Key Terms

English Language
Learners (ELLs): a person
who is learning the English
language in addition to
his/her native language.

Things to keep in mind

about the average ELL
student:
(See the key terms on the back
of this pamphlet to understand
the definition of ELL, ESL, and
LEP)

If a student speaks a language

other than English in their
home, they must take an
English Proficiency Test.

ELL students are often wrongly

grouped together with the
lower-achieving students.

It is okay and normal for ELL

students to go through a
period of time where they do
not speak. Students going
through this phase prefer to
observe because they are
unsure in their abilities to use
English correctly.

English as a Second
Language (ESL): a program
that is designed to instruct, as
well as support ELL students.
Limited English Proficiency
(LEP): ELL students who have
not yet mastered English to the
point of meeting the standards.
Basic Interpersonal
Communication Skills (BICS):
Language skills that are
necessary for daily social
interactions.
SIOP Model: Sheltered
Instruction Observation Protocol
Model. This is an instructional

UNIVERSITY OF
SCRANTON
EDUC 359-Intro
to ELL

4 Methods of CoTeaching

Language
Acquisition
Stages of Language
Acquisition
1. Pre-Production: Basic
vocabulary development.
Students repeat words,
phrases and gestures (this is
called parroting).
2. Early Production:
Establishment of basic
vocabulary; mimicking; onetwo word answers. It is helpful
to ask yes/no questions to
students in this stage.
3. Speech Emergence: students
can speak in short phrases;
students should be asked
questions that are more
complex; students tend to
make errors in tenses and
sentence structure.
4. Intermediate Fluency:
Students can speak in
complete sentence;
grammatical errors and

1. Supportive: One teacher

teaches the lesson while
another floats around the
room doing formative
assessment.
2. Parallel: Students are broken
into groups and is taught the
same lesson by a different
teacher.
3. Complementary: One teacher
communicates verbally while
the other teacher
demonstrates what is being
said.
4. Team Teaching: More than one
teacher in the classroom; each
teacher takes a turn teaching a
part of the lesson, sometimes
with a specific specialty or
discipline.

One language sets you in a

corridor for life. Two languages
open every door along the
way.
Frank Smith

Helpful Teaching
Tips:

Provide the ELL Students with

lots of visuals
Be empathetic to students
emotional needs
Engage and challenge the

The SIOP Model

research-based and validated
instructional model that has proven
effective in addressing the academic
needs of English learners throughout
the United States. The SIOP Model
consists of eight interrelated
components:
1. Lesson Preparation: Both content
and language objectives must be
specific and measurable.
2. Building Background: Introduce
vocabulary words and connect to
background knowledge. It is
helpful to avoid terms that might
have multiple meanings
3. Comprehensible Input: Explain the
content in a clear way/a way the
student will be able to understand.
4. Strategies: Use appropriate
methods for the content and
language objectives; set students
up to think critically. Remember to
scaffold!
5. Interaction: Provide opportunities
for students to interact with each
other and practice using the
language as much as possible.
6. Practice/Application: Provide
opportunities for hands-on
learning. Apply the knowledge in
new ways. Writing is a good
activity for this component.
7. Lesson Delivery: Be clear in
supporting both language and
content objectives. Make sure that
the students are engaged.
8. Review and Assessment: Review
key terms and concepts. Answer
any clarifying questions.

comprehension errors are still

common
5. Advanced Fluency: Students
can write and speak English
effectively. Students are
considered fluent, however
some may still struggle with
idioms.

student
Use strategies that math the
students language proficiency
Use differentiated instruction