Teacher Tips For Supporting English Learners Opinion

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Oct 29, 2025, 10:19 PM

teacher tips for supporting english learners opinion

I love teaching English-language learners and I suspect most other educators feel the same way. Nevertheless, teaching anyone comes with all sorts of challenges, and ELLs are no different. Today’s post begins a series exploring what those unique challenges might be and how we can best rise to them. Marie Moreno, Ed.D., is an educator and administrator with over 30 years of experience specializing in newcomer and second-language acquisition. She is passionate about refugee and immigrant education by focusing on social and emotional needs and newcomer programming: Teaching English-language learners presents several challenges that educators must navigate to ensure effective instruction.

These challenges often stem from linguistic, cultural, and academic differences that ELLs bring to the classroom, making it crucial for teachers to adopt strategies that address these diverse needs. Imagine trying to learn a classroom lesson when you don’t understand the language in which it is being presented. Teaching English language learners requires specialized strategies; and at the most basic level, one of those strategies is to “put yourself in their shoes.” More than 5 million children in U.S. schools are classified as English language learners (ELLs), according to the Department of Education. These students face the dual challenge of learning the material while also learning the language, as their teachers face the added challenge of using the right educational strategies to help them succeed.

Some of the most effective English language learner strategies start with common sense and respect for cultural differences. Simply getting to know the students is considered to be an essential part of the process. For educators who teach English language learners, developing a deeper understanding of their unique needs and the best practices for teaching them has many benefits. These include: Here, we will review a range of time-tested English language teaching strategies that benefit students and educators alike. This page contains Bookshop.org links.

When you make a purchase through these links, Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. What’s the difference between Amazon and Bookshop.org? A note on terminology: The acronym ESL is used less often now in schools than it used to be, because we recognize that many students who are learning English already speak several other languages,... I use it several times in the post because schools sometimes refer to the teachers as ESL teachers, and the term is still widely used as a search term for this topic. My intent in using the acronym is to make this post easier to find online. You have a new student, and he speaks no English.

His family has just moved to your town from Japan, and though he receives English as a Second Language (ESL) support, he will also be sitting in your room every day to give him... How can you be a good teacher to someone who barely understands you? According to the National Center for Education Statistics, an average of 9 percent of students in U.S. public schools are English Language Learners (ELLs); that number is closer to 14 percent in cities. Although many of these students start off in high-intensity, whole-day English programs, most are integrated into mainstream classrooms within a year, well before their English language skills would be considered proficient. How prepared are you to teach these students?

If you’re like most classroom teachers, you have little to no training in the most effective methods for working with English language learners (Walker, Shafer, & Iiams, 2004). So that means we have a problem here: Lots of ELL kids in regular classrooms, and no teacher training to ensure the success of that placement. Get a year of membership🎃PLUS A FREE BONUS MONTH🎃 Teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) can sometimes feel overwhelming, but with the right strategies, you can create a classroom where every student feels seen or supported. Whether you’re new to working with ELLs or looking to refresh your approach, these seven, simple, effective strategies will help you build a more inclusive and engaging learning environment. Visual aids, like anchor charts and labeled classroom items, help ELLs understand and retain information.

Quick Win: Try adding simple labels to classroom objects using both words and pictures. For example, label the door, windows, and supplies with visuals alongside the words in English (and students’ home languages if possible). This small change can make your classroom more language-friendly in minutes! Provide sentence starters that help guide ELLs to write more complete and detailed responses. Last week, I started Macbeth with my 10th-grade English class; usually, the start of this unit brings much excitement and anticipation to my teaching. Students usually love studying Macbeth and grow to appreciate the universality and timelessness of Shakespeare as we read, act, and discuss the text.

This year, however, I was filled with worry. I have six English learners (EL) in my class. Typically, when I teach native Spanish speakers, I feel confident and ready for the challenge because I am bilingual myself. My ELs this year are all Asian, mostly Mandarin speakers and this has given me a glimpse of what it is like for many monolingual teachers who face classrooms filled with ELs and do... I quickly realized that ensuring their success would require thoughtful planning, strategic scaffolding, and intentional support. It feels as though the number of English learners or Dual language learners (DL) in our classrooms increases every year.

The variety of languages they speak has also seemed to increase. In another blog we published, we look at a historical overview of this phenomenon as well as the theoretical foundation for language learning and provide a number of strategies for fostering a learner-centered culture... Establishing a positive culture in your classroom is a crucial first step. And then what? And how on earth was I going to get my Mandarin-speaking 10th graders reading Shakespeare? Supporting ELs starts with the planning process.

They may need a head start on the content, additional resources, and longer times to process. They may struggle to find an inroad to connect to the content. Here are the top tips to consider in the planning process: Consider how you will not only develop vocabulary lists for them but also how they will engage with the vocab rather than just being given a list. Guest Blogger | Jessica Allen, Teacher of Mathematics in Puebla, Mexico By the time we step into the classroom as teachers, we are aware that each person has different capabilities and reveal the areas in which they excel through various means.

Their character, academic ability, life skills, and a myriad of other ideas cannot be analyzed by the same criteria for any two students. Yet, we may often fall into this trap of judging students based on their classroom participation and grades alone. However, for a few students, classroom performance shows little of their actual capacity. This is especially true of students attending school while learning their second or third language. When we have these students in our class, we need to be aware of a possible language barrier that keeps them from being as quick with responses and as involved in group work as... Sometimes these individuals are incorrectly judged and may even be considered less capable when this is not the case.

Instead, we should identify the unfortunate disadvantage they may be experiencing and incorporate some interventions to help these students without hurting others in the classroom. 1. Be careful with notation. As with most of the tips that follow, this will help each student in your classroom grasp concepts more quickly. However, it is essential for the English learner because the slightest variation from the language they are coming to know can be a big roadblock. These students may not be able to fill in the context quite as well as a student proficient in the English language.

So what may feel like a natural shortcut for you or for many of your students will push your English language learners behind. This places them at an unfair disadvantage that was not intended and can easily be avoided. When considering your notation usage, explain any abbreviations you plan to use. For example, if you use “apt,” will that be short for apartment or simply the word apt? Do you plan to use AKA or ASAP? These could leave language learners stuck in the middle of a sentence while you have already written another four.

English language learners (ELLs) are diverse students who struggle to communicate or learn effectively in English as their second language. They often come from homes where English isn’t the primary language and require special instruction in both English and their academic courses. The achievement gaps between ELLs and their non-ELL peers pose a significant challenge within the educational system. Bridging these gaps is crucial for ensuring ELLs have equal opportunities to succeed academically. Here are key strategies and responsibilities schools can undertake to support English language learners and narrow these achievement gaps. Supporting ELLs is crucial for schools as they strive to provide an inclusive and enriching educational environment.

To achieve success, schools need to embrace the following key responsibilities: Schools should use teaching methods proven to be effective when teaching ELLs. For example, teachers can use fun activities like games and pictures to help ELLs learn new words and concepts or encourage ELLs to practice speaking English by engaging in conversations with classmates. When creating lesson plans and classroom materials for an English learner, schools should rely on strong pedagogical principles and teaching practices. This means developing a high-quality curriculum that aligns with these principles and helps ELLs learn better. Having worked in Title 1 schools for almost a decade, I had the privilege of being surrounded by language learners in all my classrooms.

It proved to be a humbling, eye-opening, and fascinating experience in many different ways. Because state laws required my classrooms to be conducted only in English, I prioritized creating spaces where students of color and from varied cultural backgrounds could share the best of their communities through experiential... In challenging political and educational climates, educators hold the power to create classrooms which allow students to shine in ways that are true to themselves, their families, and their communities and to support them... Students are the greatest assets to diverse learning environments, and they bring many experiences, cultural backgrounds, and languages to their classrooms. While it is up to the educator to provide space for these students to bloom and grow, one of the greatest and most common challenges in facilitating these spaces is in supporting English language... Providing these students with the tools and resources they need can be daunting, especially when working to personalize learning and differentiate in other ways.

While a bilingual classroom is preferable for language learners of all kinds, this blog offers support for teachers delivering instruction in English in classrooms with ELLs. Have you ever learned a new language in an immersive environment? If not, it might sound like an impossible task that only the most daring person would try. If you have, you know the challenges in this kind of learning - the intimidation to engage with native speakers, fear of making a mistake in what you are saying or writing, and fear... These mentalities are typical for adults when learning languages, but kids generally have a more resilient and brave approach. In my classroom experience, I have come to appreciate that English language learners are masters of learning, taking risks, and maximizing coping strategies.

Teacher Tips For Supporting English Learners Opinion

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