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(Re)Framing Difficulty: ELLs and Literacy Instruction

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Intersections of Diversity, Literacy, and Learner Difficulties

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Abstract

On average, English Language Learners (ELLs) spend most of their day in mainstream classrooms where many classroom teachers indicate that they feel unprepared to provide them with effective instruction. With the current educational emphasis on literacy development and standardized testing results, and the high number of ELLs identified as needing to receive reading intervention services, I highlight in this chapter the gaps in, and challenges of, providing effective literacy instruction for ELLs in K-12 schools and provide suggestions for moving toward a culturally and linguistically responsive framework for literacy instruction (CLRLI) for students of all ages. As more schools move toward embracing diversity and educational equity, the incorporation of CLRLI into daily classroom practice offers key tools for meeting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners, and for providing high quality educational services to all learners, inclusive of, rather than despite differences in cultural understandings and learning needs.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It is important to note that although this is a globally accepted term, it can often be a misnomer because English may be a student’s 3rd, 4th, or 5th additional language.

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  1. Equity & Diversity in Education at Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, VA, USA

    Dyanis A. D. Conrad

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  1. Department of Education, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT, USA

    Theresa Abodeeb-Gentile

  2. School of Education and Professional Studies, State University of New York at Potsdam, Potsdam, NY, USA

    Dennis A. Conrad

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Conrad, D.A.D. (2022). (Re)Framing Difficulty: ELLs and Literacy Instruction. In: Abodeeb-Gentile, T., Conrad, D.A. (eds) Intersections of Diversity, Literacy, and Learner Difficulties. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3532-9_5

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