ENGLISH LANGUAGE
LEARNERS: TEACHING
AND LEARNING SCIENCE
AND MATH
By Kimberly Barss and Seema Rivera
English Language Learners: An
Overview


ELLs are the fastest
growing population
among United States
Schools.
ELLs have increased
from 10 percent in
1980 to over 21
percent in 2009, with
Spanish being the
most widely spoken
language other than
English (U.S.
Department of
Education, 2012).
ELL Population
ELLs Continued

ELLs can be evaluated and classified by many
systems:
 TESOL
(2006) guidelines – 5 level assessment
system
 Starting
up, Beginning, Expanding, Developing, and
Bridging Over. (Bautista & Castaneda, 2011)
 Garrison
& Mora (1999)- 4 domain classification
system
 A (doesn’t
know content or language), B (knows
language not content), C (knows content not
language), & D (knows both).
“Science for All”
Learning 2 languages
 Many lack background in science
 Beyond text
 If science is taught without explicit
teaching of science language,
science will “remain a foreign
language to most students” (pp. 139,

Wellington & Osborne, 2001).
Science Learning
Inquiry-based
lessons
Vocabulary lessons
Peer-to-peer interaction
Student-led activities
Factors affecting learning

ELLs learning science are affected by
several factors as well

Culturally relevant science
instructional materials
Teacher Training

Discourse in classroom

Wide range of language demands

Beyond Pre Service
Math Learning
Math is not a “universal” or “cultureless”
language
 Teaching and learning math requires
complex usage of verbal and non-verbal
English language skills
 Learners who struggle with English,
struggle with math

The first picture that
appeared…
Teaching Math

The What Works Clearinghouse identified five
factors that influence mathematics learning:
conceptual understanding,
 procedural fluency,
 strategic competence,
 adaptive reasoning, and
 productive disposition.(Francis, Rivera, Lesaux, Kieffer, &

Rivera, 2006)

If a student cannot understand the “language” of
math or the language used during instruction, he
or she will not be successful with the content
Teaching Teachers

In both math and science, today’s teachers are
underprepared for the demands of ELL
students within the classroom and need
support in using:
 Instructional
Materials (Barba, 1993; Buck, et al.,
2005)
 Scaffolding
in the classroom (Lara-Alecio, Tong,
Irby, Guerrero, Huerta & Fan, 2012)
 Designing
ELL-supportive lessons
 Identifying students who require additional help
Gaps in Research



Math research concerning ELLs is lacking
Research on Identifying and supporting ELLs
within the context of the classroom
Research on educating and supporting inservice and pre-service teachers who may
face challenges in their classroom reaching
ELL students
Conclusion

Science and math education is at the heart of
our nation’s economic future (U.S. Congress Joint
Economic Committee,2012)



ELL students have different needs in the
classroom
Designing ELL friendly lessons benefits the
entire class
Utilization of scaffolding, hands-on activities,
peer-to-peer interaction, etc. improve learning
outcomes
References
Barba, C. (1993). The effect of dialogue journal writing on the speaking
ability of students of Spanish as a foreign language (Doctoral
Dissertation, Penn State University, 1992). Dissertation Abstracts
International, 53, 4304Brown, C. L. (2003).
Casey, B. U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. (2012). STEM
education: Preparing for the jobs of the future. Retrieved from
website:
http://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=
6aaa7e1f-9586-47be-82e7-326f47658320
Buck, G., Mast, C., Ehlers, N. & Franklin, E. (2005). Preparing
Teachers to Create a Mainstream Science Classroom Conducive to
the Needs of English-Language Learners: A Feminist Action
Research Project. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 42(9),
1013-1031.
Lara-Alecio, R., Tong, F., Irby, B., Guerrero, C., Huerta, M. & Fan, Y.
(2012) The effect of an instructional intervention on middle school
English learners’ science and English reading achievement.
Journal of research in science teaching, early view online.
References Continued
Francis, D., Rivera, M., Lesaux, N., Kieffer, M., & Rivera, H. (2006). Practical
Guidelines for the Education of English Language Learners: ResearchBased Recommendations for Instruction and Academic Interventions.
(Under cooperative agreement grant S283B050034 for U.S. Department of
Education). Portsmouth, NH: RMC Research Corporation, Center on
Instruction.
Lee, O., & Luykx, A. (2006). Science education and student diversity:
Synthesis and research agenda. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
August, D., Artzi, L. & Mazrum, J. (2010). Improving science and vocabulary
learning of English language learners. Center for Research on the
Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners.
Retrieved from
http://www.cal.org/create/resources/pubs/CREATEBrief_AcademicLanguag
e.pdf.
Rosebery, A. S., Warren, B., & Conant, F. R. (1992). Appropriating scientific
discourse: Findings from language minority classrooms. The Journal of the
Learning Sciences, 21, 61–94.
References Continued
Garrison, L. & Mora, J.K. (1999). Adapting Mathematics
Instruction for English Language Learners: The LanguageConcept Connections. Changing the Faces of Mathematics:
Perspectives on Latinos:35-48.
Bautista, N., & Castaneda, M. (2011). Teaching Science to
ELLs, Part I. Science Teacher, 78(3), 35-39.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics. (2012). The Condition of Education 2011 (NCES
2011-045). http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=96
What Works Clearinghouse. (2012). WWC Review of the Report
"Accommodations for English Language Learner Students:
The Effect of Linguistic Modification of Math Test Item Sets".
What Works Clearinghouse.
Thanks for coming!
Questions?