17 LEP, ESL, ELL, EL, or Multilingual? Resisting the Deficit Model

As globalization brought about increased flow of persons, knowhow, and goods between nations, universities responded by applying their resources to internationalization. In 2023, Canada had 1,040,985 study permit holders, and the vast majority of them were in post-secondary programs (Government of Canada, 2023). Though international students and immigrant students who use English for academic purposes have successfully completed their studies in Canadian universities for many decades, some instructors still view them as a problem rather than as an asset (Gaulee, 2018; Vandrick, 2015). Vandrick (2015) makes the following observation:

Over the many years I have been teaching … at the university level, I have seen up close how often and in how many ways language minority students who are taking ESL [English as a Second Language] classes are (consciously or unconsciously) slighted, ignored, or actively discriminated against in classes, educational institutions, and the surrounding society. (p. 55)

The way students are labelled or identified in the classroom is one way in which such negative attitudes are shown.

While Canada has not labelled students “limited English proficient” (LEP) as the U.S. has (Martínez, 2018), some of the negative ideas attached to the LEP identity have been attached to ESL students or to ELLs (English Language Learners, sometimes shortened to “English Learner” or EL). Li (2018) discusses the “pull-out” program in Canadian high schools, where “ESL” students were pulled out of certain subject classes and given extra coaching in English writing and reading skills by specialist teachers. The students felt isolated from classmates who were not in the program, and their parents disliked the program because of the stigma of the “ESL” label. Such labels, along with their accompanying educational remedies, have been unproductive for many reasons. One reason, the focus of this paper, is that both the labels and the corrective measures are based on the idea that students who use English primarily as an academic language somehow lack something native English speakers have. As Martínez notes, “[w]e tend to focus on what they cannot do (vs. what they can do)” (2018, p. 516). This paper argues that resisting the “deficit model” approach to users of English as an academic language will not only change the attitudes of instructors in such a way as to result in a positive environment for learning, but it will also psychologically support the students as they cope with the ways in which language access affects academic success.

Instead of the label “ESL,” which implies lack of skills in English, many educators today use the term “multilingual,” stressing the idea that these students have rich knowledge and skills in their own language and cultural worlds. From the point of view of teachers, changing how they label their students can make them conscious that far from lacking skills and knowledge, the students can, in fact, read, write, and function in more than one language. As Martínez remarks, when teachers assume deficiency in ELLs, “we do not … invite them [non-native users of English] to do what readers and writers do, we do not look for their brilliance, we do not name their strengths, and we do not encourage them to draw on their full linguistic repertoires” (2018, p. 516). Acknowledging the abilities and strengths that multilingual students bring can transform teaching and make it more effective.

From the point of view of the students, being described in a way that underlines their ability can increase their confidence, their pride in their identity, and their self-efficacy. Li (2018) tracks the redesigning of the unpopular “pull-out” ESL program in a particular high school in British Columbia. Renamed an “EAP” (English for Academic Purposes) program, it drew on students’ knowledge of their own first language and culture, encouraged them to give their opinions, helped them make friends across the cultural divide, and valued their abilities as readers and writers. Li (2018) remarks that many of the students in the program went on to take Advanced Placement courses, which they would not have considered before. The program’s success, Li (2018) asserts, arose from the fact that the students enjoyed it, that the teacher was willing to be a “change agent,” and that the school was willing to back him up.

The number of students who use more than one language, and who use English as an academic language in Canada, will only grow, as factors like immigration and internationalization of universities bring greater diversity into our classrooms. At a moment like this, we cannot be content with asking, “What’s in a name?” as Juliet did in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet (1597, 2.2.46). As Khan (2019) observes, “in practice labels are value laden and impact the identity of the labelled individual (Mogensen and Mason 2015)” (p. 362). Labels can be either empowering or disempowering, and resisting the deficit approach to international and immigrant students could begin with the use of a label that celebrates their abilities and intelligence.

References

Gaulee, U. (2018). How to understand the international students with whom you work. Journal of International Students, 8(2), I–II. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1252320

Government of Canada. (2023, December 31). Temporary residents: Study permit holders – monthly IRCC updates – Canada – Study permit holders on December 31st by province/territory and study level.  https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/90115b00-f9b8-49e8-afa3-b4cff8facaee/resource/b663a97c-61d4-4e17-af51-0cba01ef3a44

Khan, S. S. (2020). A narrative literature review of the identity negotiation of bilingual students who are labelled ESL. Interchange (Toronto. 1984), 51(4), 361–383. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-019-09381-1

Li, G. (2018). From stigma to strength: A case of ESL program transformation in a greater Vancouver high school. BC TEAL Journal, 3(1), 63–76. https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/303

Martínez, R. A. (2018). Beyond the English Learner label: Recognizing the richness of bi/multilingual students’ linguistic repertoires. The Reading Teacher, 71(5), 515–522. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1679

Shakespeare, W. (n.d.). The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (B. A. Mowat, P. Werstine, M. Poston, & R. Niles, Eds.). Folger Shakespeare Library, Retrieved May 2, 2024, from https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/romeo-and-juliet/read/ (Original work published 1597)

Vandrick, S. (2015). No “knapsack of invisible privilege” for ESL university students. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 14(1), 54–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2015.988574