The beliefs of undergraduate pre-service teachers at a Western New York college about English language learners

Abstract

As the population of English Language Learners grow throughout the Western New York Area, it is important to consider how well the undergraduate pre-service teachers emerging within the area are prepared to teach these students. A variety of studies have shown that many mainstream teachers often hold deficit perspectives towards ELLs in public education, meaning they focus on any potential weaknesses of ELLs as opposed to looking at these students in a positive light. This deficit perspective can lead to a variety of issues such as slow development of English Langauge Proficiency, lower achievement rates compared to peers who are native English speakers, and high drop out rates. This study aimed to identify the core beleifs of pre-service undergraduate teachers a major education college in Western New York in order to identify any potential existance of deficit perspective among these students. Characteristics such as experience, past education, and origins of beliefs will be examined in order to further study the undergraduate students at the college. [from author's abstract]