Teaching With Bilingual / Ell Children

Dual language learners are children learning two or more languages at the same time, as well as those learning a second language while continuing to develop their first (or home) language (Dual language learning, 2008). The number of children being raised in bilingual homes is large and growing, however the mechanism of language development in children from bilingual homes is not well described or understood (Hoff et al., 2011). A large body of research has refuted the opinion that dual language input may confuse children, and other research indicates that children exposed to two languages can distinguish those languages from infancy, learn two phonological systems, two vocabularies and two grammars (Kova´cs & Mehler, 2009a; Petitto,

Around 1959, bilingual education took flight in the United States. Starting in Miami and quickly making its way San Francisco, bilingual education soon led to the Bilingual Education Act, which promoted “No Child Left Behind”. Only twenty years later, the act acquired the attention of high schools around the country. Nonetheless, bilingual education is not always taken to be the cure-all for acclimating immigrants to the United States. In his article “Aria: A Memoir of Bilingual Childhood”, Richard Rodriguez argues that students should not take part in bilingual education by explaining how it takes away individuality and a sense of family through the use of ethos, diction, and imagery; Rodriguez also uses parallelism and ethos to point out how a bilingual childhood can help students feel connected to society.

Coming to eighth grade on the first day was slightly scary for me. I was afraid that I wouldn’t have any friends on the same team as me and that I wouldn’t have a class with any friends. When I arrived to the homeroom, school didn’t start off as bad as I thought it would. Apparently I had more than one friend in my homeroom, which made things less awkward for the first time being in class.

Upon first entering college, I struggled deciding at such a young age what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Through babysitting and volunteering with pre-school aged children at my church and through a school program called STARS, it became evident to me I had a love for helping children. It fascinated me to see how they viewed the world around them and how quickly they learned new truths everyday. Nevertheless, I knew I would not get the full enjoyment interacting with children as a schoolteacher because the teacher to student ratio is so large. Classroom demands would make it much more difficult to devot individualized attention to each student, and I did not like that concept. So

Bilingual Education where Supporters feel that students miss a great deal by not being taught in their family’s language. That children that retain their family’s language will retain a sense of individuality. Their ethnic heritage & cultural ties. Helping Students acquire the skills of a classroom crucial for public success. Rodriguez also discusses the use of teaching and using a single language.

I remember the very first day of school, I felt isolated and misunderstood. When I got there all eyes were on me, looking at me as the new kid, I was sweating in the cold. I felt like going back home. In a classroom full of 7th graders, students were

People of all ages constantly learn how to speak multiple languages. Children are taught to become bilingual, which increases their knowledge. A young boy named Richard Rodriguez grew up in San Francisco, California with a household of Spanish speaking family members. Rodriguez barely knew English when he entered his early years of Elementary school. Through the course of his education Rodriguez took note of how different he was from his family, and slowly began to lose his heritage. Rodriguez’s family embarrassed him since he was categorized as a Scholarship boy, which means a good student yet also a troubled son whose moderately endowed (Rodriguez 19).

Armed with new sneakers and a whole new vocabulary, I started my first day of school. It was a learning experience for both my parents and I, but when it was over I felt like I fit in. Kids do not care where you are from or if your English isn’t up to par. In fact they only cared about two things: how good you were at tag and what kinds of crayons you had. Lucky for me, I was doing great in both departments. I experienced my first year of elementary school alongside the friends I previously made.

As a current 5th grade teacher through Teach for America and Masters’ candidate at the Relay Graduate School of Education, I believe I would be an excellent fit for the English Teaching Assistantship in Brazil. Raised myself in a bilingual household, my experience teaching English as a Second Language students in Passaic, New Jersey has strengthened my language skills. Teaching in a bilingual classroom (English and Spanish), I teach a range of students: some only speak their native language while other students are quickly approaching proficiency in English. This has helped me switch between English and Spanish seamlessly—and guide others to do the same, a skill I would like to bring to learners in Brazil. Further, I am now capable of helping others think metacognitively about the process. In addition to being fluent in English and Spanish, I have taken on Portuguese to be my third language. Although I have conversational skills now, I am hoping to reach the intermediate level in the next year and greatly boost these skills through interactions in Brazil. As well as the language skills I’ve gained, I have learned to create engaging lessons and units that scaffold information to help increase understanding. I have also learned to create my own handouts, worksheets, and charts to assure student learning. As a teaching assistant, these fundamental skills will assure I can focus on teaching and learning from my students, instead of the basics of teaching. I am also excited to

​The United States is a nation filled with a multitude of different cultures which come alongside with a variety of languages. These languages are what help society to communicate with one another and to expand their horizon of thinking. As the United States progresses so does the culture. The culture of the United States is no longer what it once was. A nation of a predominately Caucasian race, who only speaks one language, is now a thing of the past. The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (English Language Learners) states that from the 1997-1998 school year to the 2008-2009 school year, the number of English Language Learners in public schools increased from 3.5 million to 5.3 million which comes to be a 51 percent increase. They also reported that the overall student population grew to a 7.2 percent increase during this time. A huge generation of a multicultural society is rapidly growing and it is our responsibility as a nation to educate this new generation to its fullest potential. We as a nation can wither choose to ignore the reality of this new generation by forcing one language on students classified as English Language Learners, or we can choose to cultivate the knowledge of language so that this new generation may prosper in more ways than one. We do not want to become a society that promotes, as R.A. Berman summarizes in his statement from his article The Real

There are so many diverse student groups in the United States. Two that are really of interest to me are English language learners (ELL), and students in foster care. Though they have many similarities, they are also vastly different.

It is easier for babies to become bilingual because when they hear two different languages their brains start to pick up sounds and vowels that each language makes. Babies become bilingual because they are born with the ability to distinguish different sounds in languages. Being bilingual strengthens their ability to distinguish different sounds. This makes their brain more flexible.

ELL (English Language Learner) are individuals whose first language is not English and who are presently learning English. The term ELL can envelop an extensive variety of proficiencies in English from truly negligible abilities to very familiar. In schools and locale ELL may be utilized to mean the same as constrained English capable (LEP), however in fact it doesn't mean the same thing. It's critical to comprehend what a content or speaker considers ELL to mean.

Working with many diverse individuals including but not limited to, elementary students, high school students, and college students has allowed me to socially engage with parents, administrators, teachers, and coworkers. I have found it easier to build relationships with those who come from a similar background and are bilingual in Spanish. On the other hand, it can be a challenge to build relationships with those who do not open up with me.

The big question teachers ask me throughout my life is “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I never had an answer to that. Going into college I didn’t have a set plan as to what career I would like to pursue. However, I knew that I wanted to work with kids; I originally wanted to be a pediatrician. That career choice was based on my family wanting me to be successful, so I put my passion for working with kids and their passion together. As I began to focus on what I want instead of what others want, I changed my major to Early Childhood Education and chose the path of teaching as my career choice. I have high hopes for this career because teachers are always needed. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS), the employment rate for my career choice will increase by six percent from 2014 to 2024. In this world, education is valued and will help put people many steps ahead. The reason why I chose to be an elementary teacher is because I want to be able to motivate and inspire my younger generations.