The 2010 United States (U.S.) census reports that there were approximately 38 million foreign born individuals living in the U.S. of which more than half are from Latin American and more than one-fourth are from Asia (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2010). As of 2014, there were 43.2 million foreign born individuals, an increase of 13.7% from 2010. As per the Center for Immigration Studies, 21% of U.S. residents speak a language other than English at home and slightly over one-half of all California school-aged children speak a language other than English at home. While the immigration trends several decades ago were primarily people of European descent, today the diversity of immigrants is much more widespread. The projections for immigration
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Based on my interpretation of the studies and the findings of the researchers, I will address the broad topics of using native language and culture in the ELL classroom, the importance of social interaction for adults in an ELL setting and encouraging ELL’s to continue studies for an extended period of time. The topic of culturally responsive teaching, which includes using native language, was addressed by Huerta-Macias in Reflections of Native Language Use in Adult ESL Classroom, with the conclusion that using native language can promote student learning and when used appropriately, it can enhance learning. Likewise, Rhodes addressed the topic in A Study of Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices of Adult ESOL and EAP Teachers and concluded that the use of culturally responsive use of native language versus English only instruction is beneficial to adult ELL’s. Cultural and native language are integral parts of each human and to assume that these important aspects of an adult’s being are not important when learning a new language seems contrary to common sense and respect for the individual. How and when native language is used in a classroom setting is important and several studies suggest that the use of native language for social interaction with the teacher and among students has many benefits, which leads to the next theme of social
Based on my interpretation of the studies and the findings of the researchers, I will address the broad topics of using native language and culture in the ELL classroom, the importance of social interaction for adults in an ELL setting and encouraging ELL’s to continue studies for an extended period of time. The topic of culturally responsive teaching, which includes using native language, was addressed by Huerta-Macias in Reflections of Native Language Use in Adult ESL Classroom, with the conclusion that using native language can promote student learning and when used appropriately, it can enhance learning. Likewise, Rhodes addressed the topic in A Study of Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices of Adult ESOL and EAP Teachers and concluded that the use of culturally responsive use of native language versus English only instruction is beneficial to adult ELL’s. Cultural and native language are integral parts of each human and to assume that these important aspects of an adult’s being are not important when learning a new language seems contrary to common sense and respect for the individual. How and when native language is used in a classroom setting is important and several studies suggest that the use of native language for social interaction with the teacher and among students has many benefits, which leads to the next theme of social