Training and Supporting ESL Instructors: Perspectives on Teaching English Language Learners in the Secondary English Classroom

• In Event: 18.071 - Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: 18.071-3 - Attending to the Gray Among the Black and White: Addressing English Language Learner Needs in Southern Louisiana

Abstract

Purposes: The purpose of this study was to explore the phenomenon of Southeast Louisiana high school English teachers who have taught English language learners (ELLs) and gain insight on their experiences. This presentation will (a) describe the experiences of five secondary English teachers who have instructed ELLs in self-contained or mainstream classrooms, (b) identify their varying levels of ESL training, and (c) discuss the implications of ESL teacher preparation as well as intra-school support systems for ESL teachers.

Theoretical framework: This research is founded in Gay’s (2010) theory of culturally responsive teaching. In this, teachers of ELLs must be “independent, critical, reflective, and quality thinkers and decision makers who are deliberate and intentional in constructing their personal pedagogical positions, and in monitoring and assessing the quality of their culturally diverse beliefs and behaviors (Gay, 2010, p. 231). Few teacher preparation programs in Louisiana include ESL education courses, which has resulted in very few teachers having the background knowledge to address the cultural needs of their ELLs. Prior to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, “diversity” in Louisiana education referred to incorporating cultural elements of African-American students with no reference to the needs of ELLs. However, according to Ruiz Soto, Hooker, & Batalova (2015), there has been a 40% increase in ELLs in Louisiana between the 2002-03 school year and the 2012-13 school year. As a result of this rapid growth without a pre-existing ESL system in place, Louisiana teachers and school systems are not adequately prepared to meet the diverse needs of these ELLs.

Method: Using Yin’s framework for multiple case studies, we selected participants through purposive maximum variation sampling. We then transcribed and coded the interviews in Atlas.ti to examine common themes in the teachers’ cases as well as delineate the differences between them. Questions in the interviews included the teachers’ educational backgrounds, their specific training in ESL instruction, their subject and grade level experience, their instructional encounters with ELLs, their perceived successes or failures in teaching ELLs, the school support system in place for ESL instruction, and their perceptions on whether their teacher preparation programs or ongoing professional development courses adequately prepared them for teaching ELLs.

Data Sources: This case study is comprised of interviews from five high school English teachers in southeast Louisiana who have taught ELLs either in a self-contained classroom or as part of a mainstream classroom. These teachers have varying levels of teaching experience, instruct different grade levels, and represent varied ESL training.

Results: Findings from these interviews indicate that secondary English teachers in southeastern Louisiana who do not have the add-on ESL certification feel underprepared to teach ELLs. Additionally, all teachers interviewed feel the infrastructure to support ESL teachers and mainstream teachers with ELLs is severely lacking.

Significance: This research has implications for the ways in which we prepare secondary English teachers to instruct ELLs as well as for the support systems provided for teachers of ELLs in Louisiana schools.

Author

• Danielle Butcher, Livingston Parish School System