New Technology for ELL Students

English Language Learners struggle academically for a variety of reasons. Think about it - the challenges of learning a new language on top of their regular academics, the many exceptions in the English language, and the amount of memorization it requires - they’re all overwhelming factors that can frustrate students.

ELL students need a tool to unlock the code hidden behind the rules and memorization to move students to grade-level reading quickly. To address this issue, Washington Community Schools is piloting Readable English technology at the Jr. High and High School level to help ELL students learn to read English faster across all subjects.

Readable English makes English phonetic by embedding a pronunciation guide into each word without changing the spelling, using glyphs (visual cues), graying out silent letters, and breaking words into syllables.

Once students learn the Readable English glyphs, it can be integrated with any class curriculum using the Conversion Tool, which allows any text to be converted into Readable English quickly and easily. Students can use the technology to convert text across all subjects. 

ELL Instructional Assistant Sasha Larracuente learned about Readable English at an INTESOL Conference and was excited to help bring it to WCS. “Teaching this program has been not only fun but has our students engaged and willing to learn basic fundamentals from an interactive perspective. We have seen our students grow in a short period of time (within weeks) of learning the glyphs. The glyphs help students with pronunciation by comparing symbols to sounds using neuroscience and brain plasticity to help them read in an accelerated program. Readable English has been a game changer for our English learners.”

At the end of the school year, WCS will look at the data to see how effective it has been. If it goes as well as it has started, WCS will explore funding to implement Readable English long term. 

Want to learn more about Readable English? Visit their website at https://readablenglish.com/