ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
How Teachers Can Help Raise Achievement
By Joseph Laturnau
Public schools throughout the U.S. and the
Pacific have student populations with diverse cultural and linguistic
backgrounds. What attitudes, knowledge, and skills do you, as a teacher,
need in order to help these students, particularly those learning
English as a second language, achieve high academic standards and
desired learner outcomes?
Teachers need (1) to believe that all students can achieve at high
levels, (2) to have a firm understanding of second language acquisition
(SLA), standards-based education, and ways in which social factors
like socio-economic circumstance, language, and culture shape school
performance and educational achievement, and (3) to design and implement
effective instruction for English Language Learners (ELLs).
Believing that all students can succeed – and communicating this
belief to students – is a necessary foundation for effective
instruction. High expectations are conveyed when a classroom context
is created in which all students feel valued and capable of academic
success. In addition, providing a demanding and rigorous curriculum
ensures that all students receive a high-quality education.
When planning effective instruction, teachers need a thorough understanding
of SLA concepts and processes. Some key SLA concepts include subtractive
versus additive bilingualism, comprehensible input and output, affective
filter, and interpersonal and academic language proficiencies. Subtractive
bilingualism is the notion that a student’s native language should
be replaced with English. This approach is based upon a deficit model,
which considers the child’s native language a hindrance to learning
English. An additive approach values students’ first languages,
uses them as a support for learning English, and celebrates the fact
that the students have two (or more) languages at their disposal.
Comprehensible input and output refers to the ELL’s need for
varied and multiple opportunities to listen to and use English in
social and academic contexts. The affective filter relates to the
ELL’s anxiety level: if the ELL feels anxious, then his willingness
to take risks, make mistakes, or extend learning is diminished. On
the other hand, if the learning environment promotes extended learning,
encourages the ELL to take risks, and views mistakes as part of the
learning process, then chances are good that ELLs will have a much
more positive view of themselves as learners.
Teachers also need to recognize two types
of language proficiencies. Interpersonal language proficiency is the
ability to communicate in informal social situations, like on the
playground. Most ELLs can acquire "survival" English in
a few months to a year. Academic language proficiency includes the
ability to gain meaning from and communicate an understanding of a
content area textbook. Academic proficiency is cognitively more demanding
and typically takes many years to acquire.
Standards-based education is characterized by content standards,
which define what students should know and be able to do; benchmarks,
which identify the expected understandings and skills for a content
standard at different grade levels; and performance standards (or
indicators), which describe how well students need to achieve in order
to meet content standards.
Standards-based education engages teachers
in raising the expectations for all students, promotes the use of
multiple assessment strategies which allow students to reach proficient
levels at different times and in a variety of ways, and requires teachers
to differentiate instruction to meet students’ readiness levels,
learning profiles, and interests. Clear and high academic standards
must be in place to ensure that ELLs are held to the same expectations
as mainstream students. ELLs face a difficult challenge in achieving
high standards, given their initial temporary limited English proficiency
and sometimes limited formal schooling. Teachers need to realize that
ELLs may require different instructional pathways to the standards,
additional time, and alternative performance assessments. What promise
does standards-based education hold for ELLs? It sets high learning
expectations, reverses the tendency to assign ELLs unchallenging curricula,
and presents an opportunity for schools to engage in meaningful communication
about achievement with the parents.
It is important for teachers to take into account how socio-economic
circumstances, language, and culture impact the way ELLs learn, particularly
since these students’ backgrounds and life experiences often
differ greatly from their teachers. For a number of reasons, including
poverty, prior educational experiences, cultural norms, and family
literacy practices, many ELLs have not had the opportunity to learn
content and skills already acquired by main-stream students. This
does not mean that ELLs are incapable of learning, but that they will
need a number of sup-ports to achieve at a high level.
Given a belief system that sets high expectations for all students,
including ELLs, a curriculum that is rigorous and demanding, and a
knowledge base that includes an understanding of SLA, stan-dards-
based education, and factors that influence ELL performance, how can
a teacher implement effective instruction for ELLs? The teacher must
first identify the cognitive and language demands of the learning
task and its cultural relevance to the ELLs, then determine how to
adjust instruction to ensure success.
Effective instructional accommodations or modifications
include (1) providing instruction and materials in the students’
native languages; (2) demonstrating activities and strategies through
teacher "think alouds" and modeling; (3) setting language,
content, and learning strategy objectives; (4) tapping prior knowledge;
(5) using visuals/manipulatives; (6) teaching key vocabulary; (7)
adjusting speech; (8) utilizing cooperative learning groupings; and
(9) teaching coping strategies. These accommo-dations are more fully
explained in a PREL briefing paper, Standards-Based Instruction
for English Language Learners, available online at www.prel.org/products/pc_/standards-based.pdf.
Diversity among ELLs is great; they differ according
to prior educational experiences, exposure to English, length of time
in the U.S. and in schools, learning styles, family literacy practices,
socio-economic status, sense of self, and other characteristics. All
these factors profoundly affect in idiosyncratic ways the learning
readiness and rate of English acquisition of ELLs.
Undoubtedly, ELLs will continue to struggle in
U.S. and Pacific schools. They will fare much better, however, when
provided with a system of care that recognizes their group and individual
needs, nurtures their strengths, and utilizes a pedagogy that is informed
by teaching, learning, language, and culture.