English Language Learners The term English Language Learners (ELL) refers to students whose first language is not

English. There are many programs in schools to help students develop basic vocabulary and grammar needed in order to communicate in English. Often ELL students do not have a hard time developing conversational language but have a difficult time developing the academic language. Many teachers have ELLs in their classrooms but do not know how to effectively teach them because they have no background in the area. It is important for ELLs to learn language through content. The focus in traditional English as a Second Language (ESL) classes is on basic vocabulary and grammar in order for them to develop basic communication skills. However, basic communication skills and cultural knowledge are not enough to help ELL students succeed academically. Therefore, ELL students should learn language through content so that students can make connections with words rather than just learning a definition. It is helpful for students to learn the words in the natural context. For example, it would be easier to learn what rising action meant if it was discussed in the process of talking about the development of plot rather than just learning a definition of what the word means. By teaching language through content students have a reason to use the language rather than just memorizing a word for a test. Another reason for teaching language through content is that students learn the academic structure and test structures of the different content areas. For example, the word table has many different contexts that a student would need to be prepared for. A table is not just something you may eat at or place objects on but there is also a multiplication table, periodic table, water table, and so on. The best way for ELL students to learn academic language is to study it in different content areas. A good way to teach ELLs is to organize the curriculum around big questions or themes. This method of teaching is not only beneficial for ELL students but all students in the classroom. If students have a big question to focus on, they know that each lesson will relate to the topic. Students will be

able to make connections across content areas. In addition, some of the same vocabulary words will be repeated in different content areas, so students will learn different context of the word. Since, the lessons are centered around one common theme what students do not fully comprehend in one lesson may become clear after discussing it another subject area. It is easy for teachers to differentiate their lessons for ELL learners when it is centered around one theme. For example, some students may be beginning readers while others may be more advanced. Therefore, beginning readers could read a picture book on the topic and represent their understanding with a bulleted list while more advanced readers could read an easy chapter book on the topic and write a paragraph summary to show that they understood it. Often times themes centered around big questions are universal themes. Therefore, an ELL student should be able to make some connections between their lives and the curriculum just like the other students in the class. The background knowledge the ELL students may have on the topic may differ from the rest of the class but it can lead to an enriching discussion between everyone in the class. ELL students are overrepresented in the special education population. These students learn basic interpersonal communicative skills and cognitive academic language. The ELL students often have the ability to use English in daily conversation but have a hard time understanding lectures, reading textbooks, and writing papers. Therefore, the students comprehended everyday conversational

language but lacked the language needed to complete school assignments. ELL students did poorly on written tests that measured academic ability, so it was assumed that their scores reflected a cognitive deficit and they were placed in special education classes. Just because an ELL student does poorly on written test like standardized assessments it does not mean that they have cognitive deficiencies. It will take several years for an ELL student to score on par with native English speakers. There are many ways to help ELL students gain the cognitive academic language they need but the best way for students to do this is to read academic text. By reading academic text students acquire academic vocabulary and academic sentence structure. Overall teachers need to realize that just because an ELL student may do

poorly on a written test, it does not mean that they have a cognitive deficiency but they may just lack the skills to succeed. I really liked that we read this book and had professional discussion groups with the information we read. Personally, I learned a lot from reading this book because I knew barely anything about ELL students prior to reading the book. In addition, I have not had any ELL students in any of my field classes to see how the student and teacher worked with one another to help the student learn a second language. I believe that everyone in my professional discussion group brought some insightful points into the discussion and that we all learned not only from the book but each other. In my group two of the members have a minor in English as a Second Language and they brought up so many good points. I felt as though I learned more from them than the book because they provided real world examples of what was being discussed in the book. Reading this book was beneficial not only for me but for everyone in the class.