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Spring/Summer 2010 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Volume 38, Number 2 13

Incorporating several forms of literacies (students’ native languages, drawing, music, and drama) can help to accelerate primary-age children’s acquisition of English literacy. Find outhow teachers facilitate the language-learning process.

Teaching English Language Learners:Recommendations for Early Childhood Educators

Sarah J. Shin

“If ESL newcomer students already know how to writein their native language, should they continue to write inthat language in the classroom?” Teachers working withyoung immigrant children frequently ask that question.

Some teachers are justifiably concerned that primary-age students who continue to use their native languageskills might hamper their acquisition of English literacy.After all, isn’t time spent in writing in the first languagetime that could have been spent writing in English?

Many other teachers agree conceptually with the notionthat supporting immigrant children’s home languages andcultures is good practice (Pattnaik, 2003; 2005). However,with increasing pressure to help English language learnersquickly acquire academic English skills—so they can besuccessful on state-mandated high-stakes tests—manyteachers wonder whether they can afford to have the“diversion” of students’ native languages in their alreadyfull instructional schedules.

Newcomer English learners are no longer exempt fromtaking standardized tests under the No Child Left BehindAct (2002), so there are enormous pressures to teach themas much English as possible as soon as possible. Teachersand schools are required to raise the test scores of theirEnglish learners and are increasingly focusing theirinstruction on the content covered by the tests (Crawford,2004; Meier & Wood, 2004). In fact, many schools areadopting scripted, one-size-fits-all curricular programs thatconsume large amounts of instructional time, leaving lesstime for best practices, including ESL and content areainstruction that is tailored to the English proficiency andliteracy levels of individual students (Wright, 2005).

This article contends that while the testing requirements

may push teachers to focus only on English, incorporatingother forms of literacies—students’ native languages,drawing, music, and drama—can help to accelerateimmigrant children’s acquisition of English literacy.

English Learner Population Growth

In the United States, English learners are a rapidlygrowing segment of the K-12 student population.According to the U.S. Department of Education, thenumber of limited-English proficient students in thecountry’s schools doubled in the last decade, with morethan 5 million English learners currently enrolled in K-12programs. In pre-kindergarten through grade 3 alone,there are more than 2 million English learners (Abedi,Hofstetter, & Lord, 2004).

While English learners can be found in every state,some states have particularly high concentrations ofimmigrant students. In Texas, for example, Latinosaccounted for almost half of the P-12 public schoolpopulation (46.3%) during the 2006-2007 school year,and 16% of the total P-12 population was identified asEnglish language learners (Sheets, 2008).

Sarah J. Shin, Ph.D., is Associate Professor and Co-Director,M.A. Program in ESOL/Bilingual Education, Department ofEducation, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland. Her work has appeared in the International Journal of Bilingualism, Bilingualism: Languageand Cognition, Multilingua, TESOL Quarterly, and the Heritage Language Journal. She serves on the editorial board ofThe International Multilingual Research Journal.

14 Volume 38, Number 2 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Spring/Summer 2010

The English learner studentpopulation is a diverse group.Although 80% of this group speaksSpanish, the rest of the grouprepresents speakers of more than 460languages (Hepburn, 2004). Meetingthe needs of this diverse studentpopulation is a significant challengebecause the majority of classroomteachers have no preparation forteaching linguistically and culturallydiverse populations (Daniel &Friedman, 2005; Hawkins, 2004).

Reading and Writingin More Than OneLanguage

Research evidence strongly suggeststhat literacy skills transfer from achild’s first language to a secondlanguage, and learning to read in thefirst language facilitates thedevelopment of literacy skills inEnglish (Cummins, 1996; Lanauze &Snow, 1989). Evaluations of various

bilingual education programs showthat instructional programs that allowimmigrant children to develop theirnative language to high levels ofproficiency while learning English aremore effective than English-onlyprograms (Garcia, 2005; Ramirez,1992; Slavin & Cheung, 2004;Thomas & Collier, 2002). On thewhole, reinforcing children’s con-ceptual base in the native languageprovides a foundation for long-termgrowth in English academic skills(August & Hakuta, 1997; August &Shanahan, 2006).

If at all possible, English learnersshould first be taught to read in thelanguage they know best (their nativelanguage) while learning English. Thisis because it is difficult for children toread in a language that they don’talready speak.

English-speaking children learn toread primarily by applying phonics toarrange sounds to match words intheir speaking vocabulary. Forexample, an English-speaking childwho comes across the word crow mayinitially read it as /kraw/ by assumingthat it is similar to other words withthe same spelling pattern (e.g., brow,cow, how, now, wow). However, anEnglish-speaking child knows that theword cannot be pronounced /kraw/because she sees the accompanyingpicture of a black bird, which sheknows is pronounced /krow/. Shethen makes the connection that thereis another set of words in English withthe -ow spelling pattern that ispronounced /ow/ (e.g., low, mow, row,tow, throw). By using her knowledge

of the oral language, the English-speaking child arrives at the correctpronunciation and meaning of the word.

However, a young English languagelearner who does not know what acrow is called in English may think/kraw/ sounds fine since he does notknow what the bird is called inEnglish. This is why phonics andsight-word instruction for Englishlearners should be based on wordsthat students have encountered manytimes. However, if the child alreadyknows Spanish and sees the wordcuervo (crow in Spanish) printed witha picture of a crow, he may recognizeand pronounce it correctly as /'kwerβo/.

Children who are literate inSpanish have already grasped two keyprinciples: the alphabetic principleand phonemic awareness.

•The alphabetic principle is the knowledge that letters represent sounds. This refersto the knowledge that the “c”in cuervo stands for the sound /k/, the “u” stands forthe sound /w/, and so on.

•Phonemic awareness is the knowledge that spoken wordsare composed of a sequence of separable phonemes. Thus,the word /'kwer o/ has six distinct phonemes, /k/, /w/,/e/, /r/, /β /, and /o/. A Spanish-speaking child who has can apply these principlesin Spanish might be better prepared to read English than a child who is puzzlingover what word is formed out of the sounds /k/, /r/, /o/, and /w/.

What can early childhood teachersdo to help English learners developnative language literacy? The surestway is for teachers to draw on the

If at all possible, English learners shouldfirst be taught to read in the language they know best (i.e., their native language) while learning English. This isbecause it is difficult for children to readin a language that they don’t alreadyspeak. English-speaking children learn toread primarily by applying phonics to ar-range sounds to match words in theirspeaking vocabulary.

Kathleen A. Martin & L. Kay Emfinger

Literacy skills transfer froma child’s first language to a

second language.


expertise of those who are alreadyliterate in those languages—parents,grandparents, siblings, and otherrelatives. Teachers can encouragefamilies to read to children in thehome language and teach theirchildren to read and write in thatlanguage (Hepburn, 2004; Shin,2005). Teachers can also urge familiesto enroll their children in weekendheritage language programs in thecommunity.

If the school has family/communityliaisons who speak students’ nativelanguages, teachers may enlist theirhelp in educating families about the

importance of dev-eloping first lang-uage literacy skillswhile learning English.In addition, comm-unity liaisons maybe able to help teachersto secure bilingualchildren’s books forclassroom use.

Furthermore,teachers can fostermultilingual sens-itivity of all studentsby integrating diverselanguage materialsin their daily teachingpractices. For example,English learners andEnglish speakers canbe grouped togetherto investigate thewriting conventions of Englishlanguage learners’ native languages.Students can find out whether alanguage is alphabetic (e.g., English,Spanish, Korean), syllabic (e.g.,Japanese), or logographic (e.g.,Chinese), and whether it is writtenfrom left to right, from right to left,or top to bottom (Crystal, 1997).

Children’s books in students’native languages may also be shared.This activity is a great multilinguallesson for all students, and isespecially empowering for Englishlearners who play the role of expertson pronunciation and vocabulary, forexample. This technique is veryappropriate for students in the earlyelementary grades whose readingskills are rapidly developing.

In addition, teachers can displayclassroom signs and messages invarious languages, and learn to sayand write simple greetings andphrases such as “Hello” and “Thank

you” in each language. This sends astrong signal to immigrant studentsthat their languages and cultures arenot simply tolerated in school but areactively valued (Shin, 2007). Asstudents realize that their teachers arelanguage learners, too, and make lotsof errors in learning how to say simplethings, children are likely to havemore positive views of their ownEnglish language learning efforts.

Developing Oral Proficiency in English

As teachers encourage immigrantchildren to develop native languageliteracy skills through home- andcommunity-based efforts, they canalso create a classroom environmentin which English learners can bestacquire spoken English, which iscritical for their acquisition of literacyskills. Mainstream teachers andEnglish-speaking peers play a vital role

How can early childhoodteachers help English learners develop native language literacy?

◆ Encourage family members to read to children in the home language and teach their children to read and write in that language.

◆ Urge families to enroll their children in the community’s weekend heritage language programs.

◆ Enlist the help of family/community liaisons who speak students’ native languages.

◆ Integrate diverse language materials in the classroom.

◆ Group English learners and English speakers together to investigate topics of mutual interest.

◆ Share children’s books in students’ native languages. English learners can play the role of experts in pronunciationand vocabulary.

◆ Display classroom signs and messages in various languages.

◆ Learn to say and write simple greetings and phrases such as “Hello” and “Thank you” in each language.


What can early childhood teachers do to help English learnersdevelop native language literacy? The surest way is for teachersto draw on the expertise of those who are already literate inthose languages—parents, grandparents, siblings, and relatives. Teachers can encourage families to read books in thehome language and teach their children to read and write inthat language.


in helping immigrant childrendevelop oral proficiency in English bymodeling academically and sociallyappropriate language use in variousschool contexts. In general, well-informed teachers provide plenty ofopportunities for English learners tohear comprehensible English, and toread, write, and speak English in ameaningful way (Garcia, 2005).Teachers can make their English morecomprehensible by

•adjusting their speech (slow-ing down, paraphrasing, giv-ing examples, and asking questions),

•using somewhat exaggerated gestures and facial expressions,

•pointing to pictures or showing objects when explaining concepts.

To promote social interaction,teachers can use a variety of groupingconfigurations, including whole class,small groups, and pairs to providestudents with frequent opportunitiesto talk with one other and receive helpif necessary (Echevarria, Vogt, &Short, 2004).

For non-English speaking new-comers, teachers may arrange groupactivities that encourage nonverbalparticipation. For example, if a groupis working on a mural, the newcomermight draw or color a picture whileother group members may do thebulk of the writing. This way, theEnglish learner contributes actively tothe group project while interactingthrough context-specific oral English.

Most English learners go througha period of silence in the classroom(Igoa, 1995). The length of silentperiod varies from child to child—itmay range from a few weeks to severalmonths depending on the languageproficiency and personality of the

child. While there is a great deal ofindividual variation in how quicklyEnglish learners start speaking inEnglish, remember that children aremore likely to speak when the talk ismeaningful and useful.

One way to make classroom talkmeaningful is to encourage informalcollaboration in activity centers byoffering various games, interactivelearning tools, and props. Activitycenters enable children to performhands-on tasks in small groups anddevelop functional language in a low-stress environment, both of which areconducive to language acquisition forlearners of all ages (Krashen, 1982).

Poetry and songs are a great way tofacilitate oral language developmentof English learners (Peregoy & Boyle,2001; Weed & Ford, 1999). Providesong lyrics and poems accompaniedby pictures for students to keep intheir personal poetry and song books.

First, read the poem aloud, modelingnot only pronunciation but alsodramatic stress and intonation. Thenstudents read the poem chorally andact it out in pairs or groups.

A great example of a multilingualvariation is including diverse languagetranslations of songs in English thatare familiar to children. Teachers canplay a recording or have a bilingualassistant or volunteer sing the songwhile the children sing along with thehelp of a phonetic transcription. Thisenables students to appreciate thesounds and rhythm of anotherlanguage sung to a familiar tune.

Scaffold Reading Instruction for EnglishLearners

Like English-speaking children,English learners benefit from a print-rich environment that provides a largenumber of different reading ex-periences—reading aloud, sharedreading of predictable big books, aswell as guided and independentreading. Expose English learners of all

Figure 1. Sample content web to organize what students are learning

Poetry and songs facilitateoral language development.


ages to a wide range of children’sliterature including alphabet books,picture books, pattern books, conceptbooks, bilingual books, multiculturalbooks, and fairy tales, as well asteacher- and student-written andillustrated books.

When reading aloud to students,teachers can facilitate comprehensionby stopping at various points in thebook to discuss an illustration or toreview the plot. Teachers may also askcomprehension questions and askstudents to predict what mighthappen next in the story. Use puppetsto encourage children to focus and fordramatic effects.

English learners usually need moretime to formulate their responsesorally in English, so wait longer beforeprompting them to answer a question.On occasion, English speakers mightoffer their answers first as a way tomodel the language and format ofacceptable responses for Englishlearners. In addition, repeatedexposure to a text is always helpful toEnglish learners, so multiple readingsare encouraged.

There are several ways to scaffoldreading instruction for Englishlearners. One way is to pre-teach keyvocabulary by selecting words that arecritical for understanding the text.Provide a variety of tools such as wordwalls, personal dictionaries, andmnemonic strategies to help studentsto recognize and use the words(Echevarria et al., 2004).

English learners particularly benefitfrom learning vocabulary in thematicsets. For example, if the word auntappears in a text, teach thematicallyrelated words such as uncle, cousin,nephew, niece, brother, and sisterbecause they are often used together.

English learners also acquire basicvocabulary through repeated exposureto print during regular learning eventssuch as morning message, circle time,journal time, and writing workshop(Peregoy & Boyle, 2001). Thesemaintain the same predictable str-ucture and provide repetition offamiliar language that is conducive tovocabulary learning.

To make reading meaningful, selectbooks about experiences that arefamiliar to children. This helps toactivate students’ prior knowledgeabout a given topic before the text isintroduced. Multicultural literaturethat is written by and about membersof specific ethnic groups can offerstories and feelings that are en- gaging and directly accessible toimmigrant children.

In addition, bilingual books andbooks in English that are translatedinto other languages can boost readingcomprehension because they helpstudents transfer their understandingof the content from one language intoanother. For example, Shel Silverstein’sThe Giving Tree has been translatedinto more than 30 different languages.The different translations can be usedin group or whole-class reading sochildren of different languagebackgrounds can appreciate theirpeers’ as well as their own language(s)while learning English.

Graphic organizers used before andafter reading are useful for introducingspecific vocabulary and activatingstudents’ prior knowledge. Creatingcontent webs (see Figure 1) helpsreaders organize information whenthe text contains many details.Teachers stimulate students’ interestand teach new vocabulary as theyconstruct the web with students,using key words and connecting

Ways to Scaffold Reading Instruction for English Learners

◆ Establish a print-rich environmentwith many different reading experiences—reading aloud, shared reading of predictable big books, as well as guided and independent reading.

◆ Provide a wide range of children’s literature including alphabet books, picture books, pattern books, concept books, bilingual books, multicultural books, and fairy tales, as well as teacher- and student-written and illustrated books. Read them more than once.

◆ When reading aloud to students, facilitate comprehension by stopping at various points in the book to discuss an illustration or to review the plot. Ask comprehension questions. Ask students to predict what might happen next in the story. Tell stories with puppets.

◆ Pre-teach key vocabulary by selecting words that are critical for understanding the text. Provide a variety of tools such asword walls, personal dictionaries,and mnemonic strategies to help students recognize and use the words.

◆ Teach vocabulary in thematic sets.For example, if the word auntappears in a text, teach themati-cally related words such as uncle, cousin, nephew, niece, brother, and sister.

◆ Offer repeated exposure to print during regular learning events such as morning message, circle time, journal time, and writing workshop.

◆ Select books about experiences that are familiar to children. This helps to activate students’ prior knowledge about a given topic before the text is introduced.

◆ Choose bilingual books and books in English that are translat-ed into other languages to boost reading comprehension.

◆ Use graphic organizers before and after reading. Webs help readers organize information when the text contains many details.


students’ prior experiences to them.After reading the text, students canadd information to the web and goback to the text to add or clarifyimportant details. Graphic organizerssuch as webs, charts, and personaldictionaries can help English languagelearners at all levels.

Incorporate MultipleModes of Literacy inWriting

If newcomers already know how toread and write in their nativelanguages, teachers are urged to allowthem to write in that language first asa way of getting their ideas recordedon paper (Igoa, 1995; Weed & Ford,1999). After children have had theopportunity to write down some of their ideas, they can translate the

text into Englishwith the help of abilingual classmateor an instructionalassistant.

If a child speakssome English but isnot able to write it,suggest that thestudent dictate thestory to an adult orolder student. Theteacher can sharethe dictation withthe student to helpthe child make theconnection betweenspeech and print.Have the studentcopy the text (as away of gettingfurther practice withwriting and spelling)and illustrate thestory. Then thestudent can read

the story aloud for classmates. In addition to encouraging children

to express their ideas in their nativelanguages as well as in English,enhance the teaching of writing byincorporating non-textual media suchas drawing or sculpture, music, anddrama to facilitate literacy acquisition.The following steps, suggested byWeed & Ford (1999), enable Englishlearners to respond to literaturethrough multiple modes of literacyincluding art and oral discussion:

•read and/or hear a story •think and draw (or craft orsculpt)

•discuss drawing in a group (inthe native language and En-glish)

•draft (in the native language and English)

•conference and revise (in English)•present and publish (in English)

What is useful about this process isthat it allows English learners to firstrespond to text by thinking aboutrepresenting visually what theyunderstood from it before doing anywriting. Children then discuss theirdrawings, puppets, or other 3-Drepresentations in small groups ofclassmates who speak the same firstlanguage so that discussion in boththe children’s native language and inEnglish can take place.

Children then write one or twosentences about their representationalwork based on feedback from thegroup (in the native language andEnglish). They write a first draft (inthe native language and English)based on the sentences generated fromtheir group discussion. Students thenconference with a peer or the teacher,revise their drafts, and present thefinal art and writing in English. Theymight read their materials byalternating readers, act out their ideasin a short play, or present their writingin a newscast script format, forexample. These steps help reduceEnglish learners’ anxiety about writingby providing students with ampleopportunities to think, create, talk,listen, rewrite, and present.

One of the best ways to helpEnglish learners to write in English isan interactive dialogue journal, awritten conversation between teacherand student (Peyton & Staton, 1993).A sample dialogue journal is shown in Figure 2.


In addition to encouraging children to express their ideas intheir native languages as well as in English, enhance the teaching of writing by incorporating non-textual media such as drawing or sculpture, music, and drama to facilitateliteracy acquisition.

Write interactive dialoguejournals.


Usually, a student writes on a topicthat is either self-selected or teacher-generated, to which the teacherresponds in writing with a commentor question that invites furtherconversation. In their responses,teachers do not correct language errorsexplicitly, but model written languageconventions by incorporating andexpanding on the student’s writing.Done regularly, the dialogue journalencourages English learners topractice writing in English withoutoverly worrying about mistakes, andto learn new vocabulary, grammar,spelling, and idioms that are the basisfor further literacy development.

* * *In this era of high-stakes testing,

teachers are under enormous pressuresto ensure that English learners’ makeadequate yearly progress in Englishlanguage proficiency and academiccontent knowledge. Because Englishlearners are tested in English, manyteachers believe that teaching mainlyin English is the only way to helpthem learn English quickly.

However, English language learnerswho are already proficient in anotherlanguage should not have to leavetheir language at the door beforeentering school. Just as art, music, anddrama are alternative means ofexpressing one’s meanings and cancontribute to developing literacy skillsin English, immigrant children’s nativelanguages are a valuable resource andcan facilitate acquisition of English ifthey are actively validated and used.

ReferencesAbedi, J., Hofstetter, C.H., & Lord, C.

(2004). Assessment accommodations forEnglish-language learners: Implicationsfor policy-based empirical research. Re-view of Educational Research, 74(1): 1–28.

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August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2006).Developing literacy in second languagelearners: Report of the National LiteracyPanel on language-minority children andyouth. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

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Echevarria, J.M., Vogt, M.J., & Short, D.J.(2004). Making content comprehensiblefor English learners: The SIOP Model(2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Figure 2: Sample dialogue journal showing an exchange between student and teacher


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Put These Ideas Into Practice!

Teaching English Language Learners:Recommendations for Early Childhood Educators

Sarah J. Shin

Note: Dimensions of Early Childhood readers are encouraged to copy this material for early childhood students as well as teachers of young children as a professional development tool.

What can families do?What can families do?• Read to children in their home language.• Teach children to read and write in their home language. • Enroll their children in local heritage language programs.

Scaffold reading instruction for English learners• Establish a print-rich environment, including morning message, circle time, journal time, and writing workshop.• Select books about familiar experiences. Include teacher- and student-written and illustrated books.• Read bilingual books and books in English that are translated into other languages.• Offer reading aloud, and predictable big books, as well as guided and independent reading.• Tell stories with puppets. Use poetry and music. Incorporate drama and drawing.• When reading aloud, stop to discuss an illustration or the plot. Ask comprehension questions. Ask students to predict what

might happen next. Give English learners more time to answer. • Create content webs before and after reading.

English Language Learners…• transfer skills from their first language to the second language. • are more comfortable in classrooms that actively celebrate their languages and cultures.• typically go through a period of silence. They are more likely to speak if conversations are meaningful and useful.

Help English learners develop literacy • Incorporate diverse language materials: books, signs, messages.• Read children’s books in students’ native languages. • Learn to say and write phrases such as “Hello” and “Thank you” in each language. • Group English learners and English speakers together.• Encourage English learners to read in their native language.


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