The paths to reaching and teaching English-speaking students

The editorial of October 27, ‘Boston needs more bilingual classrooms’ It’s true that Boston needs more bilingual programs. In fact, all of Massachusetts needs them.

Speaking a second language is a plus. The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, of which I am a member, saw strong evidence of this hidden in the third-grade MCAS data, which we recently reviewed. A number of children have been identified in the ‘former learners of the English language’ subgroup. Third graders in this group routinely outperform the general population in English language arts. This subgroup is more likely to be reading proficiently by the beginning of fourth grade. We have to build on that.

An intentional statewide initiative to significantly expand bilingual education and attract a larger bilingual workforce may be the best way to improve learning for our youngest students. The board’s Special Committee on Pandemic Recovery and Literacy recently released a report I recommend this, but the conversation hasn’t really started yet.

Michael Moriarty, Holyoke

I began teaching ninth grade English language learners in 2009 after training in the Sheltered English Immersion model. Most of the students were new to the country and just starting to learn English. SEI was a mix of phonics (“C is for cat”) and standard foreign language lessons such as “Introductions” and “Restaurant Dialogue.” I spent most of my preparation time googling images for visual support of my English lessons.

However, as the only English speaker in the room, I could not “immerse” my students in English. My lessons were, at best, a light fog of English, sprinkled over the wavy sea of ​​Spanish in the classroom. There were smaller pools of Arabic and Haitian Creole. What really happened was my own immersion in Spanish. It taught me a lot about language acquisition.

I had the advantage of a background in French, Latin, Italian and Greek, plus a love of language and affection for my students. They laughed and clapped, like proud parents, with every new Spanish word I learned. I also tried to pick up some Arabic, Haitian and Nepali.

After about 10 years, I had absorbed enough Spanish (never taking a classroom course) to teach using a bilingual instructional model. I wish I could offer this service in every student’s native language. However, for Spanish speaking classes, I realized how helpful it was that I could communicate with them from the beginning. The fact that I respected their language motivated them to learn more in mine.

I believe that learning authentic languages ​​only comes about when there is a hunger to communicate and trust in someone else’s positive response. A host of other factors influence student motivation, including mental and physical health issues, low income, responsibilities outside of school, and a history of trauma. ELL students are disproportionately affected by this.

For starters, ELL students need the best that Massachusetts schools have to offer: qualified bilingual teachers, strict class size limits, extra preparation time for teachers to create relevant multilingual learning materials, and the funding to support them. Let’s show all other states how investments in ELL students can pay off.

Sallie Kennedy, Lynn