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In my research projects, I have adults who have difficulty reading who were born and raised in the US and speak English as their primary language, and adults who have difficulty reading who learned English as a second language at some point (either as children, or as adults), but are no longer taking English as a second language classes. 

I need to be able to differentiate the two groups (for example, they could have different strengths and weaknesses in their reading test performance which may be important to tease out), and was wondering what people think would be the most appropriate way to label these two groups. I do not want to call the group who learned English as children or adults English Second Language Learners, because I am thinking that this implies that they are currently attending ESL classes, and they are not. I thought of calling the two groups: Native Speakers of English and Non Native Speakers of English, but someone thought that some may take offense to a label using the word "native" in it. 

Does anyone have any thoughts/advice?

Thanks,

Daphne Greenberg

Georgia State University

 

Comments

Hi Daphne,

In some contexts I have seen:

English as a mother tongue, and 

English as a first language

I suppose you could call native speakers of English "Speakers of English as their mother tongue"  or "Speakers of English as their first language"

For those who are learning English as a second or other language, English Language Learner (ELL) is widely used in K-12, higher ed, and increasingly in adult basic skills teaching. Limited English Proficient (LEP) is also used, I believe for those who may or may not be studying English, and who have limited English skills.

For those who have learned English as a second or other language, and are no longer studying English, ESL or ESOL student is misleading since this is usually used to refer to people who are studying English. I don't have any suggestions for this group. Perhaps someone else does.

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

David J. Rosen

 

Hello Daphne, Although it is not yet widely used, I like the term Dr. Ofelia Garcia and others use for individuals who are learning an additional language-- whether it be English or Chinese, i.e., emergent bilinguals -- or emergent multilinguals. I like this term because it affirms the obvious benefits inherent in being able to use more than one language. Garcia recommends this term for several reasons including because it helps to promote the concept of translanguaging, which goes far beyond what has been deemed code switching in that translanguaging suggests that language usage and language learning are fluid and always contextualized around specific needs for communication as well as drawn upon by individiuals to deepen their understanding and learning in quite specific ways.

I've heard the term Generation 1.5 used to refer to individuals who came to the US as children. These individuals are neither first nor second generation. I've also heard the term used to describe individuals who were born in the US to immigrant parents, and who grow up speaking one or more languages besides English at home. Whether the individuals came to the US as children or were born here, they learn English as children in school, and thus they typically speak English fluently.

Since our education system does not often support bilingual education, these Generation 1.5 students may not develop strong academic skills in their home tongue(s).  Some of these students may struggle with academic English as well. There are some interesting studies looking at the issue.

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, AELL CoP

 

Thanks Susan,

Some of the research participants are Generation 1.5 as you describe them-they came here as children and learned English, or they were born here to immigrant parents. But many don't fit into this description-they came as young adults, or even older adults, and their English is "good enough" to function in an adult literacy class (low to high intermediated levels) and they are not taking ESL classes. I am struggling to find a term to describe people for whom English is not their first language (and maybe that is how I should call them). I had always heard the word native and non-native speakers of English used and this is the term that I see in research studies, but someone told me that the word "native" is considered offensive by some. This is the first time I have heard this. Has anyone on this list heard this word as being offensive to refer to someone whose first language is English?

Daphne

Hi Daphne, I honestly have not heard that some people are offended by the term native speakers. However, I often will use fluent speakers for those who speak English well since there are so many people who learned English as an additional language and who speak English fluently. In other words, it is by no means only those who grew up speaking English who speak it well. I don't know if this aspect may be the source of the discomfort with the use of the term native speaker or not.

Thanks for posing the question, Daphne. Do others have more to say on this issue?

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, AELL CoP

 

Oh, those labels!

Daphne, I am not clear as to why those labels need to be shared with students, but I appears that they must. In that case, I would make something up. How about EOLs and EALs?

EOL - English as an Origin Language folks
EAL - English as an Adopted Language folks

or

ELO - English Language of Origin folks
ELA -English Language of Adoption folks

:) Leecy

 

 Oh my-- this topic really woke me up this morning--- isn't it thorny, though??

I found when doing my research that despite what we want to think, ESL still prevails as the term referring to people who are learning English;  personally, in my work, I use ESOL--referring to the field of English to speakers of other languages-- but as you all point out, it doesn't differentiate between those still studying and those not studying.  I have always liked Canada's term, EAL-- English as an additional language--- it seems to carry little political baggage, as it were.   I really OBJECT to ESL since English is so often NOT the second language.  

As for persons with reading issues, Daphne, in my own work I always differentiate between persons whose native/home language was and is English-- native English speakers-- the term "native" having to do with being born to a home speaking that language-- from non-native speakers of English. (And I don't worry about the term "native" since it is perfectly correct to use it in the sense of one's birth origins for language as for other aspects of life.)  I feel very strongly that it is important to make this distinction no matter how long the person  has been speaking or reading English since the foundations of language acquisition and reading are so strongly begun in pre-school years.  I never fail to be astonished at how much foundational vocabulary is usually missing in a person who even went through American (i.e. English) school from kindergarten on, but who spent all the pre-school years in a non-English environment.  I see this ALL the time with the immigrant families I tutor here in Downeast Maine-- basic reading skills of the children are OK, but the vocabulary is just like swiss cheese-- full of holes.   In the adults, these gaps come home to roost (THERE's a mixed metaphor--sorry!!)  when they start college and have such weak reading skills.  That is where it is important to me as a tutor/teacher to acknowledge the "other" language or English as a second language backgrounds of these students.   Otherwise, as you know Daphne, they just look reading impaired.   

Without a national policy determining the terminology, the fields working with the students whose native language is not English keep making up terms, as we can tell even from this discussion.  It makes researching and writing to a specific audience a real headache.   So, as I said earlier, I try in my own work to be as consistent as possible about using the term ESOL for adults who are learning English and for the field of teaching those adults.    I  also use "ELL"s a lot-- as it includes students of all ages.  I also tend use NSE (native speaker of English) and NNSE (non-native speaker of English) when referring to reading and writing issues.   (wow-- really struggling with writing on this site this morning---- can't format this  

:(   )   I'll be interested to see if others chime in on this thorny topic.     Robin Lovrien  

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Hi Leecy,

Thanks for these suggestions! And by the way, sorry for any confusion that I may have caused. These "labels" are not being shared with students It is for articles that I and others want to write for research journals.

Daphne