English teachers and English language learners in middle school classrooms: Perspectives and practices

Public school classrooms in the United States are composed of an increasingly diverse population of learners. The number of students with limited proficiency in English has grown exponentially across the United States, yet their level of academic achievement lags significantly behind that of their language-majority peers.;The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes, opinions and practices of middle school language arts/reading teachers regarding the inclusion of ELL students and the support they receive in their classrooms. The researcher administered a survey to 171 language arts/reading middle school teachers and interviewed six teachers from fourteen schools in a school district in the Southwest United States.;Respondents welcomed the cultural diversity that ELL students bring to the classroom, but encouraged linguistic assimilation as a condition of student success. A significant percentage of teachers indicated some ELL training but felt inadequately prepared to the challenges of teaching ELL students. Native language resources and instructional materials were limited and not used. Teachers were willing to give students more time to complete their coursework, but not necessarily lessen the amount of student work.;Based on these findings and their relationship to the literature of the field, the author recommended that further research be conducted regarding the relationship between teachers' language attitude and student outcomes, and geographical areas and grade levels. Additional recommendations were made regarding specialized certification for teachers of ELL students, professional development programs, educational policy and state legislative action.