Supporting Literacy and Language for English Language Learners
Teachers have a diverse group of learners in a classroom. English Language Learners represent a rapidly growing number in preschool age children. The preschool teacher needs to nurture and provide culturally and linguistically support for them to succeed in literacy and language. It has been proven educators support English Language Learners to gain literacy and language knowledge by encouraging children’s home language, social interaction, guided dialogue, and direct instruction. These foundations and resources serve for making the connection with English literacy text, language, and develop academic strengths. Teachers implement literacy and language interactions in the classroom by observing, planning intentionally goal settings, and developing literacy and language strategic instructional curriculum for English Language Learners.
Research demonstrates English Language Learners use home language to make connection with English text and their experiences to succeed in school. Although, their home language may not be the principal language of instruction in an English classroom: dual language learners use their home language, English, or both to acquire English vocabulary and oral language in the preschool setting. Their home language is an asset to broaden their knowledge. It should not be discouraged to be used at school and at home. If they lost their home language they lose important family connections, tradition, heritage, which could lead to self-esteem and social emotional problems in their youth. For all these reasons, supporting and encouraging dual language learning in young children makes sense and is crucial to their long-term success (Magruder, et at...
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...trategies. Early Childhood Education Journal, 38(6), 421-429. Retrieved from: http://libproxy.chapman.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=eft&AN=58605996&site=eds-live
Magruder, E. S., Hayslip, W. W., Espinosa, L. M., Matera, C. (March, 2013). Many languages, one teacher: supporting language and literacy development for preschool dual language learners. Young Children. 68(1) 8-15. Retrieved from: http://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201303/Many_Languages_Margruder_0313_0.pdf
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Doi: 10.1080/00405840903192771 Retrieved from: http://libproxy.chapman.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=buh&AN=44398654&site=eds-live
“Let Them Talk!” written by Wayne E. Wright is an article that focuses on the idea of promoting English Language Learners (ELL) oral-language skills in the classroom instruction time to improve their literacy and academic achievement. Too often are an ELL’s speaking and listening skills overlooked and not given enough attention to, even though it is one of the most important parts of communication. Wright encourages teachers working with ELL students to allow time for the student to adjust, not to pressure them into their language development, respect their various stages, bring them into whole class and small group discussions, correct simple language errors in speaking that impeded comprehension, and have them interact and communicate in the classroom for meaningful purposes.
The essay starts off by talking about a common belief shared by many parents now about how students miss out on “a great deal by not being taught their family’s language”(Rodriguez 525). But the author states that this isn’t always true especially considering the children who are socially disadvantaged in any way, they more than likely consider their native tongue or the language used at home to be just that a private language that should only be used around or with the family, he also highlights how odd it was that his childhood classmates
It is important to maintain children’s home language as it may help them learn and understand a second language. Barratt-Pugh (2000) discusses the benefits of bilingualism and maintaining it through early childhood settings, also mentions the concerns families have for their children maintaining two languages through schooling. Research within the article states that children who speak more than one language will have a higher level of understanding literacy content, form, genre, as well as understand the differences and translating within both languages. This demonstrates a contrast of strengths and experiences with literacy (linguist...
The purpose of this study is to figure out which ways experienced teachers work best with culturally and linguistically diverse students. This study illustrates which strategies experienced teachers have found to work best. The diversity in school in the United States has increased each year. This means that there are an increasing amount of students who are learning English, English language learners (ELLs). This article comes from the perspective that each child should be taught to their specific needs. All students deserve a fair chance to learn. Fair means that every student is treated differently, not equally. Every student learns differently. In order to give every student a fair chance at learning, you must teach them according to their needs. An experienced teacher, Tiffany, describes her experiences working with culturally and linguistically diverse students. This study watches her methods and discusses what works based on data analysis of the success of her students.
The author Maria de la Luz Reyes explains through several characters born and raised in a family that spoke different native languages but he managed to excel in learning English. Biliteracy refers to the ability to communicate and write more than one language and this represents a major achievement because it takes a lot of sacrifice and dedication to realize it. The situation surrounding biliteracy is controversial because some parents appreciate when their children learn more than one language but others are not as Collins explains in the book, Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Biliteracy and its influence differs and Collin Baker identifies that diverse bilingual classes and schools, culture and language, influence dissimilar
In my class, I have children who speak other languages at home, my goal is to include them and their language into our daily routine and this help teaches the other children to be open to the difference. I incorporate this into our classroom by hanging both language’s around our room, and go over the basic’s words during our group time for example, numbers, colors, shapes, basic sight words. The children’s whose first language maybe different will be excited to share with their friends what they know. I also find stories that are bilingual to use during our story time.
De Houwer, A. Two or more languages in early childhood: Some general points and practical recommendations (ERIC Digest). Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics. (1999)
Howard, Elizabeth R., and Kathryn J. Lindholm-Leary. Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics, 2007. Print.
According with Jean Piaget whose theory on child development has been a great influence in education; language development is the most important phase during the Preoperational stage of cognitive development. During this stage children develop and build up their knowledge and vocabulary by asking questions and expressing ideas through words, images and drawings. This stage is considerate to happen from two years of to seven years of age (Kendra Cherry). Language development has direct implications in the intellectual development of a child, and it is one of the main tools to develop our thinking process. We use words to store and access memories or other information. For Latinos children and especially recent arrivals whose language is Spanish entering to school where their primary language (Mother tongue) has no validation neither use may be traumatic and even hinder their future opportunities to succeed in a school system that is complete foreign in concept and in language. In order to integrate and create opportunities for the Latino students to succeed the in the educational system we must create programs that address the specific needs of the Latino community such as bilingual education where students learn to speak, read and write in their mother tongue language first.
Passing fluent English: Latino immigrant children mask language proficiency. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 40(1), 20-40.
The purpose of this assignment is to explain the impact of English language learners in the classroom. As a foreign student, English language learner in the United States faces multiple challenges for achieving academic success. To successfully complete a task, they need to master both English as a language and how it is used in core content classes especially when they are an adult. When trying to assist in instructing English language learners, they usually have many concepts and language abilities that they need to master, as do the teachers that are trying to teach them. With the incorporation of the concepts and approaches to identify and assess the issues and concerns that we have learned in our classroom instruction, such as lesson preparation,
...thousands of years. Generally, bilingual education can mean any use of two languages in school, by teachers, students, or both – for a variety of social and pedagogical purposes. It also refers to the different approaches in the classroom that use the native languages of English language learners (ELLs) for instruction. These approaches include teaching English, fostering academic achievement, acculturating immigrants to a new society, and preserving a minority group’s linguistic and cultural heritage. Building on, rather than just discarding the students’ native-language skills, create a stronger foundation for success in English and academics. Also, if students learn languages at a younger age, it will be easier to remember and learn them, rather than if they were older. It helps to learn another language for students, and can later be useful in the future.
Language has pioneered many interracial relationships and historical milestones. Language is a necessity for basic communication and cultural diversity. Being multilingual is a skill proven influential to a successful future. Due to rapid globalization, countries all over the world are stressing the importance of learning a second, or even third, language. With the exception of time and lack of resources, adults have very few widely applicable disadvantages to learning multiple languages. However, language learning as a child presents more complications. Some of those include not having enough funding at the elementary school level to introduce a program for secondary language, academic overload for the youth, stress for both the parent and student parties, and the mixing of languages. Not all of these complications are true in any or all situations, however, and the absence of them provides multitudes of opportunity for future career and academic success. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the parents or the education legislation to decide whether they encourage the learning of a secondary language at the young age necessary for retention. “The general consensus is that it takes between five to seven years for an individual to achieve advanced fluency,” therefore the younger a child begins to learn, the more likely they are to benefit to the maximum potential (Robertson). Keeping the language learning in high school or beginning the process earlier is a greatly controversial discussion that is important to address because of the topic’s already lengthy suspension.
Ford, k (2010). 8 Strategies for Preschool English Language Learner’s Language and Literacy Development. http://www.readingrockets.org/article/36679/. Last accessed 5/4/2014.
As time goes by and as the global community develops, the world grows more and more international, making second or third language acquisition become necessary to the majority. With the growing importance of multiple language ability, more and more parents think of bilingual or multilingual education, which means acquisitions of two or more languages, for their kids. In fact, we do have many reasons showing why multilingual education is important and beneficial, such as aspects of interpersonal relationship, employment, brain health, and so on.