How can American elementary school teachers invite K-2 ELLs to share and

reflect on their identities during ELA instruction

------ What are the benefits of this pedagogical approach

Ang Li

Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania

EDUC 6306 Literary Theory, Research, and Practice

Dr. Amy Stornaiuolo

2022/12/08
Introduction

The current educational system pays more attention to student’s identity, to meet their

current needs and help them see themselves can be is the top priority, rather than just

focusing on academic performance. The United State as a diverse country, immigrants

pouring in which leads to some challenges for teaching, such as cultural and language

differences. As Gilliland (2019) illustrates, there are not enough teaching resources and

an effective teaching system to support this special group of students whose English is

not their native language. Many educators and scholars are now designing teaching

programs for English Language Learners (ELLs) to improve their English proficiency.

In fact, students should benefit not only from language development through ELA

instruction and teaching resources, but beyond that, to preserve their identity, to find

their own representation and to develop a sense of belonging.

The research subjects for this paper are ELLs. This group of people have many

parallels with immigrants or multicultural students. Under the influence of such

intersectional identities, they are more likely to suffer from double or even multiple

discrimination, such as language, race, religion, which is resulting in a lack of social

interaction, negative perception of self and academic failure (Crenshaw, 2018). As an

immigrate from mainland China, ELL is a part of my identity. Before attending RWL

program, I never thought about my identity as China seems to lack diversity on the

surface. Now after I rethink about my identity, I define myself as a Chinese American

woman with an ordinary Asian face, limited English speaker, and force myself to
speak English and integrate into Western culture. As Narayan (2013) illustrates, it is

an unsettled and unsettling identity, because I subjectively demand myself to let go of

my original culture and identity to fit into a new society. In the end, this “ambiguity”

identity influenced my sense of belonging and the way I saw myself and the world.

With this uncertainty and ambiguity about my own identity, I hope to use this

opportunity to dig deeper in young ELLs’ identities and what are some special

literacy resources and interactive methods teachers using for this group students to

help them find their sense of belongings, resonation, and representation. During my

fieldwork observation I noticed that ELLs were assigned to an intervention group for

a 30-minute instruction which was uncontextualized and unrelated to their own class.

Although this designated curriculum is tailored to ELLs aims to improve their English

acquisition, including new vocabularies, grammar, spelling, and pronunciation, based

on my interview with an ELL from this school, without providing support for their

identity and self-perception, I think it doesn’t provide an equal access to the

curriculum.

In this paper, I will first think about compared to native speaker or people from

mainstream culture, what are the barriers ELLs will meet to preserve their identity. I

interviewed two teachers who had completely different views on teaching ELLs, and I

will compare results based on case studies of two ELLs from these tow class. I will

explore the way of American elementary school teachers using picture books and
other resources to invite K-3 ELLs to share and reflect on their identities during ELA

instruction by teacher’s interview and class observation. I will also discussion the

benefits from the instruction and report on findings based on case study. In conclusion

part, I will provide an analysis of the results in this research paper and offer some

effective instruction for ELLs to preserve, share and reflect their identity.

Literature Review

Identity formation and ELL’s identity

Before exploring the relationship between literacy and identity, it is necessary to clarify

the definition of identity. “Psychological concepts such as attitudes, beliefs, worldviews,

self-concept, and personality are increasingly replaced by the buzzword ‘identity’”

（Verkuyten, et al., 2019). The question “Who are you?” is a common question that

can be asked of oneself or of others (Vignoles, 2018). Identity is a word that always be

mentioned in contemporary education, which refers to how people answer the question

“who are you” (Vignoles, Schwartz, & Luyckx, 2001). It represents the cognition and

evaluation of oneself. Erikson’s concept of identity development is as Phinney and Ong

(2007) explained, identity is “a subjective feeling of sameness and continuity that

provides individuals with a stable sense of self and serves as a guide to choices in key

areas of one’s life”. It's harder people, especially kids to find their self-representation

and to think about their identities as they may not know who they are, or do not have a

clear positioning of their own identity, as an achieved identity combines “childhood

identifications, individual interests and talents, and the opportunities afforded by the

context in a unified self-structure” (Erikson, 1968, p.137).

English language learners (ELLs), a broad term that refers to students with limited

English proficiency, are a diverse group from many different states and native language

backgrounds. Although according to an analysis from the Washington-based Migration

Policy Institute, “the majority of English-language learners in U.S. K-12 schools were

born in the United States” (Mitchell, 2016), I still wanted to research more on

immigrant English learners in this paper, because the intersectionality or identity

multiplicity they may face can be challenging. In the context of immigration, it is

necessary to distinct social identity and cultural identity (Verkuyten, 2016; Wiley &

Deaux, 2010). According to Tajfel and Turner (1979), social identities reflect how

people identify themselves or be identified by others in social groups to which

individuals are interpersonally invested. For immigrant ELLs, social identities reflect

more on the relevance, overlapping, or resonation with each other in particular contexts,

for example sports teams, occupations, ethnic groups, etc. Cultural identity, on the other

hand, refers to how people position themselves according to the cultural groups where

they belong. In other words, it is connected to one’s heritage that people identify

themselves through the traditions and cultural practices, for example belief structure,

dress, and languages (Verkuyten et al., 2019). It can better help people who have

internalized dual cultures to answer the “who am I” question by “incorporating them

into their individual self-concepts in order to achieve a more or less coherent self” (Syed
& McLean, 2016).

Immigrants and their children face multiple changes in their surroundings, therefore

they “confront the task of defining themselves in a new and unfamiliar context”

(Verkuyten, et al., 2019). Under the inadaptability to the new environment around and

the blurred self-cognition caused by multiple and intersectional identities, it is crucial

to call on educators to pay attention to the support of the ELL’s identity. According to

Sumaryono and Ortiz (2004), “English Language Learners could become invisible in

the mainstream classroom or even disconnect from the learning process if teachers do

not display sensitivity toward their cultural identity”. If ELLs are not equipped the

knowledge or tools to share, reflect and preserve their identities, they cannot be ready

to deal with social events in the future.

Teaching methods and resources for ELLs

Gee (1996, 1999) demonstrated that learning “social language” has connection with

socially situated identities. Yet there is a question refer to the coupling of literacies and

identities, “how do people attain new literacies and their attendant social identities”

(Bartlett, 2005). Studies have shown different opinions on helping ELLs with their

identity recognition and academical success. On the one hand, scholars proposed to

support ELLs adapt to the new environment as soon as possible, the priority is to help

them improve their English proficiency and break through language barriers. English
proficiency directly determines the degree of engagement in the classroom and self-

awareness of students (Demie, 2013). Freebody and Luke (1990) mentioned in the Four

Resources Model that effective reader should be a text decoder to break the code of

texts, which means recognizing and utilizing the fundamental features and phonics is

necessary for readers. Roberts and Neal (2003) also propose that elementary schoolers

are beneficial from small group ESL instruction or after-school language program in

improving language acquisition. They believe children use picture books and other

resources in English version during read aloud and ELA instruction can better help

ELLs to integrate and adapt into mainstream classroom and fully assess to curriculum

than bilingual recourses.

On the other hand, scholars like Gee (1996) suggested that “masterful literacy

attainment comes through acquisition, or informal, apprentice-style learning, rather

than through learning or formal instruction” (p.138). In other words, language

acquisition is not mastered through learning and cannot be isolated from social practice.

The New Literacy Studies (NLS) turn focus to a large “social turn” and scholars propose

that reading and writing only meaningful when take place in the context of social

practices that tied with one’s identity (Barton, 1994; Street, 1995; Heath, 1983). Texts

and literacy practices can be an agency for people to build self-awareness and reflect

their identities, in the meantime, to produce themselves (Baker & Freebody, 1989;

Davies, 1989; Street, 1994).

This point can connect to literacy-and-identity studies, which can explain a skill-based

literacy and how literacy as cognitive process conveys individual’s motivations or

interests (Street, 1984). In this case, literacy as a social practice can be “mirrors,

windows, and sliding glass doors” (Bishop, 1990) to serve people find their sense of

belongings, resonation, and representation. Book is not just as material in-and-of-itself

but embedded in cultural ideologies and connected to social practice, which transforms

social experience and reflects it back to readers, and during this process, people can see

their lives as part of the larger social practice, that is also a meaning-making process.

In short, literacy builds a connection for people to read the word and the world (Freire

and Macedo, 2005). That’s why contemporary education adds multicultural education

and multilingual resources into curriculum to build an equality, justice, and equity

classroom for every student to fully engage in (Banks, 2019). While helping ELLs break

down the language barrier may support them adapt to the new environment more

quickly, letting them see themselves in literacy world and understand everyone’s

identity is valuable and welcome seems to be a higher priority. Keep the debate in mind,

In the following part, I will further analyse the different opinions of teaching methods

and the results they product based on data collection.

Methods

Context/Setting/Participants

The research took place at a public school in the United States. It is a comprehensive

school combined with kindergarten, elementary school, and middle school. Students
are mixed-gender and diverse cultural background. School provides education with the

academic, technological, and social skills needed to be productive and contributing

citizens in our society. I chose two second-grade classrooms for class observation and

literacy teachers’ interview. I targeted one ELL from each class to conduct a case study.

The two ELLs’ names (both names are pseudonyms), genders their home languages are

listed as follows: Olivia, she/her/hers pronouns, home language is Chinese, from

teacher; Hf, she/her/hers pronouns, home language is Arabic. They both immigrated to

America in their kindergarten age, speak their first language at home and their English

proficiency is in the same level based on ELA reports from the end of last semester

(Level 2 – Partially Meet Expectations).

Methodology

I obtained both qualitative and quantitative data in this project. To collect qualitative

data, I observed two ELA classrooms in the school I mentioned above and interviewed

literacy teachers from both classes. According to Kvale and Brinkmann (2007),

interview is a common data collection method in educational setting that allows

researchers to dig deeper in the topic and get more reliable and current information.

Coincidentally, two teachers’ opinions on ELLs’ instructive methods differ widely –

Teacher A focused more on language ability enhancement who highly recommended

ELLs in her class to attend ELS instruction group and after-school language program.

Most learning resources and books in teacher A’s classroom are in English; Teacher B

conducted multicultural education, multilingual picture books and cooperative

activities to help ELLs make meaning, in the meantime encourage students to share and

reflect their identities by resonating with the books in their original language and culture.

Each interview lasted for about 30 minutes and main questions I prepared for teachers’

interview are the same: “Do you pay special attention to ELL students in the

classroom?”; “What extra activities did you do for them or did the curriculum or

instructional and learning recourses adapt for them?”; “Can ELLs fully engage in class?

Will it be quieter or more active than other students?”; “How do you help and support

ELLs to see themselves, realize self-worth and contribute to society? Have you found

out any pedagogy that is effective for them?”. Based on the teacher's answers, I will

follow up with different sub-questions. Before the interview, I asked them for permit

for recording, and clarified that the interview is the process of data collection for my

research paper, and asked them if they would like me to quote what they said in the

paper, if necessary. I informed them that a pseudonym will be used to protect their

privacy and information, and that the interview can be stopped or terminated at any

time if there are any circumstances during the conversation. I appreciate their

cooperation with my interview.

To deep understand ELL’s social and academic achievements from both classes, I

tracked their interactions and engagement and conducted a case study for an ELL from

each classroom for the whole semester. The reason I chose case study is because I want

to go in-depth in one person, and I can compare and analyze different impacts and

educational outcomes brought about by different teaching methods and emphases. The
two students share many parallels on identity with me, such as immigrant, ELL, and

female. One of the students and I are both native Chinese speakers. For quantitative

data, the students’ ELA report, benchmark test via STAR Renaissance, state

standardized test score and student well-being survey were monitored. Informal

conferences with the students at the start of case study, at the midpoint, and at the end

of the research were conducted.

Findings and Discussion

In this part, I would like to first draw some effective conclusions on ELL’s pedagogy

through the analysis of interviews with two teachers and the performance of two

students throughout the whole semester. Teacher A proposed that enhance students'

English language ability and help them break through language barriers is the primary

goal of ELL’s teaching. It is interesting to realize that in the literacy review session

some scholars also mentioned the importance of helping students improve their

language proficiency (Demie 2013; Roberts and Neal 2003). During the interview,

teacher A asked me to imagine a scene where a child has just learned his mother tongue

and comes to a place where he is not familiar with. The people around him share

different language, appearance, hair style, skin color and habits. How to help him find

his own position and adopt to the strange environment? “Establishing communication

as soon as possible seems like a must,” I muttered. Then Teacher A continued, if this

child wants to catch up with the whole classroom and fully assess to curriculum, first

he must at least master the most basic English skills, such as learning phonics,
developing decoding skills and alphabet knowledge. Therefore, she strongly

recommended ELLs in her class join in the intervention group where has a designated

curriculum contained language strategies tailored to ELLs, like vocabulary, building

sentences, and fundamental grammar. Teacher A clearly stated that she did not prepare

bilingual materials for ELL. She did not deny multilingual education, but she believed

that immersion education should be advocated when students are relatively young and

have not mastered English proficiently.

While Teacher B strongly oppose, she believes that language is not an isolated part

which needs to be mastered in social practice (see also Gee, 1996; Barton, 1994; Street,

1994/1995; Heath, 1983; Baker & Freebody, 1989; Davies, 1989). Especially for

immigrant children with multiple identities, the crucial task for teachers is to be in the

same position as these children and help them see themselves. ELLs are easily to be

“invisible in the mainstream classroom or even disconnect from the learning process of

teachers do not display sensitivity toward their cultural identity” (Sumaryono and Ortiz,

2004, p. 16). If we force them to much on learning and adopting the language and

culture of mainstream countries, we run the risk of devaluing ELL’s original identity

and denying their ability to speak two or more languages.

Teacher B advocates multicultural and multilingual education in her class. You can see

“hello” stickers in different language versions hanging on the wall that create a warm

and welcomed vibe. During my observation, I found that she often provides ELLs
multilingual picture books during free reading. For example, once I saw Olivia read

Cinderella in Chinese version and many students surrounded her and asked her the

meaning of the Chinese characters. Teacher B always encourage ELLs to teach the

whole class their first language. Teacher B provides multicultural teaching recourses

and cooperative activities to help ELLs make meaning, in the meantime share and

reflect their identity by resonating with the books.

Hf whose home language is Arabic is from Teacher A’s class. Since she participated in

extra language training at school and after-school language program, at the end of the

semester, her ELA report shows her progress in language skills (from Level 2 - Partially

Met Expectations to Level 3 - Approached Expectations), especially reading and

writing skills which are Level 4 – Met Expectations. Except for a slight improvement

on ELA report, Hf’s overall academic performance is still below the average level. She

has always been very quiet in class and prefers to have lunch alone. Once I had a short

conversation with her, she expressed to me that she has no interests in learning English.

Sad to say, she used the word “hate”. She said, she had to learn it because her parents

cannot speak English and they need her to be the translator. I also noticed that she was

extra supported in Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE). For children of

immigrant families, there always be “a clear bifurcation between the contexts of home

and school” (Orellana, 2001; Guerra, 1998). Immigrant children as mediators, cultural

brokers, and translator whose identities is blurred and unstable due to family collide

and power dynamics (Street, 1995). Requirements from schools and pressure from
parents can leave their identities vulnerable. Therefore, if educators intervene roughly,

it is likely to cause damage to their vulnerable identities, and further lead to resistance

to the new culture and society.

Olivia whose home language is Chinese is from teacher B’s class. She can voluntarily

participate in ESL program and other intervention groups. Although her teacher and

parents do not push her on her language skills development, I still observe that she

attends three or four times a week. At the end of the semester, to my surprise, both her

English proficiency and her overall academic performance have been improved. Same

as Hf, Hf ELA level increased from Level 2 - Partially Met Expectations to Level 3 -

Approached Expectations. Her overall academic performance improved to Average

Level as well (below Average before). During classroom observation, her

performance in class has also become more proactive, and she has made many

friends. I think this is also beneficial from the multicultural education that has led to

other students' cultural tolerance. Her personality has also changed a lot, from a very

quiet and timid girl to a crowd “focus” who likes to joke and talk. In a diverse and

multicultural society, how to protect minorities from oppression and discrimination,

and create a welcome, equal, and inclusive environment for everyone is something

that educators should continue to think about.

While I know there are disparities in identities and personalities of the two students,

Olivia's success in academic and social practice can prove the effectiveness of the
teacher's teaching methods are at least effective for her. I observed when teacher chose

picture books that related to Chinese culture, like Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story

from China by Ed Young or some texts that are also popular in China and Olivia is

familiar with, like some Disney stories, she showed more interests and engagement

during Read Aloud, especially picture books in Chinese version. To support one’s

identity does not mean that individuals are forced to integrate into this new environment,

but that they can see themselves through media or resources, realize their self-worth,

celebrate their identities and cultures by others, and succeed to be a valuable member

in the new environment while preserving their own culture. Eengaging children in

Culturally Relevant and multilingual classroom serves as a starting point for them to

interrupt occurring identity issues around them. Thomas and Stornaiuolo (2016)

illustrate that “increasingly, young people are looking for mirrors, windows, and doors

into others’ experiences and also for their own experiences to be represented in

literature and, by extension, in the literacy curriculum”. We need to use literacy as an

effective and powerful tool to help our children read the word and world. Multicultural

education can serve as an equal agency to help immigrant second language learners, as

a mirror for them to see themselves, find resonance, and “provide a meaning of

transforming their perception of self” (Sumaryono and Ortiz, 2004), and as a door to

social practice.
Conclusion

This project aims to seek out effective pedagagy to help ELLs respond to identity. In

this paper, I first rethink the definition of identity and multiple identities as an

immigrant ELL. It covers how literacy and language relate to identity and how

designated curriculum and education impacts on identity reflection. I analysed the

views of scholars and came up with two perspectives, one is to promote language

enhancement, the other is to promote social practice. To further analyze this debate, in

the data collection session, I separately interviewed two teachers who had different

views on ELL teaching, observed their classrooms, and did a case study on a student

from each classroom. In the findings part, the student who was only paid attention to

the improvement of English only got a slight improvement in listening and writing

scores on the ELA report, but the overall academic performance is still below average,

while the multicultural teaching teacher, the ELL not only improved overall academic

performance, her performance in class has also become more proactive, and she has

made many friends. This may indicate that multicultural education and multilingual

education are effective.

Overall, I think the ELL community needs to be given more attention by education

practitioners because they may face multiple challenges: discrimination, language

barriers, ambiguous identities, difficulty integrating into the classroom and society,

othering, etc. I emphasized the significance of multicultural teaching, but I did not deny

the importance of second language acquisition. Next, I want to further explore how to
preserve their identities while giving them more language support, as language barrier

will indeed encounter a lot of troubles in the process of integrating into the society,

perhaps finding a combined teaching model can be more helpful to the ELL group.
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