The Role of ESL Education for Recent Arrivals: Adolescent English Language Learners and Academic Literacy in the First Year of High School

• In Event: 34.018 - Excellence in Education Research: Early-Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

Accounting for approximately three percent of the U.S. high school population, adolescent English language learners (ELLs) who are recent arrivals represent a particularly vulnerable population (Ruiz-de-Velasco & Fix, 2000). Recent-arrival adolescents refer to students who were born abroad and who spent at least two-thirds of their lives in their country of origin (Suárez-Orozco, Suárez-Orozco, & Todorova, 2008). They typically enter the U.S. at the middle or secondary level of schooling, and often receive ESL services (English as a second language) for a portion of the school day. As several reviews of research suggest, recent-arrivals who are ELLs come with a range of abilities in their home languages, but often find the academic literacies expected in U.S. schools to be a difficult part of their transition (August & Shanahan, 2008; Genesee, 2006). They are expected to master disciplinary knowledge and concepts, while learning English. In short, they must perform “double the work” of native English speakers (Short & Fitzsimmons, 2007).
Despite increased research on recent-arrival adolescents and their experiences in U.S. schools (Short & Boyson, 2012), we still know relatively little about how, under what circumstances, and to what extent they acquire academic literacy associated with school success. This gap in our knowledge leaves open questions about their school experiences, effective teaching and assessment practices, responsive school policies, and ecologically valid research methodologies that allow for more critical examinations of their learning.

Author

• Jie Park, Clark University