1

Haley Valero
Professor Sister Mary Ann Jacobs
Education 206 01
October 13th, 2016
Abstract
This paper addresses the concern many students and critics have with the need to teach
english language arts in secondary schools. While the importance of this subject is continuously
questioned by many, this paper includes the arguments of a few writers, who are also educators,
that are in support of the inclusion of this subject in curriculums across the country. Within their
articles, the need for students to learn english language arts is argued to be necessary for the
developmental process of students social awareness and individual identity. This paper also
makes an effort to demonstrate the importance of ELA in regard to students ability to attain the
skills they need in order to become good citizens and good peers who are knowledgeable about
themselves and the backgrounds of others.

Why English Language Arts is Worth Learning

As a future teacher, I can recall myself sitting in a classroom asking, Why do I need to
know this? After spending multiple class days practicing reading comprehension and studying
numerous vocabulary words I would find myself pleading for a break as I would wonder, When
will I ever need to use this in my life? I can only imagine and expect to stand in front of a class

1
of high school freshman one day, who are staring at me begging that same question of, Why do
I need to learn this?
It wasnt until after high school that I realized that it wasnt the content we were learning
in school that was so important to understand, but rather the abilities that I had gained walking
away from it. Although the work load seemed excessive at the time, the intense reading, writing,
and memorization enabled me to become a great writer. Not only did it strengthen my abilities in
english, but what I had learned was extremely useful across the curriculum, especially in the
areas of history and science, and even in decoding word problems in mathematics.
As a future teacher, it is not only important for me to be efficiently knowledgeable within
my content area, but also to make my lessons come alive, while ensuring that my students
understand the purpose of learning as well as enabling them to make meaning of the content and
being able to apply it to every day life. If I cannot convince my students that english is worth
learning, and fun as well, how can I ever fully engage them in my own lessons?
The study of English Language Arts and its components of reading, writing, and literacy
is critical to students cognitive development. The building of critical thinking and problem
solving skills are applicable to real world problems and fundamental across all areas of
knowledge. These necessary skills are instilled within the common core standards for each grade
level in the curriculum of New York state. It is important to learn English Language Arts
because it can help us to be better critical thinkers, to accomplish tasks in all subjects, to look at
different perspectives, to better communicate and work with peers, and to better understand
ourselves and others backgrounds.

1
In Larry R. Johannessen and Elizabeth A. Kahns article, Teaching English Language
Arts for a Technological Age, Johannessen and Kahn stress that the future demands citizens
who are capable of being flexible and informed and able to problem solve and take proper
actions in given situations. These citizens of the future are the youth of today and Johannessen
and Khan believe these citizens need to be successful and productivein the twenty-first
century. These authors insist that english instruction that poses students with challenging tasks
and problems will help them to build the skills they need to think for themselves and to act
independently and with others. These skills or tools are critical in every day life from paying
bills to making decisions in a work place. With a strong interest in collaborative learning or
group work, Johannessen and Khan believe that placing students in small discussion groups can
make them to open to inviting in other peoples viewpoints. In life, it is necessary to be
open-minded and to consider the views of others for the simple fact that nothing is accomplished
by a one person effort and that society and work demand the contributions of all. This collective
aspect of learning touches on Vygotskys theory of scaffolding, which is mentions in this article.
Through group work, students can adopt the strategies of others that may be helpful to them so
that ultimately they can internalize procedures and [can be] able to tackle new tasks effectively.
This form of scaffolding enables students to build on their knowledge based on their peers
thoughts, ideas, and strategies for learning.
Strategies to write persuasively and argumentatively, which is a major component of
writing and a part of the common core, can be implemented by first reading excerpts that present
realistic dilemmas. Johannessen and Khan offer an approach to this strategy by providing an
example of a lesson in which an excerpt discusses a problem involving the robbery of a car.

1
After reading this, students were divided into groups, where they were asked to discuss the case
and to justify the actions of the robbers. By doing so, the students came up with scenarios
supported by evidence and backed by reason. Many of their ideas were conflicting, but this gave
way to the exploration of different perspectives, which will always be the case being that no two
people think the same. Not only did this collaborationgive them the confidence to speak up
and engage in the class debate, but this exercise encouraged them to revise and redefine their
thinking. They had then became familiar with taking this strategy and applying it to the reading
of novels and furthermore, in applying it to every day dilemmas. This example is used to depict
the idea that students can use these procedures and strategies independently when they have to
create an argument on their own. This procedure can also be used backwards, where students
look at a real life problem, like prejudice for example, collect their thoughts on it, and use those
ideas in preparation to read a piece of literature like Mark Twains The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn. In either case, students are open to different perspectives and relatable
situations they can draw meaning from, which this article clearly addresses. Johannessen and
Khans article is important because it shows students that learning how to write persuasively or
argumentatively is not just a strategy used for writing papers in english class, but something that
can be further applied to every day situations that need to be addressed through reason and
support.
It is believed that english teachers play a key role in preparing students for the complex
problems of the future. Corinne Mantle-Bromley and Ann M. Fosters article, Educating for
Democracy: The Vital Role of the Language Arts Teacher, also focuses on the significance of
students learning ELA in order to become better citizens and to understand how to live and how

1
to act in the democracy of the United States. Just as the previously mentioned article argues that
students are prepared for their futures after high school through learning english language arts,
Bromley and Fosters article does the same. These authors believe that with the proper skills,
knowledge, and dispositions acquired in language arts classrooms today, students will be well
equipped for their public responsibilities. Bromley and Foster recognize the need for students
to critically analyze, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate a variety of literatures, as required in
state standards, yet stress the need for teachers to make this come alive within their classrooms.
However, students persistently wonder when the need for these skills will be of any use outside
of the classroom, therefore it is important to connect literacy competency with the larger public
purpose. In developing these skills through reading, vocabulary expansion, cooperative group
discussions, and writing, students can learn democratic skills and dispositions. With this,
students voices and responsibilities are encouraged, especially through group work. By
participating in engaging activities, students can learn to trust one another, listen with care and
empathy, disagree respectfully, and use feedback to refine and improve their work, all which
are significantly useful in relationships with others in our day to day lives. These are vital
lessons in a students life and it is implied that one who encompasses these qualities
demonstrates what it means to be a good citizen in todays society being socially aware and
considerate of others.
Not only does studying literature prepare us to communicate well with others, but it plays
a major part in expanding students understandings of their own and others cultures, as
Bromley and Foster assume in their article. When students take responsibility and ownership of
their own learning process, it validates their leadership abilities and they can create much more

1
meaning from the content. Literature, Bromley and Foster remind us, encompasses a wide range
of experiences of people, places, feelings, and events, whether its through poetry, novels, or short
stories. Literature discusses concepts of race, gender, culture, and identity all of which form
the foundation on which students can build their knowledge, create ideas, and make inferences
based off. In this article, it is argued that the discussion of these notions allow for the
development of students critical thinking skills [and the] modeling [of] democratic skills and
processes, which is significant to ultimately prepare students to be civically engaged.
These authors make an interesting point that when prepared to be civically engaged,
students can properly critique and asses valuable information, seek logic behind arguments, talk
about complex issues with diverse groups, and analyze biases and assumptions presented in
media within their public life. Just as teachers urge students to think critically about controversial
issues, make meaning of difficult vocabulary, and search for reasoning behind actions while
addressing different points of views within the classroom settings, students can use these same
skills when dealing with people and problems throughout their lives. The skills attained in
language arts are paramount in every aspect of life and continuously grow and expand with
experience. The same experience you find in a book and the experiences you find throughout live
are equally challenging and testing of ones critical thinking and problem solving skills.
While there are many advocates of the teaching of english language arts in schools, there
are still a handful of critics who ponder the same question many students doWhy learn
english? Although the subject is still a major part of the curriculum in middle and high schools,
there is a very few number of people who continue to pursue education within that content area.
In Adam Gopniks article, Why Teach English?, he raises the concern of the decreasing

1
number of people who study english language arts in their post-secondary schooling careers.
While he addresses this concern, he defends it stating that we need english for the same reason
that Johannessen, Khan, Bromley, and Foster believebecause english majors make better
people and because they make better for societies. Gopnik argues that english is significant to
learning about and understanding the world around us and the peoples within it. English helps
us to feel, to think, to act, and is critical to the development and growth of ourselves as
individuals and as humans.
While the need for english language arts classes in schools is a controversial topic that is
constantly questioned, especially by students, it will continue to be included in curriculums
across the country. It is important for educators to emphasize the importance of incorporating
this subject into curriculums in order to motivate students to want to be engaged. Unless a
student is genuinely and independently interested in the experiences they uncover in studying
literature, they will have a hard time finding interest in the content. It is the teachers job to make
that connection for them and to make students time spent learning this worthwhile and
meaningful to them. The most important way to create meaning through the content is to make it
relatable and applicable to real world situations and circumstances. We are in an era of visual
learners, in which the generation x, the students we will be teaching, need to be presented with
tangible, interactive, and engaging activities in order to become engrossed within it. Once the
teacher has done the job in convincing this to his/her students she can activate an environment
that will employ activities and discussions in reading, writing, and literature that can provide
students with the ability to attain skills pertinent to the state of affairs in ones life.

Works Cited
1. Mantle-Bromley, C., & Foster, A. (2005). Educating for Democracy: The Vital Role of the
Language Arts Teacher. The English Journal, 94(5), 70-74. doi:1. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/30047357 doi:1Copy
2. Johannessen, L., & Kahn, E. (1997). Teaching English Language Arts for a Technological
Age. The Clearing House, 70(6), 305-310. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/30185873
3. Gopnik, A. (2013, October 31). Why Teach English? The New Yorker, p. 3. Retrieved from
http://immagic.com/eLibrary/ARCHIVES/GENERAL/NEWYKRUS/N130827G.pdf