Running Head: RESEARCH PLAN

Research Plan
Natacha Isaac Bonaventure
University of St. Thomas

Fall 2015
Dr. Teresa Hughes

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Some believe that English language learners (ELLs) benefit in English immersion or
sheltered English classrooms with highly qualified teachers (Faltis, 2001). Successful
Immersion classrooms have well- trained teachers, who use the English language to purposefully
promote English acquisition for ELLs. As stated by Faltis (2001), ELLs placed in Sheltered
English classrooms, with master teachers, have a higher success rate of those Ells speaking
English than those students placed in Bilingual Education classes. Bilingual education in Texas
seems to hinder the natural process of acquiring English (Faltis, 2011). The ELLs have limited
opportunities to develop basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) and cognitive
academic language proficiency (CALPS). The learners continual use of their native tongue
retards the speakers ability to become fluent in English (Faltis, 2011). On the other hand,
immersion or sheltered English classrooms show that students acquiring English at faster rate
(Faltis, 2011).
Many researchers have pondered about this topic. According to several educational
experts there several ways for instructing ELLs throughout the United States. Two authors of
the Multicultural Education journal had a very unique approach to how ELL learn. Brooks and
Karathanos were for ELLs to build upon the culture and primary language in order to promote
English acquisition. The authors beliefs were that through multiculturalism and multilingualism
students build strong linguistic skills and then these skills are transferred to the new language
being acquired. Then the article investigates different strategies for building on cultural and
linguistic schema. Some the strategies were: Say something, sketch to stretch, Cross-linguistic
strategies, code switching and focus on cognates. Finally the authors caution the readers about
the use of native language when instructing students and when they should use each language.
The articles unique approach is intriguing and helps readers to realize that true bilingual

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education is not an easy feat. The authors are careful to back up their claims with definitions and
practical use of each strategy they suggest. Sources for native language materials listed are
limited because they only address Spanish speakers. Finally the authors conclude by claiming
that research contends that it is not the type of educational program used, i.e. English Immersion,
bilingual, sheltered instruction but rather what is being transacted between educators and
students within the school and classrooms. They believe that by implementing approaches and
strategies that value and build upon cultural and linguistic capital of ELLs teachers send a vital
message to students and families that multiculturalism and multilingualism are invaluable assets
to the classroom, school and community. The journal article is strictly based on theory and what
other research say and does not present how the theories are put into practice. Therefore
presenting only qualitative data and no quantitative findings about those theories presented. The
theories seem practical, but would have been more valid if it were shown to have been applied in
actual classrooms.
Another journal article looked at the effectiveness of models being used in Texas for
Limited English proficient students (LEP). The article claims that many LEP students learn to
speak conversational English; however, learning academic English can take more time. Tests
may not address the time it takes for LEP students to understand academic language and
therefore may underestimate the actual content that the LEP students have learned. The article
goes on to tell the reader that Texas has addressed this concern by offering assessments in
Spanish. What the author does not mention is how all of the other languages spoken in Texas are
assessed. How are their students measured? The article concludes by showing policy alternatives
for LEP students in Texas. It reviewed Texas system for instructing LEP students as compared to
California, Arizona and Massachusetts. Faltis believes that the effectiveness of instructing LEP

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students in Texas is huge and costly. She believes that the economic cost places a burden on
schools responsible educating the new immigrants. Yet, none of the studies show conclusively
which model is best for educating LEP students. The article is interesting and quite extensive by
showing several types of research done to determine which model work best. It is well written
and well researched and includes a long list of useful references. However, it displayed that even
documented scientific studies could not conclusively answer such a complex issue, such as what
was the best model for instructing LEP students. Nonetheless, what the article proved was that
there may be more than one approach to educating LEP students in Texas.
Yet, other studies explored fundamental questions, such as which aspect of language
acquisitions are biologically endowed and which are learned, when and how language
acquisition begins and how multiple language acquisition affects cognitive development in
children. The findings showed how well equipped young children are to accomplish the complex
task of learning language. The article displayed findings of longitudinal case studies of several
young children acquiring English for the first time at age three through immersion in local
nursery schools, such as the Cornell Early Childhood Center, as well as others. The studies
concluded that children learning a second language in an immersion setting had an overall
success rate of grammatical knowledge similar to English monolinguals. It claims that initially
there were some deficit in vocabulary, but ultimately the bilingual student was able to reach the
monolingual students ability in vocabulary knowledge. Dr. Yang studied children from four to
six years of age and comparison adult groups have been conducted to learn whether learning two
languages leads to beneficial outcomes in what is called, executive functions. These cognitive
features are responsible for selective and conscious cognitive process to achieve goals in the face
of distraction and play a key role in academic readiness and success in school settings. The

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article concludes by giving tips to parents raising bilingual children and addresses some delays or
dysfunctions bilingual students may face. The findings seem valid ad reliable since they display
cases of actual children being observed for a long period of time. The authors carefully showed
how these children benefited from immersion setting through documented scientific studies. This
data appears to be reliable and could be used to prove that immersion is an appropriate setting for
LEP students to acquire a new language.
In order to examine the question of how to best instruct ELLs apply the following
procedural methods the research questions are:
1. What is your definition or understanding of bilingual education?
2. Do you believe that we have bilingual education that works in the United States?
Participant
My participants will be teachers and students in bilingual and sheltered instruction
classrooms.
Measures
My first step would be to create a survey to assess demographics, knowledge of teachers
that work with ELL students. I would then follow up with interviews of teachers teaching in
bilingual classes and those teaching in sheltered instruction classrooms. The questions would
assess best practices being used in each types of classrooms. It would help create a list all the
best strategies being used for helping ELL students acquire English.
Design and Procedure
In order to answer the two questions in this study, a quasi-experimental qualitative and
quantitative research study would be designed. The study would be conducted in the two
different classroom settings. There will be two controlled groups a bilingual class and a
sheltered-instruction with ELLs. Both controlled groups would use the Texas Essential

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Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) to instruct English language arts standards to their fourth graders.
Reading inventory of how students were growing using Fountas and Pinnell would be kept
throughout the year. Various writing samples would be collected and kept to show how students
are showing command of the English language. Finally students will take the state mandated
Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS). This will measure students
English acquisition in the areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Data Analysis
I will use the results of the TELPAS scores of students in the bilingual classes verses the
results of the students in sheltered instruction classes. I will generate a t test to compare the
TELPAS scores of ELL students in bilingual classes versus the ELL students in sheltered
instructional classes. Based on the results I will determined if there were statistical significance
on the type of classrooms and the TELPAS scores. I would also create two surveys. One survey
would be administered at the beginning of the year when classes start and the other survey would
be at the end of the year after TELPAS Testing. The survey would attempt to answer questions
about the effectiveness of methods and strategies teachers are using to instruct ELLs.
In conclusion, this topic of the type of instruction that works best in the United States has
not come to any resolution and will continue to rage on in the field of education. However, there
are many other countries using very effective methods to deal with multi lingual students. The
real issue is how much funding would be required to actually make the necessary changes. It is
frustrating to see children not making gains in the current programs and this issue of dealing with
the numerous numbers of ELLs has negatively impacted the American education system.
References
Brooks, K., & Karathanos, K. (2009). Building on the Cultural and Linguistic Capital of

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English Learner (EL) Students. Multicultural Education;Summer 2009, Vol.16

Issue 4, p47-51, 47-51.
Faltis, K. (2011). Bilingual, ES, and Immersion: Educational Models for Limited English
Proficient Students in Texas. Pepperdine Policy Review-Spring 2011, 81-95.
Lust, B., & Sujin, Y. (2007). Discovering Child Language and Cognitive Growth.
Department of Human Development, 2-4.