Abstract:
The focus issue addressed in this critical analysis go into depth about the need for English language learners to receive appropriate assistance so that they can succeed in school. This is an increasingly important issue for today's population. Today according to the Center of Public Education, almost 3.4 million students were ELL, which represented 6% of all school-aged children. It is projected that by 2025, 55% of the US population will be made up of minorities who speak a language other than English at home. An argument is made that student's today are not receiving adequate resources as they further their academic career they find themselves struggling due to the language barrier causing them hardships or possibly setting them up to fail. If student's were receiving adequate resources the growth personally and professionally would skyrocket. Three action options were explored and proposed as ways to address the present issue. Better preservice teacher preparation is argued to be the most effective way to help students learning English as a second language succeed in today's educational system.
In 2016, California residents decided to vote Proposition 58 back in after two decades. Lifting restrictions on bilingual education that has been in effect for 18 years. By passing Proposition 58. it allowed schools to be able to incorporate bilingual education for their students without having to sign a waiver for their children to be able to be enrolled in these courses. The proposition went into place this July 2017. While it will allow parents to have an option for their kids to be in a bilingual classroom, it will also still allow for parents to enroll their students in English only courses. Today according to the Center of Public Education, almost 3.4 million students were ELL, which represented 6% of all school-aged children. This will be greatly benefit the youth but teachers will need to have the appropriate training to help these students succeed, by having being able to use the two languages to help the students advance their academic careers.
Background
Growing up in a Hispanic community, I saw my friends struggle with learning English. From coming from Mexico and having no knowledge of the English language, they felt like outsiders. Teachers often sat me with the student's who only spoke Spanish and I was asked to be their “buddy”, I’d help the student translate work or give them an idea of what the task at hand was. This would give my classmates someone who they could talk to, to help them learn the language, and have someone whom they could speak to in their origin language. Teachers need to build a welcoming and trusting environment (Howard 2017 which can significantly contribute to student success. Establishing a positive learning community in the classroom where students feel comfortable and accepted is done through “practicing inclusive and non-judgmental discussions, reflection, and engagement strategies: (Howard, 2007, p.18) Growing up our teachers always made an attempt to talk about our communities making the subject matter apply to our daily lives, for example talking about a Spanish author, or singer, reading books that took place in Mexico or Latin America countries.
Bilingual education can be defined as teaching academic contact in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model. In 1998, 61% of voters passed Proposition 227, which mandated English only instruction, unless parents signed a waiver to keep their children in a bilingual classroom. It has been nearly two decades since California imposed significant restrictions on bilingual education and mandated English-only instruction for the states 1.4 million English-language learners (Sanchez, 2016).
This topic has caused several discussions among politicians and educators to see if the new policy in place has actually helped students become proficient in English. The stakeholders are not just students, but educators alongside parents and schools. English Language Learners (ELLs) are the fastest-growing student population group in our schools. Providing them with high-quality services and programs is an important investment in America’s future (Roekel & NEA, 2008). It was estimated that by 2015, ELL enrollment in U.S. schools would reach 10 million and, by 2025, nearly one out of every four public students will be an English Language Learner (NEA, 2008).
While some debate lingers, bilingual programs seem to be more effective. In a massive 2006 research review, the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth concluded that oral proficiency and literacy in ELLs’ first language can facilitate literacy development in English, and inclusion of first-language literacy development in English, and inclusion of first-language instruction in ESL programs can have long-term benefits (August and Shanahan, 2006). This would mean that the teacher could help the student to use the language that they already know to facilitate the learning experience of the new language, making it easier, and less stressful for the student as well the instructor together. According to, Genesee et al. 2006; Krashen & McField 2005; Rolstad, Mahoney, & Glass 2005; Slavin and Cheung 2003; Thomas and Collier 2002 this conclusion is supported by five recent meta-analyses comparing bilingual and English only programs. (See Figure 5.)
ELL students with formal schooling in their first language tend to acquire English proficiency faster than their peers without it. This would be due to what Cummins has termed, The Interdependence Hypothesis that allows the students first language to impact the learning of the 2nd language (Garcia, 2009; Walqui, 2000). First language proficiency is related to achievement in English. Studies suggest that language skills and conceptual knowledge in the student's first language to learn English (Collier 1995; Garcia- Vasquez, Vasquez, Lopez & WArd 197; Genessee et al. 2006).
Individual ELL students have individual instructional needs. In fact, the range of skills is wider within the group of EL student's than it is between ELL students and their non-ELL classmates. (See Figure 4.) According to the Center for Public Education, different needs can affect how quickly they acquire English. There is little consensus on what it means to be English proficient, which makes it difficult for researchers to determine how much time ELL student's need to learn English. However, best current estimates find that, on average, ELL student's take between four and seven years to become proficient in “academic English” – the language needed to succeed in the classroom (2007).
Teachers can support language acquisition and content understanding through the use of various strategies. One strategy is flexible peer discussion methods. Although allowing peers to discuss class content in their native language is uncomfortable to some teachers, peers discussing content in their home language leads to deeper understanding of texts (Molls & Diaz, 1987; Robinstein-Avila, 2006).
Literature review
Based on the review of the literature on on English language learners, I have found several themes that point to the importance of providing students with the appropriate support to help them succeed in school. These include:
Providing teachers with adequate training and resources
Parental Involvement
Further detail will be given on how these these tie into the goal of helping English language learners succeed in schools.
Providing teachers with adequate training and resources
One of the biggest issues in teaching ELL is that most teachers do not have the adequate skills to be able to adequately help students whose first language is other than English. To be effective, today’s teachers need a broad range of knowledge and skills, including deep content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, knowledge of how children and adolescents learn in a variety of settings, skills for creating a classroom community that is supportive of learning for diverse students, knowledge about multiple forms of assessment, and the ability to reflect on practice (Cochran-Smith & Zeichner, 2005; Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005). In order for teachers to be able to fully help ELL students succeed, they need appropriate education, and would be the instructional training. According to Center for Public Education, 79% of ELL students speak Spanish at home; the remaining 21% speak one of 400 other languages (NCELA, 2002). Unfortunately ELL students tend to lag behind their English proficient peers in reading and mathematics: The achievement gap between ELL (those who are able to be assessed and non-ELL students in narrowing among fourth-grade students, but process is slow. (See figure 3.) The gaps are wide in both reading and math. (NAEP 2007). Students in twelfth grade classified as ELL lag behind English proficient eighth graders in reading (NAEP, 2005). This is important as it shows that students who do not receive the appropriate support when learning English will have issues that they struggle with throughout their academic career, especially in the Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) department due to the struggle with mathematics.
As the numbers of students who are ELL grows in the United States, it’s vital for Pre-service teachers to receive the adequate training, and education to be able to work with different students of different backgrounds and be able to guide them and provide adequate resources so students can become proficient in English (NEA, 2008). Mainstream teachers need to learn about the language and academic background of the ELLS in their classes. Without this knowledge, teachers cannot anticipate the aspects of learning that are likely to be too difficult for their ELLS to handle without instructional supports. Numerous factors affect ELLs success in learning academic content taught in English. Clearly, the students’ oral, reading, and writing proficiencies in English play a major role (Gibbons, 2002). Often overlooked, however, are students’ linguistic and academic competence in the primary language. Linguist can help students adapt language and thus serve as rich resources for learning in that language (Cummins, 2000). Linguistic training in phonetics contribute to teachers knowledge as adequate. It would provide background training in what aspect a student may be struggling with, whether that is helping a student with pronunciation or reading in context (Cummins, 2000).
Parental Involvement
Rothstein (2004) reviewed social class characteristics that influence the achievement gap and suggested that school reform efforts alone will not raise student achievement. He called for public policy to address the social and economic conditions of families that influence learning; schools will continue to fail if they work in isolation from parents, communities and other critical entities (Rothstein, 2004). This was an important aspect as it created an isolation between the school and the parents of the child, making it harder for the student to adapt. Hispanics are now the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States, a country that no longer has a majority ethnic group. For example, traditional culture, values, and beliefs of Hispanic families focus on relationships and not on competitive factors such as an academic achievement. These values can contrast sharply with those of the mainstream U.S. educational system, in which individualism, self-reliance, and academic achievement are held in high regard (Perea, 2004).
According to the National Education Association, some districts offer bilingual parent workshops about the opportunities for parents to be involved. This would be important as it would allow parents of ELL students who do not speak the language to be involved in the child learning, as well as being aware of the issues that are surrounding the school. Scheduling of such sessions must consider work schedules and child care in order to make attendance possible for parents. For example, students who are of hispanic background with parents who work long hours, such as those who work in agriculture or in canneries, as they typically do no work normal 9-5 jobs. Given the potentially limited home access to books, supervision and study support materials, it is also helpful to offer parents access to libraries, labs, and other resources (Panferov, 2010). Providing such resources to parents would allow them to be more involved in their child's education while being able to have a common goal in mind, as parents want to see their student succeed in education. An issue that surfaced was the type of parent-child interactions and parental authority demonstrated in the homes. One of the distinctive characteristics of immigrant and refugee families is that children often surpass their parents’ proficiencies in the new language and, as a result, are called upon to interpret for family issues that they might not normally have ever been exposed to because of their young age. None of the children enjoyed dealing with these situations although they were willing to help their parents navigate the linguistic hurdles of bills, letters, and other English communications in their new homelands.
This is why it is so crucial for student's learning a English as a second language to have adequate resources to be able to succeed. By providing enough resources for these children not only would be ne helping our youth but the older generations who do not have the ability to learn the language as they have bills to pay, mouths to feed and to keep a roof over these children's head. They come to this country seeking a better life for their children and do not realize the personal obstacles they themselves will have encounter, for example the language barrier. These children are put into a bigger position than they’ve ever been. Having to translate a language they are still learning themselves. This is why it is crucial that we help these students succeed in school.
Stakeholder
The next section of this paper will review the primary stakeholders involved in providing ESL students with adequate resources in the classroom and giving teachers the adequate training to be able support students with ESL needs. A primary stakeholder would be an individual or group of people who has invested resources, money and time into the issue. In the case of providing adequate resources to English language learners the primary stakeholders are:
ESL student's
The parents of ESL learners
The teachers of ESL students
We will now take deeper look into the various groups’ values, interest, position, opinions and the facts that are addressed when they are advocating for the education of ESL students.
Parents and students
While I was not an ESL student, growing up I did grow up with friends or family members who moved here from Mexico that had to go through the special programs that were developed to help students of ESL backgrounds learn and adapt to the new language. Parents value their children's education and want them to succeed in school. So that unlike their parents, they can have a better future than what their parents had in their country of origin. While the parent wants the child to learn and adapt to the new culture they might not be able to provide the student with adequate resources at home. An example of the lack of resources the child faces would be the lack of someone to assist with homework, like reading, or writing, as the parents themselves might find themselves not being able to ease the transition as they do not know the language themselves either.
The teachers
According to Walqui (2000), one of the misconceptions of English language learners are that if students can converse in English they will be able to succeed in mainstream course that are primarily taught in English. This is something that would directly affect students and teachers as they are the ones that promote students out of ESL based classrooms once they can execute various simple language while meeting the criteria that the state or district requires to prove in their individual assessments. Walqui, addressed the fact that while students can execute the language in a classroom setting, they often find themselves going onto furthering their educations and having a setback due to the language barrier. Cummins (1984) explained Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) that goes into detail about how face to face conversations in the second language are crucial elements that need to be observed. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) that allows students be able to use the knowledge they obtained and, is cognitively demanding of the background knowledge they;ve obtained from the courses and information they’ve obtained from their classroom. Before students are allowed to use both interdependently are aedquatly educated in these areas to be able to further their education without having to overcome obstacles due to the language barrier they once had. It is important that teachers and educators alike receive adequate linguistic training so that they can identify the underlying issue and be able to see that while the student is grasping the concepts, grammar, & telegraphic speech, they are actually making the connections that are needed to be able to continue to grow their linguistic knowledge. Being able to provide teacher with this training will mean that they will be able to tackle the root issue that the specific child is struggling with, that they would not see unless they had appropriate linguistic knowledge to apply to that.
Not only will they be able to provide students with the needed additional resources they will also be able to provide the student with classwork customized to their specific needs because of the training they would receive if they were better trained to be able to see where the student was struggling in. The teacher can adapt the course work to be individualized amongst other students who find themselves struggling on the same issues without the students knowing that they are being categorized by what they are struggling to make sure they are grasping the concepts they need the most practice in.
Evaluation of Options
After thorough consideration and extensive research of the need to understand the whole child, socially, emotionally, and cognitively, we can see that students need more resources to be able to succeed in ELD and teachers need more linguistic knowledge to be able to support students academically.
In the next section of this paper, I will discuss several options which may provide teachers opportunities to take advantage of their linguistic knowledge to be able to better assist and understand their students linguistic struggles to be able to address them at the source.
Option 1 – Take more linguistics classes
Option 2 – Parent Involvement
Option 3 – Teachers learning a second language
The options will be evaluated by the following criteria:
Time added to teacher's credential program: Preservice teachers have a construct amount of coursework that they are required to take, in order to complete the necessary state guidelines to be able to teach. Added time to the preservice teachers credential program would be a disadvantage. Benefits to the overall school and student's would also be a contributing factor. The cost for the options are also taken into consideration as well as the the pre service requirements will change.
Effectiveness in understanding the child: The ultimate goal would be to fully be able to assist the child in their individual linguistic needs. The more effective the options, the more it would be able to provide the linguistic background to provide adequate resources.
Invasiveness: Teachers, as stakeholder may not appreciate the additional workload or might find the linguistic courses unessential or unnecessary that would draw them towards a different career option. Therefore this would might cause a decrease in student's who are in the credential program or looking into a career in Education.
Option 1: Pre service teachers taking more linguistics classes
Giving future educators more linguistic knowledge would not only give them an upper hand but would give the students they will one day teach the upper hand because with the knowledge they would obtain they would be able to analytically see where the students are struggling. An example of this would be, they would be able to identify where in the reading competency the student is, whether they are early emergent readers, or late emergent readers. If they are struggling with word structure or are learning English as a second language, the educators would be able to see similarities in between the languages the students know to be able to give them an example that would remove the confusion and allow the student to be able to make connections and be able to understand, while they learn the material. Credential programs should incorporate more linguistics in their courses so that pre-service teachers acquire and can successfully practice and master these ideas so that they can help students adapt and learn the new language. This would not only benefit English language learners but all students whom these teachers would be teaching, regardless of their first language. Having preservice teachers take more linguistic courses would be an advantage to all schools and students.
An example that shows the benefits of taking linguistic courses is a study that was conducted by Kathryn Accurso, Meg Gebhard, and Stephanie B. Purington, pre-service teachers (PSTs) who assisted mandate professional development course that used Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics (SFL) to support PST’s development in working with linguistically diverse students in the United States. The knowledge they obtained from this training influences their course manner in which PSTS responded to a student's attempt at writing a mathematical explanation. The linguistic knowledge they obtained, teachers and preservice teachers would be able to apply and help students no matter the course matter they are teaching.
Option 2: Parent Involvement
Providing parents with more ways to be involved in their children's academic learning would not only benefit them but their children as well.
Parental involvement could be looked at an additional option. This would be adding significant more time in the parents and educators workload. There are multiple things that would have to be taken into consideration for this option. For example, the parents work schedule, child care, translators that could help translate if the child's parents could attend but not speak English. Something that would also come into play with this would be funding. Some parents might get home from work late, or have unstable schedules where they are on call. Or the parents might not have child care to be able to attending the conferences with the teachers to be able to be involved in their child's academic career.
Having parents be involved in their child's education would not only benefit them but their child as well. Having the student's know what areas they're children are struggling in will allow them to see what the student needs additional resources in. While the parent may not understand the student second language but having the child work on certains areas while it could be, reading, or writing the student can work on these things while at home with the supervision of an adult. An example of the difference parent involvement can make in a student's life is demonstrated in an article written by Dr. Roger Prosise, It showed Illinois Diamond Lake School District 76 which in 2008 had a student population of 1,300 students that fed its students into the two best high schools in the country. They had a population of 50% Latino and a 40% low-income population of whom 90% were Latinos. From 1998-2003 District 76 had full commitment to bilingual education but was not able to adequately succeed. In 2004-2007, District 76 incorporated a half English and half Spanish instruction policy which showed dramatic improvement of 100% in the Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT). The school increased the involvement of the parents of ELL students and encouraged them in various ways, for example making them feel welcome, knowing the staff. The school that workshops that showed effective techniques for reading to children, as well as tips about helping and supervising homework. The District also implemented a service that provided translators, food, daycare and transportation services to be able to become more involved with the parents This proved to have a beneficial aspect to the ELL students in Illinois.
Option 3: Having teachers learn a second language
Having preservice teachers would be beneficial to the teacher and student as it would allow them to be able to see the language barrier or see why a student might be struggling in a certain area. The teacher would need to be able to have a 2nd year competency to be able to see the differences in the dialectical content. Understand the phonological and grammar to be able to assist the student or be able predict an area that a student might find themselves having a hard time. This would provide a greater effect to the students who speak the same language as the professor's second language. As they would be the ones the educator would be able to identify with. If the other languages that are in the teachers classroom are from the same family she would would be able to provide some better background information and assistance as the student's might find themselves struggling in similar aspects that the two language share.
The positive effects of preservice teachers would not only affect them with their work with their future student's but would also benefit them in the workforce. In a study conducted by Western Kentucky University, of their teacher certification program only 20% of the ones that did not participate in an International program or learn an additional language were hired as teachers compared to the 100% of the student who participated in an international program or learned an additional language. This is crucial because several of U.S. jobs involve international trade, in 2009 22% of all U.S. jobs were involved in international trade.
As of, 2008 20% of students enrolled in K-12 American schools spoke a language at home other than English. It is projected that 55% of the US population will be minorities who speak a language other than English at home by 2050. Having teachers study a second language or study abroad would not only be providing educators with greater employment opportunities, but at the same time they develop public speaking skills, become more globally aware, improve their cross-cultural communication while developing problem solving skills which are key skills for educators to have. Educators who attended international programs or learned a second language felt more confident in their roles as teachers. The skills they acquire from learning another language or studying abroad will also have an impact on their student's aside from being able to relate to them in a second language. The skills they obtained from the cross-cultural experience will make them more globally competent, which will contribute to their student's world views and increase their skills that will make them more competitive in today's workforce.
By teachers taking additional courses to be able to learn a second language they themselves would find themselves being in school longer but would not only have a positive effect on them and their future students. This also might have a negative effect on the preservice teachers as it may create a financial burden on them if they had to stay longer in order to be able to obtain their Bachelor's degree and credential program.