Effective Teaching Practices for English as an Additional Language Learning in Alberta, Canada

Salmon, Katherine Lee

Effective Teaching Practices for English as an Additional Language Learning in Alberta, Canada

dc.contributor.advisor	Friesen, Sharon
dc.contributor.author	Salmon, Katherine Lee
dc.contributor.committeemember	Chu, Man-Wai
dc.contributor.committeemember	Dressler, Roswita
dc.date	2023-11
dc.date.accessioned	2023-08-04T19:23:54Z
dc.date.available	2023-08-04T19:23:54Z
dc.date.issued	2023-07
dc.description.abstract	English as an additional language (EAL) learners lag behind their English-speaking peers academically and it takes longer for them to achieve high school completion requirements (Alberta Education, 2017; 2018, 2019a). Teachers play a critical role in providing intentional language instruction alongside content instruction to support these vulnerable learners. This study addressed three research questions: i) What instructional practices do teachers use to support EAL learners? ii) How does background knowledge inform teachers in their decision making and in determining the effectiveness of the instructional practices they use to support EAL learners? iii) In what ways do pre-service and in-service teacher education impact teachers’ effective instruction for EAL learning? Participants (n=17) were teachers who were recognized as holding specialized EAL knowledge and administrators who lead EAL learning in their jurisdiction. They participated in semi-structured interviews about the instructional practices that they perceived as the most effective for EAL learning. Six key findings were identified: i) positive relationships are foundational for EAL learners, ii) explicit language instruction needs to be embedded in the content areas, iii) teachers ideology influences their background knowledge and impacts their decision making, iv) knowledge of learning theories that impact EAL learning informs teacher’s decision making, v) effective instructional practices for EAL learning should be embedded in post-secondary courses for pre-service teachers, and vi) professional learning in EAL learning is needed for in-service teachers’ and administrators’ decision making for instruction and programming. A conclusion drawn from this study is that the language intentions have to be explicitly identified and stated along with learning intentions for each lesson/unit of study. Another conclusion is that there are some Alberta educators who have a strong theoretical knowledge and a repertoire of effective instructional strategies for EAL learning, however, many teachers and administrators do not have solid theoretical and practical knowledge. As such a recommendation from this study is that professional learning about EAL Learning is required for pre-service and in-service teachers and for practicing administrators.
dc.identifier.citation	Salmon, K. L. (2023). Effective teaching practices for English as an additional language learning in Alberta, Canada (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/116829
dc.identifier.uri	https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/41671
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	EAL
dc.subject	ESL
dc.subject	ELL
dc.subject	English as an Additional Language
dc.subject	English as a Second Language
dc.subject	English Language Learning
dc.subject	Effective Teaching Practices in EAL/ESL/ELL
dc.subject	Teacher Education EAL/ESL/ELL
dc.subject	Language Intentions
dc.subject	Learning Intentions
dc.subject	Explicit Language Instruction
dc.subject	Culturally Responsive Instruction
dc.subject.classification	Education
dc.subject.classification	Education--Teacher Training
dc.subject.classification	Education--Bilingual and Multicultural
dc.subject.classification	Education--Elementary
dc.subject.classification	Education--Secondary
dc.title	Effective Teaching Practices for English as an Additional Language Learning in Alberta, Canada
dc.type	doctoral thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Education Graduate Program – Educational Research
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Education (EdD)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.