Functional Language Instruction and the Writing Growth of English Language Learners in the Middle Years

2015 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 792-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Humphrey ◽  
Lucy Macnaught
2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Margaret René Watring Yoesel

Classrooms in the United States are changing as the population of the United States becomes more diverse with growing numbers of English language learners (Banks, 2005; Capps, Fix, Murray, Ost, Passel and Herwantoro, 2005; Cartledge, Gardner, and Ford, 2009; DeVillar, Faltis, and Cummins, 1994; Diaz, 2001; Dilg, 2003; Hernandez, 2001; Ovando and McLaren, 2000; Sadowski, 2004; Sleeter and Grant, 1994). Immigrants and their families have traditionally settled in larger urban communities, but recent trends indicate a growing number of English language learners are enrolling in rural mid-west public schools. Many rural districts have very little experience or resources to meet the needs of this new diverse group of students. As a result teachers, especially in rural and low-incidence districts, are experiencing academic and cultural challenges of educating students whose first language is not English (Berube, 2000; Hill and Flynn, 2004). The purpose of this study was to examine elementary teacher perceptions regarding experience with instructing mainstreamed English language learners in a low-incidence district. This study also explores issues these teachers feel most influence their ability to successfully teach students from diverse cultures and who speak a first language other than English. Research examining teacher perceptions should provide important insight to teachers, administrators and policy makers regarding teacher needs and support in the education of English language learners.


Author(s):  
Isela Almaguer ◽  
Michael Whitacre

With an increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse school-age student population, there is a need to understand the extent and support needed for English language learners' (ELLs) reading and literacy success, and the scope that these students are provided with equitable and effective reading and literacy instruction as a common classroom pedagogical occurrence to support their reading and literacy development as well as academic achievement. Specifically, ELLs require more interactive and engaging pedagogy that actively involves them in the learning process with many and varied opportunities for academic and linguistic proficiency development. There is an increased emphasis on native language instruction (L1) as a foundation for literacy skill development. Also, several constructivist and student-centered approaches for literacy instruction and strategies for reading should be implemented for English language learners' linguistic and academic success. A classroom scenario sets the platform for culturally responsive teaching and learning through practical and authentic classroom application.


2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 479-484
Author(s):  
Lynda R. Wiest

According to the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs, the growing number of students with limited English proficiency includes slightly more than 10 percent of K–12 students in today's U.S. classrooms (NCELA 2006). English language learners (ELLs) may need special support to meet the educational standards we set for students. In its Equity Principle, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics states, “Some students may need further assistance to meet high mathematics expectations. Students who are not native speakers of English, for instance, may need special attention to allow them to participate fully in classroom discussions” (NCTM 2000, p. 12). This need has become particularly important because mathematics tasks are increasingly contextualized and thus verbal in nature, in addition to the fact that greater emphasis has been placed on communication in mathematics classrooms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan O'Hara ◽  
Joanne Bookmyer ◽  
Robert Pritchard ◽  
Robin Martin

This exploratory, qualitative study examines the foundational knowledge and instructional methods needed for academic language teaching of English language learners (ELLs). It also examines how mentoring practices can build secondary content-based novice teachers’ instructional capacity in this area. The study uses synthesized data from two independent studies to contextualize findings on essential instructional practices within the process of mentoring new teachers. Three themes emerged: novices need the foundational, theoretical and practical knowledge underlying essential practices for academic language development; essential practices must be articulated in detail for enactment by teachers; and balancing explicit and immersive academic language instruction is a major paradigm shift for novices. Implications for mentor and teacher professional development are discussed, as mentors are key to supporting the uptake of dynamic instructional methods needed to enact essential practices. While mentoring is a common strategy for supporting new teachers, few models exist for how mentors can support new teachers with building the academic language development of ELLs. Further, few studies examine mentoring exchanges that can promote teachers’ understanding and practices to support ELL students’ academic language development. Limitations of the study include sample size and use of varied respondent data sets.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wijaya ◽  
Gabriella Ong

This paper reports on a quasi-experimental study investigating the effect of cognitive linguistics-grounded instruction on learning the prepositions in, on, and at, which are known to pose tremendous difficulty to English language learners due to their language-specific features and polysemous nature. The participants (N = 44) were adolescent learners at a school in Indonesia. They were assigned into the cognitive group and the rule group. The cognitive group was presented with pictorial representations of the prepositions and cognitive tools used to motivate non-spatial uses, while the rule group was provided with rules. Participants’ performance on the three uses (i.e. spatial, temporal and abstract) was measured with pre-, post-, and delayed post-tests in a form of gap filling. The study yielded mixed results. The findings demonstrate that the cognitive group outperformed the rule group in the overall immediate and delayed post-tests. The cognitive group improved significantly in the immediate post-test; however, the positive effect did not last until the delayed post-test. On the other hand, the rule group gained a little in the immediate post-test, but the group’s performance decreased significantly in the delayed post-test. Although there was no indication of long-term effects of the cognitive instruction, the results still indicate a value of applying cognitive linguistics to teaching the prepositions, and thus lend support to the applicability of cognitive linguistic theory in second language instruction.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Tammy Oberg De La Garza ◽  
Erin Mackinney

<p><em>This article provides a historical overview of English language instruction in the United States as well as a spectrum of the current models used in schools. From subtractive methods to additive approaches, the benefits of each are explored. This work highlights the rapidly expanding movement towards Dual Language instruction for English language learners, and the advantages it brings to students, schools and the community. The authors examine future considerations for Dual Language programming and the escalating need for these qualified and specialized educators.</em></p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (Spring) ◽  
pp. 115-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey Leacox ◽  
Carla Wood ◽  
Gretchen Sunderman ◽  
Christopher Schatschneider

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