Increasing English Language Learners ’ Engagement in Instruction through Emotional Scaffolding

Mi-Hwa Park is an assistant professor in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education of the College of Education at Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky. tential for improvement in ELLs’ learning engagement. Indeed, learning engagement is a strong indicator of academic success (Hyson, 2008). In the context of teaching ELLs, however, little information is available on discussions about emotional scaffolding in instruction. The existence of such literature would bolster teachers’ understanding of the emotional aspects of teaching and learning and would provide them the pedagogical knowledge and skills needed to support emotions in instruction. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how a prekindergarten teacher makes pedagogical decisions that could be considered emotional scaffolding. This study is important because of the potential for improvement in ELLs’ learning engagement that could result from teachers knowing more about the way that emotions work in learning and, in turn, would help early childhood classrooms offer more meaningful learning experiences.