English Language Learners

English Language Learners

Student’s Name

Grade Course

Tutor’s Name

Date

English Language Learners in California

Definition of terms

SEI Structured English Immersion

LEP Limited English Proficient

ELL English language learners

Non-Native Learners whose first language is not English

The United States has attained its economic strength and social independence due to the diversity regarding race and ethnicity. Umansky & Reardon (2014) observe that different people from all over the world have contributed to its economic development, and therefore, its laws should continue to encourage non-native attain the necessary knowledge that will contribute to the country’s development. Not all immigrants can communicate in English. However when they achieve citizenship, they have the right to be taught just as any other child born to English-speaking, parents. This newsletter expounds on how our school intends to promote ELLs according to the California’s code of education. It shall demonstrate how the school shall employ SEI teaching strategies to ensure that the learners gain English proficiency.

Historical background

The step towards incorporating ELL in the different states stems from landmark rulings that ensured that each state embraced the teaching of English to non-English speakers. According to Umansky & Reardon (2014), the process began in 1963 when there were many Cuban immigrants into the country. For instance, the in the Lau vs. Nichols case the supreme court observed that Lau and others were being denied equal earning opportunities because they had limited English proficiency. California’s English Immersion program was passed in 1998 and is a mandated the learners to take one year program.

However, parents can withdraw from this program. According to Umansky & Reardon (2014), there is still a debate as to whether LEP and SEI programs have helped the learners. So far the programs ELL programs are used depending on the needs of the states. Most states adopted the immersion program from Canada and incorporated it in teaching English as a second language.

Merits of English Immersion program

It should be noted that the English language is the primary medium of instruction for most of the subjects taught in schools in this community. Consequently, there is a need to have programs that will assist learners whose first language is not English. Firstly, these programs shall enable students to improve their performance in other subjects such as mathematics and sciences. The program has also proved to be more efficient compared to the preceding bilingual language program. Learners who attend this program become better communicators in the classroom and outside the classroom.

Resultantly, they can qualify for competitive jobs just as their counterparts whose first language is English. Additionally, research indicates that SEI has led to an increase in the number non-natives graduating from high school and college levels with better grades (Umansky & Reardon, 2014).

English Immersion policies

Several policies guide the immersion programs in California. These laws are supposed to be adhered to by any public school in California. Firstly the policies are provided in chapter three and five of part one of the California’s education code. These laws can be retrieved from http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=edc&codebody=&hits=20 and http://www.azed.gov/english-language-learners/

For example, section 235 of the Act provides that schools shall not discriminate against learners based on their gender, race sexual orientation or nationality when running a school. However, section 221 gives an exception to those schools that are managed by religious groups (California law). Section 313 states that all district shall conduct an assessment of English Language development when they notice that they have a learner who is not proficient in the English language.

The structured English Immersion program also recommends that all classroom instructions be provided in English. Nonetheless, the teacher should at all times schedule the classroom keeping in mind that the learners are still learning English.

The Language assessment process is done from homes by the district office. After the assessment, they can ascertain the percentage of families that do not speak English. On the other hand, and the code encourages family members to conduct home tutoring so that they can make the teachers work easier. To assist these parents, the government has provided community-based programs that provide personalized tutoring services to this children.

Resources and instruction models

The school shall not deviate from the state provisions on how the immersion programs are to be carried. Ideally, the state provides that the learners be grouped together with other students who are already proficient in the English language. While some educational planners insist that there should be a shift from the time spend with the ELLs to quality, the school recommends some instructional models that it believes will assist these learners (Padilla, Fan, Xu & Silva, 2013).

The pull-out model

The school shall be running a standard school program with natives and non-natives for the joint session. However, the non-natives shall be pulled out for a special session where they shall be taught English. For kindergarten English language learners teachers need to have modifications within the classroom to aids the young ones understand the content being taught. Cheung & Slavin (2012) recommends the use of visual aids, gestures, and simple sentence structures.

While bilingual programs may prove inefficient if used exclusively, if they are combined with SEI there is a likelihood that the results will even be better. Therefore, the school shall also incorporate in its program strategies such as Early-exit, late Exit, and two-way bilingual instructional programs.

Elementary models

This model provides that elementary learners be given two blocks of at least 120 minutes each. In these blocks, students are taught grammar and writing as well as oral vocabulary (Cheung & Slavin, 2012).

The school shall adopt this model for first-time students so that it can give them enough time to internalize the vocabulary and improve on their communication skills. At their intermediate level, the school program may now reduce to ninety minutes sessions of writing and grammar and another ninety minutes of oral conversations. The time spent on teaching English at a higher level shall continue to be adjusted depending on how fast the learner is attaining efficiency.

Conclusion

The school, therefore, encourages parents whose children may not have mastered the English language to entrust their children to the school. The school shall ensure that by the time they graduate, they will be confident and proficient enough to compete equally with the native speakers. Additionally, they shall adhere to all the provisions of the education code to ensure equal treatment of the learners under SEI programs.

References

California Law. California code of education retrieved from http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-

bin/calawquery?codesection=edc

Cheung, A. C., & Slavin, R. E. (2012). Effective reading programs for Spanish-dominant English

language learners (ELLs) in the elementary grades A synthesis of research. Review of

Educational Research, 0034654312465472.

Padilla, A. M., Fan, L., Xu, X., & Silva, D. (2013). A Mandarin/English two‐way immersion

program: Language proficiency and academic achievement. Foreign Language Annals,

46(4), 661-679.

Umansky, I. M., & Reardon, S. F. (2014). Reclassification patterns among Latino English learner

students in bilingual, dual immersion, and English immersion classrooms. American

Educational Research Journal, 51(5), 879-912.