Integrating Science and English Proficiency for English Language Learners

Despite the expectation that all students should achieve high academic standards, content area instruction and English for speakers of other languages instruction for English language learners (ELLs) have traditionally been conceptualized as separate domains, resulting in educational inequities for ELLs. This is because effective instruction to promote academic achievement for ELLs requires integration of content and language. Such inequities are more pronounced in urban schools where ELLs are disproportionately represented. In science education, research on instructional interventions to simultaneously promote science and English proficiency of ELLs has begun to emerge in recent years. Grounded in this emerging research literature, we offer specific instructional strategies to integrate science and English proficiency for ELLs in five domains: (a) literacy strategies with all students, (b) language support strategies with ELLs, (c) discourse strategies with ELLs, (d) home language support, and (e) home culture connections.