Psychology and Education of Exceptional Learners

English Language Learners

Who are they?
Quite simply, an ELL student is someone whose first language is not English and is not fluent
enough in English to be bilingual. English Language Learners (ELL) or English as a

Second Language (ESL) students are students who first learned to speak, read and/or
write a language(s) other than English. ESL students may have recently immigrated to
Canada or may have been born in Canada and live in homes in which the primary
language is not English. English language learners may be bilingual or multilingual
students whose English proficiency is lower than their grade-level peers.
Resource: English as a Second Language Learner http://www.education.alberta.ca/media/6352722/22_ch
%2014.pdf

How common is it?

In terms of incidence rate, depends on the demographic of the schools community.
40 in 500: 2/25: 8%

What are the Alberta Education Codes?

Code 301: Foreign born ESL (Funded)
Code 303: Canadian born ESL (Funded)
Code 302: Foreign born ESL (Unfunded; usually well off)
Resource: English as a Second Language Learner http://www.education.alberta.ca/media/6352722/22_ch
%2014.pdf

Characteristics and Observable Behaviour

In Alberta, ELLs are categorized from Level 1 to Level 5, with Level 1 being little to no English
and Level 5 being having studied English for several years, but still is behind other students in
oral, reading, or writing. Each level has its own set of characteristics.

Resource: Government of Alberta, Organizing for Instruction

http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/eslapb/organizing_for_instruction_characteristics.html

The developmental period for learning English is fairly consistent

across young children. This developmental period includes four stages:

(1) The
continued
use of the
home
language

(2) The silent

or nonverbal
period

(3) Sound experimentation

and use of telegraphic
speech (e.g., the use of a few
content words as an entire
utterance such as when a
child responds to What do
you want? with comments
such as crackers, book,
or airplane) in the new
language

(4)
Productive
use of the
new
language

The issue is the fact that some of the behaviors that children might engage in
during these developmental periods, such as playing in isolation and not
speaking in either language, may be misinterpreted or mislabeled as a problem
when in fact children are simply beginning to acquire the new language. Secondlanguage learners might exhibit social interaction patterns along with limited
communication abilities that are similar to those exhibited by children identified with
specific language impairments or with speech impairments. Thus, it is not
uncommon for many of these children to be labeled as having
challenging behaviours or communication disorders when in fact
they are following a fairly typical developmental path in acquiring a second language.
Resource: Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/wwb/wwb2.html

Teaching Resources/Strategies

Resource: Effective Teaching Strategies for English Language Learners

http://www.pebc.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Effective-tchg-strat-Facella1.pdf

Literature: Getting Starting with English Language Learners by Judie

Haynes
Repetition: Helps to solidify words and concepts through practice
Relation to personal interests and background knowledge: By
connecting lessons to ELL students interests and home country, they will be more
interested in the lesson e.g. sports, native cultures etc.
Literacy Development: promote the practice of literacy it is important to offer
learners interesting reading material at their language level.
Photo Connections: Pictures and images can be used to help make connections
between students native language and English
Creating relationships: Building student rapport is the development of a positive
relation between the teacher and the students; this creates a safe student culture where
your ELL students wont feel alienated. Pairing ELL students with a buddy is especially
important for social situations like the cafeteria at lunchtime.
Concrete Props in learning: Students can correlate the physical objects with
words that they need to know. Multisensory learning can help; there is a difference
between hearing and seeing the word and actually physically touching the object. This
can be used for math concepts, simple vocabulary (fish, cat, milk, bread, etc.) or for
teaching more abstract concepts like adjectives e.g. Trains to show short and long
Engaging parents in learning: Educators should encourage multilingual
families to continue speaking and developing their childs literacy in their other
language(s). Translating new English words and concepts into the home language helps
the student with meaning and ultimately supports his or her learning in both languages. It
also helps to involve the parents in the school experience. Also, at home students can
participate in home reading, especially reading books with repeating phrases, practice
phrases through dramatic play, art, etc.
Flexible groupings: By having a physical classroom layout that is conducive to small
groupings or paired learnings, ELLs feel like they are an integral part of the classroom
community and are given many opportunities for sustained dialogues with their
classmates.
Choral reading: This allow ELLs the opportunity to try out the language without being
in the spotlight. This helps them develop fluency and expression.
Alternative assessments: Because many ELLs memorize for tests without
comprehending, it is important for teachers to develop alternative assessments. This
provides a realistic picture of what they can do. Some examples may be increasing time
given for exams, offering the opportunity for students to finish examinations after school
with an interpreter, allowing use of bilingual dictionaries or electronic translators, or
offering exams with yes/no or either/or answers.
Attached is a plethora of activities and strategies from Dr. Olenka
Bilash of the University of Alberta, found at

http://www.educ.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.bilash/best%20of
%20bilash/ELLstudents.html