Laura Kohlleppel

Students may share the same language, but we cannot assume that these students will observe the same cultural practices, or even that they will understand the same types of texts. Within one language, there are variations in grammar use, lexicon, and formality of expression that affect the way students understand and are understood.

ELL students are likely to need more time to process the information on the test, and often have difficulty comprehending the content of test items due to unfamiliar language or cultural references.

We need to make ELL students feel comfortable so they can ask questions when they don't know something.

English vocabulary is one of the strongest predictors of English word reading. There is a strong connection between vocabulary knowledge and effective text comprehension. 

We need to remember that ELLs are students from diverse cultural backgrounds that have varying academic, language, and social-emotional needs.  As most ELL students are learning English, most of them have developed basic communication skills in English. However, they still struggle with academic language and tougher academic subjects.