Analyzing Best Practices for Teaching English Language Learners

This essay explores effective strategies for teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) in public schools, where they constitute a significant percentage of the student population. The discussed practices include observing the silent period to avoid forcing hesitant learners, using visual aids to enhance comprehension, building group work to promote peer interaction and lower risk settings, exercising unique cultural vocabulary to bridge background knowledge gaps, admitting scaffolding to allow the use of L1 for acceptance and improved writing quality, and promoting extended academic talk and oral interaction to develop oral language skills and confidence. The paper concludes that effective ELL teaching requires creativity, understanding of the learner's background, and a systematic approach to integrate learners and introduce new topics, ultimately enhancing their language acquisition process.

Running head: BEST PRACTICES OF TEACHING EELs 1
Teaching ELL
Name
Institution Affiliation

BEST PRACTICES OF TEACHING EELs 2
Introduction
As per the National Center for Education statistics, in public schools in the United States, 9
percent of the students have joined the English Language Learners (ELLs), which is almost
closer to 14% of the urban students. This trend occurs almost every year. This paper explores
effective ELL teaching strategies.
1. Observe the silent period.
Learners who are not native to America may decide to keep quiet to acquire the speaking
skill. The teacher or the instructor should not force them to speak. The students who are not from
American culture they wish to speak and share with the native learners where they end up
acquiring the second language. The research conducted on second language acquisition shows
that the learners between the ages of 8-18years acquire the second language easily (Griffiths,
2015). They do not need prolonged silent within the American culture to attain the language. The
interaction and listening to those with English language competency, it will only take months
and will proficiently speak the language.
2. Making the learning visual.
Melissa Eddington said that the ESL should not give the instructions in the air. When the
ESL is in his/her lesson plan, the objective of the lesson is the learner to acquire the English
language should use visual strategies more so in the challenging concepts. Even in the other
lessons, teachers should write everything on board because the learner possesses the sense of see.
Teachers should use diagrams in explaining complex ideas and modelling if possible to promote
the acquisition of the second language to the leaner (Gonzalez, 2014). Visual will improve
comprehension to ELLs and as well grasp of the concepts better.

BEST PRACTICES OF TEACHING EELs 3
3. Building more in the group work.
If one aims learners to learn, they need to be engaged. The kids need to interact with their
peers. The teacher needs only to instruct the students and let them in interpersonal discussion
practice from their peers. The teacher should make sure there is a lower setting of risk. The ELS
teacher is not must to exclusively work with the students but have small groups which contain
the students. This strategy will help in improving teacher-student ration as well as making more
time for the kids to practice.
4. Exercise on unique culturally vocabulary.
Most of the learners lack the background knowledge more so on the unique things in
American or the westernized culture. At the start, it is good to start teaching these students the
important vocabulary words. Use even if is videos, show them pictures like those of a clothing
rack, i.e. what is not common to their language. This will aid the students in comprehending the
larger topics. This strategy will make the students eager and perceive the acquisition of
American English quite easy.
5. Admit some scaffolding
This is allowing the EELs use their L1 in the L2 classroom in gaining acceptance. The new
student is allowed to be in the same group with those who have been in the class of the second
language, this makes it possible for these students to ask what is peculiar with the L1 and those
of the same language will be in a position to interpret. The student will feel part of the group as
fellow native speakers are there. The teacher should allow as well these learners to write in their
language even you are not in a position to read it. A research shows that giving the second-

BEST PRACTICES OF TEACHING EELs 4
language students to pre-write as well as brainstorming in L1 will result to higher and efficient
quality writing in later begins of the writing process (Gonzalez, 2014).
6. Promoting extended academic talk and oral interaction.
Oral language develops the second language acquisition for the teacher interaction is
minimal. The teacher comes up with a discussion forum where the beginners are allowed to use
one or two-word responses. The teacher's role here is to encourage the EELs learners to join the
academic talk in the class lesson. The teacher in this strategy can as well write the key terms of
discussion on the chalkboard and allow the learners construct sentences and as well come up
with topics where in the discussion such words will be used (Griffiths, 2015, p. 91). After the
discussion forum, the teacher asks one student to paraphrase what they have had. The teacher
here now will be helping the learner with the difficult transitional words or phrase which are
difficult for the leaner to come up with it. The forum helps the learners share their point of view
to words and phrases. This as well will encourage the speaking out of the students hence
enhancing confidence while speaking.
Conclusion
For the EELs to be effective to the objective the teacher (EES) should be very creative. The
teacher before starting introducing concepts should first understand the background information
of the learner, as well, in the class, he/she should be aware of the native origin of the learners.
This will help when grouping them into groups. By knowing the overview of the learner, he will
be in a position to introduce the new topic of discussion. Therefore, the teaching of EEL the
teacher should be integrating the learners and base to the systematic approach of teaching as
illustrated in this paper.

BEST PRACTICES OF TEACHING EELs 5
References
Gonzalez, J. (2014). Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom.
Griffiths, C. (2015). Students' and teachers' perceptions. Language learning strategies, 91-99.