English Language Learners

At its most basic level, the term English language learners (ELLs) refers to students who do not have an English language background but are working to become competent speakers, readers, and writers of English in school. This can present a daunting challenge, in that while learning the language, they are also trying to acquire the necessary curricular content in English to become academically successful as well as competing for grades with their English-dominant peers. ELL has replaced the formerly common label limited English proficient (LEP). Critics argued that the word limited in limited English proficient reflects a deficit view of the student—implying that the student lacks the necessary skills in English to compete successfully in the classroom with his or her English-dominant peers. In contrast, English language learner seemingly connotes an empowering view of the learner—implying that the student is capable of learning English without appearing linguistically or academically defective or “less than” English-dominant students. Still, there are critics who feel that both terms have their drawbacks, because both spotlight the need for students to learn English first while ignoring their oral and literacy competency in their primary language.

ELLs are a complex group. Many are from families whose ancestors have inhabited what is now the United States for thousands of years. But [Page 784]they also include some of the most recent immigrants to the United States from all over the world. Their lives have been shaped over time by assimilation and acculturation, resulting in myriad socio-cultural and linguistic patterns. The challenge for public schools in the United States is to provide ELL students with an equitable and challenging curriculum while offering sociocultural, linguistic, developmental, and cognitive support. Ideally, this process should take place in either dual-language or late-exit bilingual education classrooms, where research suggests that such students tend to prosper both linguistically and academically, especially if they have had literacy development in their first language at least through the primary grades.

There are approximately 5.1 million English language learners in the public school systems of the 50 states and U.S. territories, but that number does not reflect the rich mix of students who attend the public schools. Likewise, it does not reveal who is eligible for bilingual services and for how long they will be provided with such services. In addition to ELLs, bilingual classrooms may include English-proficient students with an ethnolinguistic heritage and bilingual students who are proficient in both English and their home language.

English-proficient students may be enrolled in a bilingual program to enhance their heritage language skills or to further their academic success. They may use English primarily for social and schooling purposes, while at home their parents and grandparents still use their ancestral languages. They may be English-dominant students who represent ethnolinguistic minorities that have historically been discriminated against and who, for historical, societal, economic, or geographic reasons, are just now learning their home languages. Ethnolinguistically stigmatized students may be comfortable in English-speaking social and schooling contexts but may use a nonstandard variety of English that can disadvantage them in the standard-English-oriented classroom. For such children and their ethnolinguistic communities, bilingual education represents a beacon of hope and a source of empowerment.

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