When inferring why ESL/ELL students are at a major disadvantage in our schools, it is apparent that language and cultural barriers hinder their progress. Because so much of the current American curricula is taught based on cultural norms, knowledge, mores, and standards, our ESL/ELL students lack this prior knowledge, context, and background to expand their skills and scaffold in many areas. Since their parents often cannot practice with them or reinforce some essential skills, such as literacy, when many ELL/ESL parents themselves lack basic English and often not even GEDs or high school diplomas in the case of refugee and illegal immigrants, these students enter our schools at a major disadvantage cognitively, academically, socially, emotionally,
While immigrant youth may gain useful knowledge and skills, they miss out significantly on culture resources because they become Americanized. Subtracting schooling occurs in a variety of ways. Classifying ESL (English as a second language) are labeled “limited English proficient rather than as Spanish dominant” (p. 173), faculty and staff linguistically butcher names through mispronunciations, materials such as the school handbook that does not even mention the ELS program are not provided in English, and information is withheld from capable youth which can result in failure. This chapter also addresses the divisions among youth such as Latina female friends, religious immigrant males, immigrant females in trouble, ESL students, mixed generation groups, and U.S. born
The curriculum for English-Spanish Learners (ESL) or English-Language Learners, was created to assist students who do not speak any or little English. Angela Valenzuela describes in her article, “Subtractive Schooling, Caring Relations, and Social Capital in the Schooling of U.S.~Mexican Youth,” that
The film Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary had a large impact on myself for several reasons. The first was the scene in which the children were debating with the librarian over the increase of trash on the street in the city of Los Angeles. This scene stood out for the reason that the children while quite younger than the elderly gentleman were willing to stand their ground in defense of fact that they themselves as well as their fellow immigrants were not responsible for this trash problem as the elderly gentleman had so blatantly suggested. The reason this stood out so much is due to my own experience in low income childhood. There was always a very clear divide between child and adult and it was not common for a child to be able
“The partnerships between Latino immigrant families, teachers, community members, and university faculty towards the education of ELLs (p 188)” was the focus of the conducted research of the by Iddings, Combs, and Moll (2014). Within this text, the authors felt that if schools formed partnerships with parents of ELL students, the students would be more successful.
General education classroom teachers are responsible for providing the primary instruction for English Language Learners (ELLs) development in English literacy skills (Thompson, 2004). Supplying ample resources to accommodate ELLs inside and outside of the classroom are essential as the number of ELL students has grown steadily. According to research, “one out of four of all children in the United States are from immigrant families, and in most cases these children speak a language other than English at home” (Samson & Collins, 2012 p. 4). Further research suggests, “students from a non-English speaking home and background account for the fastest growing population of children in the kindergarten through twelfth grade setting (Short &
Every year, thousands of immigrant families come to the United States, to experience the opportunity of achieving a better quality of life for their children and generations to come. This transition has developed an ethical dilemma in the public schools, by rising a high demand to integrate cultural diversity in the curriculum; even though it isn’t identified as a skill standard by the state. Promoting a meaningful educational experiences for immigrant students is crucial, as they face a variety of societal concerns when assimilating to the American society; mainly due to their lack of language proficiency and socioeconomic status. Many students encounter challenges, and require the proper guidance from a cultural diverse educator, to help
One way to address challenges that come with educating ELL students requires that culturally responsive educators “expose themselves and their students to each other’s cultural worldviews” (Banks & Banks, 2013, p.17). As described in the article, the study videotaped three different classrooms when learning was taking place. Then later analyzed by interviewing separately, participating teachers, newly arrived immigrant students and their parents, and cultural bridge persons. Even though all participants expressed the
Despite having researched the educational challenges ESOL students face, it was only by actively engaging with students that I came to understand the disjunction between the resources available and the requirements for progress in the educational system. ESOL students, lacking familial support and economic resources, are deterred from advancing in their efforts to learn English, thus leading them to become discouraged and
The fact that ELL student’s are given the exact same educational services provided to native English speaker, seem to be very unfair for the ELL student’s and instead of helping the ELL students to succeed academically we are preventing them from succeeding in their classes. When I was reading this section I couldn’t stop thinking about the video that we saw in class, the student was very smart but the fact that he couldn’t understand the material being taught, this was preventing him from showing how brilliant and smart he is. Just imagine how many brilliant ELL students can’t succeed in class because they don’t understand the language of the instruction.
Those immigrants left their culture and family behind and searched for better opportunities and life. When those international students first arrived, however, they are not able to fit in the society due to the language and culture differences. All of them must take ESL, English as Second Language, class that they often found it tough. On the other side, the most precious advantage is it creates a diverse environment. “Going to school here makes them better prepared for the world.” (Swerdlow, 8), reflecting that United States is a melting pot, and students can not only have a better understanding of different lifestyles, values, and languages, but also willing to adapt the vary of society once they
The reality is that each Asian American student’s background is different. While some students may come from well off families; others may come from other situations such as refuges where education isn't easily accessed. Students from well off families have the resources and opportunities to learn English which assist them in falling into the “Model Minority”. At the other end are the children who come from poorer families or bad situation and aren’t given the opportunity to learn English. Due to the “Model Minority” theory these children aren’t given the same chance to succeed as their peers, in terms of what other ESL children are offered. All of this contributes to the child’s educational equality given in the United States. In instances where the child requires assistance due to language barrier, “the high expectations of their peers, teachers, and parents contribute to their higher rate of mental illness” (Poon-McBrayer, K. F, 2011). Due to this the theory of the Model Minority, a lot of Asian American students fail to get the assistance that they need which can be frustrating to a child. This creates “invincible barriers” which is an injustice to Asian American who are unable to get the equal educational help they
As someone who is planning on getting licensed to teach two different, yet often marginalized, groups in a school setting, it is very important to consider how to make a school welcoming to all of its students. There is a lot of information available on making a classroom inclusive for students with special needs, but this sort of information is harder to come by for immigrant students who speak a language other than English at home. For this paper, I am looking into the question of how can a school be fundamentally welcoming to students from an immigrant background. I will be doing this by analyzing the experiences of students at a school in Bayview, California, the topic of Made in America: Immigrant Students in our Public Schools, a famous book by Laurie Olsen (1997). Her purpose was to study, “Through their encounters[, …] an illuminated version of the American system of stratification and exclusion through language, cultural, and racial relations” (p. 36). However, by analyzing and describing the school, Olsen has made it possible to assess any number of concerns that immigrant and English Language Learners (ELLs) face. Using the legwork she has already done, I have identified three characteristics a welcoming school should strive towards in order to help immigrant students.
Over the years of study at UC Irvine (UCI), I have developed my interest in public education policy. I am particularly interested in improving literacy development among children of immigrants. As an international student, I understand the language barriers that current immigrants have to overcome, especially for children who come from families with limited socioeconomic resources. I would like to study how U.S.-born children, whose parents are undocumented, assimilate in early childhood education. Specifically, I would like to investigate how non-native English speaking parents influence children’s literacy development. My career goal is to promote children’s rights in education at a non-profit organization. I seek tools in Dual Language and
Bilingual” (qtd in Shi, Steen 63). The objective of the ESL students is to learn how to speak, read, and write in English and know about the system of the school too. That learning will help them with other courses in school. ESL students have come from all over the world in America to study. Statistically, the number of immigrants in the USA is growing quickly. This quote shows us that
During the 1990s the immigrant population expanded quickly and by a large amount. According to Eggen and Kauchak (2007) “experts estimate that by the year 2020 two thirds of the school population will be African American, Asian, Hispanic, or Native American. This means there will be great cultural diversity in our society and in our schools.” Educators will need to be educated on how to teach in a diverse classroom. Teachers will need to have an understanding for English-language learning children and the way they learn. All educators must be able to teach ELL students while encouraging them to continue to use their native language while learning to speak English. Teachers must also remember to try to keep all families