There is an increasing number of English Language learners in a class and schools are adopting various forms of teaching to support these children. In the Pullout/push-in tutoring, the children attend core academic classes in English, while being provided separate instructional support in the language either by an ELL specialist during the class or in a separate session outside of class. This method is most often used for English-learners with at least some proficiency in the language.

In the Sheltered English instruction method, English-learners, particularly those with low English proficiency, are taught in a stand-alone classroom. The teacher may focus several hours of the day on direct language instruction as well as academic content. Here, there is a necessity to group the classroom based on the language proficiency of the students. Three states—Arizona, California, and Massachusetts—have laws requiring sheltered English instruction and limiting the use of bilingual instruction.

One other method is the Bilingual instruction where the Students receive ongoing language and subject matter instruction in both their native language and English.Gradually, the time spent teaching in both languages is evenly split, with the goal of making all students exit the program proficient in both languages. This is most commonly used for programs with a high percentage of ELL students of a single native language, such as Spanish or Chinese.

All the above methods have been widely in use for many decades and it is not important to debate which method is better, the goal is to support the language learners become proficient.

Article cited: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/05/11/teaching-english-language-learners-what-does-the-research.html