Rationale and Context

ELL refers to English Language Learners. It has replaced the term "ESL" or "English as a Second Language"  to respect the fact that English is not necessarily the "second" language an individual is learning. In much of the US and Canada the term ELL has replaced the use of ESL. 

For brevity in writing, ELL may refer to either English Language Learners, sometimes denoted by adding an "s" as in ELLs, or can refer to English Language Learning as denoted by adding an "ing" as in ELLing. 

ELL students encompass anyone who is learning English or learning in English and fits any of the following criteria: 

• students who live in a home with a primary caregiver who does not speak English

• students who have experienced schooling or home life in a language other than English

• students with unique language experiences that would benefit from additional language support

Sometimes it can be easier to identify who is not an ELL student. Non-ELL students fit the following criteria: 

• students who have been raised in a primarily English speaking home

•  students who have English as their first and primary language

•  students who speak a dialect of English that is reflected at large in the community in which they reside and attend school in

New teachers face many challenges. 

Most teachers feel as though their professional training has left them unprepared for the realities of today's classrooms, especially in regards to students who have exceptional needs (Doran, 2020). A specific area highlighted by Doran (2020) is in special education. This is not necessarily a fault of the professional training that exists for teachers; teaching is an occupation in which it is difficult to practise and develop skill without actually doing it. Encouraging new teachers by supporting them where possible is one thing that can be done to help allow them to develop their skill while slightly reducing their burden. 

Importantly, many new teachers are unfamiliar with the scope of the ELL program, if one exists in their school or district at all. Therefore when an ELL student enters the new teacher's classroom,  the teacher will be ill-equipped to best support this student. 

ELL students exist on several unique spectrums: An English language spectrum, from being a non-English speaker to being a relatively fluent English speaker who is still developing their comprehension and understanding of local cultural norms and practises; and A spectrum of trauma, from escaping war-torn countries as refugees and having borne witness to horrific things, to transitioning to a new country at the discretion of the family because of a guardian’s employment. Intertwined in these spectrums is the family’s socioeconomic status, playing a role in the family and student’s experience as they transition to a new community. The intersections of these spectrums make for students that require careful specialist intervention to support them best. Navigating each student’s ability and history to afford them the same opportunities as their peers within the BC school system is a complex process with many factors at play. A large factor in understanding ELL students in the classroom is their social and emotional learning and well-being, and this factor can be present for any student regardless of where they are on any spectrum. 

Supporting ELL student’s social and emotional well-being is one of the most important aspects of supporting their overall well-being, as it is in all students (Jones et al., 2015). Developing and attending to student’s social and emotional well-being benefits them for the rest of their lives, including their communities, and future families (Chernyshenko et al., 2018). For these ELL students who experience schooling and their immediate environment in a foreign language, it can be difficult to develop emotional competence and form peer connections, resulting in poor social and emotional well-being and putting barriers in the path to content and language learning (Garner et al., 2014). Thus, one of the highest priority challenges for ELL students is assessing their social and emotional well-being and attending to it. 

Challenges to ELL students beyond their social and emotional well-being can be related to and overlap with learning areas of content, activities, and language challenges (Silva & Kucer, 2016). Differences in instructional delivery from a student’s home country may also be significant. Typically, students who have been born and raised in North America develop a distinctly Westernized way of thinking and worldview, that may even be specific to their region. This view can be in direct contrast with an ELL student’s schooling history (DeCapua & Marshall, 2011). While a student may have been used to being an academically and socially competent student in their home country and first language, upon moving to a Western English-speaking community they can have difficulties with their perception of inadequacy relating to a content area, activity, social context, or direct language challenge. This can then result in poor social and emotional well-being. These perceptions of difficulty can come from three aspects: lack of knowledge in a content area; lack of knowledge in a general school activity; or lack of knowledge in a language aspect (DeCapua et al., 2007). These aspects overlap, and can be compounded, all playing a part in the challenge ELL students face. 

An example of an overlapping difficulty in all three aspects that could lead to a diminished sense of social and emotional well-being and contribute to the ELL challenge can be found in something as simple as the playground slide during recess. A group of English language speaking students who are taking turns on the slide are using specific language and a developed understanding of the activity to take turns and participate in the slide’s safe use. A new ELL student who has only lived in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya has perhaps never seen a slide and has none of the relevant English language to describe the activity or activity knowledge to participate. This student might lack the confidence to take a perceived social risk and participate, and their feeling of alienation could result in a poor sense of social and emotional well-being that could carry over to academic instructional time.

Another challenge at play for ELL students can be found in students who have experienced significant interrupted formal education (DeCapua et al., 2007). Indeed, when layered with other processes affecting ELL students, the effect can be compounded. These students who have experienced gaps in their formal education and who are ELL students represent some of the highest risk students for failure to graduate and complete their grade school education (Walsh, 1999; Sheng et al., 2011). ELL students can experience interrupted education for a variety of reasons: war, migration, living in an area lacking education facilities or instructors, imposed cultural values, and socioeconomic status (DeCapua et al., 2007). 

The home life of the ELL student can be a factor in the challenge ELL students face. Often, the parents, guardians, or caregivers of ELL students, especially those who have experienced interrupted education, do not speak English themselves, or only speak it in a limited capacity. In certain instances, these caregivers may also be preliterate (unable to read or write) in their first language due to circumstances of their past, and have other gaps in their own education (DeCapua et al., 2007). The caregivers may also possess ways of thinking and worldviews that could contrast with one familiar to most Westerners. Understanding this factor as part of the underlying process that influences student’s ELL designation, and their experience, helps better equip instructors and support teachers on how to develop intervention plans together.