Language Diversity Practices

It isnt impossible to teach and learn with ELL students. The barrier that language presents feels

insurmountable at times for both student and teacher, but universally, there are bridges for these gaps.

Visuals, vocabulary practice, think-pair-share, modeling, and adjusting assessments are just some of

the practices that have offered more accessibility for my ELL students. While there are ELLs at

different levels of proficiency, these supports all provide something valuable for inclusion in class

discussions and lesson material.

One practice I like to utilize for ELL learners are visual supports. Visuals offer more direct and

specific connections to lesson material, as most learners can recognize a picture and have it translate to

their own language as well as their emerging one. Visual supports can also help to direct students in

activities. For example, when looking at the domains of language (speaking, reading, writing,

listening), Ive utilized pictures for each action so that when we had a certain exercise in class, they

knew what they were being asked to do by looking at the visual key on the presentation. Visuals help

to contextualize ideas and concepts that might otherwise seem arbitrary and broaden an emergent

vocabulary.

With vocabulary instruction, it is helpful for ELL students to have varying levels of

understanding. One such practice Ive observed involves defining, giving a non-example, and using a

new term in an original sentence correctly. Students can amass (in a given unit) a word bank with

reoccurring and significant terminology for in-class discussions and reading of a text. In my student

teaching as well, we would encounter terms in Spanish that our English speakers didnt know how to

approach. This offered and extra opportunity to engage my Spanish speaking ELLs background as

well as engaging the whole class in a choral recitation of new terms.

Explicit modeling for ELL students really develops a more concrete idea of what language

looks and sounds like. It also can set up what I ask them to attempt in the classroom. During extended

reading in the class, I always began by modeling reading out loud for the students so they could hear
even pacing and pronunciation. After a few paragraphs, I defer to students to take turns reading aloud,

offering gentle corrections and support, and adjusting reading lengths for ELL students. As previously

mentioned, one of my class novels used Spanish terms. For our English speakers, they were able to

learn and pronounce Spanish terms used in the book chorally. I would start by modeling it myself, and

then asking them to repeat. Additional modeling comes from asking for pronunciations from native

speakers in the room, and/or listening to an audiobook recording of text passages.

There is also a great deal of value in one-on-one instruction, which isnt always easy to do but

it helps to address the needs of your individual ELL student. This becomes especially important when

it comes to assessments of learning. For example, my final for a unit with 8th Grade asked them to

write an Informational Essay on our book. I had three emergent ELL students who are still developing

their writing skills. My initial assessment asked them to respond to a fairly rigorous prompt, however,

for my ELL students, we were still able to construct a five-paragraph essay that summarized our

characters and cited important quotes. My ELL students still were able to work on their writing

meaningfully, while also showing what details they noticed. Since skills can vary, a professional and

responsive teacher must always look for ways to adapt assessment that allows ELL students to

demonstrate what they learned.