¶ … ESL Teachers Lillian Mercado Hernandez

Problem Statement Comment by Jose Otaola: Preliminary evidence that provides justification that this problem is meaningful to both the local setting as well as to the education profession and discipline. Provide three to five key citations that highlight the In Puerto Rico, teachers lack preparation to teach English. Teachers of Puerto Rico are not certified as English teachers. She or He is not able to teach English because they have not taken the required courses for teaching English. In my opinion it is necessary to prove that ESL teachers cannot teach efficiently to their students because they do not have the needed preparation. In this research, I will explore the deficiencies in preparation teachers do have and I will explore at the same time ways to fix this problem.

The most important reason for learning English is social, political and economic perspective and strong relations to the United States over 100 years (Celce-Murcia, 2001). Even though people recognize that adequate English ability provides advantages for the citizens in Puerto Rico Spanish is the language and the medium through which most daily affairs are conducted out (Pousada, 2008) the individual that has the ability to communicate in two languages has the opportunity to develop in professional aspects. In Puerto Rico schools English is studied as the second language in Puerto Rico. Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) refers to teach English to a person who's native or primary language is one other than English (Celce-Murcia, 2001). The problem is that ESL teachers lack the preparation to teach English to students whose first language is Spanish Lopez, (2012). An example, school X in the district of Arecibo has 488 students in tenth and employs 34 licensed teachers three English for upper school The academic proficiency in English of students in tenth 2011 was 49% and in 2012 the proficiency rate was 44%. (Gobierno de Puerto Rico Departamento de Educacion, 2012 -2013 ).

In a study conducted by the Columbia University Teachers College (2000), it was discovered that in Puerto Rico Upper School student's complete high school lacking skills to be fluent in English. The Education System in Puerto Rico requires all students from grades K to 12 grade to take English. Students have exposure in English through television programs, Internet and still these experiences may not be enough for students to master English. Currently, only 10% of the population fluent in English (Brunymarie, 2013). The problem is that ESL teachers lack the preparation to teach English to students whose first language is Spanish (Lopez, 2012). I want to show the relationship between Teacher's preparation and students' scores.

Puerto Rico is a common wealth that experiences issues on a continual basis concerning ESL students and English language learning. ESL students while having access to English media, English entertainment, and English language learning programs, have failed to retain much of what they observe, are taught, and learn. Only a small percentage of Puerto Rican ESL students learn English and speak and write it fluently. The problem then becomes what can be done to assist ESL and ELL students in learning English and what techniques have been utilized successfully in the past.

Teacher preparation has long been touted as the most crucial element in preparing ESL students effectively for English language learning. In an article by Mercado (2012), she argues that in order to improve ESL programs, schools must focus their attention on the recruitment and preparation of high quality teachers both in Puerto Rican communities outside the United States (Puerto Rico) and inside the United States. "Although teacher quality is the one factor that has consistently had the largest impact on student success, policies and practices that affect teacher recruitment and preparation are barriers to increasing teacher quality" (Mercado, 2012, p. 1). These policies and practices are of main concern since recruitment of teachers can only be done effectively with changes in these areas. When policies and practices change to include demand for teachers with a college background in education and English, then it can prove to be effective in recruiting such teachers to employ their techniques to help ESL and ELL students learn effectively.

While Puerto Rico has not yet learned how to employ successful English language learning techniques within a broader context, there exists some successful approaches that can be used to help build an effective standard of teaching for ESL programs. In a 2015 article, a basic English course taken at the University of Puerto Rico established literature circles as a way to promote understanding of novels that deal with...

Their implementation of literature circles not only increased student participation, which helps engage students and allows better retention of material, but also allowed for discussion of topics that students felt were relevant to them.
Within increased participation both in the oral and written form within these literature circles, student initiative and self-choice increased allowing for English language retention to increase. This is because they analyzed the text in their first language (Spanish) so they can later on understand what the English meant. "Findings suggest that students benefited from the use of their first language, since it served as a cognitive tool that allowed them to collaboratively scaffold while also enabling the instructor to gauge reading comprehension" (Sambolin & Carroll, 2015, p. 193). Furthermore, choosing a text whose content interested students as well as tapped into their funds of knowledge encouraged classroom participation concerning issues and topics students deemed pertinent both outside and inside the English classroom.

Reflection as a mediator within conceptual development offers a rationale for the utilization of metaphor as pedagogical intervention (Wan & Low, 2015, p. 93). By understanding and then applying approaches that contain within its framework, sociocultural theory, it will help create interest in ESL and ELL students in wanting to learn because it creates subject matter that applies to their belief systems and struggles. It is not easy learning a new language, especially when this language comes in a way that seems foreign and unfamiliar. If there is a disconnect in the subject matter and the student, there will be a decrease in desire to learn further.

Significance Comment by Jose Otaola: Provide one to two paragraphs, informed by the topic in the problem statement, which describe(s): How will this study contribute to filling the gap in practice identified in the problem statement? What original contribution will this study make in the local setting? How will this research support professional education practice at the local site? Who benefits from your findings/project deliverable and how (positive social change)? Remember job market

Although it is important to recruit ESL teachers that are well educated, it is also important to seek teachers that desire to engage with the students in a way that piques their interest when it comes to English language learning. Teachers must come prepared to understand the needs of the students as well as way to cultivate interest by presenting them literature they can connect with, even movies and songs that will appeal to them. By dissecting English text of material that they are interested in, they will be more willing to take the extra steps and perform the necessary actions to learn the language versus simply writing down vocabulary and remembering phrases and grammar.

If teachers engage more with their students and a standard of learning includes techniques like literature circles, this may prove to finally help alleviate the problem of ESL students and English language learning. Many ESL and ELL students fail to learn English fluently. If such a problem can be avoided by hiring more educated teachers that can then be prepared for ESL instruction with techniques like literature circles, the whole process of teaching and learning can become not only effective, but efficient. This is what needs to be done as it relates to ESL programs.

The population of ESL has grown in recent years. While the population has grown, they have continually underperformed when it came to ESL classes and exams. ESL teachers must be better prepared and educated to deal with the hurdles ESL students experience as they learn English. They must also learn to adopt new strategies that provide a better learning outcome. Puerto Rico is a common wealth connected to the United States. Many of its people experience poverty and have a separate culture than that of Americans. To help ESL learners connect with the learning material, these differences and circumstances must be identified.

Background Literature Comment by Jose Otaola: Need to stablish the relation of this literature with the variables of the study.Use proper APA citations

1. Backgr Tran, 2015, informs teachers are the key to better learning. If teachers are not trained properly, students like ELLs will have a more difficult time adapting to and absorbing the curriculum.

2. Gagne & Parks, 2013. Provide strategies associated with arbitration of gist in an interactionist viewpoint. This is an important thing to note because teacher preparation within an ESL classroom needs to include strategies that students can effectively utilize…