English Language Learners

1
English Language Learners

• Program Administrator Orientation
• Sept. 20, 2004
• Linda St Pierre 920-452-3048
• Nell Anderson 715-261-0550

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These are not the students we expected to be
teaching

• In contrast to racial, ethnic, and linguistic
  diversity among students, the vast majority of
  teachers and administrators are Euro-American and
  Speak English as their native and only language.
  Many are experiencing the daunting personal and
  professional challenge of adapting in adulthood
  to a degree of diversity that did not exist in
  their childhood. E Garcia

3
Growth of ELL

• Nationwide - 27 growth to 9.3 of PK-12
  population from 1997-98 to 1999-2000
• Wisconsin - 35 growth to 3.5 of PK-12
  population from 1997-98 to 1999-00
• Reading 42 of total ELLs assessed,
• of those 16.1 scored proficient or advanced
• OELA Summary Report A. Kindler

4
ELL Achievement

• ELLs are 3 times more likely to be low achievers
• 30 of ELLs were retained at least one grade
  (compared to 17 of native speakers)
• 1/3 of Hispanics and 2/3 of immigrant students
  drop out of school

5
What have Teachers asked for in ELL training?

• How to adapt content instruction to meet ELLs
  needs without having to prepare a separate lesson
• How to know what an ELL should be expected to do
  depending on his English LP, literacy level, and
  prior schooling
• More cultural information
• More planning time

6
Language Acquisition for School

• Language
• Development
• Social and
• Cultural Processes
• Cognitive Academic
• Development Development
• Collier 1994

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A Moving Target

• When native English speakers come to
  kindergarten, they already have acquired a great
  deal of proficiency in English (vocabulary,
  grammar, social rules of language, etc.)
• English Language Learners need time (after
  entering school) to reach the level of language
  proficiency that native English speakers had when
  they began school.
• While ELLs are developing their English, native
  English speakers continue to increase their
  vocabularies and develop even more sophisticated
  language skills. They are a moving target.

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Social Versus Academic Language

• Social Language Academic Language
• Simpler language (shorter Technical
  vocabulary written material has
• sentences, simpler longer sentences and more
  complex
• vocabulary and grammar) grammar
• Usually face-to-face, small Often
  lecture-style communication
• number of people, informal or reading a
  textbook little situational
• settings context
• Precise understanding is Precise
  understanding and precise
• seldom required description/explanation is
  required
• higher-order thinking
• Usually simpler, familiar topics New and more
  difficult to understand
• (movies, friends, daily life) topics,
  knowledge is often abstract
• cognitively complex student often has
• less background knowledge to build on
• Get many clues from expressions, gestures Fewer
  clues, most clues are language clues
• social context such as further explanation
• Many opportunities to clarify (look
  puzzled, More difficult to clarify
• ask questions, etc.)

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Length of Time Required to Achieve
Age-Appropriate Levels of Social and Academic
Language Proficiency Collier

• Native English Speakers - - - - - - - - -
• ESL Learners __________
• Level of
• Proficiency

Academic Language
Social Language
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A Challenge

• Teachers can look for ways to enrich, add to, and
  accelerate ELLs language development within the
  curriculum and commonly-used instructional
  activities.

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Limited English Proficient Students in Public
Schools

• have varied levels of language proficiency in
  English
• have varied levels of language proficiency in
  their home languages
• have varied ranges of educational experiences
• may be in the process of acquiring oral language
  while also developing other language skills such
  as reading
• may not have native literacy skills to transfer
  concepts or strategies about reading to the
  second language
• who do have first language reading skills may not
  know how to transfer skills to the second
  language without specific instruction
• who are literate in their first language may
  short circuit or revert back to poor reading
  strategies

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Reading Program Models

• Top Down Reading Models
• Begin with the readers hypothesis and
  predictions about text and his or her attempts to
  confirm them by working down to the smallest
  units of printed text
• Bottom Up Reading Models
• Decode individual linguistic units on the printed
  page work up from smaller to larger units to
  obtain meaning and modify prior knowledge

13
Teach the Text Backwards

• Read the text
• Answer the questions
• Discuss the material
• Do the applications/expansions

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Lesson Modification

• Increase Comprehensibility using Teach the Text
  Backwards
• Do Applications relevance, prior knowledge
• Discuss Main Pointsorally, visuals, hands on
• Examine Study Questions key concepts
• Read Text make manageable for ELLs
• Increase Interaction
• Increase Thinking Skills

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Expectations ofClassroom Instruction

• 1. Instruction should be comprehensible to all
  learners
• 2. Learning should be interactive
• 3. Instruction should be cognitively challenging
• 4. Instruction should connect school to students
  lives and promote cross-cultural understanding
• 5. Instruction should develop language and
  literacy across the curriculum
• 6. The goal of instruction should be achievement
  of academic standards by all students

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Three Principles Which Help ELLs Succeed in School

• Increase Comprehensibility
• Increase Interaction
• Increase Thinking Skills

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Why Integrate Language and Content Instruction?

• 1. Allows access to the mainstream curriculum
• 2. Academic language must be learned in
  academic courses
• 3. Promotes students cognitive development
• 4. Motivating
• 5. Its a great way to learn a language
• 6. Other reasons?

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Skills Employers Want

• Basic Skills
• Thinking Skills
• Personal Qualities
• Organizing, planning
• Working on teams
• Gathering information
• Understanding systems
• Selecting and using Technology