MODULE Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning
CHAPTER 5: INSTRUCTIONAL ISSUES RELATING TO LONG TERM ENGLISH
LEARNERS
Objectives:
a.) Discuss Long Term English Language Learners and the
distinct language issues.
b.) Enumerate the eight characteristics to become an effective
educator.
c.) Illustrate the oral language development.
.
Lesson 1: Long Term English Language Learners have distinct language issues
LTELs function socially in both English and their home language. However, their
language is imprecise and inadequate for deeper expression and communication, and
they lack the vocabulary, syntax, and grammar of native speakers in both languages.
Despite the fact that English tends to be the language of preference for these students,
the majority are ―stuck‖ at intermediate levels of English oral proficiency or below.
LTELs lack oral and literacy skills needed
for academic success. They struggle
reading textbooks, have
difficulty understanding vocabulary, and
are challenged by long, written
passages. They lack understanding of
academic genres and display weak
English syntax, grammar,
and vocabulary.
Observant educators often notice that
LTELs have significant deficits in writing,
which LTELs approach as written-down oral language. Because they perform below
grade level in reading and writing, and lack academic vocabulary, they struggle in all
content areas that require literacy. Despite coming from homes in which a language other
than English is spoken, many LTELs use their home language only in limited ways.
Fossilized features of the home language are superimposed with English vocabulary in
what is commonly referred to as ―Spanglish‖ or ―Chinglish.‖ While these dialects may
be expressive and functional in many social situations, they do not constitute a strong
foundation for the language demands of academic work in Standard English.
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MODULE Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning
HOW DOES AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER BECOME LONG TERM?
The quantity, quality, and consistency of
programs and instruction English Language
Learners receive can move them towards
English proficiency and content mastery or
relegate them to long term status.
By definition, English Language Learners
enter school lacking the English proficiency
needed to fully access the core curriculum.
They have to learn English and at the same time master core content taught in a language
they do not understand. The programs, support, curriculum, and instruction they receive
can move them towards English proficiency and provide access to core content while they
are learning English, or it can relegate them to struggling without support. The strength
of educator training and approach to language development—and the consistency and
coherence of the program a student receives across grade levels— greatly impacts
students’ long term academic outcomes. The large number of Long Term English
Language Learners in secondary schools is testimony to the fact that something has gone
wrong along the way. The creation of a Long Term English Language Learner is caused
by several factors along the trajectory of a student’s education.
Lesson 2: Eight Characteristics of Effective Educators
When students with language requirements
and academic gaps are placed in rigorous
courses with high-level content, they need
instruction designed and adapted to their
needs. The most effective educators know
how to help Long Term English Language
Learners build academic language as well as
content skills.
1. Effective educators know their students
and identify their Long Term English Language Learners. Good instruction for LTELs
starts with teachers and education support professionals having information. Ask for
data on the class student roster that identifies English Language Learners by their
English proficiency levels and also specifically identifies Long Term English Language
Learners. Knowing whether LTELs are enrolled in your class, and having access to
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MODULE Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning
assessments that pinpoint the specific gaps in language development and academic
skills students need to fill, will help you differentiate supports and plan instruction.
2. Effective educators emphasize oral language and active engagement. Oral language
is the foundation for literacy. Although LTELs are orally fluent enough to sound like
other students in social interactions, their
academic literacy skills in English are not
developed, and they need a different level of
support for developing and actively using
academic language. Too often, the
experience of English Language Learners in
U.S. classrooms is one of silence: they speak
little, participate minimally, and are seldom
called upon because they lack sufficient
English skills.
3. Effective educators provide explicit instructions and models. LTELs often do not
understand what they are expected todo in class. Help them by giving clear verbal
instructions and information, bolstered by written directions and visuals. Effective
strategies include providing models of finished projects, rubrics that clarify the
elements of successful work, and invitations to ask questions and get help. Model
show students step by step how to accomplish a task and provide concrete examples
of finished products.
4. Effective educators focus on the development of academic reading and writing skills.
Reading and writing are gateways to academic learning and success, and LTELs
struggle with both. They need support to develop these skills and to access the
information in academic texts. Effective educators of all content areas work with
students to read text closely—identifying the text genre and purpose of the reading,
honing in on how the text is structured, and spending time on key vocabulary.
5. Effective educators focus on key cognitive and language functions required for
academic tasks and use graphic organizers to scaffold those functions. Language and
thought are deeply connected; they are reciprocal and develop together. Tools that
help students think about the world and shape their ideas conceptually support the
development of academic language. Without the language to express those concepts,
it is difficult to engage in analytical thinking. Effective educators hone in on key
language functions (e.g., expressing an opinion, giving complex directions,
summarizing, etc.), and develop language objectives that focus on teaching the
vocabulary, forms, structures, and discourse patterns associated with these functions
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MODULE Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning
6. Effective educators build background knowledge, scaffold key concepts, and teach
vocabulary. Educators need to understand the language demands of the content they
are teaching. This includes careful analysis of the language-related demands of the
texts and thoughtful reflection on the discipline-specific discourse patterns and
vocabulary students need for the tasks assigned in class. Lessons often need to
include building background knowledge related to key concepts, keeping in mind that
LTELs have gaps in academic background.
7. Effective educators make connections, build relevance, affirm language and culture,
and maintain rigor. The most effective classrooms for LTELs establish an environment
that affirms language and culture, invites students to make connections between their
life experiences and the academic content, incorporates relevant issues and material
into the curriculum, and maintains high expectations and intellectual rigor. Much of the
research literature related to language minority youth cites the importance of
―culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy‖ and ―empowering pedagogy.
‖xiii All students learn by making connections between what they already know and
the new information they encounter. Pedagogy that encourages students to bring their
experiences, culture, heritage, and language into the classroom maximizes learning
by allowing students to build on the full foundation of their prior knowledge.
8. Effective educators check for understanding and monitor progress. Itis important to
keep a sense of urgency and focus about the progress of LTEL students, using
samples of LTEL student work to reflect on their academic content and language
needs. As you monitor the progress of LTELs, consider issues of active participation
and engagement, as well as academic work samples. Check in regularly with LTELs
about how they are doing and what they need: include student self-assessments and
goal setting in this process and encourage students to identify their challenges, own
their success, and figure out ways to move forwards towards English proficiency and
college readiness goals.
Lesson 3: Factors that may impede EL students’ academic literacy
development.
Students may become classified as LTEL students for a number of reasons, including:
• Receiving weak English language development services at some point in their
schooling.
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MODULE Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning
• Experiencing a narrowed curriculum
(in which English language
development classes
supersede subject classes);
this narrowed curriculum
may impede their
progress toward proficiency in both
academic content and English, both
of which are needed for
reclassification in many states.
• Attending multiple schools, each with different — and possibly unrelated —
curricula, support programs, and teaching practices.
• Missing school, also known as ―interrupted formal education,‖ due to mobility and
family obligations.
• Being enrolled in inappropriate courses and programs due to unidentified or
misidentified learning disabilities.
Long-Term Challenges
One of the skills successful teachers develop is the ability to effectively deliver instruction
to different populations of students. For teachers of long-term English learners, this
requires them to keep several instructional considerations in mind.
Two of these involve oral language development and academic language development.
An understanding of these components is vital to address instructional issues relating to
long-term English learners. For
our purposes, long-term English
learners are students who have had several
years of formal English education, but
whose first language is not English. As they
develop their language abilities, it can
become more difficult for teachers to
promote the growth of advanced language
skills across different subject-specific
curricula. One reason for this is that an
increasing familiarity with
English means that less lesson time is spent
on language instruction in favor of subject content delivery.
Placing long-term English learners can also sometimes be difficult because these
learners may or may not have the language skills that match their non-English abilities.
For instance, a student may be great or even exceptional at math, but if he or she lacks
the English language skills to communicate effectively in an advanced math class, it can
be difficult to know at which level to place the student. On the other hand, some longterm
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MODULE Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning
English learners may actually feel discouraged if they are required to constantly study
and fulfill language requirements that may be too easy or too repetitive. Therefore, it's
important to find the right balance of language instruction and relevant subject content
delivery when placing students in academic programs.
When teachers approach these issues with a well-conceived plan, the outcomes can be
advantageous for students. Let's take a look at a few suggestions for tackling them.
Primary Types of Long-Term English Learners
• Transnational students who have moved back and forth between the United
States and their family’s country of origin and have attended school in both
countries
• Students who have received inconsistent schooling in the United States, moving
in and out of bilingual education, English as a second language, and mainstream
programs in which they received no language support services.
Regardless of the reason that LTEL students
have not reached grade-level proficiency or
acquired necessary language skills, the
primary defining characteristic of a LTEL
student is that he or she struggles
academically, rather than an inability to
communicate in English more broadly (as may
be the case with newcomer EL students).
These students are not ―progressing in
English language development as would normatively be expected, and they struggle with
the academic work expected of them. Typically, grades plummet, and the general profile
of a [LTEL] is a student with a grade point average of less than 2.0.‖26 By Grade 11,
some data suggest that most ELs(who at this point are classified as long-term) are
―below‖ or ―far below‖ levels in Algebra I (74 percent) and Language Arts (78
percent).27 This points to the fact that LTELs have unique language issues that are often
not addressed in standard English-as-a-second language programs by the time these
students reach later grades – the gaps in performance are usually too wide to overcome
using standard means. However, despite the growing LTEL population and the
documented need for differentiated supports,
―there has been practically no research conducted about them to date, nor do
specialized educational programs exist to meet their needs.‖28 Thus, to develop these
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MODULE Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning
kinds of specialized programs, it is imperative that school districts understand why LTELs
are struggling academically, even after six or more years in the education system.
Lesson 4: Oral Language Development
What happens when your long-term English
learners no longer need the aid of a dictionary
or review time to speak at a nearnative
English level? What can you do when
spending a large portion of lesson time on
new vocabulary is no longer necessary?
There comes a point when most long-term
English learners will be comfortable and
capable enough with English that focusing
primarily on language instruction is no longer necessary. At this point, teachers can shift
the focus to promoting oral language achievement across the curriculum. This can be
accomplished in several ways:
• Developing expansive subject-specific vocabulary skills.
o Encourage students to focus on vocabulary that is not typically used outside
of subject-specific discussions.
• Focusing on delivering real-time oral arguments and opinions.
o Give students opportunities to discuss complex topics without the benefit of
preparation time. For instance, begin a lesson with an impromptu class
discussion on a topic that's been covered in class.
• Providing opportunities for advanced oral language discourse.
o Utilize formal debates and thoroughly-researched presentations that require
students to prepare and practice delivering advanced language content.
Each of these practices can help your long-term English learners develop language skills
that go beyond simply learning vocabulary and perfecting grammar. Focusing on English
usage that will benefit students in higher education, professional, and social settings can
help you overcome many of the instructional issues that may arise with this type of
student.
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MODULE Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning
To ensure that English language learners have the opportunity to build a strong
foundation in their native languages and to support their acquisition of English, educators
and administrators need to promote bilingualism and illiteracy development in grades K–
12. Secondary schools must develop specialized programs for long-term English
language learners, tailor English as a
second language classes to students'
needs, and focus on literacy development
across content areas and languages. Our
pilot program for long-term
English language learners seeks to
support the development of students'
literacy skills in English and Spanish
through a threepronged approach:
• Spanish language and literacy courses, to help students develop a strong
foundation in academic Spanish.
• English as a second language courses, in which long-term English learners are
taught separately from new arrivals so that instruction can focus on literacy in
English rather than on the development of oral language proficiency.
• Content-area courses—such as math, science, and social studies—that focus
simultaneously on content and literacy learning.
Teachers plan collaboratively throughout the year to
develop units with embedded language and literacy
skills, which they then teach across all subjects. For
example, teachers at one school chose to incorporate into
their instruction a focus on comparisons and the academic
language structures that comparing entails—descriptors
such as larger than, greater mass than, more robust than,
and so on. In social studies, students analyze two different
time periods, comparing and contrasting them as they
familiarize themselves with the terms. In science, students
compare asexual and sexual heredity. In all
language courses, students may work on nonfiction autobiographies to develop more
sophisticated use of language and deeper understandings about the genre. Regardless
of the subject matter, all teachers must see themselves as language and literacy teachers
and be prepared to teach language through content.
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MODULE Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning
On a wider scale, it is essential that U.S. schools develop more coherent language
policies to reduce the movement in and out of bilingual education, English as a second
language, and mainstream programs. Schools also need more accurate data about the
English learner population so that they can do a better job of both placing and serving
these students. For instance, schools need to know not only when the students arrived in
the United States, but also whether the students have been here consistently. Because
no system like this is currently in place, schools must take it upon themselves to learn
about their incoming students by asking them about their previous schooling and the
length of time they have attended U.S. schools.
Long-term English language learners are a significant and growing secondary population,
so it is of pressing concern that schools take notice of them and meet their needs.
For More Information: http://youtu.be/fzylxm2v2xk
References:
https://www.rcoe.us/educational-
services/files/2012/08/NEA_Meeting_the_Unique_Needs_of_LTELs.pdf
https://www.wested.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/LTEL-factsheet.pdf
https://study.com/academy/lesson/instructional-issues-relatin g-to-long-term-
english-learners.html
https://portal.ct.gov/-
/media/SDE/ESSA%20Evidence%20Guides/Effective_Interventions_for_Long-
Term_English_Learners
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