ELL Students

Thus far my search has focused on how I, as a teacher, can begin the process of identifying ELL students with learning disabilities, the testing process, and supporting families of ELL students with learning disabilities. Today I was thinking about the direction my search for answers should take next and I realized that I haven't yet focused on the students themselves. I found a video on Youtube that, although short, speaks volumes about the struggles ELL students face in an English-speaking environment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0OmdeAALKE

The first boy talks about an incident where he had tried to ask a question in class, but the teacher didn't understand him, so after several attempts he forgot about his question altogether. This has happened to me during my student teaching. One of our ELL students does not speak English very well, and often the things she says do not make sense because she doesn't know the right words or syntax to express what she wants to say. There have been many times where she's tried to ask a question or offer input and we haven't been able to understand what she is trying to say so she eventually gives up. 

The second boy on the video says it is frustrating for him when a teacher talks too fast for him to understand the directions. I am probably guilty of doing the same thing, and I've never considered that my ELL students may not have been able to follow what I was saying. I can only imagine how difficult it is to understand something spoken in a language that you are trying to learn when the speaker is talking too fast.

The third child on the video is a little girl who has experienced frustration when the teacher does not fully explain things like directions, or mathematical concepts. I know that I have made the mistake of assuming the students understand more than they actually do. It is so much more difficult for a student who doesn't speak English fluently to understand something that the teacher has failed to give explicit directions about. 

This video was eye-opening for me because I often only think about things from my perspective. What if I can't understand the student? How will I communicate with someone who cannot speak English fluently? What if they speak too fast/quietly for me to understand. I hadn't fully considered how the student might feel about how I am communicating with them. Watching these children speak about the hardships of being an English language learner gave me some perspective on the needs and feelings of ELL students and their families.