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“The editors have assembled contributions from 12 experts on the subject of ELL education. They include the most current research available, which enhances and at times debunks traditionally held views....Despite the complex issues pertaining to ELL, the book presents them in a manner that novices can easily grasp. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections.”

—Choice


“For an individual reader, the greatest yield from this text might be more than the practical ideas they can apply. The text also has the promise of challenging assumptions, sometimes hidden and sometimes overt, that we as teachers or the systems within which we work make about language acquisition or the potential of ELLs. Detailed quantitative evidence and powerful qualitative descriptions offer a starting point for reflecting on one's own practice or advocating for change….A rigorous, challenging work Invaluable for educators from a variety of backgrounds, an opportunity to learn and to use theory and research-validated concepts and practices to change classrooms, policies, and personal beliefs. As has been noted, the substantial attention given to the topic of assessment and to the role of administrators is unique and adds to the value of this timely and important work.”

—Journal of Education


“Perhaps no topic is of greater interest today to educational researchers, policymakers, and practitioners than how best to meet the needs of ELLs. This state-of-the-art work, presented in a lively and accessible fashion, provides a thorough and practical treatment of this topic from leading experts in the field. A 'must have' for all of us.”

—Laura M. Justice, PhD, EHE Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology, The Ohio State University


“This definitive book represents research-to-practice at its best. The contributors are cutting-edge researchers with significant practical experience. What makes the book unique is that it takes multiple perspectives—neurological, theoretical, behavioral, social, cognitive, environmental, and individual—and weaves them into a coherent and accessible tapestry, laying to rest the notion that ELLs are destined to lag behind their monolingual peers. Educators will be able to read this book and immediately begin to implement changes in their instruction. It could serve as a text in any teacher training program and could also be used in training other professionals, such as ESL instructors, reading specialists, school psychologists, and speech–language pathologists.”

—Brian A. Goldstein, PhD, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University


“A 'must read' for every inservice and preservice teacher. The book is extremely well organized, with excellent continuity from one chapter to the next. The contributors are outstanding scholars who present reader-friendly chapters that cover theory, research, and best practices for the classroom. This book should be adopted as a text in an ELL course or courses that deal with teaching any content area. Kudos to the editors on this important volume.”

—Lesley Mandel Morrow, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Literacy and Chair, Department of Learning and Teaching, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

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Table of Contents

Introduction, Marilyn Shatz and Louise C. Wilkinson

I. Early Language Experience and School Readiness

1. The Brain and Language Acquisition: Variation in Language Knowledge and Readiness for Education, Barbara T. Conboy

2. The Process of Acquiring a First and Second Language, Kathryn Kohnert and Giang Pham

3. Language Choice and Competence: Code Switching and Issues of Social Identity in Young Bilingual Children, Iliana Reyes and Susan M. Ervin-Tripp

II. Language and Literacy Principles and Practices in School

4. Ways to Words: Learning a Second-Language Vocabulary, Lisa M. Bedore, Elizabeth D. Peña, and Karin Boerger

5. The Role of Phonology in Orthographically Different Languages, Ellen H. Newman

6. Bilingualism and Cognitive Linkages: Learning to Read in Different Languages, Ellen Bialystok and Kathleen F. Peets

7. Learning English as a Second Language, María Estela Brisk

III. Assessment and Interaction: Working with Children and Families

8. Communicative Repertoires and English Language Learners, Betsy Rymes

9. Difficulty, Delay, or Disorder: What Makes English Hard for English Language Learners?, Carol Westby and Deborah A. Hwa-Froelich

10. Implications for Assessment and Instruction, Alison L. Bailey

11. Extended Implications for Practice: Families as Allies, Leslie Reese and Claude Goldenberg

12. Recent Research on English Language and Literacy Instruction: What We Have Learned to Guide Practice for English Language Learners in the 21st Century, Diane August, Claude Goldenberg, William M. Saunders, and Cheryl Dressler

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About the Editors

Marilyn Shatz, PhD, is Professor Emerita of Psychology and Linguistics at the University of Michigan and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Society and has been a Guggenheim Fellow; a Senior Research Fulbright Scholar; and a recipient of a National Institute of Education fellowship. An expert in language and the development of communication skills, Dr. Shatz has used both naturalistic and experimental methods to carry out research on the interrelations among social, cognitive, and language development in young children. Her current research investigates how young children acquire abstract vocabulary. Dr. Shatz has published more than 70 chapters, articles, and books, and has served as an editor and editorial board member of numerous journals.

Louise C. Wilkinson, EdD, is Distinguished Professor of Education, Psychology, and Communication Sciences at Syracuse University, where she teaches courses on literacy learning for English language learners. An internationally recognized leader in education, she is best known for her extensive research on school-age children’s language and literacy learning and has published 150 articles, chapters, and volumes. Dr. Wilkinson has served on the editorial boards of major research journals. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, the American Educational Research Association, and the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology. Dr. Wilkinson cochairs the Literacy Leadership for Urban Teacher Education Commission of the International Reading Association.

• All titles by Louise C. Wilkinson

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Contributors

Diane August, PhD, Center for Applied Linguistics, Bethesda, Maryland

Alison L. Bailey, PhD, Department of Education, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

Lisa M. Bedore, PhD, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

Ellen Bialystok, PhD, Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Karin Boerger, MS, The Graduate School, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

Maria Estela Brisk, PhD, Department of Teacher Education, Special Education, and Curriculum and Instruction, Lynch School of Education, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts

Cheryl Dressler, EdD, Center for Applied Linguistics, Bethesda, Maryland

Barbara T. Conboy, PhD, Department of Communicative Disorders, University of Redlands, Redlands, California

Susan M. Ervin-Tripp, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California

Claude Goldenberg, PhD, School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California

Deborah A. Hwa-Froelich, PhD, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri

Kathryn Kohnert, PhD, CCC-SLP, Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Ellen H. Newman, PhD, School of Psychology, IE University, Segovia, Spain

Kathleen F. Peets, EdD, Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Elizabeth D. Peña, PhD, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

Giang Pham, MA, CCC-SLP, Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Leslie Reese, PhD, Center for Language Minority Education and Research, California State University, Long Beach, California

Iliana Reyes, PhD, Second Language Acquisition Program and Department of Language, Reading, and Culture, College of Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

Betsy Rymes, PhD, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

William M. Saunders, PhD, Department of Educational Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

Marilyn Shatz, PhD, Departments of Psychology and Linguistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Carol Westby, PhD, private practice, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Louise C. Wilkinson, EdD, Department of Reading and Language Arts, School of Education, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York

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Audience

K–12 reading specialists, speech–language pathologists, classroom teachers and special educators, school psychologists, and educational psychologists.

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Course Use

May serve as a supplemental text in graduate-level courses.