Multilingual students who have been in U.S. schools for 6 or more years and have not yet been reclassified as fluent English proficient are referred to as long-term English learners, or LTELs. There are significant numbers of these students in American schools, and we need to take a serious look at how to best support their academic and linguistic growth.
Too often multilingual learners are passed from class to class, and grade to grade with the assumption that, given time, they will advance in their English language proficiency. However, academic language doesn’t develop simply through exposure to English in school. The best outcomes result from teachers providing consistent instructional supports for making grade-level content comprehensible while at the same time focusing on academic language development.
Apathy can be insidious among long-term English learners. Some students understandably have lost a degree of motivation; they have struggled academically for years. Unfortunately, teachers sometimes also become apathetic about multilingual learners and inadvertently have low expectations for them.
The following are four ways to reduce apathy and to support the needs of long-term English learners.
- Practice student agency. Capitalize on the assets and interests students bring to the classroom by providing activities that are meaningful and relevant to them. Allow students to complete assignments through alternative means, driven by their interests, with appropriate guidance from teachers. Student agency gives students voice and often, choice, in how they learn. In so doing, students are empowered to take responsibility for their own learning, which is sure to increase motivation.
- Develop a learning profile. Since LTEL students have been in U.S. schools for at least 6 years, they have a foundation of knowledge and skills on which to build. For each LTEL student find out: What are her strengths? Where are there gaps in learning? Which specific literacy skills need targeted instruction? If a student has strong listening and speaking skills, less time needs to be devoted to oral language activities and more time spent on the area that will get them “over the hump” in attaining proficiency. In creating a learning profile, teachers get to know each LTEL student as an individual learner and can better tailor instruction to meet their academic and linguistic needs.
- Use proven instructional strategies and techniques. Students who have yet to reach English proficiency likely have not had the benefit of instruction that provides access to the core curriculum and is designed with their linguistic needs in mind. In research with the SIOP Model, multilingual learners whose teachers consistently used proven instructional supports outperformed those students whose teachers were more hit-or-miss in their use of supports. Quality of teaching matters.
- Collaborate with colleagues. During grade level planning or in a PLC, the progress of LTELs should be part of the discussion. Share ideas that have worked, offer one another suggestions for helping LTELs access grade-level materials, and discuss ways to integrate language development into content lessons. Creating a community of support with fellow teachers benefits LTEL students and teachers alike. It’s a win-win.