Abstract
The number of English learners continues to increase in the United States. Additionally, many English learners will experience language and learning disabilities. These students require specialized instruction by highly qualified educators. This article addresses the various cross-language strategies that can benefit English learners with disabilities. Examples of explicit and systematic instruction are provided. In addition, resources to support language instruction in the forms of tables and figures are provided for the reader. Most educators will at some point in their career face the challenge of teaching a second language learner with a learning disability. This article provides guidance regarding the special considerations that are necessary for language and literacy instruction among English learners with learning disabilities.
The number of English learners continues to increase in public schools within the United States. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), approximately 10 million students speak a language other than English in the home. In addition, 5 million students in our public schools are considered English language learners (NCES, 2017).
Teacher Preparation
One concern regarding the education of English learners includes the fact that less than 3% of educators have a specialization for teaching English learners and only 38% of teachers report having coursework regarding this population of students (Taie & Goldring, 2017). Instructors must therefore have an opportunity to better understand the effective practices and techniques for making content comprehensible among English learners.
English Learner Home Languages
In the United States, English learners in public schools represent more than 400 different home languages. Moreover, close to 80% of them speak Spanish in their home (NCES, 2017). The second most common language is Arabic, followed by Chinese (NCES, 2017). Teachers often do not speak the same home language as their students. However, it is important to understand the linguistic components of the various home languages and thus utilize the commonalities across languages to enhance second language, literacy, and content instruction. For example, if an English learner speaks Spanish at home, it is important to determine how the sounds, symbols, and words in the native language are similar to those in English. This is a learning resource for English learners with and without disabilities. It is a myth that English learners will get confused when an educator makes a connection or reference to the native language. Contrary to that belief, the native language can serve as a foundation for second language and literacy development. English learners with learning disabilities will require specialized instruction for attaining literacy. It is the purpose of this article to address the components of language and literacy and describe how to incorporate language skills within a literacy framework for English learners with disabilities.
Oral Language
The foundation for learning begins with strong language skills. To determine students’ language capabilities, it is necessary to thoroughly understand the components of language. Every language in the world has a specific structure. This structure is based on the phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics of the language (Bloom & Lahey, 1978).
When teaching English learners, it is important to understand and address the components of the students’ home and second language. This is especially true as English learners may experience the lack of opportunity for explicit oral language development during their school day and in their communities (Gersten & Baker, 2000). Language serves as one of the foundational skills for reading.
Individuals who have strong language skills are likely to have intact comprehension (Zhang & Koda, 2013). For example, if a student exhibits the oral understanding and use of words, he or she is likely to understand written text. In addition, oral language skills are strong predictors of reading comprehension among native English speakers and English learners (Babayiğit, 2015). For example, if a student is able to demonstrate an excellent understanding and use of words and sentences, he or she will more than likely be able to develop good comprehension skills. However, if a student has a limited understanding of words and cannot express himself or herself, then it is likely that comprehension skills will also be below an expected level or in the impaired range of performance for this person.
Phonology
Students who have difficulties with oral language may have problems with processing the sounds, producing the sounds, understanding words, and using language. Students with oral language deficiencies are considered at risk for reading and writing disorders or delays (Nation, Cocksey, Taylor, & Bishop, 2010). However, educators can incorporate opportunities for oral language development that can help prevent difficulties in reading and writing. English learners and those who struggle with language can benefit from instruction that begins with teaching the commonalities across languages. One aspect of the similarities across languages includes phonemes. That is, many languages have similar sounds. It is important to address and take advantage of the sounds that transfer across languages. English learners and students with language or learning disabilities can benefit from understanding the sounds that are common and uncommon in the native and second languages. Instruction involving the phonology of the language can be considered one of the basic steps for developing a second language. For example, 16 consonant sounds and 3 consonant digraphs transfer directly from Spanish to English. In Chinese, 9 consonants and 2 digraph sounds are similar with English. Educators can begin instruction and teach students the commonalities of the sounds that are similar across these languages (Cárdenas-Hagan, 2016). One example is the /b/ sound, which is the same in both English and Spanish. Teachers can instruct students by demonstrating how the sounds are similar. For example, students can listen to words that begin with the sound /b/. Bat, ball, boot are all words that begin with the /b/ sound. Saying the words, students use their lips to form the /b/ sound in English and in other languages such as Spanish. They are consonant sounds in both languages. Students can understand the features of the sound and how it correlates across the native and second language.
Steps for explicit instruction of sounds include the following:
Teacher says three words that begin with the common sound
Students repeat the words
Students determine the common sound
Teacher discusses the formation of the sound and its features
Teacher leads a discussion regarding the commonalities or differences of the sounds in the native and second languages
Teachers can also help students understand English sounds that are somewhat similar or approximates with sounds in the native language. One example includes the Spanish sound /rr/. It is trilled. Teachers can have students listen to words such as red, rabbit, rose. These words all begin with the sound /r/. The students are instructed to form the sound by rounding the lips. English does not trill the letter r, and the sound is /r/. In Spanish the sound is /rr/. Students can practice the sound /r/ by rounding the lips and discuss how it is different from the trilled sound, /rr/. Teaching students how sounds are somewhat similar or approximates can therefore be described and demonstrated.
Phonology instruction can also include introducing the new sounds of the second language in an explicit and systematic manner. This systematic and explicit manner can be helpful to English learners with and without disabilities. It is important to know that although some sounds do not exist in the native language, it is possible that some know that similarities can be determined for new and unfamiliar sounds of the English language. For example, the sound for the letter j in English does not exist in Spanish. However, in Spanish and English the sound /ch/ is present. Students can be taught that if they simply add voicing or vibrate the vocal chords when producing the /ch/ sound they will actually produce its sound cognate, which is the English sound /j/. This is also true for the sound /s/, which exists in Spanish and English. If the student can add voicing by vibrating the vocal chords, the sound /s/ becomes the sound /z/, which is a new English sound. These are a few examples of how new and unfamiliar sounds of the English language can be introduced to students. Table 1 shows the commonalities of the sounds for some of the most common second languages spoken among English learners in the United States.
Commonalities of the Sounds for Some of the Most Common Home Languages of English Language Learners.
Source: Adapted from Cárdenas-Hagan (2016) by permission.
Approximate.
As students learn the unfamiliar sounds of a second language, they can also be provided with early literacy instruction such as phonological awareness. Phonological awareness begins with the ability to process speech sounds and further develops when the individual can blend, segment, and manipulate sounds. Students who have strong phonological awareness skills in a native language are likely to have strong phonological awareness skills in a second language (Branum-Martin, Tao, Garnaat, Bunta, & Francis, 2012). These skills are related to the ability to decode words. Instructors not only may introduce the new sounds of the language, but also can have students practice blending, segmenting, and manipulating them. In this way, students with phonological difficulties can increase their phonological awareness while targeting unfamiliar sounds in the second language. For example, if the sound /j/ does not exist in the native language, students can practice this English sound within a phonological awareness practice. Here is one example of this strategy:
Say the word ham. Change the /h/ to /j/. What is the word? jam Say the word met. Change the /m/ to /j/. What is the word? jet Say the word pig. Change the /p/ to /j/. What is the word? jig
Morphology
Morphology is another component of language. It literally means the study of morphemes. A morpheme is considered the smallest unit of meaning in a language. For example, the word play contains one meaning unit or one morpheme. The word playing contains two meaning units or two morphemes since the word part -ing was added as the second syllable. Students who develop a strong morphological awareness can access the meaning of words, can increase their vocabulary, and can thus enhance their reading comprehension (Marinova-Todd, Siegel, & Mazabel, 2013). Those with poor morphological awareness may exhibit poor reading comprehension (Tong, Deacon, Kirby, Cain, & Parrila, 2011). For English learners, morphological awareness can improve vocabulary across languages. This is evident in languages such as Spanish and English.
That is, many of the word parts in English exist in Spanish. Knowledge of the word parts/morphemes can enhance understanding of words and can assist with reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension (Ramírez, 2017). Upper elementary students who struggle with reading comprehension also demonstrate weakness in morphological awareness (Tong, Deacon, Kirby, & Cain, 2014). In addition to Spanish, languages such as Chinese can influence the understanding of English morphemes or meaning units (Zhang & Koda, 2014). The greater the overlap, the stronger the association of the skills across languages (Pasquarella, Chen, Gottardo, & Geva, 2014). Instructors of Spanish-speaking English learners can teach the word parts that are common across the languages of Spanish and English (see Table 2).
Common Word Parts Across Spanish and English.
Source: Adapted from Cárdenas-Hagan (2000) by permission.
It is important to teach the word parts using multiple opportunities for use. Teachers can provide the following instructions and ask the following questions to help students learn about the morphemes in their home language and in English.
Listen to these words that have a common word part.
Repeat these words with the common word part
Look and read these words with the common word part.
Do any of these words look or sound similar to words in your home language?
Let’s discover the meaning of this word part.
Let’s look at pictures that describe the meaning of words with this common word part.
Let’s act out the meaning of these words with the common word part.
Now turn to your partner and discuss the meaning of this word part.
Work together to generate other words that have this word part.
Let’s share the words that you generated.
Complete the word part glossary.
Remember to listen and look for words with this word part so that we can add them to the word part wall in our classroom.
Semantics
Semantics includes the knowledge of word meanings and the ability to access and retrieve words. Comprehension of spoken and written language is influenced by one’s knowledge of individual word meanings. Koda (2007) described successful comprehension as strongly related to knowledge of individual word meanings. Word knowledge or vocabulary is one of the areas that English learners with and without learning disabilities will require for developing second language literacy. Instructors can assist English learners’ vocabulary development by focusing on morphological awareness and also by connecting English words with words that are similar in the student’s native language. Words that are similar in spelling and meaning across languages are described as cognates. Hancin-Bhatt and Nagy (1994) reported that Spanish-speaking elementary students are not likely to recognize cognates spontaneously. Therefore, it will be necessary for teachers to explicitly teach the cognates and thus further develop students’ word knowledge. Although teachers may not speak the students’ home language, it is helpful to search in books or electronically for cognates and then instruct students regarding these word relationships. Creating these connections across languages will enhance English learners’ understanding of words. One example of a word that in many languages looks or sounds similar to the word in English is provided in Table 3.
Example of a Word That Is Similar Across Languages.
In other cases, words in other languages may appear quite different but sound very similar in English. Exploring cognates and the origins of words can be incorporated during vocabulary instruction. Students can work together in partner pairs or with the teacher discovering the history and commonalities of words across languages. For example, teachers can instruct students on how the English language was based on the language of Germanic tribes such as the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. They were farmers, fishermen, and hunters. Short words that are related to farming, fishing, and hunting are Anglo-Saxon words. Students can be provided with a list of words and predict if they are Anglo-Saxon. Another lesson can include words that come from the Greek language. These are words related to math, science, sports, and drama. Students can predict from a list of words if they are derived from the Greek language. Words related to the courts or justice system can be based on Latin. Students can predict from a list of words if their origin is Latin. These are a few examples of how to incorporate the history of the language during vocabulary instruction.
In addition, when teaching vocabulary, it is important to teach words in depth. One strategy to consider includes incorporating the components of language when teaching specific vocabulary. An example for exploring the features of a word via a language component structure is provided in Figure 1. The teacher can have the students see and say the word. The students can produce the sounds of the word. They can learn that the word playing has two meaning units or two morphemes. Play and the suffix -ing represent the two meaning units or morphemes. The actual meaning of the word is engaging in a fun activity right now. The part of speech for the word playing is present-progressive. In addition, the pragmatic language probes can include exploring the multiple meanings of the word or the use of the word in a phrase or idiom. For example, one use of the word play can be a performance, as in That was a good play we saw in the theater. Another meaning can be a well-designed offensive play in football.
Incorporating the components of language for vocabulary instruction.
Syntax
Syntax refers to the grammatical components of the language. Languages can have similar grammatical features. In other words, languages have nouns, verbs, and descriptive words such as adjectives. The sequence and grammatically correct usage may vary. To help English learners with disabilities make connections across languages, educators can highlight how similar or dissimilar the parts of speech of a student’s native language are in comparison with English. For example, nouns can include a person, place, or thing in English. Nouns in Spanish also include a person, place, or thing. However, when nouns such as the days of the week are in a written form, they are capitalized in English. The days of the week in Spanish are not capitalized. Another example for cross-language connections includes adjectives. In English, adjectives describe the noun and are typically placed before the English noun. In Spanish, adjectives also describe the noun but are typically expressed after the noun. These are a few examples of incorporating knowledge of the native language as a resource for developing English as a second language.
For English learners, it is important to provide multiple opportunities across many weeks of instruction to ensure mastery of the grammatical features of language. (Baker et al., 2014). It may also be important to collect a language sample from the student to determine the grammatical features that are necessary to teach. A general description follows of how to collect a language sample. This will help teachers to become more diagnostic and prescriptive with their syntax instruction. In addition, teachers can determine how much more progress is necessary for the English learner to develop language and grammatical skills similar to their monolingual English speaking peers.
In general, an English-speaking student who is 5 years of age should have an average of five words spoken per utterance (Brown, 1973). A student who is 6 years of age should speak an average of six words per utterance. A child who is 7 years of age should speak utilizing an average of approximately seven words per utterance. Adults may use a minimum of approximately eight words per utterance. Educators can compare the performance of English learners to the milestones of native English speakers. They can also determine the second language mean length of utterance level and the sentence structures derived from a language sample.
Language Sample Procedure
Collect 50 utterances/responses by asking students several questions. (What’s your favorite movie? What sports do you enjoy? What did you do that was fun during the summer vacation?)
Write each utterance/response.
Count the number of words spoken per utterance.
Determine the grand total of words spoken.
Divide the grand total by 50.
This provides a general mean length of utterance (MLU).
Next, determine the grammatical features of spoken language that need to be addressed.
Design a plan for how they will be addressed during instruction.
Table 4 illustrates a language sample of a 6-year-old English learner with oral language difficulties. The student was probed about his favorite book, movie, and sport. The response as well as the number of words spoken per utterance are recorded.
Language Sample of a 6-Year-Old English Language Learner With Difficulties.
Note: MLU = mean length of utterance.
In the example provided, it is important to note that the student provided only 20 utterances and did not provide the 50 responses. The total number of words spoken was 30. The total of 30 was divided by 20 utterances. The MLU is 1.5.
The student therefore speaks in less than two-word utterances. Upon closer examination, it appears that the student lacks the use of pronouns, linking verbs, objects, and adjectives. Teachers may consider instruction with a focus on pronouns. Next, teachers may consider lessons focused on simple sentence structures such as pronoun, verb, object. The student in the example mixed Spanish with English, es game. The student can therefore benefit from understanding the word it’s or the words it is in place of the Spanish word es. Once again, it is important to provide many opportunities across several weeks of instruction to ensure student mastery of these concepts
Pragmatics
The pragmatic language features include the ability to understand how languages are used in social and academic settings. Pragmatic language skills include the ability to understand nonverbal cues for communication and the ability to engage in a conversation, maintain a conversation, and take turns speaking during a conversation. For example, the awareness of nonverbal cues during a conversation may include being able to monitor whether the listener is bored with the topic of a conversation or whether the person is interested in the conversation. Students might ask themselves several questions related to pragmatics:
Is this a social or academic setting?
Do I use a formal or informal register of the language?
Do I look at the listener directly?
Do I stand closer or further away from the listener?
It is important to know that conversation rules and physical proximity may differ across cultures. Having an awareness of these rules can be helpful when teaching and engaging students from other language and cultural backgrounds. Teachers can provide opportunities through role playing appropriate and inappropriate turn taking, physical proximity, and language. A discussion regarding what was appropriate and what was inappropriate can be explored and opportunities for student self-reflection can also be included.
Pragmatic language skills also include understanding colloquialisms or common sayings in the second language. For example, when someone utters the word chillax, an English learner with a learning disability may have difficulty understanding that this term combines words such as chill out and relax. An example of a colloquialism or a saying might include There’s more than one way to skin a cat. This may refer to the fact that there is more than one way to accomplish or do something. Instructors can look for cartoons of the concrete interpretations of colloquialisms and then provide examples of the correct interpretation. Concrete nonexamples can also assist English learners’ understanding of these more abstract concepts (Baker et al., 2014). Teachers can subsequently provide concrete examples of the correct interpretation of each saying. Understanding the pragmatic features of a language can enhance English learners’ oral and written use of the language. This will be necessary as many works of literature include sayings, colloquialisms, and various other pragmatic language features. Pragmatics is one area of language that is often not addressed formally during instruction. Yet understanding the features of pragmatics in a second language and new culture can be beneficial. Pragmatic language skills can be incorporated into instruction and will be beneficial for English learners with disabilities.
Literacy
Students who have first language literacy are at an advantage for developing second language literacy when the languages are similar in their structure. For example, languages that are alphabetic share many of the same letters and sounds. Languages that are pictographic or logographic will not share many of the same features. Instructors can determine the letters and sounds that are similar across languages. Students should be taught explicitly the letter and sound correlations that are shared and unshared across native language and second language. For example, the English language includes six syllable types. Learning the syllable types assists English learners in that they can understand why the vowel sounds change. Instruction should begin by learning the closed and open syllable types. A closed syllable word ends in a consonant and has a vowel immediately before that consonant and the vowel will be short. A syllable that ends in a vowel is an open syllable and the vowel will be long. Students can then understand and compare and contrast open and closed syllable words (see Table 5).
Compare and Contrast Syllable Types.
For example, the instructor can say and write words such as ant, hen, him that represent the closed syllable. Students can practice analyzing that each word has one syllable and that each syllable ends in at least one consonant that makes the vowel sound short. This is a closed syllable. The next step can include students having the opportunity to analyze written words such as he, a, no. Each word is one syllable and the syllable ends in a vowel. The vowel sound is long, and therefore this is an open syllable. A final step can include students reading and contrasting open and closed syllable words. This is one example of how understanding the syllable types of English can assist with reading and the oral production of words. It is also helpful to note the syllable types that exist across languages. See Table 6 for examples of English syllable types that can help Spanish-speaking English learners understand how the English language is structured. In Spanish, students do not learn these syllable types because the vowel sounds never change.
Spanish and English Syllable Types.
Understanding the cross-linguistic features within components such as phonological awareness, letter and sound correlations, and syllable types can assist English learners with the foundational skills of reading.
Conclusion
The number of English learners attending public schools has increased during the past few decades. Educators must be prepared to instruct these students and help them to develop English oral proficiency, literacy, and content knowledge. It is important to understand the linguistic components of each student’s home language and subsequently utilize the commonalities across languages to improve second language, literacy, and content instruction. Although teachers may not speak a student’s first language, it is necessary to explore, understand, and integrate the commonalities between the native language and English during instruction. Incorporating the components of language can advance second language, literacy, and content learning. This article has provided a framework and strategies to increase the oral language and literacy skills among English learners with learning disabilities. These practices can assist students to develop excellent language and literacy skills and therefore increase the likelihood for significant learning across the content areas.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.