Who are English Language Learners (ELL)? Students whose first language is not English. English Language Learners are not born in a native English country and often English is not a language they use to speak within their communities.
ELL can be divided into three groups:
1 - Born immigrants/refugees
2 - Born in communities that maintain their exclusivity e.g. second generation immigrants
3 - First Nations, Inuit, and Métis
Language acquisition is, according to language learning theories, divided into cognitive, inherent, and sociocultural and children are very limited in their language acquisition skills as opposed to adults (Cliffbu Malibu).
To support English Language Learners here are my three tips:
1. Speak slowly to develop relationships because speaking slowly conveys to the students that you acknowledge that you are not rushing through your lesson but you are there to teach and connect with the learner that is making the effort. Think of speech as sounds that the student might be hearing for the first time from the point of view of understanding it (developing cognition toward something unknown in the past). You can definitely connect the speaking English skills with writing skills by giving your students Duolingo exercises, ELL support flash cards and to support listening by tapping the learn-it-all-place YouTube's plethora of resources.
2. Engage with culture to create a dynamic way of teaching in the classroom. It honors their culture and it develops a linguistic diversity that values their contribution during the classroom teaching sessions. Acknowledging the list of languages spoken in the classroom is essential as well. Teachers should connect with their families in order to make better lesson plans in the classroom. For example, there are around 500 words from Arabic language that are in English language.
3. Engage in gamification as much as possible and surround the gamification around real life uses of English. Think of settings where your students will be using English to enhance the cognitive connection with the real world, for example: malls, birthday parties, and school clubs etc. Scavenger hunt activities for ELL learners can enhance learning in a fun and creative way and it also releases the stress of being learning as a student and transforms you into a gamer.
Resources:
STEP
"Steps to English Proficiency (STEP) is a framework for assessing and monitoring the language acquisition and literacy development of English language learners across The Ontario Curriculum"
http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesELL/Assessment/STEP/STEPUserGuide_November2015.pdf
Other support sites
https://www.edutopia.org/article/helpful-online-resources-teaching-ells
https://www.englishcurrent.com/speaking/english-scavenger-hunt-esl-activity/
https://sites.google.com/erlc.ca/ell/home
https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/teaching-the-english-language/
https://sites.google.com/erlc.ca/ell/programming/oral-language-development
https://old.ed.psu.edu/pds/elementary/intern-resources/esl-handbook/supporting-ells
Theory
https://www.cliffsidemalibu.com/blog/language-acquisition/#:~:text=The%20cognitive%20language%20acquisition%20theory,must%20be%20developed%20over%20time.
Games
https://www.gamestolearnenglish.com/
https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/12-fun-speaking-games-language-learners
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