English Learners {ELs} in the Content Area Classroom


English Learners (ELs)....
represent the fastest growing population in the US American public school system. According to the National Education Association, the number of ELLs that K-12 schools serve has increased by over 100% in the past ten years. Indeed, some states and districts have experienced a jump of 400% or more of enrolled English Learners.

Remarkably, the percentage of teachers who have substantial training in TESOL has not kept pace with the growing number of non-native English speakers public schools serve.  

With the rigors of today's education climate, the need for professional development has never been more urgent.

Working with English Learners

The need for qualified English Language teachers (often referred to as ESL teachers) in our K-12 schools has never been greater. There is a constant and growing population of public school students whose native language is something other than English. There is also a constant and growing pressure to provide these students with the foundations that they need to succeed in mainstream classrooms.  A quick review of the Common Core Standards highlights the challenges ELLs face in meeting these standards.

Within school districts and school boardrooms, lies an effort to increase the proficiency level of ELs {English learners} as quickly and as effectively as possible. Over the years, educators have become increasingly aware of the differences between social language and academic language as well as the role they both play in supporting ELs.  The same can be said for the role culture plays in the classroom.

While research clearly points to time as a factor in helping ELs acquire adequate social and academic language, there are also increasing attention being paid to models that support language learning in the most effective and efficient manners™.

Strategies to Teach English Learners

There are many strategies that regular content area teachers can use to support English Learners as they grapple with the language and content of the class.  Here are few strategies that set Els and all students up for success:
  1. Actively connect students to the vocabulary:  We cannot assume that English learners develop their lexicons through osmosis.  Merely saying a word (or writing it on the board) does not guarantee that a students will learn it.  Teachers must get students to actively interact with new language, use it in context, and think about their own comfort levels with it.  Writing a word in a notebook along with its definition is not active enough to own vocabulary words; it only serves to help students rent the language for a short period of time.
  2. Actively connect students to the content:  In order to help English learners meet the lesson's content objectives, they must be made active participants in their own learning.  This means giving students a reason to listen and read; This requires providing students with opportunities to express their learning orally and in writing.  This signifies finding a way to get students to work together with the lesson's content.  Active learning does not occur on its own; teachers need to scaffold students into being more responsible, accountable learners.
3.  Provide a variety of opportunities:  English learners (indeed, all learners) need a variety of opportunities to interact with the language and the content.  Encountering it one way (e.g. through lecture, video, or text) does little to lead to ownership of the objectives.  Encountering it in a variety of ways helps students master the material.  One effective strategy is to look for ways to integrate the four domains of language (speaking, listening, reading, and writing).  
4.  Provide a volume of opportunities:  Students need more than one shot at getting something.  Students require scaffolded opportunities to connect with the language and the content; they need an equal number of opportunities to demonstrate their understanding.  Explaining something one way, one time does not lead to understanding.  Giving students one shot at explaining something, solving a math problem, or writing a response is not as effective as providing them with a number of chances.   
TESOL Trainers has provided scores of workshops to ESL teachers and regular content area classroom teachers in order to provide them with the most effective and efficient means of helping every student succeed.

With the Seven Strategies For Success, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), discover easy-to-use and easy-to-adapt strategies that set all students up for success™.

Contact John Kongsvik to learn about the different programs they can design to support all learners.

TESOL Trainers offers Working with ELLs:  7 Strategies of Success
Participants who attend a Working with ELs workshop can expect to:
  • Understand the fundamental principles of language learning and teaching 
and how EL Strategies impact the classroom.
  • Experience the Seven Strategies for Success, and how they look in the classroom whatever the content is.
  • Explore the principles behind the EL strategies and how these high yield strategies are used in the classroom.
  • Examine how to adapt the 7 Strategies for Success to their specific contexts and set all English language learners up for success.