ELL Case Study: Interviewing the Cooperating Classroom Teacher

I interviewed a second grade general education teacher at an elementary school in Jericho School District. 

• Please describe your ELL teaching experience.

In my twelve years of teaching, I’ve taught fourth grade for nine years and now I’m in my third year as a second grade teacher.  In most of my classes, I’ve had at least one ELL student.  In almost all cases, these students and their families emigrated from Asia where students are introduced to some form of English reading, writing and verbal communication.  With a familiarity with the English language, most students were able to transition nicely over time.  The basics are hardest to learn for any learner so the bigger challenges with my ELL students were to get them to grade appropriate skill levels.  I concentrated on their reading skills first before moving on written work.  Increased verbal interaction seemed to come naturally as these students gained confidence in reading and writing.  Small group work was a huge help as students helped each other and I can monitor progress.

• What is your perception on ELLs in terms of their learning motivation and performance

(especially in reading and writing)? What learning difficulties do ELLs usually encounter

in schools? What is the role of family and community in helping ELLs’ learning?

I can answer this through my previous experiences. For the most part, my former ELL students were very motivated to learn the language to fit in socially with their classmates who were more proficient with the English language.  I found that progress in reading and writing were excellent once they started with intervention but the level of progress slowed to a steadier pace as the demands became harder.  Their verbal skills lagged from lack of confidence and also as they learn cultural differences in this country to speak more freely.  That adjustment frequently holds them back from demonstrating what they have learned.  I find that many families are making the same adjustments so it’s probably the biggest challenge to becoming proficient and confident.  I’ve seen my ELL students do well with close relationships with siblings who are learning at the same time. Having that support really helps a lot.

• In your opinion, how do classroom teachers resolve ELLs’ learning difficulties? What

strategies do you adopt? Are they effective or not?  How do you make sure that

your teaching is culturally responsive? How do you go about reaching out to the family

and the community?

In my experience, small groups of mixed abilities work really well with ELL students.  I had started with small groups of students with similar ability and found their progress to be steady but felt more could be done.  At times, I felt the ELL students in the group were unintentionally picking up on bad habits in such groups. I then mixed the small groups and they worked really well especially for ELL students who got the benefit of learning from more proficient students.  In turn, my higher achieving students really enjoyed sharing their knowledge. These mixed ability groups got everyone engaged.

For ELL students, frequent assessment is important to measure their progress which can be remarkable given their relative lack of experience.  By demonstrating their new abilities, ELL students gain confidence to move on to learn more difficult concepts.  Also, frequent assessments identify where a student is off track in a timely manner.  I found this was common when a story contained unfamiliar settings, figurative language or cultural-specific context. By assessing comprehension frequently, I was able to clarify misunderstandings before the students go totally off track with their reading.

The school district has grown rapidly in diversity in the 13 years I’ve taught here.  I have personally learned many new cultural aspects each school year from my students.  I take great interest in other cultures and by letting all my students know that, I feel I create an open environment where students feel comfortable sharing their own cultures.  We purposefully uncover each of our cultural differences throughout the school year and use that information to guide some of my instruction so that it is culturally responsive.  We bring in the experiences of students’ families often during our writing workshops especially during certain holidays like Chinese New Year and winter holidays.  I think some of my students’ best experiences in the school year are learning from each other.

• If you have an ELL in your class whose culture you are not familiar with at all, how do

you go about teaching the child?,

Several times, I’ve had students from cultures that I was unfamiliar with.  I seek the advice from colleagues first before researching on my own. In all cases, my professional network helped me better understand the cultural differences and how best to approach instruction.  I’ve learned that different cultures require different instructional approaches.  Common to all approaches are individual and small group work and frequent assessment.