FAQ's when Teaching ELLs

By posting some frequently asked questions, I hope to help teachers with the day-to-day dealings faced in the classroom.

What else can I do to help ESL learners adjust to my classroom?

• Acknowledge that the adjustment issues are many, real, and vary from student to student.
• Make your expectations clear.
• Establish, clear, consistent routines for ESL students.

What can I do to include ESL learners in classroom academic learning abilities?

• Clearly state expectations
• Use learning partners and teacher selected groups
• Give extra time for ESL students to formulate oral answers
• Give extra time for assignments
• Be encouraging
• Evaluate speaking and writing for content, not grammar
• Give praise for effort, enthusiasm, and participation.
• Say the student’s name before asking a question.
• Use graphic organizers
• Get to know students
• Provide presentation material
• Distinguish between teach and test.
• Use journal responses

The ESL students in my classroom rarely become involved in extracurricular activities.  Because this is part of school life in American Schools, how can I promote their participation?

• Allow them time to adjust to the idea of involvement.
• Capitalize on ESL students’ strengths.
• Buddy up where feasible.
• Sponsor or promote new activities.
• Help the parents understand the value of extracurricular activities.
• Help parents understand that co-curricular activities are also an important aspect of school life.

How do I help parents of ESL learners become involved in school life?

• Parents are reluctant to participate for a number of reasons:
  • Lack of proficiency in English
  • Need for both parents to work
  • Younger family members at home
  • Feeling they have nothing to contribute
  • The idea of parents as partners is foreign
  • Begin a consistent flow of communication.
  • Inviting comments and information about how parents would like to be involved can help establish and maintain communication.
  • Parents are often willing to help with homework but aren’t sure how to go about it.
  • Home reading programs have proven successful.
  • Value the home languages.

How can I help the rest of the students develop an understanding of the ESL learners in the class?

• Never underestimate the power of a teachable moment
• Examine the curriculum for possible theme-based issues
• Explicit teaching of cultural understandings may be useful

How can I possibly teach ESL students all they need to know?

• Write things down on the board
• Slow down the talking speed
• Don’t isolate ESL students in the back of the room
• Ask them to stay for help
• Encourage them to be active in class
• Give easier passages to read at first
• Give more than one day for homework
• Help to work in groups
• Take an interest in them, besides just the grades
• Hand out notes for study
• Have lots of patience
• Don’t judge by English
• Don’t treat like strangers
• Check for understanding
• Explain difficult vocabulary
• Don’t insult they we don’t understand
• Don’t say they aren’t listening
• Smile!

Won’t exposing ELLs to English and having them interact with native English speakers will result in learning English?

• There are important differences in learning a first and second language.
• ELLs need to pay conscious attention to the grammatical, morphological, and phonological aspects of English, requiring direct instruction.
• Older ELLs can draw upon more advanced cognitive skills and can be active participants in their own language learning.
• Interactions between ELLs and native speakers does not occur naturally or comfortably in mainstream classrooms.
• Cooperative learning activities may not provide ELLs with in-depth language experiences.

Don’t all ELLs learn English in the same way and at the same rate?

• When ELLs make errors, there may be factors at play other than a cognitive disorder or developmental problem.
• Your own experiences in learning a second language may have limited application to students’ struggles with English.
• Be aware of common writing errors ELLs make.
• An ELLs rate of learning English may be affected by prior education, native language literacy, and personal factors.
• Some ELLs learn English better through written text, and others learn better through oral communication.
• ELLs do not follow the same learning path or timeline for English language development as others students from diverse backgrounds.
• The language acquisition process may take several years and there are no shortcuts.

Won’t teaching methods that are successful with native English speakers also be successful with ELLs?

• Benchmarks in the content areas that are based on native English speakers can be inappropriate for ELLs.
• Although ELLs in secondary schools generally have limited English vocabularies and reduced reading fluency and comprehension in English, they do not have the basic decoding difficulties displayed by native English speakers.
• ELLs may need targeted instruction and extended practice time in applying the native language skills to English.
• Without linguistic and cultural modifications for ELLs, process oriented approaches to instruction using literature logs and journals may not be successful.
• ELL students don’t have the same quick grasp of what sounds right or best in English as native-speaking peers.

Will using visuals and other nonverbal tools in instruction help ELLs avoid the language demands in school?  
No, they should be used in addition to academic language instruction, not in place of it.

Will assessments of ELLs native language proficiency provide an accurate picture of linguistic proficiency? 
It depends, but it may be best to replace assessments with home language surveys, brief parent interviews, and second language assessment.

Will the more time ELLs spend in receiving English instruction, mean they will learn it faster?  
A strong foundation in the ELLs native language is more conducive to successful language acquisition than placement in an English-only environment.

Can you make generalizations about English Language Learners?

• It is difficult to make generalizations about ELL students because they come from such diverse backgrounds.
• Some students will learn English quicker than others based on the following factors:
  • Age
  • Native Language
  • Literacy of Parents
  • Reason for Immigrating

Resources:


Helmer, Silvia and Eddy, Catherine. (2003). Look at Me When I Talk to You.  Don Mills,Ontario: Pippin Publishing.

 Sousa, David A. (2011). How the ELL Brain Learns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.