Cohesion as an effective ELT strategy to cultivate academic success for all levels of English language learners

This article reports on findings from the first phase of an ongoing research project that is investigating a teacher's action research on the newly integrated strategy namely "Cohesion ELL" in a Form One Chinese middle school. Supported by Confucius education concept of differentiated teaching and learning, this phase revisited on the teacher's perspective on ELL, employed-strategies for teaching adjustments, and implemented a series of lessons designed to integrate language and content objectives with the development of critical thinking skills and leadership on the daily issues of the students in Macau. The article analyzes features of the newly integrated ELL pedagogical adjustments on using the Bloom's taxonomy and the four major language domains, including listening, speaking, reading and writing, and reviews on the students' success through school-based formative assessments. Also highlighted are successful strategies the teacher used to facilitate students' all-rounded academic subject learning. Many of these strategies are adaptations of ELL techniques that have been applied to the mentioned four domains individually. The conclusion is that school-based cohesion ELL may be an appropriate ELT strategy for all levels learners with English as second language.