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Effective Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

Barriers to Meaningful Instruction for English Learners

By: Karen Pellino

Barriers to Meaningful Instruction for English Learners (Meyer, 2000)

This article focuses on effective ways teachers can help ESL students overcome barriers to meaningful instruction. Teachers can use strategies based on social interactionist theory, such as that of Vygotsky, to create classroom conditions that foster learning by modeling, scaffolding and helping students to construct understanding, with the eventual goal of becoming independent thinkers and problem solvers. The author identifies four loads as barriers to meaningful instruction: cognitive load, culture load, language load and learning load; and she states teachers must be skilled at lowering these barriers and sparking student interest and curiosity by developing a creative, wise and passionate curriculum.

Cognitive load refers to the number of new concepts embedded in a lesson. It is critical that we consistently assess prior knowledge of all students, ESL students particularly, and look to identify the concepts and skills the students do and do not possess. We must then fill in any conceptual gaps by trying to relate new concepts to life experiences of ESL students. Thus, it becomes more critical to get to know and understand these students.

'Culture load' refers to the way language and culture are related and the amount of cultural knowledge required to comprehend meaning or participate in an activity. Meanings of words are determined by the uses of words within linguistic and cultural settings, never the same in any two cultures. English learners need to learn the words in English as well as the cultural background that gives the words their English meaning. They need to learn words in context to understand the meaning. Additionally, the information conveyed in our textbooks and lessons is culturally embedded. Some texts or topics can actually be culturally offensive. Culture load also refers to how teachers expect interaction to occur in a classroom. This would include when to speak, when to stay silent, when to raise hands and when to write. These expectations vary from one culture to the next. English learners are often expected to determine the classroom behavioral norms independently.

The author offers several strategies to help teachers lighten the culture load for students. Teachers should treat English learners with respect, not judgment, and try to build personal relationships with students, their families and communities. Teachers can use information gained through these relationships to develop lessons and activities that help students understand the American culture while still respecting the culture of the student. By demonstrating respect for students, teachers allow a door of trust to open that can serve to further deepen a nurturing teacher-student relationship.

The next barrier, the 'language load,' refers to the number of unfamiliar words encountered as an English learner reads a text or listens to teacher or peer academic talk. Teachers can lighten this load by rewriting or explaining text material. Complex sentences can be broken down into comprehensible parts. Academic vocabulary can be presented at the start of a lesson and highlighted. Several different texts can be available covering the same content but at different reading ability levels. Additionally, teachers should model both academic and social language and scaffold its appropriate use to help the learner acquire it, use it effectively and move to more sophisticated levels of speaking and writing.

The 'learning load' represents what teachers expect students to do with English in the learning activities. An example offered by the author is brainstorming, an activity that is oral and fast-paced, with few visual examples and minimal clarification in the initial stages. An English learner would have difficulty following such an activity, let alone participating. Thus, teachers must carefully consider the learning load of all activities involving English learners, making adaptations and offering supports accordingly. One such strategy is the language bath. This strategy involves the teacher doing the initial talking about a new topic and students listening before any brainstorming or other activity is assigned. This strategy is also effective with English speaking students. It prepares students to participate by helping to familiarize them with vocabulary and develop their thoughts on a topic.

The last concept discussed is what the author calls the "yearning goad," which is intrinsic motivation, a drive to know and learn more. This needs to be cultivated by teaching, whenever possible, through topics of high student interest. Teachers should also endeavor to broaden student interests by sharing their passions with students. Critical selection and creative implementation of curriculum are also important. By lightening even one or two of these loads and arranging meaningful learning for students, teachers can motivate students and facilitate learning of both the English language and content. This can help ESL students avoid being misinterpreted as unmotivated or resistant to learning.

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