Dialogues across disciplines: Preparing English-as-a-second-language teachers for interdisciplinary collaboration

This study examines interdisciplinary collaboration between mainstream-English and English-as-a-second-language (ESL) in-service and pre-service teachers enrolled in graduate methods courses in their respective fields. During the semester, TESOL and secondary English Education teacher candidates collaborated to develop young adult literature based thematic units that supported the curricular needs of the secondary English education curriculum in the ESL classroom and the provided for the linguistic, second-language-literacy, and cultural needs of English language learners (ELLs) in the mainstream English classroom through interdisciplinary teacher collaboration. Classrooms in the United States are rapidly becoming more diverse places. For example, between the 1989-1990 and 2004-2005 school years, enrollment by students who must receive English language education services (English Language Learners/ELLs) has more than doubled, from 2,030,451 to 5,119,56 (NCELA, 2006). ELL enrollment in the nation’s public schools between the years 1990 and 2000 grew by 105 percent, compared to a 12 percent overall growth rate among the general school population (Kindler, 2002). This increasing diversity makes it critical that English as a second language (ESL) and mainstream teachers are able to collaborate with the goals of increased and enhanced academic success for students who are learning English as an additional language while simultaneously acquiring content knowledge in English. This paper reports on the results of an interdisciplinary collaboration between mainstream and ESL teachers enrolled in a graduate level teacher certification program. The results highlight the need for structured opportunities for pre-service teachers to collaborate across the disciplines to enhance educational outcomes for students learning English as an additional language