8 Helping English Language Learners Develop Literacy Skills And

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Oct 31, 2025, 1:46 AM

8 helping english language learners develop literacy skills and

The aim of this chapter is to provide educators with background knowledge on English language learners and information on how to better assist culturally and linguistically diverse students to develop the literacy skills crucial... Differences in social and academic language will be addressed, at6s well as theories of language acquisition and language learning. Recommendations to educators will be offered to better assist students as they become proficient in the English language while being exposed to new content in the classroom. The chapter also will draw upon the importance of including students’ previous experiences, along with embracing students’ cultural and linguistic diversity. After reading this chapter, readers will be able to Today’s classrooms in the United States are filled with children who speak a variety of native languages and who bring great diversity, culture, and previous experiences with them.

As schools become increasingly diverse, there is an urgent need to prepare all teachers to meet the challenge of teaching both content and English language skills to students. English language learners are the fastest growing population of students in the United States (Calderón, Slavin, & Sanchez, 2011), raising many concerns over how educators can best meet the needs of this diverse group... School-aged children considered to be English language learners (ELLs) rose from 3.54 million in 1998-1999 to 5.3 million in 2008-2009 (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, 2011), and it is estimated that one in... As the number of ELLs increases in schools across the country, educators face the challenge of providing instruction in English to students who are learning English while combatting academic achievement gaps. While the research cited and strategies discussed in this chapter are presented in the context of teaching English language learners in schools in the United States, educators in other countries can also apply what... The definition of an English language learner is not a simple one as some students may have relatively no knowledge of the English language when entering the classroom while others have mastered many English...

Terms used to describe English language learners do tend to cause some confusion as terms may overlap and change over time. In order to alleviate any confusion, some common terms and acronyms will be briefly explained for a better understanding throughout the rest of the chapter. English language learner (ELL) is a term used for a person learning English in addition to their native language. It is important to keep in mind that English language learners are students learning English while learning in English. Throughout the chapter the term English language learner will be used as a way of emphasizing that the students are learning and progressing in a new language. This term is often preferred over others, as it highlights the learning aspect of acquiring a new language instead of suggesting that students with other native languages are in some way deficient.

As classrooms across the United States continue to change, it is critical that educators are able to successfully address the unique language and learning needs of English learners (ELs) and provide efficient and high-quality... This brief describes some best practices that educators can use in their classrooms to help ELs acquire the language and literacy skills needed to succeed academically. Direct and Explicit Instruction Focusing on Key Aspects of Literacy All students should receive comprehensive, evidence-based language and literacy instruction as part of their core curriculum. This is especially critical for ELs. Effective core instruction for ELs should target the key components of literacy, including phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, oral reading fluency, comprehension, and writing.

Core classroom teaching should be explicit, systematic, and differentiated for students’ language and learning needs. It is important to provide extensive and varied vocabulary instruction to ELs. Research suggests that you carefully choose a set of academic vocabulary words to teach intensively across several days using a variety of instructional activities (Baker et al., 2014). An academic vocabulary word is one that is used when talking or writing in academic settings but not usually when talking or writing in social settings. There are four ways that you can carry out this recommendation in your classroom: Choose a brief, engaging piece of informational text that includes academic vocabulary as a platform for intensive academic vocabulary instruction.

Find a short, interesting piece of text with the words that you want to focus on. Select a text that is motivating to students and carries content-rich material that will allow you to provide deep instruction and vocabulary. Research has shown that alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness are strong predictors of successful literacy development in children (for a review see Adams, 1990; Lonigan, Burgess, & Anthony, 2000; Wagner et al., 1997). In processing both spoken and written language, the human brain employs a phonological code to represent linguistic information. This code is unique for each individual language, as each language has its own distinct set of sounds, with very specific rules that govern how those sounds can be combined into syllables and words... Phonological awareness is the ability to manipulate language at the phonological level, that is, to "reflect on the component sounds of spoken words, rather than on their meanings" (Goswami, 2000, p.

251). Performance on measures of phonological awareness in kindergarten has been shown to predict success in reading, even in the later elementary school years (Anthony & Lonigan, 2004; Juel, 1988; Kirby, Parrila, & Pfeiffer, 2003;... We know that children with specific reading disability, or dyslexia, have deficits in phonological awareness, possibly related to difficulties both with processing phonological information and with coding phonological representations of words in the mental... Although phonological processing ability appears to remain relatively stable over time (Wagner et al., 1997), research has shown that phonological awareness skills can be taught and that gains in phonological awareness are associated with... It is particularly important to recognize the role that phonological awareness plays as children with limited English proficiency (LEP) learn to read, both in their native language (L1) and in their second language (L2). Characteristically, these children exhibit both unique strengths and unique deficiencies in this area.

Recent research has shown that, for English language learners, phonological awareness in the native language (L1) predicts successful literacy acquisition in both L1 and a second language (L2) (August & Hakuta, 1997; Durgunoglu, Nagy,... In other words, phonological awareness skills developed in L1 transfer to L2 and facilitate L2 literacy development. Multilingual learners, also referred to as English learners or emerging bilinguals, are the fastest-growing student population in our schools. Some states such as California and Texas have had large numbers of multilingual learners for decades but other states such as Kentucky, Mississippi, and South Carolina are experiencing a more recent influx of students. In fact, multilingual learners comprise approximately 10% of the school population nationwide, the majority of whom are native-born Americans. These students are learning new literacy skills and grade-level content in a new language.

That is a daunting situation. What can teachers do to help multilingual learners develop the language and literacy that will put them on an equal footing with their peers? Recently, much attention has been given to how to best teach reading. The term “science of reading” (SOR) (Hanford, 2017), has become somewhat divisive in some circles. SOR might also be referred to as research on reading, or scientific evidence on how to learn to read. Whatever it is called, SOR refers to decades of research studies conducted in the U.S.

and internationally that inform us about how individuals learn to read. Although studies have been conducted in multiple languages and with children who are learning the language of instruction, i.e., non-native speakers, much of what is currently being discussed doesn’t sufficiently address multilingual learners. That needs to change, especially since there are nearly 5 million multilingual students in our classrooms. We know that there are many advantages to speaking two or more languages. Some of the cognitive benefits of being bilingual or multilingual include improved metalinguistic awareness and information processing (Marian & Shook, 2012). Practical benefits include a wider circle of social relationships, as well as better employment opportunities.

With regard to literacy, to date there has not been research that concludes that multilingual learners learn to read in significantly different ways than monolingual English-speaking students do. In an article on the topic, renowned cognitive neuropsychologist Kenneth Pugh is quoted: Helping English Language Learners Develop Literacy Skills and Succeed Academically, Chapter 8 Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice. Authored by: Kristen A. Munger, Ed. Provided by: Open SUNY Textbooks.

Located at: http://textbooks.opensuny.org/steps-to-success/ License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Types of Literacy Assessment: Principles, Procedures, and Applications, Chapter 5 Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice. Authored by: Kristen A. Munger, Ed. Provided by: Open SUNY Textbooks. Located at: http://textbooks.opensuny.org/steps-to-success/ License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Key Ideas for Evaluating Scientifically-Based Approaches to Literacy Instruction, Chapter 2 Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice. Authored by: Kristen A. Munger, Ed. Provided by: Open SUNY Textbooks. Located at: http://textbooks.opensuny.org/steps-to-success/ License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Library Info and Research Help | reflibrarian@hostos.cuny.edu (718) 518-4215 Loans or Fines | circ@hostos.cuny.edu (718) 518-4222 475 Grand Concourse (A Building), Room 308, Bronx, NY 10451

You can and should use what you already know to be effective, research-based reading instruction to English language learners (ELLs). However, ELLs will need additional support in learning how to read, and the strategies here will help you to provide assistance in your everyday teaching, particularly for newcomers (students who have recently arrived in... Note: This article was adapted from excerpts of the ESL/Bilingual Resource Guide for Mainstream Teachers (opens in a new window), published by the Portland, OR Public School District. Teaching reading to English language learners (ELLs) may seem daunting, but the good news is that you don’t have to learn an entirely new method. You can and should use what you already know to be effective, research-based reading instruction. However, ELLs will need additional support in learning how to read.

The strategies below will help you to provide this much-needed assistance in the context of your everyday teaching, particularly for newcomers (students who have recently arrived in the U.S.). For more information, take a look at Colorín Colorado’s section on Teaching Reading (opens in a new window). Look for reading material for English Language Learners (ELLs) that contains some of these characteristics, especially at the beginning of the school year:

8 Helping English Language Learners Develop Literacy Skills And

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