Fluency

Tags: Bilingual Instruction; Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Comprehension; Content Areas: Math; Content Areas: Science; Content Areas: Social Studies; Content Areas: The Arts; Curriculum; Differentiated Instruction; Fluency; Instructional Programs; Intervention; Language of Instruction; Language Proficiency; Phonics; Phonological Awareness; Placement; Vocabulary; Writing;

Target Population: Preschool, Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: How do ELL students acquire literacy in a second language?

Findings:

• Instructional approaches that focus on phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension-have clear benefits for ELLs. Like their native English speaking peers, ELLs benefit from these strategies as well as writing instruction.
• For students to become literate in English several instructional qualities need to be met including: content coverage, intensity and thorough instruction,
• ELL specific instruction, monitoring learning, and teacher preparation.
• Oral proficiency and literacy in the first language can be used to facilitate literacy development in English.
• Researchers have documented few sociocultural impacts on literacy achievement or development. However, researchers have found that home language experiences can have a positive impact on literacy achievement.

• Link to Full Report

August, D. and Shanahan, T. (2006). Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Center for Applied Linguistics, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ.

Tags: Curriculum; Fluency; Instructional Programs; Intervention; Language Proficiency; Struggling Readers;

• Read the full report

Short, D., & Fitzsimmons, S. (2007). Double the Work: Challenges and solutions to acquiring language and academic literacy for adolescent English language learners– A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Tags: Bilingual Instruction; Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Comprehension; Fluency; Instructional Programs; Language Proficiency; Phonics; Phonological Awareness; Placement; Spelling; Transfer of Literacy Skills; Vocabulary;

Target Population: Preschool, Elementary

Research Questions the Report Poses: In spite of the debate over bilingual versus English-only education, the fundamental question remains: What are the best ways to teach English literacy to English language learners, and what rate of achievement in English is realistic to expect?

Findings:

• ELLs need the same kind of reading instruction that works for native speakers, more of it, and they need to be watched carefully so they get help adjusted to their language development needs as soon as they encounter problems;
• ELL students can learn basic English reading skills in two years, but their chances of falling behind later in school are greater than native English speaking children;
• There is no evidence that the extra teaching that ELLs need can be effectively offered in "pullout" programs that are not closely integrated with the main literacy program;
• ELLs benefit from lengthening the school day and/or year; and
• ELLs need teachers who can deliver reading instruction shown to be most effective, and these teachers need intensive professional development

Policy Recommendations:

• Give English language learners extra time and instruction in literacy, either through longer school days or extended years;
• Assign the best teachers to English learners and provide professional development in effective teaching strategies;
• Use proven techniques for teaching basic word recognition skills, including phonics and phonological awareness;
• Provide lots of practice reading and frequent assessments to pinpoint children's reading strengths and weaknesses;
• Provide structured academic conversation, built around books and other subject matter activities to build vocabulary and comprehension; and
• Provide several years of intensive, high-quality instruction to help students master the vocabulary, comprehension, and oral language skills that will make them fully fluent in speaking, reading, and writing English.

• Download research brief (89KB PDF)*

Resnick, L.B., Ed. (2004). English Language Learners: Boosting Academic Achievement. Research Points, 2(1). American Educational Research Association: Washington DC.

Tags: Bilingual Instruction; Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Comprehension; Curriculum; Differentiated Instruction; Fluency; Instructional Programs; Intervention; Language of Instruction; Language Proficiency; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Struggling Readers; Transfer of Literacy Skills; Vocabulary; Writing;

Target Population: Preschool, Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: The paper provides an overview of research and knowledge that educators can use to create schools in which English learners thrive and achieve at high levels.

Policy Recommendations:

• Invest in building a qualified educator workforce;
• Build a meaningful accountability system for English learners;
• Assure that educators have the materials they need to deliver high quality English Language Development; and
• Demonstrate new models of successful schools for English learners

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
University of California
Linguistic Minority Research Institute
4722 South Hall
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3220

Olsen, L. (2006). Ensuring Academic Success for English Learners. University of California: Linguistic Minority Research Institute.

Tags: Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Fluency; Language of Instruction; Language Proficiency; Latino ELL Students;

Target Population: Pre-school, Elementary, Middle, High School, Post-Secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: How long can immigrant populations be expected, on average, to remain fluent in their languages of origin?

Findings:

• The probability is 97% that a great grandchild of Mexican immigrants will not speak Spanish
• Mexican Spanish can be expected to have a life expectancy of 3.1 generations
• Guatemalan and Salvadoran Spanish can be expected to have a life expectancy of 2.8 generations
• Spanish spoken by other Latin Americans can be expected to have a life expectancy of 2.6 generations

Policy Recommendations:
N/A

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
N/A

Rumbaut, R.G., Massey D.S., and Bean, F.D. (2006). Linguistic Life Expectancies: Immigrant Language Retention in Southern California. Population and Development Review, 32(3), 447-460.

Tags: American Indian ELL Students; Asian ELL Students; Comprehension; Content Areas: Math; Fluency; Instructional Programs; Intervention; Language of Instruction; Language Proficiency; Latino ELL Students; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.); Phonics; Phonological Awareness; Reading; Struggling Readers; Vocabulary; Writing;

Target Population: Elementary School, Middle School, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: What students are classified as being English Language Learners? How are they best identified, and what recommendations should be made to more adequately instruct possible ELL students to prevent further learning difficulties?

Findings:

• Statistics for ELLs may be hard to obtain or may be inaccurate since many ELL students go without being properly identified
• ELL students can better from more individualized instruction
• Mastery of academic language is necessary for academic success, which can prove to be difficult even for English speaking proficient ELLs
• In order to provide effective support of reading comprehension to ELLs educators must have an understanding of the child's individual needs
• In addition to reading comprehension it is crucial for students to become proficient in mathematics

Policy Recommendations:
While the article did not have any specific policy recommendations the recommendations listed in the article could be taken as such and thus included in this section.

Recommendations for Reading Instruction and interventions:

• ELLs need early, explicit, and intensive instruction in phonological awareness and phonics in order to build decoding skills.
• K-12 classrooms across the nation must increase opportunities for ELLs to develop sophisticated vocabulary knowledge.
• Reading instruction in K-12 classrooms must equip ELLs with strategies and knowledge to comprehend and analyze challenging narrative and expository texts.
• Instruction and intervention to promote ELLs' reading fluency must focus on vocabulary and increased exposure to print.
• In all K-12 classrooms across the U.S., ELLs need significant opportunities to engage in structured, academic talk.
• Independent reading is only beneficial when it is structured and purposeful, and there is a good reader-text match.

• ELLs need early explicit and intensive instruction and intervention in basic mathematics concepts and skill.
• Academic language is as central to mathematics as it is to other academic areas. It is a significant source of difficulty for many ELLs who struggle with mathematics.
• ELLs need academic language support to understand and solve the word problems that are often used for mathematics assessment and instruction.

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
N/A

Francis, David J., Mabel Rivera, Nonie Lesaux, and Hector Rivera. (2006). Research-Based Recommendations for Instruction and Academic Interventions. Practical Guidelines for the Education of English Language Learners, Retrieved April 11,2008, from http://www.centeroninstruction.org/files/ELL1-Interventions.pdf

Tags: Fluency; Intervention; Language Proficiency; Placement; Struggling Readers; Transfer of Literacy Skills;

Target Population: Secondary, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: Which of the English learners are left behind? What steps can be taken to prevent this?

Findings:

• The majority (59%) of secondary school English Learners are "Long Term English Learners" (in United States schools for more than six years without reaching sufficient English proficiency to be reclassified). In one out of three districts, more than 75% of their English Learners are Long Term.
• California school districts do not have a shared definition of "Long Term English Learners." Most districts lack any definition or means of identifying or monitoring the progress and achievement of this population. Only one in four districts has a formal definition or designation for identifying, counting, serving or monitoring services for these students - and their definitions vary in the number of years considered "normative" for how soon English Learners should have reached proficiency (range from five to ten years).
• English Learners become "Long Term" English Learners in the course of their schooling experience. Several factors seem to contribute to becoming a Long Term English Learner: receiving no language development program at all; being given elementary school curricula and materials that weren't designed to meet English Learner needs; enrollment in weak language development program models and poorly implemented English Learner programs; histories of inconsistent programs; provision of narrowed curricula and only partial access to the full curriculum; social segregation and linguistic isolation; and, cycles of transnational moves.
• By the time Long Term English Learners arrive in secondary schools, there is a set of characteristics that describe their overall profile. These students struggle academically. They have distinct language issues, including: high functioning social language, very weak academic language, and significant deficits in reading and writing skills. The majority of Long Term English Learners are "stuck" at Intermediate levels of English proficiency or below, although others reach higher levels of English proficiency without attaining the academic language to be reclassified. Long Term English Learners have significant gaps in academic background knowledge. In addition, many have developed habits of non-engagement, learned passivity and invisibility in school. The majority of Long Term English Learners wants to go to college, and are unaware that their academic skills, record and courses are not preparing them to reach that goal. Neither students, their parents nor their community realizes that they are in academic jeopardy.

• Read the Full Report

Olsen, L. (2010). Reparable Harm: Fulfilling the Unkept Promise of Educational Opportunity for California's Long Term English Learners. Californians Together. Retrieved January 6, 2011 from: http://www.californianstogether.org/

Tags: Bilingual Instruction; Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Differentiated Instruction; Fluency; Instructional Programs; Intervention; Language of Instruction; Language Proficiency; Placement; Reading; Struggling Readers; Transfer of Literacy Skills; Vocabulary;

Target Population: Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: How accommodated are Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFEs) in NYC public schools? Why SIFEs are struggling academically and what are can be done to improve it?

Findings:

• SIFEs often have poor literary skills in any language, and are likely behind their age level in knowledge-content.
• SIFEs have complex social and psychological needs due to multiple factors including migration, unfamiliarity with surroundings, etc.
• SIFEs need more English language support, and often more individualized instruction to make progress.
• SIFEs lack foundational skills for academic work in English and in most cases their native language.
• Many SIFEs are not steered towards programs that can help them, and the schools they are placed in don't have the resources to teach them properly.
• Many SIFEs as often classified as having disabilities when cases show that this is typically not the case.

• Read the Full Report

Students with Interrupted Education: A Challenge for New York City Public Schools. (2010, May). Advocates for Children of New York. Retrieved July 28, 2010 from http://advocatesforchildren.org/SIFE%20Paper%20final.pdf

Tags: Comprehension; Fluency; Motivation; Phonics; Phonological Awareness; Reading; Vocabulary;

Target Population: Preschool, Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: What does recent research say about the benefits of technology in helping students learn to read?

Findings:

• Available research points to many possibilities for technology to enhance reading instruction.
• Decisions about the effective uses of technology need to be based on an understanding of the school or district reading program.
• Understanding of the potential uses of technology and a careful analysis of the alignment between the needs of the reading program and the capabilities brought by the technology is vital.
• Technology can help make a good reading program more effective, but technology's value depends upon the quality of the overall reading program and the thoughtful and careful implementation of technology.

Policy Recommendations:
N/A

• Full report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
N/A

Sherman, D., Kleiman, G., and Peterson, K. (2004). Technology and Teaching Children to Read. Education Development Center.

Tags: Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Fluency; Language of Instruction; Language Proficiency; Phonics; Phonological Awareness; Transfer of Literacy Skills; Vocabulary;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

VOLUME I:

• What are the reigning theories of human development, cognition, culture, and the relationship between them?
• How does identity development intersect with achievement motivation?
• What is intelligence?
• How can our knowledge of human development inform our work as educators working with an increasingly diverse student population?
• What is known about how to work successfully with families from non-dominant cultural groups?

VOLUME II:

• What is language proficiency and how does it interact with culture, human development, learning, and schooling?
• How can teachers best support English language learners (ELLs) and speakers of different English dialects?
• What are the current views of literacy acquisition and best approaches to literacy instruction?
• How can assessments eliminate bias based on language?

Findings:

• Most important to the process of addressing the needs of learners from a wide range of backgrounds is a positive, ongoing process of exploration and constructive conversation among the professionals who serve such students and between professionals and students' families.
• Meaningful approaches to human development and learning have become increasingly multi-disciplinary.
• Language indexes culture; language symbolizes culture; culture is partially created by language.

Policy Recommendations:
Teacher's Guide to Diversity includes a third volume, "The Presenter's Manual," which provides support for preparing for and conducting classes or workshops. The manual contains activities and suggested homework assignments, organized by the volume with which they are associated.

• Read the Full Report

Trumbull, E., Pacheco, M. (2005). The Teacher’s Guide to Diversity: Building a Knowledge Base. Providence, RI: The Education Alliance at Brown University. Retrieved from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/teach_guide_diversity/.

Tags: Asian ELL Students; Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Fluency; Motivation;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What are some nonnative English speakers' experiences regarding the way native speakers treat them?
• How have nonnative English speakers' experiences of ethnic acceptance or ethnic prejudice affected their learning of English?
• What do nonnative English speakers think they need in order to lower their anxiety as they learn a new language?
• What can native English speakers do to lower nonnative speakers' anxiety?
• What can nonnative English speakers do to lower their anxiety with native English speakers?

Findings:

• All of the participants experienced both ethnic acceptance and ethnic prejudice, though they tended to be positive and accepting.
• Successful immigrants overcome their fear and anxiety by making friends with native and nonnative speakers alike.
• To achieve greater communicative competence English learners must take the initiative to speak English, while native English speakers must learn strategies for listening and understanding, accepting and reinforcing the nonnative speakers.
• The two ethnic groups of participants viewed prejudice and learning English differently: the Vietnamese believed they could move past prejudice and learn English as a means to belong in American culture, while the Mexican participants fostered a nostalgia for and stronger desire to return to their homeland.
• The six participants in this study all recognized the importance of encouragement and motivation in learning English, whether by needing English to communicate in ethnically mixed neighborhoods, or community ESL classes showing them they were not alone in learning English.
• The participants all expressed the opinion that individual effort and perseverance are keys to progress in acquiring English: one needs to take action, reach out, and not give up regardless of the experiences of prejudice.

Policy Recommendations:

The authors recommend:

• Mixed ESL groupings in class — combining immigrants from different countries so they cannot resort to home language.
• Closed-caption reading methodology
• Encouraging immigrants to make friends who are native speakers
• Improved workplace ESL programs
• Cultural survival techniques — acquiring goods and services in home language to buffer transition, while still venturing out into English–speaking places.

• Read the Full Report

LaBelle, J. (2007.) Vietnamese American Experiences of English Language Learning. Journal of Southeast Asian American Education & Advancement. Retrieved from: http://jsaaea.coehd.utsa.edu/index.php/JSAAEA/article/view/4

Tags: Comprehension; Curriculum; Differentiated Instruction; Fluency; Instructional Programs; Intervention; Language Proficiency; Phonics; Phonological Awareness; Reading; Struggling Readers; Transfer of Literacy Skills; Vocabulary;

Target Population: Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: What does research tell us about teaching reading to English Language Learners?

Findings:

• Literacy in the native language is an advantage.
• ELLs cannot develop phonological awareness in English until they are familiar with the sounds of English; once phonological awareness has developed in any language, it transfers to other languages that are learned.
• Systematic phonics instruction can be very effective in helping ELLs learn to decode words: the most effective reading programs for ELLs combine systematic phonics instruction with a print-rich environment that provides exposure to appealing reading materials in varied genres.
• ELLs cannot achieve fluency in oral reading before they have achieved fluency in speaking: self-consciousness about accents and errors can affect reading fluency.
• ELLs need more vocabulary instruction than their native-speaking peers, with different vocabulary words and vocabulary teaching techniques.
• ELLs are more likely than native speakers to lack the background knowledge necessary for understanding texts

Policy Recommendations:

• Substantial coverage of the five essential elements of reading instruction-phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension-helps.
• Reading programs for ELLs should include intensive language development as well as instruction in literacy strategies and skills.
• Instruction needs to be adjusted to meet the needs of ELLs.

Irujo, S. (2007). What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners? Haverhill, MA: The ELL Outlook.