Literacy and ESL

It is always surprising to me how my personal and career growth has always come in spurts. Before beginning my masters program, I had hit a "dry spell" professionally in which I was pretty comfortable and confident about most everything I was doing in my classroom. I felt like a "veteran" teacher in a short five years. However, life has a way of reminding you that you still have much more to learn and, in a short span of time, I am beginning to discover a whole host of strategies that I need to implement in my teaching every day. One such practice that has been sorely lacking in my day to day lessons is the incorporation of meaningful literacy experiences in my classes.

Reading is the foundation for any student's academic future. Reading improves written and oral communication skills and expands vocabulary for all learners, but it is perhaps even more integral for an ELL student. ELL students will have ample opportunity to improve their interpersonal communication skills in school, but research shows that these students may not receive the high quality language input necessary to develop cognitive academic language at home or in school. These students need to be exposed to the rich language and vocabulary found in various types of literature to develop this important language set. In a recent professional development presentation I attended, the speaker, Dr. Maria Argüelles, spoke of this set of vocabulary, the words we use in academic pursuits, as the "gatekeeper" for future academic opportunities for ELL students. Without this particular knowledge set, many students cannot and will not achieve in school and be afforded opportunities in the future. Therefore, students' success greatly depends on our ability to provide them with meaningful literacy activities in our classes.

Although I am not yet an ESL teacher, I can imagine that one of the most difficult parts of integrating literature in my classroom will be selecting materials for my students to read. Some of the factors I will need to consider are the age and second language acquisition stage of the students for whom I am selecting the materials. Another important factor to be determined will be the background knowledge and prior experiences of the learners. I will be sure to scaffold the reading for the learner by providing pre- and post- reading activities that personalize the material and encourage the reader to connect the text to their own experiences. I will also check to see if the materials I am considering include graphic organizers, scaffolded vocabulary, comprehension questions or other reading supports. In addition to the reading strategy supports, I'll also look for material that lends itself to discussion, personal reflection and higher order questioning. I think the last important component when considering texts will be the vocabulary used, both social and academic. Ideally the materials I choose would help ELLs both develop their interpersonal communication and expand their academic vocabulary.

As I reflect of what I've learned about literacy and ELL, it leads me to a realization. What I have loved about my ELL classes so far is the fact that, even though the strategies I am learning are targeted at ELL students, everything I learn improves my teaching practice for all of the learners in my class. I am so glad to have rediscovered the importance of reading across the curriculum and I hope that this knowledge will permanently change the way I approach planning and teaching.