International Journal Of Interdisciplinary Studies On English Language Learners In Australian Classrooms

Aims and Objectives of Research

Discuss About The International Journal Of Interdisciplinary Studies.

The quality of research in Australia is one of the reasons why students are attracted to pursue their career in the country. Australia is known to be one of the best spenders in the area for innovative work with the noteworthy achievement of embracing new and current advancements. The growth of the technology has several impacts on the increased opportunities for the design, innovation and the improvement in learning English among the students and the learners in Australia (Willett et al., 2017). Researchers concluded that students in the country need more support in learning the language since their language is other than English. English Language Learners (ELL) or the general classroom students need guidance to achieve success in their academic career (Mellati, Zangoei & Khademi, 2015). One of the major concerns of the parents and the instructors is to facilitate and form an environment where they can utilize all the resources and modern technologies in an effective way for the benefit of the learners.

The aims of this research are as follows:

• To examine the role of the technology in the support of the ELLs in the secondary classroom of the grade 7 to 12 in the current date.
• To summarize how technology supports English as the second language in the mainstream secondary English classrooms in Australia.
• To highlight the experience of the instructors in using the technology as a tool for teaching.
• To present the issues faced by the ELLs in co-operating in the mainstream classes with other candidates.

The population in Australia is continuing to become increasingly diverse through the decade. As indicated by the Statistics, one-fifth of the number of inhabitants in the nation talks the dialect other than English or French at their home (Hsin, Li & Tsai, 2014). To participate in the progressing society it is essential for the students to speak either English or French. The range of the mobility in the world has steadily risen just like the number of the International schools. The historical perspective of the English in the country of Australia as the additional or the second language (ESL/EAL) explains the field as the constant state of flux (Sharifian, 2017). The newspapers in Australia often highlight the topic regarding the literacy debates. This was because the children with mother language other than English often face difficulties and have limited ability to learn, read and write the English as compared to the students who are generally the native English speakers. The learners need more specific instructions and learning supports in learning English as the second language to achieve success in academics and higher engagement in studies. It is essential to understand the requirements of the ELLs and the methods used by the ESL teachers for the encouragement of both languages acquisition and curriculum contents.

The above figure classifies the rate of ELLs in the mainstream classrooms of Australia and illustrates the increasing rate of the second language learners both in the primary and the secondary years of schooling.

Background of the Topic

Australia is a linguistically and culturally diverse country. In the country, the learning is mainly accessed and exhibited through the English (Billings & Mathison, 2011). Students who have English as their second or the additional language or dialect hence tends to require enough supports to develop and form the language skills of the language for initiating effective communication and easy access to the Australian curriculum. Effective teaching practices of the EAL/D students can be initiated by comprehension of the requirements regarding the learning and pathways of the development practices.

There are various schools and educational institutions where technology has been recognized as the instructional tool. The technology provides an affirmative and enriched learning of the institution leading to an environment for the wellbeing of the individual and their collaboration. The current use of technology in the English as the additional or second language classroom generally provides an interesting and meaning approach towards the learning process (Chen, Carger & Smith, 2017). The effective use of technology in the secondary classroom tends to motivate the students and encourages them for reading, speaking, writing and listening in a much easier way. However, it must also be noted that technology itself is not at all enough for the improvement in the skills of the ELLs (“Students for whom EAL/D”, 2018). This needs a clear motivation and goal of the instructor who is well aware of the curriculum and the strategies to engage new learning experiences among the children for developing their skills and knowledge.

The ELLs or the English Language Learners are that categories of students who attend the provincially funded language institutions where their first language is not English. According to the Ontario Curriculum, they have diverse backgrounds and extensive school experiences with a wider variety of strengths and requirements (Liu, Navarrete & Wivagg, 2014). In the article, ‘Educating second language children: The whole child, the whole curriculum, the whole community’ the author explains how the acquisition of language is as essential as the social integration and achievement in the field of academics for the success of the linguistically differentiated learners (O’Hara et al., 2012). It is essential for the ELLs to catch up with the language proficiency while targeting the curriculum structures. Researchers found that it generally takes more than two consecutive years for the ELLs to get moderately fluent in the English and to acquire the basic skills for decoding the language (Kose & Lim, 2011). According to various researchers, it is advisable for the instructors to use different methods for the easy access of the ELLs within a stipulated time frame, since the failure of this practice may result in a huge number of dropouts among the ELLs. Researchers conducted by Watt and Roessingh concludes that there lies a major drop out rate of 77.9% among the secondary students who spoke the language other than English as their native or first language (Doran, 2014).

Literature Review

The new and updated technologies like tablets and mobile have initiated a new generation of the tools of education by which learners can have easy access to the platform of e-education anytime anywhere. Researchers have found that applications have some of the significant impacts on the process of learning. A research study in Australia revealed information on the use of applications, iPads in the classrooms of the schools and educational institution for the identification of appropriate opportunities in case of professional learning (Kukulska-Hulme, Norris & Donohue, 2015). Researchers furthermore found that smart boards and the educational applications on the smartphones and in the tablets are some of the important and useful tools that provide innovative ways to the students and the teachers to demonstrate and provide new means of learning with different learning styles (Pun, 2014). Furthermore, they provide innovative ways to enhance the learning and the teaching facilities in the are of languages, basic science, and numerology.

The purpose of this research was to comprehend the prerequisites of the English learners in the setting of the classroom and learn the strategies used by the instructors with the assistance of the technological innovation to facilitate the students with the learning methods to adopt the English. The study also explains how technology potentially helps the learners to achieve the academic success of the classroom study method. The research or the study mainly targets students from the secondary education from grade 7 to 12. Furthermore, it investigates the strategies and methods used by the instructors in their teaching practices in the classroom for helping the ELLs to achieve success in their academics. The research also explains how the consideration of English as the second language is a major global concern in the mainstream English classrooms in Australia.

The study explains what role can technology play to support the ELLs and the EAL/D students with support from the students to develop and build the skills related to English for effective communication and access the curriculum of Australia (Daniel & Cowan, 2012). The study explores the strategies and methods in the secondary classroom settings of grade 7 to 12 by the instructors for initiating support to the ELLs. Furthermore, the project aims to investigate how modern and updated technologies are utilized and integrated into the classroom with ELLs.

It features the positive and negative effects of the utilization of technology in the classroom settings of Australia together with the perspective of the world regarding the use of innovation as the device for upgrading the ELL’s dialect aptitudes.

Technology in Classroom

The methodology of the research deals with the categories of the techniques that are used in conducting the research. It allows understanding and helps in conducting the research in an organized and systemic manner. The three main types of investigation that are followed while doing researches are:

o    Exploratory Research

o    Descriptive Research

o    Hypothesis Research

For conducting this research, the descriptive research study method has been used. This is because the descriptive research study is conducted with the relevant understanding of the topic and descriptive researches.

The secondary research method is the most common method of research that involves the use of information from other resources that have been constructed through primary researches. For this research, Internal secondary data collection method has been used. The internal secondary data collection method consists of data gathered from the databases and past primary researches. This research has been constructed with further research on professional journals and Australian Curriculum on the EAL/D students and English as a subject area.

 Collection and analysis of relevant data have been one of the most important factors for conducting and producing the project of study. Proper classification and interpretation of the data collected thus helped in understanding the concern regarding the consideration of English as the second language in an effective way (Saville-Troike & Barto, 2016).

This research furthermore follows the ethical review approvals and each every data collected by the qualitative method ensures proper consent information regarding the data, the procedure and the clauses of confidentiality.

One of the major potential limitations of the project or the research was the size of the sample. Hence most of the research has been conducted on the basis of secondary data or information from peer-reviewed journals and articles from authenticated sources. Furthermore, time as another limitation while conducting this research. Another limitation while conducting the research included the lack of relevant literature and journals about ELLs gaining specific benefits from the technology tools in their learning methodologies in the classroom.

Some of the major findings of the project include the views and confession of the instructors on the flexibility to use technology as the tool for helping out the students to develop the reading, speaking and writing skills. Furthermore, it has also been found that many instructors are passionate about the use of the technology in the classroom premises since they consider the use to improve the communication skills of the students with their native language something other than English (Saville-Troike & Barto, 2016). Various instructors reported their teaching experiences of ESL without withdrawing ELLs from the classroom premises (Andrei, 2014). The research findings furthermore stated that teaching and instructing in a classroom which is technologically rich initiates a major difference to the ELLs, especially motivating them to the most. The use of technology has proved to regulate the literacy activities and the numerical activities of the secondary students of the grade 7 to 12 in Australia. Most of the findings include ample support to the use of technology in the learning procedure of the students in the classrooms. The introduction and the use of computers to students of ELLs is one of the important factors that boost the self-confidence and esteem among the students with English as the additional language (Hamid et al., 2015). The research further revealed the use of technology as one of the important daily tools that most of the instructors follow and use by various technological types of equipment like the smartphone, iPads, Smart Boards, laptops, notebooks or simply computers. Some of the basic key findings of the research are:

1.    Beneficial use of the tools of technology with the secondary students of ELLs showed a positive increase in the language and independence skills among the students.
2.    A positive perception of the students, and parents about the use of technology in the secondary classroom.
3.    Challenges and issues while using technology in the classroom. Issues include technical differences,off-task behaviors, students engagement, lack of familiarity with the technology and lack of children or user-friendly upgrade of the technology.
4.    Effective teaching strategies for supporting ELLs for the procedure of learning which includes the technological uses like the use of computers, laptops, tablets and smart boards.

English Language Learners (ELLs)

EAL/D learners have their first language something other than the English. These students generally require additional support or assistance for the development of the proficiency in English. Researchers have found that these categories of students generally come from diverse multilingual backgrounds and include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners who have their first language as traditional languages or aboriginal English (Liu, Lan & Jenkins, 2014). To summarize, the effective teaching of the EAL/D students is generally informed by the understanding of the nature of the EAL/D learning which includes the requirements of learning and other developmental pathways. The major challenges of the students are that they require learning the language by the language of the language. The development of the Dialect Teacher Resource by ACARA was made to assist the instructors to develop personalized teaching and learning techniques in the curriculum of Australia (“ACARA – English as an additional language or dialect”, 2016). The EAL/D students are included in the mainstream classrooms since the inclusion of these students enables strengthening the learning outcomes and embracing of the diversity and understanding of different cultures for all the learners present in the mainstream classes. Furthermore, the inclusion of EAL/D students in the mainstream classroom is a great way for integrating all the learners for encouraging all to share the knowledge related to their cultures.

The second language learners have diversified requirements of learning than the mainstream earners of the contemporary classrooms. They must adopt the language, the literacy and the understandings related to culture. This is because they read to learn while initiating learning for reading (Curwood & O’Grady, 2015). The instructors need to give ample support and guidance to these culturally and linguistically diverse learners by initiating new strategies and teaching methods that will assist the EAL/D students to learn and gain benefits while learning. This practice does not necessarily mean dividing the class since collaboration of all types of learners in the same class will encourage, motivate and increase the self-esteem among the second language learners (Lawrence, 2013). Furthermore, instructors should give special attention and arrange for separate classes for the students with English as their additional language in the school and organize one to one sessions to clear any doubts of the EAL/D students while learning the new language.

It is essential for the teachers to be aware of the various categories of technology that are available that will initially help the students to engage in reading, learning and strengthening their skills of knowledge. EAL/D students generally come from diverse backgrounds and thus it is important for the instructors to plan strategies depending on the requirements and needs of the learners. Some of the types of technology that are available to the instructors for the engagement of learning among the EAL/D students are computer-based web programs, iTouch devices, application in the smartphones or tablets, laptops, notebooks, and computers (Rivera et al., 2014). The use of e-journals, digital books, and educational videos are extremely helpful for the students to understand and gain knowledge regarding the language after their school hours. The mobile applications provide a playful and healthy platform for the students which the student can utilize for evaluating himself by taking educational quiz and puzzles on the daily basis. Furthermore, English learners will also get the opportunity to translate all the data in their native or first language via their smartphone and devices without missing any of the important and relevant information.

Smart Boards and Tablets

Table 1: Time Line of the Research

(Source: Created by the author)

The above table illustrates the total research timeline. The initial months has been utilized to select the topic with the help of various secondary articles and peer-reviewed journals on the relevant topic. In the next months, proper research on the topic has been done followed by the conduction of relevant literature review on the topic of research. The next months included further analysis and research on the topic with an appropriate conclusion and recommendation.

From the above research, it has been clear that effective integration of technology in the secondary classroom and in the day to day lessons generally has a positive and direct impact on the ELLs and the EAL/Ds. This is because the use of technology initiates motivation among the learners to gain more knowledge, it furthermore helps the instructors to diversify the requirements and the lessons for each and every student in the secondary mainstream classroom depending upon their requirements and interest of specific information. The global concern of the consideration of English as the second and additional language among the ELLS and the EAL/Ds students should be diminished with effective planned strategies which will help in the development of the learning abilities among the second language learners. This includes implementation of new techniques and methods in the learning module to sharpen up their knowledge of English. It is furthermore important for the instructors and the teachers to gain sufficient development knowledge for ensuring that they understand the applications and the upgraded technological tools and also knows how to navigate them properly so that they can incorporate the technological applications in their daily lessons. Throughout the research, it has been clearly stated that technology plays a major role to bring series of benefits to the secondary ELLs. Furthermore, I have found that technology is a form of resource and hence it should be utilized by the secondary learners to solve their problems and to seek understandings and information which are both socially and personally beneficial. Furthermore, I realized that the concept of technology should not initiate any changes in the methods of teaching as a whole but the inclusion of technology should initiate enhancement and improvement in the learning abilities of the students in the mainstream secondary classrooms of Australia.

Conclusion

Technology is a brilliant asset that gives the students the chance to rehearse the abilities identified with the English dialect. Thus it can be concluded that the global concern of the consideration of English as the second language needs to be addressed with the proper implementation of technological tools by the instructors for the easy learning process for the students. Participation in the vocabulary amusements and watching instructive pictures and recordings will bring about a more profound comprehension among the students. The students of EAL/D clearly requires deliberate, directed and explicit guidelines relying upon their necessities and interests. With a supportive and inclusive environment in the classroom and friendly experiences in learning methodology, these students can likewise accomplish an indistinguishable level of knowledge and fluency as the mainstream English speaking candidates.

The Research

References

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