History and

Politics of
ELL
By: Megan Houlihan, Alex
Altier, Christina Rombousek,
Katie Roughan, Sarah
McCormick
Objectives
● Students will be able to…

○ Identify and explain basic facts on the history of English language learners.

○ Identify and explain basic facts on politics of English language learners.

What are Some Key Points to Know?
● ELL - English Language Learners

● ESL - English as a Second Language

● LEP - Limited English Proficiency

● TESOL - Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

● EFL - English as a Foreign Language

https://play.kahoot.it/v2/?quizId=e2bc4a11-d86b-4781
-950f-008d77061237
ESL VS. ELL

● When using the term ESL, one is assuming English is going to be the student’s
second language.

● When using the term ELL, teachers are acknowledging that English may be the
child’s second, third, fourth, or even fifth language.
Video on English Language Learners
https://study.com/academy/lesson/history-of-esl-education-in-the-us.html
A Timeline of ELL
● 1664 - Beginning of bilingual education in the U.S.

● 1919 - A total of 34 states enact English only instruction laws.

● 1961 - Bilingual Education is reborn.

● 1963 - Success of a two-way bilingual program inspired the

implementation of similar programs elsewhere.

A Timeline of ELL Continued
● 1964 - Civil Rights Act: Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,

color, or national origin in the operation of all federally assisted programs.

● 1968 - The Bilingual Education Act, Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary

Education Act of 1968.

● 1984 - Majority of programs funded by Elementary and Secondary Education

Act are re-organized into two divisions: Title I and Title II.

● 2001 - No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB).

Court Cases Regarding ELL
● 1923 - In Myer v. Nebraska

● 1970 - In Lau v. Nichols

Myer v. Nebraska (1923)
https://study.com/academy/lesson/ell-court
-cases.html#/lesson

● People involved: Myer and the State of Nebraska

● Problem: Nebraska passed a law that restricted teaching children any other language than english. A

teacher named Myer taught German to children broke this law.

● Ruling: The Court declared that Nebraska violated the due process clause of the 14th amendment.

● What did it do for ELLs?: This Court case allowed ELL children to be taught in their native language as

well as english.
Lau v. Nichols (1970)
● People involved: Lau (a chinese student) and the officials of the San Francisco Unified School District.

● Problem: Chinese students who were not proficient in english received no supplemental english

courses. The students argued that this created an unequal educational opportunity and that it violated

the 14th amendment of the civil rights act.

● Ruling: The Court ruled that it did violate the 14th amendment because it deprived those students an

equal opportunity to learn and succeed.

● What did it do for ELLs?: It required schools to provide supplemental language courses to ELLs in order

to provide them with a meaningful education.

Statistics
● In 2005, 4% of ELL eighth graders achieved proficiency on the reading portions

of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

● In 2012-2013, PA schools had more than 52,000 English Language Learners.

This is a 69% increase from the 2002-2003 school year.

● Research shows that 57% of adolescent ELL’s were born in the U.S.
Myths about English Language Learners
● Children learn a second language quickly and easily

● Many ELLs have disabilities which is why they are often over represented in

special education

● All ELL students learn English in the same way

● Teaching ELLs means only focusing on academic vocabulary

● Communicating with parents is almost impossible because of language barriers

Timeline Activity
Discussion
What did I Learn?
References
❖ https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/chronology-federal-law-and-policy-impacting-language-min
ority-students

❖ https://www.lcmcisd.org/228658_4

❖ http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/PolicyResearch/ELLResearchBrief.pdf

❖ http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/PolicyResearch/ELLResearchBrief.pdf

❖ https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/262us390

❖ https://www.oyez.org/cases/1973/72-6520

❖ Crawford, J. (2004). Educating english learners: language diversity in the classroom. (5th ed.). United
States.
What Learning Styles are Addressed?
❖ Visual learners - Timeline activity

❖ Social learners - Timeline activity

❖ Independent learners - Kahoot activity