Effective literacy instruction for english learners Essay

Effective literacy instruction for english learners - Essay Example Depending on the needs of the students, instructors can select which recommendation can be used in order to teach English in the most effective way possible. The increase of immigrants in the country also increased the number of students whose first language is not English. Thus is the increase in number of English language learners (ELL’s), or students that must also learn English, aside from learning the K-5 curricula. However, because English is the main language of instruction in schools, ELL’s lag behind in terms of their reading proficiency and in turn, their academics (US Department of Education, n.d.). This called for the Department of Education to create recommendations in order to effectively teach English to ELL’s in an effective way (Gersten, Baker, Shanahan, Linan-Thompson, Collins, & Scarcella, 2007). By the use of such recommendations it is expected that not only can ELL’s learn English properly, but also able to keep their learning pace at par to English speakers as well. Among the five recommendations listed in the guide, the most effective ways to teach English as a second language would be the combination of three: the screening for reading problems and monitoring progress; intensive small-group reading interventions; and regular peer-assisted learning opportunities. First, the importance of screening of problems at the beginning would help instructors focus on what the student needs to learn, since this would be the foundation for higher skills (US Department of Education, n.d.). Second, grouping students based on their or their language skill level would not only create a feeling of empathy for one another, but also they could learn from each other in the process. They can also build teamwork since they would be sharing tasks and working together in order to understand the language a lot better. Third, similar to the second one except grouping the students according to their ethnicity or based on similarities