Last Friday I had the pleasure of meeting my ELL student (who for the sake of confidentiality will be referred to as "S") at South Burlington High School. When S was seven years old, he and his family escaped from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and stayed with relatives in Egypt. They were eventually granted permission to emigrate to the United States, but S's papers did not go through, and therefore he had to stay with his relatives in Egypt for three years without his family. S is a fairly quiet, reserved individual. However, I believe that part of his conservative nature stems from the fact that his WIDA levels are low and therefore his competence in academic English is limited, where academic English refers to the elevated, sophisticated language in which course material is taught in a classroom.
      We worked on a project for his health class that entailed viewing a powerpoint containing information about the various types of wellness: physical wellness, social wellness, emotional wellness, and spiritual wellness, before answering questions about the material. One of the questions that S had to answer was which wellness had the highest score during a self-evaluation activity in class, which one was the lowest, and explain why such results might have occurred. I was surprised when he said that he scored highest in social wellness, considering his quiet disposition. However, I think this harkens back to the idea that he is not as confident in the classroom with his academic English, which could be seen in his struggle to understand the complex words surrounding the topic, but his conversational English is more fluid, allowing for him to communicate with his peers more easily. Furthermore, he is an avid soccer player and he loves playing FIFA with his friends. Such activities require more athletic, physical interaction as opposed to copious amounts of conversational communication. Therefore, based on the combination between having a higher knowledge-base of conversational English, and interacting with individuals in a more non-verbal setting, outside of the classroom he probably feels more comfortable being social. Furthermore, since French is the official language of the Congo, S can speak it fluently and as I am a French minor, I was able to aide him by explaining certain words or phrases in French which helped increase his understanding of the material and the task-it has been proven that a bilingual approach to teaching ELL students that incorporates both their native language and English, is the most effective method of instruction.

http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Instruction/What-research-says-about-English-language-learners-At-a-glance/Preparing-English-language-learners-for-academic-success.html

Imagine that you are an adolescent-you are trying to figure out who you are and how you fit into society. There are so many physical and psychological changes occurring as your body grows, and hormones begin to affect several aspects of development and behavior. Now imagine that amongst all of these factors, you are placed in another country where few individuals speak the same language as you and it is difficult to communicate- it is difficult to communicate directions,  what you want, and most importantly, who you are. Now imagine not only having difficulty with simple conversational language, but you also have to attend school where history, science, math, and more, will be taught in that foreign tongue. 

As an educator, it is important that when working with ELL students these challenges are not discounted, and that certain steps are taken to reduce the language barrier, and allow non-native speakers to succeed in their academics. Much research has been conducted concerning the best way to educate ELL learners, and although there is no one-size-fits all approach to teaching these students- there are many variations in cultural background, native languages, familial situations and more- there are some strategies that have been proven successful. It has been determined that it takes an individual about five years to become proficient in English, but it can take longer to gain fluency in both conversational and academic English, especially depending on the native language  of the student.  One of the main controversies regarding ELL instruction includes whether or not the student's first language should be integrated or dismissed in the classroom. It has been shown that integrating the student's native language will actually help improve proficiency in English since correlations between the two languages can be addressed and built upon. In many ways, it may also help the student feel more comfortable and accepted in the environment, which may lead to confidence and therefore increased academic success. Academic language is more important to a student's success than conversational language since it relates to reading, writing, listening, and speaking in a more elevated and sophisticated tongue- it is said that older ELL students have an easier time learning English than younger students. It is also the language that is commonly used in assessments and other classroom settings. Therefore, it is important to enforce that more elevated way of speaking so that it will become integrated more naturally into this new language.