Linguistic Challenges Faced by ELL Youth

INTRODUCTION
            The number of English Language Learners (ELLs) in American schools is steadily increasing, with the number of refugee and immigrant children currently in the United States estimated at nine million (Ruiz, Kabler, and Sugarman, 2011).  Teachers must be prepared in order to meet the needs of these students.  In the age of No Child Left Behind and its accompanying high stakes testing, educators are now being pressured more than ever to increase language acquisition skills among ELL students, which Lee, Penfield, and Buxton (2011) describe as a component of equitable education.  Ladson-Billings (1992) advocated against an assimilationist model of thinking, where teachers are concerned with maintaining the status quo as opposed to empowering students to change it.  Such is the underlying premise of this document, in regards to second language acquisition.

Katz (2003) cited Blyth (1995), stating, "the constant challenge facing [language] teachers is to create a sense of belonging, a community, despite very real differences in their students' L2 proficiency (p. 131)."  However, this is very difficult when there are multiple levels of English language proficiency present in one classroom.  Thus is the case when dealing with all English Language Learners, including Haitians, the topic of this paper.  It is important for educators to be equipped with the skills and resources in order to meet the needs of ELLs in their classrooms, by seeking to understand the background of these students.

Adolescent newcomer youth are the fastest-growing segment of the secondary school population in the United States; however, this group is often overlooked by researchers and educational institutions.  These students are less likely to receive support for their second language acquisition, are at risk for lower GPAs and low graduation rates, and often are unable to pass high stakes standardized tests (Carhill, Suarez-Orozco, and Paez, 2008; Paez, 2009).  Bang, Suarez-Orozco, Pakes, and O'Connor (2009) found that homework was often a challenge for these immigrant youth, due to their ELL status, as well as their parents' lack of proficiency in English.  With homework counting as the single best predictor of academic achievement, "basing grades assigned to immigrant students solely on the products of their oral or written work unfairly penalizes them (p. 2)."

This paper serves as an annotated bibliography, detailing the research of others regarding the linguistic challenged faced by Haitian immigrant youth when attending U.S. public schools.  Research was conducted through an exhaustive search of the ERIC database in November and December 2011, with Suarez-Orozco being identified as a primary researcher in this domain.  This annotated bibliography allowed the author to collect research that would be later used for dissertation research.  First, a theoretical research was identified, followed by findings in previous research regarding ELL students.  Next, special attention was given to the case of Haitian students, which is the author's primary area of research.  Finally, solutions and implications for practicioners were outlined in the conclusion.

 

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Different theories concerning second language acquisition have been heavily explored, but a major finding that underscores the importance of the topic is that proficiency in English is highly predictive of overall academic achievement in both first- and second-generation immigrant students (Suarez-Orozco, Bang, and Onaga, 2010).  Burtoff (1985) affirmed that "most ESL teachers still find that their illiterate students have less success in the second language classroom than their literate peers."  Language skills are transferrable, meaning that acquired skills in an individual's L1 cross over to their L2.  Paez iterated that L2 instruction allows for (a) exposure to a full range of language experiences; (b) opportunities to use and communicate effectively in the second language; and (c) high-quality linguistic environments including well-designed curricula and good teachers (p. 2). Native language literacy training can thus serve a dual purpose, by facilitating the acquisition of an L2, while bolstering one's cultural identity.

Ruiz, Kabler, and Sugarman shared Cummins 1984 research, identifying two forms of language proficiency, basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS), and cognitive/academic language proficiencies (CALP).  While BICS is conversational and can be mastered in two to three years, CALP is more technical and typically takes up to seven years, under optimal conditions, to acquire.  Depending on the age of a newcomer when they begin in American schools, they may never attain full CALP proficiency.  CALP is crucial to the understanding of academic content and passing of high-stakes standardized assessments.  Carhill et al. found no link between BICS and CALP mastery.  In this document, English language acquisition refers to CALP proficiency.

Several factors interplay in the mastery of CALP, such as the age of the learner, the amount of interaction with peers, and verbal ability in one's native language.  Prior education also plays a role in the ease of English acquisition.  While many regular immigrants have had the chance to prepare for their migration to the United States (i.e. practicing English, securing jobs and housing, etc.), refugee students often arrive without having had any formal schooling.  In addition, refugees often suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, as a result of the persecution experienced in their homelands.  Ruiz et al. advocate early educational responses to help mitigate such trauma.

 

RESEARCH REGARDING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

In order to serve students, regardless of English proficiency, educators must seek to understand them.  Ladson-Billings stated that the matching of school culture to student culture generally yields positive results.  From this premise, she coined the term culturally relevant teaching, which she described as "a pedagogy of opposition that recognizes and celebrates African and African-American culture," with the primary goal being "to empower students and to examine critically social change (p. 314).  Although she only spoke of Black students in the definition, she later included other minority youth, such as ELLs.  Here, she spoke of the sharing of power in the classroom equally between teachers and students, since education is an "empowering force (p. 318)."

Judicort-Barnes (2003), a Haitian-American educator and researcher, described the Cheche Konnen project, which involved Haitian youth learning science in their L1, Haitian Creole.  Specifics will be discussed in the next section.  However, the researcher made suggestions that can be useful to teachers of all ELLs, reaffirming Ladson-Billing's assertion to move away from the "top-down," adult-centered view of pedagogy in favor of incorporating students' prior knowledge.  Judicort-Barnes described the traditional three-part sequence of classroom classroom instruction named the IRE: teacher initiation, student response, and teacher evaluation (p. 3).  This practice gives all of the control and power to the teacher, and leaves students disengaged.  Recent pushes towards constructivist paradigms have allowed for a student-centered shift in methodology, whereby students may provide richer answers with more details, supported by their background knowledge.

Conversely, Lee et al. proposed an English-only model of science education, presumably in Florida, in order to develop "academic language...[with] both general and content-specific literacy, as well as oral proficiency (p. 1404)."  The researchers suggested a five-prong method of professional development for educators, covering topics such as: (a) literacy strategies for all students, (b) ESOL strategies, (c) discourse strategies for ELL students, (d) ELL students' home language, and (e) ELL students' home culture.  The researchers cited teacher apprehension when not understanding what is happening in their classrooms as an argument against allowing L2 in schools.  They also stated that in these trainings, they discussed their rationale for writing the curriculum as English-only, despite the diverse languages of the students being serviced.  These reasons were not shared in the article.  The proposed English-only model was tested to show "limited positive effects," but no mention was made of models where students were encouraged to use their L1.  Paez dismissed the common argument for English-only instruction, that immigrant students learn English quickly, and are proficient in L2 after only a few years of living in the United States.

Oikonomidoy (2010) similarly shared the words of a few ELL students, who urged teachers to respect the cultures, customs, and languages of immigrant youth.  One participant in the study, Rene, stated that "if she were a teacher, she would allow the students in her class to speak their own language (p. 78)," given that English-only ESL programs were frustrating to students, because they were unable to talk to their friends who might not speak English.

Katz addressed the difference between "heritage speakers" (someone who has been brought up speaking a language other than English at home), and "near-native speakers" (those who consider themselves to be highly proficient in a particular language.  These differences were very important to establish in her research regarding Haitian students in a French foreign language classroom, further discussed in the next section.

 

THE SPECIFIC CASE OF HAITIAN STUDENTS

            Haitian Creole is one of the fastest-growing languages in the Uited States, spoken by over six million people worldwide.  Lexically based on French, it is considered a Romance language, however, the language has also highly been influenced by West African, Native American, and Spanish languages.  Contrary to popular belief, Creole is not a dialect of French; it is a totally separate language, with its own unique rules and structures (Solano-Flores, 2006).

            Burtoff (1985) conducted a quantitative experiment, whereby Haitian adult immigrants were randomly assigned to one of two groups.  The control group utilized Haitian Creole as a medium for instruction in a twelve week cycle, while the control group received two twelve week cycles of standard ESL training.  Pre- and post-test ESL proficiency data were collected through the Basic English Skills Test, developed by the Center of Applied Linguistics.  All teachers in both groups were of Haitian descent, and those in the treatment group reported that L1 instruction had greatly motivated their students, after initial hesitation.  Results showed no significant difference between the two groups; however, it should be noted that the control group received twice as much intervention as the treatment group.  Therefore, no implications can be drawn from this study, other than the fact that L1 instruction did not hinder the success of the students.  The researcher suggested replication of this study with a third group, in which L1 and L2 instruction can be used together to educate the students.

In the Cheche Konnen project, Hudicourt-Barnes found that Haitian students tend to use different strategies for communication, as compared to their non-Haitian peers.  The rationale for this report was partially to dispel myths regarding the perceived lack of ability of Haitian students, specifically a study conducted by Lee (a researcher cited in the previous section).  The project, whose name means "search for knowledge" in Haitian Creole, regularly conducts classroom research and professional development, in order to improve science education for all students.  The researcher described the phenomenon of argumentative discussion, which Hudicourt-Barnes states is a part of the highly oral Haitian culture.  While the argumentation may appear as fights to non-Haitians, it is a friendly debate that is entertaining to the participants, similarly to the Black American concept of joning.  The proponent of a particular idea must remain calm in sharing his/her idea, in an attempt to persuade.  The personnel at Cheche Konnen utilized a Haitian practice called bay odyans, or storytelling, telling jokes and riddles, and arguments, with the children in order to allow the students to develop their scientific points.  Billig, in 1996, identified the concept as "life as theater," whereby social interactions follow certain scripts (Hudicourt-Barnes, p. 5).

            The Cheche Konnen project followed three classrooms in two different schools, located in Massachussets.  These schools had high first-generation Haitian populations, and ranged from fifth to eighth grade (10-14 years of age).  Notably, educators in the program allowed students to utilize Haitian Creole in the classroom, effectively encouraging it.  No science textbooks were used, because none were available in Haitian Creole.  The classrooms were student-directed, with the teacher's sole role being to support class discussions. 

Although there is a wealth of information regarding Second Language Acquisition Theory and Latino students, Katz identified a gap in the literature in regards to Haitian students, her rationale for completing the study.  She utilized qualitative research methods in order to gain Haitian-American perspectives, as well as those of their peers, about learning the French language.  Although this study differs from the others cited in that the L2 is French rather than English, many of the findings were applicable to English language learning.

            Katz found that the Haitian participants, who were first- or second-generation immigrants to the United States, did not consider themselves heritage speakers of French, but rather of Haitian Creole.  However, their peers held misconceptions, which created a difficult situation for the Haitian students.  Although Haiti is a francophone country by definition, French is considered a language of privilege, and is spoken only by the country's elite.  While many private schools in Haiti utilize French as the primary language of instruction, reforms beginning in the 1970s have allowed for Haitian Creole to be the educational medium.  However, for the small percentage of Haitians who do speak French with fluency, they tend to be "obsessed with grammatical accuracy and are more prescriptive than native speakers of French (p.140)."  As mastery of French is considered an indicator of social class in Haiti, some students may not admit to not being fluent in the language, particularly when in front of other Haitians.

            Interviews conducted with non-Haitian peers showed positive reactions to having Haitian students in the classroom.  The other students appreciated the Haitians' skills and positive attitudes.  Although the Haitian students may have originally felt intimidated, they reciprocated the positive feelings of their classmates.

 

IMPLICATIONS AND SOLUTIONS

Despite the shortcomings of the Lee et al. report, the researchers provided a few valid suggestions, such as the immediate teaching of core curricula to beginning English speakers, as opposed to sacrificing content area instruction in favor of intensive language instruction; and rigorous teacher professional development, to prepare educators to meet the needs of diverse students.  The concluding paragraph, however, apparently contradicted the claims made earlier in the article, with the researchers stating that "English-only policies in many states...limit educators' ability to take advantage of the linguistic and cultural resources that ELL students bring to the school....ELL students' home language can be used as an instructional support for their learning of academic content of English (p. 1426)."

When making generalizations about ELL students, particularly Haitian students who have been stigmatized for decades, Hudicort-Barnes urges educators to question the negative assumptions made in research and the media.  "We must look instead for evidence of competence in situations where students are able to display what they know and what they can do (p. 11)."  Ruiz et al. echoed this sentiment, urging educators to create positive climates for their students, as well as a range of teaching styles to meet the needs of students, a language-rich environment where language is taught across the curriculum, and after-school tutoring (p. 4).

Ladson-Billings suggested the use of diverse cultural literature, in order to engage and motivate students.  Hope (2008) reiterated this notion, stating "readers need to see themselves represented in books to affirm their place in the world (p. 298)."  These connections can be beneficial to all students, because they allow students to step into one another's proverbial shoes, reducing cultural misunderstandings.  Similarly, open dialogues about race and culture should not be avoided, but embraced as learning opportunities instead, with students feeling celebrated and appreciated for their individuality and culture.  Educators should foster a positive climate of trust and openness.  Finally, Ladson-Billings advocated for teachers to make their own decisions about classroom content, to suit the needs of their students.  This article was notably written in 1992, nearly a decade prior to the implementation of No Child Left Behind, when educators had more freedom regarding curriculum decisions.

It is important for educators to realize that ELL students, heritage speakers, and near-native speakers all have something to bring to the table.  Katz recommended that teachers make a special effort to get to know their students, and familiarize themselves with their background.  In addition, dialogues regarding linguistic variation and stigmatized languages should be opened, to contribute to greater language awareness.  With this, everyone can work together to "cultivate a supportive and dynamic learning environment for all (Katz, p. 152)." 

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