THE SOCIAL STUDIES NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 235

ABSTRACT. The authors report the find-ings of a survey study in which they inves-tigated high school social studies teachers’ current practices, challenges, and needs in relation to instruction of English lan-guage learners (ELLs). Thirty-three high school social studies teachers in six Eng-lish as a second language (ESL)–centered schools in central Virginia participated in the study. Drawing on the findings, three themes demand particular attention: the challenges that social studies teachers face teaching ELLs; the accommodations teachers currently make for ELLs; and the types of support teachers need to teach ELLs social studies more effectively. The authors include findings from the field of second-language education to raise social studies teachers’ consciousness about their ELLs’ needs and conclude with a number of practical suggestions related to instruc-tion and differentiation that are crucial for social studies teachers to help ELLs learn effectively. Further dialogues are needed,

particularly regarding ESL inclusion and teachers’ critical awareness of serving this particular group of students.

Keywords: ESL instruction, high school ELLs, secondary social studies education

Teacher A: ELLs need to be taught sepa-rately unless they are fluent English speak-ers. ELLs would benefit most from having English immersion instead of having our school system adapt to their languages.

Teacher B: I think ELLs should have Eng-lish immersion training rather than have “the system” adapt to their language. It worked for all four of my grandparents. I’m not trying to be mean—I do think that is best.

Teacher C: I love working with my ELLs. They bring enthusiasm and diversity to the classroom. Having ELLs in mainstreamed classes helps non-ELLs to know and understand and definitely appreciate other cultures. ELLs benefit greatly from being with regular students as it helps them not only learn Virginia/U.S. history but to communicate verbally and in the written word in English. I can definitely see the difference between September and June.

Teacher D: I teach Level II ELLs English through world history materials. I have found that if I teach them the content of a regular world history (beginning to 1500) class in a modified language format that they not only learn history [but they also] improve their English speaking and writing skills. Other than simplifying my instruc-

tional language, my students pretty much did the same worksheet and take the same tests as regular-level ninth-grade students.

he aforementioned excerpts from four high school social studies

teachers who participated in this study illustrate the broad spectrum of how social studies teachers perceive the needs of their students who are Eng-lish language learners (ELLs). Teach-ers A and B believed integrated class-room settings that include ELLs and native English speakers do not benefit either group. They recommended that ELLs study in separate English lan-guage immersion programs. Teachers C and D, on the other hand, perceived the benefits of mainstreaming ELLs, not-ing the growth in their academic lan-guage within a short period of time. They clearly appreciated the enthusiasm and the diversity that ELLs brought to their classes. The apparent dichotomy expressed in these quotes reveals a long history of the ambivalence with which native-born Americans receive immi-grants. For immigrant children, per-haps the most important contact with native-born Americans is with their public school teachers. In this article we explore how a sample of social stud-ies teachers, in a geographical area that has only recently begun to experience

New Immigrants, New Challenges: High School Social Studies Teachers and English Language Learner InstructionSEONHEE CHO GABRIEL A. REICH

SEONHEE CHO is an assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the Virginia Commonwealth University. She specializes in ESL education. GABRIEL A. REICH is an assistant professor of edu-cation specializing in social studies at the Virginia Commonwealth University.

T

Copyright © 2008 Heldref Publications

236 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 THE SOCIAL STUDIES

immigration, perceives their ELL stu-dents. We include some practical sug-gestions that can help them reach their ELLs more effectively.

The United States is a country in which immigrants are afforded new opportuni-ties. These opportunities attract immi-grants from all over the world. Public schools have played an important role as the primary institution charged with assimilating and educating immigrant children. Today’s new Americans, how-ever, face unique challenges rooted in this particular historical moment, many of which would appear foreign to the immigrants of past generations. Among these challenges is the integration of immigrants into a postindustrial econ-omy where middle-class—and even stable working-class—status depends in large part on educational attainment.

That a strong link between educa-tional attainment and economic success exists is widely accepted (Rothstein 2004). Many of today’s immigrant chil-dren face unique barriers to academic success, however. Some of these barri-ers are due to the previously mentioned economic changes; others are due to the way academic success is current-ly defined in federal and state educa-tion policies (Darling-Hammond 2004; McNeil 2000), with further barriers resulting from current immigrant settle-ment patterns. In terms of the academic changes that have occurred, federal laws, such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, have narrowed the defi-nition of academic success to perfor-mance on standardized exams (Darling-Hammond). In many states, these exams are considered “high stakes” because they generate crucial evidence used in making decisions about promotion, graduation, and placement (Heubert and Hauser 1999). For a variety of reasons, many contemporary immigrants are not settling in areas with a long history of immigration (Singer 2007). The result is that immigrant children study in schools where they make up only a small per-centage of the overall student body and thus do not form large enough numbers to justify the creation of sheltered con-tent-area classes (Becker 2002). Central Virginia, where this study took place, is

one of the regions that are experiencing a fast-growing but dispersed population of ELLs in their public schools.

ELLs in High Schools

Current Virginia state policies expect ELL students to demonstrate language and academic proficiency in content areas such as math, social studies, and English after their first year in the school system. Second-language acqui-sition research, however, strongly sug-gests it takes five to seven years for normal ELLs to achieve average grade-level performance in subject-area class-es (Collier 1987, 1989; Cummins 1980, 1996). This linguistic research consis-tently shows that ELLs learn English better and faster while learning aca-demic content simultaneously. Scholars believe this is because the English lan-guage presented in content-area classes is more meaningful and authentic than the English presented in language-only classes (Chamot and O’Malley 1994; Echevarria, Vogt, and Short 2004; Gib-bons 2002). Unfortunately, schools find themselves operating in a broad gap that separates what policymakers expect from them in regard to ELLs and what the research has shown to be most effective. Many schools operating under current policies have chosen to place ELLs in low academic tracks (Harklau 1994, 1999; Sharkey and Layzer 2000). According to research, regardless of what track they are placed in, ELLs in mainstream classrooms are often “mar-ginalized” and their lived experiences are “ignored” by their teachers (Sharkey and Layzer, 353). As a result, ELL stu-dents are neither exposed to a rich aca-demic curriculum nor given the special assistance they need.

Although commonly lumped togeth-er under the term ELL, these students are strikingly diverse in terms of their English language proficiency and their prior content-area knowledge. Virginia Collier (1987, 1989) identifies several major variables that affect ELLs’ aca-demic success. Among these variables are the students’ age on arrival, length of residence in the United States, grade of entry into U.S. schools, formal edu-

cation background, family’s educational and socioeconomic background, and students’ former exposure to Western/urban lifestyles. High school ELLs are a particularly vulnerable population for several reasons. Second-language acqui-sition becomes more difficult as students get older. In addition, the social studies curriculum includes a large amount of content-specific vocabulary, assumes extensive background knowledge, and expects sophisticated reading and writ-ing skills. Collier’s (1987) comparison of the standardized test scores of dif-ferent age groups of ELLs showed that arrivals at ages twelve to fifteen experi-enced the greatest difficulty compared to their counterparts aged eight to elev-en and five to seven respectively. Past data1 from state-level standardized tests in Virginia indicate that when compared with all students taking these exams, about 20 percent fewer ELLs earned passing grades. Given these findings, high school ELLs need specialized sup-port specific to content area while they are learning English.

The Challenges of Teaching Social Studies to ELLs

Although second-language acquisi-tion research strongly suggests that ELLs learn more when they have full access to content-area curriculum (Chamot and O’Malley 1994; Echevarria, Vogt, and Short 2004; Gibbons 2002), participa-tion in regular social studies classes presents ELLs and their teachers with distinct challenges. Eric Dwyer (2007) analyzed textbook vocabulary accord-ing to grade level and reported that the increase of social studies vocabulary by grade exceeded other content areas such as English. From a linguistic point of view, social studies vocabulary words are highly abstract and subject to cul-turally embedded meanings, making a simple explanation or demonstration difficult (Chamot and O’Malley). An excerpt from The American Pageant, a popular high school history textbook, illustrates this quite well:

The Non-Intercourse Act of 1809—a watered-down version of Jefferson’s embargo aimed solely at Britain and

THE SOCIAL STUDIES NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 237

France—was due to expire in 1810. To Madison’s dismay, Congress dismantled the embargo completely with a bargain-ing measure known as Macon’s Bill No. 2. While reopening American trade with all the world, Macon’s Bill dangled what Congress hoped was an attractive lure. (Kennedy, Cohen, and Bailey 2002, 228)

Not only do students need to know the different meanings of discipline-specific words, such as act and bill, but they are also less likely to encounter advanced vocabulary words such as embargo, dis-mantle, dangle, and lure in their every-day lives. In addition, the structure of the sentences tends to be very complex, where relationships of cause and effect are embedded in ways that make them difficult for ELLs to recognize.

Culture also plays a large role in determining subtle but significant dif-ferences in the meanings of words, even among native English speakers (Epstein 1998; Freedle 2003). Thus, students raised in societies that are different—culturally, politically, and historically—may understand a word such as government very differently. In addition, students from different soci-eties are also likely to have different conceptual understandings of what his-tory is (Seixas 1993). The way social studies is often taught, teachers give students few opportunities to make connections between the materials and their own lives, rendering it even more remote (Seixas). A further disadvantage that ELLs experience in social stud-ies, particularly where American his-tory and government are concerned, is that native English-speaking students have already been exposed to much of the content knowledge in their early years. Teachers, however, sometimes make assumptions that overestimate ELLs’ background knowledge (Chamot and O’Malley 1994). Although ELLs are challenged by language difficulties and lack of background knowledge, they can bring diverse perspectives and knowledge that is not familiar to Amer-ican students and can—when handled well—enrich the classroom experiences of native speakers (Seixas).

Although the challenges of learning social studies content are addressed in the previously mentioned studies, little

is known about what high school social studies teachers do to serve the special needs of ELLs. To address this gap in the literature, we investigated the chal-lenges and needs of high school social studies teachers in central Virginia.

The Study

Among ten identified ESL-centered high schools in the area, six high schools participated in this study in spring 2006. We distributed a survey at faculty meet-ings and collected them after the meet-ing or the following day. A total of 211 teachers returned the survey, and, among those, 33 were social studies teachers. The questionnaire consisted of fourteen items with an open-ended question (see appendix). The question-naire largely focused on the following: (1) how teachers accommodate ELLs in their classrooms; (2) what challenges teachers experience in regard to teach-ing ELLs; and (3) what type of sup-port and training teachers would like to receive to provide effective ELL instruc-tion. Specific prior hypotheses were not developed because information from previous studies (Duff 2001; Harklau 1994, 1999; Reeves 2004; Sharkey and Layzer 2000; Youngs and Youngs 2001) was not sufficient to do so. This research, therefore, is exploratory.

Background Information of the Social Studies Teachers

Among the thirty-three high school social studies teachers, about twenty-

nine of them held a primary licensure in social studies, two of them held licenses to teach math, and one had a license in science. The amount of teaching experi-ence varied, ranging from less than one year to more than twenty-five years. However, a majority of the respondents had fewer than ten years of teaching experience (70.6 percent). Whereas 36.4 percent of social studies teachers spoke only English, about 15.2 percent of teachers indicated they were bilingual. Half of the respondents (48.5 percent) reported having learned a foreign lan-guage but also reported they could not communicate fluently in it. Regarding their training experience in ESL instruc-tion in the past ten years, nine teachers responded that they had attended in-service professional development rang-ing from one to six days, while three teachers responded that they had taken ESL-related courses for undergraduate or graduate credits.

Discussion of Results

Drawing on the findings, four themes were identified that demand particu-lar attention: the challenges of teach-ing ELLs; teachers’ accommodations of ELLs; the types of support teachers need; and teacher views of ELLs and ELL instruction.

Teachers indicated they were chal-lenged most by ELLs’ lack of back-ground knowledge of content area, fol-lowed by language barriers (table 1). They also reported that the lack of time, resources, and support at the school level

TABLE 1. Challenges Facing English as a Second Language Teachers

Challenge % of respondents*

Language barriers between you and ELLs 58.8Cultural differences between you and ELLs 5.9ELLs’ lack of background knowledge of content area 70.6ELLs’ lack of motivation 20.6Lack of guideline and/or support systems at school levels 35.3Lack of time and resources to devote to ELLs 41.2Assessment/grading of ELLs 14.7

*The sum of the percentiles does not reach 100 percent because we asked participants to mark their three biggest challenges (N = 33).

238 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 THE SOCIAL STUDIES

challenged them. Teachers’ concern with ELLs’ lack of background knowledge and their limited English language skills resonates with the findings of other studies (Duff 2001). Patricia A. Duff observed two tenth-grade social studies classes in Canada, where the majority of ESL students had an Asian background. After a two-year observation, she con-cluded that

plete tasks. Adjusting speech rate was another strategy the majority of teach-ers used either often/always or some-times. In contrast, they never or rarely provided different tasks, assignments, or instructional materials. The majority of the teachers also never or rarely graded ELLs differently. We speculate that these statistics indicate teachers are willing to make adjustments for ELLs when they

actual requirements for ESL students’ suc-cessful participation in [tenth-grade social studies] went beyond the usual prescrip-tions and practices for integration and academic success in mainstream social studies. Not only was a deep knowledge of academic language or textbook content needed to participate effectively in class-room discussions but also needed were a knowledge of popular North American culture, a repertoire of newsworthy current events, and an ability to express a range of perspectives on social issues, as well as the ability to enter quick-paced, highly intertextual interactions. (Duff, 120)

Thus, the challenges that social stud-ies teachers experience are somewhat different from those of other content-area teachers, as the content of social studies is particularly culturally embed-ded and incremental.

Table 2 shows how social studies teachers work with ELLs in their class-es. About 65.6 percent of social studies teachers indicated they always or often allowed ELLs to have extra time to com-

do not take too much of a teacher’s time or require considerable extra effort. For example, allowing ELLs extra time and adjusting speech rate require less effort on the part of a teacher than providing dif-ferent instructional materials and assign-ments. With all the demands placed on teachers in terms of their teaching load and administrative duties, it is also pos-sible that teachers may not know how to adjust instruction, instructional materi-als, and tasks for ELLs.

When asked what type of support teach-ers would like to receive (see table 3), social studies teachers indicated bilingual instructional materials as most important, followed by professional training and development. Surprisingly, when asked what type of training they would like to receive, the majority of the teachers indicat-ed cultural understanding as very important or important (90 percent), but ESL instruc-tional strategies (78.7 percent combined score of very important or important) were

also highly rated. The teachers’ indication of cultural training as the most important was surprising because teachers reported that the cultural differences between ELLs and themselves was the least challenging obstacle (see table 1). There is a curious contradiction here between the challenges social studies teachers reported and the training they desired. We infer that this response indicates an appreciation among social studies teachers for the value of cul-tural diversity. Thus, these teachers may hold a bias against selecting “cultural dif-ferences between me and my ESL stu-dents” as a challenge to teaching such students and simultaneously indicate they would like more cultural training. These inferences are purely speculative, and more research is needed to address this finding more thoroughly.

Conclusion

Ideally, ELLs should have full access to appropriate curricula taught by quali-fied teachers using appropriate instruc-tional resources that match students’ language and grade level. However, not many schools can afford such support (e.g., bilingual instructional materials, time, and specific guidelines). Teachers’ frustrations often originate from their feelings of helplessness and doubts about ELLs’ ability to catch up with grade-level content (Reeves 2004). Thus, we suggest the following practical strategies: increase the comprehensibility of texts and speech, increase interactions between native speakers and ELLs, and increase teach-ers’ linguistic and cultural awareness. Whereas the following list of suggestions is neither a quick fix nor a one-size-fits-

About 65.6 percent of social studies teachers indicated they always or often allowed ELLs to have extra time to complete tasks.

TABLE 2. Accommodations Made by Teachers When Working with ELLs

Never/rarely Sometimes Often/alwaysAccommodation (%) (%) (%)

I adjust my rate of speech for ELLs. 24.2 48.5 27.3I provide different tasks and assignments for ELLs. 78.1 18.8 3.1I allow ELLs to have extra time in completing tasks. 9.4 25.0 65.6I provide different instructional materials for ELLs. 65.6 31.3 3.1I assess/grade ELLs differently from the native English-speaking students. 62.5 15.6 21.9I pair up (or group) ELLs so they can help each other. 38.7 29.0 32.3I consult with ESL teachers in order to better help ELLs. 31.3 28.1 40.6

THE SOCIAL STUDIES NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 239

all answer, it is our hope that these sug-gestions will help teachers accommodate the needs of ELLs better. These practical suggestions are adapted from multiple sources, such as the sheltered instruc-tion model of Jana Echevarria, MaryEl-len Vogt, and Deborah J. Short (2004) and the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach of Anna Uhl Chamot and J. Michael O’Malley (1994).

Increasing Comprehensibility

• Adjust speech rate and enunciation. While English is a stress-timed lan-guage, many other languages, includ-ing Spanish, are syllable-timed lan-guages (Rost 2001). English tends to stress one or two syllables and slur the rest of the word or sentence. This means that English sounds are often unclear to some speakers of other languages. Thus, pronouncing equal-ly stressed words or sentences may increase students’ comprehension along with adjusted speech rate.

• Introduce key vocabulary words. According to Robert J. Marzano (2004), teachers can help students build aca-demic background knowledge by teach-ing key vocabulary words. One strategy is to have students describe the terms rather than define them. For instance, civil war can be described in relation to time, people, and events.

• Use visual aids. As social studies is heavily loaded with context- and culture-embedded information, the quickest way to help ELLs build back-ground knowledge is to show pictures and instructional video clips (e.g., Unitedstreaming). In using instruc-tional video clips, provide an antici-pation guide before showing it. Avoid

showing a video clip longer than three to five minutes at one time.

• Provide information or directions to tasks in oral and written forms. For instance, write down key concepts and vocabulary while you are explain-ing verbally.

• Connect students’ prior knowledge to new knowledge. What ELLs already know can be very different from what native English-speaking students know. Provide opportunities for stu-dents to share stories from their own families (e.g., oral history projects). From these stories, many important social studies concepts will emerge (Seixas 1993). This also is a way of showing how much you value stu-dents’ cultures and histories.

• Break down information, including directions, into sequential steps when presenting it. Lengthy directions can be confusing. Provide steps to follow, preferably with bulleted points.

• Use less text-dense instructional mate-rials. Text-dense texts and handouts can overwhelm students and discour-age them from learning. Use graphic organizers that explain or introduce events and relations of events as much as possible. Cartoons also can be used as a tool to provoke discussions and critical thinking.

• Teach learning strategies. Students need to learn how to use text features such as titles, subheadings, illustrations, tables, and graphs to gain information and make predictions. In addition, it is important to model how to present, discuss, summarize, and so forth.

Increasing Interactions

• Create heterogeneous group work. Group work is particularly critical

because it increases students’ interac-tion time and may be less intimidat-ing than working alone. Therefore, ELLs are more likely to take a risk and speak out.

• Pair an ELL with an advanced ELL (possibly with the same native lan-guage) and/or a native-speaking stu-dent. Newcomers especially can ben-efit from this type of buddy system. Assigning buddies specific roles can increase effectiveness.

Increasing Awareness

• Think like a linguist. Be mindful of and analyze the languages that you are using in the classroom as well as those that exist in the text and instruc-tional materials. This will help you also adjust your speech and texts to make them more comprehensible.

• Think like an outsider. School and academic functions are cultural prac-tices. The idea of thinking like an out-sider will enable you to see what you have taken for granted and assumed that ELLs already know.

Increasing Collaboration and Communication with ESL Teachers

• Set up a regular meeting time if pos-sible. This is as much an administrative issue as it is a pedagogical one. Admin-istrators must be made to understand the value of continual collaboration as opposed to one-shot professional development.

• Discuss students’ weaknesses, strengths, and progress.

• Share the goals of each unit, instruc-tional handouts, and assignment tasks. By doing so, ESL teachers will be able

TABLE 3. Training Techniques Teachers Find Useful to Help ELLs

Not important Important Critical/very Training technique (%) (%) important (%)

Language (e.g., Spanish) training 32.3 29.0 38.7Understanding of second language development and learner variables 17.6 38.2 44.1ESL instructional strategies 21.2 24.2 54.5Cultural understanding 9.1 57.6 33.3How to assess (grade) ELLs 21.9 34.4 43.8

240 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 THE SOCIAL STUDIES

to provide more responsive instruction in their ESL class that can support the work of content-area teachers.

Serving the needs of this growing population and helping them succeed academically is the professional and civic responsibility of all teachers. If we are not able to meet young immigrants’ needs, we risk losing their generation’s energy and brilliance. Worse still, how will future children of today’s young immigrants come to terms with living in America? As social studies teachers who know the history of immigration to this country, we must be at the forefront of co-creating an inclusive civic vision with our immigrant students.

NOTE

1. These specific data only report 2006 stan-dardized test results in a large school district in central Virginia. The general data can be located on the Virginia department of educa-tion’s Web site at http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/home.shtml#Standards_of_Learning_Tests.

REFERENCES

Becker, H. 2002. Teaching ESL: Views from the classroom. Boston: Heinle and Heinle.

Chamot, A. U., and J. M. O’Malley. 1994. The CALLA handbook: Implementing the cognitive academic language learning approach. New York: Longman.

Collier, V. 1987. Age and rate of acquisition of second language for academic purpos-es. TESOL Quarterly 21 (4): 617–41.

———. 1989. How long? A synthesis of research on academic achievement in a second language. TESOL Quarterly 23 (3): 509–31.

Cummins, J. 1980. Psychological assessment of immigrant children: Logic or institu-tion? Journal of Multilingual and Multi-cultural Development 1 (2): 97–111.

———. 1996. Negotiating identities: Edu-cation for empowerment in a diverse soci-ety. Ontario, CA: California Association for Bilingual Education.

Darling-Hammond, L. 2004. Standards, accountability, and school reform. Teach-ers College Record 106 (6): 1047–85.

Duff, P. A. 2001. Language, literacy, content, and (pop) culture: Challenges for ELLs in mainstream courses. The Canadian Mod-ern Language Review 58 (1): 103–32.

Dwyer, E. 2007. The power of social studies. Paper presented at the annual convention of Teachers of English to the Speakers of Other Languages, Seattle.

Echevarria, J., M. Vogt, and D. J. Short. 2004. Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP Model. 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson.

Epstein, T. 1998. Deconstructing differenc-es in African-American and European-American adolescents’ perspectives on U.S. history. Curriculum Inquiry 28 (4): 397–423.

Freedle, R. 2003. Correcting the SAT’s eth-nic and social-class bias: A method for reestimating SAT scores. Harvard Educa-tional Review 73 (1): 1–43.

Gibbons, P. 2002. Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: Teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Harklau, L. 1994. ESL versus content-area classes: Contrasting L2 learning environ-ments. TESOL Quarterly 28 (2): 241–72.

———. 1999. The ESL learning environ-ment in secondary school. In So much to say: Adolescents, bilingualism, and ESL in the secondary school, ed. C. J. Faltis and P. Wolfe, 42–60. New York: Teachers College Press.

Heubert, J. P., and R. M. Hauser, eds. 1999.

High stakes: Testing for tracking, promo-tion, and graduation. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Kennedy, D. M., L. Cohen, and T. A. Bailey. 2002. The American pageant. 12th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Marzano, R. J. 2004. Building background knowledge for academic achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervi-sion and Curriculum Development.

McNeil, L. M. 2000. Contradictions of school reform: Educational costs of stan-dardized testing. Critical Social Thought Series. New York: Routledge.

Reeves, J. 2004. “Like everybody else”: Equalizing educational opportunity for English language learners. TESOL Quar-terly 38 (1): 4366.

Rost, M. 2001. Listening. In The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages, ed. R. Cater and D. Nunan, 7–13. New York: Cambridge Uni-versity Press.

Rothstein, R. 2004. We are not ready to assess history performance. Journal of American History 90 (4): 1381–91.

Seixas, P. 1993. Historical understand-ing among adolescents in a multicul-tural setting. Curriculum Inquiry 23 (3): 301–27.

Sharkey, J., and C. Layzer. 2000. Whose def-inition of success? Identifying factors that affect English language learners’ access to academic success and resources. TESOL Quarterly 34 (2): 352–66.

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THE SOCIAL STUDIES NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 241

APPENDIX

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) STUDY SURVEY

The purpose of this survey is to gather important information about ESL-related academic needs of content-area high school teachers like you. Please do not indicate your name or any other identifying information on this survey so that your responses can be kept confidential.

Directions: Please answer all questions to the best of your knowledge. 1. Primary subject area you currently teach: a. Math d. Social studies b. Science e. Other c. Language arts or English 2. All subject areas that you hold licensure: (Circle all that apply) a. Math d. Social studies b. Science e. Other c. Language arts or English 3. Total years of teaching experience in all school settings (except for substitute teaching): a. None d. 10–15 b. 1–4 e. 16–24 c. 5–9 f. 25 or more 4. The number of ELLs in your classes for the current school year (Combine all ELLs across class sections): a. 0–3 d. 14–19 b. 4–7 e. 20 or more c. 8–13 5. Circle the three biggest challenges you have experienced in having ELLs in your classes. a. Language barriers between you and ELLs e. Lack of guidelines and/or support systems at school levels b. Cultural differences between you and ELLs f. Lack of time and resources to devote to ELLs c. ELLs’ lack of background knowledge of content area g. Assessment/grading of ELLs d. ELLs’ lack of motivation 6. Circle the three basic skills ELLs need to have before integrating into your classroom. a. English reading and writing skills d. Study skills b. English speaking and listening skills e. Knowledge of U.S. school system and classroom function c. Basic knowledge of content area (e.g., math) 7. The following statements assess how you work with ELLs in your classes (Check one response for each item)

8. Your language background: a. English (monolingual) b. Have learned a foreign language(s) but cannot fluently communicate c. Bilingual d. Other 9. If applicable, how helpful are your foreign language skills in teaching ELLs in your classes? a. Very helpful b. Somewhat helpful c. Not helpful d. Other

appendix continues

Never RarelySome- times Often Always

a. I adjust my rate of speech for ELLs.

b. I provide different tasks and assignments for ELLs.

c. I allow ELLs to have extra time in completing tasks.

d. I provide different instructional materials for ELLs.

e. I assess/grade ELLs differently from the native English-speaking students.

f. I pair up (or group) ELLs so they can help each other.

g. I consult with ESL teachers in order to better help ELLs.

h. Others (specify):

242 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 THE SOCIAL STUDIES

APPENDIX (continued)

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) STUDY SURVEY

10. What types of support do you wish to receive to effectively teach ELLs? (Check one response for each item)

11. What would be most helpful for you to learn to help ELLs in your classes? (Check one response for each item)

12. Your current training background in relation to ESL or language minority students in the past 10 years: (Circle all that apply and record credit hours or days to the best of your knowledge) a. Undergraduate/Graduate courses (Total credit hours ) b. Professional development (Total days ) c. None 13. What types of professional training or development would you like to receive in relation to teaching ELLs? (Circle all that apply) a. In-service professional development day b. Undergraduate/Graduate on-site course (Check all that apply) ® Evenings ® Weekends ® Summer c. Undergraduate/graduate online course d. Combination of on-site and online course e. None f. Other

14. Please write down any comments you have about working with ELLs: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your participation!

CriticalVery

important ImportantNot

important

a. Bilingual teacher’s assistant

b. Bilingual instructional materials (e.g., dictionaries, bilingual glossaries)

c. Professional training and development workshops to teach ELLs

d. Other (specify):

CriticalVery

important ImportantNot

important

a. Language (e.g., Spanish) training

b. Understanding of second language development and learner variables

c. ESL instructional strategies

d. Cultural understanding

e. How to assess (grade) ELLs

f. Others (specify):