What is required for transition from the ESL classroom to the general education classroom? A case study of two classrooms

Speech-language pathologists in the schools and classroom teachers repeatedly face the challenge of how best to provide services and instruction for students who are learning English as a second language (ESL). A better understanding of second language acquisition issues, such as code-switched and code-mixed behaviors, is essential because, as Aguirre (1989) maintains, code switching is obvious and unavoidable with bilingual students. An ethnographic observational study of ESL and regular classroom discourse was performed. The researchers asked the questions: What language skills must the bilingual student possess to succeed in the general education classroom, and what skills should the SLP be aware of in assessing bilingual students? This study found that bilingual students in the general education classroom needed to shift and adapt their language uses to meet the demands of the classroom. The general education classroom proceeded at a fast pace of instruction, which necessitated fast processing abilities and more independent student follow-through. Learning is dependent upon precise understanding of long teacher utterances, many utterances spoken within a short time period with few opportunities for clarification or seeking of help. The student in the ESL classroom who is also enrolled in the general education classroom is using three language systems: listening and speaking Spanish, English, and a mixed series of Spanish and English code-switched and code-mixed language. Code-switching and code-mixing serves as a bridge between Spanish and English and is not an indicator of a language disorder or language confusion. It is typically used by the teachers, aides, and the students. The findings of this study suggest that language evaluations should incorporate ethnographic observations to obtain a truer picture of what occurs, where it occurs, how it occurs, why it occurs, and how often it occurs. Hence, use of dynamic assessment procedures and ethnographic observations may help make apparent the distinction between a language disorder and typical difficulties associated with second language acquisition. © 1997 The Division for Children\u27s Communication Development