English And English Language Learners

The benefits English language learners (ELLs) receive from Guided Reading are the same as all other students. However, when a modified approach is used ELLs benefit the most. Language learning opportunities gained by ELLs are those that native speakers acquire implicitly. Language and literacy learning opportunities including detailed vocabulary instruction, variables concerning second language (L2) text structure, such as semantics, syntax, and morphology are enhanced and enriched by modification. Some researchers have determined that ELLs are not generally ready for English reading instruction until they are intermediate stage of English language acquisition, while others advocate that reading and a second language are best acquired simultaneously (Avalos, Plasencia, Chavez, & Rascon, 2007, 319). In working with ELLs at

English language learners tend to fall behind their peers due to the inability to read or understand the language. There are various students who identify themselves as English learners and almost 10% of public school students in the United States participate in school- based programs for ELs (Amendum, Bratsch-Hines, and Vernon-Feagans 2017). Many students still tend to lack and struggle in reading and language development. To help English learner’s different types of interventions are being developed that focus on the needs of the students. Through various strategies like the Core Intervention Model and the Targeted Reading Intervention help struggling students perform at a standard level with their peers.

English Language Learners (hereafter referred to as ELLs) currently comprise 10% of the total school population in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics, 2005). It is a population that is going to continue to increase in American public education and their specific needs for learning literacy are of great importance to teachers. Since schools and teachers are increasingly judged based upon the academic achievement of students, then the success of the growing population of ELLs is going to be increasingly important. In the present paper the role of the teacher and specific research-based literacy strategies for ELLs is investigated.

Presently there is a rising number of English Language Learners (ELLs) entering into classrooms all over the country. According to the three research studies that I utilized, there are several varied assessment approaches for teaching ELLs in reading (Davis-Lenski, Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, 2006; Dreher, & Letcher-Gray, 2009; Ebe, 2010). English Language Learners (ELLs) consistently struggle with some aspects of reading because, they lack background knowledge in terms of the generalized text selections, which they are often given (Davis-Lenski, Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, 2006; Dreher, & Letcher-Gray, 2009; Ebe, 2010). The data across all three journal documents agrees that there is an achievement gap where ELLs

This chapter focuses on the versatility of the ELL within our classrooms. There are a couple points that are highlighted within the article, but the main focus seemed to be around assessment of the student and the instruction. Those were two components that defined how the student would be instructed to get the best outcome for improvement in English proficiency in literature and language. Although each ELL student has their own unique pattern, they may align with a general profile characteristic, which can lead the teacher in the general direction that will hopefully best fit the need of that student. Then the instruction process is just as tedious as the assessment, but is necessary for the student to continue advancing within their classes.

In the 2014 film Reading to Learn: English Language Learners in Grades 4-6, Dr. Nonie Lesaux and Delia Pompa discuss the current challenges that English language learners, as well as their teachers, face in the

Introduction/background information: Susanna Chao is fourteen years old, of Asian ethnicity, English is her second language but she does not require any English Language Learners Programs. She did attend preschool at ages three and four. Susanna’s home life seems stable. However, it is not that of a typical living situation. She lives in an apartment with her mother and grandmother. She has two younger siblings, a sister and a brother. Susanna has attended several different schools in her life, primarily elementary schools. According to past teacher comments and grade reports, her grades have suffered due to tardiness, absences, and lack of engagement in subjects that don’t peak her interest. She has, however, improved her grades in reading, language arts, science, technology, and social science. Her teachers in extracurricular classes comment about her being a joy to their class, and being eager to learn from them.

Brown targets three areas responsible for the challenges ELL’s face in reading social studies material: ELL’s lack some background knowledge, learners are not up to speed with grade-level vocabulary, and the style of social studies texts can be weighty for ELL’s. From her discovery, Brown suggests the use of tangible strategies to better aid ELL’s in comprehending social studies texts. Evelyn Marino Weisman and Laurie E. Hansen’s article, “Strategies for Teaching Social Studies to English-Language Learners at the Elementary Level” (2007) conveys similar views presented in Brown’s piece. Weisman and Hansen present information on the challenges ELL’s face with decontextualized and abstract language. In the article, the authors inform about how to use strategies in the classroom to engage learners and make understanding social studies content

ACCESS for ELLs stands for Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners. This test was

Figure 3 shows that non-ELL students outperform ELL students by approximately 23% points (FLDOE EdStats, 2017). Trends of the graphs in Figure 3 also show that the achievement gap between ELL and non-ELL students has increased over the past three school years. Data pulled from Performance Matters shows that 13% or 46 students taking the Algebra 1 End of Course exam are ELL students (Performance Matters, 2017). Figure 4 shows that students without disabilities outperform students with disabilities. In addition, data from the Florida Department of Education EdStats page shows not one student with a disability was proficient on the Algebra 1 End of Course Exam for the 2016-2017 school year. This is a very important data point because school

English Language Learner are students who are still developing proficiency in English. They represent one in nine students in U.S. classrooms from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. As I researched the testing of English Language Learners, I came across many key points they will help me as well as my cohorts in assessing these students and to better understand their educational necessities. The most critical point is that the various assessments for English Language Learners must be valid and fair. Though this is no easy feat, it is vital to improving the educational opportunities of language-minority students.

Our group chose to research reading comprehension development and how to teach our young readers how to gain knowledge from text. We have observed our students relying on their background knowledge rather than acquiring meaning from the text. We would like to learn more about the resources that are available to help our students develop comprehension strategies.

ELLs face a series of adversities in their attempts to attain academic literacy and language development. For instance, they are exposed to curricula designed for monolingual English students. Another adversity is that teachers are not well prepared regarding the content-area they teach and consequently do not provide the needed explicit instruction (Ávalos, Zisselsberger, Langer-Osuna, & Secada, 2015 p.259). It is the task for teachers and school administrators to master the content of the area to be taught and to use optimal pedagogical practices which reflect such teachers’ knowledge (Ávalos, Zisselsberger, Langer-Osuna, & Secada, 2015 p.261). They should provide learners with favorable circumstances to attain English language and literacy

“Engaging Readers, Increasing Comprehension, and Building Skills: The Power of Patterned Books” is an article devoted to informing educators how to teach students s comprehension skills. The thesis statement of the scholarly article is “reading comprehension, also notably referred to as ‘essense of reading’ is an active and multifaceted-cognitive process that requires intentional and thoughtful interactions between the reader, the text, and the author” (Grote-Garcia, 2013). Furthermore, Grote-Garcia specifically focuses on developing the reading comprehension skills of students with learning disabilities or who are ESL learners with the use of pattern books. Therefore, with the thesis in mind, the theme of the text is the task of developing proficient reading comprehension skills can be accomplish through the utilization of pattern books.

When data from students who had average accuracy and fluency scores, but lower comprehension scores were compared to data from those with similar accuracy and fluency but average comprehension, the consistent differences were found to be lower oral language and vocabulary skills in the poor comprehenders upon entry into formal schooling. (Nation, Cocksey, Taylor & Bishop) Thousands of dollars each year are spent on intervention, trying to improve the reading of children that show delays. When one reads, the clear goal is comprehension of what is read. Without communication of ideas between the author and reader, decoding texts is pointless. Most intervention programs are focused on phonics and word decoding. Oral language interventions concurrent with vocabulary and comprehension tasks at age eight have been shown to lead to significant improvements in reading comprehension. (Nation, et al., 2010). Reading comprehension is not merely a product of being able to decode words and sentences. How we teach children to process and integrate the ideas found in text can have a large impact on their ability to function in a world of ever expanding knowledge and information.