English+Language+Learners+Research

English Language Learners =**Research**= 1. [|Helping Teachers Work Effectively with English Language Learners and Their Families] Chen, Cheng-Ting; Kyle, Diane W.; McIntyre, Ellen. School Community Journal, v18 n1 p7-20 Spr-Sum 2008. (EJ798678)

__Summary__: In this article the authors describe the efforts, during an 18 month project, of groups of teachers that learned strategies to help the growing population of English learners. The project called The Sheltered Instruction and Family Involvement (SIFI) project helped teachers to learn "sheltered instruction" or strategies that would help students learn content while also learning English proficiency. The focus was to improve the academic achievement of English language learners as they promoted family involvement. The model for the project was The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) which promoted making grade-level academic content accessible to English learners while promoting their language and literacy development. According to the article, "The SIOP includes eight conponents: preparation, building background, comprehensible input, strategies, interation, practice/application, lesson delivery, and review/assessment". It continues to state that the research on the model shows its effectiveness and that further research shows that the students benefit when teachers are trained and then implement SIOP.

__Analysis__: The authors in this article make excellent points as to how with a little bit of training we can find strategies that will involve our students and their homelife into the classroom and school atmosphere. It points out how family involvement can improve communication and in turn increase the student's academic success. I thought it was interesting that the teachers learned that they must use different strategies or times to involve families, since a lot have time contraints due to working several jobs or transportation issues. Also interesting, was the fact that many first time parents where unsure of what the teacher was trying to accomplish and the communication that the teachers set up helped to open up family involvement and promoted better understanding for both the parents and the teachers. I found the example of how the teachers were involving the families interesting such as using a "family tree" project or having a welcome night for the families. I was pleased to see that the teacher's efforts were successful in bringing about better results for their students as well as their families.

__Applications to Couse Content and Connections to Teaching__: (Submitted by Lisa Beals)
 * As teachers we must understand the importance of educating ourselves as to how we can best serve each of our students unique need and how each family is unique.
 * Through family involvement the teacher, parent, and child will feel more included and the communication will better help each student.
 * As a teacher I must set the tone and involve families, going beyond teacher conferences and report cards. As a school/home community we will be better able to support each child.

2. Lombardi, Judy. (2008) Beyond Learning Styles: Brain-Based Research and English Language Learners. //Clearing House//. 81(5), 219-222.
__Summary__: In this article, author Judy Lombardi discusses the latest brain-based research and its implications for English language learners. Many of the new discoveries about the brain and the way that it processes new things can be applied to language acquisition. In the past, researchers believed that the brain was a static organism and once it had developed it could not make new "connections." This idea has been proven false and now researchers and educators understand that the brain can create new pathways and neurotransmitters to handle new information and learning. This research is very hopeful and encouraging for English language learners. It has been shown that learners acquire a second language in much the same way they acquired their first. This means that language should be taught in a dynamic and natural way, using lots of different strategies and stimulating activities. One of the key things to remember is that learning happens most readily when verbal tasks are turned into visual tasks and then translated into kinesthetic tasks. There are some practical information in this article that can help educators customize their teaching and give ELL students the best chance possible. We must tell them, then show them, and then allow learners to "touch" or experience what we are talking about. This will help language learners avquire new langugae in much the same way they learned their native language. New brain research shows that every brain is unique and some of our learning is in the unconcsious part of the brain. Teachers can have confidence that students who are learning English can progress rapidly if given multiple ways to learn. This article describes this hope as "turning problems into possibilities."

__Analysis__: I found this article to be very practical in respect to teaching non-English speaking students. I believe that good techniques apply across the curriculum and the same things that work for other subjects will work for English Language Acquisition. This article reinforces what we have learned about varying instruction and offering multiple ways to learn the same information. Learners process in different ways and some children need to see and experience new things to fully learn and apply them. This article offers hope to educators causing them to believe that new learning is not as complicated as we have thought in the past. Lombardi emphasizes that attitude is as important as IQ in learning. Teachers have to give all learners a warm environment whre they are not afraid to take chances and where they are constantly stimulated with new ways to learn.

__Applications to course content and connections to teaching__: (Submitted by Melissa J. Bowman)
 * I must examine my own bias' and attitudes about English Language Learners.
 * I must firmly believe that all of my students can become proficient in English, but be patient while this is happening.
 * My classroom must be a place where everyone is welcome and free to try new things without fear of failure.
 * I must offer my students many ways to learn and vary my style and techniques to reach more students.
 * I must help all of my students to feel comfortable interacting with students with limited English skills because social interaction is one of the best ways for ELL students to acquire English.
 * I must help my entire school to be open to families with limited English. Our school must have a warm and open atmosphere where everyone is welcome. It is impossible to learn in an environment where there is fear.

[|Misconceptions about Teaching English-Language Learners] By: Harper, Candace; de Jong, Ester. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, v48 n2 p152-162 Oct 2004.

__Summary:__ In this article, Candace Harper, a teacher at the University of Flordia has examined several misconceptions about teaching English-language learners. An ESL specialist was invited to provide a series of workshops to a school with a large linguistic and culturally diverse student population. The ESL teachers at that school had several misconceptions about how they should teach and how the ELL students would learn. The teachers thought that exposure and interaction would automatically result in English-language learning. Another misconception that the teachers had was that all ELLs learn English in the same way and at the same rate. The third misconception that this article talks about is that good teaching for native speakers is good teaching for ELLs. The last misconception that this article covers is that effective instruction means nonverbal support.This atricle gives examples of how teachers can improve themselves to help improve the way that English-Language Learners learn from them.

__Anaylsis:__ This article helped to clarify some of the misconceptions that I had as a perspective teacher. The article mentions that ELL students are the fastest growing student population today. It is very likely that I will have a English-language learner in my own classroom. I will need to do all that I can in order to insure that the student is learning while in my class. I will need to learn more about other cultures and the educational experiences that they practice. Second-language learning is a process and it is something that I will need to work at continually. __Applications to course content:__ (submitted by Valorie Chapman)
 * We have discussed the rate at which ELL learners are increasing in our public schools.
 * I related this article to the book we read about migrant workers that come to America. In the book, the boy felt trapped within the classroom. He was not receiving the resources that could have made him a sucessful student. He was punished for not being able to speak English. As a teacher, I must know that I will have to incorporate the primary language into my teaching with these students.
 * All students learn at a different level or rate. We have talked in class how our students will learn in different ways. Not every student will learn at the same rate or level. As a teacher I must always remember this important fact.

__ Informed Additive Literacy Instruction for ELLs __ Bauer, Eurydice Bouchereau. //Informed Additive Literacy Instruction for ELLs.// Reading Teacher, v62 n5 p446-448 Feb 2009. pp 446-448 //EBSCOhost.//

__Summary__: In her article, “Informed Additive Literacy Instruction for ELLs,” Eurydice Bauer discusses the issues that surround additive literacy instruction. First, Bauer defines additive literacy as instruction given to an ELL in both his/her L1 and L2. The author gives credit to this type of instruction, providing researched material about how learners who are instructed bilingually tend to achieve similarly in both languages, acquiring the skills and strategies in one language and transferring them to the other. Bauer states that researchers found many particular things that are needed in a school for additive literacy instruction to be successful. Some of these things include having a well-thought-out plan, a systematic effort for professional development, and an emphasis on assessment to drive instruction. Bauer ends her article with a discussion on how to provide an environment that leads to additive literacy stating that teachers should encourage L1 to be spoken at home, advocate for students to speak in both L1 and L2 during school, and keep a positive, respectful attitude toward both languages. __Analysis__: Bauer does an excellent job in this article describing the use of additive literacy instruction and its benefits in schools. Concepts such as the lack of properly trained teachers and a lack of resources make the implementation of this type of instruction difficult. For those schools that do have the opportunity and resources to offer this type of instruction need to make the most out of it, making sure that special attention is given to the processes and terms by which an additive literacy instruction program is provided. All those in the school need to work cooperatively in order to accomplish success with this type of instruction. ELLs face some of the most difficult challenges in school and the implementation of this type of literacy instruction plays a large role in how successful ELLs will be. In other words, ELLs need and deserve extra help and instructional resources. Hopefully, with the incredibly fast growing number of ELLs, this type of instruction, and others like it, can be implemented into more schools in time. __ Application to Course Concepts: __ ·  Teachers and schools should provide resources for the needs of each and every student. ·  Teachers have the responsibility of creating a type of environment for students with diversities that advocates learning. ·  Teachers should alter and adapt instruction for the needs of diverse learners. (submitted by Kay Ann Fite)