Do current English language development/proficiency standards reflect the English needed for success in school?

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison L. Bailey ◽  
Becky H. Huang
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
School Setting ◽  
English Language Development ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Academic English ◽  
K 12

English language development or proficiency (ELD/P) standards promise to play an important role in the instruction and assessment of the language development of English language learner (ELL) pre-K-12 students, but to do so effectively they must convey the progression of student language learning in authentic school contexts for authentic academic purposes. The construct of academic English is defined as the vocabulary, sentence structures, and discourse associated with language used to teach academic content as well as the language used to navigate the school setting more generally. The construct definition is informed by a relatively modest number of empirical studies of textbooks, content assessments, and observations of classroom discourse. The standards of a state with a large ELL population and a large multi-state consortium are then reviewed to illustrate the role of the academic English construct in the standards’ coverage of language modalities or domains, levels of attainment or proficiency, grade spans, and the needs of the large number of young English learners. Recommendations and potential strategies for validating, creating, and augmenting standards that reflect authentic uses of academic language in school settings are also made.

Borrowing legitimacy as English learner (EL) leaders: Indiana’s 14-year history with English language proficiency standards

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trish Morita-Mullaney
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language Development ◽  
Content Standards ◽  
Critical Leadership ◽  
English Language Proficiency Standards ◽  
K 12

English language proficiency or English language development (ELP/D) standards guide how content-specific instruction and assessment is practiced by teachers and how English learners (ELs) at varying levels of English proficiency can perform grade-level-specific academic standards in K–12 US schools. With the transition from the state-developed Indiana ELP/D standards adopted in 2003 to the World Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) English language development standards adopted in 2013, this paper explores Indiana’s ELP/D standard’s 14-year history and how its district EL/Bilingual district leaders have interpreted and implemented these two sets of standards between the school years 2002–03 and 2015–16. Using critical leadership and feminism within a narrative design, EL/Bilingual leaders illuminate distinct leadership logics as they mediate and implement ELP/D standards in their districts. Academic content standards are regarded with greater privilege, complicating how EL/Bilingual leaders can position ELP/D standards. Restricted by this standards hierarchy, EL/Bilingual leaders found limited educational venues in which to discuss the performance-based nature of ELP/D standards. Implications for assessment, policy, and leadership preparation are discussed.

Classroom interaction and language learning: English-language-learner vignettes

2014 ◽  
pp. 8-13
Author(s):  
Clare Berry ◽  
Margaret Kitchen
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Group Work ◽  
English Language Learner ◽  
English Language ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
English Language Development ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Language Output

This article uses three excerpts of paired and group talk to explore English-language development in a Year 1 classroom. It suggests that structuring effective language-learning opportunities requires more than organising group work. It affirms the teacher’s essential roles as reflective organiser and close monitor of language output and participative opportunities. In such settings students can learn so much from one another. Interpreting and reflecting on these interactive episodes enriches teachers’ understanding of their practice.

Cultivating Rich Language Development, Deep Learning, and Joyful Classrooms for English Learners

2019 ◽  
pp. 269-293
Author(s):  
Martha I. Martinez ◽  
Anya Hurwitz ◽  
Jennifer Analla ◽  
Laurie Olsen ◽  
Joanna Meadvin
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Language Development ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Academic Language ◽  
English Language Development ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Meaningful Engagement ◽  
Comprehensive Reform ◽  
Grade 3

Although there is general consensus among educators of English learners (ELs) regarding the need for contextualized language development, it is not widely implemented. This chapter explains the theory behind this shift in teaching English language development and for teaching ELs in general. The chapter also discusses the kind of professional development teachers need to make this shift, and the importance of meaningful engagement of families in their children's learning. The chapter situates this discussion within the Sobrato Early Academic Language (SEAL) model's work with schools across California. SEAL is a PK–Grade 3 comprehensive reform focused on the needs of English learners, and is designed to create a language-rich, joyful, and rigorous education. California is an important context given the state's large EL population and recent favorable shifts in educational policy, which provide a unique opportunity for laying a foundation for improved practices and outcomes for numerous English learners.

scholarly journals Preventing Long-Term English Learners: Results from a Project-Based Differentiated ELD Intervention Program

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magaly Lavadenz ◽  
Elvira Armas ◽  
Rosalinda Barajas
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Development Program ◽  
English Language Development ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Long Term English Learners

<p>In this article the authors describe efforts taken by a small southern California school district to develop and implement an innovative, research-based English Language Development program to address a growing concern over long-term English Learners (LTELs) in their district. With support from the Weingart Foundation this afterschool program served 3<sup>rd</sup> and 7<sup>th</sup> grade LTELs between 2008–2011 to accelerate language and literacy acquisition and prevent prolonged EL status. Program evaluation results indicated that the intervention was associated with improved English language proficiency as measured by the California English Language Development Test. Results also showed a heightened awareness of effective practices for LTELs among the district’s teachers and high levels of satisfaction among the participants’ parents. This intervention program has implications for classroom-based intervention including project-based learning for LTELs, for targeted professional development, and for further research for the prevention of LTEL status.</p>

scholarly journals Lazy or Dyslexic: A Multisensory Approach to Face English Language Learning Difficulties

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Yanilis Romero
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Public High School ◽  
Academic English ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Low Achieving Students ◽  
Grammar Rules ◽  
Tenth Grade ◽  
Specific Difficulty

An investigation was conducted to help weak academic English learners in a public high school in Colombia, as they seemed to be facing a learning specific difficulty called dyslexia. A focus group of ten students from ninth and tenth grade was the beneficiaries of the design, implementation, and assessment of five multisensory activities to help students decrease their struggles while learning the foreign language (English). For the present action research, five activities were applied during two academic terms (six months) where students were taught verbs, grammar rules, question words, and minimal pairs to help them do better while reading. Outcomes showed that low academic students tend to have a better performance when teachers target multisensory activities to assist them in their learning process related to grammar within the English sessions. Color-coded activities help low achieving students to exercise and remember more easily as senses are engaged while learning, reading exercises are better approached if their workload is split into smaller quantities compare to regular learners.

Adding Flesh to the Bones: Dignity Frames for English Learner Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 482-510
Author(s):  
LUIS E. POZA
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Development ◽  
English Learner ◽  
Narrow Focus

In this essay, Luis E. Poza argues that educational dignity can help practices and reforms targeting students classified as English learners move beyond a narrow focus on programmatic and material factors related to English language development and instead toward more holistic consideration of these students and their schooling ecologies. In aligning the philosophical and legal operationalizations of dignity with landmark judicial victories for racially and linguistically minoritized students, he argues that dignity frameworks are relevant and actionable for more effectively imagining and designing education as an empowering, emancipatory endeavor.

scholarly journals Category building of international students as language learners in two secondary schools

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Filipi
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
International Student ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Development ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Language Deficit ◽  
Membership Categorization

This paper reports on a small scale study of category building in the context of English language learning. The data for the current study is derived from the interviews with two students, one from China and the other from Mongolia, in two schools in Melbourne. The study uses Membership Categorization Analysis to give an account of identity by examining how categories of English language learner emerge and shift during the course of the interviews. The categories established by the participants in the two interviews were constructed around different sorts of attributes belonging to the category of international student. These emerged as a series of categorical binaries including international student and local student, language competence and language deficit, mainstream English and English as an Additional Language (EAL), and home country and Australia. As the participants took part in the interview, they moved towards accounts that integrated multiple viewpoints resulting in dynamically shifting categorisations. Through these categories, it was also possible to show how students were invited to display their learning and knowledge of English, and to give accounts of their English language development.

scholarly journals The Arts, the Common Core, and English Language Development in the Primary Grades

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Christa Mulker Greenfader ◽  
Liane Brouillette
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Development Program ◽  
English Language Development ◽  
Oral Language Skills ◽  
English Speaking

Background/Context Throughout schooling, English learners (ELs) perform well below their monolingual English-speaking peers on literacy assessments, and Hispanics make up the majority of EL students in the United States. There is a strong consensus about the importance of early English oral language skills for ELs’ literacy development, yet teachers are not adequately prepared to meet the needs of these young learners. Historically, policy has not provided incentives for educators to focus on oral language development in the classroom. However, the recently adopted Common Core State Standards (CCSS) emphasize oral language skills. Purpose/Objective This study examines a professional development program that equipped early elementary teachers in five urban schools with arts-based strategies to promote the oral English development of ELs. A second line of inquiry looked at the extent to which the creative drama and dance activities were aligned with CCSS. Participants There were 3,792 K–2 Hispanic ELs (treatment: N = 497; control: N = 3,295) from Title I schools in a large school district in California. Intervention The Teaching Artist Project (TAP) was a two-year K–2 arts and literacy professional development program consisting of 28 weekly 50-minute lessons (14 theater and 14 dance). The project provided classroom teachers with in-service training on utilizing movement, gesture, and expression to promote stimulating English verbal interactions. TAP was specifically intended to engage non-native English speakers in classroom dialogues, facilitating their oral English development. Research Design This study utilized a mixed methods design. To address the first research question, schools were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Multiple regressions were run on data from the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) to investigate the impact of the program on the English speaking abilities of K–2 Hispanic English learners. To address the second research question, document review was used to compare the K–2 CCSS speaking and listening standards and the TAP lesson plans. Findings The treatment group was found to significantly outperform the control group (β = 0.13; p < 0.05) on CELDT speaking scores. Additional review suggested that the performing arts activities corresponded well to the CCSS speaking and listening standards. Conclusions/Recommendations Creative drama and dance activities provide rich verbal classroom interactions, boost English oral language skills of ELs, and align with the CCSS. Yet concerns are raised about the lack of speaking assessments on tests created by the Smarter Balanced and PARCC consortiums and the potential subsequent distortion of K–2 instruction.

scholarly journals Category building of international students as language learners in two secondary schools

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Filipi
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
International Student ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Development ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Language Deficit ◽  
Membership Categorization

This paper reports on a small scale study of category building in the context of English language learning. The data for the current study is derived from the interviews with two students, one from China and the other from Mongolia, in two schools in Melbourne. The study uses Membership Categorization Analysis to give an account of identity by examining how categories of English language learner emerge and shift during the course of the interviews. The categories established by the participants in the two interviews were constructed around different attributes belonging to the category of international student. These emerged as a series of categorical binaries including international student and local student, language competence and language deficit, mainstream English and English as an Additional Language (EAL), and home country and Australia. As the participants took part in the interview, they moved towards accounts that integrated multiple viewpoints resulting in dynamically shifting categorisations. Through these categories, it was also possible to show how students were invited to display their learning and knowledge of English, and to give accounts of their English language development.

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