10 Key Policies and Practices

Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

—for—

Teaching English Language Learners

with strong evidence of eectiveness from high-quality research

Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

10 Key Policies and Practices for

Teaching English Language Learners

—with strong evidence of eectiveness from high-quality research—

Having an asset-based perspective, rather than being decit-focused, is the underlying foundation for

eectively teaching English language learners (ELLs). Educators must hold an inherent belief that all stu-

dents bring a richness of cultural and linguistic backgrounds and experiences to the learning environment.

Teaching ELLs is the responsibility of all teachers. With some adaptations to regular teaching routines, as

described in the recommendations below, all teachers are capable of providing high-quality instruction that

leads to ELLs achieving rigorous standards.

1. Educators understand that there is wide variability in the ELL population and con-

sider individual students’ linguistic abilities, literacy skills, and cultural and linguistic

backgrounds when planning instruction.

ELLs vary considerably in factors that signicantly aect learning. ese factors include language

and literacy prociency in students’ native languages and in English. Educators should learn about

individual students’ development of rst and second languages. Cultural and experiential factors

also inuence learning. For example, educators may notice dierences between ELLs whose parents

are U.S. born and those whose parents are recent immigrants. Family routines and communication

practices shape the knowledge and experience that students bring to the classroom. Such dierences

are not decits. Despite diculties with learning in a nonnative language, ELLs are not struggling

thinkers. Rather than treating all ELLs the same, educators must understand that no one strategy or

adaptation will work for all students because they do not all have the same strengths and needs. It is

important for teachers to consider each student’s language development, background knowledge, and

literacy skills in planning instruction that is rich in content with ample opportunities for language

development.

Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

2. Teachers analyze the language demands of the lessons they teach and provide support

for ELLs to understand both the language and the content of the lesson.

To make content accessible to ELLs, teachers must carefully assess the vocabulary and language skills

that students need to fully engage in instruction. Across kindergarten to grade 12, teachers must be

able to recognize high-demand situations and provide appropriate supports for ELLs. e following

table shows how teachers can support ELLs when language demands are high.

Language Demand Instructional Support Strategies

e lesson requires students to understand

multiple complex vocabulary terms.

Preteach and reteach vocabulary.

Post charts or posters in the room with deni-

tions and examples.

Use a vocabulary journal or class log for keep-

ing track of terminology.

Help students “unpack” dicult words by

examining prexes, suxes, and base words.

e text is conceptually dense—packed with

important pieces of information.

e reading passage is long and has few visual

aids, such as graphs, pictures, and annotations.

Chunk the text into segments of one or two

paragraphs, stopping to summarize along the

way.

Use video clips and supplemental reading ma-

terials to enhance understanding.

Use highlighters to color-code key ideas.

Teach students to annotate text or take reading

notes.

e text has complex sentence structures. Model how to unpack complex sentences and

parse the sentence structure.

Use repeated-reading techniques so that stu-

dents work through the text more than once.

Ask students to paraphrase key ideas in their

own words; provide support as needed.

e text requires students to make extensive

inferences.

e lesson requires students to make con-

nections to previously learned concepts or tie

together multiple sources.

Use graphic organizers to help students identi-

fy and connect key ideas.

Model the inferencing process.

Use highlighters to identify key ideas.

Engage students in interactive discussion of

possible interpretations.

Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

3. Teachers build on students’ background knowledge by making clear connections be-

tween current learning and students’ prior experiences.

Making connections between students’ prior

knowledge and current learning is good teach-

ing for all students. For ELLs, however, teachers

need to learn what background knowledge and

student experiences are relevant to the topic.

Asking open-ended questions to probe for back-

ground knowledge is important. When students

do not have sucient background knowledge

to anchor instruction, teachers may need to

provide experiences and explanations to build

the requisite foundational knowledge.

Scenario

Ms. Corcoran, a social studies teacher in a diverse middle school, has several ELLs in her class. She

regularly checks for relevant background knowledge of her students and lls in gaps to make her

instruction relevant. She knows that Juan Carlos has linguistic and literacy skills in his rst language,

Spanish, and can use his knowledge of Spanish to help him understand concepts in English. For

example, when they discussed the concept of democracy in class, he related it to the Spanish word

“democracia,” a familiar concept. Ms. Corcoran checked his understanding and asked him to give an

example.

In contrast, Alina came from a country with a dictatorship. When they discussed this concept in

class, Ms. Corcoran knew that Alina might not have background knowledge of democracy, having no

personal experience with this type of government. Ms. Corcoran provided additional explanation and

examples for the whole class, following up later with Alina individually in a brief discussion to practice

reading and pronouncing the word and to explore its meaning.

Activity: Making Connections to Text

In this activity, teachers select an excerpt from a reading passage that is likely to evoke personal con-

nections. Students relate an experience from their own lives to the excerpt. Students can share their

connections in writing or oral discussion. e teacher reads aloud the excerpt, rst modeling how it

connects to her life. en, with scaolding and support, students describe their own experiences and

how they relate to the text.

1. Select a brief excerpt from a text that holds personal signicance.

2. When reading aloud, stop and reread the excerpt.

3. ink aloud or model the process of making a connection. For example, “is makes me think

of…” (an event from your past, an event in another book, or a world event). Explain how making

this connection helps us to better understand what we read.

4. Scaold students’ personal connections. Using the same excerpt, or another one that students may

relate to, ask students to tell a partner or the class a personal experience related to the excerpt.

Discuss how making connections helps us to understand what we read. Emphasize that dierent

readers make dierent connections. Repeat often until students are accustomed to the process.

Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

4. Teachers provide explicit instruction that includes clear directions, teacher and peer

modeling, practice with detailed feedback, and ongoing review.

Explicit instruction is important for all students across grades and

subject areas; for ELLs, explicit instruction is crucial. Explicit in-

struction should occur in three phases: modeling, guided practice,

and independent practice. ese phases are often referred to as “I

do it,” to indicate that students should watch and listen carefully as

the teacher explains and demonstrates; “We do it,” to indicate that

students will try it together as the teacher watches and provides feed-

back; and “You do it,” to indicate individual student practice. In the

modeling phase, eective teachers of ELLs use language that is com-

prehensible. is means choosing words carefully, avoiding complex

sentences, and breaking down processes into simple steps. During

the guided practice phase, teachers provide immediate feedback for

discrete tasks, such as spelling a word or calculating in mathemat-

ics, but may briey delay feedback for complex tasks to allow ELLs

additional time to think through the process. Explicit instruction

also moves systematically through the steps of a process and maxi-

mizes engagement in the task. ELLs may need more read-alouds and

interactive discussions of concepts.

Phases of Explicit Instruction

“I do it”

e teacher provides explicit verbal instruction

while demonstrating the process and using

simple, comprehensible language.

Example

Ms. West explains the concept and steps of

two-digit multiplication while calculating a

problem on the board.

“We do it”

e teacher walks the group through the steps

of the process, giving the same verbal instruc-

tions while students perform the task. e

teacher watches students carefully and oers

praise and feedback. is step may be repeat-

ed several times until the teacher feels the

students are ready to perform the task inde-

pendently.

Example

After a thorough explanation, Ms. West asks

students to perform the two-digit multiplica-

tion task step-by-step while she guides them

with verbal instructions. Ms. West watches

carefully, giving feedback and oering sugges-

tions as needed. She asks students to verbalize

the process to check for understanding.

“You do it”

Students perform the task several times on

their own, asking questions if needed. e

teacher walks around, checking students’ accu-

racy and understanding and giving praise and

feedback to individuals.

Example

Ms. West gives students a worksheet with 10

problems to complete, rotating around the

room to check in with students, give feedback,

and oer suggestions. Ms. West checks on

ELLs to oer additional support.

Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

5. Teachers strategically use ELLs’ native language when possible to support their con-

ceptual understanding.

Eective teachers of ELLs are resourceful in drawing on students’ native language to help them

understand a concept or process. For example, teachers may nd that pulling in words, concepts,

and examples from a native language aids comprehension. Even if teachers do not speak a student’s

native language, it is helpful to know how concepts and ideas are expressed in the native language.

Latin-based languages such as Spanish have cognates, or words derived from the same Latin roots

with similar word parts in English and Spanish (e.g., “acceleration” and “acceleración”). A study of

textbooks and science standards showed that 85.5% of biology terms were Spanish-English cognates,

though many words occur with low frequency in conversation. Using cognates in instruction will help

ELLs to grasp key words, as long as they are familiar to students in their native language. Concepts

that are unfamiliar in both the native language and English need elaboration.

Some ELLs speak languages that are not similar to English. Teachers can look up native language

equivalents to target words to help these ELLs understand terminology in English. It is easy to nd

translations for words using online resources. However, it is important for teachers to do a little re-

search to make sure the translations are accurate. Consulting more than one source, including native

speakers in the community, may aid teachers in nding appropriate key word equivalents.

Scenario

Mr. Eaves teaches social studies in middle school. In one class, he has three ELLs whose native lan-

guage is Spanish and one ELL whose native language is Somali. In today’s lesson, he is explaining

“product,” a key vocabulary term in the current unit of study about international commerce. For his

three Spanish-speaking students, Mr. Eaves says aloud, “A product is something that is oered for

sale. is word, ‘product,’ is similar in Spanish. Can someone think of a similar word in your native

language?” (If no response, he would add a prompt: “Some of you know the word ‘el producto’ in

Spanish, which means the same thing.”)

Mr. Eaves then gives Asad, a Somali refugee who is learning English, a tablet with the word “product”

called up in an online translator. He points to the translated word, “taran,” and asks Asad whether

he understands. Mr. Eaves has learned that “taran” literally means “the result of multiplying” but can

also mean “a commodity oered for sale.” To the class, Mr. Eaves gives several examples of products

that countries oer for sale. He includes the sale of livestock, a primary industry in Somalia. After the

examples, he invites students to share what they know of products from various countries.

6. Teachers provide instruction that integrates listening, reading, writing, and speaking

about content, resulting in a language-rich classroom.

Understanding of academic content is anchored by oral and written language that focuses on con-

tent. A content-rich classroom is also a language-rich classroom. Talking, reading, and writing about

content enhance all students’ conceptual understanding but are critical for ELLs, and these activities

may need to be enhanced to ensure that ELLs can participate. Eective teachers often use short video

clips, visual demonstrations, and hands-on activities to establish a shared experience among students

as a basis for launching deeper into discussion of content. ELLs benet from listening, discussing,

reading, and writing about key concepts. Increasing ELLs’ oral and written language improves their

understanding of key concepts.

Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

Scenario

Mr. Walker is planning a lesson on persuasive writing for his fth-grade class. He has a wide range of

students, including four ELLs of varying language and literacy levels. He wants to include opportuni-

ties for students to listen, read, speak, and write. e lesson has the following four stages:

1. Listen: Introduce the concept of persuasion. Give a denition and short examples of the base

word, “persuade.” en show a video clip depicting a scenario of one student trying to persuade

another to play a trick on the teacher.

2. Speak: In a “turn-and-talk” peer discussion, ask partners to briey discuss their response to a

prompt: “In this video, what reasons are presented for playing the trick? Do you agree? Why?”

3. Read: Conduct a whole-class read-aloud of a persuasive essay, stopping to summarize key points

along the way.

4. Write: Ask students to write one or two paragraphs to make a persuasive argument for some-

thing, giving at least four reasons to support the argument.

Ways to Support ELLs in Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing

Listening

• Use audiovisual aids to engage students in active listening.

• Use gestures or visual demonstrations when giving directions.

• Use predictable language patterns when giving oral instructions.

• Provide “turn-and-talk” opportunities that require active listening (e.g., ask students to paraphrase

what their partner said).

Speaking

• Set clear expectations when structuring peer discussions.

• Ask students to retell or paraphrase.

• Use sentence frames to prompt discussion (e.g., e most important thing about _________ is

_________ because _________.)

• Use graphic prompts to help students organize an oral discussion (e.g., write “topic sentence,”

“three reasons,” and “conclusion” on the board).

Reading

• Use strategies and prompts to help students extract main ideas and supporting details.

• Annotate text during whole-class read-alouds.

• Provide an outline or graphic organizer to help students grasp key ideas.

• Use prereading strategies such as predicting and preteaching key vocabulary.

Writing

• Use graphic organizers to help students structure their writing.

• Use model text to demonstrate and discuss writing techniques.

• Model the writing process.

• Provide opportunities for peer feedback.

• Give positive and specic feedback.

Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

7. Teachers provide intentional, explicit, and extended vocabulary instruction that sup-

ports content learning.

e volume and complexity of vocabulary associated with academic instruction increases exponen-

tially through the grades, making learning especially dicult for ELLs, who often nd the vocabulary

load to be overwhelming. Typically, only 5% to 10% of instructional time is devoted to vocabulary

instruction, but students, including ELLs, need between 12 and 14 exposures to words and their

meanings to fully understand them. But exposure to words alone is insucient; students need to use

words within and across subjects. Explicit instruction of key words anchored to text can accelerate stu-

dents’ acquisition of vocabulary, especially when students have extended opportunities to use words in

meaningful contexts. For ELLs to understand words at more than a surface level, instruction must be

extended over time with opportunities to hear, speak, read, and write words across varied contexts. Ex-

tended exposure to words and how they are used builds breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge.

Steps of Explicit Vocabulary Instruction

1. State the word and give a comprehensible denition that uses language your ELLs will understand.

2. Give two or more examples, briey explaining why they are examples of the target word.

3. Give two or more nonexamples, briey explaining why they are not examples of the target word.

4. Discuss, pulling in students’ background knowledge of the word.

5. Check for understanding with questions and prompts.

6. Have students use target words in speaking and writing.

7. Use systematic review to provide opportunities over time for students to read, write, hear, and say

the target words.

8. Use “intentional noticing” to discuss target words and how they are used as you encounter the

words across contexts.

8. Teachers provide structured opportunities for ELLs to engage in peer discussion about

content.

Peer discussion about content enhances learning for all stu-

dents, but for ELLs, it provides the essential component of

additional oral language practice. Peer discussion about text

connects oral language to the reading process. For all students,

whether learning English as a rst or an additional language,

language development is not a passive process. It is facilitated

through language production and interaction, developing

from kindergarten to grade 12. Increasing the time that ELLs

engage in academic talk in English accelerates second-lan-

guage development. However, teachers must understand that

students may be uncertain or lack condence in interacting in their second language. It is necessary to

build supports and scaolding into peer discussion activities to help ELLs contribute. Teachers should

have a few simple routines or protocols that they follow for peer discussion. Discussion activities

should go beyond simply asking and answering surface-level questions to a more thoughtful explora-

tion of the text. rough exploration, students learn how to argue for or against points raised in the

discussion, resolve ambiguities in the text, and draw conclusions or inferences about the text.

Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

Tips for Structuring Peer Group Discussion

• Set clear expectations for group participation that encourage all students to contribute via turn-tak-

ing routines. Teachers may choose to assign roles, such as question reader, note-taker, and time-

keeper.

• Select passages that are compelling enough to spark a discussion.

• Use a discussion protocol or routine that includes the following:

• A prompt that clearly states the expected outcome of the group discussion—the task should

address a higher-order question to prompt deep thinking, problem-solving, or dierences of

opinion

• Additional probing questions to use as scaolds to guide the discussion and provide support

for challenging tasks

• Establish and provide clear directions for feedback routines. Feedback should focus on the task,

state positive aspects, make suggestions for improvement, or ask a question. For example, “I like

your idea about _________. One question I have is _________.”

Tips for Structuring Partner Discussion

• Provide a prompt for a brief “turn-and-talk” discussion.

• Give clear directions for Partner 1 and Partner 2. (Optional: Establish Partner 1 as the peer with

slightly more developed language prociency to serve as a model for Partner 2.)

• Ask Partner 1 to go rst most of the time. Partner 2 should listen and respond.

• Structure Partner 2 responses, such as in the following:

• Repeat: “My partner, Alex, said that _________.”

• Agree or disagree: “I [agree/disagree] with Alex that _________ because _________.”

• Provide examples: Partner 1 states the concept and Partner 2 provides examples from the text

or from experience.

• Elaborate on the idea: Partner 2 provides more detail to what Partner 1 said.

• Establish peer feedback routines. Give clear directions regarding feedback so that it focuses on the

task, states positive aspects, and makes suggestions.

Sample Discussion Prompt 1

(Vocabulary word to preteach: “mention”)

With your group, nd in the story where Alex mentions to his father that he signed up for the bas-

ketball team. Read it aloud and write the page number. en, nd where Alex’s father plans a family

trip on the date of the big game. Read it aloud and write the page number. en, discuss these ques-

tions and be ready to talk about your answer with the class:

• Why is Alex’s place on the basketball team in danger?

• What could Alex have done dierently to avoid the problem?

Sample Discussion Prompt 2

(Vocabulary word to preteach: “approach”)

Will Alex approach his father about the basketball team? Answer in a complete sentence and use our

focus word, “approach.” Give three pieces of evidence from the text to support your answer.

Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

9. Teachers use visual aids to scaﬀold instruction for ELLs.

Using visual representations of key concepts and processes is generally an eective teaching strategy.

Tools such as graphic organizers, video clips, timelines, process charts, story maps, and diagrams are

visual representations that illustrate learning. Such visual tools make concepts and processes compre-

hensible for ELLs who may have diculty due to the language demands of reading text or listening to

explanations. For ELLs, who often have conceptual knowledge but not always the language skills to

express it, visual representations provide a bridge between concepts and language. However, teachers

should be aware of cultural and linguistic factors that may aect the usefulness of the visual aids for

ELLs. A graphic organizer is one type of visual representation that is widely used in K–12 classrooms.

With additional language support, graphic organizers provide a means for ELLs to engage in class

discussion. It is important for teachers to consider the language supports needed for ELLs to grasp

visually represented content and to check for understanding along the way.

10. Teachers use formative assessment to understand ELLs’ progress and guide follow-up

instruction.

Formative assessment provides teachers with data to ne tune instruction to address students’ learn-

ing needs. is cyclical process includes establishing learning goals, gathering student performance

data, and using the evidence to adjust instruction. Ongoing formative assessment provides teachers,

students, and parents with information about students’ progress. Teachers need to know how ELLs

are progressing with content acquisition and language development. Most teachers collect formative

assessment regarding students’ mastery of content through quizzes, homework, projects, or in-class

performance. However, teachers must also understand the process of second-language development.

Knowing how eectively ELLs listen, speak, read, and write is just as important as knowing how they

perform on learning tasks. Understanding students’ language development helps teachers to discern

whether learning diculties are due to a breakdown in understanding of the content or diculty with

the language used in class. As teachers observe students and evaluate their classwork, it is important to

note their understanding and use of language at the word, sentence, and discourse levels.

Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

Observing Students’ Language Performance in the Classroom

Features of Language

Competence

What to Observe Examples

Understanding

of Words

Students understand

and use the words used

in instruction.

How ELLs under-

stand general academ-

ic vocabulary, disci-

pline-specic words,

and multiple-meaning

words

General academic vocabulary words oc-

cur frequently across subject areas, such as

“compare,” “analyze,” and “result.”

Discipline-specic words occur within

subject areas, such as “hypotenuse” in math,

“longitude” in geography, and “alkaline” in

chemistry.

One must rely on the context to understand

multiple-meaning words, such as “solution”

in math and “solution” in chemistry.

Understanding

of Sentences

Students understand

various aspects of sen-

tence structure, includ-

ing syntax, verb tenses

and forms, punctua-

tion, and grammatical

structure.

How ELLs under-

stand verb tense;

forms of words; sim-

ple, compound, and

complex sentences;

and punctuation

e teacher explains…

e teacher explained…

e teacher will explain…

“Glaciers are frozen water. Glaciers melted.

Glaciers moved and changed the land.”

“Glaciers, frozen masses of water, melted

and, as they moved, changed the land.”

Understanding

of Discourse

Students understand

how language func-

tions as a form of

communication. is

includes being able

to understand and

produce language in

context.

ELLs’ coherence,

including the use of

pronouns; connect-

ing words; temporal

words; pragmatics

(conventions of

dialogue); and text

features (main idea,

supporting details,

headings)

Pronoun referents:

e scientists in Antarctica studied the

ecosystem. ey measured daily tempera-

tures and wind speed. ey tracked various

elements.

Temporal words:

First, the students gathered information on

China. en, they compared their notes.

Later, they wrote a report.

Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

—www.meadowscenter.org—

For a list of research evidence supporting the recommendations in this document, visit

www.meadowscenter.org/library/resource/10-key-policies-and-practices-for-teaching-ells