TEACHING Exceptional Children, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 5865. Copyright 2016 The Author(s). DOI: 10.

1177/0040059916662248

ELLs

Rhonda D. Miller
Disabilities
With Learning
Language Learners
Instruction for English
Contextualizing
Ms. Monroe is an experienced fifth-
grade teacher in a Title I elementary
school. This year her diverse
classroom of 25 students includes five
English language learners (ELLs) with
varying levels of English proficiency.
Three of the ELLs have been identified
as having LD, and there are also four
monolingual students with LD. Ms.
Monroe has experience with
differentiating her instruction to meet
the diverse needs of the students in
her classroom, but she has limited
experience teaching ELLs. How can
she ensure that all of her students will
have access to the material that is
presented? How can she ensure
success for all students in her
classroom?
According to the National
Clearinghouse for English Language
Acquisition (2015), ELLs made up 9%
of students Grades K12 in the United
States during the 20112012 school
year. ELLs can experience a unique set
of challenges, including (a) a lack of
culture-matched background
knowledge and inexperience with
academic language and classroom
discourse skills (Francis, Rivera,
Lesaux, Kieffer, & Rivera, 2006), (b)
communication difficulties, (c)
inadequate opportunities to use
culturally-influenced learning styles,
and (d) difficulty connecting
background experiences to learning
new material (Klingner & Soltero-
Gonzlez, 2009).
For students with LD, difficulties
with learning language-based
activities can lead to difficulties
understanding content and navigating
reading and writing activities in the
content areas (Jitendra, Edwards,
Sacks, & Jacobson, 2004). Students
Table 1. Examples of Spanish Cognates
Social studies
Map Mapa
Revolution Revolucin
Govern Gobernar
Continent Continente
with disabilities who are also ELLs
require additional attention to their
language needs (Klingner, Boel,
Linan-Thompson, & Rodriguez, 2014).
Therefore, addressing the needs of
ELLs with LD requires a set of
instructional strategies that are
engaging and allow students to
experience academic success while
building English proficiency (Correa &
Miller, 2014).
Contextualizing Instruction
Academic content that is new to the
learner is both cognitively and
linguistically demanding in that it
contains sophisticated academic
language, unfamiliar information, and
very few contextual clues (Cummins,
1981). ELLs with LD require services
that are designed to support language
acquisition and processing needs.
These learners benefit from instruction
that is culturally and linguistically
responsive. Features of culturally and
linguistically responsive instruction
include providing support for language
development, building on students
prior knowledge, and facilitating
learning through positive classroom
experiences (Klingner, Boardman,
Eppolito, & Schonewise, 2012). There
are three steps to providing culturally
responsive instructional strategies that
teachers can employ in order to
contextualize learning in the content
areas: (a) building vocabulary, (b)
building background, and (c) providing
ample opportunities to practice and
apply the information that students
have been taught.
Step 1: Building Vocabulary
For ELLs with LD, limited English
vocabulary, ineffective word learning
Science
Volcano Vlcan
Insect Inscto
Planet Planeta
Atmosphere Atmsfera
TEACHING Exceptional Children | September/October 2016 59
strategies and fewer occasions of
independent reading make learning
vocabulary during reading quite
inefficient (Jitendra etal., 2004). The
What Works Clearinghouse (Baker
et al., 2014) report recommends intensive
teaching of vocabulary over the course of
several days for ELLs. Researchers have
noted that effective vocabulary
instruction for both ELLs and students
with LD requires multiple exposures to a
specific list of words and multiple
opportunities to use the words in
reading, writing, and speaking activities
(Gersten etal., 2007; Jitendra etal.,
2004). Activities such as playing word
games, word sorting, making cross-
linguistic connections, and using graphic
organizers can increase students
exposure to and practice with new
vocabulary. There are four components
to effective vocabulary instruction: word
selection, explicit instruction, the use of
graphic organizers and mnemonic
devices, and repeated exposure.
Word selection. It is important to
select vocabulary words that are
essential for understanding the lesson
(Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2008).
Choose an engaging passage of
informational text that connects to the
topic of study and contains the
vocabulary that you want students to
learn (Baker etal., 2014). Choose a
small set of words from the text (i.e.,
eight to 10 words) so that students can
learn them more deeply (Baker etal.,
2014). Choose words that students will
frequently encounter while studying
the chosen topic and words that have
multiple meanings.
Ms. Monroe is teaching a social
studies lesson about the growth of labor
movements in America during the
Math
Triangle Tringulo
Equal Igual
Divide Dividir
Centimeter Centmetro
Figure 1. Relationship Between Tier 1 and Tier 2 Words
1800s. She selects a short passage from
the social studies book that tells a story
about child labor. She selects seven
vocabulary words from the passage:
sweatshops, strike, labor unions,
wages, reformers, immigrants, and
bargain. These words will appear over
and over again in the texts that
students will read during this unit, and
Ms. Monroe knows that comprehension
of these words is necessary for
understanding the text, for participating
in class discussions, and for completing
related reading and writing tasks in the
unit of study.
Teaching vocabulary in tiers (Beck,
McKeown, & Kucan, 2008) is an
effective strategy for teaching
synonyms to students who are native
English speakers. Tier 1 words are
high-frequency words used in everyday
conversations that most children are
exposed to from an early age (e.g., dog,
see, ride; Beck, McKeown, & Kucan,
2013). Tier 1 words do not usually
need to be directly taught. Tier 2
words, however, are more characteristic
of words found in written language,
and their use is so frequent that
knowledge of these words can have a
powerful effect on a students verbal
functioning in the classroom (Beck
etal., 2013). Tier 3 words are very
60Council for Exceptional Children
specific to content areas (e.g.,
hypotenuse; Beck etal., 2013).
When planning the use of these
strategies in a classroom with ELLs,
however, it is important to consider
that Tier 1 words that may be key to
When planning the use of these strategies in a
classroom with ELLs, however, it is important to
consider that Tier 1 words that may be key to
comprehending the text may not be familiar to
ELLs and will need to be directly taught.
comprehending the text may not be
familiar to ELLs and will need to be
directly taught (Caldern etal., 2005).
Use pictorial representations of Tier 1
words or explain their meaning
(Caldern etal., 2005). For Tier 2
vocabulary words, demonstrate
meanings (e.g., combine) or discuss
examples (e.g., industrial: industrial
workers, industrial waste). For Tier 2
vocabulary, try to connect new words
to the students native language
through corresponding cognates
(Caldern etal., 2005). Cognates are
words in different languages that have
common origins and can help ELLs
make connections to prior knowledge
in their first language (e.g., presidente
president, multiplicarmultiply). Tier 3
words may also be troublesome for
ELLs who may not have the
background knowledge to be able to
decipher meaning through context
clues, and these may need to be
translated or explained in the students
first language (Caldern etal., 2005).
Explicit instruction. The next step
is to teach the vocabulary words.
Preteaching vocabulary can lessen the
linguistic demands during academic
tasks (Baker etal., 2014; Gersten &
Baker, 2000). Students who are given
opportunities to practice the
pronunciation of words and learn the
meaning of words prior to reading a
text or participating in a classroom
discussion are more likely to participate
and understand the content. Explicit
instruction of vocabulary should
include the use of the words in context
along with the definitions (Jitendra
etal., 2004). This type of instruction
helps to connect to students
background knowledge and builds
schema, linking words to concepts.
ELLs need repeated opportunities to
practice new vocabulary through
listening, speaking, reading, and
writing activities (Beck etal., 2008),
and students with LD benefit from
direct instruction of vocabulary that
includes the use of the words
definition (Jitendra etal., 2004).
In addition, it is important for
students to learn to decipher the
meaning of unfamiliar words. Making
connections to the students native
language and teaching students to
detect word parts can help ELLs with
LD be more independent in their
content reading (Baker etal., 2014).
Students may benefit from learning to
detect similarities between an
unknown English word and a known
word in their first language (Baker
etal., 2014). For example, call attention
Figure 2. Sample Script for Direct Instruction of Vocabulary

Target word: Immigrants

Materials: PowerPoint slides or large word cards, definitions, illustrations
Ms. Monroe (Points to immigrants) This word is immigrants. What word?
Students Immigrants.
Ms. Monroe Yes, immigrants (points to the illustration of immigrants getting off the ship at Ellis Island).
Immigrants (points to the word immigrants on the board) are people who move to a new country
to live. What are immigrants?
Students People who move to a new country to live.
Ms. Monroe Yes, immigrants are people who move to a new country to live. The word immigrants is very
similar to the Spanish word inmigrantes (points to the Spanish word that is written on the board)
and the French word immigrs (points to the French word written on the board). Whats the
English word?
Students Immigrants.
Ms. Monroe Correct. We can change the ending of that word to describe what happens when people do that.
When immigrants move to another country, we call it immigration (erases nts and adds tion).
What word?

to similarities between prefixes and
suffixes in the two languages (e.g.,
-mente = -ly; facilmenteeasily,
rapidamenterapidly). It is important
however, that students know the word
in their first language for the strategy
to be helpful (Baker etal., 2014).
Teaching cognates is another way to
make connections to students native
language. Many cognates are high-
frequency words in Spanish and
low-frequency words in English
(Caldern etal., 2005). Teachers should
be aware, however, of false cognates,
which are words that look similar in
two languages but have very different
meanings. For example, embarazada is
the Spanish word for pregnant, not
embarrassed; and asistir means to
attend, not to assist. See Table 1 for
more examples of cognates.
immigrant (e.g., immigration, migrate)
and cross-linguistic associations (e.g.,
inmigrantes in Spanish, les immigrs in
French) to promote word learning
strategies that can help her students to
read more independently.
Figure 2 contains an example script
for teaching one of the target
vocabulary words. As illustrated in the
Figure 3. Concept Map Demonstrating How Concepts Are Related to Each Other
What is it?
A hot factory
where people
worked
script, it is important to use explicit
instruction techniques (Jitendra etal.,
2004) for teaching the meaning as
well as the pronunciation of each
word. It is also important to
incorporate student-friendly
definitions (Baker etal., 2014).
Ms. Monroe introduces the target
word, using visual supports of the written
What was it like?
Low wages

Ms. Monroe uses a graphic organizer

(Figure 1) to teach the words wages and
Sweatshop
bargain. She refers to wages and bargain
Long hours
as Tier 2 words and compares them to the
Tier 1 definitions: pay and make a
deal. To help students to deeply process
the new vocabulary, Ms. Monroe will
make sure that she addresses the multiple
Dangerous
meanings of the words strike and bargain conditions
in different contexts. She also plans to
teach different forms of the word

TEACHING Exceptional Children | September/October 2016 61

words and accompanying illustrations.
She also calls attention to the similarities
between the new English word and the
cognates that correspond to the home
languages of students in her class.
Use of graphic organizers and
mnemonic strategies. The use of graphic
organizers has been effective in helping
students with LD (Gajria, Jitendra, Sood,
& Sacks, 2007) and ELLs (Baker etal.,
2014) to pinpoint and organize difficult-
to-understand content materials.
Whereas graphic organizers can illustrate
relationships between content details,
mnemonic devices facilitate
remembering the content details (Gajria
etal., 2007). Concept maps are a type of
graphic organizer that makes text more
meaningful by showing how vocabulary
and concepts are related (see Figure 3).
Utilizing a concept map to create a visual
mnemonic (see Figure 4) will enhance
vocabulary development and promote
effective recall of information for
students with LD (Gajria etal., 2007).
The most effective mnemonic strategies
use elaborations in which pieces of
information are linked together in
interactive images, pictures, or verbal
phrases (Mastropieri etal., 2005),
visually connecting important concepts
and vocabulary in a way that is easy to
remember.
Ms. Monroe creates a concept map to
introduce the meaning of the word
sweatshop. Then she uses details from the
concept map to create a visual mnemonic
device that incorporates the symbol of the
building with sweat droplets falling off it
(to help students remember the term
sweatshop). Next, she utilizes symbols to
represent each detail (e.g., a dollar sign to
represent wages), minimizing the
linguistic demands of remembering
content details.
Repeated exposure. Once students
have a working knowledge of the
vocabulary, the next step is to provide
opportunities to build capacity. Twelve
to 16 exposures in a variety of contexts
are necessary before students can
acquire deep vocabulary knowledge
(Beck etal., 2008). Providing
experiences that allow students to
62Council for Exceptional Children
interact with target vocabulary in a
variety of ways helps ELLs and
students with LD to connect the new
words to words they already know and
to incorporate the new words into their
listening, speaking, reading, and
writing skills (Baker etal., 2014;
Jitendra etal., 2007).
Activity-based methods, which
engage students in hands-on and
content-specific activities, are effective
for teaching students with learning
disabilities (Jitendra etal., 2007).
Word-matching games and word sorts
are activities that engage students in
word play. Memory, for example,
requires students to match a word card
to its definition card or to its
corresponding picture card. Cards are
placed face down in rows, and students
take turns turning over two cards,
attempting to make a match. There are
computer-based word-matching activities
on websites such as Quizlet.com that
allow teachers to create and save word
lists and matching definitions. Students
can study vocabulary with online
flashcards and practice matching words
to definitions or synonyms. Computer-
based word games can supplement
teacher instruction and appear to
enhance vocabulary development for
students with LD (Jitendra etal., 2007).
Another way to create the same type of
activity is by using the Smartboard.
Students can manipulate words on the
board to match words to definitions or
pictures. It is important for teachers to
remember to use student-friendly
definitions that are short in order to
reduce linguistic demands.
Figure 4. Visual Mnemonic for the Concept of a Sweatshop
Word sorts are another way that
students can think about the target
words by grouping them into
categories. Provided predetermined
categories, students sort the words on
cards, use paper and pencil to write
them in category columns, or sort them
using a Smartboard activity (see Figure
5). Teachers and students can also
work together to rank words. For
example, in a science unit on weather,
the class would rank the words breeze,
wind, and gale in order from least
forceful to most forceful.
Ms. Monroe creates a Smartboard
activity that requires students to
categorize the target vocabulary words
into the categories of people, places,
actions, or things. Next, she creates a
word list and matching definitions on
the Quizlet website. Her students
practice with the flashcard application
first and then progress to the scatter
activity in which they match the words
to their definitions. Students also
practice spelling the target words and
take a test on the target words on the
Quizlet website. Then, to build
background knowledge, Ms. Monroe
reads a picture book to the class about
child labor, and shows video clips about
children working in the factories that
demonstrate how cramped and
dangerous the conditions were.
Step 2: Building Background
Knowledge
Many learning difficulties can be traced
to insufficient background knowledge,
Figure 5. Graphic Organizer for Categorizing Vocabulary Terms
especially when the students
background knowledge does not match
the culture and the background for
which the content is designed
(Klingner & Soltero-Gonzlez, 2009).
Instruction for ELLs with LD can be
culturally and linguistically responsive
to students unique language and
learning needs by assisting students in
making connections to their prior
knowledge and in connecting what
students are learning in school to their
own lives (Klingner & Soltero-
Gonzlez, 2009). In order to facilitate
connections to prior knowledge,
teachers can assess students prior
knowledge and then make explicit
connections to that knowledge.
Assessing prior knowledge. It is
important not to make assumptions
about what students know or what
they have experienced. Assessing prior
knowledge is essential to tailoring
instruction to individual students
needs. Assessing prior knowledge can
be as simple as asking students what
they know about a particular topic or
having them brainstorm what they
know using a K-W-L chart (recording
what a student knows [K], wants to
know [W], and has learned [L] about a
topic). Administering an assessment
prior to teaching a lesson can also
provide the teacher with important
information about what students
already know about a topic.
Making explicit connections. Students
with LD may not automatically make
connections to prior knowledge
(Echevarria etal., 2008), so it is
important that teachers make the
connections explicitly. Connections can
be established through class discussion
(e.g., Remember when we learned
about immigrants?) or by reviewing
graphic organizers or class notes from
previous lessons.
For ELLs with LD, incorporating the
students native language into the
lesson is an effective strategy that can
enhance connections to the content
(Klingner & Soltero-Gonzlez, 2009).
Researchers have suggested that the use
of native language supports can assist
ELLs in comprehending challenging
academic content (Klingner & Soltero-
Gonzlez, 2009). Using a bilingual
approach, however, depends largely on
the resources that are available in the
school and the teachers familiarity with
the students native language.
Nevertheless, even without bilingual
instruction, cross-linguistic associations
can be made to teach concepts such as
word parts (e.g., the Spanish suffix
-mente is the same as -ly in English).
Strategic use of the native language can
include explaining multistep directions
for a classroom activity or searching for
cognates to derive meaning of unknown
words.
The next strategy that can prepare
students for learning is to explicitly teach
the background knowledge using videos,
illustrations, or photographs as lesson
anchors (Baker etal., 2014). Visuals can
assist students in visualizing abstract
concepts (Gersten & Baker, 2000).
Theorists have suggested that linguistic
stimuli (i.e., spoken or written words)
can trigger an image, and likewise,
nonverbal stimuli (i.e., imagery) can
activate language cues in either language
(Paivio, 2006; Paivio & Desrochers,
TEACHING Exceptional Children | September/October 2016 63
1980). These images can be stored in
long-term memory as a single chunk
rather than many smaller pieces of
information. In this way, visual cues can
enhance comprehension and facilitate
recall of information (Paivio, 2006).
Instructional anchors, such as short
videos and illustrations, can provide
background information on topics that
are unfamiliar to students and can serve
as discussion generators (Baker etal.,
2014). Video clips should be short and
interesting to students, and teachers
should provide guiding questions prior to
viewing the video.
Teachers can also build background
knowledge by providing shared
experiences for students. Experiences
can include science experiments, field
trips, hands-on activities, or role-playing
activities. In a science class, for example,
pairs of students participate in a
hands-on activity in which they construct
an electric circuit. As the activity is
happening, the teacher takes
photographs of the groups at the various
stages of circuit building. The next day,
the students put the photographs in
order and orally narrate the steps that
are illustrated in the photographs. As a
culminating activity, then, the students
write a paragraph describing the steps
they used to build the circuit,
incorporating the target vocabulary
words. Students can turn this project into
a PowerPoint presentation or even a
short movie.
Step 3: Providing Opportunities
to Be Engaged
Both ELLs and students with
disabilities struggle to obtain and
remember new information in content-
area classes because of difficulties with
note taking, study skills, active
participation in class, and working
memory and long-term memory
(Scruggs, Mastropieri, Berkeley, &
Graetz, 2010). It is important to provide
activities that are anchored in content
and focused on developing language
skills (Baker etal., 2014). Classroom
activities that are interactive and are
deliberate in maximizing classwide
participation provide all students the
opportunity to practice skills.
 Developing interactive
activities. Research on effective
inclusion practices suggests that
students with disabilities are more
successful in the classroom when
teachers deliberately and strategically
have them work together with peers
during instruction (Klingner etal.,
2012). Instructional approaches that
offer opportunities for increased
interaction include partner sharing and
cooperative-learning activities.
Working with a partner or in a small
group has several advantages. First, it
allows students extended practice in the
concepts that the teacher has just taught
(Klingner etal., 2012). Another
advantage is total participation. All
students have the opportunity to
participate and to elaborate (Gersten
Both ELLs and students with disabilities struggle
to obtain and remember new information in
content area classes because of difficulties with
note taking, study skills, active participation in
class, and working memory and long-term
memory issues.
etal., 2007) instead of having one
student give an answer. A third
advantage is that students have the
opportunity to practice language skills
with peers in a low-risk environment and
get immediate peer feedback (Klingner
etal., 2012). Group work also allows
teachers to differentiate instruction by
providing each small group with
materials that are specifically suited to
the needs of that group (e.g., reading
material on the topic at a particular
reading level). In addition, working in a
group with same-language peers allows
for discussion in the native language,
which can assist with deeper processing
of information and may allow for better
clarification of confusing issues (Klingner
etal., 2012).
Using response cards. Response
cards are another effective instructional
tool that increases students
opportunities to respond in the
classroom. Evidence-based and
64Council for Exceptional Children
cost-effective, response cards are a quick
way to assess which students
understand what has been taught
(Schnorr, Freeman-Green, & Test, 2016).
Response cards can come in several
different forms, including students
responding to the teachers questions by
writing on a dry-erase board and holding
up their answers for the teacher to see.
Response cards can also be preprinted
by the teacher and reused. Simple
versions of response cards can be
introduced on the first day of a lesson.
Electronic response systems, such as
Kahoot (getkahoot.com), offer the same
total response opportunities for students.
A quiz is created by the teacher and
displayed on the screen. Students log in
by electronic device, such as a laptop or
smartphone, and answer questions in
game show fashion. When the game is
over, the teacher is provided with an
analysis of results by student. Quizzes
can be saved for future use.
After modeling and providing guided
practice on using graphic organizers to
organize details from a text passage,
Ms. Monroe assigns partners to work
together to complete a graphic organizer
based on leveled social studies texts.
Ms. Monroe also asks students yes-or-no
questions to assess vocabulary
knowledge (e.g., Labor unions are
people who move to another country to
live). As students gain skills, they
progress to answering application-level
questions (e.g., Why did labor unions
form?) on handheld devices.
Final Thoughts
ELLs with LD can find navigating the
content areas quite difficult due to
challenges involving limitations in
English language proficiency, gaps in
English academic vocabulary,
difficulties with working memory and
long-term memory, and limited
background knowledge on content area
topics. However, research provides
recommendations for contextualizing
instruction through the use of
evidence-based practices. Using the
recommendations outlined in this
article, teachers working in classrooms
similar to Ms. Monroes can scaffold
instruction for ELLs with LD by
building vocabulary, making explicit
connections to background knowledge,
and providing ample opportunities to
be engaged with the content while at
the same time building language skills.
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Rhonda D. Miller, Assistant Professor,
Spadoni College of Education, Coastal
Carolina University, Conway, South
Carolina.
Address correspondence concerning this
article to Rhonda D. Miller, Spadoni College
of Education, Coastal Carolina University,
P.O. Box 261954, Conway, SC 29528 (e-mail:
rmiller1@coastal.edu).
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Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 5865.
Copyright 2016 The Author(s).
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