Instructional proficiency strategies for middle school English Language Learners

In the United States, proficiency development has been the source of an ongoing dispute among policy makers, the public and many teachers, especially English Language Arts teachers and English Language Development teachers whose primary focus is helping students become proficient in Standardized academic English. While the overarching goal of English Language Learner (ELL) programs is that students achieve proficiency during their K-12 learning experience, many students remain ill prepared to thrive in American society post high school (Oliveira & Shoffner, 2009). Additionally, few teachers are equipped to design instructional strategies to increase proficiency within policy-driven timeframes (Rueda, 2011). The purpose of this study was to help school educators improve instruction for middle school ELLs in the Beginner and Early Intermediate English Language Arts/English Language Development coursework and examine their instructional strategies in relation to the existing timeframe (K-12) that ELLs have to become proficient in SAE.;The research provided extends language education to promote ongoing proficiency development in the modern classroom. Some of the most effective instruction builds onto the language students have upon entering the classroom and the consistent practice of tailored skills to increase language opportunities inside and outside the classroom (Cummins, 2009; Hudley & Mallison, 2011; Vygotsky, 1978).