Position Paper

I believe that when we discuss the views and or what we expect to look from our

English Learners we have to look at many different topics and levels because English

Learner students can vary in their academic achievements. There is a couple topics that as

an educator for English Learners you should focus on in order to strive for your students

to be able to achieve their goals and learn the English Language. As an educator, and

specifically to teaching English to Second Language Learners you should focus on

listening, speaking, reading, and writing. These four concepts are very important to any

language in order if you are trying to learn that language. Sometimes some students are

able to master some of these concepts faster than others. For example, many students are

able to speak the language before they are able to read and write it. Students are able to

speak because they are listening to the language being spoken and they are able to grasp

the understanding of the language and do that translation in their head and slowly they

begin understanding the language. There are a variety of theories that are developed

specifically for English Language Learners. Some of the theorists are Cummins and Leo

Van Lier that have focused on the student achievement of English Learners.

Cummins theory focus on BICS and CALP, BICS is Basic Interpersonal

Communication Skills, which is the theory about formal interaction. Then CALP is

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency that is the language necessary to understand

and discuss content in the classroom. I agree with Cummins because he believes that

through the process of English Language Learners learning the English language they

should constantly be encouraged to continue to develop their Native language to be able

to improve their second language learning. I do have to agree with Cummins because I
have seen that in the classroom when a student is strong in their Native language and still

continue to practice it, which they are still familiar and continue to learn from it, it does

become easier for the student to integrate the second language into their lives. In contrast,

if a student does not even know their native language well they are going to struggle a lot

more to learn a second language because they have not been exposed and taught one

language so it is like if they have double the work. As Cummins said, if a child already

understands the concepts of justice or honesty In her own language, all she has to do

is acquire the label for these terms in English. She has a far more difficult task, however,

if she has to acquire both the label and the concept in her second language.

Another theorist is Leo Van Lier and he believes that the most important aspect of

effective teaching is being able to understand the learner. I think Van Lier brings up a

good point because as an educator you should want to try and understand your students

so the way you are teaching is effective for you as a teacher and for them as students

because they are learning. You do not want to be teaching material to your students and

then to have the students not grasp anything. As a teacher you must check for background

knowledge and understand where these students stand and what is it that they need help

on and as an educator you must intend to target these points where your students need

help and make it as clear as possible. He talks about the three foundational principles that

are known as the AAA Curriculum. The first A is for Awareness in which students and

teachers must know what they are doing and why, be engaged, and reflect on the learning

process. The second A is for Autonomy that involves self-regulation, motivation, deep

processing. The last A is for Authenticity which is the teaching and learning language as
it is used in real life and being able to adapt the learning activities on true

communication.

Both Cummins and Leo Van Lier are theorists in whom I believe that they want

what is best for the students because they care about the students and their progress in

learning their second language. They care more about the well being of the student and

helping them grow and progress while they are learning a second language. They want to

make sure that students are able to adapt what they are learning to the real world in which

I think it is very important because they are making connections with what they are

learning.