Lingo Jingo: Expanding Supports for Teaching and Learning of English Language Learners

Purpose: In this project the research team will develop and test a web-based platform, Lingo Jingo, designed to support educators in efficiently and effectively generating customized plans and materials to support the needs of K–12 English language learners. In 2012 in the United States, 4.4 million or approximately 9% of all K–12 students were classified as English language learners (ELLs). ELLs are a diverse group, who come to school with a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, skills, and levels of English proficiency. These students must be proficient in English to be successful in school, and to prepare for college and careers. Educators are also challenged to deliver instruction that covers academic content while meeting students' language capabilities. Many teachers do not have adequate instructional resources or capacity to meet this challenge. Project Activities: During Phase I (completed in 2014), the project team developed a prototype of Lingo Jingo. This web-based platform was intended to guide teachers as they select lessons designed to strengthen ELLs' English vocabulary, and to monitor progress and performance on the lessons. At the end of Phase I, the team carried out a pilot research study with 13 teachers. The researchers found that the prototype operated as intended, that teachers were able to integrate the vocabulary lesson within standard practice, and that students found the lessons useful. During Phase II, the team will increase the functionality of the platform to add individualized content to address learning needs of struggling students. After development is complete, the team will conduct a second larger pilot study designed to assess the feasibility and usability, fidelity of implementation, and the promise of the website for promoting English language acquisition and content learning. The researchers will collect data from 20 ELL teachers, with each selecting two classrooms for inclusion in the study. The research team will then randomly assign one class per teacher to use Lingo Jingo to support standard classroom instruction, while the other class will continue with standard classroom practice only. Analyses will compare pre-and-post scores on student's English language acquisition and content-specific learning. Product: Lingo Jingo is a web-based platform for educators, designed to efficiently and effectively generate customized plans and materials to support teaching and learning of ELLs. Lingo Jingo will provide three key features. First, it will host a library of language-learning lessons that teachers can access to meet specific instructional objectives, and through which educators will create their own lessons to add to the library. Second, it will allow educators to assign lessons that students can complete anytime and from anywhere. Third, it will provide educators with analytics gathered as students engage with lessons, including information about the activities accessed, time spent activities, how many times activities are repeated, and outcomes from doing activities.