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Abstract

Reaching proficient levels of literacy is a universal goal for all children in the elementary
classroom. This objective is especially challenging for English language learners particularly in
the domain of writing. Writing has been identified as one of the most essential skills because the
world has become so text-oriented. Due to this change, mainstream teachers as well as ESOL
instructors, are in great demand of effective techniques to improve English language of this
particular population. The purpose of this project is to provide research based techniques
successful in improving the English language skills of ESL students. The findings suggest that
through the use of technology, pre-taught vocabulary, various teacher influences and the
implementation of positive diverse literacy practices, this goal can be attained.

Introduction
English has become the medium of all relevant social interactions and the ability to use English
effectively is considered an absolute essential for honorable existence.

There are two key items ELLs need in order to improve their English time and practice. There is
nothing teachers can do to rush English acquisition, but there are many ways to provide
opportunities to practice English in the classroom. If activities are structured to support student-
to-student or group interaction, ELLs are required to use English to explain concepts and
contribute to the work. This gives teachers an opportunity to gauge what the student has learned,
and it demonstrates student progress in English language development. Teachers can also
informally assess for correct use of language structures and academic vocabulary. If ELLs are
having difficulty with phrases or vocabulary, the teacher will be able to offer guidance or further
instruction to support language development.

Teachers play a critical role in supporting language development. Beyond teaching children to
read and write in school, they need to help children learn and use aspects of language associated
with the academic discourse of the various school subjects. They need to help them become more
aware of how language functions in various modes of communication across the curriculum.
They need to understand how language works well enough to select materials that will help
expand their students' linguistic horizons and to plan instructional activities that give students
opportunities to use the new forms and modes of expression to which they are being exposed.
Teachers need to understand how to design the classroom language environment so as to
optimize language and literacy learning and to avoid linguistic obstacles to content area learning.

The need to understand English language structures and language acquisition theory is
increasingly important as the number of ELLs increases in classrooms. However, very few
teachers have had the formal training required to be prepared to identify and teach the English
vocabulary and structures found in specific content areas. When I first started teaching ESL, my
students knew way more about grammar than I did. I joked with them, "I don't know English; I
just speak it."

Content teachers can begin by reviewing a content area lesson and identifying not just the
vocabulary that every student needs to know, but other vocabulary words and grammar structures
that ELL students may not be familiar with. Learning something new is like stacking building
blocks. The more you have, the higher you can go. It is not always apparent what building blocks
ELLs come with due to language barriers, and sometimes ELL students don't connect their
previous experience with the lesson currently being taught. That is where the teacher's skill at
drawing on background knowledge becomes so important.

Teachers can work creatively to elicit background knowledge from students on content topics in
order to increase comprehension of the material. This may be as simple as taking the time to do a
"K/W/L" (Know, Want to Know and Learned) chart, or as individualized as asking questions
about the topic: "Has anyone ever visited the jungle? A jungle is like a rainforest. What do you
see in a jungle?" Students can share their knowledge and see how it is connected to new
academic information. See the Hotlinks section for more resources on strategies to increase
connections with student background knowledge.

No matter what language you or your students' parents speak, parental support is a big key to
academic success. ELL families are often at a disadvantage when it comes to supporting their
child because of language and cultural barriers. It can be easy to interpret ELL parent "no shows"
as a lack of interest in education; however, very often ELL parents want their children to succeed
as much as any other parent but are unable to participate to the same extent that other parents
participate due to these barriers or their work schedules.

Regular, open and friendly communication from the teacher can make a big difference in ELL
parent participation. It can feel daunting for an English speaking teacher to call a non-English
speaking parent, but usually there is someone in the family who speaks enough English to
interpret the message for the parent, or the parent speaks enough English to understand a simple
message. It may also be possible to get help from a bilingual school staff member to assist in
making a quick phone call. ELL parents will be very pleased and excited to hear positive news
about their child and will feel more comfortable asking questions and visiting the school in the
future. The more informed the parents are, the more likely it is that the student will get support at
home and parents will have the information they need to help their child be successful.

The ability to write effectively and accurately to convey a message is a very important skill for a
college student and in most careers. However, it often seems as if the curriculum is largely
focused on developing reading and math skills. Of course, these are very important too, but
students need to have many positive opportunities to develop writing skills in a variety of
formats in order to strengthen their communication skills. For ELLs this is particularly
important. Depending on their writing skill level in their first language and their English
language abilities, writing may be frustrating. Students need to engage in a variety of writing to
develop an understanding of different types of writing and to identify their strengths and
weaknesses as a writer.

Review of literature

General Strategies

 Know who your ELL students are and their proficiency in English. This can be obtained
from the ESOL/bilingual teacher, guidance counselor, social worker, or
administration. You can also informally identify ELLs by watching for students who wait
on others to move first and then copy what they are doing. It is important to note that
their proficiency in listening, reading, speaking, and writing will vary within each
student.
 As with all your students, set high expectations.
 Embed multicultural education throughout the curriculum, as opposed to a "Heroes and
Holidays" approach where other cultures are only mentioned on special days.
 Assess and utilize the background knowledge of your students; use bilingual students as
helpers.
 Learn to pronounce student names correctly to help develop rapport. If you are not sure,
ask (in private if needed).
 Use technology such as class websites, blogs, and videos.
 Use structured note-taking formats such as graphic organizers and teach viewing
comprehension strategies.
 Utilize classroom routines and play music whenever possible.
 Allow students to use their native language when needed. A review of literature shows
that supporting ELL students'.
Instructional Strategies

 Slow down your speech and use shorter sentences, present tense of words, synonyms,
examples, gestures, and demonstrations.
 Avoid expressions or sayings that are only common in the United States.
 Use as many mediums as possible to convey information: oral, written, videos, teacher
demonstration, student demonstration, etc.
 Use think-alouds and think-pair-shares when asking questions, and don't forget to give
students enough time to process the question.
 Use bilingual handouts and cue lists.
 Use metaphors and imagery for cues.

Environmental Strategies

 Create print-rich environments using bulletin boards with articles on sports and physical
activity, game play strategies, words of the day, etc. See this article "6 Strategies to
Create a Print Rich Environment" for helpful tips.
 Use visual displays, portable white boards, and posters when giving instructions.
 Create and display word walls: displays of high-frequency words for a unit, arranged
alphabetically.

Assignments , Assessments, and Activities

 Assign quick writes, word sorts, and journal entries.

 Use learning stations that reinforce previously taught concepts and skills.
 Introduce vocabulary in a fun way such as a Word Search or Cross Word.
 Have students create new games.
 Use cooperative learning such as jigsaw learning and peer observations.
 Use task cards to give students opportunities to take responsibility for their own learning.
 Use newspapers, magazines, and web sites in assignments; also involve librarians.
 Avoid testing exclusively in English, as students may not be able to demonstrate their
learning in a second language. Provide sentence frames where appropriate.
  Allow performances to be recorded, giving students more time in a less threatening
environment.
 Use Google Translate or have ELL students work with teachers to create handouts in
multiple languages.

Additional Resources for Teaching English Language Learners

 Colorin Colorado: A bilingual site for educators and families of English Language
Learners.
 Edutopia: See this comprehensive list of articles from Edutopia.
 ELL Success: WeAreTeachers homepage for English Language Learners.
 Larry Ferlazzo: This site posts articles that vary from instructional practices to current
issues in education. In addition, he has a Best of Series page which has links to over 600
lists he has created for finding online resources on various topics. Many of these
resources are on the topic of ELLs.
 Our Nation;s English Learners: Website from Ed.gov that has information and statistics
on ELLs.

If you're like most teachers, your classes have increasingly become more linguistically diverse. If
you're looking for ways to meet the needs of students who struggle with or are just learning
English, I am here to help! For the last eight years, I have had the fortunate opportunity to work
with many students who are English language learners. It's been an exceptionally challenging
and rewarding experience and I am thrilled to be able to share with you some of the best
practices that I've used in my classroom.

My background includes three years solely focused on English Language Development (ELD). I
have also taught the CLAD (Cross-Language and Academic Development) course at California
State University, Fullerton and worked with veteran teachers to help them integrate ELD and
SDAIE (Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English) strategies.

ELD & the Natural Approach

ELD is an acronym for English Language Development. ELD is the systematic use of
instructional strategies designed to promote the acquisition of English by students whose primary
language is not English. According to Dr. Stephen Krashen, an expert in the study of second
language acquisition and the co-author of The Natural Approach, the best way to learn a second
language is through total immersion. ELD strategies support this learning method, enabling
students to acquire English language in a manner similar to the way they learned their native
language, naturally and through regular interaction with others who already know the language.

In the natural process of language acquisition, students first develop basic communication skills
in English. The focus is on fluency and learning to speak English in a social context with native
speakers, which is why heterogeneous cooperative grouping is so important to the Natural
Approach. According to Krashen, this method allows for effortless acquisition. Rather than
getting caught up in grammar and the mechanics of language, non-native speakers learn by
interacting with English-only models. This approach is most successful when there are two
conditions:

1. Comprehensible input is provided, which means messages are made understandable and
meaningful to the learner via a variety of techniques.
2. There is a low-affective filter, which means students are made to feel comfortable and
there is little pressure to learn "it all" right now.

Here are some ways you can create a classroom environment that supports natural acquisition:

 Use visuals that reinforce spoken or written words.

 Employ gestures for added emphasis
 Adjust your speech: Speak slowly; enunciate; use longer natural pauses; repeat words or
phrases; include shorter sentences, fewer pronouns, and simpler syntax.
 Exaggerate intonations at times.
 Stress high-frequency vocabulary words.
 Use fewer idioms and clarify the meaning of words or phrases in context.
 Stress participatory learning.
 Maintain a low anxiety level and be enthusiastic.

With these conditions in place, students can't help but learn the language!
How ELD Is Taught

ELD consists of five proficiency levels: Beginning, early intermediate, intermediate, early
advanced and advanced. The four domains of ELD are: Listening, speaking, reading, and
writing. Students need to be instructed at their proficiency level for the different domains. It is
crucial to understand that student’s progress through the levels of proficiency at different rates.
Research has shown that it takes four to seven years to master advanced levels of fluency.

ELD focuses on four skill areas:

1. Function: Functions are the purposes of communication. This includes social

conversations, jokes, and inquiry.
2. Form: This refers to the structure of the English language such as grammar, sentence
structure, and syntax. These are used as building blocks.
3. Fluency: Fluency is the ease in speaking the language. English language learners need
ample amount of time just practicing speaking English in order to become fluent.
4. Vocabulary: The development of a wide and varied vocabulary is essential. Research
shows that English language learners should be taught key vocabulary, or brick words,
prior to a lesson in order to assist them in their language development. For example,
whatever concept you are teaching, it is recommended that you include vocabulary words
that will make the content more comprehensible to the learner. A key ELD strategy is to
provide comprehensible input for the English language learner by the use of visuals,
realia, and gestures.

5 Effective Teaching Methods for Your Classroom

Every teacher has her or his own style of teaching. And as traditional teaching styles evolve with
the advent of differentiated instruction, more and more teachers are adjusting their approach
depending on their students’ learning needs.

But there are a few fundamental teaching styles most educators tend to use. Which one is yours?
 You’ve Got Style
These teaching styles highlight the five main strategies teachers use in the classroom, as well as
the benefits and potential pitfalls of each.

The Authority, or lecture style

The authority model is teacher-centered and frequently entails lengthy lecture sessions or one-
way presentations. Students are expected to take notes or absorb information.

 Pros: This style is acceptable for certain higher-education disciplines and auditorium settings
with large groups of students. The pure lecture style is most suitable for subjects like history,
which necessitate memorization of key facts, dates, names, etc.
 Cons: It’s a questionable model for teaching children because there is little or no interaction with
the teacher. Plus it can get a little snooze-y. That’s why it’s a better approach for older, more
mature students.
The Demonstrator, or coach style
The demonstrator retains the formal authority role by showing students what they need to know.
The demonstrator is a lot like the lecturer, but their lessons include multimedia presentations,
activities, and demonstrations. (Think: Math, Science, Music.)

 Pros: This style gives teachers opportunities to incorporate a variety of formats including
lectures and multimedia presentations.
 Cons: Although it’s well-suited for teaching mathematics, music, physical education, arts and
crafts, it is difficult to accommodate students’ individual needs in larger classrooms.
The Facilitator, or activity style
Facilitators promote self-learning and help students develop critical thinking skills and retain
knowledge that leads to self-actualization.

 Pros: This style trains students to ask questions and helps develop skills to find answers and
solutions through exploration; it is ideal for teaching science and similar subjects.
 Cons: Challenges teacher to interact with students and prompt them toward discovery rather than
lecturing facts and testing knowledge through memorization. So it’s a bit harder to measure
success in tangible terms.
 The Delegator, or group style
The delegator style is best suited for curriculum that requires lab activities, such as chemistry and
biology, or subjects that warrant peer feedback, like debate and creative writing.

 Pros: Guided discovery and inquiry-based learning places the teacher in an observer role that
inspires students by working in tandem toward common goals.
 Cons: Considered a modern style of teaching, it is sometimes criticized as eroding teacher
authority. As a delegator, the teacher acts more as a consultant rather than the traditional
authority figure.
The Hybrid, or blended style
Hybrid, or blended style, follows an integrated approach to teaching that blends the teacher’s
personality and interests with students’ needs and curriculum-appropriate methods.

 Pros: Inclusive! And enables teachers to tailor their styles to student needs and appropriate
subject matter.
 Cons: Hybrid style runs the risk of trying to be too many things to all students, prompting
teachers to spread themselves too thin and dilute learning.
Because teachers have styles that reflect their distinct personalities and curriculum—from math
and science to English and history—it’s crucial that they remain focused on their teaching
objectives and avoid trying to be all things to all students.

What you need to know about your teaching style

Although it is not the teacher’s job to entertain students, it is vital to engage them in the learning
process. Selecting a style that addresses the needs of diverse students at different learning levels
begins with a personal inventory—a self-evaluation—of the teacher’s strengths and weaknesses.
As they develop their teaching styles and integrate them with effective classroom management
skills, teachers will learn what works best for their personalities and curriculum.

Our guide encapsulates today’s different teaching styles and helps teachers identify the style
that’s right for them and their students. Browse through the article or use these links to jump to
your desired destination.

 What is a teaching style inventory, and how have teaching styles evolved?
 What teaching method is best for today’s students?
 How does classroom diversity influence teachers?
Emergence of the teaching style inventory
How have teaching styles evolved? This is a question teachers are asked, and frequently ask
themselves, as they embark on their careers, and occasionally pause along the way to reflect on
job performance. To understand the differences in teaching styles, it’s helpful to know where the
modern concept of classifying teaching methods originated.

The late Anthony F. Grasha, a noted professor of psychology at the University of Cincinnati, is
credited with developing the classic five teaching styles. A follower of psychiatrist Carl Jung,
Grasha began studying the dynamics of the relationship between teachers and learning in college
classrooms. His groundbreaking book, “Teaching with Style,” was written both as a guide for
teachers and as a tool to help colleagues, administrators and students systematically evaluate an
instructor’s effectiveness in the classroom.
Grasha understood that schools must use a consistent, formal approach in evaluating a teacher’s
classroom performance. He recognized that any system designed to help teachers improve their
instructional skills requires a simple classification system. He developed a teaching style
inventory that has since been adopted and modified by followers.

 Expert: Similar to a coach, experts share knowledge, demonstrate their expertise, advise
students and provide feedback to improve understanding and promote learning.
 Formal authority: Authoritative teachers incorporate the traditional lecture format and share
many of the same characteristics as experts, but with less student interaction.
 Personal model: Incorporates blended teaching styles that match the best techniques with the
appropriate learning scenarios and students in an adaptive format.
 Facilitator: Designs participatory learning activities and manages classroom projects while
providing information and offering feedback to facilitate critical thinking.
 Delegator: Organizes group learning, observes students, provides consultation, and promotes
interaction between groups and among individuals to achieve learning objectives.
Although he developed specific teaching styles, Grasha warned against boxing teachers into a
single category. Instead, he advocated that teachers play multiple roles in the classroom. He
believed most teachers possess some combination of all or most of the classic teaching styles.
How does differentiated instruction affect teaching styles?
Carol Ann Tomlinson, a professor at the University of Virginia, is an early advocate of
differentiated instruction and a pioneer in the development of learning-based teaching styles. If
Grasha laid the groundwork for 20th-century teachers to adopt styles tailored to match their
personalities and strengths, Tomlinson has advanced this theme into the 21st century by focusing
on differentiated instruction.

In the simplest terms, differentiated instruction means keeping all students in mind when
developing lesson plans and workbook exercises, lectures and interactive learning. These
student-focused differences necessitate instructional styles that embrace diverse classrooms for
students at all learning levels and from various backgrounds without compromising the teacher’s
strengths.

What teaching style is best for today’s students?

Whether you’re a first-year teacher eager to put into practice all of the pedagogical techniques
you learned in college, or a classroom veteran examining differentiated instruction and new
learning methodologies, consider that not all students respond well to one particular style.
Although teaching styles have been categorized into five groups, today’s ideal teaching style is
not an either/or proposition but more of a hybrid approach that blends the best of everything a
teacher has to offer.

The traditional advice that teachers not overreach with a cluster of all-encompassing teaching
styles might seem to conflict with today’s emphasis on student-centered classrooms.
Theoretically, the more teachers emphasize student-centric learning the harder it is to develop a
well-focused style based on their personal attributes, strengths and goals.

In short, modern methods of teaching require different types of teachers—from the

analyst/organizer to the negotiator/consultant. Here are some other factors to consider as teachers
determine the best teaching method for their students.

Empty vessel: Critics of the “sage on the stage” lecture style point to the “empty vessel” theory,
which assumes a student’s mind is essentially empty and needs to be filled by the “expert”
teacher. Critics of this traditional approach to teaching insist this teaching style is outmoded and
needs to be updated for the diverse 21st-century classroom.
Active vs. passive: Proponents of the traditional lecture approach believe that an overemphasis
on group-oriented participatory teaching styles, like facilitator and delegator, favor gifted and
competitive students over passive children with varied learning abilities, thereby exacerbating
the challenges of meeting the needs of all learners.
Knowledge vs. information: Knowledge implies a complete understanding, or full
comprehension, of a particular subject. A blend of teaching styles that incorporate facilitator,
delegator, demonstrator, and lecturer techniques helps the broadest range of students acquire in-
depth knowledge and mastery of a given subject. This stands in contrast to passive learning,
which typically entails memorizing facts, or information, with the short-term objective of scoring
well on tests.
Interactive classrooms: Laptops and tablets, videoconferencing and podcasts in classrooms play
a vital role in today’s teaching styles. With technology in mind, it is imperative that teachers
assess their students’ knowledge while they are learning. The alternative is to wait for test
results, only to discover knowledge gaps that should have been detected during the active
learning phase.
Constructivist teaching methods: Contemporary teaching styles tend to be group focused and
inquiry driven. Constructivist teaching methods embrace subsets of alternative teaching styles,
including modeling, coaching, and test preparation through rubrics scaffolding. All of these are
designed to promote student participation and necessitate a hybrid approach to teaching. One
criticism of the constructivist approach is it caters to extroverted, group-oriented students, who
tend to dominate and benefit from these teaching methods more than introverts; however, this
assumes introverts aren’t learning by observing.
Student-centric learning does not have to come at the expense of an instructor’s preferred
teaching method. However, differentiated instruction demands that teachers finesse their style to
accommodate the diverse needs of 21st-century classrooms.

The ‘sage on the stage’ meets the ‘tiger mom’

 The objective of blending teaching styles to leverage the teacher’s strengths while meeting the
demands of diverse students has become increasingly difficult, as parents take a decidedly
proactive role in child-learning techniques.

The traditional authoritative/expert, or “sage on the stage” lecture style, has come under attack
by some parents—and contemporary educational leaders—who emphasize that a more diverse
approach to teaching is necessary to engage students. This is compounded by the rise of “tiger
moms,” a term made popular by parents devoted to improving the quality of education with
laser-precision focus on A-list schools and a highly competitive job market.

Age of the proactive parent

Regardless of what style a teacher adopts, it’s important for teachers to develop positive
attitudes, set goals and establish high expectations for students.

“Assume students can excel!” education authors Harry and Rosemary Wong declare. As former
teachers with a combined 80-plus years of educational experience, the Wongs emphasize in their
best-selling book, “The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher” and their more
recent, “The Classroom Management Book” that successful teachers share three common
characteristics:
 effective classroom management skills
 lesson mastery
 positive expectations
All instructors, when developing their teaching styles, should keep in mind these three goals, as
well as the primary objective of education: student learning.

How does classroom diversity influence teachers?

It is abundantly clear that today’s teachers are responsible for students with a diverse range of
learning abilities. The 21st-century teacher does not have the luxury of “picking the low-hanging
fruit” and then leaving the rest of the tree for experts who specialize in children with behavioral
issues or learning disorders.

Today’s teachers must develop instructional styles that work well in diverse classrooms.
Effective teaching methods engage gifted students, as well as slow-learning children and those
with attention deficit tendencies. This is where differentiated instruction and a balanced mix of
teaching styles can help reach all students in a given classroom—not just the few who respond
well to one particular style of teaching.

The wonderment of teaching, what author/educator Dr. Harry Wong refers to as “that ah-ha
moment” when a child “gets it,” is one of the most rewarding and seemingly elusive benefits of
becoming a teacher. This transfer of knowledge from expert to student is an art form and a skill.
Fortunately, both can be learned and perfected.

Knowing how to engage students begins with selecting the teaching style that’s right for you.
And remember, even though you may prefer one teaching style over another, you must find the
style that works best for your students! Try different styles to meet different objectives, and
always challenge yourself to find ways to reach each student.

Pre-production

This is also called "the silent period," when the student takes in the new language but does not
speak it. This period often lasts six weeks or longer, depending on the individual.

Early production

The individual begins to speak using short words and sentences, but the emphasis is still on
listening and absorbing the new language. There will be many errors in the early in the
production stage.

Speech emergent

Speech becomes more frequent, words and sentences are longer, but the individual still relies
heavily on context clues and familiar topics. Vocabulary continues to increase and errors begin
to decrease, especially in common or repeated interactions.

Beginning Fluency
Speech is fairly fluent in social situations with minimal errors. New contexts and academic
language are challenging and the individual will struggle to express themselves due to gaps in
vocabulary and appropriate phrases.

Intermediate Fluency

Communicating in the second language is fluent, especially in social language situations. The
individual is able to speak almost fluently in new situations or in academic areas, but there will
be gaps in vocabulary knowledge and some unknown expressions. There are very few errors, and
the individual is able to demonstrate higher order thinking skills in the second language such as
offering an opinion or analyzing a problem.

Advanced Fluency

The individual communicates fluently in all contexts and can maneuver successfully in new
contexts and when exposed to new academic information. At this stage, the individual may still
have an accent and use idiomatic expressions incorrectly at times, but the individual is
essentially fluent and comfortable communicating in the second language.

How long does it take for a language learner to go through these stages? Just as in any other
learning situation, it depends on the individual. One of the major contributors to accelerated
second language learning is the strength of first language skills. Language researchers such as
Jim Cummins, Catherine Snow, Lily Wong Filmore and Stephen Krashen have studied this topic
in a variety of ways for many years. The general consensus is that it takes between five to seven
years for an individual to achieve advanced fluency. This generally applies to individuals who
have strong first language and literacy skills. If an individual has not fully developed first
language and literacy skills, it may take between seven to ten years to reach advanced fluency. It
is very important to note that every ELL student comes with his or her own unique language and
education background, and this will have an impact on their English learning process.

It is also important to keep in mind that the understood goal for American ELL students is
Advanced Fluency, which includes fluency in academic contexts as well as social contexts.
Teachers often get frustrated when ELL students appear to be fluent because they have strong
social English skills, but then they do not participate well in academic projects and discussions.
Teachers who are aware of ELL students' need to develop academic language fluency in English
will be much better prepared to assist those students in becoming academically successful.

Know your students

Increase your understanding of which your students are their backgrounds and educational
experiences. If your students have been in US schools for several years and/or were educated in
their country of origin, are literate or not in their native language, may provide you with a better
understanding of their educational needs and ways to support them.

Be aware of their social and emotional needs

Understanding more about the students' families and their needs is key. When ELs have siblings
to care for afterschool, possibly live with extended family members or have jobs to help support
their families, completing homework assignments will not take priority.

Increase your understanding of first and second language acquisition

Although courses about second language acquisition are not required as part of teacher education
programs, understanding the theories about language acquisition and the variables that contribute
to language learning may help you reach your ELs more effectively.

Student need to SWRL every day in every class

The domains of language acquisition, Speaking, Writing, Reading and Listening need to be
equally exercised across content areas daily. Assuring that students are using all domains of
language acquisition to support their English language development is essential.

Increase your understanding of English language proficiency

Social English language proficiency and academic English language proficiency are very
different. A student may be more proficient in one vs. the other. A student's level of academic
English may be masked by a higher level of Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS)
compared to their Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). For example, a student
may be able to orally recall the main events from their favorite movie but struggle to recall the
main events that led up to the Civil War.

Know the language of your content

English has a number of polysemous words. Once a student learns and understands one meaning
of a word, other meaning may not be apparent. Review the vocabulary of your content area often
and check in with ELs to assure they know the words and possibly the multiple meanings
associated with the words. For example, a "plot" of land in geography class versus the "plot" in a
literature class. A "table" we sit at versus a multiplication "table."

Understand language assessments

Language proficiency assessments in your district may vary. Find out when and how a student's
English language proficiency is assessed and the results of those assessments. Using the results
of formal and informal assessments can provide a wealth of information to aid in planning
lessons that support language acquisition and content knowledge simultaneously.

Use authentic visuals and manipulative

These can be equally utilized. Implement the use of authentic resources for example; menus, bus
schedules, post-cards, photographs and video clips can enhance student comprehension of
complex content concepts.

Strategies that match language proficiency

Knowing the level of English language proficiency at which your students are functioning
academically is vital in order to be able to scaffold appropriately. Not all strategies are
appropriate for all levels of language learners. Knowing which scaffolds are most appropriate
takes time but will support language learning more effectively.

Collaborate to celebrate
Seek support from other teachers who may teach ELs. Other educators, novice and veteran, may
have suggestions and resources that support English language development and content concepts.
Creating and sustaining professional learning communities that support ELs are vital for student
success. Addressing the Language Needs of Every Student The New Teacher Center works with
teachers in every grade and subject area, each of whom faces daunting challenges. One difficulty
that many beginning teachers consistently discuss with their mentors is that English-language
learner (ELL) students lack the basic literacy skills needed to grasp grade-level content. A
statewide survey of teachers in California identified the top three challenges facing secondary
teachers regarding English-language learners:

1) Communicating with English-language learners about academic, social, and personal issues;
2) Encouraging and motivating English-language learners; and 3) addressing the individual and
diverse needs of English-language learners in both academic skills and English-language
acquisition.

In response to these challenges, the NTC developed a resource titled “Accelerating Academic
Language Development: Six Key Strategies for Teachers of English Learners.” The six
strategies are based on multiple research studies from the past decade that identify effective
methods for developing English-language learners’ content knowledge, use of the academic
language associated with math, literature, history, and science, and basic interpersonal
communication skills in English. Two Birds, One Stone: Improving Language Development and
Adolescent Literacy The six key strategies not only help students develop English as a second
language, they also help native speakers learn words that are not part of everyday English (for
example, words such as algorithm, allegory, Avogadro’s hypothesis, or filibuster). Using this
tool, beginning teachers, their mentors, and administrators plan, reflect, and observe classroom
instruction with students’ language development and content learning in mind. The NTC
introduces the tool in workshops that establish a common language among educators regarding
effective methods for language-focused instruction. District teachers, mentors, and
administrators use the six key strategies to identify good teaching skills that help them plan
lessons that are accessible to a range of students.
  The first of the six key strategies is vocabulary and language development, through
which teachers introduce new concepts by discussing vocabulary words key to that
concept. Exploring specific academic terms like algorithm starts a sequence of lessons
on larger math concepts and builds the student’s background knowledge. • The second
strategy is guided interaction. With this method, teachers structure lessons so students
work together to understand what they read—by listening, speaking, reading, and writing
collaboratively about the academic concepts in the text.
 The third strategy is metacognition and authentic assessment. Rather than having
students simply memorize information, teachers model and explicitly teach thinking
skills (metacognition) crucial to learning new concepts. Research shows that
metacognition is a critical skill for learning a second language and a skill used by highly
proficient readers of any language. With authentic assessments, teachers use a variety of
activities to check students’ understanding, acknowledging that students learning a
second language need a variety of ways to demonstrate their understanding of concepts
that are not wholly reliant on advanced language skills.
 The fourth strategy is explicit instruction, or direct teaching of concepts, academic
language, and reading comprehension strategies needed to complete classroom tasks.
 The fifth strategy is the use of meaning-based context and universal themes, referring to
taking something meaningful from the students’ everyday lives and using it as a
springboard to interest them in academic concepts. Research shows that when students
are interested in something and can connect it to their lives or cultural backgrounds they
are more highly motivated and learn at a better rate.
 The final strategy is the use of modeling, graphic organizers, and visuals. The use of a
variety of visual aids, including pictures, diagrams, and charts, helps all students—and
especially ELL students—easily recognize essential information and its relationship to
supporting ideas. Visuals make both the language and the content more accessible to
students.

All Means All: A Second Application of the Strategies When working with beginning teachers,
the New Teacher Center realized that native English speaking students learning academic
language (such as algorithm or allegory) faced many of the same challenges as students learning
English as a second language. Research has even referred to subject-specific academic language
as a possible third language for ELL students. Therefore, the same strategies that are used to
assist ELLs can also help native speakers understand the complex language used in their math,
literature, science, and social studies classes. Through the mentoring program, the NTC has
begun to use the six key strategies with teachers of native speakers as well.

The New Teacher Center provides beginning teachers and administrators with comprehensive
professional development that demonstrates how to improve diverse students’ academic literacy
skills. Armed with this information, a school administrator may set a goal of raising the math
achievement of current and former English-language learners, by encouraging math teachers to
use the appropriate teaching techniques. With the school goal in mind, teachers and mentors
might consider possible challenges in an upcoming lesson on graphing. They could explore
essential concepts about graphing, aspects ELL or other students might find difficult in the math
textbook’s description of graphing, and a combination of the six key strategies that best supports
students in attaining the ability to better understand and apply graphing skills. The NTC believes
that students’ language development and subject knowledge flourishes when teachers, mentors,
and administrators are supported to equip students with academic language skills, prerequisites
for understanding subject-matter concepts, and motivational, culturally responsive resources for
learning. Results It is difficult to discern the specific impact of the six key strategies on teacher
practice and student achievement, because this tool is only one element in an array of training
and assessment tools provided by the New Teacher Center.

However, as the program continues to expand, more formal evaluations will be completed. For
now, a long-term teacher retention rate as high as 95% compared to a nationwide average around
50% for teachers supported by the NTC model is a testament to the program’s positive impact on
the teaching profession. And the program’s rapid expansion testifies to the belief by educators
that it is effective. In the past year, use of the six key strategies have extended from Santa Cruz
to the entire Silicon Valley, and into state and national mentor and administrator training
programs provided by the New Teacher Center.

Many teachers in the United States are faced with the challenge of teaching children to read and
write in English when the students have a heritage language that is not English and they are not
yet proficient in English. Making this a more critical issue, several studies (North Central
Regional Educational Laboratory, 2003; Southeast Center for Quality Teaching, 2003) suggest
that teachers are not receiving adequate professional development in effective strategies to
address the English learners’ literacy development. Thompson (2004), in a recent Title I
Communiqué Special Report that reviewed the current research related to quality literacy
instruction for English learners, concludes that classroom teachers urgently need to know more
about effective strategies for teaching English learners.

As part of the effort to learn more about quality instruction for English learners, educational
researchers and teachers in the United States have looked at instructional practices in other
countries. When those countries are faced with the same challenge of teaching children in
English to learn to read and write in English, there has been greatest transfer of best practices
(Clay, 1991; Holdaway, 1978; Frater & Standiland, 1994). Research and close observation of the
teaching of reading has been conducted in Australia and New Zealand, and a smaller amount of
study in England for the obvious reason that English is the language of instruction.

Literacy instruction in India has not received the same attention, perhaps because English is not
the first language of the majority. There are studies that compare and contrast educational
practices in India to those in the United States with respect to the goals that teachers have for
student learning, the way teachers approach the curriculum and the textbook, the way knowledge
is communicated to students, and the way teachers interact verbally with their students (Clark,
2001; Alexander, 2000). There is however, very little literature that reveals current methods and
practice in Indian primary classrooms for the teaching of reading to children whose first
language is not English.

Interest and curiosity about reading instruction in India leading to this research came about as a
result of observation and conversation with two graduate assistants working in a university
department of Language Literacy and Culture. These very capable and well-educated young
men, after graduating from college in New Delhi, came to a southern California university for
master’s degrees in Computer Science. They both told of starting kindergarten knowing almost
no English, and immediately began to learn to read and write in English. While this experience
was limited to observation and interviews with only two people, it stimulated a need to know if
their experiences were similar to others, particularly, when it has become noticeable that young
people graduating from Indian universities are being recruited to work in the United States. This
is most apparent in the field of technology. Responding to demand for Indian technology
workers, the United States Senate increased the quota of visas for skilled workers from 115,000
to 195,000 in 2000 (Alarcon, 1999; Saxenian, 2000). Even though obtaining a US visa has
become increasingly difficult, Indians still receive nearly 45 percent of visas each year.
Furthermore, Indian students are increasingly in demand at universities in the United States
(Creehan, 2001).
Several authors (Hakuta, 1990; Tucker, 1999) discuss the need for research studies that develop
an international perspective for the teaching of English learners. A number of international
studies, such as the one by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD, 1989) and the comprehensive review of research on the use of first and second
languages in education, carried out for the World Bank (Dutcher & Tucker, 1994), have shown
that the United States is not alone in experiencing major changes in the linguistic and cultural
diversity of its student body. Indeed, many nations of the industrialized world are facing similar
issues and hold similar beliefs related to learning a second language. Additionally, we need to go
beyond merely describing programs or the start up of programs and instead examine the
instructional strategies used by teachers as they help students to acquire a second language with
ease and fluency. Toward this goal, this study looked closely at teacher behaviors, lesson
delivery and sequence of content, and learning expectations used by teachers of classes K-5 at
one school in New Delhi, India. The focus of this work was to build a broader understanding of
strategies for teaching English reading and writing to students whose first language is not
English.

In this study, questions were constructed to reveal not only the instructional practices but also to
learn teachers’ beliefs and gain insight into which principles guided their decision making. The
following questions provide a more precise statement of the research problem:

Statement of problem

 What are the attitudes/feelings of the students towards the studying of English language?
 What account for the decline in performance in the subject (English language)?
  Do they have enough material and human resources for the teaching and learning
process?
 Do they understand the subject very well?
 Does the senior secondary school certificate (SSCE) syllabus have either a positive or a
negative effect on the student performance?
 What are teacher beliefs about and guiding principles for teaching English language
learners?
 What instructional strategies do teachers use to teach?
 The youngest children?
 Phonics?
 Spelling?
 Comprehension?
 Vocabulary development?
 How is assessment conducted and used?
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework adopted for this study draws from two areas. Considered first was
Virginia Collier’s Conceptual Model for Acquiring a Second Language (1995), which helps
explain the complex interacting factors that students experience when acquiring a second
language. The model has four major components: sociocultural, linguistic, academic, and
cognitive processes. It is crucial that educators provide a socioculturally supportive school
environment that allows natural language, academic, and cognitive development to flourish. That
growth is developmental is a central precept of the model. In addition to considering Collier’s
model–suggesting the parameters for the learning environment–the research were also guided by
the work of Dorothy Strickland (NCREL, 2003), which outlines effective literacy instruction as
an integration of the following five factors:

1. the construction of meaning from different perspectives,

2. the acknowledgement of context in literacy learning,
3. the use of language for real communication,
4. the use of relevant literacy materials and
5. A focus on higher order thinking skills and problem solving.
Setting
The research site was a primary level school, kindergarten through level V, with approximately
1500 students, located in New Delhi, India. The primary school is part of a senior school that
follows the 10+2 scheme of education or what in the United States would be called a K-12
school. The school is affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education, meaning middle
school students and high school students must take and score well on the exam to be able to
continue on to university. The medium of instruction is English. Hindi is a compulsory language
from third through level X and a third language is introduced from level VI and continued
onwards.

The school follows the National Policy of Education for India. The National Curriculum
Framework for School Education, India Department of Education (2002) outlines the curriculum
for kindergarten through level III to have three components:

1. teach the regional language/mother tongue,

2. mathematics, and
3. Art of Healthy and Productive Living.
The recommended curriculum for Classes IV and V continues these three components and adds a
fourth area, d) Environmental Studies. The national policy does not require English to be taught
until middle school. While the curriculum of this school reflects this standard, it does include
more. Starting in kindergarten, instruction is delivered in English and students are taught to read
and write in English. Reading and writing in Hindi begins at Level III. In kindergarten through
level III the school practices what they call “the mother system.” This means that students stay
with one teacher through out the day. In Class IV and V teachers have specialized expertise, such
as math or environmental science. Students also have additional instruction in music, dance and
computers. Class size ranges from 38 – 42 students.

This particular primary school was chosen because it is a feeder school to one of the highest
achieving schools in New Delhi. The measure for this is high performance on the All India High
School Exam of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). In 1995, this school
received the Best School award from the Delhi Chief Minister, and has continually been ranked
at the top by various community and government groups. Many graduates have distinguished
themselves in science, industry, and the military.

Method
Participants
Teachers and administrators at the primary school, middle school, and high school levels
participated. There were 31 teachers and 2 administrators interviewed. A total of 25 teachers
were observed. Those teachers observed were all teachers in the primary school. Table 1 shows
the instructional level of the teachers and administrators that were observed and interviewed.

Procedures: Data collection

Data were collected through observation, interviews, digital photo journaling, and collection of
artifacts to do what Fetterman (1998) and Shank (2002) both describe as qualitative method that
provides sufficient detail for thick description. The researchers spent all day at the school site for
one week, starting at 9:00AM and ending at 1:00PM when the school day ended. Each day was
carefully planned so that interviews were scheduled to occur during passing time and breaks for
children to eat. Each day had a minimum of four classroom observation sessions and four
interview sessions. Field notes of observations provided descriptive data and recording of the
teachers’ exact words, as well as dialogue between teacher and students. Interviews followed a
semi-structured format that provided a conversational tone but stayed focused on the research
questions. The researchers, even when asked to compare what they observed to their own
teaching experiences, resisted the temptation and did not at any time change the focus to
comparisons of educational practices in other places.

The researchers collected over 300 photos. These photos were filed as Day 1, Day 2, etc.,
through Day 5. A corresponding log was kept so digital photos could be coordinated with the
field notes. Douglas Harper (2000) notes that the underutilized qualitative method of using
photos to construct visual narrative adds a layer of complexity that also illuminates. Few actual
artifacts were collected. A few teachers gave their written lesson plans and samples of student
work. This included poetry writing and structured paragraph writing. After doing what
Lawrence-Lightfoot and Davis (1997) referred to as exploring issues of entry and rapport, the
decision was made not to videotape. In a school setting where resources are very few and where
digital cameras were novel, the researchers decided to minimize the use of technology by not
videotaping. The setup of microphones and tripods seemed intrusive and time-consuming.
Observation protocol
Both researchers observed in the same classroom at the same time. Researchers took notes and
photographs, focusing on the teacher behavior related to instruction. Student responses were
recorded not to analyze student behavior or learning, but to reveal the teacher response in
developing concepts, modeling, and elaborating. In addition to recording the teachers’ words,
notice was also made of gestures, body language, and motions. Drawings and diagrams, both in
poster form and on the chalkboard were recorded. When teachers used props or objects, these
were photographed. Only at the end of the day did the researchers compare notes and attempt to
clarify where their notes varied.

Interview protocol

The interview protocol was constructed around seven questions. The questions were designed to
learn about the teaching of the various components of reading and language arts instruction.
Open-ended questions that allowed teachers and administrators to elaborate on the technique and
clarify the process of instruction were used. Both researchers took notes during all interviews.
The time and date of the interviews, as well as the teaching assignment of interviewees, were
recorded. In the development stage, it was agreed that researchers would be sensitive to the
interviewees’ desire to explain or go “off on tangents” as this could provide unexpected insights.

Finally, the textbook series was collected as a significant artifact. The selection of the text is a
local faculty decision. Before the beginning of the school year, a textbook fair is held and
teachers together select the textbooks. Several teachers explained their choice: Because the
author is a retired Delhi University educator, he had used his knowledge of the real life
experiences of children in Delhi to create passages and exercises that are of interest to the
children. The researchers noted that the instruction closely followed the content of the textbook.
They decided that collection of the reading and writing textbooks would likely provide more
explanation related to teaching techniques.
Data analysis
The analysis involved searching for basic themes for meaning-making in the collected data
(Miles & Huberman, 1994). The research questions guided the selection of instructional
techniques that are discussed, but did not limit the reporting of what was observed and what
teachers reported. In most cases the instructional strategy that is reported is told as it was
delivered by one teacher. In a few instances the strategy reported is a combination of what two or
more teachers did. When this occurs, it is noted. Explanation is given about variation or
adaptations. Because the purpose of the investigation was descriptive, the report does not make
comparisons between levels or groups of teachers related to effectiveness or perceived
effectiveness.

Results
Question 1: What are teacher beliefs and guiding principles about teaching English
language learners?
It was not difficult to learn of the beliefs held by the teachers at this school. In each interview,
teachers readily explained their reasons for choosing their instructional techniques. Interestingly,
the researchers were directed by the headmistress and three other teachers to solicit philosophy
and beliefs from two highly respected teachers. The first was a kindergarten teacher who had
taught at the school for 27 years. The second was the media resource teacher that served both the
primary school and the middle school. These two teachers did, in fact, thoughtfully articulate the
beliefs and principles. However, many other teachers stated similar ideas without contradiction.

Literacy instruction

Includes listening, speaking, reading and writing

Teacher K: In language development we promote listening, speaking, reading and writing and
all are equally important.
Teacher M: We don’t teach receptive skills first, then speaking and writing after that. What I
mean is we don’t just feature the Natural Method of just pantomime and gestures without reading
and writing. We involve the children in listening, speaking, reading and writing, we just move
from the simple to the complex.
Teacher A: In kindergarten, children recite the names of the letters and the sounds and straight
way go to writing the letters. We have them memorize simple dialogue – like everyday useful
conversation – “Hello, I am Anu, What is your name?” – and by first grade they are reading and
writing that.
Uses formal and informal methods
Teacher M: This is formal education, yes. The children are in school with the expectation to sit
in their class and learn. They will study grammar and usage and spelling, indeed. But you notice
that the lessons are about being a responsible person, like caring for the environment.
Environmental studies come in early.
Teacher K: We want to use language that is lively and common and the flavor of everyday
language. We try to use our local culture when we create lessons.
Teacher B: The old system of just grammar and structure of sentences is not the way now. Oh, I
can’t say we never think of the exams, but we try to be informal – games and social activities.
Teacher C: The children are bringing around sweets to share. For celebrating his birthday! It’s
OK, we will make an interruption. And you may notice the children come into the class to show,
and sometime even to share, (laughter) what they have made in cooking class.
Is structured and unstructured
Teacher K: We believe in structured and unstructured curriculum. Depending on the readiness
or maturity of the group.
Teacher D: We follow our planning diaries and lesson plans, but sometimes we are a bit more
relaxed.
Is developmental
Teacher M: We need to give enough time to prepare the ground for the process to become a
skill.
Teacher K: Children are thinking in their mother tongue, so I consider this when I decide
whether to repeat the lesson or go on.
Teacher D: We have twenty six languages represented here. Some of our children come from
South India. They don’t even know Hindi. Some boys and girls have two years of preschool.
Others have no preschool. They may come from the rural areas. I watch to learn what they need.
You can see why we revise and repeat. Sometimes I can’t follow my lesson plan to the end.
Is holistic
Teacher K: We believe in the holistic approach. You will see that as we go along we have
grammar and structure exercises, but also time for dialogue that will be useful in their lives and
natural conversations.
Teacher M: We use a holistic approach for the overall development of a child. Creative
activities and cultural activities. Levels IV and V have Music and Art and Dance.
Teacher D: We have a holistic approach. The reader and activity book promote speaking. The
workbooks address the language skills, but have many activities for writing. Free writing, well, a
bit of free writing.
Teacher E: Before the school year begins the teachers sit together and plan lessons. We include
many questions that will bring discussion. This is getting the students to reproduce their own
thoughts in English and speak during the lessons. We have a philosophy of holistic approach.
Administrator A: Our approach is holistic approach and interactive approach. Children interact
in discussion after reading interesting and informative pages. Of course the language skills are
there.
Is integrated
Teacher M: Our philosophy includes integration. Starting at Level IV the environment
education is part of the reading. We are learning about India’s environment in English reading.
You heard the lesson about the first Indian to climb – Major Ahluwalia climbing Mt. Everest.
They were reading a first person account, learning geography and about mountaineering and
many other topics. Whatever the teacher wants. Maybe she will discuss not eating for many days,
or choosing good shoes for climbing.
Teacher F: The illustrations in the workbooks show Indian life, Indian clothes and design. Some
clothing is Western, also. So for example, the exercise is on pronouns, he, she, it and so on, but
the illustration shows a woman in a lovely silk sari. Questioning could bring a lively discussion
of features of the chlori and sari and different features of the salwar-kameez worn with the kurta.
Uses repetition
Teacher K: Our program has planned and repeated listening to stories, music, sounds. And
vocabulary and phrases.
Teacher M: Planned and repeated vocabulary is built up in order to enable them to speak in
sentences. This improves fluency in speech, using words to form sentences and patterns of
sentences.
Teacher D: You will often see picture reading and sight reading. Using a few common words
needed for stories, repeating over and over again.
Teacher K: In teaching the alphabet, we use routines. Nursery rhymes and songs are repeated.
Children become experts at this task.
Teacher K: The alphabet is merely symbols, so to make it concrete and experiential; repetition
of the sounds and the symbols is needed.
Uses patterns
Teacher G: In the lower classes the songs and rhymes make patterns. In the higher levels it is
sentence patterns and paragraph patterns. Before children are asked to speak, the teacher
demonstrates the sentence pattern several times. Children all give a oral response telling a
sentence pattern before the writing exercise.
Teacher B: Some of our nursery rhymes are from English literature, Jack and Jill, Five little
monkeys, but we use Hindi nursery rhymes also. Some sounds are the same in Hindi and English
so the repetition of all these nursery rhymes continues – even into Level I.
Teacher C: We use patterns and repetition then children learn with ease and confidence.
Use questioning
Teacher M: Teachers after setting the topic, follow up asking relevant and creative questions.
Teacher C: Questioning makes each activity interactive. The passages are interesting and well
illustrated for generating questions.
Teacher B: Questioning is a way to bring natural conversation and make the subject matter
relevant to the children’s everyday lives.
Happens in a safe and supportive environment
Administrator A: In India it is important for children in primary school to see school as fun and
learning as interesting.
Teacher K: We always give time for games and social activities.
Teacher F; Using a variety of teaching methods is important because we want children to enjoy
school.
Teacher A: Each teacher here wants a warm rapport. There is freedom but no one can ridicule or
mock.
Teacher G: The readers are culturally and age-relevant, and have an offering of different styles,
short story, poetry, and plays. These hold students’ attention and interest and help them to enjoy
their work.
Teacher B: We have many celebrations. We celebrate our holidays, but others also. At
Christmas time we place a Christmas tree in the entrance.
Teacher F: By the time students reach level V, there is a more rigorous academic approach, but
we play games, do role playing and sing songs.
Teacher C: The art, music and dance classes are more relaxed times and when the performances
happen, it is lovely occasions.
Teacher D: Children are not afraid to speak with the teacher. We use the mother system.
Children can express their needs.

One point of clarification is needed. While most of the teachers identified their program as
“holistic,” it appeared this had a different meaning from what is often referred to as “holistic.”
The constructivist perspective, meaning that children’s engagement in a process of learning
depends on their background, interest, and abilities (Stainback & Stainbeck, 1992), did not seem
to be the point of reference for what they were calling “holistic.” Occasionally, “holistic” is used
to describe instruction for special education that recognizes multi-modals of learning or focuses
on multi-sensory techniques (MeKenna, 2003; Stockdale & Crump, 1981; Mastropieri &
Scruggs, 1996). No mention of the needs of special education students was made when
describing their holistic approach.
What the teachers and administrators described when they spoke of “holistic” would seem to fit
more logically with what teacher educators in India refer to as an “eclectic approach.” The
term eclectic reflects the changes in instructional delivery from an earlier time when teaching of
English was primarily grammar translation, stressing of pronunciation and the teaching of
receptive skills of listening and reading. The merging of the various methods, natural method,
phonetic method, direct method and audio-lingual method, form an eclectic approach. This
approach, while not ignoring formal instruction in grammar and language structure, 1) provides
immersion in oral language, 2) is contextualized in true to life situations, and 3) attends to
appropriate interactions in social context (Thirumalai, 2002). Perhaps the best explanation
appears in the foreword of the textbook series, Sparkle Multiskill English (2004); “A sort of
consensus has been emerging among the teachers that we need to adopt a holistic approach that
combines the solid grammar foundation provided by the structural approach with the impressive
fluency given by the interactive approach.”
Question 2: What instructional strategies do teachers use to teach the youngest children?
While some primary schools in New Delhi start formal instruction by including a nursery school
for four-year-old children, the primary school of this study made the decision a few years ago to
no longer offer nursery school and begin instruction for children at the age of five in
kindergarten. Before presenting the instructional strategies used in kindergarten, an overview of
the curriculum goals are noted. These goals are few:

1. recognize and recite letter names and sounds,

2. write letters of the alphabet,
3. learn nursery rhymes and songs,
4. begin to recognize high frequency words with a limited number of word families,
and
5. Follow directions and give simple responses.
As noted earlier, instruction is in English and learning to listen, speak, read and write in
English is the goal. For the major part of the instructional time the following three
strategies were used; Demonstration, Choral Drill, and Look and Say.
Strategy 1: Demonstration
Demonstration includes the use of real objects, performing actions, using gestures, and facial
expressions. It is used for presenting words like toy, bracelet, or hat. Demonstration can be used
for sentence patterns that stand for concrete ideas. For example, saying “I am looking at my
watch,” or “I am cleaning the chalkboard” while performing these actions. The teaching strategy
includes the teacher doing the demonstration and students practicing with feedback from the
teacher.
Kindergarten teachers used Demonstration effectively in the teaching of nursery rhymes and
songs. In a natural and enthusiastic voice, the teacher said the rhyme and used movement, hand
patterns, and motions, pointing to something, touching a part, shaking something, or acting it out.
The teacher spoke and acted out the line, and the children chimed in. The nursery rhymes or
songs were recited and performed many times. During the classroom observations in
kindergarten classes the children recited, with motions, the following: Jack and Jill, Bits of
Paper, One, Two, Buckle my Shoe, Traffic Light, Chubby Cheeks and Five Little
Monkeys. Demonstrationwas used for vocabulary development of these
words; dancing, write, together, and boxing. Simple phrases were demonstrated; Ria’s water
bottle, Varun’s backpack, Rahul’s uniform. This strategy was not limited to use in kindergarten;
in fact, Demonstration was seen at all levels through Class V. Demonstration was, however,
relied on more frequently in kindergarten and progressively used less through the class levels.
Strategy 2: Choral Drill

In Choral Drill the children all chant together following along as the teacher leads. It is the
repeating of poems, nursery rhymes, the alphabet, an alphabet song, sentence patterns, and
vocabulary lists. Children repeat the melody and rhythm. Sometimes it is in unison with the
teacher and sometimes in an echo pattern. The technique differs from Choral Reading in that this
is for oral language development. Print is not connected to the activity. An additional difference
is in the frequency of use. Choral Reading is likely to be used once or perhaps twice in the daily
routine, while Choral Drill was used for nearly half of the instructional time in kindergarten. This
poem was heard:
School is over,
Oh, what fun!
Lessons finished,
Play begun.
Who’ll run fastest,
You or I?
Who’ll laugh loudest?
Let us try. (Children laughed loudly)

Strategy 3: Look and Say

Look and Say is the technique of students listening to the teacher and looking at the object or
print, then repeating a word or sentence after the teacher. Children either watch as the teacher
points to the words on the chalkboard or individually point to the print on a page or in a
textbook. The reading textbook used in kindergarten has a page for each letter of the alphabet.
Each page has several illustrations and gives the word that corresponded to the illustration; for
instance, an illustration of a kite and the word kite. On the day of observation, all four
kindergarten classes at the school had progressed to the page that presented the
letter L. The Look and Say strategy started from the beginning of the reader: A is for Arm, A is
for Apple, A is Art, A is for Ant, A is for Astronaut, An ape is an animal. B is for Bee, B is
for Bird, B is for Birthday, B is for Butterfly, B is for Bunny, A boy on a bus. The teacher read
one phrase while the children listened, then the children pointed to the appropriate picture and
repeated the phrase. This continued until they completed the new page for the week: L is
for Ladder, L is for Lamb, L is for Lady, L is for Lamp, L is for Leg, A leaf on a log. This
exercise of starting from the first page of the reader and continuing to the current lesson was
repeated three times. The teacher varied it only slightly by changing the rhythm and the volume.
Teachers explained that Look and Say of the reading textbook had been a part of the routine of
each day since the first day of school.
While these three strategies have similarities, each relates to the principles of learning in
different ways. What appears most obvious is that all three require the mental processes of
rehearsal and recitation. However, each strategy contributes to learning in uniquely different
ways. Because understanding of the knowledge or concept has to happen first, Demonstration is
important. Demonstration builds connections between new knowledge and what the child already
knows. Teachers repeatedly pointed out how Demonstration was crucial. One teacher expressed
it this way:
Teacher B: First the children must have understanding. That is why I demonstrate and put things
in the context of their everyday lives. I am demonstrating and talking in short simple sentences.
In the Demonstration strategy, recitation is “chiming in” and is just the beginning of rehearsal.
The teacher is listening in or eavesdropping to be able to give feedback.
Choral Drill presented speaking aloud and verbatim memorization. This occurred in unison or in
the form of echo recitation. The purpose was for transfer to the long-term memory. Current brain
research supports the idea of speaking aloud (Haskell, 2001; Mayer, 2002). Speaking generates
more electrical energy in the brain than just thinking about something (Bower, 2003; Perry,
2004). Choral drill is also a powerful way to cause over-learning to occur. Over-learning, that is,
continuing to recite after something is memorized, creates deeper memory traces that make for
longer retention (Banich, 1997; Ridley Smith, 2004).
The Look and Say strategy builds on the two aforementioned strategies by promoting
understanding, giving more recitation and rehearsal, and continuing the over-learning process.
This strategy is more complex, however, in that it adds print to the learning dynamic. The
recitation is still oral but the child is now looking at and pointing to the print. Researchers for
this project also noted that it was with this strategy that teachers’ strengthened retention by
spacing the learning in intervals over time. After the alphabet lessons were completed, teachers
reported that even though they did not repeat it every day, they did not stop this recitation, but
continued to include it in their routine at least once a week. Toward the second half of the year
the intervals were increased to two or three weeks.
It is not uncommon for educators to label what was occurring here as rote learning, and therefore
dismiss the activities as meaningless, or minimal at best. The learning that was occurring in these
classrooms led the researchers to be less critical of this method of teaching content knowledge.
While transfer of learning and being able to problem solve by creating, analyzing, and applying
is the goal, this does not negate the need to create automaticity of important knowledge. What
was observed lends support to the research of Amabile (1996) and Baer (2003) asserting that
acquiring detailed content knowledge does not necessarily depress creativity and problem-
solving.

Question 3: What instructional strategies do teachers use to teach phonics?

Question 4: What instructional strategies do teachers use to teach spelling?
Question 5: What instructional strategies do teachers use to teach comprehension?
Question 6: What instructional strategies do teachers use to teach vocabulary
development?
These three research questions can be addressed together. Six more instructional strategies
describe how teachers taught phonics, spelling, comprehension, and vocabulary development.

Strategy 4: Pictorial Illustration

Pictorial illustration is the use of blackboard drawings, diagrams, sketches, match-stick figures,
photographs, maps, and textbook illustrations. These are used for presenting words and
structures that stand for concrete ideas. In Class I, illustrations in the reader are used for the
words cake, snake, gate, face, table, chair, and crayon. After children are guided in reading a
story called “Good Morning,” which presents two children greeting each other when arriving at
school, the comprehension questions require the matching of illustrations. Children need to
identify Manan’s yellow bag and Anu’s pink bag. While some of the illustrations look very
similar to what might appear in other parts of the world, such as a toy train or yo-yo, many were
uniquely related to life in India. In the story, “In the Morning,” Mama is shown cooking at a
table top stove and wearing traditional Indian dress, and Grandma is working at a treadle sewing
machine. Drawings of the breakfast foods aloo parantha, idlis, boiled eggs, and cheese
sandwiches are labeled in English, matching the name that is most often used to describe the
food item. A photograph of street vendor selling peanuts is used with the writing prompt in the
follow up activity. The researchers observed teachers using paper figures and match stick figures
to represent the activities of jumping and leaving.
In Class V, the stories in the reader related primarily to the topics of environmental studies and
science, but a few folktales were included. One folktale, “The Peasant, the Buffalo, and the
Tiger,” shows expressive drawings of the a with burning pieces of straw and rope stuck to his
skin and the buffalo laughing so that he bangs his head against a tree, knocking out his upper
teeth. A science lesson, Plants Can Be Fun, shows a series of illustrations depicting the rooting
of a sweet potato in a jar–first showing the new roots growing and then showing stems and
purple-veined leaves growing. Several fifth-level teachers were observed engaging children in
discussion of climbing Mt Everest. Children studied the photographic images of Indians that had
met the challenge of climbing Mt. Everest.
Strategy 5: Verbal Illustration

Teachers at each level used Verbal Illustration. Sometimes this was simply giving a phrase or
sentence that showed the typical use of the word in context, as in “the sky is blue.” Often verbal
illustration was used with pictorial illustration to link new knowledge to existing knowledge that
had an analogous relationship. An example of this was a lesson to a group of class V children
presented by a guest teacher from a local newspaper. To help the children to understand the
concept of advertising and the influence of advertising, she framed the concept in a context that
she believed the children would understand. She reminded the children of the slogan “Clean and
Green Delhi” and showed a poster with the slogan. She spoke of the several beautiful traffic
islands and roundabouts, landscaped gardens, manicured fountains, and tree-lined boulevards.
She explained that the signs around the city “Clean and Green Delhi” that promote cleanliness
were advertising. Children became sidetracked and talked about the failures of the campaign,
describing many areas that were not clean and were in their opinion, “filthy and spreading
disease.” The guest teacher brought the children back to the concept of advertising by asking if
they knew of people that tried to keep Delhi clean. She continued by talking about their influence
and how they could influence their friends, their relatives, especially grandparents, because
grandparents love them so much.
Strategy 6: Association

Association was used for presenting vocabulary items. Teachers used Association for synonyms,
antonyms, and simple definitions. For example, the following words were presented
through Association:
Blossom — flower (synonym)

Diligent — hardworking (synonym)

fresh — stale (antonym)
lad – means a boy (definition)

This process of bringing ideas or events together in memory or conceptualizing is a strong

strategy for English learners. However, it appeared that the teaching strategy went beyond
helping children to make memory connections and actually was an approach to developing
deeper understanding by giving examples and non-examples. Children were not left to trial and
error in developing the new concept. Teachers, in a well-crafted manner, would name the
concept and several synonyms for it and then sometimes present a definition. This led to an
accurate communication of the concept and eliminates the possibility of confusion.

Strategy 7: Questioning

Questioning is another strategy that was used in lessons at all levels. It was used in the
introduction. A teacher at level III used this example:
The title of this lesson is “Beautiful Birds.” Can you give the names of some birds which you
find near your house?
Do you like to watch them?
Do some of them sing?
The most frequent use of questioning was, however, to lead students to discover patterns, put
items into categories, and find labels for the categories. To do this, teachers typically used the
chalkboard and wrote names of categories across the top. Teachers would begin by placing
example items in the categories, and then ask questions such as:

What belongs together?

Can you find something that is similar to this?
The questioning section of the lessons appeared to be for the purpose of developing thinking
processes for concept formation. While using question to monitor comprehension was observed
in two lessons, this was not the primary use. In Class III, the teacher modeled for the children the
creating of patterns of similarities.

After writing the following sentences on the board, she modeled the thinking process:

We will study common names and special names.

First, listen to this: Pingu is a bear. Montu is a monkey. Neha is a girl.
Now, look at this list of special names. When I ask for your response you will give a common
name.
Teacher: Paris is?
Student: Paris is a city.
Teacher: Ganges is?
Student: Ganges is a river.
Teacher: A white rose?
Student: A white rose is a flower.
This use of analogy was evident to several questioning exercises. The teacher presented
items that were similar is some respect but otherwise dissimilar. Opposites were used in
this same manner: The teacher showed that a morpheme could be reformed or recreated by
thinking about the known language patterns:

The opposite of lock is unlocked.

The opposite of visible is invisible.
The opposite of possible is impossible.
What is the opposite of complete?
What is the opposite of friendly?
What is the opposite of lucky?
While these exercises that asked students to list, group, label and categorize were deliberate
attempts to increase productive thinking, teachers did not neglect other aspects of learning that
they valued. In each lesson, children were asked to repeat the pairs of opposites or other answers
to the questions. This gave students opportunity to learn through practice.

The Questioning strategy resembled the strategies described in the classic work of Hilda Taba
(1967), in which she postulates that thinking can be taught. In Taba’s inductive thinking model,
questioning is used for concept formation, interpretation of data, and application of principle.
While teachers were not observed taking students through each of these three processes, it was
apparent that concept formation was a major goal of questioning.
Strategy 8: Narration

The technique of Narration was observed on one occasion. Narration could also be
called Storytelling. The teacher reported that her purpose was to motivate the children to read the
passage that would be assigned and then to write a response. The researchers were told by the
principal that this particular teacher was very adept at Narration and used it frequently. She
mentioned that other teachers also use Narration. The story told was a fairy tale with the moral
that it is not good for children to be greedy. While motivation was mentioned as the goal, it could
also be deduced that comprehension was a consideration. The teacher observed stopped twice
during the story to monitor for understanding. She asked:
Do you like the story? Do you understand?
Strategy 9: Read and Say

For the strategy of Read and Say, students read a paragraph written on the blackboard and
responded orally to a set of written questions. Sometimes the passage and follow-up exercise
were written on what was called a roll-up board. The roll-up board is heavy paper that can be
written on and then rolled up and stored. The students read the exercise written on the roll up
board and wrote responses in their notebooks. After writing the questions in their notebooks,
they filled in the blank, matched A with B, or completed the sentences. After a given amount of
time, the teacher asked children to read their written responses and lead a discussion relating to
their responses. During the week of observations, this strategy was observed at levels IV and V.
Clearly, the focus was on comprehension of the passage. Discussion centered on understanding
and finding meaning in the passage.
Methods for improving English language skills
Communication is an important skill for every modern student to master. Advances in digital
media, changing career landscapes and greater competition in colleges and workplaces makes
improving student communication skills a must. Cramming tips the night before a big interview
won’t do the job if students are trying to make an impression in the collaborative workplaces of
the future. When it comes to acquiring indispensable communication skills, there’s no time like
the present.

The Path to Improving Student Communication Skills

These 8 tips can help you immensely with improving student communication skills. They can be
adapted for most every kind of student from kindergarten to high school. Build better speakers
and writers of tomorrow by challenging your students to think critically, listen actively, and work
together.
1. Watch films that model conversation skills
Conversation is one of the most basic and essential communication skills. It enables people to
share thoughts, opinions, and ideas, and receive them in turn. Although it may appear simple on
the surface, effective conversations include a give-and-take exchange that consists of elements
such as:
 Body language
 Eye contact
 Summarizing
 Paraphrasing
 Responding
Your students can learn the foundational elements of conversation by watching films or videos of
these interactions taking place. Pause the video and ask questions such as, “What message is the
listener sending by crossing his arms? What else can you tell by observing the expressions and
body language of both people in the conversation?”
2. Use technology
From audio books to apps, there is a multitude of technological resources you can use for
improving student communication skills. Students can listen to or read along with audio books to
hear how the speaker pronounces and enunciates different words or phrases. Some great free
apps that improve student communication skills are Voice Thread (which is suitable for
kindergartners through adults) and Paper Telephone.
3. Reinforce active listening
Communication isn’t just about speaking; it’s also about listening. Teachers can help their
students develop listening skills by reading a selection of text aloud, and then having the class
discusses and reflects on the content.
Active listening also means listening to understand rather than reply. Reinforce building good
listening skills by encouraging students to practice asking clarifying questions to fully
understand the speaker’s intended message.
4. Offer group presentations and assignments
Team-building exercises can also help students sharpen both oral and written communication
skills. Not only does it offer students the chance to work in small groups, thereby reducing some
of the pressure, but it also gives them the opportunity to debate their opinions, take turns, and
work together towards a common goal.
5. Ask open-ended questions
Because they require more than a one- or two-word response, open-ended questions are vital for
inspiring discussion and demonstrating that there are multiple ways to perceive and answer a
question. You might set a timer for short informal conversations and challenge students to use
open-ended questions.
Active listening also means listening to understand rather than reply. Reinforce building good
listening skills by encouraging students to practice asking clarifying questions to fully
understand the speaker’s intended message.
4. Offer group presentations and assignments
Team-building exercises can also help students sharpen both oral and written communication
skills. Not only does it offer students the chance to work in small groups, thereby reducing some
of the pressure, but it also gives them the opportunity to debate their opinions, take turns, and
work together towards a common goal.
5. Ask open-ended questions
Because they require more than a one- or two-word response, open-ended questions are vital for
inspiring discussion and demonstrating that there are multiple ways to perceive and answer a
question. You might set a timer for short informal conversations and challenge students to use
open-ended questions.
For example, you might show children the difference in how much more information they can
obtain by asking “what did you like best about the song?” rather than simply “did you like the
song?”
6. Use tasks and activities that foster critical thinking
Another task-based method for improving student communication skills is through critical
thinking exercises. These can be done verbally or through written assignments that give students
the chance to answer questions creatively using their own words and expressions.
Get a head start with the communication-based critical thinking activities and games in our most
popular resource, the Critical Thinking Workbook.
7. Offer reflective learning opportunities
Recording students reading selected text or videotaping group presentations is an excellent
method for assessing their communication strengths and weaknesses. Students can reflect on
their oral performance in small groups. Then, ask each student to critique the others so that they
can get used to receiving constructive criticism.
8. Find teachable moments
Whatever the age group you are working with, maximize on the everyday happenings in the
classroom environment. For example, if a student answers a question in a complicated way, you
might ask that they rephrase what they said, or challenge the class to ask clarifying questions. If
an unfamiliar word pops up in a text or on a film, pause in order for the class to search for the
word in the dictionary.
Question 7: How is assessment conducted and used?
It was reported that students at all levels are assessed in reading, writing, spelling, and oral
language. This is accomplished through the means of teacher observation during recitation and
conversational protocols, the marking of workbooks and writing books, and periodic tests.
Students are given grades at the end of each of three terms. Students are not given State Exams
until Middle School. While students performance on assessments is considered in curriculum
planning, decisions about content and pacing are made through consensus when teachers sit
together prior to the beginning of the school year.
Conclusions
Limitations of the study
The present study has certain limitations that need to be taken into account. Certainly, a
limitation of this study includes external validity, or the generalizability of the study to other
contexts, since it was conducted in just one school. While the school enrolled over a thousand
students, unquestionably, this is a small population of students. Another factor that limits the
generalizability of this study is the interaction between instruction and culture. While the
researchers did not make any attempt to compare similarities and differences of the school to
schools in other places of the world, it is recognized that the culture influences transferability.

Summary of findings

This study has revealed some evidence to support the idea that effective instruction for English
learners does the following

(1) develops proficiency in natural language or conversation through activities that are related to
the children’s everyday experiences,

(2) Provides ample opportunity for learning, even over-learning, through recitation, repetition,
and practice toward automaticity of knowledge and skills, and (3) scaffolds for understanding
and development of thinking skills through the methods of demonstration, modeling and
questioning.

Future research needs

Relatively little research has been conducted that examines the teaching practices of elementary
teachers providing instruction in English in India or other countries where English is the official
language, but not necessarily the first language of the majority. This study does reveal some
promising practices but more research is needed. Peregoy and Boyle (2000) point out that it is
critical that research address reading acquisition and instruction for English language learners,
not just reading instruction with students that already read connected text. Looking at reading
acquisition and instruction in English in various locations outside the United States can inform
instructional practices.
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