Teaching English Language Learners

For this Monday’s blog, I read the article Teaching English Language Learners: Strategies for Overcoming Barriers by Sara R. Helfrich and Amy J. Bosh. The main purpose for this article was to identify four perceived barriers for both beginning and veteran teachers. It wanted to take a look into what educators face when teaching literacy to English language learners. Specifically, the article addresses the teacher’s inability to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all learners, the devaluation of peer interactions and collaborations in the process of learning a language, and a lack of knowledge about using assessment measures with diverse student populations. Finally, this article provides the audience with ways to overcome these barriers as well as strategies for becoming an effective teacher.

            To begin this blog, I thought I would briefly mention some of the statistics they found about English language learners. First, the population of ELL students jumped from 6 million to nearly 14 million in 1999 according to the National Center for Educational Statistics (Klein et al. 2004). Spanish is the most frequently spoken language at 71%, followed by Asian languages at 11%, other non-European languages at 10%, and other European languages at 7%. “A record of 55 million students were enrolled in public and private elementary and secondary schools across the nation in Fall 2006; an 8 percent increase in this number is expected by the year of 2018” (Hussar and Bailey 2009). Thus, as you can see, the number of English language learners is continuing to increase each year, which means teachers must be well-prepared for the obstacles ahead. Rather than striving for assimilation, teachers should strive for acculturation.

            The first barrier the article mentions states that teachers may not understand the role of literacy development or the importance of literacy and education in diverse cultures. One of the ways to improve this situation is to determine cultural priorities and acquire background knowledge to help support the inclusion of all students. In simple terms, teachers need to get to know their students and where they come from in order to be effective teachers. For me, this is especially important since I will be teaching in an urban multicultural setting. It will be my job to figure out ways to overcome these challenges; therefore, my goal will be to incorporate English as much possible into the school curriculum without downplaying the students’ cultural background. A great way to do this is to have certain “culture days.” It is important for students to embrace where they come from, so celebrating various traditions, foods, customs, etc. in English is a perfect way to do this. In addition, teachers need to address other cultures in their literary sections.

             The next barrier for teachers argues that they may struggle to meet the literacy needs of all learners in their classroom, especially those of ELLs. To overcome this barrier, teachers should work to engage ELL students in classroom instructional activities without isolating them or taking instructional time away from other students. While doing this, teachers need to model how to speak the English language, use explicit instructions, and real reading to convey meaning as well as increase the students overall comprehension. Simply put, students need to be able to make meaningful connections in order to achieve their full academic potential. This becomes extremely difficult for ELL students because they have to do two things at once. They are having to decode and interpret the English language while trying to comprehend the literary material at the same time. Therefore, it is important to give these students a chance to gather their thoughts (“wait-time”) and provide them with authentic activities.

            The third barrier states that teachers should not underestimate the role of peers in the inclusion and education of ELL students. Teachers should use partner-share, group activities, peer tutoring, and use other ELL students whose knowledge and use of the language is further progressed than the other ELL students. I personally am a big fan of peer-collaboration because I believe students oftentimes explain the material better than the teachers. Not only does this give the more progressed ELL students a chance to practice the English Language, they get to practice how to behave in social situations. One thing to remember is that teachers should group ELL students with other English-speaking students as well as other ELL students. One thing to remember is that these students need to feel included in order to succeed. The worst thing teachers could do is make them feel isolated; therefore, the article suggest that peer assistance is a great way to overcome this barrier.

            The final barrier argues that teachers may not feel condiment when using assessment and progress-monitoring tools with ELL students. I know this is something I struggle with because I want to be fair to all students. One thing the article suggests is that teachers should not be hesitant to use assessment and progess-monoitoring tools. They should use oral questioning, numerous of discussion opportunities, as well as other adapted forms of assessment. Teachers need to make sure the assessment tools they use are reliable and valid and make sure they accurately portray the ELL student’s knowledge. One thing I like to do is create portfolios for my students. I feel these show their true progress, and students always like to see how far they have come at the end of the year. Another thing teachers should do is constantly assess their students; this is the only way to get an accurate view of how well the ELL students are doing in the classroom. In conclusion, yes, teachers have a lot to overcome with ELL students; however, I believe it can be done. This is something that I will have to work on, which is why I enjoyed reading this article.