Consider the different set of assumptions that teachers must make when instructing English language learners who come to school without a knowledge of spoken English. These children will normally have developed these linguistic competencies in their native language but will not have these prerequisite skills in English. In the case of bilingual instruction, these children would begin at the same point as a native English-speaking child if they are taught to read and write in their native language. However, if literacy instruction is to begin for these children in English, the teacher must proceed with knowledge that children will require instruction in many features of the English language that their English-speaking peers have mastered in their preschool years. For ELLs to advance at a normal rate in becoming literate in English, they need instruction that is different in focus and intensity from the instruction provided for native English speakers.
ELLs require much more oral language development with a focus on listening and speaking.
ELL students require instruction that provides ample opportunities for them hear and discriminate the words and sounds of English, to increase their vocabulary and to practice their oral English skills. Although some level of basic phonics instruction is appropriate for these children, it must be carefully timed and paced to be effective. English language learners do not benefit from teaching that isolates parts of language such as letters and words from a meaningful context. There is a high risk that isolated phonics instruction can result in having students who are able to decode written English but are unable to comprehend what they read or to read fluently to grasp the broader meaning of a story or content-area text. These children benefit from English language development and literacy strategies that focus on working orally with written text before decoding and manipulating language structures within the text to reinforce their growing fluency and competence in English.