Investigating English literacy development of first grade Korean English language learners : a case study approach

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate how first grade English Language Learners (ELL) develop their English literacy skills in an English-only classroom in the U.S. This case study included two Korean English learners in an elementary school who recently came to America. Several forms of data were collected through mainly qualitative methods, and additional informal assessments of reading levels in English and Korean languages were employed to elucidate the students' raw score changes over the five month study period.There were 18 weeks of classroom observation in the first grade classroom. The two Korean students were interviewed informally several times in their native language. Formal and structured interviews with the first grade teacher were conducted twice, once at the beginning and once at end of the study. Home surveys were administered twice to discover the students' home literacy environment. Throughout the study, the students' writing samples were collected both in English and in Korean. Constant comparison method was utilized in data analysis.Results of the study indicated that the two Korean English learners showed noticeable improvement in English literacy skills in many ways. Through the analysis of data, five factors influencing the children's literacy learning emerged, including teacher, ESL support, family, peers, and student factors. These factors were interrelated and they interacted in affecting the two students' English literacy development.These results and factors indicated that the two Korean English learners were affected by each factor differently based on their social context and individual characteristics. Additionally, each student showed improvement when there was concurrent interaction between his/her social context and individual effort. Each student's individual language background, proficiency of native language, and self-motivation in learning were crucial elements in enhancing their English literacy development.The present study illustrates the important factors in English learners' literacy development in the U.S. Several implications for the practice are suggested in order to foster successful school achievement of English Language Learners, an important issue since the number of English learners has dramatically increased in many classrooms in the U.S.Department of Elementary EducationThesis (Ph. D.