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English Language Learners
Question 8: Do you feel that a “pure sheltered” or a “double described” class is best for the English Language Learner? |
Responded by: Libia S. Gil (Senior Advisor, National High School Center)
This is an important question that many of our high schools struggle with on a regular basis especially when the master schedule is tight and teacher capacity for meeting the needs of English Language Learners may be limited without appropriate support or training opportunities.
First, it is helpful to understand who the ELL students are and to raise some of the suggested questions such as: what is the length of time in school in the United States, what are the level of English language proficiency and also what is the level of home language literacy? Additional questions may include what is the level of formal education experiences and how many languages does the student use? The number of students with common heritage languages may also be a consideration for the most appropriate grouping structure.
Second, it is equally helpful to understand who the teaching staff members are and to raise the questions: Are there appropriate certification for teaching ELLs? What is the level of training support for all staff and the level of commitment to address the needs of ELLs? The number of qualified staff available in relation to the number of ELL student may determine best organizational strategies.
In consulting with colleagues and conducting a review of relevant research literature, it appears that there are common issues and suggested practices to consider in determining the most appropriate ELL grouping arrangements:
- Ana Diaz-Booz, a nationally recognized high school leader and expert in addressing the needs of ELLs shares this view:
- “After 15 years working with ELL in different programs, I strongly believe that students benefit most from “double described”, where there are strong models of English besides the teacher. I don’t believe that ELLs participate less, as long as the teacher is trained to have systems in place for participation and sets a culture of acceptance (and high expectations) for all students. The only class where I use “pure sheltered” is computer applications and I have at least two peer support students (11th/12th grade mentors) to assist the teacher.”
- Rebecca M. Callahan, a researcher at the University of Texas, Austin investigated the effects of track placement and English proficiency on secondary English learners’ academic achievement while taking students’ previous schooling and length of time enrolled in U.S. schools into account (Tracking and High School English Learners: Limiting Opportunity to Learn. American Education Research Journal. (2005)). Some of the key messages from her study include:
- A wide range of studies dispute the claim that tracking enhances learning by designating students and their assigned curriculum according to ability.
- Research has also found that track placement not only influences access to academic and linguistic content, but can influence teachers’ belief about and treatment of students. ELL students placed in low-track classes find that teachers may have low academic expectations and lead to the perception that ELLs are limited not only in language, but also in terms of knowledge skills and cultural competencies.
- A major finding of the article is that ELLs benefit from access and exposure to high quality content and instruction. Consequently, low content leads to low expectations and set the precedence for academic development.
Judith Rance-Roney, Assistant Professor of Education at the State University of New York writes that an integrated approach with cross-disciplinary school wide teams is the best way to monitor student progress and needs (Best Practices for Adolescent ELLs. Educational Leadership (2009, April)).
- In addition, Rance-Roney suggests that a dual curriculum to focus on language development as well as language for social integration and academic achievement must also address the additional time for students to master academic literacy and content at the same time. Further, the author proposes the Global Community Classrooms or the ELL cluster model as an alternative to a newcomer school or program, depending on the number of recent immigrants and community support. This model is designed to integrate the benefits of a newcomer program while avoiding linguistic isolation and uses elements of the sheltered instruction approach. In these classrooms, one quarter to one third of the students are ELLs and the rest are native English speakers and is taught by a content area teacher who is trained in ELL methods and second language acquisition. One of the goals is to encourage teachers and classmates to view ELLs as resources rather than liabilities.
- Finally, Szpara, M., & Ahmad, at the Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus published an article on content and pedagogy in mainstream secondary school classrooms with a focus to making social studies meaningful for ELL students. Some of their suggested practices are applicable to multiple content areas:
- Develop a socially supportive classroom environment
- Explicit teaching of academic skills with the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (includes teaching academic skills and content knowledge)
- Emphasis on providing key information in the simplest terms (not to be confused with simplifying the content material) possible by reducing cognitive load and increasing the accessibility of complex content knowledge.
