Mod 2 Discussion: What the Research Means to Me

The research on ELL outcomes means to me that we as educators are continuing our strive for equity. To help improve the learning outcomes of all students, we must likewise continue to improve ourselves to help them. Just like how ESOL students require interaction with native speakers to help them acquire a second language, so to do we as educators need to interact with the most current research and understandings concerning the teaching of English language learners (as is true for pedagogy as a whole). If told on my own to learn about the current state of ESOL matters and techniques, I could certainly do so, but to tackle the breadth and depth of everything that there is to know would take a significant amount of time and full comprehension wouldn't be as assured as being instructed to find an external source to deliberately facilitate my learning. That may be a bit of fluff, but I'd be remiss not to add it since that directly mirrors the deliberate education of English to non native speakers. Focused, purposeful curriculums need to be established for students just as it is given to us through courses such as these. In a way, these modules not only educate us, but model for us.