English Learners: Creating Language-Rich Instruction for English-Language LearnersAuthor(s): Eurydice Bouchereau Bauer and Patrick C. ManyakSource: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 62, No. 2 (Oct., 2008), pp. 176-178Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20203099 .

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ENGLISH LEARNERS

Creating Language-Rich Instruction

for English-Language Learners

Eurydice Bouchereau Bauer, Patrick C Manyak

In this particular column, we address the benefits

of language-rich classrooms for English-language

learners (ELL). Classrooms that are language-rich

provide the ideal environment for accelerating ELLs'

oral language and academic vocabulary develop ment. These classrooms recognize that language de

velopment, whether in a first or a second language, occurs in social contexts and through purposeful so

cial interactions. Ernst and Richard (1995) stated it in

this manner:

Children learn their first language by using language as a means to communicate with real people and in

real situations. The same applies for students who are

learning a second language (p. 326).

Just as speakers of a first language must engage

in frequent, meaning-centered interactions with

speakers of that language, so should ELLs. What we

describe in this column are ways to support ELLs'

language development broadly and literacy develop ment in particular. We organize the column in terms

of teacher approaches that create rich contexts for

the development of language skills and conversa

tional strategies.

Supporting the Development of Language Skills The central element of all instruction for ELLs should

be to make rich language comprehensible (Garcia,

2003,2008). Garcia explained that teachers should ac

company oral explanations and teacher read-alouds

with visuals, realia, gestures, and dramatization to il

lustrate key concepts and vocabulary. Teachers must

find ways to activate and build students' background

knowledge through the use of visuals, demonstra

tions, and graphic organizers. Teachers also should

move away from the old adage that oral language

precedes written language skills. That means that

ELLs should be encouraged to read at their appro

priate levels and have ample opportunities to hear

rich, visually stimulating stories read aloud. When

possible, hands-on experiences should precede the

reading of text. For example, after having second

graders keep logs of the week's weather, a teacher

reviewed the content of the weather unit by reading

aloud Weather by Seymour Simon. The teacher used

the illustrations in the book to generate talk among

the students around key concepts and vocabulary:

Teacher:

Student 1:

Student 2:

Teacher:

Student 3:

Student 1:

Teacher:

Student 2:

Teacher:

Students:

Teacher:

Students:

I heard someone say rain was coming

because of the clouds. What is another

word for rain?

Shower

Thunderstorm

Anything else?

Precipitation

Pouring

What does that mean if it is pouring?

It rains a lot.

What does it sound like?

[all made the sound of pouring rain

by patting their laps with their hands

quickly]

How is that different from a rain shower?

[made droplet sounds using the tip of

their fingers and changing the tempo]

The Reading Teacher, 62(2), pp. 176-178 ? 2008 International Reading Association

176 DOL10.1598/RT.62.2.10 ISSN: 0034-0561 print/1936-2714 online

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As the students and teacher discussed the weath

er terms, the teacher wrote them on the board. It

is clear from the above example that students are

learning the concepts related to weather but are

also developing their English-language skills. During

instruction, teachers should avoid the use of idioms

and provide students with ample time to respond to

teacher questions. Of course, if we are to encourage oral language use, it is imperative that students are

given the opportunity to use the language resources

at their disposal. Ultimately, the classrooms must be

inviting places where language (home language and

school language) flourish and students are willing to

take the linguistic risks necessary for their language

development. It is within this environment that teach

ers have the best opportunity to observe and support students' reading.

Another way that teachers can support language

development is by visually presenting information

that highlights cognates (Williams, 2001). A common

error that teachers make is that they presume that

students will automatically make the connections

between cognates. One way that teachers can make

clear the role of cognates as a tool is to extend the

idea of a word wall. Typically, a word wall is found

in the lower grades and tends to focus on common

words that students encounter. In classrooms with

Spanish-speaking ELLs, teachers would select words

from the content being studied that share English/

Spanish cognates and highlight them on the word

wall. This approach would support students' lan

guage development and send a strong message re

garding the importance of the students' first language in the classroom. Whenever possible, teachers should

repeatedly bring students' attention to cognates dur

ing content lessons.

Conversational Strategies According to McCarty, Wallace, Lynch, and Benally

(1991), when students and teachers engage in mean

ingful interaction where "students' ideas are sought,

valued, and incorporated into the [curricular] con

tent" of the class, the students become verbal and

respond to questions (p. 53). Perez (1996) suggested that classrooms that support students' interaction

with peers and the teacher do make use of the collec

tive knowledge of the class, which enhances students'

language skills. These classrooms are inherently low

risk, build on what students bring to the classroom,

and create the space for the emergence of new ideas

based on students' interactions with one another.

Goldenberg's (1992) research offers insights into the role of instructional conversations in ELLs'

learning. In this type of classroom discourse, the

students and teachers interact with one another in

a give-and-take and joint meaning-making process that resembles a dinnertime discussion. Creating a

context in which ELLs discuss school materials and

sound natural in that discussion is not easy. For ex

ample, in the same classroom we highlighted earlier, a student who started school in August 2007 with no

English skills engaged her classmates in a discussion

that sounded like talk at the dinner table, but it also

highlighted her growing content knowledge.

Teacher: I found the neatest picture in this

book that I want to show you. [stu dents ignore the invite and take up their own conversation]

Student 1: How do the meteor...the weather peo

ple get the weather stuff?

New Student: Urn, the thermometer thing goes in

the air balloon and goes up and tells

the weather and goes up again and

then into the computer thing.

Student 1: Are you sure?

New Student: Yeah, I'm sure.

Student 3: It's not a regular thermometer, it's a

special one.

Student 4: Why they need the big balloon?

Teacher: Yeah, why do we need a big balloon?

New Student: You want the balloon bigger, you

know, it only gets a little of the sky wouldn't know a lot. You want it to go

in a lot of clouds.

Teacher: So the meteorologist wants to get in

formation from the different clouds

at different points in the atmosphere. Remember when we read about how

they got their information? So the

bigger the balloon the higher they can go.

Goldenberg and Patthey-Chavez (1995) found

that ELLs who participated in instructional conversa

tions talked more in class and were able to express

Creating Language-Rich Instruction for English-Language Learners 177

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more. What makes this instruction different from

the Initiation-Response-Evalutation interaction pat terns (Mehan, 1979) often found in classrooms is

that during instructional conversations the focus is

on a theme(s), activating and building on important

schemata, direct teaching, promoting and support

ing more complex language, supporting statements

and propositions, fewer known answers to questions, teacher responsiveness to students' contribution,

connected discourse, challenging interactions, and

student-led interactions. It is believed that this ap

proach can be used with students with varying levels

of English-language proficiency. In fact, Saunders and

Goldenberg (1999) stated, "The effects of both litera

ture logs and instructional conversations on under

standing of a story's theme are more pronounced for

limited-English proficient students" (p. 295). This ap

proach is effective with students with limited English

proficiency when they are encouraged to write their

ideas in a literature response log before participat

ing in the conversation. Having rehearsed their ideas

in the log makes it easier for them to participate. Teachers who implement instructional conversations

need to ensure that students are able to discern and

discuss "their own experiences, the content of the lit

erary selection, and one or more major themes that

apply to the selection (e.g., sacrifice, perseverance,

commitment, justice, cultural identity) (p. 296). In

regard to promoting comprehension strategies, stu

dents are asked to "summarize what they have read,

and formulate and answer...questions about the read

ing material" (p. 297). The emphasis throughout the

interaction is on meaning making for real purposes. Martinez-Roldan and Lopez-Robertson (2000)

also found that open-ended literature discussions of

culturally relevant books with Spanish-English kin

dergarten bilingual students revealed their ability to

live through the experience of the text, make use of

illustrations and text, explore social issues, and make

connections to other texts (printed and oral) and life

experiences. Of particular interest is the students'

ability to explore social issues in their discussion

groups. These discussions revealed that students

were engaged in the texts read and were developing

a strong sense of the kind of meaning making that

should take place around text. As noted in this col

umn, it is important that ELLs' classrooms are rich in

language that is comprehensible. These suggestions will assist educators in providing language-rich class

rooms in order to enhance the literacy of ELLs.

References

Ernst, G., & Richard, K. (1995). Reading and writing pathways to conversation in the ESL classroom. The Reading Teacher,

48(4), 320-326.

Garc?a, G.E. (2003). The reading comprehension development and instruction of English language learners. In A.P. Sweet

& C.E. Snow (Eds.), Rethinking reading comprehension (pp.

30-50). New York: Guilford.

Garcia, G.E. (2008, May). Translating vocabulary research into

practice with English language learners. In K. Stahl (Chair),

Engaging learners in vocabulary learning: Practical, research

based approaches. Symposium conducted at the annual con

vention of the International Reading Association, Atlanta,

GA.

Goldenberg, C. (1992). Instructional conversations: Promoting

comprehension through discussion. The Reading Teacher,

46(4), 316-326.

Goldenberg, C., & Patthey-Chavez, G. (1995). Discourse processes

in instructional conversations: Interactions between teacher

and transition readers. Discourse Processes, 19(\), 57-74.

Martinez-Roldan, CM., & Lopez-Robertson, J.M. (2000). Initiating literature circles in a first-grade bilingual classroom. The

Reading Teacher, 53(4), 270-281.

McCarty, T.L., Wallace, S., Lynch, R.H., & Benally, A. (1991).

Classroom inquiry and Navajo learning styles: A call for as

sessment. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 22(\), 42-59.

doi:10.1525/aeq.l991.22.1.05xll72b

Mehan, H. (1979). Learning lessons: Social organization in the

classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Perez, B. (1996). Instructional conversations as opportunities for

English language acquisition for culturally and linguistically diverse students. Language Arts, 73(3), 173-181.

Saunders, W. & Goldenberg, C (1999). Effects of instructional con

versations and literature logs on limited-and fluent-English

proficient students' story comprehension and thematic under

standing. The Elementary School Journal, 99(4), 277-301.

Williams, J. (2001). Classroom conversations: Opportunities to

learn for ESL students in mainstream classrooms. The Reading

Teacher, 54(8), 750-757.

Bauer teaches at the University of Illinois at

Urbana-Champaign, USA; e-mail ebbauer@uiuc.

edu. Manyak teaches at the University of Wyoming,

Laramie, USA; e-mail PManyak@uwyo.edu.

The department editors welcome reader comments. Patrick C. Manyak teaches at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, USA; e-mail PManyak@uwyo.edu. Eurydice Bouchereau Bauer teaches at

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; e-mail ebbauer@uiuc.edu.

178 The Reading Teacher Vol. 62, No. 2 October 2008

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