Reform, Integration, and Translation for English Language Learners

Jean-Marie BarnesApril 10, 2008ECI 637Instructor Martha MaurnoOld Dominion University

Purpose of the Study

• To investigate the impact of comprehension in the English speaking classroom

• To answer the questions: How can we reach our ESOL/LEP students and raise their pass rate? Does speaking their native language aid in learning?

• If the ESOL/LEP students lack a background knowledge of American content, bringing their backgrounds into the classroom can help.

Purpose Continued

• In mainstream classes, ESOL/LEP students do not have the help they need; they lack translators as well as the background knowledge in order to understand what they are hearing from a lecture or what they are reading.

• If teachers have background knowledge of these students, it may help build a relationship between teacher and ESOL/LEP student which can then lead to better grades.

Need for Study

• The number of ESOL/LEP students passing the English SOL is lower than any other group, at a rate of 63% for Reading and 64% for writing, which is lower than the state’s 87% and 825 respectively. (for the year of 06-07)

• The attendance rate for ESOL/LEP is higher in the division than in the state. This could be corrected through offering more help for the students.

• If the students are able to fully understand a lesson, they will more likely be engaged, thus there is a higher possibility for higher tests scores and higher graduation rates.

Why is this so important?

• The number of ESOL/LEP students is rising each year. This is due to the number of immigrants coming into the country each year and more moving into the area.

• With there being more and more ESOL/LEP students in the schools, there needs to be a better way to teach them when each school only has one ESOL teacher.

• These students are struggling in classes where speaking and understanding English is a major component in the class. They cannot learn the basics for the class when they can’t understand what is being said or read.

• The number of ESOL/LEP students passing the English SOL has been dropping. The 2004-2005 scores showed that 74% of the students passed the writing portion yet onl 54% pass the reading portion. This is most likely due to the SOL writing rubric being considered “easy” and having more room for an ability to pass whereas the reading portion is a definite correct or incorrect.

Research Questions

• What percentage of ESOL/LEP students pass their mainstream classes?

• What languages do the students speak?• Do the teachers have any knowledge of the

ESOL/LEP students’ backgrounds?• Do the teachers speak any foreign

languages, and if so which ones?• What types of interventions do the teachers

use in the classroom with the ESOL/LEP students?

Data Collection

• Data was collected through surveys given to the teachers which was then run through the SPSS program.

• Twenty teachers completed and returned their surveys.

• There was qualitative and quantitative data collected from the surveys. The SOL pass rates from the VDOE website counted as the quantitative data while surveys were the qualitative data.

Results

• Many of the teachers had knowledge of their ESOL students’ backgrounds.

• Many of the teachers knew either Spanish or French, to some extent, which are the main two languages used in the ESOL program at Warwick. This is due to the large Hispanic community in the area and the large number of African refugees in the city where the language used overseas is French.

Results continued

• More males than females were found to be skipping. The researcher believes this may be due to some cultures’ beliefs that men should begin working at age sixteen whereas in America the belief is that both males and females should remain in school until seventeen or eighteen which is the age where a student would normally graduate.

Results continued

• Classes in which the teacher makes some interventions, such as talking about the students’ cultures or reading something from their country, were also the classes in which the major behavior problems such as skipping weren’t as prevalent but were still present.

• Classes which had teachers that knew a foreign language were less likely to have major behavioral problems.

• The majority of the teachers had at least half of their ESOL/LEP students passing their class.

Possible Problems

• The level of proficiency was not factored into the research. The researcher believes that the higher the proficiency the less behavior problems and higher pass rates.

• A family’s feelings towards education was not factored in. Some of the cultures of some of the ESOL students do not push education very much while other cultures hold education in a high regard and see it as a privilege, not a right.

• No tests outside of the SOL scores were researched.

Possible Changes to Study

• ESOL/LEP students’ test scores could be based on the NNPS benchmark tests along with a unit test.

• The GMRT could be used during the study to see if having certain variables, such as a teacher that can translate, could affect their English proficiency during the course of the year.

• There would need to be a control group that has the same teachers as the others yet in another class where they do not receive translations or interventions that the other students receive.

Asset to the educational bank of knowledge

• ESOL/LEP students are not going to go anywhere, there are going to be even more.

• If we, as educators, can find a way to keep them engaged and ultimately help them succeed in learning, then the SOL pass rates and graduation rates will go up.

• If educators can find a way to help these students learn English outside of the ESOL classroom, then the students will find it easier to apply their new knowledge of the language in any content area.

Last thought

• If teachers can find a way to help ESOL/LEP students in the classroom through specific types of instruction, then perhaps they can then use this information to help other students such as those who are learning disabled or even use these techniques to help with teaching at-risk students who use ebonics (such as using a variation of code switching).

La Fin, The End, La Conclusione, El Final

• I would like to thank you all for supporting this project.

Merci, Danke, Gracias, Shukran They, Grazie,

Thank you