English Language Learners: A Case Study

As a result of testing accountability, teachers have changed the shift in their classrooms and focus on teaching to the test. Many criticize that the tests that are administered do not allow for thoughtful or deliberate thinking. Multiple choice questions, condensed reading passages, add to the inauthenticity of the test and can impede the ability of students. Studies have also show that test taking has a negative impact on student achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics. ELL students are still developing their English language skills while learning new content. It is unfair to have the expectations that these ELL students are being held accountable with the same standards as their native-English-speaking peers. ELL students need to have the necessary background knowledge, English language and academic language knowledge to successfully understand test

In this article, the authors examine the challenges of working with English Language learners with learning disabilities. The article begins with a dilemma that many educators face daily, being able to meet the needs of all students in a classroom. The article identifies the characteristics of LD students, issues ELL students face learning a second language and the cultural context for teaching and learning. The next part of the article offers a framework that addresses the educational needs of students based on their language, disability and culture. It focuses on how general and special educators along with the ELL teacher can effectively collaborate together to meet the needs of all learners.

As our nation shifts towards a more culturally diverse population both educators and families have to find a common ground to ensure that English Language Learners are academically successful. All stakeholders must carefully consider the social cultural impact on an ELL education. The process of raising bilingual learners take more than a language a school and a language learned at home. The transition must have a purpose and a goal.

The all too familiar situation of English language learners (ELLs) struggling in a classroom that is not meeting their needs is the theme of this short film. ELL’s present unique challenges for teachers given how the California educational system calls for only one year of English language development (EDL). After this time, English language development goals rest on the shoulders of the general education teacher with the additional requirement of infusing SADIE strategies into their daily lessons.

The research proposal will answer the research question: Are high-stakes test an effective way to test ELLs in content areas? This research proposal will inform educators of their teaching ELLs over the course of a year. Educators will participate in professional development (PD) throughout the course of the year on a biweekly basis. During this PD, educators will reflect on best practices in teaching ELLs, analyze data, and observe other master educators in their field. The data collection process will occur intermittently over the school year. In addition to teacher data, the study will also collect pre, mid, and post assessment scores in reading, writing, and math. The results of this study will demonstrate the effectiveness of high-stakes testing on ELLs.

Recently, as the schools in the United States become more diverse in cultures, the needs for new English learners to learn the basic of English and grow in fluency has expanded. Nevertheless, a major of English learners receive insufficient education and have low achievement at school. Therefore, the approach of the schools for English learners might not be sufficient for them to unchain themselves from the boundary of differences in language and culture. As a result, the article “What It Takes for English Learners to Succeed” from Jana Echevarria, Nancy Frey, and Doug Fisher provides a guideline for teachers to help their English learners by using the four practices of “Access, Climate, Expectation, and Language Instruction.” The four practices can be divided into two categories. Access, climate, and expectations focus on educational settings, while language instruction focuses on teaching contents.

I propose to you a case study on a pre-kindergarten English language learning student through qualitative research. My goal was to find out if he faces any problems with regards to his behavior, academic progress and attitudes towards his teachers, classmates and parents. His name is David and just recently came to the United States from Russia about two years ago. He has a complicated time understanding what goes on in his environment because of the language barrier. The one positive aspect for David is that my assistant in the class is Russian as well. Even though he has a hardship speaking the English language and understanding his peers, my assistant helps translate words from Russian to English for him and vice versa.

In duet reading, a stronger reader is paired with a less-fluent reader. The stronger reader sets the pace and provides visual tracking by moving his or her finger below each word as it is read in unison. In audio-recorded books, the student reads aloud with an audio-recorded version of a book. The purpose is to encourage the weaker reader to read along with the tape. In echo reading, the adult reads a short passage and then invites the child to “Say what I say” or “Copy me,” encouraging the child to repeat what the adult has read (Robertson & Davig, 2002). In this way, the adult models fluent reading and then provides the child with an opportunity for immediate practice. In paired reading, children who are struggling with reading fluency are paired up with a more capable reader. In this strategy, the fluent reader and reader take turns reading by lines or pages (Mathes, Fuchs, Fuchs, Henley, & Sanders, 1994).

With nearly 30 million immigrants crossing our borders in the last three decades, the United States education system has seen a dramatic increase in the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) entering the classroom (Migration Policy Institute website, n.d.). With this influx of non-native English speakers has come the need to find the best ways possible to meet them where they are academically and teach them accordingly. However, after years of research, education gurus are still divided on how to best meet the needs of ELLs. While there is no clear-cut approach, there are several strategies and programs that schools can implement in order to help immigrant learners and their families be successful in our school system.

Within this paper we will take a brief look at the Language Acquisition Principles and how they work on the behalf of ELL students. We will see how these principles can be applied within our own learning environment. There is much information from Walqui article that gives a brief overview of ELL students and how things looked in the past for these students. Now that times has change we will see how educators can make the requirements for ELL students better and more effective for teacher and students. Hopefully, as we look at ways of changing learning for our ELL students we must remember that every student learns differently. Even if you follow the principles from

English language learners (ELL) consisted of 22.3 percent of the total enrollment in California public schools (Facts about English Learners in California - CalEdFacts, 2015). Tends to be ignored or receives not quite the equality in education as their Native English speakers (NES) counter parts. Over the past few years there has been a surge in dual language immersion (DLI) programs (also known two-way immersion), which have resulted in much success (Lindholm-Leary, 2012, p. 256). It has been found that students in DLI programs show a high level of bilingualism and by biliteracy as well as academic achievement and cross-cultural competence (Lindholm-Leary, 2012, p. 256). Since the population of ELL students in California is so high it would appear that the best way for ELL students to get an education that is equal to their NES counterparts more DLI classes should be implemented. By applying more DLI programs California can benefit both their ELL and NES students in academic development and cross-cultural competence, which will help reduce prejudice and racism in the state.

Homes all across Australia speak more than one language. This includes the large amount of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander languages and dialects present across the country. The growing diversity of Australia is reflected in the amount of students who are classified as EAL/D learners. EAL/D learners are students whose first language is either a dialect or language other than English.

CONTEXT Katie, aged 15, is a highly motivated student from a family with a strong educational background, currently living and studying in a British-style International School in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam, and is a member of the increasing group of globally-mobile students. Katie can be solidly placed into the “entering phrase” of the transition from Taiwanese national to immigrant in a Western society, where she “has decided to become part of the new community, but is still figuring out what that means” (Hayden 2006:53) at the age of thirteen. She is an example of what has recently been identified as a common occurrence for international school students, children going through a “sojourner adjustment” (McKillop-Ostrom 2000), as can

In an effort to gain useable and positive feedback from English language learners, teachers must use ongoing assessments. Whereas standardized tests only give information on students during a certain part of the year, ongoing assessments will allow teachers to monitor students’ progress throughout the year. Informal assessments are very beneficial in monitoring the progress of students. One type of informal assessment is the use of role playing. During role playing, students are given opportunities to speak in English dealing with different situations. This assessment will let the teacher observe how well the student is comprehends the scenarios and how they respond to them. This type of assessment is effective because it allows students to put the English language into use increasing their English

ESL students are students that speak English as a second language. Presently, there is many different system to characterize this type of students (qtd in Shi, Steen 63). For example, they can be seen as “English Language Learners (ELL), English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), English Language Development (ELD), English Language Service (ELS), and