Children from families in which English is not the language of the home represent a rapidly increasing percentage of students enrolled in U.S. schools. With the rapid rate of diversity in the country, it is becoming critical for the United States educations system to find the right means of accommodating students who struggle with the English language. The implication is that all schools must be prepared to meet the challenge of an increasingly diverse student population, including many students who are not proficient in English. There are laws guides schools on the best ways to meet these challenges both at the Federal and state level. These laws provide the schools for teachers to ensure that the English learners get the standard education to improve their proficiency in the English Language. The schools also need to compare different English language learning models to find the best, provide resources, and also engage in best practices to ensure that students get the best.
Laws for ESOL
The United States is recording an increasing figure of the English for Speakers of Other Languages as diversity in both public and private schools is taking a toll. Amid such an increase, the Federal and state governments are ensuring that those students who are not proficient in English have proper guidance on the best ways to learn English. Therefore, the following five laws are instituted purposefully to ensure that ESOL students have the rights environments for learning English as a second language. The first law is fair accountability. The law requires that For one year, the school should exclude the student from taking the reading/English language arts test and from counting results of either or both the math and English language arts tests ( Conrad, 2019). The basis of the law is to give the student time to integrate well and learn basics before getting any challenge in this new language. It boosts the ELL students' confidence, and this is critical for improving ELL learning as a whole.
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The second law is the supports for English learners. The ESSA ensures that all schools, both at the Federal and states level, get the necessary support regarding resources for the ELL students. Such resources are useful in implementing and sustaining high-quality language instruction educational programs designed to ensure that English learners, including immigrant children and youth, become proficient in learning the English Language in the country. The third law requires that schools must report for ELLs with special needs so that the government at all levels can plan for them and ensure that schools have rights resources to help such students. The law provides that the need for ELL students with special needs are catered for to enhance their proficiency in English. The fourth law requires that there is increased state accountability for ELLs. The States must ensure that there is proper reporting, proper support, and also adequate management of ELLs learning to bring the best for them ( Conrad, 2019). The last policy or law requires that there is an Inclusion in reporting for ELLs 4 years after they are exited from ESL services to ensure that these people have benefited from the ELLs program. It ensures that such students are finding it easy to communicate appropriately in English. The core to such a measure is to ensure that ELL programs attain standard that provides such students with the best opportunity to become proficient in the English Language.
Comparison of Three L2 program models
There are different programs a teacher can opt for teaching English as a second language. The teacher needs to be careful to asses all these programs and finds the best for the students. These programs are different regarding the techniques, their strengths, and weaknesses, and this warrants the need for a thorough assessment to find the best for the L2 students. For this discussion, Pull -Out ESL, Push-In ESL, and the ESL resource center models will be compared regarding techniques, benefits, and drawbacks for L2 or second language learners.
The Pull out program is generally used in elementary school settings. In these programs, the students spend part of the school day in a mainstream classroom but are pulled out for a portion of each day to receive instruction in English as a second language ( Campbell, 2019). The strength of this program is the fact that students get to have a chance with the teacher at some point in a conducive environment where they can ask questions and explain the areas of difficulties. Some ESL teachers pull out mixed-level proficiency groups while others pull out by proficiency levels, such as newcomers, and this gives them a better chance of getting engaged with the teacher. The disadvantage of this program is the fact that the student tends to miss out on some knowledge from the mainstream programs or class.
Unlike the Pull out programs, the Push-In ESL program is where the ESL teacher comes into the general education classroom to support ELs during content-area lessons. The difference between the two is that while both have general classrooms, the teachers do not isolate the Le students from the General class in Push in as they do in Pull out. Unlike the Pull in class, the teacher can be working with the L2 students during a mini-lesson, but within the class where the general lesson is ongoing ( Campbell, 2019). The Push-in's advantage is students attend general class and knowledge from the general category. The drawback of the push-in is students do not get the proper chance with the teachers, and this makes them take a lot of time to be proficient in the English language.
The last model, which is the ESL resources center, entails bringing in students from different groups together and teaching them English as a second language. Unlike the Push in and Pull out models that concentrate on a single group of students based on traits such as academic level, this approach does not segregate students based on their level or status. The advantage is that all students that participate in these programs are L2 alone as there is no general class ( Flege, 2019). The disadvantage is that students do not get a chance to learn with others who are already proficient in the English language. Furthermore, it can be a risky model for the newcomers as the teacher may not give them attention, especially where the students are in large numbers.
Strategies, materials, resources, and technology programs that can be used in each program model.
Push-In model
The best practices for the Push in are numerous. The first selecting the groups of students based on their level of learning to ensure that the course is not complicated for some of them. The next strategy is to mix the students to ensure that even the weak students benefit. The third practice is to parallel teaching can be useful for Push, and the fourth strategy is using group discussion for the students to ensure that they all learn from each other ( Flege, 2019). Developing Language during Content Area Instruction is also another good practice for Push in the model, while another strategy is providing visual and verbal for the student can also be useful for such students. The seventh practice is encouraging peer assistant leaning while the next practice is making use of the student’s first language while teaching English where applicable. Using their culture and evaluating their weaknesses are also some strategies that are used for this model.
Resource and technology are also critical for these programs. Some of the resources include eBooks for English learning, dictionaries, podcasts, Starfall, English media lab, ESL videos, ESL fast, ESL audios, short story books, both printed and online magazines for English beginners, American English Resources and ESL cyber ( Flege, 2019). Note that these are both offline and online resources that are meant to enhance learning. It means the best technologies include a podcast, online dictionaries, ESL videos, ESL audios, online short stories books, virtual learning materials such as second life and Limbo. Others include digital apps such as photo-editing and drawing apps and online channels such as YouTube materials.
Pull Out model
Best practices include pulling students based on their levels of understanding, and ensuring there is proper mixing of students to enhance peer learning. There should be the constant use of technology in Pull-out classes to enhance learning. Such will need appropriate screening for language literacy to enable proper pulling out based on the plan for each student. P rovide Small-Group Support in Literacy and English Language Development for English Learners who need additional support is also critical ( Flege, 2019). The next is constant assessment for each student pulled out, and next is evaluating the progress of students based on their performance and correcting their mistakes. Understanding and making use of students' culture and first language during teaching is also critical for this model, and so is providing visual support for the students. The last practice for the model is to provide explicit instruction in literacy components.
Resource and technology include good time for each child pulled, the use of visual pictures, the use of audio resources to enhance listening skills, and the use of virtual videos or learning. Other supports include a podcast, YouTube materials, MinecraftPoptropica, and other digital applications that improve proper leaning ( Spoor, 2019). Getting online books, short stories, and online games to encourage cleaning can be useful. Note that these are online technologies and offline resource that can be critical for students who is pulled out and given attention by the teacher.
The ESL Resource Center Models
The model best practice is being students centered as it combines different students from different levels in a single class. Therefore, enhancing peer-learning opportunities is an excellent practice. Also, utilizing technology such both audio and video technology for such classes can be a great idea. Furthermore, P rovide Small-Group Support in Literacy and English Language Development for English Learners, as well as mixing the students based on their ability, are also other critical practices for this model ( Spoor, 2019). Continuous assessment and monitoring of these students will be essential because they have a variety of abilities. Also, it will be vital to the teacher to major in technology to enhance learning due to the diversity that usually exists in such classes. Moreover, Provide Explicit Instruction in Literacy Components is also another critical practice in this case. Enhancing peer review learning and screening for abilities to ensure that the assessments are tuned to the standard for each student.
Resources for this model are diverse. They include ebooks, time for each student, and attention to ensure that the students get to understand the language. Other resources are technology-based, which includes virtual learning for students. Using online resources such as podcasts can be critical for these students ( Flege, 2019). Also, employing audio version learning and video materials from YouTube can be vital. Encouraging the use of online dictionaries and other applications that are technology-oriented are also other technology-based resources that can be critical for this model. Generally, the increasing number of students learning English as a second language is increasing in the country. Therefore, schools need to follow the guidelines that the government places to ensure that such students get the best platform to learn English in the country.
References
Campbell, V. (2019). ESOL and Content Teachers' Instructional Strategies and the Impact of Engagement on English Language Learners' Academic Success (Doctoral dissertation, Northcentral University).
Conrad, L. M. (2019). English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Teacher Experiences with Newcomer Students at the Secondary Level: A Phenomenological Study.
Flege, J. (2019). A non-critical period for second-language learning. A sound approach to language matters: In honor of Ocke-Schwen Bohn, Aarhus University. Open access ebook at Aurhus University Library .
Spoor, D. L. (2019). General Education Teachers and ELL Students: Examining One District’s ELL Instruction Through the Lens of the Classroom Teachers (Doctoral dissertation, University of Kansas).
