Help They Dont Speak English:

1
Help! They Dont Speak English

• An overview of information, practices and
  principles for working with ESL students

2
ESL In Pittsburgh Public Schools

• Steady growth in ESL population over the course
  of the last five years
• There has been a shift in the kind of ESL
  student that is enrolling in our District
• ESL Department has grown to include new
  responsibilities and initiatives
• U.S. trends are making their way to Pittsburgh

3
Important Terminology

• ESL English as a Second Language (the program)
• ELL English language learner (the students)
• LEP Limited English Proficient
• LFS Limited Formal Schooling
• Immigrant A person who comes to the U.S. of own
  volition
• Refugee A person who comes to the U.S. seeking
  refuge from difficulties in their home country.

4
Considerations when working with ELLs

• Cultural
• Linguistic
• Instructional
• Evaluative

5
What is Culture?

• Culture is the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs,
  values, customs and behavior patterns of a social
  group.
• (Banks, 2006)

6
4 Stages of Acculturation

• Euphoria
• Culture Shock
• Acceptance
• Assimilation

7
4 Stages of Acculturation

• The process of assimilating into the American
  culture can take a lifetime
• Each stage of acculturation has particular
  aspects that will influence a students learning
  and academic growth
• Adults will tend to take a longer time to
  assimilate to the new culture
• Cultural misunderstandings can be quite common
  throughout the acculturation process

8
Some Interesting Aspects of Culture

• Proximity
• Gestures
• Eye Contact
• Noise tolerance
• Working cooperatively vs. independently
• Time and commitments
• Parental involvement in education

9
An important point to remember

• A person of any age will move along the continuum
  of acculturation at an individual pace. While it
  is desirable that the students in the schools
  adapt to and adopt the U.S. perspective on
  education and social interaction, this process
  may be slower than we would like and requires
  patience and understanding on our part.

10
What is language?

• Language may be defined as the way that people
  communicate with each other. The aspects of
  language include
• Oral communication
• Reading
• Writing
• Contextual understanding

11
Language Aspects

• The way that a person communicates will have the
  following aspects
• Purpose
• Fluency
• Educational background
• Audience
• Outcome

12
Language Considerations

• Some languages are not written
• Language rules can vary widely
• Some parents will be able to speak their native
  language, but do not have first language literacy
• Some languages are written from top to bottom or
  right to left
• Tone and emphasis can change meaning

13
Stages of Language Development

• There is extensive documentation that although
  people have innate sense on how to learn a
  language, it may take from 5-10 years for a
  person to become academically as fluent as native
  speakers of a new language. This has a great
  many implications for educators and schools
  throughout the country.

14
Language Development

• The Silent Period
• There is extensive documentation and research to
  support the notion that people go through a
  Silent Period which may last up to a year.
  During this time, very little in the way of
  language is produced and students are absorbing
  the language and deciphering the code which is
  the new language. Often times, students will
  smile, nod their heads a lot (even if they dont
  know what is happening) or respond to a question
  posed in English by the teacher in their native
  language.

15
Language Development

• Early Production
• During this period of language development, the
  student begins to take small chances with a new
  language. The types of responses may include
  yes or no and other short one or two word
  answers. This stage may last a while ( six
  months or so) as the student is beginning to play
  with words, sounds and tones of the new language.
  Students will imitate the teacher and other
  students in the class during this period. The
  student should be able to follow some basic
  classroom commands and requests as well as begin
  to socially interact with other students.

16
Instructional Implications

• Considering the previously discussed Stages of
  Acculturation and Language Acquisition, the
  greatest gifts that you can give your English
  language learners are
• Time
• Patience

17
Instructional Strategies

• Extensive building of background knowledge
• Lots of real-life objects and situations while
  realizing that some of the English language
  learners may have had few, if any, of the
  experiences with which you believe that they
  should be familiar
• Peers as teachers

18
Instructional Strategies

• English language learners location in the
  classroom
• Repeating directions and instructions
• Learning words in the students language and
  studying the aspects of the students native
  language
• Consider progress and not just the benchmarks

19
Evaluating English language learners

• A students experiences prior to coming to the
  classroom must be taken into consideration during
  any type of evaluation
• Under certain conditions, a student should be
  evaluated using the childs first language

20
Evaluating English language learners

• Referrals to Early Intervention should be made
  with the greatest of care and consideration
• The cultural understanding of Special Education
  should be examined
• Translators should be secured when gathering
  information about a student
• Concerns about language development should align
  with the Stages of Language Acquisition
• Time and Patience are essential

21
Finally

• All of the work that you do with all children
  everyday is vitally important. Remember that
  even when you dont think that your ESL child is
  understanding what is happening, they more than
  likely do understand more than you can imagine!