Phonological working memory and non-verbal complex working memory as predictors of future English outcomes in young ELLs

2020 ◽  
pp. 136700692094813
Author(s):  
Michelle J White
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Formal Schooling ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Language Measures ◽  
Verbal Complex

Aim of the study: The aim of this longitudinal study was twofold: first, to determine whether the relationship between working memory measures and language performance in young English language learners (ELL) remains constant over the year. The second aim was to determine if performance on working memory tasks predicts future performance on language measures. Methodology: The participants were 27 ELLs between the ages of 5 and 6 years who were in their first year of formal schooling and attended the same mid-low socioeconomic status school in South Africa. The participants were tested three times throughout the year on tasks of working memory and an English assessment battery. Data analysis and results: Mixed effects models and multiple linear regression were used to address the aims of the study. The first aim of the study showed that there are significant correlations between all working memory measures and all language measures in varying strengths across the year. The second research aim further elaborated on this by showing that both phonological working memory and non-verbal complex working memory are implicated in the acquisition of syntax, semantics and pragmatics at different points throughout the year. Implications and originality: Language acquisition in ELLs is not a stand-alone process and working memory measures may be able to predict future language outcomes. This could indicate that working memory measures may be used as an indicator for who may need language intervention, at a time when the ELL only has limited English proficiency and limited English exposure. This research is the first of its kind to originate from Africa, with a sample from low socioeconomic, culturally and linguistically diverse circumstances who are exposed to English consistently for the first time and are tested with working memory tasks with less strong language components.

English Language Learners and the Common Core State Standards: Meeting the Needs of Students With Low Socioeconomic Status and Language Impairment

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Arts ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
English Language Arts ◽  
English Language ◽  
At Risk Students ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Low Socioeconomic

The new Common Core State Standards (CCSS), adopted by 46 states, are being widely implemented in our schools. A major concern for educators and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) is that English language learners (ELLs), especially those from low-socioeconomic status (low SES) backgrounds, are at risk for not satisfactorily achieving the standards—particularly in English Language Arts. This risk is magnified for low SES ELLs with language impairment. This article describes (a) the overall goals of the standards, (b) specific risk factors for low SES ELLs with language impairment (“at risk” students), (c) the basic nature of the English Language Arts standards, and (d) practical strategies for SLPs to support at-risk students' performance in English Language Arts. There is a particular focus on “Monday morning” strategies for increasing these students' ability to read and comprehend expository text. This can be accomplished specifically through strengthening underlying vocabulary and morphological awareness skills. Practical intervention ideas are provided.

The Longitudinal Effects of School Improvement Grants

2021 ◽  
pp. 016237372110124
Author(s):  
Min Sun ◽  
Alec I. Kennedy ◽  
Susanna Loeb
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
English Language ◽  
High School Graduation Rates ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
School Improvement Grants ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
State Test ◽  
Longitudinal Effects

School Improvement Grants (SIGs) exemplify a capacity-building investment to spur sustainable changes in America’s persistently lowest-performing schools and stimulate the economy. This study examines both short- and longer-term effects of the first two cohorts of SIG schools from four locations across the country. Dynamic difference-in-differences models show that SIGs’ effects on achievement in Grades 3 to 8, as measured by state test scores in math and English language arts, gradually increased over the three reform years and were largely sustained for 3 or 4 years afterward. Evidence on high school graduation rates, though less robust, also suggests SIGs had positive effects. SIGs’ effects on students of color and low-socioeconomic-status students were similar to or significantly larger than the overall effects.

The Language Policy of Placement Tests for Newcomer English Learners

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 936-968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendall King ◽  
Martha Bigelow
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Formal Schooling ◽  
High Stakes

U.S. public schools are required to establish policies ensuring that English language learners have equal access to “meaningful education.” This demands that districts put into place mechanisms to determine student eligibility for specialized English language services. For the most states, this federal requirement is fulfilled through the local administration of the WIDA–Access Placement Test (W-APT), arguably the most widely used, yet under-studied, English language assessment in the country. Through intensive participant observation at one, urban new student intake center, and detailed qualitative, discursive analysis of test administration and interaction, we demonstrate how the W-APT works as a high-stakes assessment, screener, and sorter, and how test takers and test administrators locally negotiate this test and enact this federal and state policy. Our analysis indicates that the W-APT is problematic in several respects, most importantly because the test does not differentiate adequately across students with widely different literacy skills and formal schooling experiences.

scholarly journals Learning Strategies in Alleviating English Writing Anxiety for English Language Learners (ELLs) with Limited English Proficiency (LEP)

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Chia-Pei Wu ◽  
Huey-Ju Lin
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Writing Anxiety ◽  
English Writing

<p>This study utilized the Oxford Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) and an English writing anxiety scale to examine the relationship between learning strategies and English writing anxiety in 102 university-level English language learners (ELLs) with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) in a university in Taiwan. Kruskal Wallis Test results revealed no significant association between learning strategies and English writing anxiety. The common learning strategies utilized by participants were compensation, social, memory and mixed strategies. The interview data indicated that ELLs suffered considerably from writing anxiety. Coping strategies of highly anxious ELL of each learning strategy group is also reported. However, further studies of larger populations and comparison of different ethnic groups as well as quantitative statistics analyses are needed.</p>

Recognizing the Realities and Needs of Unaccompanied Minors in the All-English Classroom

2019 ◽  
pp. 133-156
Author(s):  
Rebecca E. Linares
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Formal Schooling ◽  
Unaccompanied Minors ◽  
School Year ◽  
Mexico Border ◽  
English Classroom

This chapter provides key information about a growing population of English language learners (ELLs) in United States classrooms: unaccompanied minors from the Northern Triangle nations of Central America. Part one provides contextual information about unaccompanied minors, including a description of the immigration process that channels children from detention facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border to communities—and classrooms—across the country. Part two draws on empirical data gathered through an ethnographic case study conducted across the 2015–2016 school year and focuses on one pedagogical practice, dialogue journaling, in a classroom serving unaccompanied minors with limited and interrupted formal schooling. Part three provides a list of resources for exploring the topic further including materials that provide a deeper understanding of the sociopolitical contexts in which children cross borders as well as practice-oriented materials teachers can use to create welcoming classroom spaces in which they provide culturally relevant, linguistically accessible instruction.

Using the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) 7 Nonverbal Battery to Identify the Gifted/Talented: An Investigation of Demographic Effects and Norming Plans

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol A. Carman ◽  
Christine A. P. Walther ◽  
Robert A. Bartsch
Keyword(s):  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
English Language ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
School Level ◽  
Gifted Identification ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Demographic Groups ◽  
Cognitive Abilities Test

The nonverbal battery of the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) is one of the two most common nonverbal measures used in gifted identification, yet the relationships between demographic variables and CogAT7 performance has not yet been fully examined. Additionally, the effect of using the CogAT7 nonverbal battery on the identification of diverse demographic groups based on various norming, cutoff, and modifier plans has only just begun to be explored. In this study, we analyzed the CogAT7 nonverbal battery scores of kindergartners from a very large urban school district with a high minority, low socioeconomic status, and high English language learner population to determine the relationships between demographic variables and CogAT performance. The results suggest relationships between CogAT scores and multiple demographic variables, similar to other nonverbal instruments. We also examined the effects of various norming practices, including school-level and group-specific norming, on identification using the CogAT7 nonverbal battery.

scholarly journals Universal screening increases the representation of low-income and minority students in gifted education

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (48) ◽  
pp. 13678-13683 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Card ◽  
Laura Giuliano
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Minority Students ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
Universal Screening ◽  
English Language ◽  
Screening Program ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
Eligibility Criteria

Low-income and minority students are substantially underrepresented in gifted education programs. The disparities persist despite efforts by many states and school districts to broaden participation through changes in their eligibility criteria. One explanation for the persistent gap is that standard processes for identifying gifted students, which are based largely on the referrals of parents and teachers, tend to miss qualified students from underrepresented groups. We study this hypothesis using the experiences of a large urban school district following the introduction of a universal screening program for second graders. Without any changes in the standards for gifted eligibility, the screening program led to large increases in the fractions of economically disadvantaged and minority students placed in gifted programs. Comparisons of the newly identified gifted students with those who would have been placed in the absence of screening show that Blacks and Hispanics, free/reduced price lunch participants, English language learners, and girls were all systematically “underreferred” in the traditional parent/teacher referral system. Our findings suggest that parents and teachers often fail to recognize the potential of poor and minority students and those with limited English proficiency.

Problem-Solving Support for English Language Learners

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 479-484
Author(s):  
Lynda R. Wiest
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
National Council ◽  
English Language Acquisition ◽  
Mathematics Classrooms ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
K 12

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.

Late-Emerging Developmental Language Disorders in English-Speaking Monolinguals and English-Language Learners: A Longitudinal Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 468-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fataneh Farnia ◽  
Esther Geva
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Language Disorders ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Developmental Language Disorders ◽  
English Speaking

Research involving monolinguals has demonstrated that language impairment can be noticed in the early years and tends to persist into adolescence. More recently, research has begun to address the challenges of identifying and treating Developmental Language Disorders (DLD) in English Language Learners (ELLs). Developmental patterns of DLD are not necessarily consistent over time, and we hypothesized that some monolinguals and ELLs go “under the radar” in lower grades but their language difficulties become more pronounced in later years, as syntactic demands increase, hence “late-emerging DLD”. This longitudinal study examined (a) the existence of late-emerging DLD in Grades 4-6 in English-speaking monolinguals and ELLs, and (b) the Grade 1 and 3 cognitive and language profiles that predict late-emerging DLD. This study involved monolinguals (n = 149), and ELLs (n = 402) coming from diverse home language backgrounds. Cognitive (working memory, phonological short-term memory, processing speed), language (vocabulary and syntax), and word reading skills were assessed annually from grades 1 to 6. Separate parallel analyses in the monolingual and ELL samples confirmed that late-emerging DLD exists in both groups. In comparison with their typically developing peers, late-emerging DLD can be identified as early as Grade 1 based on poorer performance on phonological awareness, naming speed, and working memory.

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