The Impact of Teacher's Pedagogies on English Language Learners' Engagement in the Classroom

Yoon, B. (2008). Uninvited guests: The influence of teachers’ roles and pedagogies on the positioning of English language learners in the regular classroom. American Educational Research Journal, 45(2), 495-522.

Background

Research indicated that English language learners (ELLs), the non-English speakers in regular American classrooms, lacked support from regular classroom teachers as these teachers had insufficient knowledge on how their roles and pedagogical approaches could best meet these learners’ needs.

Aims

The study examined regular classroom teachers’ perceptions towards ELLs, their teaching pedagogies, and the ways ELLs presented and positioned themselves in classrooms.

Sample

The participants were three regular classroom teachers and six ELLs at a middle school in a suburban area in New York.

Method

The author adopted a case study approach. Data included classroom observations and in-depth interviews of the participants over one semester. Data analysis comprised transcripts of interviews and audio-taped classroom observations, interview memos, field notes, research logs and documents of students’ work.

Findings

Results of the study suggested that the teachers’ pedagogical approaches and interactions with the ELLs were determined by how they perceived and positioned themselves as teachers for these learners – as teachers who perceived their roles as merely developing the ELLs’ linguistic skills or as teachers who viewed their roles as meeting the needs of the ELLs. When the teachers considered the ELLs’ cultural and social needs and responded to their needs proactively, it enhanced learners’ interaction and participation in the classrooms. The teachers’ active or passive involvement with the ELLs also influenced the non-ELLs’ interactive stance towards the ELLs. The non-ELLs followed the teachers’ model in interacting with the ELLs. For example, the mainstream students with one teacher actively interacted with the ELLs when she encouraged the ELLs to participate in classroom activities. The teachers’ different approaches were also related to the participatory behaviour of the ELLs that positioned them as powerful or powerless students. When the ELLs were regarded as passive recipients of learning, they were disengaged.

Implications

The author suggested that since teachers’ beliefs of their roles impacted the degree to which they limited or expanded students’ opportunities for participation, it was important to establish a new concept of classroom teachers’ roles to incorporate ELLs’ diverse learning needs and to take full ownership of their needs.

Original article retrieved from Google Scholar.