Sociology Essay: Addressing Alienation of English Learners

This sociology essay examines the critical issue of social alienation experienced by English Learners (ELs) in educational environments. It highlights the social gap created between native English speakers and ELs, emphasizing the challenges faced by EL students due to linguistic and cultural differences. The essay explores the formation of student groups based on linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and how these groups can exacerbate the sense of alienation. It delves into the complexities of teaching and learning, including cognitive, behavioral, and affective issues, and the impact of teachers' strategies on EL students' experiences. The essay discusses the role of cultural factors, such as racism and cultural insults, in contributing to alienation. It also applies Bourdieu's theory to understand the social gap and analyzes the impact of functionalism on education, advocating for the development of skills and social cohesion. Finally, the essay proposes solutions, including motivating EL students, raising teacher awareness of learning strategies, and implementing school policies to address harassment and promote student safety and inclusivity.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIOLOGY
Alienation is a very important and crucial part of the education scenario in the modern
times. This has become a widely known problem all across the world between the native English
people and the English learners. Often times, English is not the first language of numerous
students apart from the native English speakers. The social gap is created because of these issues.
Most times this social gap is very problematic for these people indeed (Valenzuela & Rubio,
2018). The English Learners (ELs) are regarded as the students who pursue the English language
as their second language. This social gap should be addressed by the people and proper actions
should be taken in order to minimize this social gap properly. The English Learners face several
problems and these problems could be mitigated with the proper help of the native speakers.
Apart from that, this will also help in decreasing the alienation of the English learners within the
society.
The social alienation of the English Learners is a sign of danger for the progress of the society
and immediate steps must be taken in order to curb this issue predominantly.
Critics have expressed their concern over this matter as this has been increasing in many
developing countries. This is something to be noted by the educational institutions since the
teachers commit some activities through which this social gap is increased or English Learner
(ELs) is alienated from the entire society (García, Rubdy & Alsagoff, 2014). Therefore, this is a
very dangerous practice indeed. Some teachers have said that this issue should be handled
strictly since it creates a big impact on their psychology as well. Grouping among the students is
a very common notion across the countries. Students tend to form groups with other students
who fall in the similar category regarding cultural, socioeconomic and linguistic backgrounds
such as theirs. They generally stay in these groups since they are very comfortable with it
(Valenzuela & Rubio, 2018). The native speakers form a group between themselves and this kind

2SOCIOLOGY
of group also exists among the English Learner groups as well. However, the problem is the
social gap between these groups. The group of native speakers generally plays, eat and do their
homework together (García, Rubdy & Alsagoff, 2014). This is also the scene with the English
Learners (ELs) as well. Contrary things have also been noticed as well. The male groups of both
the native speaker group and EL group tend to play soccer in their recess times (Wingate, 2012).
However, the main issue that this seen here is the alienation of the EL groups in the
education. It should be kept in mind that teaching and learning are not at all something very easy
things for the students and teachers. It is definitely a very complicated process and many
problems have been seen in this discourse as well. Many cultural and psychological factors are
there in this process as well (García, Rubdy & Alsagoff, 2014). Many intricacies are there within
the process. The complications that are there in the scenario are mainly cognitive, behavioral and
affective issues. The teachers depend on the human behavioral patterns of teaching and many
intricate processes are there regarding the transmission of the information from the teachers to
the students (McDonough & McDonough, 2014). The personality types of the English learner
groups must be assessed properly in order to maintain the idea of the level of alienation among
these students.
Apart from their personality level, many other cognitive factors are inherent within this
scenario (Wingate, 2012). These are their emotional status, ethnic backgrounds, cultural
positions and other factors. Cultural factors are the main issues behind the alienation of these
English learner groups. It has been seen in many cases that the EL groups have been victims of
racism or other cultural insults in front of the native speakers. English is the mother language of
these native speakers and this is the most appropriate reason for them to be very proficient in
English, both in reading and writing. Critics have addressed this issue about the failure of the EL

3SOCIOLOGY
group students to adapt to the processes applied by the teachers. On the contrary, other critics
have spoken against this view as they think there are many strategies and concepts and learning
techniques that are applicable to the different students (McDonough & McDonough, 2014). So,
teachers should consider these learning techniques properly so they can create an overall
influence on these students. This will create a positive vibe among the English Learner group and
will in turn benefit the students to a larger degree (Gunderson, 2017).
On the other hand, it is upon the teachers on how they can make the things complicated
as well. It is because of the fact that the absence of proper strategies and techniques will not at all
benefit the students (Akbari, 2015). Rather, it will lead to the failure of the students and they will
feel alienated from the common group of the students. They will also feel bored, powerless,
isolated, victimized, harassed and very helpless. This is why the students will need to address
this issue in front of their peers and highlight the fact that they are feeling isolated from the
society (Wingate, 2012). This probably the only manner in which they can open up and ask for
certain recommendations in which they can give their best efforts indeed (Gunderson, 2017). The
self-image of the students must be kept in a very superior manner so they can achieve their
dreams despite of being an early learner. There are some ways through which this kind of
alienation can be controlled. Students belonging to the EL group should be motivated by their
peers so they do not feel they are not part of the entire learning process (Escamilla & Grassi,
2015).
The eminent scholars have opined that they should learn to take the risks of existing
along with the native speakers. Besides, the teachers should also be aware of the different
learning strategies and techniques. Proper interaction between the teachers and the EL group
students must take place so the teachers will be able to know about the personality types of these

4SOCIOLOGY
people (Tatalovich, 2015). This is how the problems can start to be mitigated. If there is any sort
of lack of communication, it could lead to more alienation in different manners (Escamilla &
Grassi, 2015). A screeching halt should be put in the alienation of the English learner group
students. Native speakers should also not give wrong inputs about the growth and development
of the English learner students whose second language is English (García & Wei, 2015). The
academic experts have opined that the teachers must be able to understand the overall
psychology of the students so they can analyze it properly and take further actions on their
teaching process (Wingate, 2012). It is definitely not only the teaching that they will have to
consider but they should also consider the motivation factor among these students (Tatalovich,
2015). Students should always be able to comprehend the difficulties they are facing in their
learning process since they are taught in the classroom environment along with the native
English speakers. The native speakers sometimes taunt them as they are not able to grab the
lessons at the first go to understand the difficult English language spoken by the teachers
(Dearden, 2014). So, they should bear the responsibility on their own shoulders only to inform
these problems to their peers.
The use of the bourdieu theory is a very critical matter in case of education. This theory
will be applied here in this paper to understand the social gap between native English speakers
and second language learners of English. The elements of this theory have been misunderstood
by people for decades now (Wingate, 2012). In this theory, the role of self-selection by the
students has been neglected but the relationship between the social mobility and education has
been established. Critics are of the opinion that the implementation of this theory will surely will
impact on the learning processes of the children. This impact should be positive since the
children will receive the social mobility in a definite manner. On the contrary, the impact of

5SOCIOLOGY
using this theory in the education can also be negative in some cases as well. It is because the
learning of English as the first language will bring the social inequality on the second language
speakers. This is where power will affect the relationship of people within the society. Thus the
social equality will be destroyed as the people will not be able to respect each other and the root
cause of this will only be the speaking of English (Wingate, 2012).
In the classroom environments, it has been seen that many students feel very alienated
and they suffer from a feeling of inferiority. The racial superiority of the native speaker students
has been the dominant factor in this scenario (Ferfolja, Díaz & Ullman, 2015). One can argue
that education industry does not give attention to the issues of racism. On the contrary, it can also
be said that the racist comments on the students who have English as the second language is not
at all acceptable. As per the theory of functionalism, it is very useful to know about the issues
how the education will be able to needs of the school (Ferfolja, Díaz & Ullman, 2015). The
social cohesion has always been encouraged by this theory and it has spoken against the
alienation of the students from the mainstream of education. The functionalism theory opines
that the skill development should be the primary purpose of the teachers in the school and they
should teach the students to stay together and work very actively indeed. This is the only manner
the social alienation of the students can be stopped (Ferfolja, Díaz & Ullman, 2015). The
teachers should always thrive to prepare the students so that students from different sections of
the society, irrespective of their language choices, should co-exist and participate in all the
institutions of the society in the future.
The teaching practices will hamper in the classroom environments where marginalization
is a very dominant factor. Critics have reflected on this topic as well. They have opined that
teachers will find it very difficult to teach in these situations if they see the second language

6SOCIOLOGY
English speakers are being bullied by the native speakers (Ferfolja, Díaz & Ullman, 2015). In
this situation, they can opt to take the charge and change the scenario by implementing some
methods. They can help out the second language speakers so they can catch up with the lessons.
This can be done with extra classes being taken by the teachers. They can also make the
curriculum very relevant for the proper understanding of the second language English speakers
as well (Ferfolja, Díaz & Ullman, 2015). Teachers can punish the native English speaking
students for behaving rudely with their second language English speaking friends as well,
It is the responsibility of the teachers to ensure that no student is being harassed and the
schools should take up the responsibility of student safety with an immediate effect. The
schooling policies include the formation of the grievance redress cells so they can take
formidable actions against the identified students (García & Wei, 2015). Apart from that they can
also take the measures by calling their parents and give them the ultimatum to change the
behaviors of their children in this issue. If the native English speaking students fear the systems
of the school and feel they could be thrown out because of their behavior, they will stop misusing
their power completely.
An effective measure to get rid of this issue is by the interplay of the genders of the
students and ethnic backgrounds (García & Wei, 2015). Free mixing between the students based
on their ethnic backgrounds, cultural factors and other issues should be considered as something
very much crucial for the future well-being. This kind of free discourse will be highly helpful for
both the academic and intellectual development of these students (Kinginger, 2015). Through
these steps, the effective steps could be taken by the academic institutions to deal with this evil
of alienation. When a student is able is both read and write in their home language, it becomes a
huge advantage for them. It is the similar case with those native speakers indeed (Dearden,

7SOCIOLOGY
2014). The EL groups do not have that advantage and they obviously need some time to adjust
with their peers to earn those skills and understandings.
The scholars have predicted that it will almost be impossible for the students with the
refugee background to get accustomed with this kind of scenario (Ahmad, 2016). They have
been through utmost traumatic experience from their childhood and they do not even have the
formal education i.e. required to understand the changing course of the English language. They
are not born and raised in such atmosphere of learning and it is hardly possible for them to adjust
with the classroom environment (Wingate, 2012). They have been harassed and victimized
throughout their lives and it becomes difficult for them to engage with the tasks given to them. It
has sometimes been seen that some students have better adaptability to the situation than others
and they will be able to understand the other and adapt the language faster than the others
(Ahmad, 2016). There are certain things that these EL group students must be able to
acknowledge and these are phonology, morphology and syntactical usages. Problems will surely
arise for them to adjust with these languages but they must strive hard not to be alienated
(Kinginger, 2015).
Critics have again pointed out the issue that the students will face several difficulties but
these difficulties could be curbed down properly by the teachers and academic institutions in a
collaborative manner (Wingate, 2012). All the students definitely have clarity in communicating
with their knowledge and skills. This is why students who do not come from the native English
background should obviously be given more time for the adaptation with the environment. Some
studies have revealed the fact that skills and knowledge of the bilingual students are way high
than the monolingual students (Williams, 2014). It is because they learn two different subjects
together and have a close affinity with the both the subjects. Therefore, it is an advantage and

8SOCIOLOGY
they will not succumb to alienation from other students. This is how they can get over the
difficulty of the alienation from the teaching environment as well as the society. Their cognitive
skills will surely have a positive impact on these factors as well (Seabi et al., 2014). Several
times it has been seen that the monolingual children are in no comparison with the bilingual
students. The bilingual students are able to comprehend and analyze things with a lot of depth
and they have a firm hold on both the subjects (Williams, 2014) Their major advantage is they
can express themselves in both the languages. Critics are of the opinion this bilingualism in the
modern society will benefit the students rather than alienating them from the rest. Academic
experts have agreed to this view as well in a unanimous way.
On a concluding note, it can be said that alienation, in terms of education, is a fruit of
negligence of the teachers and students with native English background. There is no doubt
students who can adjust with both the languages are more talented than the natives. They have a
lot of patience and they are hard working as well to be able to assimilate themselves with two
different subjects. They are able to interpret the matters in different languages and make other
people understand these things as well. The cognitive thinking power of these students are very
high than the normal people. However, the problem of alienation can be dealt with in a positive
manner since they cannot afford to lose their ways in such a difficult learning environment. The
students will surely feel the good points of this scenario to be able to able read and write two
languages at the same time. They should alienate themselves from the rest and outperform others
in the future with their extremely sharp cognitive skills.

9SOCIOLOGY
References and Bibliography
Ahmad, S. R. (2016). Importance of English communication skills. International Journal of
Applied Research, 2(3), 478-480.
Akbari, Z. (2015). Current challenges in teaching/learning English for EFL learners: The case of
junior high school and high school. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 199, 394-
401.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2012). Cultural diversity in Australia: reflecting a nation: Stories
from the 2011 census, 2012- 2013. Retrieved from
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs
Barnhardt, B., & Ginns, P. (2014). An alienation-based framework for student experience in
higher education: new interpretations of past observations in student learning
theory. Higher Education, 68(6), 789-805.
Brown, M. R., Higgins, K., & Paulsen, K. (2003). Adolescent alienation: What is it and what can
educators do about it?. Intervention in School and Clinic, 39(1), 3-9.
Buysse, V., Peisner-Feinberg, E., Páez, M., Hammer, C. S., & Knowles, M. (2014). Effects of
early education programs and practices on the development and learning of dual language
learners: A review of the literature. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29(4), 765-785.
Canagarajah, A. S. (2015). “Blessed in my own way:” Pedagogical affordances for dialogical
voice construction in multilingual student writing. Journal of Second Language
Writing, 27, 122-139.

10SOCIOLOGY
Castagno, A. E., & Brayboy, B. M. J. (2008). Culturally responsive schooling for Indigenous
youth: A review of the literature. Review of educational research, 78(4), 941-993.
Cornelius-White, J. (2007). Learner-centered teacher-student relationships are effective: A meta-
analysis. Review of educational research, 77(1), 113-143.
Dearden, J. (2014). English as a medium of instruction-a growing global phenomenon. British
Council.
Earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au. (2019). Working Together to Ensure Equality for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Children in the Early Years - Early Childhood Australia. Retrieved
21 August 2019, from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/our-work/submissions-
statements/working-together-ensure-equality-aboriginal-torres-strait-islander-children-
early-years/
Education.nsw.gov.au. (2019). NSW Department of Education | education.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved
21 August 2019, from https://education.nsw.gov.au/
Escamilla, K., & Grassi, E. (2015). A brief description of second language acquisition.
Ferfolja, T., Diaz, C. J., & Ullman, J. (Eds.). (2018). Understanding sociological theory for
educational practices. Cambridge University Press.
Ferfolja, T., Díaz, C., & Ullman, J. (2015). Understanding sociological theory for educational
practices. Port Melbourne, Vic, Australia: Cambridge University Press.
García, O., & Wei, L. (2015). Translanguaging, bilingualism, and bilingual education. The
handbook of bilingual and multilingual education, 223-240.

11SOCIOLOGY
García, O., Rubdy, R., & Alsagoff, L. (2014). Countering the dual: Transglossia, dynamic
bilingualism and translanguaging in education. The global-local interface and hybridity:
Exploring language and identity, 100-118.
Ghosh, R., & Galczynski, M. (2014). Redefining multicultural education: Inclusion and the right
to be different. Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Gunderson, L. (2017). English-only instruction and immigrant students in secondary schools: A
critical examination. Routledge.
Hart, M. (2002). Seeking mino-pimatisiwin: An Aboriginal approach to helping. Fernwood
Books Limited.
Hawkins, J. D., Herrenkohl, T. I., Farrington, D. P., Brewer, D., Catalano, R. F., Harachi, T. W.,
& Cothern, L. (2000). Predictors of Youth Violence. Juvenile Justice Bulletin.
Johnson, G. M. (2005). Student alienation, academic achievement, and WebCT use. Journal of
Educational Technology & Society, 8(2), 179-189.
Kinginger, C. (2015). Student mobility and identity-related language learning. Intercultural
Education, 26(1), 6-15.
Lamb, S., Teese, R., Walstab, A., Vickers, M., & Rumberger, R. (2004). Staying on at school:
Improving school retention in Australia. Queensland: Queensland Department of
Education.
Martin, K. (2008). The intersection of Aboriginal knowledges, Aboriginal literacies, and new
learning pedagogy for Aboriginal students. Multiliteracies and diversity in education:
New pedagogies for expanding landscapes, 58-81.

12SOCIOLOGY
McDonough, J., & McDonough, S. (2014). Research methods for English language teachers.
Routledge.
McInerney, P. (2009). Toward a critical pedagogy of engagement for alienated youth: Insights
from Freire and school‐based research. Critical studies in education, 50(1), 23-35.
O'donnell, D. A., Schwab-Stone, M. E., & Ruchkin, V. (2006). The mediating role of alienation
in the development of maladjustment in youth exposed to community
violence. Development and psychopathology, 18(1), 215-232.
Seabi, J., Seedat, J., Khoza-Shangase, K., & Sullivan, L. (2014). Experiences of university
students regarding transformation in South Africa. International Journal of Educational
Management, 28(1), 66-81.
Tatalovich, R. (2015). Nativism reborn?: the official English language movement and the
American states. University Press of Kentucky.
Valenzuela, A., & Rubio, B. (2018). Subtractive schooling. The TESOL Encyclopedia of English
Language Teaching, 1-7.
White, R. (1996). Schooling and youth alienation. Education Links, 52, 23-27.
Williams, E. (2014). Bridges and barriers: Language in African education and development.
Routledge.
Wingate, U. (2012). ‘Argument!’helping students understand what essay writing is
about. Journal of English for academic purposes, 11(2), 145-154.