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Running Head: ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN K-12 CLASSROOMS

English Language Learners in K-12 Classrooms
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Institution
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ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN K-12 CLASSROOMS

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English Language Learners in K-12 Classrooms: Challenges and Recommendations for K-12
Instructors
Introduction
The United States has the highest number of immigrants. Most immigrants will come to
the United States looking for greener pastures or fulfill and achieve the 'American dream. This
means that they will have come from countries that are not as advanced as the United States,
where there is a high likelihood that English was not their first language. In a new country, there
is the need to continue with daily activities, including getting an education. This is usually
challenging for the individuals as English is not their first language, and they become what is
commonly referred to as ELLs in American schools. For the immigrants who come in as adults,
they may have children in later years who will also get into the same boat if the first language
taught to them was from their motherland instead of English. Educators should strive to ensure
that all children get equal treatment and have received positive educational outcomes. The
modern-day classroom is moving towards more inclusiveness. This means that an understanding
of the needs of K-12 learners, including ELLs, is an integral part of promoting this inclusiveness
and equality.
The elementary level of education prepares children for secondary and later education in
their lives. It can be referred to as where students get to lay their foundations on literacy skills
(Samson & Collins, 2012). the failure to build this foundation can be detrimental to the K12
learner and may proceed up to their adult years, meaning poor overall educational outcomes.
Unfortunately, this is the case for several ELLs who are not receiving the necessary foundation.
There is a high demand for all learners in American schools to understand the English language,
which puts the ELL at a significant disadvantage. This leads to a significant achievement gap

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between ELLs and native speakers in K12 learning and later learning years. ELLs' issue is a
crucial problem in the education sector that needs to be addressed to promote positive
educational outcomes and reduce the inequalities that seemingly exist in the field (Nelson, 2018).
Identifying the challenges faced by these learners will contribute massively to the development
of recommendations and accommodations that are most appropriate for the aim, which is
positive educational outcomes.
As an educator, this research topic is quite significant as it will inform future positive
practices. One of the ways that it will inform this is by helping understand where ELL learners
may need the most assistance to be extended to them. Educators wish to see that all their students
excel despite any limitations that they may have that differentiate them from their peers. The
other significance of this research topic is that it helps to inform the subject of accommodations.
As an educator who will experience ELLs, it is essential to put in place different
accommodations. However, as an educator, it is integral to understand which accommodations
will align with the challenges that the particular ELL has to avoid putting in an accommodation
that will not help them. This emanates from the understanding that ELLs need assistance to
achieve rigorous academic excellence. As such, this paper is relevant to me as an educator and to
other educators' professional knowledge. It helps understand d the different challenges and
provides appropriate recommendations for those challenges affecting ELLs.
Undoubtingly, there is significant underachievement from ELLs from previous studies.
This leads to the research questions of this study: What are the challenges facing ELLs, and how
do they affect their education levels? What are the best recommendations and accommodations
to help in the resolution and handling of these challenges?

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Literature Review
This section covers the literature related to this topic. It also provides the theoretical
approaches that guide this research.
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework that guides the approach to this research study is the learning
theory. Learning theories are generally the conceptual and philosophical ...