Increasing L1 Usage in Academic Settings for English Language Learners

Abstract

This paper aims to review the benefits, identify the barriers, and provide a solution to the lack of opportunities for L1 use in language instruction. English Language Learners (ELLs) make up a growing population in U.S. public schools (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023). Most U.S. students, who speak a language other than Spanish have limited opportunities to receive instruction in their L1s (Zippia, 2023). Similarly, opportunities for students to use their L1s with peers in an educational setting are infrequent. Teachers can utilize students’ L1s to build connections when introducing new vocabulary or grammatical rules, as well as when developing rapport with students (Nation, 2020). It is important to provide ample opportunities to acknowledge, celebrate, and build on students’ L1s in the classroom (Gibbons, 2015). There are a number of barriers affecting L1 use in instruction. A language barrier affects both teachers working to address each L1 of their students and students looking to use their L1s with peers (Mend, 2020). Time is a major constraint that affects teachers’ instructional and planning time (Lin, 2017). Teacher’s perceptions and lack of knowledge of supporting ELLs create an additional barrier to L1 use in the classroom (Kim & Morita-Mullaney, 2020). The last barrier discussed is student motivation and engagement (Papi and Hiver, 2020). This capstone project aims to address these challenges by providing an accessible, 1-hour PD available to any educator working to learn more about ways to increase L1 use in instruction. This PD will be offered to the Greece Central School District which services about 500 ELLs and (NYS Education Department, 2022). This PD helps increase opportunities for L1 use in the classroom by explaining the benefits of increasing L1 use in language instruction and sharing a wide variety of low prep strategies for teachers.