Accountable Talk as a Practice in ENL Classrooms

Abstract

This capstone project aims to support both English as a New Language (ENL) and general education teachers working with English Language Learner (ELL) students. In the United States, ELLs are a rapidly growing population. This is true of many districts on Long Island, NY, including Brentwood School District. Research has shown that ELL students are not being given enough opportunities to improve their oral language development. Different factors and theoretical frameworks have been discussed and related to oral language development. Additionally, the current state of the classroom and community have also been considered in the literature review. Solutions to the problem have been proposed in this project. These solutions include accountable talk, the use of sentence starters and stems, monthly school game night events, and the implementation of an evaluation rubric to monitor students’ oral language development and the progress they make over the course of the school year. Several conclusions are discussed to increase oral language development using components of accountable talk such as sentence starters/stems, talk moves, collaborative groups, language objectives, student observations, and monthly school events. Recommendations include the training of enrichment educators on accountable talk and its application to special classes. Faculty and staff are encouraged to review current practices and make changes where necessary to better support the oral language development of ELL students.