Second language learners are becoming a familiar sight in classrooms.

Specifically,

English language learners (ELL). This presents a new challenge to educators, but it is not an

impossible challenge. Differentiation and strategies can help mitigate the difficulty of addressing

the needs of ELL students. Cunningham and Crawford (2016) mentioned that although great

diversity exists within the ELL student population, such as language, country of origin, and

literacy skill, there are two commonalities of second language development that teachers should

be cognizant of. Firstly, as ELLs learn a new language, there are certain general stages that ELL

students go through (Cunningham & Crawford, 2016). Furthermore, these stages can serve as a

guide for what teachers can expect in terms of class participation and language abilities of ELL

students (Cunningham & Crawford, 2016). Secondly, Cunningham and Crawford (2016) stated

that there is a difference between ELL students’ basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS)

and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP). According to Cunningham and Crawford

(2016), BICS is social language ELL students use to communicate with others, while CALP

refers to academic language ELLs encounter in the classroom.

Cunningham and Crawford (2016) mentioned that it might take an ELL student one to

two years to learn the social language necessary to communicate, but that it might take between

five and eight years to develop proficiency in academic language. Nevertheless, there are ways

teachers can help ELL students succeed in the classroom. Most elementary school teachers

already cultivate a vocabulary-rich environment that is also supportive of and encourages all

students (Cunningham & Crawford, 2016). However, Cunningham and Crawford (2016)

suggested three strategies teachers can utilize to further support ELL students: adding language

objectives, building background, and making input comprehensible.

 The first strategy would entail adding language objectives to lesson plans (Cunningham

& Crawford, 2016). For instance, asking students to solve a word problem or asking students to

describe the steps of a science experiment to a partner. Teachers must first have an idea of the

language demands of a lesson, and add language objectives accordingly, including support such

as word banks and graphic organizers (Cunningham & Crawford, 2016). The second strategy,

building background, would help ELL students make schemas, or thoughts of organized

information. Moreover, schemas allow ELL students to make either personal or academic

connections to new information (Cunningham & Crawford, 2016). Personal connections help

ELL students use their own experiences to better understand material, while academic

connections help ELL students link new learning to prior learning (Cunningham & Crawford,

2016). ELL students are better able to engage in learning if teachers take the time to build

background knowledge through personal and academic connections (Cunningham & Crawford,

2016). The final strategy suggested by Cunningham and Crawford (2016) was making input

comprehensible. Tools such as graphic organizers, audio recordings of text for reading prompts,

and encouraging interaction among students help facilitate the input of new information for ELL

students (Cunningham & Crawford, 2016). Furthermore, teachers could change their speech

when presenting new information. For example, teachers could use short phrases, use longer

pauses between sentences and ideas, stress important words while speaking, avoid the use of

contraction and fused forms of words, and avoid slang and idiomatic expressions (Cunningham

& Crawford, 2016). There are many strategies available for teachers with ELL students, but it is

the teacher’s responsibility to adjust and find the strategies that would benefit ELL students the

most.