The Missing Piece in Teacher Education: The Preparation of Linguistically Responsive Teachers

Abstract

Despite steady growth in the population of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools over many decades, issues related to their education remain on the periphery of education policy, practice, and research. There are a number of reasons for this marginalization. Because ELLs have been and continue to be concentrated in a few states along the coasts and the U.S.-Mexico border, their presence has not yet had a significant impact on most schools and teachers (although this is certainly changing). Because most U.S.-born educators have little or no experience learning or communicating in a language other than English, they tend to minimize the challenges faced by ELLs in schools and misunderstand the resources ELLs bring to learning. Furthermore, because immigration and linguistic diversity are contentious issues, political ideology plays a large role in decisions about the education of ELLs. The marginalization of ELL education is even more pronounced in teacher education than in K-12 contexts. While the increasing cultural diversity in schools has led teacher education programs to give attention to preparing teachers to teach in ways that incorporate students' cultural backgrounds (e.g.