From English Language Learners to Emergent Bilinguals - Teachers ...

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LIST OF TABLESTable 1. Comparison of U.S. Census and State-Reported Data on ELLs............................................................9Table 2. Speakers of LOTEs and ELLs among 5-17 Year Olds in the United States..................................10Table 3. Speakers of LOTEs, Both ELLs and English Proficient, 5-17-Year-Old Students........................11Table 4. Number of Public School ELLs, 2004-05 .........................................................................................................12Table 5. Percentage Growth of ELL population, 1994-95 to 2004-05...............................................................13Table 6. Languages Spoken by ELLs, 5-17 Years Old....................................................................................................13Table 7. Proportion of LOTE Speakers Who Are ELLs, 5-17 Years Old...........................................................14Table 8. Types of Educational Programs for Emergent Bilinguals ..........................................................................18Table 9. Silencing of Bilingualism...............................................................................................................................................25
… [T]here is no equality of treatment merely by providing students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers, and curriculum;for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education.— Lau v. Nichols, 1974What’s in a Name?From ELLs to Emergent BilingualsOne of the most misunderstood issues in pre-K-12education today is how to educate children who arenot yet proficient in English. When policymakers refer tothese students as English language learners (ELLs)—asmany school district officials presently do—or as limitedEnglish proficient students (LEPs)—as federal legislatorsdid in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)—it signalsthe omission of an idea that is critical to the discussionof equity in the teaching of these children.English language learners are in fact emergent bilinguals.That is, through school and through acquiringEnglish, these children become bilingual, able to continueto function in their home language as well as in English,their new language and that of school. When officialsand educators ignore the bilingualism that these studentscan and often must develop through schooling inthe United States, they perpetuate inequities in the educationof these children. That is, they discount the homelanguages and cultural understandings of these childrenand assume their educational needs are the same as amonolingual child.The central idea that will emerge from this reviewof research is that there is a growing dissonance betweenresearch on the education of emergent bilingualsand policy enacted to educate them. As we will demonstrate,whereas research has consistently shown theimportance of building on the children’s first languageas they develop English language proficiency, 1 U.S. educationalpolicy has often ignored these research findings.In fact, as we explain in Part I below, in recent yearsU.S. educational policy on English language learners hasbecome more rigid, viewing these children solely from adeficit perspective and increasingly demanding that Englishalone be used in their education. Educators, who arecloser to the ground than policymakers and traditionalresearchers, are often caught in the middle of the conflictbetween research, policy, and the immediacy of having toeducate English language learners. As a result, educators’teaching practices often suffer as educators strive to findalternative ways of carrying out top-down national andlocal educational policies that are plainly misguided forthe education of these children. The conflicting nature ofresearch, policy, and teaching practices is responsible formuch of the miseducation of English language learners inthe United States and their failure in school.According to NAEP data, only a very small percentageof English language learners in the eighth gradeare proficient in reading (4%) 2 and in math (6%). And71% of English language learners scored below “basic”on the eighth grade NAEP reading and math tests(Batalova, Fix, & Murray, 2007). ELLs trail English proficientstudents by 39 points in reading and 36 pointsin math on a 500-point scale nationally (Batalova et al.,2007). English language learners are also not graduatingin proportionately the same numbers as those who areEnglish proficient. A survey by Hopstock and Stephenson(2003b) revealed that 50% of English languagelearners fail their graduation tests, compared with 24%of all English proficient students.In Part I of this review we identify the students whoare the subject of our attention: students we refer toas emergent bilinguals. In Part II, we briefly review thepolicies and practices targeted toward this group of studentsthat have developed over the last 40 years. Finally,in Part III, we review what the research reveals aboutthe educational programs, assessments, curriculum, pedagogy,resources, and family and community involvementnecessary to educate these children equitably. In Part III,therefore, we also identify and describe the educationalinequities that directly affect the education of these children.Most of these inequities stem from policymakersand often educators’ lack of understanding of bilingualismitself. Thus, throughout the third part of this review, wewill discuss how such misunderstandings of the nature
Page 1 and 2: EQUITY MATTERS: Research Review No.
Page 3: TABLE of CONTENTSWhat’s in a Name
Page 7: Part I.Who Are the English Language
Page 10 and 11: Table 3. Speakers of LOTEs, Both EL
Page 12 and 13: Table 5. Percentage Growth of ELL P
Page 14 and 15: High-LEP schools are more likely to
Page 16 and 17: Who Are the Latino ELLs?Spanish is
Page 18 and 19: Table 8. Types of Educational Progr
Page 20 and 21: lish speaking students in the quick
Page 22 and 23: programs. In 1998, 30% of ELLs had
Page 24 and 25: The Silencing of Bilingualism and B
Page 26 and 27: studies of literacy. We argue that
Page 28 and 29: there is much research support for
Page 30 and 31: y the end of elementary school, whi
Page 32 and 33: substantially from 34% to 48% (Zehl
Page 34 and 35: content validity for these students
Page 36 and 37: can have the question in English an
Page 38 and 39: In a standards-based era, alignment
Page 40 and 41: more difficult to find quality teac
Page 42 and 43: In other words, there is great vari
Page 44 and 45: Mercado (2005a) describes funds of
Page 46 and 47: • Extend educational support to e
Page 48 and 49: 12. We believe that the 75% estimat
Page 50 and 51: Batalova, J. (2006). Spotlight on l
Page 52 and 53: Epstein, J. L. (1990). School and f
Page 54 and 55:
Jewett, C., & Kress, G. (2003). Mul
Page 56 and 57:
Oakes, J., & Saunders, M. (2002, Oc
Page 58 and 59:
U.S. Census Bureau (2005) American
Page 60 and 61:
AcknowledgmentsA number of people h
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