Date of Conferral

9-17-2025

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Dannette Brown

Abstract

Multilingual learners (MLs) education has been a topic of study among scholars for many years. The problem that was investigated is that middle school (MS) English Language Arts (ELA) teachers are challenged to improve reading and writing instruction for MLs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the challenges MS ELA teachers face when trying to improve the reading and writing proficiency of MLs. The conceptual frameworks that guided this study were Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of literacy and Ladson-Billing’s theory on culturally relevant pedagogy. For this basic qualitative design, data were collected through 11 semistructured interviews with MS ELA teachers from South Carolina who had experience teaching MLs. Through thematic analysis, the following themes emerged: teachers discussed the (a) lack of instructional support, (b) inadequate training/professional development, and (c) their insufficient cultural competence. The study's findings indicated an inadequacy of resources, services, and training to effectively teach culturally diverse groups, such as MLs. Recommendations for future research include investigating this topic with high school and elementary ELA teachers. Implications for positive social change are that better teacher training and instructional support for MS ELA teachers might improve their teaching and, with that, ML students' learning. Improved ML instruction improves the ML students' overall success within the classroom, focusing on academic standards, and in their overall language development in English. Additionally, improved ML learning in their academic and language development can also improve their overall quality of life, future career, and higher education opportunities, and their general confidence in themselves.

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