English: Analysis of Learner Language

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Learners Background
Methodology
Analysis
Disscussion
Conclusion
References

Introduction

This report analyses English as a learner language and delves into finding out the resources needed by learners of English for effective learning. The research gains particular significance due to the huge amount of attention that is paid to international learners who aspire to get admitted to U.S. colleges or universities or seek employment opportunities in economies across the globe. English being the global language of business and speaking English being a prerequisite to procure admission in a prestigious institution is one of the most popular second language or learner languages across the world. (Lee, 2008)

Second language learning is the development procedure through which individuals attempt to become skilled in a language other than their native language(s). The expression second language or learner language is used to illustrate getting hold of any language subsequent to the learning of the mother tongue.

This report takes into consideration the needs of linguistic minority learners who belong to households or communities wherein a non-English language is primarily used for communications. Specifically, it carries out investigations into issues such as the quantity and nature of resources needed by learners of English –the students belonging to linguistic minority sections not skillful in English communications—so as to make them capable of receiving similar employment openings and achieve the comparable achievement standards as other English speaking students.

A key finding of the research initiative that went into the formation of this report was that even though some students are already proficient in English by the time they get admitted to schools, most students belonging to non-English speaking communities do not. Most of these learners carry on trailing behind their English-speaking equals in academics for several years subsequent to reaching schooling age. They need added resources and proper backing to facilitate their success in academics as well as other schooling activities, even after being considered fluent English speakers in a lot of cases. (Hotho, 2008)

Learners Background

The origin of the learners makes the study more interesting. Most of the learners in the study are of Chinese origin. Among them, about 75% of the learners are descendants of first-generation Chinese immigrants. They still feel comfortable communicating in their native tongue. This makes the learning process of English much more difficult. This is because Chinese as a language is more different from English in the context of syntax or approach than, say, French or German. Thus, the case at hand is much difficult and allows room for a proper and thorough analysis and study.

Methodology

In order to carry out a comprehensive research process past research reports were thoroughly studied. In addition, present conditions and information from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of the Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 were also analyzed. A wide-ranging literature review was carried out, which included an account provided by the National Literacy Panel and other contemporary research compilations. Other sources such as the multiple adequacy investigation reports which make an effort to estimate the resource needs of English learners and the information provided by professional judgment panel reports documented by the American Institutes of Research (AIR) in course of the Getting Down to Facts initiative were also reviewed.

Further, case studies were also conducted to investigate matters such as exploring the level and nature of supplementary resources required to educate learners in English successfully. Five schools were chosen as samples for intense observations. The sample selection criteria were the comparatively high presence of their English Language learners on campus, wherein the institution’s geographic and academic diversity was also taken into account. (Horwitz, 2007)

The research program on which this report is based attempts to answer the following questions:

What theoretical agenda is most well suited to the process of evaluating the resource requirement of learners belonging to the linguistic minority section?
What particular resources are required to provide an effective educative environment for English language learners?
What is the correct approach for the approximation of the English educating costs for language learners?

Analysis

An investigation into the academic success levels of linguistic minority learners divulges that learners of the English language, counting grown-up students considered being entirely English proficient as well, trail far behind students with English-speaking backgrounds. The research reveals that:

More than half of the students with English-speaking backgrounds become proficient in English communication by the time they reach grade 2, whereas only 42% succeed in learning the English language effectively by grade 11.
Students belonging to linguistic minority groups who already become competent in communicating in English by the time they reach schooling age tend to perform better than students with English-speaking backgrounds at every level.
At lower levels, learners of the English language who are considered to be entirely proficient in English score higher than students with English speaking backgrounds, but fail to maintain the performance by the time they reach grades 8 or above.

A particular explanation for the underperformance of the learners of the English language is that they belong to backgrounds having lesser access to resources, with lower household income, socioeconomic position, and parent literacy levels. Consequently, they start the schooling process with a significant preexisting drawback. Detailed analysis of the research findings expose seven explicit issues of apprehension:

Access to properly qualified educators;
Openings for professional development of the trainers;
Exposure to proper evaluation processes considering the standardized assessments process used for English speakers;
The dearth of adequate duration of imparting training required to realize learning objectives;
Access to academic resources and study programs;
Exposure to sufficient amenities; and
Intense levels of isolation that expose them to principally high-risk factors associated with educational failure. (LeClair, 2009)

The issue of resource requirements for students belonging to linguistic minority classes and other learners of the English language fits into the bigger picture in relation to adequacy. It is well understood that each student requires adequate financial, material, individual, and organizational resources for the acquisition of effective education. Furthermore, all academically underprivileged learners like students belonging to lower socioeconomic classes and linguistic minorities need greater amounts and explicit forms of such resources to attain identical educational standards as compared to the more privileged students. In addition, analysis of research data reveals that learners who fit both – the underprivileged and linguistic minority categories might require even more resources. Lastly, it was found that students belonging to linguistic minorities require diverse forms of various resources rather than greater amounts of the same. For instance, educators who train learners of the English language need to possess certain skill sets and should be trained properly to impart oral education in English. (Krug, 2005)

In the context of the particular resources required by English learning students, a split-up estimation of costs should be contemplated for English-speaking and bilingual policies. It was evident from the research that, considering the notion of equality, employing the services of bilingual educators appears to be a better and more economical policy instead of employing monolingual trainers eradicating the need of supplementary classroom resources in the form of assistant trainers and various other support staff. In the absence of such supplemental resources, increasing academic adeptness would need more individualization, i.e., decreasing the student-teacher ratio. The objective of supporting academic success of those learners who are considered to be fully competent in English language in the longer run emerges as an additional vital contemplation issue. Close observation of a number of students over a period of time reveals that linguistic minority learners with higher socioeconomic backgrounds tend to be underperformer as compared to their English speaking peers. This proves that the disproportions are not entirely dependent on the socioeconomic status of students. Providing customized supplementary resources for the aid of students thought to be proficient in English is necessary and a framework to help them procure better academic skills has to be in place. An approach to calculate time required to develop proper proficiency levels also has to be formulated bearing in mind factors like the age, socioeconomic background, and education experience of the learner.

In order to compare approximation of the cost for imparting education to learners of the English language, a comprehensive literature review was carried out. The literature base was formed by reports and accounts of a set of previous research initiatives carried out in a similar domain. These research documents suggest an increase of resource levels of 18%. However, some also recommended an increase by almost double the amount in cases where poverty is an additional factor to be considered. After carrying out the entire literature review, it has to be concluded that there is no agreement on the quantity or nature of supplementary resources to be used in order to effectively educate English learners in addition to the ones required for poor students in general. (Sheen, 2008)

Disscussion

The key findings of this research initiative imply that various requirements of the learners of English language are quite different than the ones of other learners with comparable socioeconomic conditions, and such requirements cannot all be catered for through the use of the same set of resources. However, the extent to which more resources are required and the diversity of their nature is not completely clear. In addition, is question of whether the resources required to effectively educate students in a second language are the same as those necessary to bridge success gaps related to socioeconomic conditions opens up an avenue for a long drawn debate.

The detail that most English language learning students are deemed as proficient on paper through standard tests long before they actually achieve academic proficiency in English imply that that the academic success gaps on grounds of language disparities are more open to intervention processes. Consequently, bridging such gaps need lesser supplementary resources than in cases where the disparities are strongly rooted in the socioeconomic backgrounds of the learner. Through the course of the research it was also evident that academic materials / assessment procedures that make use of the learners’ first language and developed considering the language differences, separately designed materials intended for the development of students with a non-English background, and employing teachers and support personnel who are conversant with the languages of the learners are necessary measures required for the effective education of students who take up English as a learner language. (Benj, 2005)

Conclusion

This research initiative primarily made an attempt finding out the added resources required by students belonging to linguistic minorities who seek to learn English for their academic and professional development. Additionally, it also tried to analyze the amount and nature and costs of such required resources. It was successfully concluded that there existed a number of measures which made use of some additional resources in addition to the resources required for the development of all students. It was noted that such requirements could be effectively provided for without a considerable rise in investment amounts. However, it was not clear how much added resources would be required, particularly when considering the socioeconomic background of the learners. (Eisen, 2008) It is recommended that studies like this should be followed up by further learning in order to get better and full proof results in future.

References

Benj, R. (2005). Revisiting Beliefs about Foreign Language Learning. Foreign Language Annals, 33(4), 394-408.

Eisen, M. (2008). Target language variation and second-language acquisition: learning English in New York City. World Englishes, 5(1), 31-46.

Horwitz, K. (2007). Teachers and Students, Students and Teachers: An Ever-Evolving Partnership. The Modern Language Journal, 84(4), 523-535.

Hotho, S. (2008). “Same” or “Different”? A Comparative Examination of Classroom Factors in Second Language Settings. Foreign Language Annals, 33(3), 320-329.

Krug, K. (2005). A test of foreign language acquisition: paired-association learning. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 16(2), 211-221.

LeClair, C. (2009). English language learners’ and non-English language learners’ perceptions of the classroom environment. Psychology in the Schools, 46(6), 568-577.

Lee, O. (2008). Urban elementary school teachers’ knowledge and practices in teaching science to English language learners. Science Education, 92(4), 733-758.

Sheen, Y. (2008). Recasts, Language Anxiety, Modified Output, and L2 Learning. Language Learning, 58(4), 835-874.

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