Differentiated Instruction For English Language Learners Essay

Differentiated Instruction for English Language Learners: Strategies for the Secondary

English Teacher

The title of the article which I will be discussing in this review is, Differentiated

Instruction for English Language Learners: Strategies for the Secondary English Teacher. This

article was written by Laura Beacher and was posted in the Wisconsin English Journal, fall 2011.

The purpose of Laura Beacher’s writing is give key strategies in providing guided instruction for

educators for secondary ELL students. Her hope is that with the information shared from both

current English educators and educators, who use English as a second language, will give other

educator’s ideas to differentiate instruction.

In a secondary language

arts classroom with ELL students, it must be understood that it
can take 5-7 years to develop academic language. (Collier, 1989) Often time’s educators believe
that just engaging students in English will create English proficiency, however this is a
misconception. It is a misconception because the interaction between ELL students and English
speaking students is limited. (Harkalau, 1999) Also, because the exchange that does occur
between ELL students and English speaking students in often not focused enough to provide a
learning experience.
“Sheltering” techniques such as Instructional Observation Protocol (SIOP)
and the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA) has been developed. These
techniques were developed to assist the main-stream educators who have ELL students in their
classrooms. Scaffolding techniques have also been developed to assist ELL students in the
classroom. The use of “I do-we you do” which can be modeled or shown prior to the students
independent work is one form of scaffolding.
Cultural responsiveness in another important factor to an ELL student’s success. This

requires determining what the student is familiar with in their home. Cultural responsiveness can
be achieved by encouraging the use of the students’ first language, by creating a connection to
the student and by discussing the contrasts and comparisons of the ELL student rather than
avoiding their cultural environment, which creates cultural responsiveness for the ELL students.
An educator can utilize bulletin boards and material which avoids stereotypical representations.
Print modifications can also be relevant to ELL students. An educator can add visuals to any
lesson taught.
Differentiated instruction must be established when teaching common lesson objectives.
An educator’s inflexibility should not be a barrier to a students learning. Each student has a
different need as well as individual strong areas; therefore an educator can adapt the lesson to
that student by simply shortening a text, re-wording a text, or by offering examples that the
student can culturally understand, making the ELL student more able to understand and learn.

Educator’s instructional objectives must be constant for all ELL students.

This article applies to my interest area of education, because I want to be successful in

teaching ELL students. Through many hours of observations in the Enid Public Schools, I have

witnessed and experienced firsthand the ELL students and how much of a challenge everyday

learning can be for these students. I feel that all students need some form of differentiated

learning, however the ELL students need visuals, adapted lessons, and examples that they can

relate to in order to fully comprehend what they are learning.

There is a huge emphasis on ELL students in Enid, Oklahoma, but statistically speaking

Enid Public Schools has approximately 958 ELL students, and 381 of those are Marshall Islander

students. (Coppack, 2014) My experience with the Marshal Islander students is that they are

very in touch with their culture and these students often do not listen well nor do they try to

learn. My personal opinion is probably because they feel that they are viewed as an outcast in

our society. The strategies that were listed in the article, Differentiated Instruction for

English
Language Learners: Strategies for the Secondary English Teacher are very helpful. The
strategies that the article lists and then the reviews from fellow educators, who have utilized
these strategies in the classroom provide immense support for me. I will utilize these strategies
and the feedback from other educators in my classroom daily, I am certain of this because of the
ratios of ELL students in Enid Public Schools.
I have witnessed a fellow educator using differentiated instruction with a first grade ELL
student. The teacher simply made real world connections for the student and the connections
were culturally in line with the ELL student. For example, they were reviewing the alphabet and
the sound the letter “M” makes. The teacher said, “Madre” and that simple word made a quick
connection with the student. The teacher just included “Madre” in with her other example
words. I instantly thought that the non ELL students would be thrown off, but all of the students
pushed on and did not stop.
In conclusion, I had not previously read any personal experiences from fellow educators
in regards to educating ELL students. Author Laura Beacher, provided support for differentiated
teaching for ELL students in the classroom, with statistical facts, illustrated strategy examples,
and educator reviews which will be very helpful to me in the field of education. Laura Beacher
emphasized that just because an educator differentiates their learning does not mean that the
learning goal should change.