Chapter 9: Increasing Academic Vocabulary For Ells

Juan, a gregarious student, has been in the United States for almost two years. He is from Ecuador. He is talkative in both English and Spanish. His grades from Ecuador show he was an above-average student. He understands and speaks English without an accent. Juan is especially talkative during recess and lunchtime. At first, Juan’s teachers were pleased with his love of conversation. Juan gave them plenty of opportunities to give him feedback so he could improve his English. They were pleased with his spoken English, but they soon became frustrated with Juan for his lack of academic progress, especially his grasp of academic, content-based vocabulary. As far as they were concerned, there was an obvious disconnect with his spoken English and his academic progress. Unfortunately for Juan, some of his teachers thought that he was lazy. How could a child who speaks English so well not be able to understand basic concepts and academic vocabulary? In their minds, he must be “playing” them and trying to get away with not doing his work. Other teachers are convinced that Juan has a learning disability and have requested the special education teacher test him. Is Juan lazy and trying to manipulate his teachers in an attempt to get away from doing his work? Or is he having a disability issue?