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The Effects of Integrated Language‐Based Instruction in Elementary ESL Learning
Author(s) -
KIM YOUB
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the modern language journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.486
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1540-4781
pISSN - 0026-7902
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00756.x
Subject(s) - literacy , psychology , language assessment , mathematics education , sheltered instruction , language acquisition , intervention (counseling) , comprehension approach , language proficiency , first language , language education , pedagogy , linguistics , philosophy , psychiatry
The purpose of this research study is to compare the effectiveness of 2 different instructional approaches to language instruction—integrated (oral plus written) versus oral‐only instruction—in developing oral language skills of young students learning English as a second language (ESL). Drawing upon 2 competing research perspectives on young ESL children's English language learning, this study examined the question “Does integrated, language‐based intervention lead to greater gains in the oral language development of focus ESL students than oral language‐based intervention?” The study participants were 2 beginning ESL students—one from Korea (Yun) and one from China (Yang)—enrolled in kindergarten in a multicultural school in a Midwestern state (student names are pseudonyms). Results from the 2 focus students' performances on multiple oral language assessment measures showed that integrated, language‐based intervention led to greater gains in the focus students' oral language development than did an exclusively oral language‐based intervention. Thus, the key instructional issue is not whether literacy should be used for beginning ESL students, but rather in what ways is literacy most effective in supporting ESL students' language and cognitive development.