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Strategies and Resources for Supporting ELLs

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Strategies and Resources for Supporting ELLs

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Supporting ELLs in the Mainstream Classroom

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Supporting ELLs in the Mainstream Classroom

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If you are a mainstream teaching trying to figure out how to offer language support to ELLs, you are not alone! Many teachers around the country are working with ELLs for the first time, and they have a lot of questions.

Fortunately, there are a number of ways to support ELLs' language acquisition by adapting strategies already in use. These small things may make a big difference to ELLs. Here are some ideas to get you started. Don't miss the recommended links at the end of the article.

Create a language-rich environment.

English language learners will benefit from increased exposure to print and language. A print-rich environment will include access to books and reference materials, labels and posters, and student work on bulletin boards. Word walls are also a great support for ELLs, and may be organized around a number of concepts, including the alphabet and phonetic sounds, new vocabulary words, sight words, grammar rules, conversational phrases, and writing structures.

Related Resources

For more great ideas, see the following topics:

Be aware of the relationship between a student's native language and English.

A student's native language will most likely have a strong influence on the way that student learns English. Understanding how this language is similar to or different from English will help you focus on troublesome areas. This influence can provide extra support, such as the case of English and Spanish cognates (education and educación). The influence also may lead to some ongoing errors in English, which will become evident with time and repeated use by students who have the same native language.

Languages may differ in a number of aspects, such as phonetic sounds, pronunciation, grammar, word order, or sentence structure. For example, in Spanish, the adjective often follows the noun, so a student may write, "We are a family happy." In Somali, there is one sound for b and p - it is mixed. Somali students need to be taught this sound explicitly as two distinct sounds. Otherwise, they may ask for a can of pop and it sounds like "bob."

Native language may also influence students' vocabulary as they translate words or phrases from one language to another. Perhaps a vocabulary word has multiple meanings, a different meaning in each language, or the concept doesn't exist in one of the languages.

Even if you don't know a student's native language, being aware of native language influence will allow you to target your instruction. Help students by providing a model of how to use sounds, structures, and vocabulary correctly in English. In the case of a pronunciation difficulty such as the Somali example above, teachers can demonstrate how the mouth forms the sounds. Have students put their hand in front of their mouths to feel the air in "p" and their hands on their neck to feel the vibration of "b." This is also important as students work to sound out words while writing.

Simplify your language without "dumbing it down."

It may seem difficult to balance this at first, but here are some tips for communicating effectively with your students:

Avoid slang and idiomatic expressions.

Speak clearly and naturally, without going too quickly or slowly.

Encourage students to raise their hand if they don't understand a word.

Remember that ELLs may not understand instructions and key vocabulary words, and that reading something aloud doesn't always help comprehension. You can aid student comprehension by scaffolding language (providing extra supports such as realia, graphic organizers, visuals, etc.).

ELLs may not have the same background knowledge as their English-speaking peers, especially when it comes to references to American culture and geography, such as the Grand Canyon or Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. Identify key concepts, vocabulary words, and references before the lesson, and give students as much time and practice with the new material as possible before starting the lesson.

If students are having trouble with an activity, try to identify whether a new concept, set of directions, vocabulary word, or other element is causing the difficulty. Identify some different ways that you can help students move beyond those obstacles. These might include providing a book about the topic in the student's native language or reviewing new vocabulary words together.

Support academic language development.

Academic language is the language that students need to succeed in school. It is different than social language, which many students acquire first. Often students are available to communicate effectively with teachers or peers in social settings, but struggle when it comes to textbooks, tests, assignments, or class presentations. There are a number of ways to support academic language development, such as previewing the text, teaching grammatical structures relevant to a particular content area ("greater than" and "less than" in math class), and showing how the targeted academic language is used in reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Learn more in the following resources from Colorín Colorado:

Discuss word families and how different forms of words are used.

ELLs may have a difficult time knowing which form of a word to use. Help students look for spelling and usage patterns, such as past tense verbs ending in "-ed." Since English has so many exceptions, this isn't always a foolproof strategy, but a basic knowledge of these patterns, rules, and spellings will help. Cognates can also help Spanish-speakers learn English and derive meaning from content. Teachers can explicitly point out cognates for Spanish-speaking students so they begin to realize that this is a useful way for them to increase their English vocabulary.

Help students understand when to use different kinds of language.

ELLs may speak different dialects or use "Spanglish," a combination of English and Spanish, in their classroom and with their friends and family. It's important to respect the language students use and realize that it is effective for them in certain settings. Rather than looking at certain dialects or slang as "good" or "bad," help students understand when different kinds of language are appropriate - and what the benefits of learning Standard Academic English will be for them in the long run.

Discuss the uses of Standard Academic English in college and career settings, as well as the importance of effective communication on applications and in interviews. One teacher I know calls this English the "green language" because it represents money the students can earn in the future with good English communication skills. Make it clear what kind of language you expect students to use in the classroom, and provide language models or structures when students have difficulty expressing themselves appropriately.

Provide students with frequent opportunities to work together, both in pairs and in small groups.

Cooperative learning activities promote peer interaction, which helps the development of language and the learning of concepts and content. Effective activities may include working on a worksheet together as problem-solver and coach (then switching roles), think-pair-share, and book groups. It is important to assign ELLs to different groups so that they can benefit from English language role models. ELLs learn to express themselves with greater confidence when working in small teams.

In addition to 'picking up' vocabulary, ELLs benefit from observing how their peers learn and solve problems. If you decide to assign each student in a team a role (such as reporter, recorder, time keeper, and materials manager), you might want to rotate roles each week or by activity. This prevents what typically happens if students select their own roles - the same students wind up performing the same tasks. By rotating, students develop the skills they most need to practice.

Implement an effective correction/feedback policy.

While it is difficult to know when to correct students, constructive and effective feedback is essential to student progress. It is possible for incorrect language production to become "fossilized" so that students continue to use the same incorrect structures into adulthood. This reduces their chances of being a clear communicator and ultimately limits them in professional settings. Nevertheless, it is important to balance between encouragement and error correction. One way to do this is to focus on one or two concepts at a time when listening to or reading student work. Let students know what you will be focusing on so that they in turn can focus on those particular concepts in the assignment.

Another strategy is to circle errors in writing assignments, and have students try to figure out what the mistakes were. As I always tell my students, "If I correct your English, I improve my English. If you correct your English, you improve yours." Most of the time students are able to correct their own writing errors once they focus on the circled area. If they are still stuck, I give them the answer and ask them to explain why it is correct. If they don't know the answer, I ask them to consult with a classmate. If no one else knows the answer, we review the structure as a group.

Reach out to your ELL/bilingual colleagues, reading specialists, special education teachers, and parents.

Educators and staff who work regularly with ELLs, as well as bilingual parents, may be a valuable source of information about language patterns or difficulties. While it may be difficult to find time to meet on a regular basis, increased collaboration among language teachers, content teachers, mainstream teachers, and support staff will most likely improve student support.

While teaching ELLs may be daunting, there are a number of ways you can support their language acquisition - and in the process get them on the road to academic success!

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Supporting ELLs in the Mainstream Classroom: Language Tips

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If you are a mainstream teaching trying to figure out how to offer language support to ELLs, you are not alone! Many teachers around the country are working with ELLs for the first time, and they have a lot of questions. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to support ELLs' language acquisition by adapting strategies already in use.

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After completing Activities 1.4 - 1.7, I feel as though I have answered, or at least have the necessary resources to answer the majority of the questions I created in Activity 1.3.
As I have completed each activity and reviewed my colleagues' work, I am often left with the same question that I believe will be the most important for me to answer as I complete this course. That question is:
How can I create thought provoking and age/proficiency appropriate lesson plans that meet the literacy and numeracy needs of all my students, both native English speakers and ELLs?
Below are some resources that I have researched that will help guide me through answering this question, along with the many other resources obtained so far.

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Stephen Krashen's Theory of Second Language Acquisition (Assimilação Natural - o Construtivismo no Ensino de Línguas)

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Short description of Krashen's 5 main hypotheses on second language acquisition with comments in Portuguese.

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The acronyms BICS and CALP refer to the length of time required by immigrant children to develop conversational skills in the target language and grade appropriate academic proficiency in that language. Understanding the difference between social language and academic language acquisition is an important concept for teachers working with non-native students. Learn more in our academic language resource section.
BICS = social language
Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) refer to linguistic skills needed in everyday, social face-to-face interactions. For instance, the language used in the playground, on the phone, or to interact socially with other people is part of BICS. The language used in these social interactions is context embedded. That is, it is meaningful, cognitively undemanding, and non-specialized. It takes the learner from six months to two years to develop BICS.
CALP = academic language
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) focuses on proficiency in academic language or language used in the classroom in the various content areas. Academic language is characterized by being abstract, context reduced, and specialized. In addition to acquiring the language, learners need to develop skills such as comparing, classifying, synthesizing, evaluating, and inferring when developing academic competence. It takes learners at least five years to develop CALP. Research from Collier and Thomas (1995) has shown that it may take children with no prior instruction or no support in native language development at least seven years to develop CALP.

The distinction between BICS and CALP was made by Professor Jim Cummins.

Learn more in Explaining BICS and CALP from EverythingESL.

Video: BICS and CALP

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The acronyms BICS and CALP refer to the length of time required by immigrant children to develop conversational skills in the target language and grade appropriate academic proficiency in that language. Understanding the difference between social language and academic language acquisition is an important concept for teachers working with non-native students.

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Researching Language Acquisition Theories gave me a new perspective on how students learn, and how to begin to understand the complex world of teaching English as a Second Language. The following are resources I found most useful throughout the activity, and resources I will revisit in the near future.

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Activity 1.5 and 1.7 - Policies and Procedures

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Activity 1.5 and 1.7 - Policies and Procedures

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Activities 1.5 and 1.7 made us take a closer look at the procedures taking place within our schools and in our school boards, and examine what is done well, and where the institutions need improvement. Based on my school's procedures, I would like to investigate Policy 2.3.3 further and see what can be done in relation identifying exceptional ELL students.

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Discover thousands of math skills covering junior kindergarten to grade 12, from counting to calculus, with infinite questions that adapt to each student’s level.

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When does 1 + 1 add up to way more than two?

When you combine ESL and math!

Whether you are an ESL teacher adding math to your curriculum or a math teacher with ELL students in your classroom, you are in luck.

Here's why: Teaching two subjects at once isn't the juggling act it sounds like.

In fact, if you have the tools you need to succeed, teaching math and ESL together can be an incredibly rewarding experience, both for you and for your students.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Why Teach Math in Your ESL Classes

The idea of teaching both ESL and math at the same time might seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be. In fact, many experts agree that teaching another subject is a great way to enhance ESL teaching.

Content and Language Integrated Learning, also known as CLIL, is a major feature of European instruction and is at the heart of teaching math in your ESL classes. CLIL programs are designed to integrate both language and content learning such that both the content and the language are acquired simultaneously by the student.

Experts and CLIL supporters say that teaching another subject in English, like math or history, rather than teaching straight English, is a great way to improve proficiency in English.

The literature surrounding CLIL details the ways in which language is used in CLIL contexts to learn as well as to communicate, something that it is very important to be mindful of as an ESL math teacher.

Pointers for Teaching Math to ESL Students

No matter what level you are teaching, it's good to remember a few basic rules:

Teach to what your students know, either ESL-wise or math-wise. In other words, use words that your students already know when introducing a new math concept, or review concepts that you know your students know when introducing new English vocabulary.

As much as possible, try to avoid introducing new math concepts and new vocabulary at the same time. If this is unavoidable, do so slowly and be sure to spend an adequate amount of time covering all of the new material.

Speak out loud as you work through the math, explaining what you are doing as you do it, and using the same vocabulary each time whenever possible. For example, say, "I'm adding all of the integers in the ones column. I'm carrying the 1..." This allows students access to the words that they need to solve problems and to explain where they went wrong if needed.

Invite students to participate, ask questions and solve problems themselves as part of the class. The more your students can participate during instruction, the more capable they will be as independent workers during homework assignments, quizzes and tests.

If classes get a little heavy, some fun learning videos and educational content from FluentU always go a long way!For a much-needed break from math and English class, be sure to find some videos for the students. But not to worry, with interactive quizzes and flashcards, the learning will continue!

How to Teach Math to Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced ESL Learners

One of the major issues of teaching math in English class, however, is that math and English levels do not always line up. When you are working within a CLIL structure, often math and English link up fairly well, but if, for example, you have an ELL learner in your mainstream class, you might have to work to accommodate the level of your students.

The following examples assume that your ESL math learners are in a situation similar to that of a CLIL structure, which is to say, their math and English levels line up. However, some of these examples can be adapted for an ELL situation, depending on your creativity.

Teaching Math to ESL Beginners

Beginner ESL math should begin with a short, straight vocabulary lesson. After all, students will need to have access to certain vocabulary words in order to solve even the most basic of problems.

Introduce this vocabulary as early as possible, for example, with a traditional vocab lesson structure, and be sure to come back to it often. You may even want to post often-used words somewhere on your classroom wall for easy access.

Key vocabulary for beginners

Number words, including cardinal (three) and ordinal (third) forms

Words related to basic mathematical operations:

Addition, add, sum, plus

Subtraction, subtract, difference, minus

Multiplication, multiply, product, times

Division, divide, quotient

Equals

How to write and present basic math problems

Once your students have the words that they need, you can begin presenting basic math problems to them.

Consider writing your first problems using both the signs and the actual words for the operations involved, or invite your students to add one or the other. For example, a worksheet could include the following problem:
Four plus six equals
The student would then have to write out the problem as follows before solving it:

4 + 6 =

As students become more advanced, write the problems the opposite way, making the students responsible for transcribing the mathematical symbols into English words before solving the problem.

Math games and activities for beginners

Some of the best ways to reinforce the newly acquired skills of your students is with games and activities. Here are a few of our favorites:

Zip, Zap, Zop. This game is best used with factors, though creative teachers will find ways to use it with a variety of math skills. When used to remember factors, choose an integer-nine, for example-and have students count in a circle.

When a number with the number nine in it (such as 19 or 29) is said, the student who is supposed to say 19 (or 29) will instead say "Zip!" and point to another student, out of order. The counting then continues again.

In the same fashion, students landing on factors of nine, such as three, will say "Zap!" and students landing on numbers for which nine is a divisor, like 27, will say "Zop."

Teaching Math to Intermediate ESL Learners

Take advantage of intermediate learners' increasing levels in both math and English by using more English in the classroom. No longer simply numbers-related, math now becomes just as much about words.

Writing word problems for ESL learners

Word problems are perhaps the best way to allow ESL math learners to progress. After all, where better do English and math meet?

When writing word problems for ESL learners or modifying pre-existing word problems for ESL learners, bear a few key rules in mind:

Keep sentences simple. The math is complicated enough; ESL learners will have a much easier time solving problems if the ideas are presented in simple, declarative sentences.

For example, instead of saying, "If Farmer John has three pigs and two sheep, and both of the sheep have a lamb, how many animals does he have on the farm?" Try, "Farmer John has three pigs, two sheep and two baby sheep (lambs). How many animals are on the farm?"

Offer your students a list of key words. For example, give them a worksheet, having them associate words with the four primary operations:

Addition: sum, plus, and, with, add

Subtraction: minus, difference, lose, remove, take away

Multiplication: times, product, by, multiply, groups

Division: divide, quotient, of, divide

Math games and activities for intermediate learners

Here are some great activities to try with intermediate learners, both in the classroom and for homework.

Creating word problems. Once students have learned about word problems, try helping them write and illustrate their own!

Partner draw. Increase intermediate students' spatial awareness by having students draw a picture and hide it from their partner. Any picture can be used, but encourage students to use geometrical shapes that they know the names of, such as square, rectangle, circle and triangle.

A student may choose to draw a house and a yard with these shapes. Once the drawing is completed, each student describes the picture that he or she drew, using words that both students know. For example, "Draw a square in the center of the page with 4-inch sides, about 1 inch from the bottom. Draw an isosceles triangle on top, with the longest side adjacent to the top edge of the square."

As the student describes his or her picture, his or her partner attempts to replicate it. Encourage students to use words like "parallel," "perpendicular," "at a right angle to," "equilateral," "diameter" and any other geometrical words that you may have introduced in class.

Teaching Math to Advanced ESL Learners

Teaching math to advanced ESL learners can be a real joy. Once the advanced level is reached, logic and language interact in such a way as to give students the tools to begin to really think in English.

Theory and logic-related math for advanced learners

As advanced students begin working on more advanced word problems in English, you can begin introducing some more linguistic elements, particularly with relative clauses. For example:

In six years, Carl's father will be twice as old as Carl will be next year. When Carl's age is added to his father's age, the total is 42. How old are Carl and his father?

These sorts of problems force students to understand all of the information presented before they can even begin, and also help students to work with algebraic equations.

Once your ESL students are at an advanced level, you can use nearly any math resource with them. Just make sure to always provide them with the tools that they need. For example, while many languages use a variation of Latin terms when it comes to algebraic and geometric vocabulary, it's always a good idea to go through the vocab before beginning a unit pertaining to either one of these topics.

Activities for advanced ESL math learners

And as always, be sure to let the level of your students dictate your lessons as much as possible. If you realize that students are already adept at simple word problems, offer them some more advanced ones to tackle. If you realize that the vocabulary of some of your students is lacking, try some vocab exercises before moving on to more advanced math.

By allowing English and math knowledge to build upon one another in the classroom, your experience-and that of your ESL students-will only be richer.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

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The Approachable Guide to Teaching Math in ESL Classes

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When does 1 + 1 add up to way more than two? When you combine ESL and math! Whether you are an ESL teacher adding math to your curriculum or a math teacher with ELL students in your classroom, you are in luck. Here's why: Teaching two subjects at once isn't the juggling act it sounds like.

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I have had the most experience teaching ELL students in mainstream math classes (MFM1P/2P, MPM1D/2D, and MAT1L/2L).  These are some fantastic resources I have discovered and used over the years. The PDF is a great resource to help answer many of my questions pertaining to lesson planning.

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ELL Students with Limiting Prior Schooling

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ELL Students with Limiting Prior Schooling

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John F. Ross CVI (my school) is the largest in the Upper Grand District School Board and has an extensive International Student program, as well as many ESL classes. In the recent years, Guelph has seen an increase in the amount of refugees moving to the area, particularly families from Syria.  I found the Supporting Students with Refugee Backgrounds very informative and relevant to my school's current population.
Although the student I chose to write my narrative on did not have this issue, I found the Supporting English Language Learners with Limited Prior Schooling to be ab excellent resource and support system for these types of students.
The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9 - 12 document is essential for understanding how to appropriately support ELLs in all aspects of their education while in Ontario.

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1.       How do Canadian educators enforce our principles and moral standards within our classrooms knowing full well they don’t necessarily align with those our Ells are accustomed to?

2.       How do we as educators ensure that we treat all ELL students with the same level of maturity and social context our native English-speaking students?

3.       How do you foster and promote genuine relationships and collaboration between ELLs and native English speakers within the classroom?

4.       How do we ensure a safe and non-judgemental learning environment for all students?

5.       How do we effectively assess and differentiate between learning exceptionalities with identified students, and ELL students?