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Every student will speak a language other than English at home In 2006, 1 in 7 students spoke a language other than English at home. In 2026, what will scholars predict this ratio will be? A. 1 in 10 B. 1 in 5 C. 1 in 4 D. 1 in 2 Every student will speak a language other than English at home

Supporting ESL/ELL Students in the Math Classroom Who are ESL/ELL learners? Students who are learning English as a second, or even third language. The minority populations are constantly rising in the U.S. We need to start accommodating for these populations.

Why is this important? Key role of language in mathematics We use language to explain math concepts We use communication to help facilitate learning for students. Multiple representations of concepts, explaining procedures, etc. ESL/ELL students are at a disadvantage If these students struggle in math, they will face many problems if they are also trying to learn English at the same time.

Equity The Equity Principle requires that we accommodate differences in our diverse student population to help everyone learn mathematics We also need to accommodate these students because they may not have the resources at home to learn to their full capacity. (Bresser 2009)

Which statement about esl/ell students is false? A. The way reading and math skills are learned in their native tongue can transfer easily to English. B. It is beneficial for ESL students to have opportunities to share their heritage with other students C. It is beneficial for ESL students to be paired with other students who speak the same native language and placed in groups with English-speaking students. D. ESL students who use English well in social situations will not have a hard time learning Mathematics E. Nonverbal clues often work better than verbal interactions with ESL students.

What are the relevant issues? Content classes cater to students fluent in English Teacher speaks/writes in English The examples will typically be entirely in English Classmates speak in English during group work Tests are in English

more issues ESL Teachers Content teachers ESL teachers usually don’t know content areas well enough If an ELL student asks for help understanding what a math problem is asking, the ESL teacher will not always be able to help if he or she doesn’t understand the math concept Content teachers Content teachers usually don’t know how to instruct ELL students Although the content area teacher understands the math, he or she may not know how to effectively communicate problem solving strategies or other ideas to an ELL student The teacher may put questions on the test that include words an ELL student may not know, without even realizing this is happening.

Omg Even more issues! False belief that mathematics is “culturally neutral” Examples may ask students to apply math to a real life situation that is not culturally relevant to someone who did not grow up in this country We have all seen math questions that are poorly worded. If native speakers can’t understand what the problem is asking, how can an ELL student? Word problems tend to be challenging at first and they are even harder for ELL students who have to figure out what the words mean, let alone the math. (Rubinstein-Avila, 2006) (Brown et al., 2009)

Research In a study done, math achievement levels between ELL students and fully English proficient (FEP) students were compared. Interestingly, socioeconomic status (SES) affected the FEP students more than the ELL students. As was to be expected, high-SES FEP students did better than high-SES ELL students, however, both low-SES groups performed at the same level. Surprisingly, high-SES ELL students even did better than low-SES FEP students. This means that we can help ELL students by focusing on aspects of high SES that affect learning (access to resources, etc.). Once the differences among SES education is attended to, language proficiency becomes the larger issue. (Brown, 2005) (Brown et al., 2005)

You have a group of 5 ell’s that need to take math class. You… A. Have them work together whenever group work is being done in the math class. B. Split them up so that each person is working with proficient English speakers C. Pair them up and have them work with proficient English speakers in groups D. Pay no attention to where the ELL students sit. E. Recommend them to sheltered math instruction with other ELLs

Best practice for ESL/ELL students Family involvement: Bilingual personnel for back to school and parent-teacher conferences Honor child’s home language to help student confidence Projects that require gathering data from home/parents and sharing them to the class

Know your students. Know yourself. Build Vocabulary Resources like library books and tapes available in the primarily language Know your students. Know yourself. Build Vocabulary Highlight/Bold important words and have students Precise written and oral language with less note taking Word Bank Social interaction: lots of peer work to socialize (even imperfectly) Peer work when doing problems. Groups should be balanced with a mathematically strong student and one verbally-strong student. Put students who don’t speak the same primary language together Ask why? Have students get up and teach a section to the rest of the class Technology Graphing calculators for basic arithmetic (Borba, 2009) (Lewis-Moreno, 2007) (Hoffert, 2009)

For future educators… In the 1994-1994 school year, English language learner (ELL services were provided to 5.1% of all students. In 1999-2000, 6.7% of all students. And in 2003-2004 school year, 11% (or 3.8 million students). In 2006, 1 in 7 students spoke a language other than English at home. 2026 estimated that it will be 1 in 4. “All students, regardless of their personal characteristics, backgrounds, or physical challenges, must have opportunities to study--and support to learn--mathematics.” –NCTM equity principle Sheltered classes do not require certification or extra training. (Banks and Banks, 2007)

Bibliography Bresser, Rusty, Kathy Melanese, and Christine Sphar. "Equity for Language Learners." Teaching Children Mathematics 16.2 (2009): 170-77. Brown, C. L. (2005). Equity of literacy-based math performance assessments for English language learners. Bilingual Research Journal. 29(2), 337-363. Brown, C. L., Cady, J. A. & Taylor, P. M. (2009). Problem solving and the English language learner. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. 14(9), 532-539.  Brown, C. L. & Krashen, S. (2005). The ameliorating effects of high socioeconomic status: A Secondary analysis. Bilingual Research Journal. 29(1), 185-196. Rubinstein-Avila, E. (2006) Connecting with Latino learners. Educational Leadership.63(5), 38-43. Borba, M., “Caring Closes the Language-Learning Gap.” Phi Delta Kappa. May 2009. p 681-685. Vol. 90 Issue 9 Banks, James A., and Cherry A. McGee Banks, eds. Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. 6th ed. Nashville, TN: Wiley, 2007. Hoffert, S. “Mathematics: the universal language?” Mathematics Teacher. Sept. 2009. P. 130-139. National center for Educational Statistics. Fast Facts. http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=96. Retrieved 12/4/2009. NCTM. “The Equity Principle.” NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Retrieved Dec. 4, 2009. http://standards.nctm.org/document/chapter2/equity.htm.

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