English Language Learners and Mainstream Instruction to Enhance SEL Literacy

Introduction

Twenty-first century educators work in ever-changing classrooms in the Unites States with enhanced technology, globalization, and diversity from immigrants and refugees that can bring a myriad of challenges and opportunities (Aydin, Ozfindan, & Carothers, 2017). Teachers shoulder the responsibility of developing literate citizens with a moral conscience (Bailey, 2015) and critical thinking skills. According to Yoder (2014), individuals should teach social and emotional skills to children in order for these individuals to come together as adults where they can collaboratively solve problems, embrace tolerance and celebrate diversity. Present-day educators should consider the social-emotional needs of students as they come into their classroom, and intentionally embed learning experiences that develop students’ abilities to interact with one another appropriately despite cultural, linguistic, and economic factors influencing them outside of school. Students should develop empathy, tolerance, and problem-solving skills to use when solving conflicts that arise between peers in thoughtful and caring manners.

According to Hukkelberg, Keles, Ogden, and Hammerstrom (2019), children who frequently exhibit challenging behaviors may have fewer friends or lower academic performance, and research links the persistent challenging behaviors of young children to more serious behavior problems and negative consequences as they get older. Therefore, intentional social-emotional learning (SEL) for preschool and elementary school children ages 3-10 enhances students’ abilities to understand and manage their emotions, set and achieve personal and academic goals, show respect and empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible and ethical decisions. These personal and interpersonal competencies provide a foundation for success in work and relationships as adults (Jones, Greenberg, & Crowley, 2015).

The intentional teaching of social-emotional skills should continue through the middle and high school grades for students ages 11-18. Adolescents can continue to develop respect and empathy, set personal goals, and maintain positive relationships while learning to make responsible decisions. Approaches to instruction can evolve to embed SEL into content area learning, to support students emotional growth, and to increase student interactions for social development. Additionally, English Language Learners (ELLs) can benefit from embedded SEL instruction like mainstream students. English Language Learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing population in the K-12 setting in the United States and whose first language is not English. According to U.S. Department of Education (2019), the percentage of ELLs in the public-school setting has grown from 8 percent in 2000 to more than 20 percent in 2017. ELLs come to the United States from diverse cultural, academic, and linguistic backgrounds. As they transition into the educational system, ELLs encounter new cultural, educational, and environmental norms creating added challenges to their academic success (Hooper, Zong, Capps, & Fix, 2016). An ELL is constantly negotiating between their previous experiences in their home country and the current situation in the United States (Halle, Whittaker, Zepeda, Rothenberg, Anderson, Wessell, & Buysse, 2014). These additional barriers for ELLs and their limited English proficiency skills contribute to an academic achievement gap that is difficult to narrow (Calderón, Slavin, & Sánchez, 2011).