of Educating English Language Learners

Elizabeth Cahill, Nicole Bishop, & Francesca DeCeasar

Which method?
Bilingual vs. English-only instruction
Politics plays role
Influences research and funding
Research
Either justifies or repudiates existing
research
Focuses on which method question
In first decade of Title VII (68-78),
$500m spent on bilingual programs, but
0.5% was spent on research
AIR
AIR (American Institute for Research)
study
8,200 children across country in 38 districts
$1m spent
No difference found between two methods
(bilingual vs. English-only)
no controlled environment=problem
a little less than 6 months (short)

Standards of Success
Saying there is no difference between
methods based on research is not true
Shows that there is no major impact on
learning English even when using other
language

Role of Theory
When conducting research, most focus
on what, not why (evaluation
research)
Basic research: compares factors
(answers why)
The results can be applied
Small-scale, focused

Baker-de Kanter Report
Both in Office of Planning and Budget
Also directed AIR study
Asked: Is Transitional Bilingual Ed.
effective? Other alternatives?
Again, does not go into why
No features discussed
Looked at over 300 studies, all but 28
thrown out
Primarily cited one
Again, the results were not consistent
Called for an all-English approach (to test it)
Critiquing the Critics
Results got to the media, even though
government didnt back it.
Some saw that report was one-sided
Ann Willig used the effect sizes technique
28 children in one study vs. 2,000
In Baker report, they would both be thrown out
She saw that the latter study is more reliable
She found bilingual education was more
beneficial
Government said her report was invalid
Rossell and Baker
Same Baker
Results were mostly inconclusive,
Transitional Bilingual Education being
effective 22% of time
Problems
most articles used not peer-reviewed
Focus on Canada (French ed.)
Excluded relevant research
Greene
Same results as Willig
Different research was examined
Bilingual Ed. More effective as material
becomes more rigorous.
Approaches to Teaching a New
Language
19
th
century: grammar-transition approach
Oral language not emphasized
Audiolingual method: focus on speech
habits
Repetition
What we use today
Chomskys theory: language is creative
We have a language acquisition device as
humans

Other theories
Comprehensible input: message in
another language makes sense, but is
slightly above the ability of the listener
Connected to Chomsky
Affective filter: factors that interrupt
language acquisition
Connections between 1
st
and
2
nd
Languages
Common underlying proficiency:
proficiency in one language helps one
learn another

BICS/CALP
Basic interpersonal & communication
skills
playground English
Cognitive-academic language
proficiency
classroom English
Origins of French
Immersion
In the early 1960s, many parents from St.
Lambert, Montreal began meeting to discuss
their frustrations over the linguistic and cultural
segregation of their community.
Although the country was bilingual most
individuals were not.
French speakers were more likely to speak
English than vice versa.
The Anglophone members of the community
believed it was important for their children to
become fluent in French, but the public
schools were doing a poor job at cultivating
bilingualism.

In 1965 the parents pressed the Protestant
school board to try a new approach; the board
agreed on an experiment in French immersion.
Goals were:
To provide the participating children with functional
competence in both written and spoken aspects of
French
To promote and maintain normal levels of English
language development
To ensure achievement in academic subjects
commensurate with students academic ability and
grade level
To instill in the students an understanding and
appreciation of French Canadians, their language,
and culture without detracting in any way from the
student's identity with and appreciation for English-
Canadian culture.

Early Total Immersion Model
26 English-speaking kindergarteners entered a school
program entirely in French.
The program designers allowed students to use English
to ask questions in class until the end of first grade.
To minimize anxiety instructors avoided over correcting.
The curriculum placed an emphasis on teaching without
making the children conscious of their performance.
By the end of elementary school children achieved
native like levels of receptive aspects of the language,
listening skills and reading skills.
Speaking and writing skills were a little less.
Academic success remained the same.
By 2001 324,000 English background students were
enrolled in this program.

Immersion for Linguistic
Minorities
No English immersion programs in Canada
for French speaking students.
The approach is only appropriate for
language majority children.
To substitute immersion for bilingual
education is dangerous because it is not
the most effective way to educate a child.
The St. Lambert curriculum was effective
because it provided comprehensible
second language input in a low anxiety
environment.
Time on Task
Practice makes perfect
The more English students hear, the
more they will learn.
English is best learned by using it a lot
throughout the school day.
Ramirez Report
Released in 1991.
Compares early- exit bilingual education, immersion
strategies and late-exit bilingual education.
Conducted in English with the students native
languages used on an informal basis.
Study showed that students in bilingual classrooms
were out preforming their peers in immersion
classrooms.
Results: showed minor differences in achievement
for students in immersions and early exit education,
and students in late exit education excelled.

De Facto Bilingual
Education
Says that children who get a good start
in school before immigrating have
already begun to develop both literacy
skills and subject matter knowledge
through their first language.
Students in bilingual education are
slower to acquire English than those
who receive only ESL.
Students with higher SES scored higher
Thomas- Collier Study
Worked in close collaboration with school
district staff to evaluate programs already
in place.
Found that English language learners who
receive two way or developmental bilingual
education in elementary school surpassed
the 50
th
percentile in English reading by the
11
th
grade.
Students who received ESL pullout or
immersion fell between the 11
th
and 32
nd

percentile by grade 11.

Case Studies in Bilingual
Education
The project was designed to bridge the gap between
educational research and program practices.
A new curriculum was developed and new teachers
were trained.
They chose 5 schools with large concentrations of
LEP students whose native language was Spanish.
The students all new limited English, lived in poverty
and had chronic underachievement.
The test scores were among the lowest in California.
After 5 years of this study, the median scores of the
3,500 students were well above district norms in
English reading, writing and mathematics.


Gradual Exit Model
From kindergarten to grade 4 students
receive instruction in ESL while other
subjects are taught in their native
language.
Teachers are trained to resist the
societal pressures of completely
transitioning students; to all English
instruction.
Curriculum Design
Students were grouped not by grade but by language
proficiency in both English and Spanish.
Progress was determined by an oral examination.
Phase 1- Lasted 2 years. It began with Spanish language
instruction with doses of English provided through ESL.
Phase 2- Grades 2 and 3. Spanish continues is language
arts and social studies but now students receive sheltered
English classes in math and science.
Phase 3- Grades 3 and 4. students receive some
instruction in English language arts and social studies
becomes an English subject.
Phase 4- The transition to English instruction is complete.

Outcomes
By the end of the Case Studies 3
rd
year, the
funding was terminated.
By that time 60% of the students in grades 2-
6 who entered the program in kindergarten
were scoring at or above California norms in
math.
52% of 2
nd
graders, 72% of 3
rd
graders, and
91% of 4
th
graders had achieved oral; English
proficiency
All the schools that were involved scores climb
well above average.
Today at least 21 schools are known to be
using this program.
Indian Language
Education
There are about 175 indigenous languages
spoken in the U.S.
Fewer than one-quarter of them are being
learned by children.
Many of the languages are becoming moribund,
or destined to die in the near future.
Although many children are not learning the
language, they do not have much exposure to
standard English.
They usually learn a nonstandard dialect or
American Indian English.

Due to their lack of exposure, many of them face the
same problems as other LEP students, they are just less
obvious.
One problem with Native Americans and other minorities
is that they fail to develop literacy in English or their
native language.
In 1990 Congress passed the Native American
Languages Act, which stressed the governments
responsibility to work with Native Americans to ensure the
survival of their languages.
In 1994 Congress amended the Bilingual Education Act
to make programs seeking to conserve Native American
languages.
Three approaches have been introduced to help
preserve endangered languages.
The first is a foreign language model, which is
teaching Native American languages to students
who have no exposure to them.
The second is two-way bilingual education, where
English-speaking students learn a second
language, while LEP students learn English.
The third is early immersion, where children have
to be exposed to the endangered language early
and sheltered from the dominant one.
Two-way
bilingualism
Many Americans only speak English.
In most other countries people know at least 2
languages, usually English as one.
Two-way bilingualism is taught in English and
another language throughout the day.
This is for ELLs and English proficient
students.
A 2003 directory identified 271 two-way
bilingual immersion programs in 24 states.
In 94% of them they used English and
Spanish.

Two-way bilingualism involves:
Integration- Language- minority and language- majority
students are integrated for at least 50% of instructional
time.
Instruction- Content and literacy instruction in both
languages is provided to all students.
Population- Within the program, there is a balance of
language- majority and language- minority students.

Another approach is two-way partial
immersion, where the languages of
instruction are equally balanced from the
outset.