Abstract
This article offers music educators ideas for supporting English learners in music classrooms. Music teachers across all grade levels work with English Learners, a diverse group of students with varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds. In the classroom, planning specific instructional supports can increase English Learners’ participation and achievement in music. This article encourages educators to approach English learners from an assets-based perspective, creating a welcoming classroom environment that positively benefits students. With the goal of providing access to music education for all students, music teachers can become advocates for English learners in their classrooms and schools.
Keywords
Photo of Julie Bannerman courtesy of the author
During the 2019–2020 school year in the United States, English Learners represented 10.4 percent of the total K–12 student population, a group of over five million students. 1 English Learners, sometimes abbreviated as ELs, are a diverse group, with many languages, ethnicities, and cultures represented. However, Hispanic or Latino students who speak Spanish are the largest group of English Learners in American schools, representing 75 percent of ELs. 2 Educators Ferlazzo and Sypnieski defined English Learners as students “in various stages of acquiring English and who require different levels of language support and development in order to become fully proficient in English.” 3 This definition highlights the diversity within the group of students who are called English Learners and their need for varied supports in classrooms.
I use the term English Learners (ELs) or English Language Learners (ELLs) in this article because these are common terms in policy and research writings. The purpose of this article is to provide ideas for teachers to support English Learners in music classrooms by using instructional strategies and creating a welcoming classroom environment. Music teachers have an important role to play in opening doors to music participation and ensuring that ELs have access to the full music curriculum.
Who Are English Learners?
Music educators may encounter varied terms to describe English Learners (see Table 1 for some examples). 4 The generalized label of EL provides little information about any individual student and what they might need to reach their learning potential in music classrooms. Understanding the specific terminology used in a teacher’s school, district, and state will be helpful in communicating with colleagues and gaining insight into the individual students in music classrooms.
Some Examples of Terms Used to Describe English Learners
Note. The term English as a Second Language (ESL) is typically no longer used to describe students but rather refers to instructional programs. Information adapted from Larry Ferlazzo and Katie Hull Sypnieski, The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide, 2nd ed. (Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass, 2022), 5–8.
In addition to different terminology for EL students, music teachers will likely encounter different descriptors for language proficiency levels. State departments of instruction use varied assessment systems and labels for proficiency levels in order to comply with federal and state policies concerning serving ELs in public schools. 5 For example, many states use World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment’s (WIDA) six proficiency level descriptors: entering, emerging, developing, expanding, bridging, and reaching. 6 Inquiring about the labeling and assessment practices used by the state and district will assist music teachers in getting on the same page as administrators and colleagues and in understanding what classroom supports are most beneficial for students at different proficiency levels to participate meaningfully within music classrooms.
Music teachers need to know which students in their ensembles and music classrooms have been identified as ELs by their schools. Teachers may need to actively pursue this information, as sometimes teachers of specialized subjects like music may not automatically be informed about EL students. Music teachers may start to notice trends in the kinds of English Learners their schools typically serve. For example, a music teacher’s school may serve a large percentage of newcomers entering throughout the high school years, or the school’s kindergarten population may include a high percentage of students who are in the early stages of language acquisition. 7 See Table 2 for a description of typical stages of language acquisition, student characteristics, and examples of question prompts in music classrooms.
Stages of Language Acquisition, Student Characteristics, and Example Questions
Note. Information adapted from Stephen D. Krashen and Tracy D. Terrell, The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom (London: Prentice Hall ELT, 1998); Jane Hill and Kirsten Miller, Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners, 2nd ed. (Denver, CO: McREL, 2013), 12; Kristina Robertson and Karen Ford, “Language Acquisition: An Overview,” Colorín Colorado (n.d.), https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/language-acquisition-overview.
Working to understand ELs as individuals can help counter stereotypes and assumptions regarding this population. 8 Learning a language is not a linear process, and a variety of factors can impact an individual child’s progression such as their literacy level in their home language and whether they have had access to continuous schooling. Additionally, educational influences such as the types of instructional support, language supports, and classroom experiences they encounter will impact how they move in the “language development continuum.” 9
Music teachers can take steps to gather information from varied sources in their schools including general education teachers, language specialists, teachers of additional services (if a student is also identified as talented and gifted and/or as having a disability), and content teachers, among others. Students learning English may, for example, have conversational social English skills that are further developed than their academic language skills. Music educators may notice that an EL student is more comfortable responding orally than in written form. Gathering this kind of information about students and collaborating with colleagues will help music teachers to provide the most effective support in their classroom.
Access to Music Education
At the high school level, native Spanish-speaking students—who, as researchers Elpus and Abril noted, may have been designated as EL in their schooling at some point, as native Spanish speakers make up the majority of EL students—were found to be significantly underrepresented in high school music ensembles. 10 In a later examination of high school ensemble participation rates, Latino students were significantly underrepresented in instrumental ensembles. 11 In a study of middle school music participation, students who were not English-language-proficient in fifth grade were less likely to participate in middle school elective music. 12 Knowing that English language proficiency may be a factor in music participation in middle school, the adage that all teachers in a school are language teachers takes on new importance for music educators working with children learning English in elementary schools.
Elementary general music teachers may be unaware of which students are designated as ELs in their classes, and some teachers have reported feeling a lack of support in teaching ELs effectively. 13 Some music teachers may respond to ELs exclusively by the inclusion of multicultural music materials rather than adapting instructional strategies. 14 However, when an elementary general music teacher modified instruction for their EL students, a researcher noted greater engagement by these students in the music classroom. 15 In the case of a kindergartener who spoke no English at the beginning of the school year, this student “transitioned from observer to participant in the music classroom” due to the music teacher’s skillful use of “verbal and nonverbal behaviors coupled with use of developmentally appropriate instructional strategies.” 16
English language learners may face barriers in fully accessing the music curriculum in elementary and secondary settings. For example, ELs may be “pulled out” for language instruction during music class time. When many elementary schools only offer music once a week, removing students from class for specialized language instruction can effectively deny those students access to the music program. Barriers to music participation for EL students, particularly those with lower levels of English proficiency or with lower academic achievement, may exist in secondary contexts when students are prevented from participating in music electives due to conflicts in scheduling with English language classes or when students enter course patterns that prevent access to music electives. 17 In a case study of a high school with a large newcomer population, few of these students were enrolling in elective choir classes. 18 The researcher identified advising practices and scheduling barriers as impacting these students’ access to choir.
Music educators can conduct an audit of their classes and compare their enrollment to school demographics, paying attention to whether English Learners have equal access to music education in their school. In elementary schools, this may mean working with colleagues and administrators to create boundaries around music class time to protect access for students who are receiving specialized, pullout instructional programs. In secondary schools, this may mean working collaboratively with fellow teachers, academic advisors, and administrators to identify scheduling barriers to secure access to music education for all student populations in a school. In this way, music teachers can become advocates in their schools on behalf of EL students within their classes and on behalf of those without.
Support Strategies
The benefits of using tailored instructional strategies in music education has been the topic of previous writing in the field. 19 In a quick tour of best practices for serving EL students, authors Ferlazzo and Sypnieski recommend that teachers incorporate the following strategies: use modeling, increase wait time, provide nonlinguistic cues (visuals and gestures), give instructions verbally and in written forms, check for understanding regularly, encourage home language development, provide graphic organizers and language frames, and recognize the assets ELs possess. 20 Scholar and educator Margo Gottlieb grouped common instructional supports for ELs into four main categories to promote engagement in learning: (1) sensory support, (2) graphic support, (3) linguistic support, and (4) interactive support. 21 She recommended that teachers use multiple supports across categories to enhance the participation and learning of ELs in classrooms. The principles of Universal Design for Learning are applicable here as these instructional supports can be provided for the benefit of all students whenever possible, rather than being used to single out ELs in music classrooms. 22
Sensory Supports
Music teachers who rely exclusively on verbal instructions for communicating classroom procedures and for explaining musical concepts may unwittingly prevent ELs from knowing what to do in class and from learning music content. The importance of nonlinguistic cues such as gestures and visuals in instructing ELs has been noted by music teachers. One teacher shared her experience in elementary general music: “Blank looks on children’s faces when I asked them to echo me made me stop and assess my teaching and its effectiveness. . . . I found if I adapted my lessons to incorporate visuals, the students began to participate more.” 23
Music teachers’ familiarity with making the abstract art form of music concrete for students can be applied to making new classroom language concrete for English Learners. Sensory supports include real objects, manipulatives, gestures, pictures, models, and multimedia (videos, internet, etc.). 24 Common sensory supports used in music instruction include photographs and illustrations (e.g. posters of instruments, pictures of ensembles), video clips, visual representations of musical elements in the form of listening maps, real objects (e.g. classroom instruments), and modeling (teachers and student modeling to show singing and playing posture, embouchure, and playing positions). Gestures can be as simple as pointing to objects and visual references. Acting out vocabulary or creating movement to represent and reinforce musical concepts and vocabulary will be a familiar strategy for many music teachers. For example, students in an ensemble may use movement to reinforce articulation concepts by bouncing a finger sharply in space while saying the word staccato or by creating gentle smooth movements with their hand while saying legato, then perform those movements to music while a teacher or peer models a focus passage in their music, and then apply the articulation to their own performance of the passage. Using these multimodal strategies repeatedly and consistently can support language learners and all students in a classroom to internalize academic music vocabulary and to perform more expressively.
Key academic vocabulary can be reinforced through visual aids on the classroom wall (such as an illustrated word wall) or in a handout for all students to use and refer to in small-group discussions. Picture dictionaries can be another tool providing a visual aid alongside academic vocabulary in music. Picture dictionaries can be as simple as a one-page resource that changes as key concepts change in class, or a tool that grows throughout the year, making student learning in music visible over time. Students can also use these tools to engage in class nonverbally if they are not ready to speak the vocabulary word yet, by, for example, pointing to their answer.
Classroom rules and expectations should be taught with visual support. While planning, music teachers can identify and anticipate commonly used instructions such as “rest position/ready position” or the words needed to play a musical game, such as “statue” or “pass,” and be prepared with visual supports and planned modeling. Some visual supports for procedures might be permanently displayed, and others might come and go according to changing classroom activities and learning goals.
Graphic/Linguistic Supports
Talking and writing about music using academic vocabulary can be challenging even for students who speak English as their first language. Using graphic organizers, language frames, and word banks can support ELs to participate more meaningfully in music class and to demonstrate what they have learned in music. These supports will help all students organize their understanding of music. Graphic organizers help students understand the content studied in music class and provide students with what music educator Brian Shaw described as a “visual architecture” of class concepts and their own thinking. 25 Music teachers might consider classroom discussions that usually happen only verbally such as analyzing a score or responding to a piece of music played in class and consider how to create visual architecture of the content being learned. If students are asked to write a sentence describing music, a word bank could be an instructional support provided for all students. Graphic organizers can be tables, checklists, charts (e.g., compare-and-contrast charts, ranking lists), Venn diagrams, and mind maps, among others.
Music teachers can scaffold writing and speaking by using language frames, such as sentence stems or open-ended sentences. Language frames offer fill-in-the-blank opportunities, sentence stems provide the start to a sentence that students finish with words of their choice, and open-ended sentences allow students to fill in one or two words. For example, “I like _____ music”; or “I want to learn to play _____”; or “When the music _____, it made me feel _____.” Providing a list of appropriate vocabulary that students might choose from on the page or the board will additionally support language development; these can be brainstormed as a class and/or provided by the teacher. Examples of questioning strategies appropriate for different stages of second language acquisition can be found in Table 2.
Word banks or word walls might be a short list of key words that the teacher displays related to current classroom topics, repertoire, or commonly used terms in a unit. In general music settings, a word wall might include words for basic comparatives that are used to describe music or movement words (e.g., faster/slower, louder/quieter). In an ensemble setting, these might be key vocabulary for current repertoire being practiced for an upcoming program (e.g., terms related to the form, tonality, or expressive qualities of specific repertoire) or generalized terms such as dynamic or tempo markings that are commonplace academic music vocabulary in the classroom. Leonhart recommended selecting high-frequency words for placing on a music classroom word wall and making sure that the music word wall was integrated into the work of the class rather than serving as a static decoration. 26 Word banks could be created as part of an activity and include vocabulary that the music teacher wants students to use during a small-group or partner discussion or during a short writing assignment on a listening excerpt. For more advanced students, word banks could be transformed into glossaries with short definitions provided by the music teacher in order to further support and reinforce key concepts and terms.
Interactive Supports
Interactive support involves varying instructional formats and using cooperative learning techniques. Allowing students to share ideas in collaborative conversations in pairs or small groups, such as “think–pair–share,” can provide ELs opportunities to talk about music and practice using music vocabulary in low-stake environments. Peer buddies or student ambassadors (these students do not necessarily have to speak the ELs home language) can provide help with classroom procedures and expectations while also serving as language models. Allowing preferential seating, for example, sitting or being placed next to a preferred peer buddy, can support language practice and participation. Allowing technology, such as phone translators, is another interactive support.
Effective Assessment
Assessment expert McMillan identified five typical difficulties ELs face in assessment contexts: comprehending test and assignment language, expressing what they know, a lack of content and cultural knowledge in test and assignment items, unfamiliarity with test and assignment formats, and emotional stress. 27 A classroom where assessment is aligned with instruction and where students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge in informal and formal assessment contexts will serve ELs well. If students use instructional supports to complete tasks during regular instruction, such as word banks or picture dictionaries or technology, provide those supports during assessments as well. Other accommodations that have been shown to support ELs in assessment include extra time to complete assessments, one-on-one teacher assistance, and reading-aloud question prompts.
Music teachers will want to be mindful of the assumed prior knowledge built into assessments and make sure that students have multiple opportunities to have performance assessments modeled for them. What do students need to know to be successful in tasks like doing voice placements on a common song (“My Country, ’tis of Thee,” for example), competing for chair placements, solo-singing assessment based on classroom songs, and so forth. ELs will need to have enough repetition and familiarity with materials and testing formats used for assessment in music classrooms. For ELs who experience challenges in expressing what they know, music teachers can provide multiple ways for students demonstrate mastery of a particular musical concept or skill.
When it comes to grading, music teachers will want to focus on grading ELs on their musical knowledge and skill rather than nonacademic factors like participation and effort, especially when typical markers of effort and participation may be impacted by a student’s stage of language acquisition, language proficiency level, and cultural background. Teachers will want to be mindful of their grading criteria, such as rubrics, for assignments and adjust accordingly so that ELs are not disproportionately penalized for potential errors in spelling or grammar if the content is otherwise correct; this is where tools such as word banks, and so forth, can provide support. Finally, ELs should not be prevented from engaging with music at higher levels of thinking, such as analyzing, creating, and evaluating.
Safe/Welcoming Classrooms
In addition to taking concrete steps to adapt instruction and assessment for ELs, many experts emphasize the importance of creating a welcoming environment across the school community and in classrooms for students to achieve academically. A welcoming environment uses an assets-based approach to instruction. Asset-based instruction identifies students’ prior knowledge that they bring with them into the classroom. This might mean broadening the definition of prior musical experience to include, for example, informal music learning or knowledge of musical genres not typically included in formal music education. Asset-based instruction focuses on what students can do rather than what they cannot do and leverages those assets for learning. The framework of culturally responsive teaching will be familiar to many music teachers, and this approach offers principles and ideas relevant to serving ELs. 28
Including repertoire that relates to student identities by asking students about their musical interests and preferences can be a step in creating a welcoming environment. Teachers should be prepared for students to share preferences that may reflect youth and popular culture as well as, or instead of, for example, folk music. Strategies that allow ELs to be “experts to share their own information” can be opportunities to both learn about students’ prior knowledge and interests while also welcoming their voices into the classroom. 29 Involving students and families to identify age-appropriate repertoire (songs, chants, etc.) that utilizes students’ home languages can also affirm and acknowledge students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Creating a welcoming environment includes taking the time to learn student names and how to pronounce them correctly. 30 Incorporating multiple languages in the classroom is another step in creating a welcoming environment. The music teacher can label important classroom objects and instruments in English and in the home language(s) of their students. 31 Music teachers can use students’ home language(s) in the classroom in social ways, such as learning simple one- or two-word greetings and using them as students walk in the door, or for classroom engagement by learning phrases in students’ home language to offer praise during instruction (for example, saying, “Bien hecho!” in Spanish in addition to saying, “Well done!”). 32
Finally, communicating with and engaging parents in the music program is another important part of welcoming ELs into music programs. 33 Providing language supports for parents in print, online, and in-person communication about the music program can help facilitate participation in music programs by EL students, especially elective music classes. For example, music teachers can send home information about the music program translated into the languages spoken by families in their school and make sure that social media and online announcements are provided in multiple languages. Music teachers can reach out through parent organizations, school liaisons, and identify avenues for communication with EL families that may be available in their school to communicate about music opportunities for students and about student achievement in music.
English Learners in Music Education
Music teachers can take a multipronged approach to support English Learners and welcome them into music classrooms. Understanding the policies and practices regarding ELs at the school and district levels will allow music teachers to communicate effectively across the school with administrators, colleagues, and families. Gathering knowledge about the ELs in music classrooms, understanding their English proficiency level and individual strengths, will help music teachers in designing effective instructional supports that students need to access the full music curriculum.
Providing varied instructional supports across domains such as sensory, graphic, linguistic, and interactional will help ELs develop music knowledge and skill and demonstrate what they know through effective and wisely planned assessment practices. Building on the strengths and assets ELs bring to classrooms by utilizing their prior knowledge and acknowledging their cultural and linguistic identities in the classroom will additionally promote academic achievement. Finally, creating a safe and welcoming classroom environment for both ELs and their families in music programs will increase access and achievement for students, fostering stronger music programs overall.
