Admissions: English Language Learning

WELCOME TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AT BEMENT

For students coming to Bement from outside the USA successful study in English often means broader success in school and in their future careers as well. Our English Language Learning program provides our students from overseas with the academic-English training they need to thrive at Bement and beyond. The nature of our ELL program reflects our current understanding, gained through decades of experience and supported by researchers in the field of second language learning, that ELL students need much practice over time to gain academic proficiency in English. As one group of reputable researchers states,

Acquiring academic language is challenging for all students. For example, schools spend at least 12 years trying to extend the conversational language that native-speaking children bring to school into these more complex academic language spheres. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that research has repeatedly shown that ELL students, on average, require at least 5 years of exposure to academic English to catch up to native-speaker norms (Cummins, Brown, and Sayers, Literacy, Technology, and Diversity: Teaching for Success in Changing Times, Pearson Education, 2007, 51).

Students in the English Language Learning program take all classes with their native-English speaking peers except for English and world language classes. Most English Language Learning (ELL) and World Language Tutorial (WLT) classes are small with an average of three to five students in each class. The small class size enables the students and the teacher to work more closely on language learning than they could do in a larger classroom. Occasionally, a class whose students are nearly ready to move to the regular English program may enter, along with their ELL teacher, a regular English classroom, in which they fully participate in the regular English curriculum. Below you will find a more detailed description of the English Language Learning program. If you have any questions about our English Language Learning program, please contact Mr. Frank Massey at fmassey@bement.org.

English Language Learning and World Language Tutorial Classes

All non-native speakers of English entering The Bement School having less than two years experience with an all-English curriculum should expect to take English Language Learning (ELL) and World Language Tutorial (WLT) classes for up to two years. All other classes, such as history, science, and math, are taken together with native-English speakers. The types of activities in our ELL classes are similar to those in our regular English classes. For example, our ELL students read and respond to grade-level fiction and nonfiction writing, give oral presentations, study vocabulary and grammar, and write paragraphs and essays. The WLT classes, which meet during the world language periods, support students in all their academic subjects, especially history. Students are taught how to use their textbooks, how to prepare for tests, how to compose essays, and how to talk effectively in class.

Placement Decisions

At the end of the school year each June, Bement administrators and faculty determine whether each English language learner should continue in ELL and WLT classes or enter the regular English class and a world language class the following September. As we make these decisions, we carefully consider the readiness factors listed below. We do not assume that ELL and WLT instruction will be sufficiently completed in one year. We understand, rather, that many students require part, if not all, of a second year of ELL and WLT support.

Readiness Factors

An English language learner is ready to leave the ELL program when his or her

• writing assignments are completed mostly independently and are understood by teachers and peers.
• reading ability allows him or her to comprehend most grade-level texts without too much effort or outside help.
• speech is understandable in classroom conversations and presentations.
• listening ability allows him or her to understand most of the language of the classroom.
• teachers have met together to consider his or her proficiency with English in all classes, and are convinced of his or her readiness for the regular English class.

Updated 6/28/11