Brooklin Moyer

CI 280
Professor Liang
9 December 2018
My ELL Teaching Philosophy
In order to be the best teacher I can be, it is important to understand and acknowledge the
diversity of students in the classroom. English Language Learners, or ELLs, are often overlooked
by the school district and/or teachers and it can lead to detrimental problems for these students
later in their lives. As a prospective teacher, I want to make sure my classroom and curriculum is
ELL friendly. I believe this can be achieved by understanding ELLs culture and language,
creating a more inclusive curriculum, using different instructional methods, and using proper
forms of assessment.
First, it is important to understand why ELLs need to be instructed and treated differently
than a native English speaking student. Multiple studies have shown that ELLs have lower math
and English scores on tests than other students. For example, a study done by Robin Scarcella
showed that “...in 1997, 60% of the freshman who took the English composition competency test
failed. Of this group, one third had major problems with English language skills … (Wong
Filmore, Snow, p. 30)” Even more concerning is that 95 percent of the students in the study has
lived in the United States for more than eight years. As a future educator, this is severely
alarming. Professionals say it should take approximately five to seven years to master a
language. If these students have been living in the United States for eight years learning English,
there is a major problem. There is a clear lack of attention to these troubling results and as an
educator, I want to do better than that.
To do better, it is important to consider the different languages and cultures students
have. For example, I might have a classroom with five native Spanish speakers. Of the five
Spanish speakers, two of them might be from the same country. Their cultures are individual to
them. As a teacher, I think it would be in the students’ best interest have the students learn about
each others’ cultures. When there is a cultural disconnect, it makes it harder for students to
understand and respect each other. An activity that would hopefully begin to bridge cultures is
show-and-tell. I would instruct students to bring in something that is important to them and their
culture. Every day, a student will give a quick presentation on what they brought and why is
significant to them. Show-and-tell is a strong conversation starter as well. If other students have
questions about an item a student brings, it helps to educate the entire class on the presenter's
culture even more so.
Another important cultural aspect to recognize how different cultures treat each other.
For example, some students might come from countries that focus more on collectivism than
individualism. Collectivism and individualism reflect different takes on perceptions such as
knowledge and social development. Children in collective societies are taught to be more
disciplined and reserved. Their culture is more hierarchical and children are taught to learn from
and respect their elders. Individualistic societies, like the United States, focus more on
self-expression and have more selfish tendencies (Trumbull, Rothstein-Fisch & Greenfield).
When students from societies who practice collectivism come to the United States, there is often
a culture shock. Americans might come off as rude and selfish to them, which is culturally
understandable. It is important for teachers to understand these significant cultural differences
and apply strategies in the classroom to help ease the cultural boundaries.
 A strategy I would like to use to help break the cultural and language barrier is to have

communication with parents. The communication would not be all good or bad, rather it would

be informative about what lessons are being taught. Sometimes I might include a worksheet for

the students and their parents to fill out together. This helps the parents feel more engaged in

their student’s academics. This also helps the students because they get to share what they are

doing in class and they feel like they are the teacher. It would instill a sense of pride in the

students knowing that they are able to teach their parents, people they look up to, something

new. I believe that the worksheet method would work best with students in grades six and lower.

After sixth grade, students start to become more independent and will not get as much

satisfaction filling out a worksheet with their parents (Garcia, Kleifgen 8). However, I think

sending out a weekly memo to parents is effective at all grade levels. If a particular student is

either doing exceedingly well or badly, I will add a side note to the memo giving the parent a

friendly heads up. This will hopefully spark meaningful conversation between the student and

their parents. Also, if parents decide not to participate in receiving weekly memos, they can

choose to do so. I do not want to create more conflict between a student and their parents if the

problem can be resolved at school.

A poem by Eva Hoffman verbalizes what some people from other cultures feel like living

in American society.

What has happened to me in this new world? I don’t know. I don’t see what I’ve

seen, don’t comprehend what’s in front of me. I’m not filled with language
 anymore, and I have only a memory of fullness to anguish me with the knowledge

that, in this dark and empty state, I don’t really exist.

Ms. Hoffman feels confused and empty and she feels that her existence does not matter.

As a future educator, I do not want my students to feel this way. Students need to feel welcome

and included. If the majority of ELLs feel like Ms. Hoffman does, then it is understandable as to

why their test scores are significantly lower than their peers’.

There are multiple strategies I would like to implement in my classroom to have the

curriculum more ELL friendly. The first strategy I would use is cooperative learning.

Cooperative learning refers to student collaboration in pairs or in small groups to solve a

problem, complete a specific task, or complete a project. It is most effective when the task is

made clear and each student is given a clearly defined role. Al​though cooperative learning was

not created specifically for ELLs, language educa​tors have fully embraced it as an effective

strategy for helping ELLs learn both lan​guage and academic content. To be effective the tasks

given must be appropriate in terms of the knowledge and language proficiency of the ELL

students. Also, the English proficient students in the group need guidance about how to interact

with their ELL group members appropriately (Wright 6).

Cooperative learning is a form of scaffolding provided by classroom peers that

contributes to the oral language development of ELLs in several ways. The students have to talk

and listen to each other to get the job done. ELLs may feel more com​fortable speaking with their

peers in the small group than they are being called on to speak in front of the whole class. The

hands-on learning that is typical of cooperative group work provides context and visual support
to make the language used more comprehensible. And during the group work, ELL students can

practice using key vocabulary previously taught in the lesson. For example, if students are

working with scales and other materials related to a math unit on weight, they will be able to

practice using such new vo​cabulary words as scale, weights, pounds, balanced, heavier, lighter,

more, less, fewer, weight, ounces, grams, and pounds. Finally, cooperative learning makes it

possible for ELLs to participate in and complete projects that they might have had great

dif​ficulty doing on their own (Wright 6).

I believe that it is easier for students to learn new skills by teaching dual-purpose lessons.

For example, “researchers have found a strong relationship between ELL students' reading

abil​ity and their writing ability in English. The more students read at appropriate lev​els, the more

vocabulary and language structures they will acquire. This knowl​edge, in turn, can be used in

their writing. Findings from research reveal that the more students read, the more they write, the

better they write, and the less appre​hensive they are about writing. (Wright 8)” In my classroom,

I would like to implement some basic strategies to help my students better both their reading and

writing skills.

A writing strategy that I think is effective is individual writing. In individual writing,

students are given a journal and they are given a set amount of time to write about whatever they

want. How individual writing is done will depend on how the class is structured. If the class is

made up entirely ELL students, then I will have them write in both their home languages and

English. This way, they receive more practice translating their home language into English in a

what that is entertaining to them. The group who did writing as their Strategy Presentation gave a

simple variation. Instead of having the story told twice in two languages, they suggested having
the students write in English and when they come upon a word they do not know, they write it in

their home language. In the end, this creates a multilingual text. This makes it easier for teachers

to find problematic areas as well. When the teacher finds a word written in the student’s home

language, they can write the word in English beside it and talk to the student about it.

Assessing ELLs’ progress is very important not just for the teacher, but for the students

as well. ELLs are constantly taking tests to see where they place on a fluency chart. As a teacher,

I want to make sure my students are able to take their proficiency tests well and still assess them

in ways that are less stressful. For example, an easy way to monitor students is to simply observe

them. I will walk around with a clipboard and a checklist. The checklist will consist of basic

concepts such as; is reading most of the words, interacting well with the group, participation, etc.

These checklists can then be shown in parent-teacher conferences. This method will work best

for younger students or students new to English.

Another way of informally testing ELLs is to have them do self-assessments and peer

reviews. Self-assessments are a good way for students to understand what they are doing well

and what they are missing. Self-assessments can also be used at any learning or age level. As for

peer reviews, they work best when the class consists of all ELL students. This way, their peers

will have a better understanding of what they are going through and they will not feel as

embarrassed. Another benefit of peer reviews is that a student might learn something from

reviewing their partner’s work. I know that I feel better working with people who are similar to

me and I am sure that younger students feel the same way.

A final method of assessment is to make a portfolio. The portfolio method works best for

younger students with a small class size. The portfolio will consist of projects ranging from the
beginning of the students’ school year to the end. This way, the student can see how much they

have progressed throughout the year. As for what projects go into the portfolio can either be up

to just the teacher or a collaboration between the teacher and student (Wright 5). Personally, I

would prefer to use the collaboration method. I think the students will get more out of the

experience by explaining why a specific project of theirs should go into the portfolio. The

one-on-one interaction between the student and the teacher will make the student get a sense of

belonging and pride. As stated earlier, a lack of belonging and pride seems to be a recurring

theme with some ELLs.

As an educator, I want to make sure that my ELL students feel safe and supported in the

classroom. By understanding students’ home languages and cultures, it makes for a more

productive environment. Students feel like their needs matter and they are surrounded by

students who are going through a similar process. I plan on using different ELL oriented writing

and reading strategies to help students’ get a quicker and stronger grasp on the material given to

them. Finally, I plan on giving more informal testing than formal testing. ELLs have to take far

more language proficiency tests than other students and I do not want to overwhelm them. In

conclusion, ELLs are an important part of American culture and as a teacher, I want to make sure

that they receive the best experience I can give.

Works Cited
“Assessment.” FOUNDATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS:

Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice,​ by WAYNE E. WRIGHT, MULTILINGUAL

MATTERS, 2017.

Fillmore, Lily Wong, and Catherine E. Snow. ​What Teachers Need to Know about Language.​

U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, Educational

Resources Information Center, 2000.

Garcia, Ofelia, and Jo Anne. Kleifgen. ​Educating Emergent Bilinguals​. Teachers College

Press.

Griffiths, Peter. ​Tongue Tied.​ Y Lolfa, 2009.

“Listening and Speaking.” FOUNDATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE

LEARNERS: ​Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice,​ by WAYNE E. WRIGHT,

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS, 2017.

Trumbull, Elise, et al. ​Bridging Cultures in Our Schools: New Approaches That Work.​

WestEd, 2000.

“Writing.” FOUNDATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS:

Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice,​ by WAYNE E. WRIGHT, MULTILINGUAL

MATTERS, 2017.

Writing Strategy Presentation Group