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English Language Learners Lit. Review

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Classroom Engagement, Home Connections, and ELL Students
Angela Johnson
Washington State University

Literature Review
This literature review is my work in progress for my master`s final project at Washington State University. My chair Dr.Tom Salsbury recommended some of the articles that I included in this literature review. The key words are engagement, motivation, English language Learners, reading, struggling readers, parent involvement, home literacy, literacies, home-school connections, and funds of knowledge.

Introduction
Of all student populations (aside from participants in Special Education programs), English Language Learners (ELLs) face the most academic challenges—especially on standardized evaluations emphasizing …show more content…

I have noticed students have a short concentration span (of approximately 4 or 5 minutes) when doing academic activities. During math exercises, ELLs have also showed that it can be particularly difficult to solve basic addition, subtraction and multiplication when compared to the other students in class.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that shape my students’ attitudes towards literacy and numeracy. I am especially interested in investigating home-school connections to explore the influence of family and community literacy practices on my students’ academic development. Taking these factors into consideration, I want to see how an intervention based on the integration of home-based skills and activities in the classroom affects the students’ motivation when doing academic activities. A specific intervention that can be applied includes having ELL students assist in the designing of classroom activities based on their interests.
Background Theory literacy instruction. Cummins (2011) highlights research evidence that suggests that schools can significantly reduce the negative academic effects that abound in socioeconomically disadvantaged contexts (Kozal, 1992, 2006) by ensuring that students have access to a rich print-environment and become actively engaged with literacy. Cummins’ (2011) work implies that policies designed to ensure that low-income and ELL

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