such as listening, reading, writing, and speaking.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=U.S. Department of Education|date=September 23, 2016|title=Non-Regulatory Guidance: English Learners and Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)|url=https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/essatitleiiiguidenglishlearners92016.pdf|archive-url=|access-date=October 14, 2021}}</ref> Current research in this area has found that assessments given to ELLs are culturally and linguistically inappropriate for reliable testing.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Macswan|first1=Jeff|last2=Rolstad|first2=Kellie|date=November 2006|title=How language proficiency tests mislead us about ability: Implications for english language learner placement in special education|journal=Teachers College Record |volume=108|issue=11|pages=2304–2328|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00783.x}}</ref> Assessments do not take into account the students' linguistic repertoire and what they know in their first language; therefore, content-based assessment outcomes might be confounded by language barriers, since they are not only being exposed to new material, but they are learning this new material in a language that they may still be gaining proficiency in.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Abedi |first=Jamal|date=2006|title=Psychometric Issues in the ELL Assessment and Special Education Eligibility |url=https://www.ncaase.com/docs/Abedi_TCRE782_2006.pdf |journal=Teachers College Record |volume=108|issue=11|pages=2282–2303|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00782.x}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">{{cite journal |last1=Klingner |first1=Janette K. |last2=Artiles |first2=Alfredo J. |last3=Barletta |first3=Laura Mendez |title=English Language Learners Who Struggle With Reading: Language Acquisition or LD? |journal=Journal of Learning Disabilities |date=March 2006 |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=108–128 |doi=10.1177/00222194060390020101 |pmid=16583792 |s2cid=22687512 }}</ref>

=== Teacher biases and training ===

Attitudes of educators play a major role in the ESL classroom. Estimates suggest that approximately 45% of teachers in America have ELL students in their classrooms;<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Walker |first1=Anne |last2=Shafer |first2=Jill |last3=Iiams |first3=Michelle |date=2004 |title="Not In My Classroom": Teacher Attitudes Towards English Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom |journal=NABE Journal of Research and Practice |volume=2 |citeseerx=10.1.1.579.2287}}</ref> however, it is not uncommon for teachers to have negative perceptions of the ELL students in their classrooms. These negative perceptions are informed by a bias that ELL students are not adequately trying or that they are personally at fault for their language barrier.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Carley Rizzuto |first=Kerry |date=22 June 2017 |title=Teachers' Perceptions of ELL Students: Do Their Attitudes Shape Their Instruction?|journal=The Teacher Educator |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=182–202 |doi=10.1080/08878730.2017.1296912|s2cid=219622420 }}</ref> Research shows that the negative attitudes of teachers may stem from lack of time to address unique ELL student classroom needs,<ref name="Youngs2001">{{cite journal |author1=Youngs, Cheryl S. |author2=Youngs, George A. Jr. |date=Spring 2001 |title=Predictors of Mainstream Teachers' Attitudes toward ESL Students |journal=TESOL Quarterly |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=97–120|doi=10.2307/3587861|jstor=3587861}}</ref> added teacher workload when working with ELL students in mainstream classrooms,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gitlin|first1=A.|last2=Buendia|first2=E.|last3=Crosland|first3=K.|last4=Doumbia|first4=F.|year=2003|title=The Production of Margin and Center: Welcoming-Unwelcoming of Immigrant Students|journal=American Educational Research Journal|volume=40|pages=91–122|doi=10.3102/00028312040001091|s2cid=144636531}}<!-- Gitlin, Buenda, Crosland & Doumbia, 2003. The Production of Margin and Center: Welcoming–Unwelcoming of Immigrant Students--></ref> and personal feelings of professional insufficiency to work with ELL students.<ref name="Verplaetse1998">{{cite journal|author=Verplaetse, Lorrie Stoops|date=Autumn 1998|title=How Content Teachers Interact with English Language Learners|journal=TESOL Journal|volume=7|issue=5|pages=24–28}}</ref><ref name="Reeves2006">{{cite journal |last1=Reeves |first1=Jenelle R. |title=Secondary Teacher Attitudes Toward Including English-Language Learners in Mainstream Classrooms |journal=The Journal of Educational Research |date=January 2006 |volume=99 |issue=3 |pages=131–143 |doi=10.3200/joer.99.3.131-143 |citeseerx=10.1.1.957.3133 |s2cid=146569899 }}</ref> Research indicates that only 12% of K-12K–12 teachers in the United States have training in working with ELL students.<ref name=":0" />

These attitudes can also lead to biases in the way students are assessed and evaluated.<ref name=":5">{{cite journal |last1=Stevenson |first1=Nathan A. |last2=Reed |first2=Deborah K. |last3=Tighe |first3=Elizabeth L. |title=Examining Potential Bias in Screening Measures for Middle School Students By Special Education and Low Socioeconomic Status Subgroups: Bias in Screening Measures in Middle School |journal=Psychology in the Schools |date=May 2016 |volume=53 |issue=5 |pages=533–547 |doi=10.1002/pits.21919 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Garcia |first1=Elisa B. |last2=Sulik |first2=Michael J. |last3=Obradović |first3=Jelena |title=Teachers' perceptions of students' executive functions: Disparities by gender, ethnicity, and ELL status. |journal=Journal of Educational Psychology |date=July 2019 |volume=111 |issue=5 |pages=918–931 |doi=10.1037/edu0000308 |s2cid=150018433 }}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Downey |first=D. B. |date=2004 |title=When race matters: Teachers' evaluations of students' classroom behavior |journal=Sociology of Education |volume=77 |issue=4 |pages=267–282 |doi=10.1177/003804070407700401 |s2cid=145521968}}</ref> ELL students tend underrate or under-evaluate academic skills of ELL students than English dominant peers, this can affect academic growth, ELL reclassification to English proficient, and even referral to [[Special education in the United States|special education services]].<ref name=":5" /> Some researchers state that more multicultural education or trainings for teachers can help change these biases, along with more teachers of color that are representative of their students can help with less biases and lead to better evaluations of ELLs.<ref name=":6" /> Teachers can also become more aware of the issues faced by ELLs along with how language is developed and the issues with language development.

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=== Prompts and expectations ===

Aside from linguistic gaps, the adjustment to American scholarly expectations, writing genres, and prompts can all be jarring and even contradictory to an ELL individual's academic experiences from their home country. An example of this is how American writing prompts tend to be multiple pages long, with extensive details and examples. Many collegiate ELLs can be overwhelmed and confused by all of the additional information, making it difficult to decipher all of the different parts that their writing needs to address. Another example is found in how students from other countries may be unfamiliar with sharing their opinions,<ref>{{Citation|title=We No Speak Americano -– Understanding International Students' Writing|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7pYB6W049I |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/V7pYB6W049I |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=2021-04-29}}{{cbignore}}</ref> or criticizing the government in any form,<ref>{{Citation|title=Writing Across Borders Part 1 (High Quality Version)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv3uRPsskv0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Cv3uRPsskv0 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=2021-04-29}}{{cbignore}}</ref> even if this is a requirement for an essay or a speech. According to a survey by Lin (2015), "Many [ELL students] indicated that they had problems adjusting their ways of writing in their first language to American thought patterns. Students still thought in their first language and used the rhetorical patterns of their first language to write English essays… Because writing patterns or styles are not only cognitively but also culturally embedded, many ELL writers in this study found it takes a significant amount of time to adapt to different thinking patterns when communicating through written English."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lin|first=Show Mei|date=2015|title=A Study of ELL Students' Writing Difficulties: A Call for Culturally, Linguistically, and Psychologically Responsive Teaching|url=|journal=College Student Journal|volume=49|pages=237–250|via=EBSCO Host}}</ref>

=== Much use of native language ===

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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|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>