Academic Language Acquisition 1

Academic Language Acquisition for English Language Learners (ELLs)

Kevin Dolan

Manhattan College: Education 306

 Academic Language Acquisition 2

Introduction

According to Yu Ren Dong (2013), “On average, ELLs need five to seven years to catch

up with their native English-speaking peers in grade-appropriate science learning,” (pp. 52).

This is an unprecedented problem faced by many educators today; how do we account for the

barriers that English Language Learners (ELLs) encounter in the learning environment in order

to most effectively promote their success? A number of studies have faced this issue and they

have come to various conclusions. Dong concluded that activating ELLs’ prior knowledge will

help them learn academic vocabulary in science, while Marina Brodsky and Diane Vahab

concluded that technology was the solution to developing academic language skills. In reality,

each of these studies proposes only a piece of what should be done to help develop academic

language, and each needs to be examined to find the whole solution.

Research

In order to begin examining the issue of barriers faced by ELLs, one must first look at the

research done by others in the past. For this issue, three articles were chosen that each

examined the issue of ELLs in different contexts. The first article, “ELL History/Social Studies:

Teaching Literacy through iBooks and Podcasts” by Marina Brodsky and Diane Vahab,

examined the effectiveness of using iBook and podcasts to develop academic English language

skills and teach historical content by using various applications to teach history and help

develop academic language to a single class of seventh grade students (Brodsky, 2014). When

conducting their lesson, they made sure to introduce the applications to students in case they

are not familiar, and used iBook and GarageBand to create a glossary of maps, images, and

podcasts for the students (Brodsky, 2014). In order to teach geography, they utilized a variety of

applications, including iBook Author and Google Maps to present information and show the
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geography of the region today (Brodsky, 2014). In addition to iBook and GarageBand, the

teachers utilized Google Advanced Search, Pinterest to organize news sites, and Google Drive.

In their personal reflection of the lesson Brodsky and Vahab ultimately concluded that

“presentation of the subject content as iBook and podcasts makes the project engaging.

Students learn about geography through a personal approach and work on language skills, both

written and oral” (Brodsky, 2014). They also stated that “Technology tools and meshing the

products promote writing and speaking, precision and attention,” concluding that the use of

technology helped to engage more students and promote reading and writing skills. In this

study, Brodsky and Vahab found an interesting way to engage students using technology; by

tuning in to the creative side of their students’ minds by allowing them to create news reports

through GarageBand and PowerPoint and create podcasts through iBook.

The second study that was examined approached a similar problem very differently than

the other two studies. The study, “Harnessing the Barriers That Impact on Students' English

Language Learning (ELL)” by Hussain Ahmed Liton, examined the barriers to students’

acquisition of academic English language in Saudi Arabia. While the study does take place

outside the United States, and the students are considered English as a Foreign Language

(EFL) students, the study nonetheless examines barriers to students’ learning of academic

English, which is, arguably, the same if not similar to the case of ELLs. More specifically, this

study focused on teaching and learning English and students’ learning barriers in Jazan

Community College, Jazan, Saudi Arabia (Liton, 2016). In order to complete this study, Liton

chose eight highly-experienced EFL teachers and four administrators at random to conduct a

semi-interview with a questionnaire and “in interview process, the interviewees’ voice message

was noted down based on the question-answer process. The interview of this survey was

conducted to determine the teachers and administrators’ self-reported reflections, comments

and suggestions for capturing the ground reality of ELL obstacles” (Liton, 2016). After
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conducting the interviews and concluding the experiment, Liton concludes that iii. “First, course

contents need to reshuffle assimilating issues related to Saudi socio-cultural background…

Fifthly, to reduce the rate of absenteeism, JCC administration should be strict and stipend policy

can be considered if possible” (Liton, 2016). In this conclusion, Liton brings up some extremely

important concepts to keep in mind while teaching ELLs or EFLs. Liton says that they need to

relate the content to the students’ socio-cultural background, redesign the syllabus to

incorporate previous learning, and activate an English club to promote students’ speaking and

listening skills (Liton, 2016). Incorporating each of these would help promote language

acquisition in the classroom, but the most important one to take from this is relating the material

to students’ socio-cultural background. Not only will relating the material to students increase

engagement, but it will also help students familiarize themselves with the content.

The third study that was used, “Powerful Learning Tools for ELLs” by Yu Ren Dong, was

broader than the previous two studies. In this study, Dong examined three ways of using ELLs’

prior knowledge to teach science vocabulary and highlighted important aspects of teaching

ELLs. In order to get valid and sustainable information, Dong examined schools all over New

York State, measuring their curriculum and the passing rate of ELLs on the Regents exam. The

three effective strategies of teaching ELLs came from Dong’s examination of the schools’

curricula and finding the most effective methods of teaching ELLs. According to Dong, activating

prior knowledge, tapping into ELL’s native language and using concept mapping are the three

essential strategies to teaching ELLs. Dong states that “ELLs who have scientific knowledge

and literacy skills in their native languages can often translate these skills into English,”

explaining that ELLs may have prior knowledge of a subject which can help promote learning,

even if the knowledge is not in English (Dong, 2013). Additionally, Dong suggests using

resources such as Google Translate and foreign language teachers in order to help tap into

ELLs’ native language. Finally, Dong also exclaims that “Concept mapping integrates students’
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prior knowledge and new knowledge (Novak and Gorwin 1984), moving vocabulary learning

from isolated and individual word memorization to organized and coherent learning focused on

relationships among concepts” (Dong, 2013). Overall, this study shows the importance of using

ELLs’ prior knowledge, their native language, and concept mapping to promote learning.

Devising A Plan

When taking these studies into account, it is imperative to use them to devise some sort

of plan to help promote learning for ELL students. From these studies, essential strategies can

be pulled and used in accordance. These strategies include the use of technology to promote

language skills, the importance of tapping into ELLs’ native language, the importance of

activating prior knowledge, and the use of concept mapping.

In the present day, educators attempt to find new ways to integrate technology into the

classroom to help promote engagement and help students learn. While some applications, such

as PowerPoint and Google Docs, are all too familiar to teachers today, they are overlooking

many resources which can help promote the learning of ELLs. Although PowerPoint is a useful

learning tool, other applications such as GarageBand and Google services can be used to

promote learning. As the first study has shown, the use of such applications can not only help

promote engagement in the classroom, but also helps students develop English reading and

writing skills. Additionally, the third study shows that applications such as Google Translate can

be used to compare content-specific vocabulary with the ELL native language equivalent.

While the ultimate goal of ELLs is the acquisition of academic language in English,

teachers underestimate the power of using ELL native language in order to teach vocabulary.

As the third study shows, “including students’ native languages provides them with more means

to learn science vocabulary and can help motivate them” (Dong, 2013). Here, Dong explains

that utilizing students’ native languages not only helps them to learn content-specific
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vocabulary, but can also motivate ELLs in learning activities. Figure two in the third study, the

multilingual visual pollination glossary, although applied to science, can be used as a template

for ELLs to help familiarize themselves with vocabulary.

Every educator knows the importance of activating prior knowledge for all students, but

this is exceptionally vital for ELLs. Although some of the students’ prior knowledge may be in

their native language, that does not excuse the importance of that familiarity, according to the

third study. As Dong exemplifies, “a student who has already learned about photosynthesis in

his or her native language can transfer that prior knowledge into English to learn the vocabulary”

(Dong, 2013). This also includes cultural knowledge and life experiences, which can be used to

make the content more relevant, therefore more engaging.

Lastly, creating concept maps is vital to teaching ELLs, as both the first and third study

show. In the first study, information was organized into a podcast, which could then be used to

work on a project. In the third study, Dong highlights the importance of using concept maps to

promote learning. Concept mapping can help visualize and organize information for students.

According to Dong, using concept maps can help with memorization and relationships between

concepts. As an example, one teacher Dong examined had students design a biome concept

map on either New York, where the school was located, or their home country, in this case

Ecuador. While each of these are important to incorporate into a lesson by themselves, it is

imperative to include most if not all of these strategies when devising a plan to help promote

language acquisition for ELLs.

Conclusion

Overall, the studies have shown the importance of specific strategies used in order to

promote language acquisition for ELLs. From the studies shown, there are some key concepts

that can be pulled out and used to promote student learning. These concepts include, but are
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not limited to, the use of technology, the importance of tapping into ELLs’ native language, the

importance of activating prior knowledge, and the use of concept mapping. These strategies, in

addition to promoting language acquisition, have proven to increase student engagement,

increase motivation by ELLs, and help organize content-specific vocabulary. When creating

future lesson plans for classes with ELLs, it is vital to keep the information presented by these

studies in mind as well as to implement the strategies given by researchers.

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References

Brodsky, M., & Vahab, D. (2014). ELL history/social studies: teaching literacy through iBooks
and podcasts. School Library Monthly, 5, 51.

Yu Ren Dong. (2013). POWERFUL LEARNING TOOLS FOR ELLs. Science Teacher, 80(4),
51–57.

Liton, H. A. (2016). Harnessing the Barriers That Impact on Students English Language
Learning (ELL). International Journal of Instruction, 9(2), 91–106. doi:
10.12973/iji.2016.927a