ELL Language Acquisition in English

ELL

Language Acquisition in English Language Learners

Significance

Language Acquisition in English Language Learners

The United States is a country of immigrants, and has been since its inception. However, until relatively recently, immigration did not pose a significant problem for the United States educational system or for many Americans because of the rigid cultural and social expectations for immigrants. New immigrants were expected to assimilate aspects of American culture, especially speaking English, as quickly as possible. Furthermore, schools were not responsible for teaching a new language to immigrant children; on the contrary, these students were expected to learn, in English, even if they did not know any English at all. The task of English acquisition was often left to members of individual immigrant communities. Non-English speakers were often delegated into the bottom ranks of classes, and, having started behind in school, did not escape those ranks during their educational careers. Other non-English speakers came from families where the acquisition of English was a family affair, and individual students learned English with their families. When the majority of immigrants to the United States were English speakers, such a system seemed fair and successful, because school systems were not overwhelmed with English language learners (ELL), and within three generations the immigrant family would be completely proficient in English and able to compete with non-immigrant families.

However, such a system is simply not considered sufficient in the present day, given that there is an overwhelming number of immigrants, from a very wide variety of background languages and cultures. "Nearly one in five people living in the United States speaks a language at home other than English, according to new census data that illustrate the wide-ranging effects of immigration. The number of immigrants nationwide reached an all-time high of 37.5 million in 2006, affecting incomes and education levels in many cities across the country." (Associated Press, 2007).

Moreover, today's immigrant population differs from previous generations. Immigration to America has progressed in a series of waves. The first immigrants were from Western Europe, and many of them spoke English or another romance language as their first language. Even if they did not speak English, they may have had the opportunity of being exposed to English language and customs. Following World War II, many immigrants came from Eastern Europe, had a more diverse ethnic background, and spoke languages that were largely unfamiliar to the majority of Americans. However, within the last several years, immigration has taken a different turn, and most immigrants no longer come from Europe. On the contrary, the overwhelming majority of immigrants, both legal and illegal, hail from Mexico, Central America, and South America. Most of these immigrants are native Spanish speakers and share some similarities in cultural background. However, there have also been an increasing number of immigrants from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The result is an ever-expanding number of ELL students, but with a diversity in ethnic and cultural background that is simply unprecedented in America's history.

Ethnic diversity impacts education in a variety of ways. First, ethnic diversity impacts education because different cultures place different degrees of emphasis on education and educational attainment:

In most states, immigrants have added to the number of those lacking a high-school diploma, with almost half of those from Latin America falling into that category. However, at the other end of the education spectrum, Asian immigrants are raising average education levels in many states, with nearly half of them holding at least a bachelor's degree. (Associated Press, 2007).

While there is an upward trend in all immigrant families, the fact is that the educational background of the parents can have a tremendous impact on an ELL student's ability to acquire English. Furthermore, for those immigrants who do hold degrees, especially higher degrees, parents in the home may be pressured to learn English to compete in the workplace, which may provide an extra incentive for any school-aged children to become proficient in English.

There is no way for these factors not to impact student success. Furthermore, the culture of origin determines native language, which can determine literacy systems and established modes of pronunciation.

To truly understand the relationship between culture and aspects of American civilization, including language acquisition, this study looks at two broad groups. The first group is composed of Spanish-speaking ELL students and is made up of smaller groups of immigrants from Mexico and a variety of Central American and South American countries. These immigrants frequently move into extremely established communities, where there is no need to speak English outside of a school or work environment. In addition, the majority of Americans have some familiarity with Spanish-speakers, and Spanish is the most studied second language in America. Given the pervasive impact of Latino immigration on the United States, these students form the vast majority of people targeted by most ELL programs. Finally, Spanish speakers are represented in all levels of the government, which has raised awareness of native Spanish speaking ELL students in a manner that has not been duplicated for speakers of other foreign languages.

For example, at the opposite end of the spectrum are Arab immigrants to the United States. The Arab culture is foreign to most Americans, and has not been assimilated into mainstream American culture in the same way as Latino culture. Moreover, many Americans have misconceptions about Arab culture, religion, and language. In fact, in a post 9-11 world, many people are hostile to the cultural life of Arabs. In addition, there has been a tremendous influx of Arab immigrants, which started following the revolution in Iran in the 1970s, and which has fluctuated with times of peace and times of war in the United States. The result is that, today, there is a huge influx of immigrants from Afghanistan and Iraq, and their children need to learn English in order to feel and act American. However, there is a concern that traditional ELL programs may not be sufficient to help these students, because of the cultural gap between America and most Arab countries and because of the root differences between Arabic and English. For example, Spanish language learners can build on existing language skills, given that the Spanish and English alphabets are almost identifical and Spanish and English are both read from left to right. English and Arabic do not share an alphabet and are read in a different manner, which means that Arabic-speaking ELL students cannot build on their eisting language skills, but have to learn knew skills.

Furthermore, there are several significant differences between Arabic and American culture, which may impact learning. For example, the success of ELL programs is more highly correlated with teacher-student relationship than with a teacher's proficiency in a student's native language. Therefore, ELL teachers need to learn enough about Arabic culture to establish working relationships with children from that culture. This can be a difficult task for teachers, who have the same biases and prejudices as other members of society. Of course, teachers have to confront personal bias and prejudice while teaching Latino students as well; the stereotypes are simply different. In fact, the stereotypes surrounding Latinos may actually be more detrimental to the development of positive student-teacher relationships, because the negative stereotypes plaguing native-Spanish speakers include the belief that they are lazy or unmotivated.

In addition, it is important to understand the differences between English and Spanish and English and Arabic. Understanding these differences may provide the key to figuring out the best way to provide English education to ELL students. While both are foreign languages, they are extremely different from each other, and each presents its own challenges for learning English. Arabic is a Semitic language, which means that it is not Latin-based, like English. In fact, it has a different alphabet and a different literacy system than both Spanish and English, which share an alphabet.

In fact, Spanish is much more similar to English than Arabic is, which may make it easier for Latinos to learn English than for Arabs to learn English:

Spanish is a Romance language, and it uses the Latin alphabet, like English:

The vowels can take an acute accent, and there is the additional letter n. When spelling English words or writing them from the teacher's dictation, beginning Spanish students may make mistakes with the English vowels a, e, i. The consonants h, j, r, y may also cause trouble, since they have significantly different names in Spanish. The English writing system itself causes no particular problems to Spanish learners. Beginners, however, may be tempted to punctuate questions or exclamations as follows, since this is how it is done in Spanish: oWhat is your name? / What a goal! Punctuation of direct speech may also be a problem because quotation marks are not used in Spanish. (Shoebottom, 2007, Spanish).

However, it would be a gross oversimplification to assume that because they share a common background, English and Spanish are somehow interchangeable. On the contrary, there are some serious problems for the native Spanish speaker who seeks to learn English. First, Spanish sounds different from English in terms of vowel sounds, sentence stress, and timing. (Shoebottom, 2007, Spanish). In addition, Spanish speakers can confront grammar problems when learning English, "although Spanish is a much more heavily inflected language than English, there are many aspects of verb grammar that are similar. The major problem for the Spanish learner is that there is no one-to-one correspondence in the use of the tenses. So, for example, a Spanish learner might incorrectly use a simple tense instead of a progressive or a future one." (Shoebottom, 2007, Spanish). Moreover, because these issues reflect basic differences between the two languages, progressive learning in Spanish does not translate to better English ability.

In addition, the fact that English and Spanish share a common base language should make some aspects of English acquisition easier for the Spanish speaker than for the Arabic speaker. In fact, there are several areas of vocabulary overlap between Spanish and English, and the close relationships between Mexico and the American southwest and between Cuba and Florida have resulted in the integration of Mexican and Cuban words into American English. However, this overlap does not guarantee success. In fact, "since the Latin-derived words in English tend to be more formal, the Spanish student will benefit when reading academic text. He or she may sound too formal, however, if using such words in everyday spoken English. Conversely, phrasal verbs, which are an essential aspect of colloquial English, are difficult for Spanish learners and may obstruct listening comprehension." (Shoebottom, 2007, Spanish). In addition, Spanish is a very phonetic language, with:

strong correspondence between the sound of a word and its spelling. The irregularity of English in this respect causes predictable problems when Spanish learners write a word they first meet in spoken language or say a word first met in written language. A specific problem concerns the spelling of English words with double letters. Spanish has only 3 double-letter combinations cc, ll, rr. English, in comparison, has 5 times as many. Spanish learners often reduce English double letters to a single one, or overcompensate by doubling a letter unnecessarily; for example hopping for the present participle of hope. (Shoebottom, 2007, Spanish).

In direct contrast to Spanish, which has lingual, literal, and cultural similarities to English, Arabic is very different from English:

Arabic is from the Semitic language family, hence its grammar is very different from English. There is a large potential for errors of interference when Arab learners produce written or spoken English. Arabic has a three consonant root as its basis. All words (parts of speech) are formed by combining the three-root consonants with fixed vowel patterns and, sometimes, an affix. Arab learners may be confused by the lack of patterns in English that would allow them to distinguish nouns from verbs or adjectives, etc. (Shoebottom, 2007, Arabic).

In addition:

Arabic has 28 consonants (English 24) and 8 vowels/diphthongs (English 22). Short vowels are unimportant in Arabic, and indeed do not appear in writing. Texts are read from right to left and written in a cursive script. No distinction is made between upper and lower case, and the rules for punctuation are much looser than in English. Unsurprisingly, these fundamental differences between the Arabic and English writing systems cause Arab learners significant problems. They usually need much more time to read or write than their English-learning peers from the Indo-European language families. (Shoebottom, 2007, Arabic).

Regardless of their linguistic background, the tremendous variety of immigrants to America and the sheer number of people comign to the United States makes it clear that the success of future ELL programs depends upon their ability to teach to students from a wide variety of backgrounds. However, cultural background is not the only variable that impacts the success of ELL programs. Student age has an impact on English language acquisition. While innate language skills are assummed to be the strongest in one's early childhood, learning multiple languages in the home differs from learning one language in the home and learning a different language in the educational environment. As a result, some ELL educators question introducing kindergarten students to ELL classes. Instead, they suggest that students should receive their educational foundation in their native language, and be introduced to English after their educational foundation basics have been established by native-language education. Other educators believe that the advantages that youth lends to language acquisition should not be squandered, and that ELL students should be introduced to English at the first available opportunity, by making ELL programs part of kindergarten education. The proponents of kindergarten ELL education acknowledge that early secondary-language instruction may contribute to early educational confusion, but has the best long-term results, not only for assuring English acquisition, but also for crossover effect into other subject areas.

However, most scholars have ignored the interrelationship between native culture and language acquisition. It may be that the different opinions are not due to different results, but due to different interpretations of results. Some students may have better long-term results from kindergarten ELL education, while other students may have better long-term results from delayed ELL education. This study examines the interplay between Latino culture and the grade of ELL instruction as well as the interplay between Arabic culture and the grade of ELL instruction, to determine whether culture influences the most appropriate age for English language acquisition. In addition, the studies seeks to determine the best overall grade to introduce students to ELL instruction and bilingual education.

Problem Statement

Do ELL students acquire English acquisition faster if placed in a bilingual kindergarten rather than being introduced to English in a later elementary class?

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine the best grade to initiate English language instruction for ELL elementary students. The study also seeks to determine the impact that culture, especially native language, has on the acquisition of English as a second language. In order to examine that impact, the study looks closely at two native languages, Spanish and Arabic, to determine how they impact learning English as a second language.

Significance

The number of Latino and Arabic immigrants is skyrocketing, which means that U.S. schools are faced with the challenge of teaching an ever-growing number of non-native English speakers, with diverse ethic backgrounds. Educators are divided on the best way to approach ELL education. Most educators advocate ELL classes as early as possible, with non-English speakers beginning bilingual classrooms in kindergartens, or even pre-kindergarten in Head Start programs. However, some educators advocate delaying directed ELL classes, under the theory that students will be able to apply skills learned in their native languages to their attempts at English acquisition. If a child's native language has an impact on the best age to begin ELL instruction, educators need to be aware of this impact. The practical significance is that ELL programs may ideally need to be tailored to individual groups of students, with speakers of different native languages beginning ELL instruction at different ages and in different ways. Unfortunately, very little of the prior research has concentrated on the relationship between a student's primary language and the impact, if any, the native language has on a student's ability to acquire English.

Research Question

Do ELL students acquire English acquisition faster if placed in a bilingual kindergarten rather than being introduced to English in a later elementary class? Does native culture and a child's primary language, whether Latino/Spanish or Arabic, have an impact on the best grade to begin English language instruction?

Review of the Literature

When young children learn language, they may do so simultaneously, but they usually do so sequentially. (Gonzalez, 2005). This means that they generally establish one language and then transfer the skills used in that language to the acquisition of a second language. Furthermore, they believe that English language learning should be additive, "meaning that the new language should expand the child's overall linguistic capabilities. While the new language is being learned, the home language should be maintained -- the ultimate goal is bilingualism. In fact, research indicates that having a strong foundation in the home language is an advantage while a child is learning a second language." (Gonzalez, 2005). If taught in this manner, the skills learned in each language can be used to enhance and maintain learning in the other language, increasing overall literacy and language-specific literacy in the first and second languages.

In fact, there are some real similarities between first and second language acquisition. This should come as no surprise, since, "the process of first language acquisition is basically the same in all languages." (Gonzalaz, 2005). If the first language acquisition process is uniform across langauges, it stands to reason that the second language acquisition process is also uniform across languages. Therefore, educators, parents, and caregivers can encourage language acquisition, for both first and subsequent languages, by: "talking frequently with children, especially about activities and objects at hand; listening to the child's communicative intent and not focusing on the correctness of the child's language; encouraging children to talk; and satisfying a child's curiosity about their world and involving them in learning about it." (Gonzalez, 2005).

Understanding the different stages of secondary language acquisition is essential for determining the best age for second language instruction and acquisition. There are four different stages of language acquisition: (1) home language use, (2) nonverbal period, (3) telegraphic and formulaic speech, and (4) productive language. (Gonzalez, 2005). In the first stage, students continue to use their home languages. In addition, "they often appear oblivious to the new language, perhaps because much of the language spoken by adults and other children is inaccessible or incomprehensible to them." (Gonzalez, 2005). However, this continued, exclusive use of the home language does not mean that children are not learning; on the contrary, as they are exposed to English, they become aware of the fact that there is another language. Once students become aware of a language, they become passive learner, and they begin to learn patterns of speech and pronunciation unique to each language, in addition to learning specific vocabulary words and grammatical rules. Therefore, teachers need to:

Strive to include all children in every activity; use concrete props and manipulatives along with activities that require movement; talk continuously about what children are seeing, doing, sensing, or expecting; encourage children to repeat or echo what they hear; do not insist that children generate English spontaneously or individually; [and] learn a few phrases in the child's home language that can be used to greet the child, ensure involvement in activities, check on comprehension, provide directives, check on comfort, and complement effort. (Gonzalez, 2005).

In the nonverbal period, children come to realize that they are not being understood when speaking their home languages, and they resort to using nonverbal means of communication. (Gonzalez, 2005). Furthermore, educators need to realize that "the length of time a child is in the nonverbal period varies, depending on many factors including the personality of the child and characteristics of the particular setting." (Gonzalez, 2005). The telegraphic and formulaic speech stage is marked by the use of individual words or short phrases. (Gonzalez, 2005). Educators should expect these first attempts at spoken English to be awkward, but, "this early attempt at English should be encouraged by not insisting that it be flawless or accurate." (Gonzalez, 2005). The fourth stage is productive language, which is marked by a child speaking English relatively well. (Gonzalez, 2005). It is in the fourth stage that most schools would cease considering a student an ELL learner and mainstream them into English-only classes, though the reality is that language issues can continue to present some educational barriers long after a student has established mere English language proficiency.

Early English language acquisition has an additional benefit, which may suggest that kindergarten ELL classes, or even preschool ELL education would be helpful. This is because students transfer knowledge and concepts learned in the primary langauge to their secondary langauge. (Yandian & Jones, 2002). In fact, much of language is about communication skills, which, once established, are constant across languages, assumming a student possesses the vocabulary and the knowledge of grammar to utilize those skills. In addition, there are literary concepts, such as the direction of reading or how words and sentences are delineated in writing that translate from one language to another, if those languages share the same literary concepts. (Yandian & Jones, 2002).

As a matter of fact, the vast majority of the literature supports the notion that the earlier an ELL learner exposed to bilingual education, the better that student's anticipated outcome, which would support beginning English classes in kindergarten, if not earlier. For example, Silverman investigated kindergarten vocabulary intervention in five classrooms serving 44 English-only (EO) and 28 ELL students. (2007). She discovered that the ELL students and the EO students learned the targeted vocabulary words at the same rate. (Silverman, 2007). However, more significant is that she discovered that the ELL students grew in general vocabulary at a faster rate than the EO students, which meant that their overall English acquisition was even faster than native English speakers. This result suggests that ELL students have an incredible capacity to learn English during kindergarten.

These results are not surprising given that it is widely accepted that foreign language acquisition is easier when people are young. Theorists stipulate that there is something about the brain that makes language acquisition easier for the very young; such that early language learning does not even have to involve formal teaching, but can be accomplished through mere exposure to English. This is what happens with babies learning to speak their primary language, regardless of primary language or culture. It does appear that early exposure to English can be correlated with English as-a-second language learning. For example, children who viewed English-language television shows at home acquired language at a faster rate than students who did not. The study involved children watching two shows: Arthur and Between the Lions. (Yuuko, 2005). Both of these shows are aimed at young children, and at-home viewing increases language acquisition. Therefore, the study may suggest that getting students involved in ELL classes at the earliest opportunity, and having those students engage in English language learning in the home, even in a passive manner like watching English-language television, may help increase language acquisition rates.

However, English exposure does not tell the whole story of kindergarten-level English acquisition. In fact, another study suggests that something about kindergarten, other than the educational level of the students involved, may make kindergarten more conducive to teaching ELL students than later elementary-level education. In a study of social and language development among 345 Spanish-speaking preschoolers, Chang et al. discovered that the more Spanish spoken in the classroom, the better students' social skills and the closer the teacher-child relationships. (Chang et al., 2007). These social implications seem to suggest that younger students, who traditionally have better socialization and an easier time forming student-teacher relationships than older students, may be better suited for language acquisition than older students. Another aspect of kindergarten education that may simplify ELL classes is that kindergarten focuses on relationship development in addition to academic development. When teaching to kindergarteners, one thing that is interesting is that their learning is dramatically impacted by social aspects. In a study examining the teaching style of an effective English-speaking pre-kindergarten teacher, Gillanders looked at the impact that the teacher-student relationship has on learning style. (2007). The study results suggest that a teacher's affective attitude towards ELL students can have a dramatic impact on the student's English language acquisition. (Gillanders, 2007). The social impact of learning is lessened in later elementary grades.

Furthermore, in kindergarten age students, ELL education appears easier from an educator's standpoint as well as a student's standpoint. In fact, one of the interesting aspects of language acquisition in kindergartners is the fact that language acquisition does not appear to be linked to teacher knowledge of a student's primary language. In addition, English language acquisition is not even linked to a teacher's absolute knowledge of English. This is not to suggest that teacher competency is not an issue, but for kindergarten ELL students, teacher skill seems more important than knowledge, and is predictive of student performance, classroom performance, and student outcome. (Cirino et al., 2007).

Yet another factor suggests that early language intervention is a better than later language intervention: the effects of socioeconomic status on education. The impact of socioeconomic status on education and educational attainment has been well-documented, as has the impact of early intervention to ameliorate the deleterious effect of lower socioeconomic status on education. Literacy-intensive instruction has been proven to ameliorate the impact of socioeconomic status on ELL students. (D'angiulli et al., 2004). In addition, it lower socioeconomic status is correlated with non-English speaking in the home, which suggests that the relationship between socioeconomic status and education may be even more important for ELL students.

Socioeconomic status is not the only social factor that impacts learning. Gender can have a tremendous impact on learning and language acquisition. The interrelationship between gender and learning can be especially influential when one looks at the age of language acquisition. Gender's impact on learning has been well documented. Boys and girls perform differently in different subject areas and those gender differences change over time. Local ideas of gender impact the level of classroom participation, which, in turn impacts language acquisition. (Hruska, 2004). However, it is important to realize that gender differences, while discernable in lower grades, are exacerbated over time. Moreover, gender meanings shift over time and across context, which could mean that the best grade or age level for language acquisition may differ depending on the gender of the individual ELL student, as well as that student's cultural environment.

It is also important to keep in mind that English language acquisition impacts more than merely a student's language arts ability. On the contrary, success in all courses in an English-language school is dependnent upon success with English. Furthermore, even after a student has achieved sufficient familiarity and proficiency with English to move that student into an English-speaking classroom, the reality is that higher concepts, such as those contained in mathematics and science classes, may continue to be inaccessible to the ELL student. This is an area that has not been sufficiently studied. When the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) studied ELL programs, they attempted to track student gains in mathematics. (2007). The problem was that the underlying studies that met WWC standards had not even looked at student gains in mathematics, despite the fact that mathematics instruction is impossible without the use of language.

Although language acquisition is generally sequential, apparently students can learn to read multiple languages in a parallel fashion. Robertson examined the ability of young students to learn four different languages simultaneously: English, Pahari, Urdu, and Arabic. (2006). The children began at the age of five, which is approximately the same age that children traditionally enter kindergarten. Rather than presenting difficulties or hindering language acquisition, Robertson found that the students were able to learn all four languages simultaneously, and could distinguish between literacy systems, and choose the appropriate system for the language being spoken, written, or read. (Robertson, 2006). However, the issue is not whether students can simultaneously learn different language systems, but whether simultaneous teaching is the best method and leads to faster acquisition of the subsequent languages.

While the evidence regarding the correlation between youth and language acquisition appears overwhelming, there are actually some studies that suggest that postponing English language acquisition until after kindergarten may improve learning in ELL students. In grades 1 through 5, Spanish oral reading fluency is highly predictive of English reading outcomes. (Dominguez De Ramirez and Shapiro, 2007). This study examined reading fluency among children in the same grade, but may suggest that later language instruction is more helpful. This is due to the fact that native-language oral reading fluency is likely to increase with age and grade.

In another study examining the teaching of English as a foreign language in other countries, vocabulary development was seen as an essential component for higher-level English language skills. (Al-Jarf, 2006). As a result, Al-Jarf recommended that current vocabulary development programs be expanded, and that emphasizing vocabulary development will lead to a correlated improvement in other language areas. (Al-Jarf, 2006). Furthermore, the link between visual experiences and vocabulary development has been strongly established:

Visual methods for developing vocabulary that involve students actively taking part in their reading vocabulary development include using: interactive video; student illustration of vocabulary; computer software packages designed to develop reading skills; activities that involve visual perception; and graphic organizers, including story maps, collaborative rehearsal of new vocabulary, and student-made flash cards. The use of visuals, combined with cooperative learning groups, provides an effective environment of the development of vocabulary and reading comprehension. (Al-Jarf, 2006).

Though these results were in a college environment, it is interesting to note that those aspects that increased vocabulary development in college students were some of the basic learning skills used in elementary language instruction.

Another aspect where age impacts language learning is the plausibility of language in different age groups. Anyone who has worked with children realizes that, the younger the child, the more work one must do to understand the meaning and import of their words. Young children have limitations placed on their communication because of limited vocabularies and constrained sentence structures. These limitations are exacerbated in ELL students. In fact, while previous researchers have speculated that language teachers are able to guess the intended meanings of erroneous phrases, the reality was that teachers' interpretations were frequently incorrect. (Hamid, 2007). One of the practical aspects of the study was its suggestion that correcting student mistakes in a student's absence can lead to greater errors, which would probably hinder English acquisition. Furthermore, in all students, but especially younger students, even same-time corrections could lead to confusion if a teacher has guessed incorrectly, and the likelihood of such confusion would probably be exacerbated if the teacher had limited knowledge of the student's primary language.

Furthermore, while first-language skills can be positively linked to second-language skills, this link is not absolute. In fact, first-language oral proficiency is not linked to second-language reading skills. (August et al., 2006). On the contrary, children must have first-language literacy in order for first-language skills to have a positive impact on second-language literacy. (August et al., 2006). Given that many kindergartners enter school without reading skills in any language, that fact may suggest delaying ELL education until students have acquired native-language literacy. However, this study also found a link between Spanish literacy instruction and later errors in English proficiency, such as pronunciation and spelling errors. (August et al., 2006).

Of course, English language acquisition is also affected by the ELL student's native language. In addition, researchers have noticed that there is a distinct correlation between the first language spoken and the ELL student's English learning capabilities. For example,

Figueredo discovered that first-language knowledge can impact how ELL students learn to spell in English. (2006). First-language skills can have positive and negative impacts on English language spelling acquisition. (Figueredo, 2006). Therefore, tailoring ELL learning to the independent and unique facets of a child's primary language may be helpful by maximizing inherent transferable first-language skills, while minimizing pitfalls that are generally associated with specific first languages.

For example, Arabic speakers are not only challenged by learning new words and grammatical structures, but also by learning a new cultural context for those words. The problem that occurs is that most ELL teachers do not have an Arabic cultural or linguistic background, nor have they been trained in such a background, which places them at a disadvantage when teaching these students. Palmer et al. followed Abdallah, a nine-year-old Palestinian student as he learned English. (2007). What they discovered is that teaching English to Arabic speakers involves different instructional strategies, assessment tools, and linguistic factors than teaching ELL students whose primary language has a European basis. (Palmer et al., 2007).

The reason that primary language may have an impact on learning styles, because of the transference of certain linguistic characteristics from one language to another. For example, "Arab learners of English from different dialect backgrounds had problems with definiteness in English mainly because of the differences in the expression of reference in English and Arabic. Ordinals were used interchangeably and quantifiers were confused as to their use with count / noncount nouns." (Zughoul, 2002). In addition, native Arabic speakers have less awareness of English vowels than many other groups, which may contribute to English reading comprehension difficulties. (Hayes-Harb, 2007). Difficulties such as these appear related to interference from Arabic, which suggests that the less entrenched in Arabic speaking, the less likely a student will be to continue to make those mistakes. Moreover, when one considers that "the errors made by Arab learners of English seem to be strikingly similar to those made by learners from other language backgrounds," it appears that the impact of the primary language on the ELL student is more in the content of the mistakes, not the type or number of mistakes. (Zughoul, 2002).

In a study examining the transfer of language proficiency between Arabic and English, Dweick and Abu Al Hommos sought to refute the assumption that, "second language learning is essentially a process of overcoming differences in the two language systems." (2007). In fact, they recognized that "a superficial analysis of the surface structure of the two language systems [does] not provide an adequate prediction of potential problems in second-language acquisition." (Dweick & Abu Al Hommos, 2007). They found that "a significant relationship between the students' proficiency in Arabic writing and English writing." (Dweick & Abu Al Hommos, 2007). In fact, their:

Results indicated that the more proficient those students were as writers in their first language, the better they were as ESL writers than those who were not or less proficient in L1 writing and had no competence in L2. This finding supports the notion that native-language writing skills transfer across the two languages and give the more proficient Arabic writer more skills to directly apply to English writing. This finding substantiates the importance of L1 (Arabic) writing abilities and L2 competence with regard to learning L2 (English) writing. Basically, the relationship indicated that teaching of L2 writing begins with L1 writing and L2 (English) competence. (Dweick & Abu Al Hommos, 2007).

Spanish speakers face different challenges than Arabic speakers, many of which are cultural and socioeconomic, rather than lingual. In fact, given the higher degree of similarity between English and Spanish than between English and Arabic, some suggest that English acquisition for Spanish speakers is easier than English acquisition for Arabic speakers. For example, there is an unsurprising correlation between Spanish vocabulary knowledge and English fluency. This is not a surprise, given that the two languages share a common root and may have some basic vocabulary overlap. However, the correlation is not a simple one. Rather than a direct correlation between Spanish vocabulary and English fluency, Proctor et al. discovered that the more fluent a student was in English, the more likely that student was to benefit from Spanish vocabulary knowledge. (2006). This result would appear to suggest that early instruction is important, so that students can grow more fluent in English, and thus be able to derive all of the benefits of their native language vocabulary development. However, because the study only looked at Spanish, which shares its root language with English, it is uncertain whether similar results would exist for students whose native language is not a Romance language.

Furthermore, traditional ELL and ESL (English as a second language) classes do not take a friendly approach to the student's first language. Rather than capitalizing on similarities or the positive transference of language skills, traditional classes often treat the primary language as an educational liability, by establishing English language acquisition as the sole measurement of educational success. (Urso-Spina, 2006). However, non-traditional programs, such as an arts-based curriculum, which focuses on a more global learning experience, do not treat primary language as a liability, but as an asset. Not surprisingly, these art-based programs have higher rates of educational success than traditional ESL and ELL programs, when one looks at a student's overall educational performance, and not simply English proficiency. (Urso-Spina, 2006).

Finally, it is important for researchers to keep in mind that language is only one aspect of culture, and that culture can have a dramatic impact on the ability and desire to learn. For example, teachers and parents may have very different views of "children in the context of a social group like a classroom." (Severeide, 2007). In Washington County, Oregon, the social context agreement rate when from 22.6% to 82.3% in a short period of time, suggesting that teachers and parents viewed children in the same manner. (Severeide, 2007). This change was the result of a concentrated effort to bring multiculturalism into the classroom, by encouraging parent involvement, and to take the school into the home by having home visits. (Severeide, 2007). The hypothesis is that cultural awareness, which promotes parent-teacher agreement, will lead to better learning in the classroom.

Discussion and Conclusions

ELL has attained an unforeseeable level of importance in today's educational environment. Not only have immigration rates skyrocketed, but there have been some fundamental changes in the nature of the immigrant population, which makes ELL education even more important. The majority of today's immigrants are not English speakers from Western Europe, but Spanish-speaking Latinos. In addition, there are many Arabic-speaking immigrants from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The expansion and changing nature of the immigrant population has necessitated some basic changes in the nature of ELL education. As a result, educators have had to contend with the question of when is the best age to begin English-language instruction. That question naturally leads to questions of language and culture, and whether speakers of different native languages should begin their English education at the same time, or whether native language has such a profound and dramatic impact on a student's ability to acquire English that native language should determine when a student is placed in bilingual ELL classes.

At first glance, the differences between Arabic and Spanish suggest that one would have to take different approaches when teaching English to native speakers of those languages. The cultural differences between Arabic-speakers and Spanish-speakers would appear to further exacerbate those differences. In fact, the Spanish language and Latino culture are much more similar to English and the American culture than the Arabic language and culture are, and those differences have been exacerbated in the post-911 political climate. Technically, Spanish and English share most of a common alphabet, a similar reading system, and even some vocabulary. In contrast, the Arabic alphabet is Semitic, not Romantic, Arabic is read from left to right, and there is no vocabulary overlap between Arabic and English. Given these differences, one would assume that English-language acquisition would be more difficult for Arabic-speakers than for Spanish-speakers. This increased level of difficulty might be thought to have an impact on the best grade-level for beginning ELL instruction in elementary students. However, the studies simply do not support such an assertion; for overall language development, including speed of English acquisition, early language intervention is consistently found to be the best strategy. Though higher-level language skills are transferable from first to second languages, the overwhelming evidence supports language intervention at the earliest possible time, regardless of the native language spoken.

Regardless of when a second language is introduced, the goals of second-language education should not be to eradicate a child's first or home language.

Not only is such a goal culturally insensitive, but it is also educationally harmful to a child, because children can incorporate language skills from their primary language to English. English as a second language should expand a child's ability to communicate, not stifle it. In addition, Spanish oral reading fluency can predict English reading outcomes, which suggests that native Spanish-speaking students will benefit in their English classes, if they continue to be taught their primary language in addition to English. (Dominguez De Ramirez and Shapiro, 2007). Therefore, regardless of when bilingual education is instituted, it should not prevent a student from beginning a written study of the primary language or from speaking the first language while at home. Therefore, this suggests that schools should deviate from the traditional ELL and ESL programs, which have traditionally taken a very hostile approach to the child's primary language. Instead, schools should focus on a more global approach, which looks at how an ELL programs impacts a student's achievement in all classes, not simply the student's English language acquisition.