About two-thirds of the existing programs in K-12 schools are organized around five instructional strategies within these two programs as described here. The two major models for ELLs are bilingual and monolingual programs. Various program options are available for school districts to implement as whole-school programs or as additions to the regular curriculum. How can educators ensure that English language learners not only become proficient in English, but that these students also have the content knowledge they need to succeed in school and in life? The vicious cycle is repeated, compounded by such factors as absenteeism, mobility and discipline problems.
Most commonly, students are sent back to the ESL classroom to learn basic English again. Consequently, English language learners adopt only simplistic phrases and superficial concepts through mostly oral language as opposed to what they need to learn - academic English to make complex meanings explicit in the content area.Īfter attending their district’s ESL program, students often are mainstreamed into the regular English program, where the subject-area teacher discovers they do not understand the words from the textbooks, do not comprehend what they are reading and struggle with advanced writing. Two important reasons are (1) a lack of teacher preparation to use research-based strategies to teach academic language and curriculum content and (2) some programs offer English as a second language with a watered-down curriculum. schools since kindergarten still have not achieved the academic proficiency to succeed in the all-English mainstream program. Between 69 percent and 90 percent of English language learners in middle and high schools who were born in the United States and have been in U.S.