Application Essay for CREST Program

Northern Arizona University

Wendy Adams
Cohort 2015


When learning a language, the most effective method is immersion being surrounded
by the language at every turn. Think of how a child learns to speak. She hears her parents talk
to her from the moment she is born. Music plays in the back ground, the television blares,
chatter is all around the infant. As the child grows, she begins to mimic those sounds, eventually
producing words and then simple sentences. It takes 3-5 years of constant bombardment for her
to have enough vocabulary to carry on a conversation with an adult. It will be several more
years before she will feel like a master in her first tongue.
Imagine that child, still in the learning stages of her primary language aquisition, being
thrust into a second language. Regardless of the reason, now this child must begin the learning
process all over again. True, her tongue is better prepared for making sounds than when she was
an infant, but there are new sounds to make, and her tongue is struggling to break muscle
memory and move in new ways to make those new sounds.
Now see that child learning that new language in an isolated environment. Instruction is
given in her native laguage; she does worksheets, simple oral excersises, and listens to audio
recordings through head phones for a finite class period. Then she continues her day in her
native tongue, learning other subjects, interacting with her peers, hearing her own language for
more than twelve hours of her day. Her only exposure to her new language is in that isolated,
capsulated class. How can she learn enough to become fluent?
Evidence suggests that students with disabilites do not show significant educational gains
when educated in segregated special education programs (Dyson, 1999) The same could be
argued of second language learners. When English is taught in a self contained enviroment,
students have little incentive to use it outside of class. Thus the skill mastered for regurgitation
on a test are not cemented and will atrophy quickly with insufficent use.
Central to learning any subject taught in school, regardless of the grade level, is the
content specific vocabulary. Without the required academic as well as vernacular vocabulary,
much of what is being taught goes over the learners head and learning is lost. Compound that
with aquiring general conversation skills and rudimentary vocabulary and second language
students are confonted with an uphill challenge.
With a full inclusion approach to a second language aquisition, this same student would
be surrounded by her new language for at least 5 hours a day. This additional time will increase
her acquisition and reinforce the knowledge for future use. Her vocabulary will increase faster
than through rote memorization. She will begin to pick up on the idioms and nuances that are
difficult to explain through a text. Inclusion not only promotes adacemic growth, but also social
competence, social skills,
and positive peer relations among students of different academic ability ( Artiles & Ortiz, 2002)
Full inclusion signals the commitment of the education system to support the academic
progress of all of its students. (Shepherd et al.) When all students, regardless of language or
ability, are part of the school data and culture, teachers become invested in their success and
growth. No longer ignored or marginalized because their scores are not included in school
report cards, ELL and special needs students receive an equal opportunity to be exposed and
gain knowledge of academic skills they will need in their adult lives. They are pushed to stretch
in sometimes uncomfortable ways, but in the discomfort comes growth and progress.



References
Artiles, A and Ortiz, A. (Eds.) (2002) English language learners with special education needs:
identification, assessment and instrcution. National Library of Education: Washington
DC.
Dyson, A. (1999). Inclusion and inclusions: Theories and discourses in inclusive educaton. In H.
Daniels & P. Garner (Eds.), World Yearbook of education 1999: Inclusive education (pp.
36-53). London: Kogan Page.
Shepard, L., Taylor, G., Betebenner, D. (1998) Inclusion of Limited-English-Proficient Students
in Rhode Islands Grade 4 Mathematics Performance Assessment, CSE Technical Report
486. Center of Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence, University of
California, Santa Cruz.