ELL stands for English Language Learner. These are students who do not speak English as their primary language. ELLs may be Canadian born or immigrants from another country. There are two types of language proficiencies displayed by ELLs as outlined in Capacity Building Series: Canadian-born English Language Learners (2013).
1. Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS): ELLs with BICS are able to interact socially and carry on conversation in a familiar setting. It may take ELLs around two years to develop these conversation skills. 2. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP): ELLs with CALP utilize specialized vocabulary and functions of language common to the education system. They are able to understand academic and abstract content and can use low-frequency vocabulary in more complex sentences. This language proficiency takes between five and seven years to develop. Teachers should not mistaken a student’s BICS for CALP. Just because an ELL student appears to communicate well and participate socially does not mean they have the skills necessary for language skills in the classroom. It is important ELLs receive interventions and adaptations or modifications in the classroom to be successful. Some strategies teachers can utilize in the classroom to help support ELLs are: 1. Create a safe and welcoming classroom environment. Students should feel safe to use their first language without fear of being made fun of. ELLs should also feel comfortable participating in all classroom activities. A safe environment allows for the inclusion of student identity and use of first language whenever the opportunity presents itself. Teachers can provide instruction in english first and have opportunities for instruction in the student’s original language too. Teachers should display more pictures and visuals around they classroom. They may also utilize technology such as text-to-speech when necessary. 2. Work collaboratively with colleagues, past teachers, parents, and community resources. Together, teachers can make meaningful instructional decisions and set specific goals for specific students. By building off past knowledge, teachers can set goals to ensure their students are seeing progress in their language development. 3. Reading and Language Intervention. ELLs will likely require Tier 2 or 3 support for reading and language intervention. They should receive high quality classroom instruction that supports their individual needs. Classroom teachers may need to monitor their speech more regularly to avoid speaking too quickly, using slang, or sayings unfamiliar to ELL students. One area I found interesting is on ELLs’ ability to read. When entered into a Canadian school at a young age, “ELL learners often attain equivalent levels of reading and spelling achievement” (Lovett et al., 2008). I believe strongly in the importance of early education, the earlier we can introduce ELLs to english language the better. As I mentioned in my previous post, there is one ELL in the other grade one classroom this year. She moved to our community four years ago. She was enrolled in the Pre-K program for two years, completed kindergarten last year, and is excelling in first grade so far this fall. Her teacher explained to me that while she makes some grammatical errors, such as runned instead of ran, her phonological skills are equivalent to her English First Langauge (EFL) peers. I believe her early start in our school is a huge factor in her success. I am skeptical to believe her results would be the same if she entered our school in Grade 5, for example. My experience will ELLs is slim to none. As a first grade teacher I can envision life with an ELL student in my classroom. While being extremely challenging, and likely intimidating for the student, I believe these early years are the best time for ELLs. In grade one, all students are learning and reviewing letters, sounds, and language concepts. We are developing our phonological awareness and just beginning to learn how to read. There is a wide range of skills already in this first year of schooling even for EFLs. I worry about ELLs entering in the later years where students have already learned to read and are now reading to learn. For Canadian born ELLs this is likely less of an issue as they will enter school at the right age. However, for our immigrant ELLs there is no deciding when they will move and enter our school system. Teachers of all grade levels should be educated on ways to assist ELLs in their classroom. References: Lipka, O., Siegel, L. S., & Vukovic, R. (2005). The literacy skills of English language learners in Canada. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 20(1), 39-49. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5826.2005.00119.x Lovett, M. W., De Palma, M., Frijters, J., Steinbach, K., Temple, M., Benson, N., & Lacerenza, L. (2008). Interventions for reading difficulties: A comparison of response to intervention by ELL and EFL struggling readers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 41(4), 333-352. DOI: 10.1177/0022219408317859 Applied: Ministry of Education (2013). Capacity Building Series: Canadian-born English Language Learners. Secretariat Special Edition #31. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/CBS_CBELL.pdf
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