Andrew Lopez

TED 606
Professor Wong
Activity 4.2
TEACHING ELL: EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES

TEACHING ELL: EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES

As a former ELL student and future educator myself, I would appreciate being in a Two
Way Immersion classroom. These types of programs are becoming more common due to amount
of immigrant students in schools. According to our textbook, Immigrants give rise to the largest
part of linguistic diversity among students and are also the fastest-growing group of students in
U.S. schools (Banks, 219). This type of teaching program is very effective for ELL students.
According to the Iris Centers English Language Learner: Effective Instructional Practices
article, "ELLs have greater academic success when content instruction is provided in the
students home language for several years, while their English language proficiency gradually
increases over time." A problem that bilingual students face is that if they don't acquire their first
language fluently, it becomes increasingly difficult to transfer their language knowledge to their
second language. These programs allow the students to become fluent and learn the patterns and
rules of a single language in the beginning, and slowly increase their knowledge of the second
language. It places English learners and Native English speakers in the same class. Teacher's
provide language instruction 90% in their native language and 10% in English, and gradually
increase the English over time until they are eventually teaching using both languages equally or
continue on into more English than the native language.
One of the strategies I would use in my own Two Way Immersion classroom would
be to start the year off by accessing their prior knowledge. By understanding what knowledge the
students have come into the classroom with, it will be easier to make connections and base the
new learning on language cognates and other content they've already mastered in their initial
language. Teachers can learn ways to connect new material by using the students prior
knowledge. By doing so, the teachers make it easier for the students to understand the content. If

the teachers can involve the students cultures, it will help them relate to new material in a more
meaningful and multi-dimensional way. Students become more motivated when they can relate
to material because they have a sense of ownership. All the students know is the culture they
have been raised in, which makes it the easiest thing for them to relate to and reference.
Another strategy that I would use would be to focus on reading comprehension. I think
this focus is very powerful for all students, not just English language learners. Some students can
read a lot of words but can't actually understand the words, concepts, and themes that they're
reading. By teaching them to comprehend the things they're reading, it can help them improve in
all subject areas. For example, math word problems require students to read and understand
what they need to do in order to solve the problem. If the students were to read the content in
their native language, it could help them understand and translate it to English. Educators can
teach students to comprehend information by having students use post-its when reading. By
writing notes on post-its as they read, students are able to track and organize their thoughts. In
order for this strategy to be effective, I think its also important for the teacher to focus on
vocabulary development. Vocabulary instruction is another strategy that has many benefits. In
order for student to comprehend what they read, they must understand the complex vocabulary
along with the simple sight words. According to the article, Students may understand one
meaning of a word but not know a second or third meaning. This would in turn inhibit them
from comprehending the entire text due to a few difficult words that baffle the reader.
A final strategy that teachers can use with English language learners is to differentiate
instruction. I believe that an effective teacher makes sure to create lessons that fit the needs of
every student. Every student has their own learning style and academic and social needs. Some
students are visual learners, others are audio learners, and some need a very hands-on approach

(kinesthetic) to successfully comprehend a skill. You will even find that some language learners
are much more advanced than others. Its a teachers responsibility to grasp the levels of
understanding and comprehension of each of their students and adjust their teaching to meet the
needs for each individual child. This is one of the most challenging obstacles for educators
because you realize that not only do you have to teach the state appropriated content, but also get
to know each childs strengths and difficulties and work around them while building upon their
prior knowledge and personal culture.
According to our textbook, Immigrants from most nations in the world can be found in
school districts throughout the United States (Banks, 222). Its crucial for teachers to understand
that they are going to have diversity within their classroom, and their jobs as an educator is to
give the students the best opportunity to be successful and grow individually. I truly believe the
above mentioned strategies can help them to do so, along with a positive attitude and the belief
that all children can learn, even if it takes time and effort to find what methods and strategies are
effective in helping them do so.

Works Cited

Banks, J. A. (2012). Multicultural education: issues and perspectives (Eighth ed.). : Wiley.
Effective Instructional Practices. (n.d.). THE IRIS CENTER. Retrieved June 28, 2014, from
http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/ell/