The following misconceptions regarding the education of English language learners can prevent school districts from providing these students with the education and support they need.
All students learn a second language in the same way.
This assumption is common in many classrooms and ELL programs. In reality, individual students react to school and learn differently regardless of the language they speak. Some are outgoing and sociable, do not worry about mistakes and learn the second language quickly. Others are shy and quiet, learn by listening and watching and say little for fear of making a mistake.
Some English language learners are more accustomed to learning from peers than from adults. Cared for and taught by older siblings or cousins, they learn to be quiet in the presence of adults and have little interaction with them. In school, they are likely to pay more attention to what their peers are doing than to what their teacher is saying.
Effective instruction for ELLs requires varied instructional activities that consider the students’ diverse experiences. It recognizes that experiences in the home and home culture affect students’ values, patterns of language use and interpersonal style.
ELLs have learned English sufficiently once they can speak it.
We cannot assume English language learners who can converse comfortably in English are in full control of English. Oral language proficiency does not imply academic English proficiency. It usually takes longer to master the academic language required for the grade-level English curriculum than to master conversation skills.
Educators need to be cautious about transitioning ELLs out of programs where they have the support of their home language. If they are not ready for the all-English classroom, they may not succeed. Mainstreaming ELLs on the basis of oral language assessment is inappropriate. We need to consider that ELLs who are learning English may have language problems in reading, writing and academic vocabulary that are not apparent if their oral language skills seem strong.
The best way to learn vocabulary is by reading.
This statement is true, but it does not tell the whole story. Students expand their vocabulary dramatically during their school years, and reading is the major source of this growth. ELLs also can increase their vocabulary knowledge through reading, but few will read the amount of English text that mainstream programs offer throughout more than a decade of schooling.
English language learners benefit from opportunities to read material that is interesting and important to them. However, those who also receive guidance from instruction and develop good strategies for learning and remembering words will benefit more than those who simply focus on getting the main ideas from a text. Readers usually need to know 90 percent or more of the words in a text in order to guess the meanings of the new, unfamiliar words.