Lesson Adaptations and Accommodations: Working With Native Speakers and English Language Learners in the Same Science Classroom

Childhood Education, Spring 2004 by Rice, Diana C, Pappamihiel, N Eleni, Lake, Vickie E

In the late 1980s and 1990s several documents were published that clearly established the goals of science education for the next century, including Science for All Americans (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1990); Benchmarks for Science Literacy: Project 2061 (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993); and National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996). The most recent of these documents, the National Science Education Standards, is very specific about the primary goal of science education: "All students, regardless of age, sex, cultural or ethnic background, disabilities, aspirations, or interest and motivation in science, should have the opportunity to obtain high levels of scientific literacy" (p. 20). The Standards stipulate that to be scientifically literate, students should learn more than rote facts, terms, and definitions.

While science education in the United States has historically provided assistance in the classroom for students who have special needs, it has not been as effective in providing accommodations for speakers of English as a second language. English language learners (hereafter ELLs) now account for more than 10 percent of the U.S. school-age population, an increase of over 32 percent since the 1997-98 school year (Padolsky, 2002). Fewer than 13 percent of teachers have received even minimal ESL training, however, and only about 8-10 percent of teachers have bilingual or ESL certification (August & Hakuta, 1998). Some states have taken significant steps to accommodate this increasingly large group of children. Florida, for example, has implemented requirements for all teachers of language arts or English to gain an endorsement in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Yet, growing demands for accountability, such as that called for in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (U.S. Department of Education, 2002), will soon make it impossible for school districts and teachers in the United States to ignore their responsibilities to provide appropriate assistance to all students, including ELLs.

Research has shown that students perform well when asked higher level questions (Henze & Lucas, 1993). Yet, Verplaetse (1998) found that teachers often do not pose such higher level questions to ELLs, engaging in a "benevolent conspiracy" that is intended to save ELLs from embarrassment, but consequently deprives them of learning opportunities. As a result of the accountability movement, however, ELLs must be held to the same high standards as all students in the classroom. The challenge, then, is to provide equitable opportunities for all children to learn science in a manner consistent with the goals outlined in the National Science Education Standards. Instruction for ELLs cannot be "watered down" science curriculum that limits them to learning "rote" terms or vocabulary. Too often, however, these children received instruction that simply calls for lower order thinking. Educators in general education classrooms must distinguish between simplifying concepts and making them simple. The key is not using a different strategy for each student, but rather manipulating a single strategy in such a way that it addresses different students' needs.

One could easily find classroom strategies to use with ELLs as well as science strategies to use with native English speakers (NESs). Many are innovative and clever. However, in a search for strategies that are effective for both ELLs and NESs, it is difficult to find the right integration of theory and classroom. Yet, this is the challenge faced by thousands of science teachers each day.

While teachers appreciate that ELLs bring an invaluable diversity to their classrooms, marry find it difficult and frustrating to adapt lessons that meet their needs and are appropriate for NESs. According to Heath (1983), children are expected to learn certain language skills at home and bring them into the classroom. These skills include using language to describe and label, recount and retell, follow directions from a variety of sources, sustain and maintain appropriate social interactions, obtain information from non-intimates outside of their immediate social and familial circle, and account for one's own unique experiences. Often, however, ELLs coming into our schools are neither linguistically nor culturally fluent in these different types of tasks.

Many good teachers are baffled when faced with a child who obviously brings skills to the classroom but has difficulty demonstrating them due to language differences. In fact, most teachers across the United States are not adequately trained to meet the needs of ELLs in their mainstream classes (Gruber, Wiley, Broughman, Strizek, & Burian-Fitzgerald, 2002). Often, teachers fall back on what they consider to be "good teaching," assuming that it will be effective with all students in all learning environments.

All general education teachers must understand that language learning (both first and second) is a process that is sequential, systematic, and cognitive. Children do not learn language through imitation, but rather through authentic interaction and scaffolded learning opportunities. Learning English does not only constitute learning new vocabulary and translating from one language to another. As children move through various stages of interlanguage (Selinker & Lamendella, 1981), they experiment with and develop a new form of language just a bit closer to fluency. Teachers must realize that interaction tends to help this process along; the more meaningful interaction a teacher can provide, the more opportunities the ELL has to progress.