Options for English Language Learners

Between 69 percent and 90 percent of English language learners in middle and high schools who were born in the United States and have been in U.S. schools since kindergarten still have not achieved the academic proficiency to succeed in the all-English mainstream program. Why?

Two important reasons are (1) a lack of teacher preparation to use research-based strategies to teach academic language and curriculum content and (2) some programs offer English as a second language with a watered-down curriculum. Consequently, English language learners adopt only simplistic phrases and superficial concepts through mostly oral language as opposed to what they need to learn — academic English to make complex meanings explicit in the content area.

After attending their district’s ESL program, students often are mainstreamed into the regular English program, where the subject-area teacher discovers they do not understand the words from the textbooks, do not comprehend what they are reading and struggle with advanced writing. Most commonly, students are sent back to the ESL classroom to learn basic English again.

The vicious cycle is repeated, compounded by such factors as absenteeism, mobility and discipline problems.
How can educators ensure that English language learners not only become proficient in English, but that these students also have the content knowledge they need to succeed in school and in life?

Various program options are available for school districts to implement as whole-school programs or as additions to the regular curriculum. The two major models for ELLs are bilingual and monolingual programs. About two-thirds of the existing programs in K-12 schools are organized around five instructional strategies within these two programs as described here. The remaining third weave features of both the bilingual and monolingual models.

• Two-way bilingual programs. Also known as two-way immersion, bilingual immersion, dual language and developmental bilingual education, two-way bilingual programs give equal status to English and to the students’ home languages with the goal of developing strong academic skills and proficiency in both languages. These programs begin in the primary grades and continue for several years, optimally grades K-12. Because these programs require long-term participation, transient populations are not the ideal students for this program.

Two-way programs enroll a roughly equal number of native English speakers and ELLs. During the school day, students can be instructed separately in each language and in mixed groupings in both languages. For example, with the popular 50/50 model, 50 percent of instruction is in non-English and 50 percent is in English. Other models (80/20 with 80 percent in the home language and 20 percent in English, 70/30 and 90/10) favor the use of the non-English language in the early grades and gradually increase to an equal split in language use in the later grades.

Usually, instruction is provided in one language for one week and in the other for the next, alternating through the year. Other alternatives are to alternate by morning and afternoon or by days. Some programs divide the use of the two languages by academic subject. Lessons are never repeated or translated in the other language, but concepts taught in one language are reinforced across the two languages in a spiraling curriculum, with concepts and knowledge building on each other.

The Alicia R. Chacón International School in the Ysleta Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, is a two-way bilingual magnet school. Its goal is to develop literate students who can function in two languages in the milieu of two cultures. “Kindergarten through life is what we talk about here to truly become bilingual, biliterate, able to function in a professional capacity in English or in Spanish, in an English-speaking country or in a Spanish-speaking country,” says Robert Schulte, the school’s former principal.

Chacón International School is 95 percent Hispanic. The students come with different levels of English and Spanish fluency and from different economic backgrounds. School officials try to create a balance in the classroom: one-half monolingual English or English-dominant and one-half monolingual Spanish or Spanish dominant. Each teacher models one of the languages for instruction and students associate the language with the teacher. Extended time in one language encourages native English speakers and ELLs to communicate in the language of instruction.

Teachers learn from each other, create and improve the program together and participate in ongoing professional development. They coordinate content so they continue to add to what is already being taught in the target language and refrain from translating the same content back and forth. Parents have a strong sense of ownership in the education of their children. Teachers use strategies to connect parents who do not speak English or Spanish and invite them into the classroom to learn Spanish or English and help with their children’s homework.

The number of two-way programs has increased substantially in the past 15 years as educators recognize that valuing the language and culture of both groups benefits each group. At the 2008 American Educational Research Association annual meeting, Margarita Calderón and Robert Slavin of Johns Hopkins University presented preliminary findings of a five-year randomized study that indicates that students in two-way bilingual programs develop high levels of proficiency in both languages and achieve at grade-level academically.

• Transitional bilingual education programs. These programs initially provide literacy and academic content instruction in the English language learner’s first language, along with instruction in English oral language development. Programs vary in the amount of home language instruction provided and the duration of the program, but they do require a sizeable number of ELLs who speak the same language to optimize first language instruction.

In keeping with the goal of English language development and partial bilingualism, the language in which academic subjects are taught gradually shifts from the student’s first language to English. Typically, instruction begins in kindergarten with the majority taking place in the first language along with some instruction in oral English development. Instruction in English begins in 2nd grade and students are transitioned to all-English instruction by 3rd grade. However, some programs integrate oral English with selected grade-level content earlier, and some schools have similar two- or three-year transitional programs for students who enter the program in the upper grades.

Transitional programs sometimes are perceived by educators and the general public as remedial programs, a lower track for slow students, and another form of segregated, compensatory education that research shows generally has had limited success in raising students’ achievement scores. Quality programs gradually transition ELLs from instruction in the first language to English, phasing in subjects one at a time. They promote social and classroom interaction with native English speakers and allow ELLs to learn along with them.

Monolingual Programs
In monolingual English programs, teachers instruct in English only. Unlike bilingual programs, these programs are more prevalent in school districts where the ELL population is highly diverse with many languages represented.

The following programs can accommodate ELLs from different language backgrounds in the same class, and teachers do not need to be proficient in the home languages of their students.

• Sheltered English or content-based English as a second language. The focus of these programs is more on content and knowledge than on English language instruction. Educators group ELLs from different language backgrounds for one or several periods per day for content-area instruction in English. ELLs are the only students in the classroom and are “sheltered” from competing with English speakers. The goal is fluency in English and instruction includes academic content, vocabulary and beginning concepts.

Acquisition of English is one of the goals of this program, yet instruction focuses on content rather than language. The content is similar to English speakers’ classes, but teachers use instructional methods and instructional practices that are appropriate for the English language learner’s unique language needs.

Students learn by experimenting in science, solving problems in math, analyzing the community from a social studies perspective, exploring authentic literature and reading and writing across the curriculum. Teachers use hands-on activities, gestures and visual aids to help students acquire language while they are learning the content. Typically, there is no home-language support unless the teacher is bilingual.

Sheltered classrooms sometimes are misconstrued as places where content is watered down and teachers spend most of the time using gestures and showing pictures, leaving little time for students to interact with the new concepts and take ownership. Properly implemented, sheltered classes make rigorous content comprehensible to English language learners in an environment that teaches vocabulary for concept development in the core subjects.

• ESL pullout/push-in programs. The goal of these programs is English language fluency, not content mastery.

In the pullout ESL program, English language learners are pulled out of regular, mainstream classrooms for special instruction in English as a second language. In contrast, the push-in ESL program brings the ESL teacher into the regular mainstream classroom to provide ESL instruction to a group of students. Although schools with a large number of ELLs may have a full-time ESL teacher, some districts employ an ESL teacher who travels to several schools to work with small groups of ELLs scattered throughout the district.

In both programs, ESL instruction is aimed at developing English grammar, vocabulary and communication skills, not specific academic subjects. ELL students are integrated into mainstream, English-only classrooms in other subjects, with no special assistance. This program is generally used in elementary and middle school settings. Middle school ELLs receive instruction during a regular class period and usually receive course credit. They may be grouped for instruction according to their level of English proficiency.

Two problems with pullout and push-in programs are the learners’ reduced access to the full curriculum and the lack of curriculum articulation with grade-level mainstream classroom teachers. Students in pullout programs are missing content in their academic classrooms and mainstream classroom teachers are not teaching ELLs the academic language proficiency they need to understand content in the regular classroom.

Another challenge is meeting the needs of ELLs who bring a wide range of linguistic, academic and life skills. Typically, schools offer only one type of ESL course per grade level where all ELLs are placed in one course. This makes it very difficult for the ESL teacher to address the array of individual needs and allows little time to plan content lessons for each student. This teacher may try to teach to the middle, limiting attention and instruction to ELLs in the higher and lower ends of the continuum.

• Newcomer programs. These programs address specific, short-term needs of recent immigrants — most often at the middle and high school levels — who have less time to meet expectations for English and academic development before high school graduation. These students may have limited or interrupted formal schooling in their home countries, have low levels of literacy and achieve below grade level.

In the program, the students acquire beginning English language skills along with core academic skills, receive support for psychological and emotional trauma experienced prior to entering the United States, and begin acclimating to U.S. schooling and culture. The expectation is that they advance enough to participate in mainstream classes with students their age.

Newcomer programs provide distinct, intensive courses in English language development and content instruction through ESL, sheltered instruction or bilingual instruction with home-language literacy designs. They also have courses that integrate students into American life and orient them to U.S. culture, their new community and school routines and expectations.

Teachers use specialized instructional strategies to address literacy because many students become literate for the first time in English or their first language, although they are beyond the normal age for initial literacy instruction. Guidance counselors, often bilingual and familiar with the students’ cultures, assist them with placement and adjustments and connect them and their families with social and health services.

Newcomer programs vary widely depending on their education goals, site options, available staff and resources. Programs may be located in a school or at a separate site, and the daily program may be one period, half day, full day or after school. Programs may serve one or more grade levels. Students may be enrolled from one to three semesters and may be organized by English proficiency instead of grade level.

The newcomer program is a viable option only with the proper transition procedures in place. Since the aim of newcomer programs is to prepare recent immigrant students for success in regular ESL, bilingual or mainstream programs, the transition to those programs is critical, especially if students switch schools. With that in mind, teachers and guidance counselors help students plan their course schedules and oversee the transition process.

A Needs Basis
As school districts choose the most effective program to meet the needs of their ELL populations, they must consider the needs and well-being of the students, their families and the communities in which they live. They also need a thorough understanding of the program options, district goals and available resources.

With that knowledge, school leaders are better able to select and implement an effective education program that meets the needs of all English language learners.

Liliana Minaya-Rowe is associate researcher in the Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University. E-mail: wirakocha@aol.com