PROFESSIONAL
Professional Development
Encouraging ELL Socialization
English Language Learners face an enormous challenge trying to learn rigorous, English-based academic curricula. Add in the social needs that are inherent in middle and high school, and ELL students—and their teachers—may feel as though they are standing at the foot of a steep mountain. Whether or not these students ultimately acquire the knowledge and confidence needed for social adjustment depends on several factors. However, research shows that the students' own previous classroom experience is one determinant.
Leslie Nabors Oláh, a research assistant professor at University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education (GSE Penn) and a researcher at the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, states the following: "Often, what separates ELLs from their native-English-speaking peers-both in academic achievement as well as social adjustment-is not language per se, but rather the quantity and quality of formal school experiences that have been available to them." Oláh cites recently arrived immigrants from refugee camps and students who have had to work for their families' economic survival as examples of ELL students who may have never been formally schooled until now.
Other ELL students may have some formal classroom experience but no consistency in location, as in the case of the children of migrant farm workers, Oláh says. For these students, social adjustment depends largely on whether the teacher's lessons and communication styles provides the support and sensitivity required to accommodate their needs. Even a word of seemingly harmless feedback from a teacher can daunt an ELL student. "For example, the phrase 'much better' that is often written beside or at the end of student work is incredibly obtuse," points out Oláh. "Does that mean that the student has out-performed her peers? Does it mean that she needs to do better?...Students who are unaccustomed to the language rituals of U.S. classrooms need teachers who are aware of potential pitfalls in language use."
"Discover International..." features, such as this one about languages from Glencoe's Discovering Life Skills, help to build interest, understanding, and enthusiasm in today's culturally diverse classroom.
Research shows that incorporating an ELL student's cultural experience into their instruction is an effective way to nurture a smoother academic and social adjustment. Multicultural education benefits ELL students and their classmates by establishing a more level playing in terms of opportunities to learn, and by helping students recognize and appreciate their differences without any perception of inferiority or superiority—an important prerequisite for healthy interpersonal exchanges.
