| English as the sole language of instruction in Arizona challenges teachers to meet the needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) in English-only mainstream classrooms. Several of the models for English language instruction focus on the integrated teaching of language and content through the use of learning strategies. In mathematics, learning strategies engage cognitive processes that can improve academic language. Explicit coaching in such learning strategies can benefit all learners.; This quasi-experimental study looked for a correlation between learning strategies embedded in mathematics lessons and 4th and 5 th grade students' academic writing scores. Data were collected from 12 classrooms with low income status and a dominant Hispanic population in a rural school district in the southwest.; Quantitative data were collected from student writing samples scored using the six-traits analytic rubric. Qualitative data were collected through teacher interviews, feedback forms from students and teachers, participant/observer reflections, and observations using items from the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2000).; The teachers involved in the treatment group were taught the learning strategies of pattern seeking and the use of elaboration and were guided in the use of graphic organizers in mathematics lessons. The researcher modeled, team taught, and then observed the lessons during which the strategies were implemented. Treatment group classrooms were compared with control group classrooms.; Writing scores were collected from 136 students in the treatment group and 176 students in the control group. Findings indicated little difference in writing scores between groups. However, correlation between teachers' effective use of strategies and their students' achievement was found. Treatment teachers showed an improvement in their teaching effectiveness using the provided learning strategies. An increase in students' willingness to use academic language to share learning strategies and students' improvement in cooperative skills were documented.; This study adds to the growing knowledge in language acquisition research on instructional practices designed to address the academic language needs of ELLS. The study extends the research on learning strategies to elementary mathematics. |
