Educators’ beliefs about appropriate pedagogical models for Spanish-speaking ELLs who differ in home-language and English-language literacy abilities in the United States

ABSTRACT

Survey research (n = 366) examined educators’ beliefs about the efficacy of five pedagogical models (English as a second language (ESL) self-contained, ESL push-in, ESL pullout, bilingual, and dual language) for English language learners who differ in English literacy proficiency and home-language abilities (delimited to Spanish in this research). Dual language was preferred when students have high English proficiency; this effect was extremely strong for students who are also proficient in Spanish, and moderate when students’ Spanish skills are low. Bilingual education was moderately favored when English is low and Spanish is high. ESL self-contained was moderately favored when students lack literacy proficiency in both English and Spanish. Language proficiency was a consistent predictor of model preferences, with effects sufficiently strong to likely have meaningful impact on actual student placements. Future research should determine the extent to which this pattern in teachers’ beliefs comports with educational outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Bilingual education
• dual language program
• ELL
• ESL
• language ability
• language attitudes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Audrey Figueroa Murphy, Ed.D., is an associate professor of TESOL, Bilingual, and Dual Language programs in the Education Specialties Department at St. John's University in New York. She is a member of NABE (National Association of Bilingual Education), a board member of the Bilingual SIG of AERA (American Educational Research Association) and former Vice President of NYS TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Her research focuses on the effectiveness of the various models and methods of instruction for English language learners, and the impact of educational reform initiatives within Bilingual/Dual language classroom settings.

Bruce Torff is a Professor of Educational Psychology at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Torff has published numerous books and articles on topics in educational psychology, cognitive-developmental psychology, and teacher education, including work on teachers’ beliefs and attitudes, classroom use of critical-thinking activities, and professional development for educators. His books include Understanding and Teaching the Intuitive Mind and Multiple Intelligences and Assessment. Torff is founder and director of the Doctoral Program in Learning and Teaching at Hofstra, where he was named Teacher of the Year in 2009. He earned a doctorate and two masters degrees at Harvard University, where he worked with Howard Gardner and served as a Project Director at Project Zero, Gardner's research organization. Torff also held a postdoctoral appointment at Yale University in collaboration with Robert J. Sternberg. Torff is active as a leader of professional-development workshops for educators and is also a jazz pianist and songwriter.

David N. Sessions, Ph.D., is Emeritus Associate Professor from the Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics at the Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University.