Dispelling Misconceptions About English Language Learners: Research-Based Ways to Improve Instruction, Oct/2019

Nearly three-quarters of public schools in the United States enroll English language learners (ELLs). That means teachers at all grade levels need to know how to help these students achieve full academic English language proficiency. In Dispelling Misconceptions About English Language Learners, Barbara Gottschalk dispels 10 common misconceptions about ELLs and gives teachers the information they need to help their ELLs succeed in the classroom.               

From her perspective as a teacher of English as a second language, Gottschalk answers several key questions:

1. Just who is an English language learner?
2. Why is it important to support home language maintenance and promote family engagement?
3. What are the foundational principles for instruction that help educators teach ELLs across the content areas?
4. How can teachers recognize and incorporate the background knowledge and experiences ELLs bring to class?
5. Why is it important to maintain high standards and expectations for all students, including ELLs?
6. How can a teacher tell when an ELL needs special education versus special teaching?     

By answering these questions, and more, Gottschalk gives teachers a crystal-clear understanding of how to reach ELLs at each stage of English language acquisition. Her expert guidance reinforces for teachers what they are already doing right and helps them understand what they might need to be doing differently.

About the Author:

Barbara Gottschalk, as a full-time, in-the-trenches educator, taught English language learners from first graders to graduate students in five states in three very different parts of the United States. After teaching English in Japan early in her career, she earned an M.A. in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) as well as an MBA. She was an invited speaker on ELL issues for the 30th Annual High Schools That Work Development Conference and has presented numerous times at the International TESOL conference and at conferences for state affiliates MITESOL, Ohio TESOL, and Kansas TESOL. A two-year stint representing English language learner interests as one of 160 fellows in America Achieves, a national educator organization, elevated her voice further. Gottschalk wrote and implemented many successful grants for her school and has served as a grant reviewer for TESOL, her professional organization, as well as for the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition. Her first book, Get Money for Your Classroom: Easy Grant Writing Ideas that Work, was published by Routledge in 2017.