English Language Learners Summary

Imagine you are sitting in a class, listening to your teacher introduce a new lesson to you and your classmates. You can hear his or her voice, and can see their mouth moving, but you’re having a difficult time piecing those words together in order to fully understand what is being taught. Unfortunately, many English Language Learners (ELL) tend to feel exactly this way in their classroom. There are times that they feel out of place, and that they don’t belong to be a part of their classroom and that they’re not understood, when the exact opposite is true. There is much discussion amongst teachers about ELL students and how to best educate and assist these students leading them towards academic success. Carrice Cummins, a Professor in Education in the College of Education at Louisiana Tech University, wrote an article entitled, “Celebrating Teachers: Teachers of Dual Language Learners Making a Difference.” In her article she discusses the ways in which teachers should create a comfortable home-like environment for their students and the importance of understanding their student’s cultural backgrounds.

In a second article, “Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners,” written by David Freeman and Yvonne Freeman, they discuss the ways in which the needs of ELL students can be achieved and how asking big questions can help facilitate and promote second language acquisition in a number of