This week's task for my coursework in the MTML program through Moreland University had me reading a plethora of articles that would serve to inform what I thought the top 10 principles for effective language instruction are. After reading all the articles, annotating and highlighting the most important parts of each, I admit it was hard to break down the principles to just 10. Below are the principles I eventually cut my long list down to. With each one I explain why it is important. I also want to stress, these are not ranked principles, they are all, in my opinion, equally important. I did put the principles that aligned more with social and emotional well being at the top of the list, because I do strenuously believe, you cannot then get to the rest of the list unless you have those principles down.
1. Know your students!
Everything must begin with knowing your students. Not just their names, but their abilities and levels, their backgrounds - where do they come from, what have they been through, you need to know your students so you can educate your students. This, of course, will not all happen on the first day of school, nor probably within the first week. Knowing your students comes with time, trial and error, but must come if they are to prosper in your classroom.
2. Create a respectful classroom environment founded on inclusiveness, multiculturalism, and multilingualism.
Chances are, the kids in your classroom are not all coming from the same place, having experienced the same things, and speaking the same language. Every student needs to feel safe and included in your classroom if they are to truly learn there. This safety comes by way of making everyone feel included in the classroom, celebrating every student’s culture, and celebrating and incorporating every student’s native language within the classroom environment.
3.Have and communicate high expectations to your students.
Having high expectations for your students is not enough, these expectations must be explicitly communicated to them as well. I’ve worked with educators who have said, “Well this class just can’t do this…” In my opinion, it turned out those educators just couldn’t teach. In my experience, if you have high expectations and explicitly communicate those expectations to your students, the students will rise to the occasion and surprise you with what they are able to achieve. Even if you shoot for the stars, and wind up landing on the moon, you’ve still left the Earth. Aim high, always.
4. Allow students to use their native language when tackling difficult concepts.
In his TED Talk, Shane Leaning described a situation where three students were asked to complete a complex project, but had a very limited English proficiency. Instead, they were told they could plan and research their project in their native language, but had to translate their work at the end and present it to the class in English (2017). This would never happen at my school. Any class taught in English is a non-native language zone. The students simply are not allowed to use their native tongue. Which is a complete shame, because research has shown that when students are allowed to use their native language to complete complex tasks, they are more engaged, they do better, and they strengthen their abilities in both their first and second language (Li, 2012). Just imagine how well our students would do if they were allowed to strategically use their native language to tackle concepts in their second language. I think, like the girls mentioned in the TED Talk, they would be earning high marks (Leaning, 2017). Much higher marks than they are earning being forced to complete complex tasks with limited language ability. A student’s native language is to be fostered, not feared.
5. Allow for supports and scaffolding to help students achieve mastery.
It is a widely accepted concept in teaching English as a second language that the work should be differentiated based on ability, scaffolded to aid in understanding, and supports should be given to help students on their way to mastery of the language and concepts (Alrubail, 2016). I always think of people building skyscrapers when it comes to scaffolding and support for ELL students. First, you must lay a foundation. Sometimes the foundation may be a bit shaky, and not every teacher gets the privilege of having students who have firm foundations, but you still have to build on what you have. Each new floor of the skyscraper needs support beams to carry the weight of the building on the inside of the structure. On the outside of the structure, every good builder erects scaffolding to make it easier to continue to build. In this way, giving ELL students scaffolding in terms of how the lessons are structured and supports to help carry the weight of the work that isn’t quite mastered yet helps students build language skills.
6. Use content, language, and cultural learning objectives.
As a teacher many people are familiar with the importance of content and language objectives. The content objectives lets the students know what they will be learning that day. The language objectives, a newer trend in education, lets the students know what aspect of language they will be learning regardless of whatever subject they are in (Huynh, 2020). Equally as important to these two widely used learning objectives is to implement cultural learning objectives, especially in an ELL classroom. Cultural learning objectives serve to highlight and develop the sociocultural competence of the students (Huynh, 2020). It is an important way that the language and content objectives can be linked to the backgrounds, experiences, and native languages of the students while still reflecting the aims and objectives of the curriculum being taught (Huynh, 2020).
7. Build collaborative activities between students and the teacher into the lessons.
ELL learners learn well when given opportunities to speak with and collaborate with their peers (Li, 2012). Even more than that, research has proven that collaboration and interaction with their teacher can help build ELL students’ language skills just as much, if not more (Li, 2012). So, any activity that can become collaborative in any way would benefit ELL students much more than if it were individual work. Collaboration is a must!
8. Build into you instruction the use of metacognitive strategies.
I have found in my own practice, mainly due to the influence of former colleagues at the collegiate level, that metacognitive practices fuel greater engagement and therefore learning. Metacognition and reflection is a huge part of experiential learning. When taken into an ESL classroom, thinking about the learning the students are learning can only be a good thing! And, happily so, the research seems to reflect this. Not only does metacognition enhance student achievement, but it leads students to become stronger readers in any language they are studying (Li, 2012). I highly recommend building metacognitive strategies into your instruction anytime they can fit.
9. Integrate all four domains of language learning (speaking, reading, writing, and listening) into every lesson as much as possible.
While there is an ongoing debate over integrated instruction versus specific instruction of skills, I have found, in my own practice, that integrated instruction employed in lessons helps strengthen all the domains alongside each other. A perfect lesson would employ the use of each domain, but would significantly focus on one area more than the others (Huynh, 2020). I encourage all language teachers to try to create lessons that in some way incorporate each domain. Not only will the skills develop together, but by switching tasks to focus on different skills, the short attention span of students will remain engaged and learning.
10. Help you ELL students conceptualize new vocabulary by presenting it in a variety of ways and contexts.
Don’t just show them the word and definition. Bring in visuals, turn it into a game, make them use the vocabulary word in a sentence of their own creation, match words with definitions, fill in the blank sentences, and on and on. GET CREATIVE! Vocabulary doesn’t have to be a bore if you are willing to do some more. Present new vocabulary to ELL students in a variety of ways, not only to engage them, but to be completely certain they learn it. Vocabulary, like learning a language, is not one size fits all. So, present new words in new and wonderful ways to accommodate all the students learning in your classroom.
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it is what I have decided to be the ten most important principles for effective language instruction. I hope this helps you all towards becoming more adept language instructors. I know just by writing this blog, I now have a whole toolbox of principles that can and will inform my instruction.
References
Alrubail, R. (2016, July 7). Equity for English-Language Learners. Edutopia.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/equity-for-english-language-learners-rusul-alrubail.
Huynh, T. (2020, July 12). 114. How to write language & culture objectives. Empowering ELLs.
https://www.empoweringells.com/culture-objectives/.
Leaning, S. (2017, November 20). Learning a second language? Develop your mother tongue | Shane Leaning | TEDxXiguanED. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3yRR8rNCSc.
Li, J. (2012). Principles of effective English language learner pedagogy. College Board.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED562799.pdf
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