English Language Learners Essay Example For Students

English Language Learners Essay Tracie Allen of the comedy team of Burns and Allen was once asked how one should speak French. She replied, Well, you speak it the same way you speak English; you just use different words. 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, building background, and comprehensible input, we can indeed teach our future English language learners all the right moves with all the right words. One of the first challenges that ELL instructors must come to terms with is the identification and assessment of their students learning capabilities in their classroom. Traditional identification instruments designed for English speakers may not be valid with English language learners. Identification of English language learners with special needs should include consideration of several factors, such as family history, developmental and health history, first language and literacy development, previous schooling, and the learners current academic ability, just to name a few. Learning in any language is affected by learning disabilities, but second language learners with special needs present additional educational challenges. According to the British Columbia Ministry of Education, Skills, and Training (Fowler Hooper, 1998), instructors of English language learners with special needs should consider the cultural, developmental, and first language background of the learner. They should also do the following: (1. ) Provide a highly structured learning environment; (2. ) Focus on contextual learning; Build on learners prior knowledge; (4. ) Provide constant review; (5. ) Simplify language; (6. ) Build other skills while developing English. The use of standardized testing to identify and assess the progress of English language learners with special needs is problematic. Normally designed for native English speakers, many assessment instruments do not reliably assess speakers of other languages because they ignore differences among linguistic and cultural groups (Schwarz Burt, 1995). Assessment of English language learners with special needs should include the following: (1. ) Consideration of cultural and developmental information; (2. Collaboration of parents, teachers, counselors, psychologists, speech/language pathologists, and ESL specialists: (4. ) Determination of first language proficiency; (5. ) Examination of assessors cultural assumptions and expectations; and (6. ) Continual revision of the assessment instruments and procedures used. Because procedures are not in place in many schools and school districts to successfully determine academic placement of English language learners, many of these learners are so metimes placed inappropriately. Some who do not need special services (other than English as a second language) may find themselves in special education classes. Others who need special services may be placed in regular classes without the extra supports and services that they need. Working with English language learners and with students requiring special education services requires collaboration among teachers, school psychologists, speech pathologists, and assessment personnel with expertise in general, bilingual, and special education. By incorporating these important and critical procedures in our planning processes, these collaborations in the identification and assessment of English language learners can be a less stressful and more constructive process. A second issue that ELL instructors must contend with is NCLB testing requirements, which involve legal as well as academic understanding. Under Title I and Title III of the law, districts must also annually (in kindergarten through grade 12) assess ELLs in English language proficiencycovering reading, writing speaking and listening. Title III also requires that the assessment cover comprehension. The U. S. Department of Education has indicated that comprehension can be demonstrated through reading and listening, so the same assessment may be used to meet the requirements of both titles of the law. ELLs must also be included in the state assessment system. However, during their first year of enrollment in U. S. schools, ELLs are not required by the law to take the reading/English language arts assessment. During this first year of enrollment in U. S. chools, they must take an English proficiency assessment and, if the state desires, will also participate in the reading/English language arts assessment. As an accommodation, ELLs may take the reading/English language arts state assessment in their native language for three to five years. States are only required to develop and administer native language assessments to the extent practicable. Other accommodations include: small group administration, extra time or f lexible scheduling, simplified instructions, dictionaries, recorded native language instructions, and letting students record responses in their native language. Madame Bovary Essay ThesisVerification should be provided of the appropriateness of the schools curriculum, the qualifications and experience of the teacher, and the appropriateness of instruction provided to the student (continuity, proper sequencing, the teaching of prerequisite skills. ) Documentation of the childs problems across settings should also be included, along with evidence that the childs difficulties are present in both languages, and that he or she has not made satisfactory progress despite having received competent instruction. However, because many of these children are losing or have not fully developed first language skills, it may be difficult to ascertain that the learning difficulty exists across languages. The assessment and placement process is not a simple task. Legal requirements can cause difficulties for districts or schools seeking to implement procedures for assessing LEP (limited English proficiency) children. These requirements can be complex or require a certain level of prior knowledge or expertise. The misdiagnosis of LEP students for special education has led to a number of lawsuits and court orders (Diana v. California State Board of Education). Fear of litigation by school districts can lead to the under-identification of minority pupils in special education. Data collected by the California State Department of Education (CSDE) pupil count verifies the trend of shifting from over-identification of minorities in special education to under-identification. (Vasquez-Chairez, 1988). Bergin (1980) maintains that students from culturally and linguistically different backgrounds are subjected to various forms of bias. In the past, such bias led to referring LEP students to special education for reasons other than those making them eligible for special services. It is the objective of fair and appropriate assessment to document any potential difficulties and then to differentiate between those due to intrinsic disorders and those due to cultural and linguistic differences and other intrinsic factors. Only through this process can the appropriate assessment, identification, and programming of exceptional LEP students versus nonexceptional LEP students be accomplished. As the great writer Glenn Hubbard once noted, Preparation for education is relentless. As young ELLs enroll in preschool and primary school programs in record numbers, educators must continually strive to provide effective, nurturing environments and developmentally and linguistically appropriate instruction for all learners. This instruction should take into consideration the characteristics of young English language learners and their language development, the learning conditions that are most effective for these learners, and the kinds of instruction that best meet their needs.