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English Language Learners

UCSC researchers find all students benefit from strong cognitive and academic instruction conducted in their first language

By Elizabeth Goodman (408/459-3500)
Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (CREDE)

How should we educate English language learners for success academically and to become productive and integrated members of American society? State, federal, and local policies should be congruent with research-based findings, in order to stimulate and, when necessary, regulate programs to be most effective.

Summarized below are the findings from research conducted by CREDE and other bilingual/ESL researchers on the effects of bilingual education, the goals of which are to teach competence in English language, English literacy, and English-based academic skills. This research shows that:

All students benefit from strong cognitive and academic instruction conducted in their first language.
English language learners (ELLs) also benefit from on-grade-level academic instruction in their first language. These benefits begin in the first years of schooling, and if such instruction is sustained, the benefits are cumulative. ELLs whose schooling develops them academically and cognitively, using their first language, are more successful in English-based instruction by the end of their school years than those ELL students who are not provided such first-language instruction.

These effects presume that they also receive on-grade-level academic instruction through English for part of the school day, and throughout the school year.

Four to seven years of such combined high-quality instruction appears to insure that by the end of high school, typical ELL students will perform as well as typical native speakers of English. The more years in which first-language-based plus English-language-based instruction is present, the greater is the eventual English-based achievement.
The design of programs for English language learners should be responsive to the needs and strengths of local communities, student populations, and available resources. Conventional program labels (such as first-language immersion; transitional; sheltered and content instruction in English; or English as a Second Language) are not useful in predicting school success. However, all effective programs share crucial features:

understanding students' language knowledge and needs,
planning and delivering instruction that meets those needs, and
assessing whether students comprehended the instruction.

For good student achievement, effective teaching methods must be employed by well-prepared teachers. Effective teaching methods have been identified by research, but are not in widespread use--neither in English-mainstream nor in bilingual/ESL classrooms. Effective approaches include students and teachers working together, in discovery processes and supportive interaction across the curriculum, developing language through dialogue, and making school meaningful by connecting instruction to students' strengths and everyday experiences in their homes and communities.

There is a critical shortage of teachers who can work successfully with English language learners, whether they be in mainstream or bilingual/ESL classrooms. Research is under way to document effective methods for recruitment, training, and support of such a workforce.

Further information can be obtained from CREDE, the Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence, a national research-and-development center funded by the U.S. Department of Education. CREDE's research goal is to identify and examine the most-effective forms of education for students at-risk of educational failure due to linguistic and cultural diversity, poverty, or geographical isolation. CREDE's offices are located at UCSC, and Roland G. Tharp is the director.

Source: http://www.ucsc.edu/oncampus/currents/97-98/04-20/crede.htm