English Language Learners

English Language Learners
What you need to know before
you test.
Myths:
2nd Language Acquisition
 Bilingual education delays, if not prevents,
LEP students form learning English.
 LEP students have more oral-language
special education deficits.
 All bilingual education programs are the
same; therefore if they are in bilingual ed they
cannot be described as having “lack of
educational opportunity.”
 You only have to test a child in their native
language if when they can’t talk to you in
English or if they are in bilingual ed/ESOL.
Some Stats
 ~16% of LEP students
scored above the state
norm on English
reading measures
 ~30% of LEP students
scores above the state
norm when tested in
reading in their own
language
 8.7% of LEP students in
grades 7 to 12 had
been retained.
 Drop=out rates
24.2%: non-English
spoken at home
9.6%: English
spoken at home
17.6%: Students
with SLD
What are we asking?
“To what degree is the second-language
learner's academic difficulty or failure
due to an inherent disability versus
pedagogically induced factors?”
LEP Instructional Programs
 ESL/ ESOL (no native language instruction
Content-Based ESL/ Sheltered English
Pullout ESL
 Bilingual Education (some native language
instruction)
Transitional/ Early-Exit Bilingual Education
Maintenance/ Late-Exit/ Developmental Bilingual
Education
Two-Way/ Dual-Language Bilingual Education
ESL/ESOL:
Content-Based ESL
AKA: Sheltered English
Instruction is in English only.
Class is made up of all different
language groups.
Total Physical Response is main
method of teaching.
Student spends from 50-100% of the
day in this type of classroom.
ESL/ESOL:
Pullout ESL
Similar to Content-Based ESL
Differences from Content-Based ESL
Focus is not on teaching academic
materials in English, but to just teach
English.
Students leave their classroom and receive
separate instruction elsewhere.
Usually less than 50% of the day is spent
in the pullout classroom.
Bilingual Education:
Transitional/ Early-Exit
 Primarily comprised of students from the
same language group.
 Usually last for 2-4 years.
 Initially use L1 as foundation and transition to
L2
 Use both L1 and L2 from the very beginning.
 L1 is used mostly for language arts.
 Teach L2 at the expense of L1.
Bilingual Education
Maintenance/ Late-Exit
Primarily comprised of students from
the same language group.
Usually last for 4-6 years.
Use L1 for longer time and for more
than just language arts.
L1 is taught as well as L2, thus L2 is not
lost.
Bilingual Education
Two-Way/ Dual Language
 English as L1 or another language as L1 are
placed together (goal = 50/50).
 The goal is for both English as L1 and other
language as L1 will be bilingual in both
languages.
 Program provided for at least 4-6 years
(usually starts at Kindergarten).
 Instruction is taught (goal is usually 50/50) in
both L1 and L2.
Research for Bilingual
Education
 Small scale (low number of subjects)
research tends to have different findings (pro
and con) for success of bilingual education.
 The only large scale study that did not find
positive results for bilingual education (over
ESOL) had serious methodological problems.
 One thing to note, even amongst the larger
scale studies, Thomas and Collier (1997) was
the first to measure students longitudinal
success.
Group Project: Discuss
Findings on Page 67
 Discuss the findings from this study with one
another (note: One-way program is a
maintenance program).
 A principal at a school where you work is
asking about bilingual education. He heard
that “sink or swim” was best. Practice exactly
how you might tell him about the findings in
this (and other) studies without offending him.
He is a busy man and only has a minute for
you to talk to him in the hall.
 Present this to the class.
Group Project:
Exclusionary Clause
 A child has been referred for a special
education evaluation who speaks Korean as
his native language.
 He started this school in 2nd grade and is
now in 5th grade. He has received only ESL
Pull-Out instruction.
 Discuss the issue of “lack of educational
opportunity” in talking about exclusionary
clauses prior to eligibility determination for
SLD.
Language Acquisition in Terms
of Years
 It takes 12 years for
students to acquire
L1.
Birth to Age 5:
Develop BICS
Age 5 to Age 12:
Develop CALP
 It takes 4-7 years for
a English-only child
to get CALP in L2
 ELL in bilingual
education program
 It takes 2-3 years to
develop BICS in L2
 It takes 5-7 years to
develop CALP in L2
 ELL in traditional
program
 May obtain CALP in L2 in
7-10, but many never do.
Group Project
 A child has been referred for behavioral
problems in class (mostly inattention and not
connecting to her classmates).
 Examine the chart on page 71 and talk about
behavior in terms of language acquisition.
 What are some assessments or questions
you might ask to differentiate between
language acquisition and a psychological
problem?
An ELL need to obtain CALP in L1
in order to get CALP in L2
An ELL need to obtain CALP in L1
in order to get CALP in L2
An ELL need to obtain CALP in L1
in order to get CALP in L2
An ELL need to obtain CALP in L1
in order to get CALP in L2
Quote: Cummins (1984)
“Minority language students are frequently
transferred from bilingual to Englishonly classrooms when they have
developed superficially fluent English
communicative skills.”
Myths Revisited:
2nd Language Acquisition
 Bilingual education delays, if not prevents, LEP
students form learning English.
 LEP students have more oral-language special
education deficits.
 All bilingual education programs are the same;
therefore if they are in bilingual ed they cannot be
described as having “lack of educational opportunity.”
 You only have to test a child in their native language
if/ when they can’t talk to you in English or if they are
in bilingual ed/ ESOL.
Prereferral Considerations for
Culturally and Linguistically
Diverse Students
Chapter 5
Prereferral Teams
 Composition:
At least one member who is knowledgeable about
culture and language in educational instruction.
 Perceptions of the team:
Some teams are designed to provide interventions
and suggestions with a final possibility of SPED
services
Other teams are designed to be an unwelcome
barrier necessary to overcome to get a child into
SPED.
Special ed. was not devised to
solve general ed.’s problems.
 Special education is for children with
GENUINE disabilities.
 Special education is not a way to keep
general educators from having to learn
instructional strategies for:
Slow-learners
Second language learners
Socially maladjusted learners
 Prereferral teams should be a technique to
help general education teachers learn these
instructional strategies.
Why shouldn’t SPED be the
answer to all problems?
 Hispanics in special education did not make
the academic strides that those in bilingual
education can.
 “Slow-learners” placed in special education
graduate at lower rates than those in general
education (Kaznowski, 2003).
 Children with mild disabilities do not perform
as well when placed in pull-out programs than
when they are able to remain in the general
education classroom (School Psych
Handbook)
Critical Factors in ELL
Learning Environments
 Instruction in L1.
 Content-based instruction in L2 is provided.
 Students are active learners.
 Students’ language and culture are valued.
 Interaction between ELL and English-only
students occurs.
 Bilingual education is an integral part of the
school (and not just a tacked-on program).
Prereferral Team Impact
90-92% of cases brought to the referral
team were eventually referred for an
evaluation
70-74% of those evaluated were found
eligible for SPED.
85% of referred Hispanic students were
found eligible for SPED.
Top 10 Reasons ELL students
referred for SPED
 Poor achievement
 Socio-emotional
 Behavioral problems
problems
 Dx for particular
disability condition
 Written language
 Poor attention span
 Unable to follow or
understand
directions
 Oral language
delays
 Reading problems
 Learning difficulties
Group Assignment
 Look at the top 10 list again.
 Discuss each of the ten reasons and describe
how language acquisition may be a factor in
each of these
 Describe how you might assess or question
to rule language acquisition out as the main
problem (use the questions on form 5.1 as a
guide).
 Each group will present two of these from the
list to the class.
So, when do you refer?
 First, make sure that you have
comprehensive (more than one source)
information on the student and the student’s
problems.
 Second, make sure that prereferral
interventions are appropriate for this child’s
cultural and linguistic needs.
 Third, if you still question “is this 2nd
language acquisition or is this a disability?”
then a referral is probably appropriate.”
Group Project
A Prereferral Team is meeting on a ten-year-old
child who moved from Brazil when she was 7
years old. She has been in the same school
the whole time.
What are some specific questions you would
want to ask about this child prior to
requesting an assessment?
What are some resources you might use to find
out more about her culture and language?
List at least three different resources.

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