Beliefs and Attitudes: How the Presence of English Language Learners in Mainstream Classrooms Affects Classroom Practices

Abstract

As the population of English Language Learners (ELLs) in Indiana schools increases, mainstream teachers have the responsibility of effectively teaching them. However, research indicates that there are various factors that may hinder a mainstream teacher’s ability to do this. One of the factors that stood out to me is the teacher’s beliefs and attitudes towards ELLs. This research project will focus on mainstream teachers in Indiana schools and how their beliefs and attitudes towards ELLs affect classroom practices. Further, it will investigate whether teacher preparation has an impact on mainstream teachers’ attitudes and beliefs towards their ELLs. The overall goal of this research project is to provide insight into the practices mainstream teachers in Indiana are using in the classroom to assist ELLs. Data will be collected through qualitative methods. Teacher interviews and classroom observations will be conducted. The teacher interviews will help to understand how teachers work with ELLs in the classroom, what feelings they have about ELLs, and how they modify their lessons to fit the needs of ELLs. The classroom observations will help to support the data collected by the interviews. Classroom observations will look for what visible modifications teachers are making to assist ELLs and what attitudes they portray about ELLs. This is a starting research project and there are no definite results or conclusions at the moment.