1.

4 – ELL Analogy

Much like the iceberg analogy we cannot see everything below the water and upon first meeting our
students we don’t know their “swimming ability” yet. Much like the iceberg we can’t see what is below
the surface until it is assessed. In order to gauge their ability level we must give them a lot of support –
in this case a lifejacket. We cannot simply throw them into the water with no support as doing so may
cause them to unduly suffer. The lifejacket is something that everyone can use until they are
comfortable enough in their ability to “swim” without it.

Our ELLs try so hard in our classes: On the surface they look like they are understanding everything and
are keeping up with the material. But under the surface they are desperately paddling their little legs
trying to keep up with others in the class. They are just trying to keep their heads above water in some
scenarios and, from my experience, in a non-ELL class there is the tendency not to look like they need
help.

The lifejacket on the dog is representative of the support we give our ELLs. As Coelho states, our ELLs
“do need special consideration and support from their classroom or subject teachers until they have
caught up to age peers in all aspects of language proficiency” (58). This support is required in order to
make sure our ELLs are supported and will be successful in our classrooms. If we assume that they have
proficiency we are setting them up for failure. Eventually, our ELLs will remove their “lifejacket” once
that have properly caught up to their peers.