ESL Teacher Resources for Elementary Education

The United States is a diverse country filled with diverse learners. Not all students speak the same language at home as they do in school; and as teachers, it is beneficial to understand this. “More than one in four (27 percent) young children under age 6 in the United States have at least one parent who speaks a language other than English, and one in seven (14 percent) has at least one parent who is limited English proficient” (Matthews & Center for Law and Social Policy, 2011, p. 1).

 

As our diverse population grows, so does the need to accommodate these diverse learners in our school systems. With the introduction of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001, all students who have limited English proficiency (LEP) must be placed in programs that focus on language instruction. These programs require two things:

1. Teach English, and

2. Teach academic content, as outlined in state English language proficiency (ELP) and academic standards (Wright & Colorín Colorado, 2012, p. 1)

 

The Title III portion of NCLB requires English to be the sole focus of instruction to prepare students to enter an English-only classroom. Title III is in place to “ensure that LEP students attain English proficiency, develop high levels of academic attainment in English, and meet the same challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards as all children are expected to meet” (Wright & Colorín Colorado, 2012, p. 1). In order to understand how ELL students learn the English language, we must first look at how ELL students are identified.

 

The NCLB also “requires all states to identify English language learners, measure their English proficiency, and include these students in state testing programs that assess academic skills” (Samson, Collins, & Center for American Progress, 2012, pg. 5). In order for the schools to know which students are limited in English proficiency, each state sends out a survey to the parents before their students are fully enrolled in the district. These language surveys ask questions to determine what is the most prominent language spoken at the students' homes. For example, in the state of Connecticut, the survey consists of three questions:

1. What is the first language you learned to speak?

2. What language is spoken the most by other persons in you home?

3. What language do you speak the most at home?

(Connecticut Department of Education, 2010)

Certain problems arise from these types of questions. Sometimes the parents may feel embarrassed about not speaking English in the home, so they do not answer truthfully. Other times, the parents may not be able to read or answer the questions, so they answer the wrong thing, not aware of what they have done. Fortunately, the question process is just a preliminary screening for ELL students. If the survey comes back to the state that other languages are spoken in the home, other than English, they will then provide the students with an assessment to gauge how proficient they are in English.

 

The problems with the parents filling out the wrong answers will be brought to light, once the child has completed the assessment. These tests are designed to show how proficient the student is in the English language. For example, the LAS Links assessment is a common test given to students who enter the United States and are trying to be placed in the school system. LAS Links assesses four main areas: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. This test is administered for all grades, kindergarten through twelfth.

 

There are five categories in which a student can place himself or herself. The first is a level 1, beginner. In this level, students are just beginning to understand the English language. Beginning ELL’s are able to point to things to show what they want, as well as use body language for communication. In an academic standpoint, beginners are able to use pictorial images to classify things, make picture collages and build picture dictionaries.

 

With level 2, Early Intermediate, ELL’s are developing a stronger sense of English and are able to respond to questions using yes or no. They are also to create their own spelling based on what they hear and they are able to better understand sequencing of events.

 

Level 3 is the Intermediate stage, in which students are now able to use the skills they have learned to meet their immediate communication needs. Level 3’s are usually much better with peer communication, but they still struggle with academic language. In this stage, students can give simple sentence answers, describe events or situations, compare and contrast, and ask questions.

 

Level 4 is the Advanced stage. In this stage, ELL students are almost as proficient as their native English-speaking peers, but they still make conventional errors in communication. At this level, ELL’s can express opinions, answer how and why questions, use persuasion and predict outcomes.

 

The final stage is Level 5, English Language Proficient. In this level, students are able to communicate, read, and write just as well as their grade level counterparts. They can comprehend the English language with no difficulty and can preform all academic aspects as well as native English speakers.