Many existing best practices for course builds can be leveraged to support English language learners (ELLs). While designing your online course, consider ELLs and the diverse linguistic and cultural knowledge they bring to the classroom.
Students who are in the process of learning English can face unique challenges in successfully completing English-based coursework. While they are mastering course content and completing assignments, ELLs are also developing their linguistic knowledge and skill sets. As ELLs are highly diverse, their linguistic knowledge and skills can be expected to vary significantly. The amount and type of students’ prior English learning experience and the degree of similarity between their native language(s) and English are a couple of factors that can differ widely across students, influencing their linguistic performance (Barrios et al., 2016; Bergey et al., 2018).
Many existing best practices for developing assignments and lecture material, providing support resources, and fostering community development can improve course experiences for ELLs. The following section details how such practices can be leveraged to support this student population. As you review content and construct course pages, you may wish to keep the following in mind:
- Incorporate practice opportunities: Students in general, and ELLs in particular, can benefit from having frequent opportunities for practice. This can be especially true in regard to academic writing, which is often a challenging component of coursework for ELLs (Fernandez et al., 2019). Short writing assignments, particularly with feedback, can help ELLs hone their skills in anticipation of summative assessments like term papers.
- Include flexible submission formats: When possible, allow students to choose a submission format for course assignments. Rather than exclusively requiring written submissions, for example, consider allowing students the option to record video or audio submissions. Allowing for a degree of choice in submission formatting can make coursework less daunting, allowing students to capitalize on their linguistic strengths (Bergey et al., 2018).
- Value cultural diversity: Course materials should reflect an awareness of and appreciation for diverse cultural experiences and norms (Bergey et al., 2018; Schwarzer, 2009). When reviewing lecture content, consider whether your examples or ideas are likely to be readily understood by a global audience. For instance, ask yourself whether an example would likely hold true in a country with different cultural values or governmental or economic structures. If you find elements of the text to be culturally narrow, consider including additional content. Similarly, in producing assignment prompts, consider whether tasks would be both feasible and relevant for a diverse student population.
- Emphasize the utility of course tasks: Given the unique challenges ELLs face in completing coursework, it is important to consider student motivation in the design process. Emphasizing the relevance, authenticity, and practical utility of course content in general, and assignments in particular, can motivate students to face coursework challenges head-on (Severinsen et al., 2018). An emphasis on real-world applications can also prepare students to successfully meet career demands beyond the classroom.
- Make language accessible: In producing course content, strive to use simple language (particularly for assignment instructions) and include definitions or links to explanations of low-frequency terms and concepts (WCAG 2.1, Success Criterion 3.1.3). Additionally, try to ensure that any multimedia incorporated into the course has captions and transcripts for students to review. These practices can improve the comprehensibility of course materials for all students while also supporting vocabulary development for ELLs, a critical component of a strong linguistic knowledge base (Schwarzer, 2009).
- Provide support and access to resources: Clearly communicate your availability to students so they know where and how to request help if they need it. Incorporating links to or information about any applicable language resources, both within the university (e.g., writing centers or language tutoring services) and outside of the university (e.g., style and citation guides) can help set ELLs up for success (Fernandez et al., 2019).
- Foster community development: ELLs may feel daunted by the prospect of sharing their written work on discussion boards or in group projects with native English speakers (Liu & Huang, 2011). For this reason, it is important to foster the development of a supportive course community (Schwarzer, 2009). Consider providing guidelines for peer-to-peer communications and including more open-ended forums for students to share their personal experiences and build relationships with their peers.
References
Barrios, S., Jiang, N., & Icardi, W. J. (2016). Similarity in L2 phonology: Evidence from L1 Spanish late-learners’ perception and lexical representation of English vowel contrasts. Second Language Research, 32(3), 367-395.
Bergey, R., Movit, M., Simpson Baird A., & Faria, A. (2018). Serving English language learners in higher education: Unlocking the potential. American Institutes for Research.
Fernandez, R., Peyton, J., & Schaetzel, K. (2017). A survey of writing instruction in adult ESL programs: Are teaching practices meeting adult learner needs? Journal of Research and Practice for Adult Literacy, Secondary, and Basic Education, 6(2), 5-20.
Liu, M., & Huang, W. (2011). An exploration of foreign language anxiety and English learning motivation. Education Research International, 1-8.
Schwarzer, D. (2009). Best practices for teaching the "whole" adult ESL learner. New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education, 121, 25-33.
Severinsen, D.J., Kennedy, L. K., & Mohamud, S. H. (2018). Teaching strategies that motivate English language adult literacy learners to invest in their education: A literature review. Literacy and Numeracy Studies, 26(1), 25-42.