BREAKING THE INEQUITABLE EDUCATION CYCLE FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS THROUGH POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS

Ellen Yeh, Guofang Wan, Michael R. Scott

Abstract


This study employed qualitative evidence synthesis (Saldaña, 2012) to critically examine and systematically analyze 63 studies published between 2000-2018 reporting positive educational impacts on English language learners (ELLs). Drawing on Scarcella’s (2003) academic English literacy framework and culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2001), this study demonstrates three mechanisms to improve ELL outcomes. First, teachers should use both culturally responsive practices and knowledge of language acquisition. Second, fostering family and peer supports creates positive learning environments. Finally, long-term solutions require policies addressing the socio-politico-economic disparities affecting ELLs. These results show, in a synthesized fashion, an approach to equitable quality education for ELLs.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


culturally responsive teaching, English language learners, instructional strategies and practices, education policies, sociocultural environment

Full Text:

PDF

References


Adelman, C. (2006). The toolbox revisited: Paths to degree completion from high school through college. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Involvement.

Agbatogun, A. O. (2014). Developing learners’ second language communicative competence through active learning: Clickers or communicative approach? Educational Technology & Society, 17 (2), 257–269.

Aguirre, J. M., & Zavala, M. R. (2013). Making culturally responsive mathematics teaching explicit: A lesson analysis tool. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 8(2), 163–190.

Ajayi, L. (2009). English as a second language learners’ exploration of multimodal texts in a junior high school. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(7), 585–595.

Al-Amir, M. (2010). Humanizing TESOL curriculum for diverse adult ESL learners in the age of globalization. International Journal of the Humanities, 8(8), 103–112.

Biglari, N., & Farahian, M. (2017). An investigation into the effect of reader response approach on EFL learners’ reading comprehension, vocabulary retention and test anxiety. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 7(8), 633–643.

Bilingual Education. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2018 from the Bilingual education Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilingual_education.

Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J. C. (1990). Reproduction in education, society and culture (Vol. 4). New York, NY: Sage.

Callahan, R. M., Wilkinson, L., & Muller, C. (2010). Academic achievement and course taking among language minority youth in U.S. schools: Effects of ESL placement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 32, 84–117.

Camera, L. (2016). The increase of immigrant students’ tests tolerance. U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved from: https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/articles/2016-01-05/number-of-immigrant-students-is-growing

Chaitanya, E. K., & Ramana, K. V. (2013). Role play--an integrated approach to enhance language skills (LSRW) of the ESL learners--a collaborative action research report. Language in India, 13(1), 469–482.

Choi, J., & Yi, Y. (2016). Teachers' integration of multimodality into classroom practices for English language learners. TESOL Journal, 7(2), 304–327.

Ciechanowski, K. M. (2009). “A squirrel came and pushed earth”: Popular cultural and scientific ways of thinking for ELLs. Reading Teacher, 62(7), 558–568.

Civil, M. (2007). Building on community knowledge: An avenue to equity in mathematics education. In N. Nasir & P. Cobb (Eds.), Improving access to mathematics: Diversity and equity in the classroom (pp. 105–117). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Cochran-Smith, M., Villegas, A.M., Abrams, L., Chavez-Morena, L., Mills, T., & Stern, R. (2015). Critiquing teacher preparation research: An overview of the field, Part II. Journal of Teacher Education, 66(2), 109–121.

Cummins, J. (2011). Literacy engagement: Fueling academic growth for English learners. The Reading Teacher, 65(2), 142–146.

Echevarria, J., Short, D., & Powers, K. (2006). School reform and standards-based education: An instructional model for English language learners. Journal of Educational Research, 99 (4), 195–210.

Echevarria, J., Vogt, M., & Short, D.J. (2004). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson.

ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics, W. D. (1994). Two-Way Bilingual Education Programs in Practice: A National and Local Perspective. ERIC Digest.

Finley, T. (2014, September 2). Culturally responsive teaching: Helping diverse learners succeed. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/helping-diverse-learners-succeed-todd-finley.

Ford, D. Y. (2015). Culturally responsive gifted classrooms for culturally different students: A focus on invitational learning. Gifted Child Today, 38(1), 67–69.

Freyn, A. L., & Gross, S. (2017). An empirical study of Ecuadorian university EFL learners' comprehension of English idioms using a multimodal teaching approach. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 7(11), 984–989.

Gándara, P., & Hopkins, M. (2010). Forbidden language: English learners and restrictive language policies. New York: Teachers College Press.

Gay, G. (2001). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. New York: Teachers College Press.

Gao, L. (2012). Investigating ESL graduate students’ intercultural experiences of academic English writing: A first-person narration of a streamlined qualitative study process. The Qualitative Report, 17(12), 1–25.

Hafner, C. A. (2014). Embedding digital literacies in English language teaching: Students’ digital video projects as multimodal ensembles. TESOL Quarterly, 48, 655–685.

Hall, G., & Cook, G. (2012). Own-language use in language teaching and learning. Language Teaching, 45(3), 27–308.

Harmon, D. A. (2012). Culturally responsive teaching through a historical lens: Will history repeat itself? Interdisciplinary Journal of Teaching and Learning, 2(1), 12–22.

Haynes, J. (2016). Pull-out v.s push-in ESL programs in elementary schools. [web log comment]. TESOL Blog. Retrieved from http://blog.tesol.org/pull-out-vs-push-in-esl-programs-in-elementary-schools/.

Helman, L., & Burns, M. (2008). What does oral language have to do with it? Helping young English-language learners acquire a sight word vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 62(1), 14–19.

Hirschman, C. (2016). From high school to college: Gender, immigrant generation, and race-ethnicity. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Iddings, A., Risko, V., & Rampulla, M. (2009). When you don't speak their language: Guiding English-language learners through conversations about text. The Reading Teacher, 63(1), 52–61.

Ladson-Billings, G. (1994a). The dreamkeepers: Successful teaching for African-American students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Ladson-Billings, G. (1994b). What we can learn from multicultural education research. Educational Leadership, 1(8), 22–26.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2010). Making the book talk: Literacy in successful urban classrooms and communities. In K. Dunsmore & D. Fisher (Eds.), Bringing Literacy Home (pp.226-244). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Lee, J. H. (2012). Reassessment of English-only approach in EFL context in view of young learners’ attitudes, language proficiency, and vocabulary knowledge. Multilingual Education, 2(5).

Limia A., Dewitt, D., Alias, N., & Abdul, R. (2017). Flipped learning for ESL writing in a Sudanese school. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 16(3), 60–70.

Kanno, Y., & Cromley, J. G. (2015). English language learners’ pathways to four-year colleges. Teachers College Record, 117(12), 1–44.

Kanno, Y., & Kangas, S. N. (2014). “I’m not going to be, like, for the AP”: English language learners’ limited access to advanced college-preparatory courses in high school. American Educational Research Journal, 51(5), 848–878.

Kanno, Y., & Varghese, M. (2010). Immigrant English language learners’ challenges to accessing four-year college education: From language policy to educational policy. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 9(5), 1–19.

Krashen, S. D. (1991). Bilingual education: A focus on current research. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.

Manurung, K., & Mashuri (2017). Implementing interest based instructional materials to minimize EFL learners' speaking skills de-motivating factors. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 7(5), 356–365.

Manyak, P. C. (2010). Vocabulary instruction for English learners: Lessons from MCVIP. Reading Teacher, 64(2), 143–146.

Martins-Shannon, J. (2012). Support culturally responsive teaching! Kappa Delta Pi Record, 48(1), 4–6.

Menken, K. (2006). Teaching to the test: How No Child Left Behind impacts language policy, curriculum, and instruction for English language learners. Bilingual Research Journal, 30(2), 521-546.

Moll, L., & González, N. (2004). Engaging life: A funds-of-knowledge approach to multicultural education. In J. A. Banks & C. A. Banks (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (2nd ed., pp. 699–715). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Moran, R. F. (1988). The politics of discretion: Federal intervention in bilingual education. California Law Review, 76(6), 1249–1352.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2013). The condition of education 2013. Retrieved from National Center for Education Statistics website: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgf.asp.

Núñez, A., Rios-Aguilar, C., Kanno, Y., & Flores, S. (2016). English Learners and Their Transition to Postsecondary Education. In M.B. Paulsen (Eds.), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

Office for Civil Rights. (2000). The Provision of an Equal Education Opportunity to Limited-English Proficient Students. U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/print/about/offices/list/ocr/eeolep/index.html#.

Peercy, M. M. (2011). Preparing English language learners for the mainstream: Academic language and literacy practices in two junior high school ESL classrooms. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 27(4), 324–362.

Petrzela, N. M. (2011). Before the federal Bilingual Education Act: Legislation and lived experience. The Peabody Journal of Education, 85(4), 406–424.

Powell, L. S. (2012). 30 Americans: An inspiration for culturally responsive teaching. Art Education, 65(5), 33–40.

Protacio, M. S. (2012). Reading motivation: A focus on English learners. Reading Teacher, 66(1), 69–77.

Reuters, T. (2018). English-only instruction in public schools. FindLaw. Retrieved from https://education.findlaw.com/curriculum-standards-school-funding/english-only-instruction-in-public-schools.html.

Roseberry-McKibbin, C. & Brice, A. (2005). Serving English language learners in public school settings. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 36, 48–61.

Saldaña, J. (2012). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Sage.

Samson, J. S., & Collins, B. A. (2012). Preparing all teachers to meet the needs of English language learners applying research to policy and practice for teacher effectiveness. Center for American Progress. Retrieved from http://www.americanprogress.org/wpcontent/uploads/issues/2012/04/pdf/ell_report.pdf.

Scarcella, R. (2003). Academic English: A conceptual framework. Berkeley, CA: University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute.

Siwatu, K. O. (2011). Preservice Teachers' Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy-Forming Experiences: A Mixed Methods Study. Journal of Educational Research, 104(5), 360–369.

The Education Alliance. (2018). Sheltered English Instruction. Brown University. Retrieved from https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-alliance/teaching-diverse-learners/strategies-0/sheltered-english-instruction-0.

Thomas, W. P., & Collier, V. P. (2002). A national study of school effectiveness for language minority students’ long-term academic achievement. Santa Cruz, CA/Washington, DC: Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence.

Turner, E. E., Drake, C., Roth McDuffie, A., Aguirre, J. M., Bartell, T. G., & Foote, M. Q. (2012). Promoting equity in mathematics teacher preparation: A framework for advancing teacher learning of children’s multiple mathematics knowledge bases. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 15(1), 67–82.

U.S. Department of Education. (2000). The provision of an equal education opportunity to limited-English proficient students. Office for Civic Rights. Washington, DC. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/eeolep/index.html.

Valdés, G. (2001). Learning and not learning English: Latino students in American schools. New York: Teachers College Press.

Valenzuela, A. (1999). Subtractive schooling: US-Mexican youth and the politics of caring. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Wong, R. (2018). Non-native EFL teachers' perception of English accent in teaching and learning: Any preference? Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(2), 177–183.

Yang, Y., & Lyster, R. (2010). Effects of form-focused practice and feedback on Chinese EFL learners’ acquisition of regular and irregular past tense forms. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 32, 235–263.

Yi, Y., King, N., & Safriani, A. (2017). Reconceptualizing Assessment for Digital Multimodal Literacy. TESOL Journal, 8(4), 878–885.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejel.v5i4.3157

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright © 2015 - 2023. European Journal of English Language Teaching (ISSN 2501-7136) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms.

All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).