Congratulations to Brady Kocher, Assistant Principal at East Wake Middle School who recently defended his dissertation titled: “English Language Learners in Mainstream Science Classrooms: Understanding the Impact of Teachers’ Use of Immediacy and Instructional Conversation Behaviors on Students’ Language Acquisition and Achievement.”
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The purpose of this project was to identify English language learners’ (ELL) perceptions of their science teachers’ instructional conversation and immediacy behaviors and the impact of these perceptions on their science motivation, language acquisition, and academic achievement. The aim of this study is to document the independent and combined contributions of social contextual factors, instructional conversations, and immediacy behaviors on predicting academic outcomes.
Foundational research on student motivation has found that the nature and quality of students’ learning processes and the effectiveness of instruction are dependent upon student perceptions of the classroom (Entwistle & Tait, 1990). These perceptions have repeatedly been proven as reliable and valid predictors of outcome variable in line with this study (Levy et al., 1997; Mantero et al., 2006).
This study was conducted using a survey given to 139 English language learners (ELL) and 131 non-ELL middle school students within their science classroom. In order to understand ELL perceptions of their science teachers’ instructional conversation and immediacy behaviors and the impact of these perceptions on their science motivation, language acquisition, and academic achievement, the following data was collected: 1) Instructional Conversation (IC) survey, 2) immediacy survey, 3) Self-Reported Measures of Student Motivation (intrinsic motivation, perceived autonomy, anxiety), 4) language acquisition scores of target ELL students, and 5) third quarter science scores of ELL students. A hierarchical regression with three steps was conducted to evaluate the independent contribution of social-contextual variables.
First, there do appear to be significant differences between non-ELL and ELL students’ perceptions of their science teachers’ instructional conversations (IC) and immediacy behaviors. ELL students frequently rate their perceptions of instructional behaviors lower than that of their non-ELL peers. In addition, ELL perceptions of instructional conversation and immediacy behaviors significantly predicted intrinsic motivation and learner autonomy beyond status factors like gender, science grades, and language spoken at home. There also appear to be significant differences between non-ELL and ELL students’ self reported motivation outcomes. Results of the study found that ELL students frequently rate their perceptions of motivation outcomes lower than that of their non-ELL peers. Finally, this study provides an important link between the Active Filter Hypothesis (Krashen, 1982) of language learning, the broader processes of the socio-cultural theory of cognitive development, and language socialization theory. The combination of understanding how the affective variables (intrinsic motivation, learner autonomy, anxiety), the role of dialogue, and social interactions within the classroom setting affect second language learners may provide the best insight into students’ second language acquisition. Results of the survey indicated a significant positive correlation for the way in which ELL students’ perceived instructional conversations and immediacy related to motivation in the science classroom. This is an indication that ELL students who perceive their science teacher to have high quality instructional conversational and immediacy behaviors may also be intrinsically motivated, have higher autonomy, and in some cases, less anxiety. In addition, ELL perceptions of instructional conversation and immediacy behaviors significantly predicted language acquisition outcomes beyond status factors like gender, science grades, and language spoken at home.
This research raised questions and understanding about the way in which mainstream teachers can assist ELL students in their process of language acquisition and illuminated those instructional responsive practices that support their academic needs. Teachers can be trained on how to distinguish between instructional and conversation elements within discussion. A deeper understanding and deliberate design within lesson planning may assist teachers in creating a challenging (non-threatening) environment which, in turn, promotes discussion that is responsive to our language learners. An understanding of the issues affecting ELL students in mainstream classes can also aid administration in planning sound educational programs that support the language and academic demands of ELL students.