Best Practices to Support ELLs
Teachers of all ages and types of
learners strive to use best practices using a wide array of new research,
theories, and classroom resources and materials. We know that English language
learners can experience difficulties acquiring reading skills for a variety of
reasons, and there are many strategies that teachers can employ to prevent
their ELL students from falling behind. When possible, alterations can be made
to teaching materials to fit the needs of ELLs, but when this is not possible
with required reading curriculum, different strategies may be utilized in order
to engage students and make reading materials relevant to their lives.
Connecting learning to prior knowledge and experiences, encouraging
collaboration and scaffolding through peer-mediated instruction, relating
learning to real world contexts, and including many visual components during
instruction are ways to provide ELL students with deeper learning experiences.
Providing Relevant Teaching Materials and Strategies
Teachers
of English language learners must provide engaging learning materials and
employ strategies that meet their students’ needs. This includes fostering
collaboration among peers, providing useful teacher feedback to students, and
including teaching and testing materials in the students’ first language. Previewing
reading assignments with students and taking more time to ensure comprehension
of learning goals and rubrics can also help. Story previews are an example of
this practice. Distributing basal readers or individual books so that each
student can follow along at their own pace, reviewing illustrations, defining
the genre of the reading material, reviewing key vocabulary, and making a
series of predictions based on an initial overview of the text are examples of
previewing activities that can help set ELL students up for success (Pacheco,
2010). Story previews can also allow students to express their musings, make
guesses about upcoming story events, and draw on their current knowledge base
in a relatively risk-free context (p 308).
Using visual aids and physical
artifacts, such as drawings, photographs, graphs, and even other visual aspects
to teaching such as body language and spoken intonation and cue can aid in acquiring
deeper knowledge by offering expressions of ideas that are universally
understood (Li, 2013). Making alterations to activities such as allowing
students to use multimodal expressions as a response to writing projects or
assignments is another idea that involves the use of visual artifacts. Students
can make traditional or digital drawings, graphics, comics, or bring
photographs from home as valid communications of ideas in response to a writing
prompt.
In order to make assignments and
content relevant to English language learners, teachers can employ different
tactics to engage all students in standard reading curriculum that is often
only relatable towards English-speaking students. Writing tasks that require
students to relate themselves to reading materials can be used in order to
promote deeper interpretation of texts, such as analyzing characters motives,
challenges, and personality traits in stories (Pacheco, p 305). Simplifying
writing tasks into manageable steps and stages that build up to a complex
skill, modeling reading and writing skills and processes explicitly, and
providing quality verbal and written teacher feedback will help students avoid
becoming overwhelmed and prevent cognitive overload during difficult reading
and writing activities (Lee, 2018).
Cultural-historical theory, which
sees development and learning as primarily a social process, is a basis for
many helpful practices used for English language learners. It is important for
ELL students to be understood by their peers and teachers in order for them to
learn. Teachers can facilitate this by activating background knowledge during
lessons that relates specifically to ELL students, as well as listening to
students’ stories about their background, culture, and home life, visiting ELL
homes and communities, and by participating in cultural events (Li, p 218). When
teachers make efforts to connect to their students, learning is more
meaningful.
Assessments and Interventions
English language learners can
experience incorrect interventions that do not reflect their academic needs,
such as being placed in special education programs when it is not necessary.
Some ELL students are identified as having a primary language impairment (PLI),
which is appropriate only for students with disabilities affecting their
underlying ability to learn any language (Pieretti, 2016). In order for ELLs to
receive effective and accurate instruction and intervention, classroom teachers
must ensure that they provide a description of the student’s academic
performance to a speech language pathologist. Classroom teachers, speech
language pathologists, and parents need to be involved in the process of pre-evaluation.
SLPs should gather a complete case history of the student, which includes
parent reports. Parent reports are identified by research as valid tools that
help distinguish a language difference from PLI. Perceptions of parents,
teachers, and other adults in children’s lives can provide crucial and accurate
information to help identify proper assessments and interventions for English
language learners. (p 118).
Providing Supportive Learning Environments
Providing
a supportive learning environment is considered to be a best teaching practice
for all classrooms. When the needs of English language learners are considered
specifically, supportive learning environments will require extra adjustments
to teaching materials and strategies. It is also important for English language
learners to know that teacher perceptions of them are positive and inclusive of
the funds of knowledge that they bring to their learning environment, rather
than being viewed as having a deficit in knowledge. An affectively supportive
learning environment (generally referring to a student’s emotions) ensures that
student’s motivation to learn, self-esteem, and comfort level in the classroom
are prioritized (Li, 2013). An affectively supportive learning environment
includes frequent verbal encouragement, reinforcement, and positive feedback in
order to alleviate anxiety that English language learners can experience if
they are struggling in reading, especially reading aloud or speaking in front
of the class. Peer perception is also important, and fostering collaborative
learning is a teaching practice that can instill confidence and help academic
success. Peer-mediated instruction is a strategy that can have multiple
purposes, and some research has shown that it can be effective to utilize it to
strengthen both social and academic skills. ELLs should receive peer-mediated
instruction in Spanish, or if it is in English, then instructional materials
can be in Spanish. ELLs can demonstrate improved outcomes in phonemic
awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension if they receive peer-mediated
instruction in Spanish (Pyle, 2017). Allowing students to discuss learning
objectives and instructional materials with their peers will help build social
and academic skills. It is important as a teacher to organize and facilitate a
wide range of practices, such as extension activities, informal conversations,
and partner read alouds (Pacheco, 2010). Partner and group work is beneficial
for students to learn both formal and informal ways of speaking English, and
extension activities in addition to basic curriculum broaden learning
opportunities and provide students with extra time to practice skills.
Teacher
mediation is another practice in every classroom that fosters the acquisition
of literacy skills in a supportive learning environment. Joint teacher-student
mediation of reading activity is accomplished through conversations, whether
formal or informal, and these conversations are sources of literacy learning
(Pacheco, 2010). Teacher mediation can help students understand abstract
concepts, particularly during a reading activity where unfamiliar words or
phrases in English appear in either shared reading material or while reading
individually. It is important to define and contextualize unfamiliar words,
figures of speech, or concepts for English language learners in order for them
to participate in important meaning-making.
Below
is a link to Colorin Colorado, a website geared toward both parents and
teachers of English language learners. This link sends the reader to a page of
classroom strategies and tools, including videos and articles related to this
topic. The YouTube video entitled “Building Upon Student Strengths” is
pertinent to best practices for English language learners.
English
language learners face learning challenges in the classroom that can be
mediated by teachers and even peers. Encouraging social collaboration, relating
content to backgrounds of ELL students, and taking extra steps to connect to
students by having informal and formal conversations are all examples of how
teachers can mediate learning. Ensuring that ELL students receive proper
interventions from other school professionals and accommodations that fit their
needs is crucial to facilitate a strong academic career, especially when
considering that they often do not receive correct interventions, such as being
placed in special education programs or being identified as having a primary
language impairment. Classroom strategies such as creating projects that relate
students’ background knowledge to curriculum content are essential for ELL
comprehension development in reading and writing. Teachers should also strive
to provide a learning environment that works to include English language
learners’ funds of knowledge rather than viewing their knowledge as a deficit.
Peer-mediation instruction can allow students to develop social skills and
academic skills simultaneously, there should be a focus on social aspects of
learning.
References
Lee, S. (2018).
Scaffolding Evidence‐Based Writing for English Learners in Three Steps. The
Reading Teacher, 72(1), 99-106.
Li, N. (2013).
Seeking Best Practices And Meeting The Needs Of The English Language Learners:
Using Second Language Theories And Integrating Technology In Teaching. Journal
of International Education Research, 9(3), 217-222.
Pacheco, M.
(2010). English-Language Learners' Reading Achievement: Dialectical
Relationships Between Policy and Practices in Meaning-Making
Opportunities. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(3),
292-317.
Pieretti, R.A.,
& Roseberry-McKibbin, C. (2016). Assessment and Intervention for English
Language Learners With Primary Language Impairment. Communication
Disorders Quarterly, 37(2), 117-128.
Pyle, D., Pyle, N.,
Lignugaris-Kraft, B., Duran, L., Akers, J. (2017). Academic Effects of
Peer-Mediated Interventions With English Language Learners: A Research
Synthesis. Review of Educational Research, 87(1),
103-133.
remember not all ELLs speak Spanish.
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