Annotated Bibliography
Long-Term English Language Learner Designation
Student name
ENMU BLED 538
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Long-Term English Language Learner Designation
Designating a student as a long-term English Language Learner (LTELL) means that after six years, a student still requires English as a Second Language or English as a New Language courses (both of which will be referred to as ESL for simplicity purposes). This designation may seem helpful as it allows students support for longer, however it has been shown that designating students as LTELL and keeping them in ESL classes for longer than six years actually negatively impacts student success (Artigliere, 2019). As such, we as educators must seek to understand what is inhibiting student success when provided ESL support, what English proficiency is and how it differs between ESL students and Native English speakers, and lastly what ESL students actually need to achieve and prevent LTELL status.
What causes students to be designated LTELLs?
An LTELL is a student who, after six years of ESL classes, still requires ESL support to be successful. They are not meeting grade-level English proficiency and cannot pass grade-level tests without ESL accommodations. According to Artigliere, “students’ age and prior levels of language proficiency and education are critical variables in subsequent ELL classification” (2019, p. 4). These same finding say that students who start ESL at 12-15 are less successful than those who start earlier, in particular those who started receiving ESL services at 8-11 years old (Artigliere, 2019). This demonstrates that early intervention is key for these students to attain native-level fluency, which for the majority of ELL students is theoretically possible. However, early intervention is not the only factor. Equally important is the support that is provided by both the school and teacher, and so is the understanding of what English proficiency means. These all come together to determine what students who start ELL will go on to become successful and how to increase this number.
Why do English Language Proficiency tests matter?
Testing for English Language Proficiency (ELP) was first mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act, which “created guidelines for assessment policies and procedures, mandating that ELLs be tested annually with state ELP exams” (Artigliere, 2019, p. 3). In theory, having mandated ELP tests is a positive, but put into practice it is much more complicated. Before NCLB mandated that states provide ELP tests with specific metrics, each state had used their own metrics, tests, and policies. This created research conditions which made it so that pre-NCLB there was virtually no research that “examined the impact of classification status and subsequent ELP performance” (Artigliere, 2019, p. 3). Our understanding of how LTELLs and ELLs learn English is incredibly enhanced now, and “these tests are critical measures of ELP and the results are used in high-stakes decisions which determine programming, instruction and curriculum” (Artigliere, 2019, p. 3).
Aiding students already designated LTELLs
One of the most important things to recognize is that students who are categorized as ELL or LTELL are grade-level proficient in a language at the time that they begin their career, it is simply not English. Rather than treat them the same as very young students and patronize them by being overly helpful, teachers need to recognize that “LTELLs are emergent bilinguals and as such, should receive bilingual educational opportunities. There is abundant and well-established research which is clear on the benefits of bilingual education for ELLs” (Artigliere, 2019, p. 7). To ignore or attempt to replace the language that the students come in knowing is to deny that they have any knowledge at all. This requires more knowledge on the part of the teacher because to teach a bilingual class requires both being bilingual and knowing how to teach in both languages. Not having the resources to provide this leads to delayed development in both languages, as shown in one study where it was found that “students…were also several grade levels behind in both Spanish and English (three years in English and 3.5 in Spanish)” (Artigliere, 2019, p. 8). If schools are able to provide resources that allow their LTELL and ELL students to learn in bilingual classes rather than straight ESL classes, then they have more success long-term when compared to only being taught in English (Artigliere, 2019).
What Former ELL and LTELLs need from their teachers (edit, implications section)
One thing that was found to be continuously beneficial was when students were taught with multicultural understanding. One finding was that if schools “embrace LTELL students’ native languages by offering biliteracy programming embedded in all content areas classes which fully accepts and acknowledges the heterogeneity within the LTELL population” (Artigliere, 2019, p. 10). One avenue that allows students to see benefits from this is for individual teachers to experience “specialized courses in the following three areas: Spanish Native Language Arts (NLA) courses designed to develop and support both NLA and English proficiencies; separate ESL courses for only LTELLs which focused on academic language and literacies rather than more traditional ELD courses; and content area courses which emphasize learning both language and content simultaneously” (Artigliere, 2019, p. 10). These courses were part of a professional development series available to the study, but many similar courses are available through education programs across the nation.
Conclusion
Students deserve to know they can succeed on their own, but it is up to us as teachers to get them to a place where this is possible. Students who are taught in bilingual classes have more confidence and higher ability levels, and they are able to learn the vocabulary, grammar, content, and everything all at once rather than pick out pieces and learn each part one at a time. That kind of instruction does little for anyone other than to fill up time throughout the school day, and it is simply a disservice to the student and population.
Works Cited:
Artigliere, M. (2019). The Proficiency, Instructional and Affective Domains of Long Term English Language Learners: A Review of the Research. TESL-EJ, 23(1).