Full Report - Center for Collaborative Education

Becoming fully literate in English, and more
specifically, learning academic English at a level
of proficiency that allows for successful academic
experience in American schools is a critical challenge
for English language learners and for the
teachers, programs and schools that educate them.
The task is as complex as the population of English
language learners is diverse in its experience. In
Boston, many ELLs are first generation immigrants
but in all likelihood the majority are not, because of
the vast representation of Puerto Ricans and of U.S.
born ELLs who are children of recent immigrants. 1
As shown earlier, Boston’s ELLs speak over 50 languages,
although the majority are Spanish speakers.
Many immigrant ELLs arrive from their country of
origin at different ages and, in some cases, with
strong academic preparation and solid literacy skills
in their own language while, in others, newcomers
have experienced interrupted or little formal education
and arrive in Boston with very weak literacy in
their native language. Some U.S. born ELLs may
not be literate either in their own language or in
English. Language-related differences are not the
only ones that characterize the population of ELLs.
They differ in race, in class background and current
economic status, in their experience of racism in the
U.S., in their immigrant status, in the age at which
they arrived in the U.S. They may come with traumatic
experiences in the transition from countries of
origin at war or undergo serious economic disruptions
in their settlement in Boston.
The process of acquiring academic language
proficiency –which is required for ELLs to be at
a level of English language development akin to
that of English proficient students – is also highly
complex. Although there has been substantial attention
to the characteristics and implementation
of programs for English language learners, in many
cases the process of acquiring a second language
is not well understood; even when understood, it
is not completely accepted. A case in point is the
role of a child’s first language (L1) in the acquisition
of a second one (L2). Researchers have described
the linkages between oral capacity and literacy in
the native tongue, the acquisition of oral language
ability in a second language, and impact of
both on the development of effective academic
language proficiency (Cummins, 2000; Riches &
Genesee, 2006; Saunders & O’Brien, 2006). They
have concluded that a strong base of oral language
development in L1 facilitates acquisition of L2 oral
language and literacy and that both contribute to
the development of academic language. 2 In turn,
the development of academic language proficiency
facilitates the access to academic content in English
Language Arts, math, science, humanities, etc.
(Collier, 1987; Genesee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders,
& Christian, 2006; Thomas & Collier, 1997, among
many others).
Of great concern for educational policy and practice
is the length of time that students need in order
to successfully make the transition from no or low
proficiency in English to a level of proficiency that
permits access to academic content that is comparable
to that of English proficient students. Thomas
and Collier (1997), in one of the largest and most
comprehensive studies on this theme, found that
age at arrival, native language proficiency, and
type of schooling in the U.S. influenced the time
required for students to attain academic English
proficiency. For example, they report that students
who immigrated at age 8-11 acquired English more
expediently than other groups. Older students with
good native language literacy and academic language
also did well, but those who arrived without
a good base in their own language did not have
good outcomes. Specifically, Thomas and Collier
write that:
• it takes a typical bilingually schooled student
who is achieving at grade level in L1 about 4-7
years to make it to grade level in L2.
• it takes typical “advantaged” immigrants (those
with 2-5 years of on-grade-level home country
schooling in L1) from 5-7 years to reach grade
level in L2,when schooled all in L2 in the U.S.
• it takes the typical young immigrant schooled
only in L2 in the U.S. 7-10 years or more to reach
the grade level. The majority of these students
do not ever make it to grade level without support
for L1 academic and cognitive development.
These findings held true regardless of the home language,
country of origin, or socioeconomic status.
Similarly, Hakuta, Butler, and Witt (2000), in a study
of two California districts considered successful in
teaching English to ELLs, found that it takes three
to five years to develop oral proficiency and four to
seven years to acquire academic English proficiency.
A similar time frame was reported by Cummins
(2000), Pray and MacSwan (2002), and Suarez-
Orozco, Suarez-Orozco, and Todorova (2008).
Students in all-English instruction do not begin to
show higher intermediate levels of English profi-
Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools 39