Elementary Physical Education Teachers’ Experiences in Teaching English Language Learners

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to describe and explain the views on teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) held by six elementary physical education (PE) teachers in the Midwest region of the United States. Situated in positioning theory, the research approach was descriptive–qualitative. The primary sources of data were face-to-face interviews, and the transcript data were analyzed using NVivo 8 software and constant comparative method. The recurrent themes that emerged from the data were as follows: (a) pedagogical challenges; (b) traumatized; (c) irritations, frustrations, and expectations; and (d) cultural dissonance. These themes reflect the teachers’ positioning that teaching ELLs is difficult and complicated. There is pressing need for PE teacher candidates and practicing teachers to receive professional preparation and development training in implementing culturally and ethnolinguistically relevant pedagogies effectively.

Keywords

physical education English language learners positioning theory experiences elementary schools

Introduction

It is well known that public schools in the United States have become more diverse (Jackson, 1993). In 2009, McGlynn reported that the enrollment of English Language Leaners (ELLs) over the previous decade had increased at a rate of 57%, compared with an increase for less than 4% of all other students in K-12 public schools in the United States. Interestingly, 75% of ELLs in public elementary schools were born in the United States (McGlynn, 2009). Nevertheless, family members of these students tend to speak languages other than English at home (Ohio Department of Education, 2010), and many come from poor families with parents who are not fluent in English (Fix & Capps, 2005). Most teachers believe that speaking an ELL’s native language at home inhibits English language development (Karabenick & Clemens Noda, 2004). It is also troubling that ELLs are not always served well by the public school system (McGlynn, 2009). Between 1991 and 2001, the proportion of teachers who taught at least one ELL nearly tripled from 15% to 43% of all teachers (Zehler et al., 2003). Yet, only 12.5% of these teachers received more than 8 hr of professional development training (e.g., workshops) focused on teaching ELLs (National Center for Education Statistics, 2002).

Ernst-Slavit and Mason (2011) have asserted that the meaning of technical phrases in physical education (PE), such as object control and locomotor skills, is easily understood by most English-speaking elementary-age students, but is much more difficult for their ELL peers. Communication differences may have negative implications for teachers and ELLs in PE environments (Burden, Columna, Hodge, & Martínez de la Vega Mansilla, 2013; Columna, Foley, & Lytle, 2010; Columna & Lieberman, 2011; Lieberman, Columna, Martinez de la Vega, & Taylor, 2010). Language differences are key factors in the gap in academic achievement between English-speaking students and ELLs (Wong Fillmore, 2004). Many elementary ELLs perform poorly because they cannot handle the unique linguistic demands in various subject areas (e.g., PE, English, and mathematics).

During 2006-2007, there were more than 35,000 ELLs enrolled in elementary and secondary public schools in Ohio. This represents a drastic increase of 68% in the last 5 years and 182% in the last 10 years (Ohio Department of Education, 2010). Ohio’s ELLs speak more than 110 different native or home languages (Ohio Department of Education, 2010). They deserve to receive appropriate instruction, yet this is problematic because “many ELLs spend their school day with local children and students in the classrooms in which many teachers have little or no training in the differential learning and developmental needs” (Herrera & Murray, 2005, p. 6). It has been argued that inadequate professional preparation to address language differences has negative implications for PE teachers and their ELLs (Burden et al., 2013; Columna et al., 2010; Columna & Lieberman, 2011; Lieberman et al., 2010), so it is important to gain an understanding of the problems facing these students and their teachers and how to solve them.

Purpose and Theoretical Framework

The purpose of this study was to describe and explain certain elementary PE teachers’ views about teaching ELLs. The research questions guiding the study were as follows:

Research Question 1: How do PE teachers position themselves in teaching ELLs in elementary schools?

Research Question 2: What are PE teachers’ experiences in teaching ELLs in elementary schools?

Positioning Theory

This study is grounded in positioning theory (Harré & van Langenhove, 1999). Positioning theory is a theory of social behavior that explains the fluid patterns of dynamic and changing assignments of rights and duties among groups of social actors (Varela & Harré, 1996). The term positioning means to analyze interpersonal encounters from a discursive viewpoint (Hollway, 1984). This framework allows researchers to explore the capacity of teachers to position themselves and, in this case, to describe how teachers negotiate and implement PE curricula with ELLs and English-speaking students. Positioning theory helps us understand what the PE teachers in this study might or might not do based on their experiences, which influence their thoughts, feelings, and perceptions about teaching students from culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse backgrounds, especially ELLs. In the current study, we examined PE teachers’ views about teaching ELLs.

Reflective positioning

One perspective of positioning theory is intentional self-positioning (Yoon, 2008). Davis and Harré (1990) use the term reflective positioning to explain how teachers position their own values and actions, and they explain that teachers view the world from a certain conscious position. Teachers’ reflective positions shape how they perform their roles, assignments, and duties in education (Yoon, 2008). For example, PE teachers may use patterns of reflection (e.g., conversation or journal reflections) that fit between themselves and ELLs in their classrooms (Jones, 1997). As teachers participate in diverse discourses, they must combine different positions and roles as being teachers, facilitators, or helpers (Jones, 1997). Although, they might consciously understand that they play various roles when teaching or working with ELLs, they may unintentionally position ELLs in their classes as isolated and powerless learners, which may lead to negative consequences (Yoon, 2008). They may think of themselves as either effective or ineffective teachers, yet the ELLs might view them differently. Teachers’ reflectivity is determined by “indexing one’s statements with the point of view one has on its relevant world” (Harré & van Langenhove, 1999, p. 62). This means that teachers’ experiences and backgrounds influence their positioning (beliefs and thinking) and, in turn, their actions in teaching (Yoon, 2008).

Interactive Positioning

According to Davis and Harré (1990), interactive positioning is “how one person positions another” (p. 48). Teachers’ positioning limits or extends what they can say or do (Adams & Harré, 2001) and inhibits or provides a choice of speaking forms, actions, and thoughts (Harré & van Langenhove, 1999). Interactive positioning helps identify teachers’ positioning based on interaction among the teachers’ themselves, ELLs, and other students (e.g., students who are native speakers of English) in PE. More specifically, it explains teachers’ decision-making processes (e.g., how PE teachers choose teaching techniques, lesson content, or materials—handouts or task cards) that contribute to positive academic and social experiences for ELLs or lead to cultural dissonance. Cultural dissonance may erupt from tension between conflicting values or norms on the part of the teacher and student(s). In such cases, a teacher may reject or accept students as a function of the teacher’s positioning (Harré & Moghaddam, 2003). Through their pedagogical approaches, teachers intentionally or unintentionally position ELLs in more positive or negative ways (Yoon, 2008). Some teachers are not aware of how to make accommodations for ELLs and use references to American popular culture that might be foreign to ELLs (Yoon, 2008). Howie (1999) asserts that “teachers’ positive actions in response to needs” (p. 58) are crucial in teaching ELLs.

Method

Research Method

The research method was descriptive–qualitative, using in-depth interviewing (Seidman, 1998). Qualitative studies typically focus “in depth on relatively small samples, even single cases (n = 1), selected purposefully” (Patton, 2002, p. 169). We used the interviewing method to question PE teachers about their experiences in teaching ELLs. Interviewing is undoubtedly a powerful way to gain insights into educational and social phenomena experienced by individuals in educational contexts (Seidman, 1998). Interviews are unique in that participants allow the researcher “to acquire data not obtainable in any other way”(Gay, 1996, p. 223). There are certain things that simply cannot be observed, including (but not limited to) a teacher’s past experiences, events that occur outside of the researcher’s sphere of observation (e.g., a teacher’s reflection on and recall of past events), and mental processes (e.g., a teacher’s views on teaching ELLs). This study used face-to-face interviews as a medium for the PE teachers to reflect on and speak about specific situations associated with teaching ELLs.

Research Sites and Participants

The research sites for this study were determined by identifying and selecting PE teachers in public elementary school districts in northeast Ohio who taught ELLs. In the fall of 2010, approval to conduct this study was granted by the Institutional Review Board at the lead researcher’s institution. The researchers contacted eight school districts in Ohio, seeking PE teachers who taught ELLs in elementary schools. After receiving approval from each school district, the lead researcher received lists of PE teachers of ELLs. A total of 10 PE teachers were identified. The lead researcher explained pertinent information about the study to these teachers by telephone and e-mail correspondence. Six of them voluntarily agreed to participate in the study, and pseudonyms were used to identify them. They were all White Americans. Five participants were female (Mrs. King, Mrs. Holms, Mrs. Conway, Mrs. Hall, and Mrs. Bowen) and one was male (Mr. Young). Their teaching experience ranged from 1 to 27 years (Table 1). There was large variability in the number of ELLs they taught at their respective schools with a range of 10 to 150 students per year. None of these teachers were bilingual. Two teachers, Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Bowen, did receive ELL assistants when they requested this help.

Table 1.

Physical Education Teachers’ Demographic Data.

Pseudonym	School	Years	Gender	Number	Assistance
Mrs. Bowen	Conrad Elementary School	15	Female	10	Yes
Mrs. Conway	William Elementary School	3	Female	10	Yes
Mrs. Hall	Duke Elementary School	1	Female	150	No
Mrs. Holms	Gordon Elementary School	27	Female	35-40	No
Mrs. King	Hill Elementary School	12	Female	40	No
Mr. Young	Duke Elementary School	12	Male	150	No

Note. Assistance = teacher received assistance for working with ELLs; ELL = English Language Learner; Number = approximate number of ELLs taught per year; Years = number of years of teaching experience.

Demographic Questionnaire

The survey scale titled, English as Second Language Students in Mainstream Classroom (Reeves, 2002, 2006), was modified (e.g., the term Second Language Students was changed to ELL) and used to collect descriptive data on the participants. This instrument is designed to assess teachers’ experiences in teaching ELLs. It consists of three sections: (a) teachers’ level of agreement or disagreement in teaching ELLs, (b) teaching behaviors, and (c) benefits and challenges of teaching ELLs (Reeves, 2002, 2006).

Face-to-Face Interviews

Using the face-to-face interview approach, the researcher asked participants factual questions as well as their opinions about people, places, and events associated with their experiences teaching ELLs in PE. Each participant was interviewed at his or her respective school. Each face-to-face interview took approximately 120 min to complete. Originally developed by Reeves (2002), the 15-question interview was modified based on results of a pilot test. The questions asked about the PE teachers’ experiences and views in teaching ELLs in PE.

E-mail Follow-Ups

E-mail messages were used to ask follow-up questions and/or to seek clarification of previous responses (Meho, 2006). When there was a need to clarify the contents of the interviews in written format, the researcher and graduate students asked each participant to respond by e-mail.

Data Reduction, Analysis, and Trustworthiness

The researcher first prepared the data by transcribing the audio-taped interviews. Then, the researcher and two graduate students conducted data coding analysis using the NVivo 8 qualitative data analysis software (QSR, 2010) to synthesize and code all the material related to a particular topic or theme. We also listened to each audio-taped interview while reading along with the transcript to check for accuracy, and corrections were made as needed. To reduce and analyze the transcribed data, the constant comparative method was used (Merriam, 1998). In brief, the researcher and graduate students examined the transcripts for units of meaning (Lincoln & Guba, 1986). These coded units of meaning were deemed to represent common thematic threads (categories). The data categories were then shared among the researcher and graduate students to identify and analyze recurrent themes across cases. Theme agreement was reached by examining and re-examining the data and engaging in dialogue about the data and our interpretations. Thematic narratives were developed and agreed upon, with direct quotes to illustrate the themes (Manning & Cullum-Swan, 1994). The researchers used member checking and peer debriefing strategies to establish the trustworthiness of the findings (Yin, 2003). Member checking was used for verification purposes.

Results

Four major interrelated and complex themes emerged from the data. They were (a) pedagogical challenges; (b) traumatized; (c) irritations, frustrations, and expectations; and (d) cultural dissonance. The teachers’ experiences were positioned accordingly. These themes and subthemes are discussed below in narrative form, with quotes from the participants.

Theme 1: Pedagogical Challenges

This theme exposes the challenges experienced by the participants in teaching PE content and concepts to ELLs. All six teachers regarded their pedagogy as challenged when instructing ELLs in content and concepts (e.g., hopping, skipping) common to PE instruction. The ELLs commonly had difficulty speaking, writing, and reading in class; to aid their learning, the teachers used various instructional methods (modeling, demonstrations, and hand and body gestures). This helped overcome the language barriers and engage ELLs’ past experiences and concepts of PE content terminology.

Language and concepts

The ELLs’ language differences manifested as learning difficulties. Mr. Young and Mrs. Bowen felt that terminology specific to content regarding motor skills was especially difficult for ELLs to understand, because of linguistic differences. These PE concepts and practices do not match the learning and problem-solving styles and processes of ELLs. The ELLs showed a lack of interest in PE. Mrs. Conway said that they presented different challenges, including linguistic and cultural barriers in teaching locomotor (e.g., skipping, galloping, or hopping) and non-locomotor skills. Mr. Young asserted that ELLs’ native cultures and heritages do not emphasize the importance of motor skills.

Motor skills . . . loco-motor skills. If I get a kid and I see a Middle Eastern background and he is not able to skip, is not able to gallop, does not know what skipping or galloping is. I can pull 10 of ELLs here and they do not know what skipping is. It is something that is not important to their heritage. (Mr. Young, Interview)

Mr. Young faced dilemmas about disrespecting ELLs’ cultural norms when emphasizing some benefits of physical activities to ELLs. Mrs. Bowen shared her experiences when she explained gymnastic routines to ELLs.

I had to create a gymnastics routine. I really struggled to develop gymnastic routine, because I had to use tactical words when I explained. I tried to translate the words with English as second language teacher. I found some words, but not all of them. There are two different barriers of languages and culture. When I found tactical words in ELLs’ native languages, it does not mean that ELL students understand the concepts of tactical words I want them to understand. That caused safety issue, just making sure they are able to understand what they need out of the content and out of the curriculum. (Mrs. Bowen, Interview)

Mrs. Bowen explained that linguistic differences in gymnastic routines strongly related to the safety concerns of ELLs. She said that all ELLs needed to understand every single detail of gymnastic content. However, Mrs. Bowen found that it was time-consuming to prepare materials to help ELLs overcome language differences with respect to gymnastic routines and tactics. She said that ELLs are a part of student population and she had to take care of other students as well. She struggled to treat ELLs and other PE students equitably.

Modeling

Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Bowers, Mr. Young, Mrs. King, and Mrs. Conway believed that their ELLs were trying to emulate other English-speaking students’ motor skills to earn their good grades in PE. Therefore, they did not exhibit intrinsic motivation. These teachers frequently observed such emulation behaviors in PE. They believe that emulation is one means of scaffolding for independent learners. The ELLs paid further attention to re-presenting physical activities such as dialogue (what is happening), narrative and reports (what has happened), generalization (what happens), and transformation (what may happen). However, these participants did not observe any practice and application phases of scaffolding.

They are the kids (ELLs) who are kind of sitting there listening to what you are saying, but kind of not hearing what you are saying. It is a huge language barrier. It is tough, you explain five minutes of instruction and then you say go and they are the kid who looks around and models just what everybody else is doing. They don’t really know what they are doing or supposed to be doing but whatever the group is doing, they are into it. ELLs did not show any practice and application of their learning experiences. I am absolutely sure that when they stop taking PE, they would not practice motor skills at their homes. (Mrs. Hall, Interview)

Mrs. Conway believed that many PE teachers panicked when teaching ELLs. She could not explain her lesson materials to ELLs. She shared her first experience of teaching PE to ELLs:

The first time, going through my mind was Oh my goodness, what do I do with ELLs. I just talked and didn’t have any English speaking students do modeling or demonstration for ELLs. I did all the modeling. I split the students into different stations and assigned the students to complete tasks. ELLs were completely lost. (Mrs. Conway, Interview)

Theme 2: Traumatized

This theme captures how some students had been traumatized during previous life experiences. Five teachers (Mrs. King, Mrs. Holms, Mrs. Conway, Mr. Young, and Mrs. Hall) felt that several ELLs were afraid of students’ and teachers’ voice echoes, noises, and lights in the gym, so they stressed the safety of the PE setting before students participated in activities. This was particularly important, because several ELLs were refugees who previously had life-threatening experiences and encountered persecution on account of their race, religion, nationality, or political views.

Noise and echoes

Mrs. Holms, Mr. Young, Mrs. Hall, and Mrs. King had several ELLs who suffered from war-related traumas. For example, Mrs. Holms taught a boy who had lost his left leg when he stepped on a mining cluster bomb. He was afraid and frightened by excessive echoes or noises of other voices or activity-related noises (e.g., dribbling basketballs or kicking soccer balls).

There was a boy who stepped on a mining cluster bomb and had a partial leg. He was very afraid of hearing noises and echoes in the gym. I am trying not to make echoes, but it is difficult to adjust. He was also very afraid of lights of gym. He had life threatening experiences . . . (Mrs. Holms, Interview)

Mrs. Holms was shocked and saddened that her ELL had faced such a tragic incident in the past. She thought it was better that this ELL enrolled in adapted PE classes, because ELLs’ traumatic encounters are considered a mental disability. She would like to offer this option to him and his family in future. Mrs. Hall also noted that some ELLs with refugee status were afraid not only of noises and echoes but also of some equipment.

Some ELLs were afraid of noises and echoes, and equipment. It is a different environment, big gym, echoes. Maybe they have never experienced hardwood floor before. This is a cultural thing. Big lights, balls flying whatever they are doing, ELLs become anxious. They were afraid of the noises. (Mrs. Hall, Interview)

Establishing safety

Mrs. King, Mrs. Conway, Mr. Young, and Mrs. Holms all stated that the ELLs sought safe spots during their classes. Those with refugee status were afraid of objects (e.g., balls) moving around them. Using the Internet, Mrs. King studied post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and concluded that some ELLs exhibited common signs and symptoms of this condition.

My ELLs were angry when they were not able to create the safe environment. For example, they struggled to play modified basketball games (passing and shooting). They always tried to find safe spots such as corners or sidelines of basketball court, because they were afraid of someone coming from behind. Almost they could not participate in the game. They were so afraid of teammates’ loud communication (hey!! or give me the ball!!) and screams when teams scored. I studied about PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). I know my ELLs are not officially diagnosed, but I found common symptoms from PTSD related websites. (Mrs. King, Interview)

Mr. Young also shared information about his ELLs who had traumatic war encounters. He said that

My ELLs were anxious when they had conversations with male adults including myself.

Before they came, adults especially males around ELLs taught them how to protect themselves from wars. They did not have good male role model and could not trust any males in their countries. Here too. Probably, when they established the safe environment, they talked to female teachers. They know that females do not teach how to use weapons . . . (Mr. Young, Interview)

Mr. Young mentioned that when the ELLs felt comfortable and safe, they had conversations with female teachers. He thought that he should ask female classroom teachers who could assist the ELLs in PE. When he did not receive any support from female teachers, he sought female volunteers or teacher aides to become the students’ partners or conversation partners. Mr. Young noted that ELLs’ traumatic symptoms were depending on ELLs’ living environment, family structures, and religious beliefs.

Theme 3: Irritation, Frustrations, and Expectations

This theme exposes the fact that the PE teachers were irritated with themselves and ELLs in PE. All six participants (Mr. Young, Mrs. Bowen, Mrs. Conway, Mrs. Holms, Mrs. King, and Mrs. Hall) were irritated when teaching the ELLs, because the ELLs were failing to meet the teachers’ expectations. All of these PE teachers were also frustrated at their own inability to overcome communication barriers with the ELLs. They admitted that they could not prepare every single detail of lesson plans and instructions in a way that would avoid miscommunication and confusion in PE. They openly discussed their rights, duties, and obligations as PE teachers. Although they were frustrated at teaching ELLs in PE (e.g., ELLs’ assignments did not meet PE teachers’ expectations in certain desired ways), the teachers attempted to overcome the language barriers and supported the ELLs’ academic achievement in PE.

Frustration

These six PE teachers positioned themselves as highly qualified PE teachers who developed their lesson plans to meet state PE standards and benchmarks. They believed that all ELLs must successfully complete their goals and lesson objectives, and they were extremely frustrated when the ELLs failed to meet their expectations. As a result, they spent a lot of time and effort in developing detailed lesson plans for their ELLs. Mrs. Conway commented as follows:

I am frustrated when I plan lessons and meet state standard benchmarks. That is difficult. I did not understand ELLs’ academic backgrounds especially what they can or cannot do in the class. I could not assess ELLs’ motor skills before planning lessons. I have high expectations for all students. I did not want to treat students differently. You know what I mean. I feel so frustrated when ELLs did not meet my expectations. For example, I created questions of an Indiana Jones game (stationary activities). If I give assignments to answer the following questions: “How can we change this game?” “Adapt it to what we have at home?” I am not sure how many ELLs can respond to the questions. I struggled to create inclusive lessons that all students can meet at least 80% of success rates. Maybe I have to study new teaching technique. (Mrs. Conway, Interview)

Mrs. Conway repositioned herself by exploring new understandings that led to new teaching techniques (e.g., modification of instructions, co-teaching with English as Second Language [ESL] teachers). She felt that the communication barrier placed her in uncertain positions where the teacher and ELLs might not construct the same or similar views about the lessons.

Exclusion

Mr. Young, Mrs. Bowen, Mrs. Conway, Mrs. Holms, and Mrs. King were concerned that their ELLs might feel like uninvited guests in PE, because their teachers and/or English-speaking schoolmates might marginalize and isolate them. PE teachers may unintentionally exclude ELLs because the planned lessons were not culturally relevant or helpful to the ELLs. Mrs. Bowen, Mrs. Conway, Mr. Young, and Mrs. King admitted that their ELLs noticed that they were panicked on the first day they met. Mrs. King shared her experiences:

I remember panicking, and feeling so sad for him. The boy cried every day. We were on Google to look up words, flashcards, sight words, color cards, up, down, left, and right. Anything he could do in here. My thought with him was that I was sad for him. I wanted him to feel safe. I was so sad, that I couldn’t talk to him. We only had him a half of a year and then he moved to the next building. I don’t know what happened to him. (Mrs. King, Interview)

Mrs. King also explained that the word “content” has different meaning for teachers and ELLs. She believed that it is important to share the meaning of the word between teachers and ELLs. Mr. Young suggested his views that without knowing ELLs’ culture and backgrounds, it is more difficult to communicate with ELLs, which might cause closed engagement between teachers and ELLs.

I see teachers struggle here every day that get so frustrated with the language barriers. I am getting into ELLs because my experience of learning English has directed them to getting in this path they are taking. Many PE teachers struggled to teach ELLs and local students together. (Mr. Young, Interview)

Theme 4: Cultural Dissonance

This theme captures the existence of cultural dissonance between the culture of the ELLs and their families, and that of the PE programs and American schools. Cultural dissonance occurred in those instances where the ELLs felt they were behaving appropriately based on their cultural norms and upbringing, but the teachers interpreted and responded to that behavior as being inappropriate. In general, cultural dissonance represents cultural gaps between the ELL and teacher that often occur because the teachers and ELLs were from different cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. This type of dissonance can lead to future problem behaviors. In the current study, cultural dissonance was a common phenomenon experienced by the teachers and their ELLs. For example, Mrs. Bowen, Mrs. Conway, Mrs. Hall, Mrs. King, and Mrs. Holms were targets of disrespectful comments by parents of ELLs from Middle Eastern countries. Many parents did not support the participation of their child (especially females) in PE, because the parents were afraid that PE might transgress their cultural, gender, and religious collective and cooperative values of their families.

Gender

The teachers found that parents of male ELLs from Middle Eastern countries prefer male PE teachers over female PE teachers. Parents of female ELLs from the Middle East prefer that their daughters do not participate in any PE courses, regardless of whether the PE teacher is male or female.

Gender . . . Sometimes with the Muslim students, I have seen that Muslim boys do not respect female PE teachers. Their parents told them “do not participate in PE” I have double jeopardy PE teacher and female. In their culture, they don’t respect women, I have seen it there. My ELLs from Middle East ignored me and gave me strange looks. I feel sad. (Mrs. King, Interview)

Mrs. King perceived that parents believed that Muslim girls should receive appropriate training in family and cultural values. She also believed that these girls did not transgress from their religious, cultural, and gender norms as a consequence of their interaction with women PE teachers. The parents wanted their girls to avoid assimilating or infusing American gender norms. Female ELLs were forced to be positioned in cultural discontinuities, which turn into appropriate or inappropriate social behaviors (e.g., participating in or absence from sport and physical activities with male students). Mrs. Bowen also had a controversial conversation with a parent of a female ELL student from Saudi Arabia:

When Sally (a girl from Saudi Arabia) came here, I was just starting a skating unit, and I had to talk to her dad about we have these skating boots. He said it doesn’t sound safe and I thought, compared to living in Saudi Arabia. I said it is probably very safe. I said we will wear helmets, wear elbow guards, knee pads and everything will be ok. Her dad understands very little and he did not want his daughter to participate in new physical activities. Plus she had hijab (veils) on her body. (Mrs. Bowen, Interview)

Mrs. Bowen had ELLs from the Middle East who had three different styles of wearing veils and clothing such as the hijab (headscarf, covering the hair and neck area only), the krimar (which covers the whole upper body except the face), or the niqab (face veil, often worn with the krimar; Kay, 2006). She felt that wearing these traditional veils when participating in PE was inappropriate. Mrs. Bowen was concerned that ELLs wearing veils might create a safety issue and that the veils might adversely affect performance or distract classmates during practice. Mrs. Bowen lacked knowledge about how to communicate respect toward ELLs’ cultural diversity.

Fasting

Mrs. Bowen, Mrs. Conway, Mrs. Hall, Mrs. King, and Mrs. Holms noticed that when ELLs began to attend elementary PE, they displayed religious differences that require managing so as to sustain their cultural and traditional beliefs and values during PE. Mrs. King had some ELLs who practiced Ramadan fasting while in PE. She learned that fasting is prescribed when children reach puberty, but many families allow their young children to experiment with fasting before puberty. Mrs. King began to doubt whether she was doing the right thing for them.

During Ramadan fasting practice, my ELLs from Middle East can’t participate this month, they are not allowed to eat and drink. I had parents come in and observe and watch their kid in class. The parents need to find that their kids were following the rules of Ramadan fasting. I have had parents come in and sit in my class and watch, but never had a follow up about that. I have had these incidents maybe 4 or 5 times during fasting. I was not comfortable. (Mrs. King, Interview)

Mrs. King was uncomfortable (teachers’ efficacy and comfort) when the parents of ELLs came to observe PE as she felt that she might unconsciously misinterpret fasting practices or mistreat ELLs during PE classes. She realized that the parents were concerned that their children began to fast before puberty. Her concern was that fasting practices might increase the health risk, which could place Mrs. King in the culturally difficult position of encouraging fasting students to eat at lunch time. Although she tried to understand Ramadan fasting practices and the students’ religions, culture, traditions, and beliefs, she was uncertain whether she treated ELLs how their parents wanted. She learned that ELLs and native speakers of English should be handled in different ways when cultural dissonance (discontinuities) emerged, and this led to anxiety when teaching PE.

Discussion

Our findings indicate that these six PE teachers positioned their pedagogies as challenged when teaching elementary-aged ELLs. Much of their struggle had to do with language differences, the technical terms used in PE instruction, and cultural and religious differences creating dissonance between the ELLs and their families on the one hand and the culture of the schools on the other hand. Although the PE teachers had various challenges to overcome, they were all seeking best practices for effectively teaching ELLs in PE.

All the PE teachers found that many ELLs not only did not understand technical terms in PE (e.g., locomotor, object control skills) but also did not capture the overall meaning of the English discourse. In general, when ELLs learn new technical terms in certain subjects, they often adapt by switching or translating between new and past (from their native countries) language discourses (Canagarajah, 2002). However, this study found that many ELLs were unable to switch language discourses or enhance their language development (e.g., deep disciplinary knowledge and engagement with academic activities) in PE (Harrington, 2010), because they had culturally and linguistically disparate experiences between the new and past language discourses. These PE teachers need to overcome the two challenges of (a) the language of movement patterns and (b) the cultural, social, and linguistic relevance of ELLs in PE (Au, 1998). This potentially positioned the ELLs academically behind their classmates who participated in the same language discourses in PE. Simultaneously, PE teachers have a positioning act to delete the ELLs’ academic rights, but they force the ELLs to learn the language and academic contents. They may academically and socially isolate the ELLs from their classmates in PE (Harré, Moghaddam, Pilkerton Cairnie, Rothbart, & Sabat, 2009). Mays (2008) suggests that when ELLs commence their learning experiences in elementary schools, PE teachers should label technical language discourse items (e.g., skipping, jumping, or dribbling) in both English and the ELLs’ native languages. In this study, the PE teachers were culturally and responsively unable to develop new language discourses that relate to the ELLs’ past language discourses.

These PE teachers explained that the ELLs copied the motor skills of English-speaking students from demonstrations (Walqui, 2006). The modeling helped the ELLs understand the guidelines for the activities, but PE teachers could also describe, summarize, and evaluate the ELLs’ motor skill progress. These PE teachers agreed that they should use two scaffolding approaches, such as bridging and re-presenting. Bridging is when the ELLs learn new concepts and languages that build on previous knowledge and understanding (Tharp & Gallimore, 1988). Although the ELLs might not have prior knowledge of motor skills from their own backgrounds, these PE teachers somehow bridge ELLs’ prior (before joining a PE class in the United States) and current knowledge of PE. However, these PE teachers taught their ELLs for only 30 to 40 min per week, and they needed to meet PE curriculum standards and state standards. Therefore, they were unable to use any re-presenting an academically relevant approach that helps to engage the ELLs’ learning and experiences in physical education that are interesting and meaningful to them (emphasis on technique ranging from dialogue, narrative, and generalization to transformation in PE; Walqui, 2006) through repeated and various practices of motor skills (Moffet, 1983; Walqui, 2006).

These PE teachers had opportunities to teach ELL refugee students who had become physically disabled from war and violence in their native countries. Consequently, these ELLs had a hard time assimilating to the gym environment, because PE teachers’ and classmates’ echoing voices and noises from dribbling or kicking caused the ELLs to flashback those traumatic events. Mr. Young mentioned that his ELLs with refugee status believe that their living environment is a dangerous place where no one can be trusted, especially adults (including teachers). Sims, Hayden, Palmer, and Hutchins (2000) observed that ELLs who experienced war-related trauma had a hard time controlling their reaction to outside stimuli (e.g., noises, echoes, and bouncing sounds) and showed automatic responses to danger (e.g., looking out for danger and never relaxing). Although the ELLs in this study were not officially diagnosed with PTSD by medical doctors, Mrs. King found that they showed similar or common symptoms to those listed on PTSD-related websites. A study of Werner (2012) asserted that there are three distinct categories of symptoms such as (a) re-experiencing symptoms (spontaneous intrusions of traumatic memory in the form of war images or night mares), (b) avoidance symptoms (restricting thoughts and distancing oneself from reminders of the traumatic events), and (c) hyperarousal symptoms (insomnia, irritability, or impaired concentration). In this study, we found that the ELLs avoided communicating with male teachers (avoidance symptoms) and were afraid of flashbacking to their traumatic memories when they heard loud noises or echoes during game activities or skill practice (re-experiencing symptoms). Unfortunately, none of the ELLs received any supportive or appropriate early childhood therapy or intervention at elementary school. Two research studies (Garbarino, Dubrow, Kostelny, & Pardo, 1992; Karcher, 1994) have reported that ELLs who do not receive appropriate support in their early years have a higher risk of developing PTSD. They may develop aggressive behaviors, somatic illness, depression, or learning difficulties (Demaree, 1994; Lawson, 1995). All PE teachers in this study agree that teaching ELL refugee students in PE reinforces their feelings of powerlessness and no hope for change.

The PE teachers were frustrated that not all ELLs meet their academic expectations and standards. They spent extra hours and effort in guiding the ELLs’ academic success in PE. They struggled with the ELLs’ cultural and social needs (Yoon, 2008). Yoon’s (2008) study showed that ELLs’ actions (e.g., participating or withdrawing) are strongly related to whether teachers implemented the concept of cultural inclusivity. In our study, the PE teachers thought that their frustration was caused by the ELLs’ language and comprehension barriers. Therefore, PE teachers were limiting the ELLs’ opportunities to develop a sense of themselves as learners (Harré & Moghaddam, 2003). The ELLs were often positioned by teachers as deficient or incompetent, and as uninvited guests. For example, Mrs. Holms said it seems that some ELLs were viewed (by teachers and classmates) as uninvited guests, out-group members, or outsiders and thus not nurtured in the same spirit of caring at the elementary schools. They were marginalized.

These PE teachers struggled to overcome language barriers with the ELLs, and they lacked understanding of how their roles and teaching approaches can best support ELLs’ needs (Yoon, 2008). Therefore, they panicked when ELLs began to enroll in their classes. They believed that culture and language are intricately intertwined (Brown, 1994). PE teachers must understand a complex system of cultural values and way of thinking and acting in PE. However, they felt that without language communication, they were unable to understand the ELLs’ cultural values. Therefore, they felt that when the ELLs continue to be positioned as intellectual or inferior through social interactions in PE, this positioning might influence students who are native speakers of English to see positive or negative reflections (e.g., powerful or powerless) of themselves (Howie, 1999). These PE teachers had not attended any training workshops on how to include ELLs in elementary PE in their school districts.

PE teachers should attend some workshops that help them explore and understand their own cultural and personal values and their social beliefs. Teachers’ teaching experiences serve as filters for what they learn, what they teach, and how they manage their classrooms (Pajares, 1992; Richardson, 1996). Youngs and Youngs (2001) reported that teachers who had taken foreign language classes had significantly more positive experiences in teaching ELLs than teachers who had not taken such courses. This might be a good start, whereby PE teachers can benefit from the opportunities with the ELLs and diverse experiences.

Five of the teachers (Mrs. Conway, Mrs. Holms, Mrs. Conway, Mrs. King, and Mrs. Bowen) are both PE teachers and females, so they encountered double jeopardy from the parents of the ELLs and Middle East or Eastern Asian (e.g., India). There was cultural dissonance, in that it seemed that some ELLs could not accept female PE teachers as role models because females are forbidden and socially excluded from workplaces in the students’ native countries (Kay, 2006). Female ELLs adhere to more traditional and religious interpretations than male ELLs and follow the gender roles set by their parents. Two of the female PE teachers said that “parents felt a danger that female ELLs might move toward the progressive elements of American culture" (e.g., participating in physical activities and sport). Almost half of the ELLs they taught were from Middle Eastern or East Asian countries. The ELLs from those countries faced difficulty in negotiating their personality when they positioned themselves between cultures, ethnicities, religions, and generations (Kay, 2006). They were hurt by negative comments from the parents from these countries. The ELLs from the Middle East and East Asia exhibited negative behavior toward female PE teachers, as it is rare to see many women from the Middle East and East Asia with educational and occupational qualifications. These ELLs began to analyze the process of negotiation and adaptations as cross-cultural navigators (Parekh, 2000) who fuse together their own educational culture and American educational culture. Many parents considered such cross-cultural navigation as dangerous behavior that moves the ELLs toward the progressive elements of the other culture (Kay, 2006). As a result of new ways of life and the gradually assimilating into American society, ELLs slowly lose their own tradition and culture, and begin to regard their tradition and culture as inferior (Modood et al., 1997).

The PE teachers mentioned that fasting practices associated with Ramadan made them worry about the health of some ELLs. During the annual Islamic month of Ramadan, Muslims engage in a daily fast from sunrise (Sahur) to sunset (Iftar), which lasts between 28 and 30 consecutive days (Roy, Ooi, Singh, Aziz, & Chai, 2011). The common dietary practice during Ramadan fasting is to consume one large meal after sunset and one lighter meal before dawn (Ibrahim, Habib, Jarrar, & Al Baz, 2008). Fasting is prescribed once children reach puberty (Council on American Islamic Relations, 2006), but the first-grade ELLs that we studied were encouraged to start by fasting a few hours each day. Fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade ELLs were able to maintain their fast for the entire day-light hours (12-14 hr; Poh, Zawiah, Ismail, & Henry, 1996). The parents of the ELLs frequently visited to observe the PE during the Islamic month of Ramadan fasting. The PE teachers were uncomfortable at being observed by these parents, but they understood that the parents knew that their child began to fast such an early age. These teachers’ positions were not to suggest that ELLs from the Middle East and East Asia might have an increased health risk from fasting while still in elementary school, because of respecting religious and spiritual values. They could not find solutions whereby the ELLs could simultaneously meet demands of fasting practices and the PE teachers’ academic expectations. van Langenhove and Harré (1999) propose the concept of forced-self-positioning, which is different from deliberate self-positioning in that “the initiative now lies with somebody else rather than the person involved” (p.26). In this study, forced-self-positioning by PE teachers might be necessary to position the ELLs how PE teachers desire. Therefore, the teachers’ suggestion (not fasting at elementary schools) is that a PE teacher’s intentional positioning of ELLs in a certain way can lead to positioning them in a correlative position (van Langenhove & Harré, 1999).

Finally, the six teachers had not received adequate training in teaching PE to ELLs. Nevertheless, they were interested in learning instructional strategies for ELLs. None of the PE teachers in our study were fully satisfied with their teaching environment. They were uncertain whether it is beneficial for ELLs to be included in PE. They also believed that their instructional paradigm might not fit the norms of the PE curriculum (Harper & de Jong, 2004; Meskill, 2005) or might include notions that limit teachers’ ability to provide effective lessons for ELLs (Harper & de Jong, 2004). They were concerned that they might misuse accommodations or lesson modifications and include their own biases about the ELLs’ concepts for effective learning of PE (Webster & Valeo, 2011). A cohesive systematic change including theories of language acquisition, diversity issues, and learning needs is required to include ELLs in PE (Webster & Valeo, 2011).

Study Limitations

This study has certain limitations. First, the sample consisted of PE teachers who were purposefully selected by their school districts. These administrations might have had an unconscious bias in their selection of teachers with mostly positive or negative views on teaching ELLs. Second, the participants comprised a small and homogeneous sample. In line with the logic of homogeneous sampling (Patton, 2002), our intent was to uncover common themes reflective of elementary PE teachers’ experiences in teaching ELLs in PE. A last limitation was that only one face-to-face interview was conducted with each participant. Unfortunately, the researchers were not permitted by the school districts to conduct multiple interviews with each teacher. Ideally, multiple interviews and field notes over an extended period of time should be used to analyze more fully the complexities of integration and teaching of ELLs. That would be a logical replication and extension of this study.

Recommendations and Conclusion

PE teachers are concerned that they often face pedagogical challenges that exacerbate difficulties in adjusting to the academic, social, cultural, and religious backgrounds of ELLs. Adding to this, PE teachers may be uncertain about how to implement culturally relevant approaches for effectively teaching ELLs. Below are some recommendations to help PE teachers have meaningful and successful teaching experiences with ELLs.

First, PE teachers should know how to label academic language discourse items (e.g., skipping, jumping, or dribbling) in both English and the ELLs’ native languages. When no academic language discourse is found in the ELLs’ native languages, sensory–motor, kinetic, and linguistic practices may be recommended. These practices include images that are constructed based on information taken in through the senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste (perhaps less relevance in PE classes), and smell (Guerrero, 2004). This mental image may be connected to a kinetic or non-verbal representation of the experiences of the ELLs.

Second, school districts must value the importance of cultural scaffolding workshops that focus on metacognition development, which is the ability to monitor the ELLs’ current level of understanding and decide when it is not adequate (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999). In these workshops, PE teachers must receive information on four aspects of metacognition development so that they (a) consciously apply learned strategies while engaging in activities; (b) gain awareness of the strategic options that learners have and gain the ability to choose the most effective option for the particular activity at hand; (c) monitor, evaluate, and adjust performance during the activity; and (d) plan for future performances based on evaluation of past performances (Walqui, 2006).

Third, to overcome the ELLs’ war-related trauma, PE teachers should communicate with the parents, friends, and local immigration services and collect information about the ELLs’ war-related trauma. PE teachers need to serve interchangeably as teachers and caregivers for the ELLs. PE teachers should collaborate with other teachers and administrators and find multiple options of best practices based on an individual ELL’s needs, conditions, and situation (Sims et al., 2000). There are many indicators that ELLs who suffer from war-related traumatic incidents are being exposed to appropriate and good practices, which result in long-term benefits for the ELLs and their families (Sims et al., 2000).

Fourth, when these PE teachers handle conflicts between the ELLs and their peers in PE, the teachers may need to frame this as both individual and class problems (Lewis, 1996). ELLs resolve their own conflicts through negotiation between individual and group conflict resolution and thereby develop more sophisticated social skills.

Fifth, peer tutoring is a strategy whereby ELLs practice academic tasks, continue opportunities for verbal interaction, and gain reward for correct academic responses (Arreaga-Mayer & Greenwood, 1986). PE teachers and teachers of ESL train English-speaking students to make greater use of synonyms language skills and to avoid figurative language, which describes something by comparing it with something else (the words “like" or “as" to compare one object) (Glakas, 1993). Another suggestion is that ESL and PE teachers should avoid the assumption that they can successfully engage in cross-disciplinary planning, because a PE teacher or an ESL teacher may not be suited to every ELL need (Arkoudis, 2006). They differ in their capacity to position themselves and others (van Langenhove & Harré, 1999).

Sixth, PE teachers need to develop effective collaboration among schools, the ELLs, their parents, and religious groups to move toward inclusive practices in PE (Dagkas, Benn, & Jawad, 2011). Although religious and cultural differences affect values and beliefs, finding mutual interests in physical activity subjects through listening to opinions, exchanging views, and seeking consequences may contribute to improved understanding and more positive relationships among schools, PE teachers, ELLs, and parents (Dagkas et al., 2011).

Finally, school districts must aggressively recruit culturally and linguistically diverse PE teachers (Burden et al., 2013; Burden, Hodge, O’Bryant, & Harrison, 2004) and infuse ethnolinguistic approaches into PE teacher training (Burden et al., 2013; Columna et al., 2010). This recommendation may help avoid a denial of difference (not recognizing cultural differences) and defense against (cultural differences discriminated by a negative evaluation based on one’s native culture; DeSensi, 1995).

To better prepare PE teacher candidates for implementing culturally and ethnolinguistically relevant pedagogies, we encourage PE teacher education (PETE) program faculty to use existing courses or to develop courses (e.g., coursework in intercultural language education and intercultural competence) whereby teacher candidates gain greater competency in working with culturally and linguistically diverse student populations (Burden et al., 2013). Likewise, school districts should offer professional development workshops on implementing culturally and ethnolinguistically relevant pedagogies in PE.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the support of Ohio Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, and Dr. Judy Wakabayashi in the Department of Modern Classical Language Study at Kent State University.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by Ohio Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.

Author Biographies

Takahiro Sato, PhD, is an assistant professor in the School of Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum Studies at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. He served as Health and Physical Education program coordinator at Hampton University (2007-2010). His scholarship and research focuses on multicultural physical education, inclusion in sport, and diversity in higher education.

Samuel R. Hodge, PhD, is a professor in Department of Human Sciences at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. His scholarship and research focuses on social justice pedagogies, diversity, and disability in physical education.

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