Teachers' Perceptions of Pandemic Learning Losses among English Language Learners: Effects of Language Proficiencies and Language Modalities

Presenter Information

Audrey Figueroa Murphy, St. John's University
Bruce Torff, Hofstra University

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Practicing teachers (n=95) completed a survey in correlational research conducted to determine the extent to which, and the ways in which, they reported learning losses among English Language Learners stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. Two candidate factors were examined: language proficiencies (L1 and L2) and language modalities (listening, speaking, reading, writing). Students weak in both languages showed the largest losses, and students strong in both, the smallest. Low L-2 students suffered larger losses than high-L2 students regardless of L1 proficiency. In speaking skills, when L2 is weak, low-L1 students had larger losses than high-L1 students. Teachers reported no significant differences across language modalities for any language-proficiency group. Proficiency in L2 was the crucial factor in losses, although L1 proficiency operated as a mitigating factor in speaking skills. Low-L2 students are at an additional risk due to Covid-19 and might well be the focus of pandemic-recovery interventions, especially for students also weak in L1. These interventions may also benefit from leveraging ELLs' L1 skills in remedial initiatives in speaking and perhaps also writing and other language modalities. Research evaluating these interventions is needed, in part for course corrections, since the pandemic recovery is likely to be protracted.

Recommended Citation

Figueroa Murphy, Audrey and Torff, Bruce () "Teachers' Perceptions of Pandemic Learning Losses among English Language Learners: Effects of Language Proficiencies and Language Modalities," The Reading Professor: Vol. 48: Iss. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholar.stjohns.edu/thereadingprofessor/vol48/iss1/6