Inquiry Topic #3

Just to review, I am looking to answer the following questions this semester:

• What are some factors that influence ELL literacy development?
• How is English language literacy challenging for ELL students?

Today I'm looking at sociocultural factors. L. Helman says, "Teachers who wish to support the literacy development of their English-learning students cannot ignore the role of sociocultural aspects of teaching and learning, such as the extent to which students' backgrounds are valued in the classroom" (7). She also notes that ELL students are bringing different mores and values, shared languages, and interpersonal interactions to the classroom. Both teachers and students bring expectations into the classroom, and Helman believes the majority of elementary school teachers are female, white, and have a middle-class background. It can be hard for them to see that they are not embracing other cultures in the classroom.

Students' different backgrounds should be seen as "funds of knowledge". When teachers work to utilize students' multi-cultural background experiences, languages, heritages, etc, the students feel more empowered to learn. There are three attitudes that will influence what occurs in the classroom: the social atmosphere of the classroom, the attitude of the school or school system, and the ideologies of language, culture, and politics. While teachers may not have much control over the latter two, he or she does impact the atmosphere of the classroom. It is up to the teacher to establish an open learning environment in which different views are encouraged and sought out. As a Spanish teacher, I frequently teach vocabulary sections, and I try to engage our many Korean exchange students by asking them how to say one of our new words in Spanish. One of the middle school math teachers does something similar by asking her Korean students if they know a different method of completing a math problem. She then has the Korean student show the whole class and openly compliments them. This creates an atmosphere of interest and admiration for other ways of doing things. Empowering our ELL students to show off their backgrounds, communication, and languages will encourage them in their English literacy.

Source: Helman, L. (Ed.). (2009). Literacy development with English learners: Research-based instruction in grades K-6. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

What are some challenges that English Language Learners face?

I will be blogging periodically this semester about issues of literacy in English Languager Learners (ELLs). Today I want to start at the beginning, and discuss what some of the difficulties are that ELLs have to deal with. I reviewed Challenges for ELLs in Content Area Learning and found a couple things that I hadn't considered before. First, a good amount of our literature that is taught in middle or high school English classes is "culture bound." Students from other countries or cultures may have no knowledge of genres like fairy tales, tall tales, or other mythical stories. Even if the student understands the vocabulary, they may not grasp the meaning of the story. I'm reminded of a Latin-American literature class I took while studying Spanish during my undergrad work. I hadn't considered the genre of the story I was reading, and couldn't understand why the material wasn't making sense. The main character seemed to be experiencing life backwards; I thought my Spanish must be horrible if I couldn't understand what was going on. I realized suddenly that the story's title was "Journey to the Seed" (translated) and it was part of the magical realism genre. I understood the language; I just hadn't understood what was going on until I knew what kind of story it was. It's the same way for ELLs reading fictional pieces that involve different creatures. Stories like C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia or J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit could be completely lost.

The lack of knowledge about our culture can also effect ELLs who may be reading about modern characters. If the material being covered has any references to U.S. history or geography, this will not make sense to ELLs. There are certainly parts of our history that still effect us today. Students without cultural background knowledge would not understand racial tensions between African Americans and Caucasians in the south, for example, or between Hispanics and other groups in the west. Episodes taking place in New York may contain inferences about 9/11. This not effects comprehension of the meaning of the text, but comprehension of vocabulary words that are related to these pieces of our culture. Building background knowledge and activating prior knowledge are essential when teaching works like these.

Haynes, J. (2009). Challenges for ELLs in content area learning. Retrieved from http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/challenges_ells_content_area_1_65322.php on 13 February 2011.