Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice

by Wayne E. Wright

All teachers and administrators must know how to educate multilingual students, particularly English language learners!

Foundations for Teaching English Language Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice by Wayne E. Wright is a comprehensive course text on ELL education for pre-service elementary and secondary teachers as well as literacy, special education, English as a second language (ESL), and bilingual specialists. This foundational text also targets educational leaders, including coaches, counselors, directors, and administrators working toward equity and excellence in multilingual schools and communities.  This text prepares educators to meet state competency requirements in ELL education.

Foundations for Teaching ELLs includes an interactive companion website with extensive resources for students and professors. Professors appreciate the Professor Control Panel on the site, which includes slide presentations that Dr. Wright has made to accompany each chapter, a sample course syllabus, and much more.

Students Learn To
Make research-based decisions on ELL policies, programs, practices, and assessmentRelate language and literacy teaching and learning theories and practiceDifferentiate core content-area instruction for multilingual learners, including ELLsTeach oral language, reading, and writing in all content areasUse students' home languages and technology as resources for learning
Special Features
Guiding questions and key termsTables, boxes, figures, glossaryVignettes, teaching strategies, samples of student workChapter review activities, discussion questions, research activities, recommended readingsCompanion websiteProfessor Control Panel on companion website
New to the Third Edition
A stronger multilingual perspective on ELL education, with attention to new research, theory, and practice on dynamic bilingualism and translanguagingNew regulations, accountability requirements, and flexibility regarding ELLs since the reauthorization of The Every Student Succeeds ACT(ESSA) in 2018Greater focus on the complex language and literacy demands of the Next Generation Science Standards as well as other content-area standards—not just for ELLs, but for all studentsNew research on ELLs in content-area classes from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in their 2017 report Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth Learning Promising Futures.The integration of new principles by Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL, 2018) for the exemplary teaching of ELLs.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching, School, Writing, Textbooks, Technology

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2010

Reviews

[Char · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was for class but it took away from my real reading time so at the very least it. gets to count towards my reading goal.

[Jordan Kooy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally, this book was assigned to me to read in a Bilingual and ESL foundations class. HOWEVER, I’m putting this on here because it not only informed me about important practices for teaching students from different backgrounds, cultures, and languages... but also made me more aware of the lack of proper instruction for ELL students and the unfairness in certain American education policies.
This book genuinely changed the way I love others, speak to people, and honestly taught me far more than I could have ever imagined.
It highlights the REAL things, the things we NEED to know if we want to look at the world as a whole community of people who deserve to be known and loved!
So, here it is on my goodreads haha because it was a good read, ya know?

[Christa Maurice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't need to hear more about No Child Left Behind (especially since none of this is actually news.) Seriously lacking in techniques. Get a book on SIOP instead.

[Dianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good information for ANYONE working on an ESOL endorsement or with English Language Learners in any capacity. Well worth it!

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book to introduce teachers of all levels to working with English Language Learners. Includes wealth of online resources via the companion website.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be informative and clear in reading it for my Foundations in ELL coursework. I do believe that it truly is foundational- it gives you solid background on a wide variety of topics. I liked how it was structured, and appreciated that there was a separate chapter for each of the English literacy skills. I also appreciate that it acknowledges the varying political and social climates around education in the U.S. and the history of pushback on ELL education for emergent bilingual students. I look forward to continuing my learning and feel like this was a good book 1 for me.

[Jazmyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much guidance from this book. I originally had it as a textbook for my ELL methods course, and now that one of my classes is ELL I thought I should re-read and take more thorough notes. Very helpful for any educator wanting to make their classroom a better learning environment for ELs (so basically ALL educators).

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I skipped a couple chapters since they weren't required for my assignments in class, but overall a good textbook resource for future ESL instructors.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had just read this book cover to cover last year when I was prepping for the ESL Praxis. This text is a good balance of theory and practical advice.

[Diana Valdivia-Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to read about the importance of bilingual education in US schools. There are many rules and policies that will apply to schools as future teachers of ELL students.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great up-to-date info about serve ELLs

[Nanette Fandino-Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource for any teacher. I have learned a lot about the theory of teaching English.

[Sarah Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a super useful textbook! I plan to continue to use it even though the course I bought it for is finished. I really liked its description of the WIDA "Can Do" descriptors, the many theories of thought, Krashen especially, and the various methods and strategies for teaching and assessment.

[Emilie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely just foundational. It was pretty basic and covered lots of topics briefly. I liked how it was organized. Each chapter had short sections. However, some of the information was kind of useless. It wasn't connected to the rest of the chapter. Or some information was introduced but kept really vague. I felt like I didn't learn much because of it. Helpful for foundation-building, but not something I would keep as a reference.

[Janine Darragh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this textbook enough that I plan to use it again next year. I am happy to see that the new edition just came out, as it should address the outdated pieces of this version, though I am a bit worried about the price. Overall, I think it is a good text for an Introduction to ENL/ESL course and will definitely be a good resource for students studying to take the Praxis exam.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a textbook, not much else to say. What was interesting is that he spoke Khmer, not Spanish as most TESOL teachers do. I dug a little deeper and found out that he learned it on a Mormon mission. I learned Italian on my Mormon mission.

[Katrinadohn Dohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a professional book, this was a good one. Worth the time to read, even though it is text-bookish.

[QueenAmidala28 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strategies are great but he's a little misguided in his "history" content.

[Megan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a good professional text for someone working on certification. Some of the information is no longer accurate but it should be corrected in the new edition.

[Diana Valdivia-Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to read about ELD strategies and advocacy in the classroom.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for a graduate class. It was excellent for a textbook. Honestly, best structured education textbook I've had in a long time.

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

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