In the past two decades, knowledge of how the brain functions has increased tremendously. New, less invasive technologies such as PET scans have helped scientists determine various ways people learn and how to facilitate learning through using brain-based teaching techniques.

In some ways, teachers have been using strategies that are brain-based long before they were proven to be so. Teachers are astute and look for specific strategies that help their students learn. We continue to implement those strategies knowing they work, even before we learn about their congruence with how the brain functions.

It is, of course, always good to get affirmation that what we know to work in the classroom is backed up by research on the brain and human learning. This article, of course, does not encompass all brain-based research or strategies that can be utilized with English learners, but may share some key ideas that are new, good reminders, or inspire you to try a new strategy in your own classroom.

Movement

The brain is made up of a complex web of veins and arteries. It is important that our brains continuously receive blood in order to survive and function, but blood is also important to facilitate learning.

The brain is the largest consumer of oxygen and glucose in the body. It uses these to function more efficiently and more effectively. Movement can facilitate the pumping of blood into the vascular system of the brain, and enhance the learning process.

All of us have experienced, for example, feeling tired after eating a large meal. This is due in part to the blood going to our stomachs to help to digest food. But keeping students active, and having them move around the room, will help to keep them more engaged. Of course, this applies to all students, not just English learners.

Movement can be applied to language learning in a variety of ways. Students can move about the room to interact with other students, for example, through strategies such as Find a Friend, Give and Get, 4 Corners and more. These strategies require students to get up and meet with other students in the room to discuss content or practice skills that are related to what they are learning.

Gestures are also powerful in helping English learners learn new vocabulary. Associating a movement of some kind to a word, concept or skill can help students to retain the information by adding a different modality. Gestures can also make complex academic language more comprehensible to students as they make associations between the movement and the meaning of the word.

Prior knowledge

The importance of activating prior knowledge is well documented in the literature about teaching English learners. The brain does not take in meaningless information.

Consider your day thus far: What are the various sensory stimuli to which you have been exposed? For example, the images you have seen, the sounds you have heard, the textures you have touched, etc. How many of those can you explicitly name? If you have driven somewhere, you probably saw a variety of cars, people, street signs, buildings, trees, etc. How much of that do you remember?

Many of us have had the experience of purchasing something — a car, a bicycle, a new item of clothing — and then we begin to notice that other people have the same type of car, bike or clothing as well. We may not have noticed just how many people until we attached meaning to it.

Our brains now have a reason to notice and retain that information, even in the short term. In other words, for new information to stick, it must be integrated into an existing neurological pathway within the brain.

Depending on the particular student, their prior knowledge and experiences may differ significantly from our own or our expectations. English learners are a diverse group of students; they come from many different countries and have differing socioeconomic levels, differing native language proficiency levels, and different amounts of prior schooling and education.

Their cultural perspectives, beliefs and experiences may differ significantly from those of the teacher. It is important that we, as teachers, are aware of this and help students make connections that make sense to them, and that fit within their schema.

Patterning

The brain is designed to look for "remember" patterns. As we analyze what we are learning, we look for patterns that make sense, and this helps us to comprehend and retain new information. Patterns in science, history and mathematics can be pointed out explicitly to students to help them retain the content and skills being taught.

Additionally, using rhymes, songs and chants help students retain information. Although some secondary teachers balk at using songs and chants in the classroom, it is important to realize that songs and rhymes are used in our everyday lives to help us remember information in the form of ratio and television advertisements.

Marketing experts use songs, chants and repetition to emphasize their brand in a way that will help us to remember it. They would not be spending millions of dollars a year to create jingles if they did not work!

Using chants, songs and rhymes in the classroom that embed vocabulary and content concepts can have a similar effect on our students; they help them to retain information in a fun and meaningful way. Incorporate gestures into the songs, chants and rhymes, and you are utilizing two or more brain-based strategies at the same time.

Sketching

New research is showing the benefit of students sketching and doodling during note-taking activities. Students can add sketches or simple drawings to their notes to help them remember concepts and to help link ideas and concepts together. The sketches do not need to be complex in nature; stick figures and simple drawing suffice to help students make their notes more comprehensible and to link ideas together.

Sketching benefits English learners as they may not have the vocabulary or phrasing necessary to record the ideas with words, and may find sketching easier and more accurate. Of course, English learners should be encouraged to utilize language as much as possible, and enhance their notes with the sketches. The same can be said of assignments; sketching can and should be used by students to help get their message and point across, especially at the more beginning levels of English proficiency.

Teachers can and should also incorporate sketching into their instruction to increase comprehensibility and help students make connections. The same principles apply; sketches and visuals can be used to help English learners comprehend text, instructions and content concepts.

Novelty

It has been said that variety is the spice of life. The same holds true for our brain and learning. Mixing up routines, at least to a degree, can help students stay engaged in the learning process and make the classroom a fun and interesting environment.

One way to add novelty to instruction is to incorporate multiple modalities. Having English learners engage in reading, writing, listening and speaking all within one lesson make the learning more engaging. By incorporating movement, gestures, songs, chants, rhymes, sketching and art, we are also adding in multiple modalities. Keeping our instruction varied keeps the lesson fun and exciting for students.

Sometimes, less is more

Overwhelming students with information can impede learning. It is important to find a balance between cognitively challenging and engaging content and cognitive overload. To prevent students from shutting down, it can be helpful to lower the demand when helping students move information from working memory to long-term memory.

Be cautious of lowering expectations; students can handle large amounts of information if they are given the opportunity to process the information. At the same time, too much information can cause burn out and cause some students to become frustrated and shut down.

Extended or repeated practice over time

It can be tempting, given the amount of information in today's rigorous standards, to move on once we have taught content concepts or skills. We sometimes say or hear "we covered that already." But in order for students to master and remember information over a long term, they will need to practice and review the material multiple times over an extended period of time.

It is important that both content concepts and language be reviewed over time and practiced again. Remind students of key vocabulary and language structures that can be incorporated into their speech and writing, or that they will be hearing or reading as a way to help students retain skills and concepts over longer time periods.

Memorable retrieval

Practice is not the only way to help students integrate material, concepts and language into long-term memory. Frequent, low-stakes quizzes also help students to remember concepts and language over longer periods of time and move toward mastery.

Cognitive psychologists refer to this concept as memorable retrieval; referring back to what has already been learned and accessing information stored in our memories. In the classroom, short, informal quizzes and discussions can help students remember content and language that is related to the current information being taught and practiced, and help students to retain information for longer periods.

Effective and frequent feedback

All students benefit from feedback as they learn. Feedback for English learners should be clear and specific, and may focus on the task or the language students are learning and practicing, including grammar skills, vocabulary and syntax.

When providing feedback to English learners, be aware of their proficiency level and the types of errors that students typically make at that proficiency level. In the past, some educators have felt that errors should only be corrected by modeling the appropriate or correct language form.

For example, if a student says "I goed to the store," teachers would respond with "Oh, you went to the store? Who else went to the store? I also went to the store." While this can be helpful, sometimes students do not realize their error or that you are attempting to correct it.

There is nothing wrong with sharing with students that the past tense of "go" in this case should be "went," not "goed." It is important to consider the student in this case, and if the feedback you provide will be given publicly or privately. If you notice multiple students overgeneralizing the past tense -ed, you may consider pulling a small group of students to do a mini-lesson, for example.

In any case, the brain thrives on appropriate, clear and specific feedback that is focused on a task or language, and that is focused on improvement.

Classroom environment

Students are more motivated when they feel a sense of belonging and acceptance in the classroom. This is true for any student, but English learners are not only learning academic content and skills, but also learning a new language. They need to be encouraged to take risks with language as well as content, and not feel ridiculed or made fun of when they make an error.

If students feel nervous about taking risks, it is more difficult for them to process, practice and master the material being presented.

These concepts, known and utilized by teachers all over the world, are beneficial and effective because they align with how the brain functions. While this list is far from complete, the ideas presented here should continue to utilized in the classroom, or be incorporated into instruction moving forward.

All students benefit from these concepts and strategies, including English learners as they move toward mastering not only the content at a particular grade level, but also continue to develop English language skills and proficiency.