The impact on the social and emotional development of English Language Learner students through the use of grouping strategies

The present research study had two main purposes. The first was to identify different teachers’ methods and strategies used in the classroom to support ELL students. Using qualitative research methods, I conduced semi-structured interviews to gain insight into current teachers’ attitudes, teaching, beliefs and concerns of incorporating grouping strategies into their classrooms. Participants included two interviewees who were both professionals in the field of education, as they had taught ELL students during their extensive years of teaching. The second focus was to investigate the impact these teachers perceive that the grouping strategies has on the social and emotional development of their ELL students. An in-depth literature review and two face-to-face, open-ended interviews brought forth data that highlighted four key themes including: 1) A great amount of responsibility falls in the hands of teachers and their beliefs and values towards using grouping strategies to help students develop; 2) Being aware of the grouping format allowed the participants to provide what they believed to be most important for their ELL students; 3) Multiple factors that can lead ELL students into groups that would more likely result in successful outcomes; and 4) The importance of creating strong relationships with the students and families in order to help them prosper in any classroom environment. These themes were amalgamated and integrated into a discussion of the findings