VYGOTSKY

ELLS
 Summary
ELL stands for English Language Learner
According to an article from Education Week

Children learn most of their words in the early years.

This makes it more challenging for ELLs at times, a lot of pressure.
If they are not sufficient at English by third grade, they can be held back.

How to Help Your ELLs:

Dual Language approach: have English speaking peers help Spanish speaking peers, and visa
versa. Kids learn best when teaching one another.
This seems to be more effective than English-Only instruction
Summary
Also from the article from Education Week

English-Only focuses on just instructing in English and can be oversimplified.

Home language is not used in this approach.

Children under this approach tended to progress much slower than the ones in the
dual language approach.

If an ELL student lacks proficiency by the end of elementary school, they will most likely
stay behind.
Reflections
I believe that

This issue is very relevant to Early Childhood Education.

There are a lot of children coming into public school that are not native English
speakers.
It is important for them to have self-esteem and confidence in their own culture and
language.
English-speaking teachers need to be sensitive to the issue and research ways to better
teach their ELLs.
What is done at an early age significantly effects how a child learns in his or her future,
as a surplus of research suggests.
About Vygotsky
Born Lev Vygotsky in1896 in Russia to a Jewish family

Graduated with degree in law from Moscow University

He lacked a formal psychology degree, but was interested in it.

He wrote articles and books based on his theories.

Theories live on and influence education all around the world, particularly Russia.
Vygotskian Theory
From an article of the Croation Journal of Education

Quoted Vygotsky: All higher mental functions have their origin in the current relations
between individuals

Emphasized the importance of symbolism and social interaction as a part of learning.

Theory Continued
From www.Muskingum.edu...
Zone of Proximal Development(ZPD): one of the main features of his theory.

It is the gap between what a child can do independently and what he or she can do
with help from a more skilled individual.

Scaffolding helps to build a bridge for ZPD, and it can be a continuous learning
succession.
How Are They Related?
From an article from Reading Teacher:

Vygotsky believed that learning should be in an appropriate social and cultural

context.

He would have probably agreed about learning English using home language.

The Zone of Proximal Development can be touched when children are teaching each
other their own language through communication.
 The school and teacher can facilitate better learning for all students when they set up
learning to allow social interaction between peers.

Visuals and symbols can help an ELL student to connect what they know about
something and what they can infer from the image.
To Conclude
English Language Learners are on the rise, and schools need to accommodate to that.

Vygotsky had many good points in his theory that are relevant to ELL education.

The Zone of Proximal Development shows how learning is continual and never ending
for any child.

Dual Language learning seems to be helpful to ELLs, more so than other strategies.

ELLs deserve equal opportunities, equal to their English-native peers.

 Sources

Gallagher, Christina. "Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky." Psychology History. N.p., 1 May 1999. Web.

Iddings, Ana Christina Dasilva, Victoria J. Risko, and Maria Paula Rampulla. "When You Don't Speak Their Language: Guiding English-Language Learners Through Conversations About Text." The Reading
Teacher 63.1 (2009): 52-61. Web.

Mitchell, Corey. "Early Jump on Oral Literacy Crucial for ELLs' Later Success." Education Week 35.30 (2016): 7-11. Web.

Petrovic-Soco, Bizerka. "Symbolic Play of Children at an Early Age." Creation Journal of Education 16 (2013): n. pag. Web.