Running Head: Choosing and Using Liturature For English Language Learners

Running head: CHOOSING AND USING LITURATURE FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Choosing and Using Literature for English Language Learners
Yvonne Boeskool
Calvin College
December 17, 2018

CHOOSING AND USING LITURATURE FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS 2
This semester, I had the privilege of co-teaching a unit to English language learners on
the use of money in a real life context. The unit ended up being very math oriented. In
reflecting on our planning throughout the semester, I thought a lot about various other
methods we could have used to get students experiencing the language in the context of
money, rather than to just focus on the math involved. As a Language Arts major, I realized
that we did not include literature in our unit at all. Looking back, I really think that the
employment of literature in this unit would have greatly strengthened our language objectives
as well as increasing students’ engagement in the material. I have not, however, put much
thought into using literature in a classroom with English language learners. Therefore, I set out
to find ways to select literature that will support the acquisition of English in school.
In their article “Matching books and readers: Selecting literature for English Learners,”
Vardell, Hadaway, and Young (2006) discuss the importance of the access to books for all
students, and particularly for English language learners. It’s been proven that students need
access not only school libraries, but also access to individual classroom libraries. English
learners need opportunities to use and experience English in meaningful and interesting
contexts. Vardell et al. suggests read-alouds, book talks, story retellings, literature circles, book
buddies, author studies, and other reading response activities. There was a study done on
English learners in Texas in which the class was suddenly provided with an extensive literature
collection. The students’ test scores showed that this was an effective way to increase literacy
levels. That being said, I would like to point out that not all schools and not all teachers have
the world of literature at their fingertips. Sometimes the budget just doesn’t allow students to
have unlimited access to books. This is a difficult conundrum, but there are some important
things to consider in selecting books for a classroom library that will ensure that money will be
well spent.
The suggested grade level of a book may not always match up to the English language
learner it would be best suited for. It is important for teachers to know this. Picture books may
often be the most appropriate choice no matter the age (Vardell et al., 2006). Recently, the
children’s literature world has been flooded with picture books and graphic novels with more
mature themes suitable for older children. I had a professor last year who taught at the ninth
grade level and still was a huge advocate of using picture books in the classroom. There are
definitely picture books out there that cover meaningful topics and engage critical thinking skills
at all ages. Vardell et al. (2006) suggests a “stairstep approach” with picture books. This refers
to starting with picture books that serve as a simple introduction to a topics, and then gradually
introducing texts about the same topic at progressively more complex reading levels and
picture support. These authors discuss four general considerations to make when choosing
literature: content accessibility (“Is the story or topic familiar or helpful”?), language
accessibility (“Is the language of the book simple and direct?”), visual accessibility (“Are there
abundant illustrations?”), and genre accessibility (“Are there a variety of genres available?). In
discussing genre accessibility, Vardell et al. points out, “Just as the classroom reflects diversity,
the school and classroom library should, too – through a rich array of genres and topics” (p.
735).
Fiction is probably the genre we think of most when discussing children’s literature.
Vardell et al. (2006) suggest choosing fiction content based on “survival topics,” or topics that
students who are new to the U.S. may need to learn quickly to cope with daily routines in a new
language. This may include topics of time, money, school, days of the week, weather, clothing,
occupations, and more. In considering the language accessibility of fiction, it is important that
the books a teacher used reflect predictable text. In discussing visual accessibility, they point
out that illustrations that simply serve the purpose of aesthetics are not adequate support for
English language learners. Lastly, in considering the cultural accessibility of fiction, it can be
very challenging to include the cultures of a diverse set of students. I experiences this in my
practicum this semester. We had eleven students from nine different cultural and language
backgrounds. We wanted to incorporate literature they would each be familiar with, but that
was rather impractical for our level of expertise on students’ home languages. It is important,
however, that teachers try to do this. We want students to feel a sense of familiarity with
literature in order to get them motivated to engage with it. It is also important to note that just
because a book may be translated into a language other than English, the book might not
necessarily represent any element of the culture of that language, in which case it is useless in
creating that sense of familiarity in students (Vardell et al., 2006).
Nonfiction is always a difficult genre to incorporate when you have English language
learners in the classroom. In addition to the flood of new vocabulary present in most nonfiction
works, the structure of informational text can be very confusing to a student who is new to
English. It is important that the teacher models the use of reference aids such as maps, tables
of contents, indexes, glossaries so that students can understand how to use them (Vardell et al.,
2006). I did this last year in my Education 302/303 placement. The unit I taught was all about
text features and students got lots of practice examining and extracting information from the
features of informational text. Many of them were English language learners, and the teacher
told me later that they all did very well on the nonfiction section of the MSTEP because of my
unit. In choosing literature for the content areas, Vardell et al. (2006) points out that the topic
must be familiar and connected to a unit of study. In discussing the language accessibility, any
new content area vocabulary should be isolated from the text and provided extra support for.
In terms of visual accessibility, visuals in nonfiction should not only include photographs, but
also graphic organizers, labeled illustrations, diagrams, maps, and timelines. All of the text of
nonfiction used for English language learners should be well organized.
Lastly, I would like to discuss the use of poetry in the context of English language
learning. This was perhaps the most interesting part of this article for me. People often tend to
think that poetry is out of range for students who are new to English, but this is not the case!
Poetry has so many benefits for English language learners. The brevity of poetry itself appears
more manageable to these students. In considering the content accessibility of poetry, it is
important that the material is relevant to children’s lives and experiences, similar to fiction. If
poetry is too symbolic, it might not be grasped by a student who hasn’t mastered the language.
It is also a great idea to have students search for and share poetry that is meaningful to them.
In discussing the language accessibility of poetry, the teacher should start by using poems that
rhyme, as rhyme and rhythm are extremely valuable devices in learning a language. It’s also
important that the teacher as well as the students read poetry out loud because it is meant to
be heard and experienced. Visual accessibility of poetry can also be considered when using
concrete poetry, or shape poems which provide visual support. And lastly, in discussing cultural
accessibility of poetry for English language learners, it is important to note that these students
may not enjoy or understand the same elements of humor, such as puns, parodies, irony, and
sarcasm, that native English speakers would because humor is culturally specific. Overall, it is
important that English language learners have opportunities to respond to poetry using various
mediums, so they can harness the powerfulness of the genre (Vardell et al., 2006).
In connection to our unit on money, I realized we actually did use one piece of poetry. It
was technically a song, but it supported the language element because of its rhyme and
rhythm. Mrs. Seiler’s coin song, to the tune of “Frere Jacques,” really helped students
remember the names of the coins. I wonder if I could find more literature on money that
would be appropriate for English language learners. I’m looking forward to trying to
incorporate literature into the classroom in a way that supports all students.
References
Vardell, Sylvia M., et al. "Matching books and readers: Selecting literature for English learners."
The Reading Teacher, vol. 59, no. 8, May 2006, pp. 734-41.

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Running head: CHOOSING AND USING LITURATURE FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Choosing and Using Literature for English Language Learners

December 17, 2018

creating that sense of familiarity in students (Vardell et al., 2006).

nonfiction used for English language learners should be well organized.

more manageable to these students. In considering the content accessibility of poetry, it is

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