Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Taylor Baima
Author Note
This paper was prepared for Education 321, taught by Dr. Lana Zimmer.
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 2
Abstract
I spent this semester working with an extremely diverse group of students and learning
about how ELL (English Language Learners) impact the classroom and how we can impact them
and make them feel comfortable in the classroom. I worked specifically with one student and the
use of labels. I tested him to see if labels would make English more accessible. My study suggest
that though he did not know all of the labels he did know more than when we started.
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 3
Introduction
Up until this semester I had never worked with students from a different culture let alone
a student that does not speak the same language as me. I was definitely nervous, but I had told
myself that it was now or never. Our professor had told us a lot about the school, trying to
prepare us for what we would walk into on February 5, 2016. No amount of preparation or
conversation could have ever prepared me for the semester I was about to experience.
Over the course of ten weeks and sixty hours I worked in a school where 55% of the
population is white, 42% is Hispanic, and 3% is multicultural. Every school I had ever worked in
or attended was more than 80% white, with little to know diversity. Granted, we were warned. I
had the amazing opportunity of working in a first grade classroom with eight ELL students out of
a total of twenty-three in the class. One of the eight students, student M, had moved to America
two weeks before I had met him. He had only been at the school for one week. Over the ten
weeks that I spent in the classroom, student M did not speak any English. He relied solely on
student J who was seated next to him. Student J was also an ELL student, but she was very fluent
in both Spanish and English. Student J was a hard working student who kept mostly to herself
except for her required conversations with student M. The classroom teacher, Mrs. B, did not
speak very much Spanish, leaving quite a communication barrier between her and student M.
Unfortunately, the ESL teacher was on maternity leave, leaving student M to figure out
everything on his own. Since the language barrier made it hard for the teacher to communicate
with student M, she was able to use student J to translate for student M, as recommended by
Overall, all of the other ELL students in the classroom were proficient enough in English
to partake in everyday classroom activities. Every now and then two of the ELL students would
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 4
be pulled out of class for some tier time. They all spoke fluently in English and Spanish and
could definitely read in English. Student M spent most of his first couple of weeks simply
becoming comfortable and familiar with the setting and culture of Indiana, let alone America and
American schools. Once student M started becoming more actively involved in the classroom he
was given the exact same worksheets as the rest of the students, which were all in English.
Through several weeks of observations, I realized that student M completed his work by simply
When it came to working with student M I relied very heavily on a translator app that I
downloaded on my phone. This of course was not a perfect solution as I destroyed the
pronunciation of most of the words. I started realizing this when student M would chuckle at my
poor attempts of speaking Spanish. Most questions I asked student M required yes or no answers.
One word answers became a necessity as he chose not to answer if it required any more than
that. I tried my best to find activities or worksheets that might help student M understand a little
better what was happening in the classroom. As my semester long efforts to benefit student M I
chose to focus specifically on helping him grasp the names of certain objects in the classroom
through labels. This leads me to my critical question: do labels make English more accessible to
an ELL student?
I chose to print off a number of labels that included the word in English along with a
picture of the object. I periodically would test student M and go over the labels with him to help
When reviewing literature from my distant colleagues about my critical question I found
some very promising information. One common theme that I read about was why learning and
understanding how to help English languages learners, ELL, is important. Another theme that
was evident in some articles I read was a few strategies in helping ELL students learn
vocabulary. A final theme that was present in the articles I read was how some strategies that
teach vocabulary are beneficial in helping ELL students be able to read and comprehend. These
articles have been helpful in giving me ideas in how I can help student M, the ELL student I have
Minority students enrolled in U.S. schools is on a steady increase. More minorities are
enrolled in schools than ever before. Also, this increase will continue over the next decade
(Sheng, 2011, page 98). Unfortunately, even though the number of ELL students is increasing
does not mean that the resources to benefit and help these students are being provided. Students
who come into an English speaking school, not speaking English are at an increased risk of
dropping out of school. It can take ELL students five to seven years to catch up with their
English speaking classmates (Dong, 2013, page 52). There are many barriers to ELLs having
success in the classroom, such as English proficiency, family socioeconomic status, and cultural
How much English a student knows greatly affects how well they will do in school. This
becomes very evident when ELL students take standardized tests. Typically ELL students score
significantly lower than non-ELL students (Sheng, 2011, page 99). Nationwide, Hispanic
students score below non-Hispanic students throughout elementary school in reading related
skills (Solari, 2008, page 156). Students with a smaller vocabulary then face a large disadvantage
as standardized tests generally hit a lot upon vocabulary. This language barrier also prevents
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 6
students from fully comprehending texts and lectures (Sibold, 2011, page 24). Family
socioeconomic status also plays a huge role in whether or not students will succeed or drop out.
This is not just for ELL students. This also holds true for English speaking students. How much a
students family supports them and encourages them in school will have a definite impact on how
long they stay in school. ELL students are also at a higher risk of living in poverty. Their parents
may also not have as high of an education as their English proficient classmates (Sheng, 2011,
page 99). The third factor that has weighed heavily on ELL student is cultural differences.
Students can feel confused if home and school cultures are different. The rules and expectations
can be different which effects a students behavior that can lead to possible drop outs (Sheng,
2011, page 100). All of these factors contribute to the high dropout rate for ELL students.
There have been several different strategies used to try and help ELL students learn
English words and vocabulary. A science teacher used a graphic novel to help accommodate
ELLs. This book was able to reach and work for students of several different reading levels.
Graphic novels are also used to help students develop visual literacy skills as they decode
symbolic images, utilize context clues to interpret messages, and unpack layers of meaning
within illustrations. Not only can graphic novels help with the previous items, it can also help
students determine the meanings of words or phrases (Matthews, 2014, page 65). Graphic novels
may seem like an easy fix to help ELL students learn vocabulary. However, it must be taken into
The students prior knowledge lays an important foundation for their learning. It can be
much easier for students to learn vocabulary through their native language. If students are able to
make a connection with the vocabulary in their native language they will be able to gain an
understanding of the vocabulary being taught (Dong, 2013, page 52). If the student is not
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 7
familiar with the content being taught in their native language it can be even more difficult to
learn the vocabulary in English. Since this can be a dilemma it is important that the teacher find a
way to help the students make a connection. Teachers may ask bilingual students or foreign
language teacher to help give meaning to the content and vocabulary being taught. The bilingual
student or foreign language teacher may be able to translate key words to make sense for the
struggling student (Dong, 2013, page 52). If there is not a bilingual student available or a foreign
language teacher that can help. The classroom teacher can simply translate the word or words to
their native language or connect the vocabulary to something familiar the student may be able to
comprehend (Sibold, 2011, page 25). It has been proven that several skills and capabilities
contribute to students gaining an understanding and learning the English language, these skills
There has been a common aid in helping ELL students learn English. However, in 2002
Beck, McKeown and Kucan introduced the different tiers of vocabulary that ELL students will
learn. Tier 1 is known as basic words. This tier includes sight words, function words, and words
that name objects. Tier 2 is non as general academic and multiple meaning words. This tear
consist of vocabulary that is important to understand text, words used across curriculum, and
words with several meanings. The thirds and final tier is known as specific content words. This
tier consists of words used only in a specific field, technical vocabulary, and words not used
every day (Sibold, 2011, page 24). It is important to understand that students must start with tier
1 when starting to learn English. If the teacher tries to start with tier 3 students may instantly
become uninterested or extremely confused. Tier 1 consists of simpler words that students will
be able to grasp. Since this tier focuses a lot on words that are actual objects, teachers can relate
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 8
the vocabulary to realia so that they can connect the object with a word that they know in their
native language (Sibold, 2011, page 25). For example, teachers can show a picture of a frog
Not only are pictures beneficial for teaching vocabulary, pictures are also helpful in
teaching more language concepts in English. Rime detection can also be taught or tested through
pictures. The teacher can show a picture of a word and then ask students to choose one of the
pictures that rhymes with the original picture (Solari, 2008, page 158). This forces students to not
only understand the vocabulary needed for connecting the picture to a word and also
understanding how words rhyme. Teachers are also able to work with onset detection. Students
can be given a group of pictures. Students are then required to pick out the two pictures that
begin with the same letter. The third language concept that students are able to work on includes
segmentation. Students can be shown a picture of an item and then asked to provide the
phonemes of the word for that picture (Solari, 2008, page 158). An easier activity for a little bit
lower ELL students has them connect written words with pictures. The teacher says a word.
Students are then asked to point out a picture and also the written word of the spoken word. It is
important that ELL students hear the words be spoken. This way they can become familiar with
how words are supposed to sound. It can be easy for students to misunderstand or confuse letter
These literature review has been helpful in in aiding me in some ways that I may be able
to assist Marvin in gaining some English vocabulary. Marvin is definitely in tier 1 of learning
English. Pictures seem to be a very common and useful tool in helping students make a
connection with English words and their native language. The more realia he is able to gain from
learning English the better off Marvin will be in retaining some words. Since I have included the
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 9
word and picture as well as taped it to the actual object. I have not only used pictures but also
connected it to realia. I hope that by implementing some of these strategies will help me be
knowledge of English. I made sure that I had the opportunity to work with student M every week
that I was there. Throughout the ten weeks I narrowed in on my critical question, do labels make
English more accessible for ELL students? When I first started working in the first grade I was
pretty much just observing as I learned more about each the students and tried to hone in on
student Ms abilities. Each week we would work with the labels as well as a few letters. I was
trying to see if becoming familiar with some English words would help him feel more
comfortable in speaking English more often. I put the labels up on February 26th. They stayed up
in the classroom until April 8th when I took them down. Meaning, that the labels were up for a
total of seven weeks. When I put them up, they were placed on or next to the object that they
labeled. For example, the desk label was on student Ms desk for all seven weeks. The window
I collected data through observations, and interview, and student scores. You can see
student Ms responses for the labels in appendix A. I would ask student M the name of the labels
in English and appendix A shows the date and the labels he got correct. I simply conducted this
study because I often times see objects labeled in an Elementary classroom and when I saw how
diverse this first grade classroom was and realized that student M did not speak English I figured
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 10
labels would be the perfect way for him to be able to learn and become familiar with the objects
in the classroom.
Unfortunately, several limitations played into the study I conducted. I have never had the
opportunity to work with a student from a different culture. I know that essentially we all come
from different cultures. However, most if not all of the students I have worked with have lived in
America their entire lives. Therefore, meaning that student M would be the only student I have
worked with from a different country and culture. Another limitation I encountered was the
language barrier. Since student M did not speak English and I have limited knowledge of Spanish
I had to rely heavily on a translating app. The final limitation that was very evident was the lack
of time. I was only at the school for a total of sixty hours. However, the first couple weeks I did
not know what y critical question was yet or how to gather data. Once I did know, I still had
limited time since I was only there on Fridays and that is a common testing day. There were also
some weeks that Purdue students would come and pull student M out of class.
The observations I made throughout the ten weeks really helped me see what type of
student he was. However, I wanted to get to know a little bit more about student M so I did a
short interview with him March 10th. Appendix C I have attached includes the questions I asked
him, both in English and Spanish, as well as his answers. This is when he told me that he was
from El Salvador. Otherwise I had only known that from the teacher telling me. He also told me
that he likes school and reading is his favorite subject. I was glad to hear that he likes school. I
was afraid that he might not especially since I am sure it is really hard for him to understand a
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 11
lot. I also asked student M in the interview if he knew the Spanish alphabet or if he could read in
Using the data above is how I realized that I needed to start with tier one type words,
according to Sibold (Sibold, 2011, page 24). That is why I started with words that name an
object. It would be easier for student M to gain the understanding and make a connection with a
physical object than for him to just start memorizing academic or content words, which are tier
two and three type vocabulary (Sibold, 2011, page 24). Since tier one does focus so heavily on
concrete objects, I was able to use realia when translating words for student M. I also knew that
not only seeing the actual object, but a picture would be helpful especially if the labels were not
yet taped up to the object (Solari, 2008, page 158). This way if student M did not yet know the
word he would be able to connect to an object that was familiar to him, similar to connecting it to
prior knowledge (Dong, 2013, page 52). When I introduced the labels to student M I asked him
what each object was. If he was unable to tell me the object in English I asked him what it was in
Spanish. This let me know that he did understand the name for each object (Baima, 2016, page
15). Once all of the labels were up, student M ran around the room with student J pointing out
the labels I had just put up for him (Baima, 2016, page 17).
When I was testing student M on the labels I started noticing that he became very
frustrated after stopping at five of the labels, because he was not able to tell me the word in
English. I decided then to try and test him in a different way. On March 25th, I decided to lay out
three of the labels and ask him to point to one of them in English. You can see these results on
Appendix A. He was able to put out the words a lot better than come up with the complete
English word on his own (Baima, 2016, page 26). However, even when we did go around the
room and he could not give me the word in English I still had him say it in Spanish and I would
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 12
say it in English. Every time I would say a word in English I made sure that he would repeat me.
The last time that I tested student M he ran from one label to the next, taking me directly to the
Another small intervention I tried that I figured might help with recognizing the labels
was letter recognition. About half way through my ten weeks the teacher informed that he only
knew about six or seven letters. I figured that would make recognizing the words on the labels
that much more of a challenge. So I decided to see how many of the letters he could say for me.
Each week that I tested on labels I also tested him with the letters. Every week student M knew
more letters that the week before. I was not able to make a concrete connection between him
knowing the letters and the labels, but either way, him learning the alphabet will only help him in
the long run. You can see his progress throughout the ten week in Appendix B. To simply further
his recognition with letters I had him do some letter tracing worksheets while I was there. I
would have him trace the letter and ask what letter it was. If he was unable to give me the answer
The first several weeks I spent a large chunk of the time observing. Not just observing
student M but instead the entire class, how they interacted, the environment, the diversity, and
how the teacher interacted with the students. I knew that I would be able to learn more by sitting
back and taking everything in. That is why some days in my research notebook I have several
pages. In my first weeks of observing the classroom and student M I realized how out of place he
appeared. Student M was placed in the back of the classroom furthest away from the teachers
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 13
desk. I am not completely sure as to the reasoning behind this but it definitely caught my eye in
the first day. I started realizing a lot during my first two visits that student M was not required to
follow along with the class or really turn anything in. I observed him on several occasions
flipping through a picture book. When he was attentive to what the rest of the class was doing
this picture book would sit on the corner of his desk. As the day progressed, I noticed student M
was flipping through his picture book, but this time he had a red crayon that he was drawing on
the pages with. As soon as student J noticed him she instructed him not to draw on the book.
My second week in the classroom, it had become very evident that he was not receiving
much, if any help at all. I took it upon myself to sit beside him and help translate a worksheet.
Student M was quiet and barely even looked up at me. We were working on a phonics worksheet.
When I tried spelling out a word for him it was evident that he did not know the English
alphabet. I immediately tapped into my high school Spanish and translated the letters to Spanish.
When I said the letter e in Spanish he wrote the letter a. I thought that maybe he did know
some English letters so I tried again with the English alphabet, saying escribe (write) e. student
M yet again wrote the letter a. I finally was able to find the letter on the wall and point out
what to write. After this rather difficult interaction, I decided to ask the classroom teacher how
much he knew in Spanish or English. She told me that he had attended a preschool in El
Salvador but did not know the letters in either Spanish or English. This really put a damper on
my label strategy I had planned on implementing. I had originally planned on putting labels up
with both the Spanish and English word on it. That way he might be able to more easily make
that connection.
The next couple of weeks as I continued to observe and help student M I begin to notice a
very important relationship he had developed. This relationship was with student J. I mentioned
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 14
above that student J was the student he was seated next to. Student J also translated everything
for him. She was responsible for filling him in on what was happening in class. She was also
responsible for helping with worksheets and homework. She would also help him when it came
to accelerated reading time. I observed on several occasions where student J would read student
M a book, by translating it into Spanish. Student M would then sign up to take a quiz, which
student J would also completely translate for him as well as give him the answers to (Baima,
Not only did student J often times give student M the answers for accelerated reading
quizzes she would also allow him to copy her papers. The students would have to put their
folders up for a test, which did not stop student M from running over and looking at student Js
test. Even when student J would translate something for student M she would not let him answer
for himself, but instead just give him the answer (Baima, 2016, 7). I noticed this becoming a
crutch for student M very quickly. He would not try to do something on his own. He would just
sit there and wait until student J was finished with hers. On March 4th, the students were given a
phonics test over contractions. When I walked over to where student M was sitting I realized he
was sitting and waiting for student J. I knelt beside him and translated the directions for him.
Student M completed the entire quiz on his own getting each contractions correct (Baima, 2016,
page 15). When student M had shown student J that he did it without her she seemed confused
and asked me how he could have done it on his own. I smiled at them both and said su es muy
Throughout the weeks, I tried to pull student M from student J so that he would not rely
too heavily on her. It seemed like when he would try and put effort into school work he usually
did really well especially with math. I knew that if I continued to let him wait for her and copy
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 15
off of her he would not learn anything. However, as he began to pull away from student J, he
became more dependent on me and the help I offered him. The last day I was in the classroom, I
chose to try and stand back so that he felt comfortable to try on his own. Every time a worksheet
was passed out he came over and tapped my arm and directed me to his desk (Baima, 2016, page
34).
Unfortunately, student M was not always so willing to work and follow what I said. He
definitely had his rough days where he refused to do everything. That is why I was only able to
test him on labels four. Getting him to practice labels was a very difficult challenge. Two
examples of this was on March 18th and 25th. On the 18th, he only whined about doing labels. He
may have whined but he still did them. However, on the 25th, he completely refused to do labels
(Baima, 2016, page 23-25). His attitude often times came out especially when things did not go
his way. I got to observe student M crying on multiple occasions. Some of the reasons he would
cry includes student J accidently taking his red folder (Baima, 2016, page, 8). Whenever student
M did not get to finish his timed math test he would cry (Baima, 2016, page 23). In one of my
last weeks in the classroom student M threw a fit because he was not able to take an accelerated
My action research journey has definitely been an experience of a life time. I was nervous
to start this project but also very excited especially because I had never experienced anything
like I was about to. I have definitely learned a lot not just from the time spent in the classroom
but from student M himself. I saw how something so small could make such an impact on a
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 16
student. It did not take me very long to make the labels, however, it seemed to be something that
really stuck with student M while I was there. Even when I started I hardly ever heard student M
speak let alone in English. As I continued to go I noticed him raising his hand more often to
answer a question in English. He would even say some words to me in English such as, pencil
and counting from 1-5 (Baima, 2016, page 11). He did not seem as afraid of hesitant to try
speaking another language. For me this was just so eye opening because I felt like I was able to
help make that difference for him and by doing something so small. I will never forget the look
in his eyes when I told him it was my last day. It was the saddest look I had ever seen. I knew at
If I were able to go back and do it again, I definitely think I would probably focus my
question more on letter recognition and the sounds that letters make. I think that might be more
beneficial into helping the student learn the basics of reading which would help him that much
more in the long run. I do not regret what I did because I do think that it helped but I think letter
sounds and recognition is where I probably should have started since he did not know how to
read in Spanish.
Looking back at everything that I did I would like to know how often the labels were referenced
when I was not in the room? Also, would it have made a difference if I was able to be there more
than one time a week? Would the student of felt more obligated to work with the labels and learn
them in English? Another question that comes to mind is were the labels beneficial to other ELL
students since they could already read in English were they able to reference them while writing
or talking?
This project has definitely changed my outlook on teachers and students. Being a teacher
is not just writing lesson plans. This is why it is so important to get to know your students
Do Labels Make English More Accessible? 17
because it affects how they perform in your classroom. You should get to know your students
culture and respect that. I think that this project pointed out how serious it is to understand where
the students are coming from because not every child is going to have support at home or a
parent to help with homework. I really think this has been such an eye opening experience
because we were able to research something we chose not just a topic that was thrown at us. The
research went far beyond reading articles. It was research that we got to try out and live.
I can see myself using this as a teacher by trying to implement different strategies for
teaching or testing students especially those who are struggling. Elementary school is such a
foundational period in students lives and it is important that we as teachers find the most
beneficial way to help out our students even if that way has not yet been found and we have to
References