ESL-Content Teachers Argumentative Analysis

Suggesting that mainstream content area teachers receive more training and support to provide for their ELL students is not a revolutionary idea. The state of Ohio has already joined with nationwide initiatives to promote the education of mainstream teachers to prepare them for ESL students in their classrooms. Between 2009 and 2012, The ESL- Content Teachers Collaborative was an initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) that provided 1.5 million dollars in the form of a grant that facilitated the professional development of ESL instruction. Current teachers from all different districts over the state of Ohio who wished to prepare themselves at a graduate level enrolled in distance-learning classes
to learn valuable skills and strategies that were to benefit not only ELL students but all students in a classroom with ELLs. This program also initiated the teacher to teacher collaboration so that the community of a school was better prepared to welcome ESL students into the school culture. (ESL – Content Teachers Collaborative.2015).
Unfortunately, as this program concluded in 2012, there has yet to be another funded initiative to support the collaboration of teachers statewide to prepare themselves for the growing number of ELL students they are surely to see in their classrooms.
Other than seminar initiatives that may or may not be provided to a school district, many teachers will not receive the necessary ESL training once in the classrooms. The National Education Association stated that the U.S. Department of Education reported that professional development seminars that address the needs of LEP students is the course content area teachers are least likely to attend (McKeon, D. 2005, June). At the time that these figures were reported in 2002, the NEA also measured that ELL had dropout rates that were four times greater than native English-speaking students (McKeon, D. 2005, June). Considering the correlation between teacher preparedness and the high dropout rate of ELL students, it is clear to me once again that preparing our teachers to accommodate these unique student needs is to the advantage of both the teachers and to the success of the
students.
When discussing this topic with friends of mine who do not work in the field of education, several of them inquired about how the whole class would be affected if the teacher taught to accommodate the ELL student. Several expressed concern that the mainstream English speaking students would be held back or distracted from their potential in learning if the teacher was making such a large accommodation towards one student or one group of students. In response to this concern, I refer to the statement from the National Council of Teachers of English that so perfectly shows that making a classroom accommodating to ELL students will also make them more accommodating to all under-served learners within the classroom. (National Council of Teachers of English, 2008 p. 4). Focusing on reading, language learning and clarity in their usage is something that not even all native English speakers have mastered, no matter the grade level. Including cultural aspects of the home culture of ELL students will also allow native U.S. students to learn about cultural differences and lifestyles that differ from their own. If a teacher is well-prepared to incorporate teaching strategies that benefit the ELL student’s needs while modeling acceptance and inclusion of other cultures, having ELL students in the a mainstream classroom will be seen as an advantage to all learners.