Supporting language learners in science classrooms: insights from middle-school English language learner students

ABSTRACT

Increases in the number of English language learner (ELL) students in the United States has led to a significant need for research that explores teaching and learning for ELL students in science and other content-area classrooms. This qualitative study investigated middle-school ELL students’ (N = 12) beliefs and practices surrounding science learning. We explore the instructional opportunities that are lost when teachers do not take student voice into consideration when designing and implementing curricula. We contextualize these findings by relating them to a commonly used instructional model for integrating language and content instruction. We conclude with implications for teacher education and in-service teacher professional development.

KEYWORDS:

• Content-based teaching
• English language learner
• adolescents
• teacher education
• student-centered learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. US Census data from 2012 indicate that approximately 44% of foreign-born immigrants self-report high levels of English-speaking ability. The remaining 54% of immigrants report speaking English less than very well (U.S. Census Bureau 2014).

2. The eight components of the SIOP Model are as follows: lesson preparation, building background, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, practice & application, lesson delivery, and review & assessment. The fourth edition of the textbook for teachers (Echevarria, Voght, and Short 2013) also contains chapters on issues relates to special education for ELLs and how to use the SIOP Protocol (teacher observation rubric) to improve instruction.

3. The name of the school and all personal names are pseudonyms.

4. Public charter schools in the US are publicly funded schools that are chartered through state-run departments of education. Charter schools operate outside of the local school district regulations but they are still required to follow state testing regimens. Funding for charter schools is based on the per pupil rate in the school district that the charter school is geographically located within. No entrance exams are required for students to attend Honor Charter School.

5. RA is a pseudonym for a research assistant who worked on the project for one year.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) [grant number HRD 1036637], Gender and Science Proficiency for English Language Learners (G-SPELL).