EP241 6 myths about English Language Learners I wish I’d debunked sooner (with Houa Yang-Xiong)

ELs don’t earn differently from native-English speakers, but they do have specific needs that are often misunderstood.

Today I’m sharing 6 myths about English Language Learners I wish I’d debunked sooner. These are beliefs and assumptions I held at the beginning of my teaching career, and unlearned them slowly over time.

I think you’ll find that they’re super common myths, and in fact my guest today has also worked through many of them, and encounters them frequently among her fellow educators. Houa Yang-Xiong is currently an elementary ESOL (English Speaker of Other Languages) teacher working with students in grades 3-5 of various backgrounds, native languages, and English-proficiency levels.

Houa is a writer for the Truth for Teachers collective, and will be sharing articles regularly to help both ESL teachers and gen ed teacher who have ELLs in their classroom. I’m so grateful to have her expertise, particularly as she is an Asian-American, specifically, Hmong-American, and a bilingual speaker herself, so she has a unique window into what her students experience which she’ll share here.

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