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English Language Learners: How Do They Acquire Literacy Skills

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Title: English Language Learners: How Do They Acquire Literacy Skills


1
English Language Learners How Do They Acquire
Literacy Skills?
  • Andrea Honigsfeld, Ed.D.
  • ahonigsfeld_at_molloy.edu
  • Molloy College

2
The Many Strands that are Woven into Skilled
Reading (Scarborough, 2001)
Source Neuman, Susan B. and Dickinson, David K.,
Handbook of Early Literacy Research
Reading is a multifaceted skill, gradually
acquired over years of instruction and practice.
3
Children with reading difficulties
Children from diverse backgrounds
Children from low-income backgrounds
Lesaux (2006)
4
What do teachers need to work effectively with
ELLs? (Rojas, 2001)
5
Krashen's Theories of Second Language Acquisition
  • Natural order hypothesis
  • Input hypothesis
  • Affective filter hypothesis

6
Stages of Second Language Acquisition
7
Cummins Theories of Second Language Acquisition
BICS vs CALP
  • Takes 5-7 years
  • Specific vocabulary
  • Complex sentence structure
  • Higher level thinking skills
  • School language
  • Takes up to 2 years
  • Face-to-face communication
  • Survival English
  • Playground language

8
Factors resulting in individual variances
  • Motivation (Extrinsic and Intrinsic)
  • First Language Development
  • Prior Schooling
  • Language Distance and Attitude
  • Access to the Target Language
  • Age
  • Personality and Learning Style
  • Peers and Role Models
  • Quality of Instruction
  • Cultural Background
  • Others
  • Adapted from Using the SIOP Model (2002). Center
    for Applied Linguistics.

9
Normal processes of second-language acquisition
  • Language Interference or Transfer
  • Silent Period
  • Code-switching
  • Language Loss
  • Dysfluency (associated with lack of vocabulary,
    word finding difficulties and/or anxiety)
  • Fossilization

10
Four Corners Activity
  • Good teaching is good teaching.
  • Agree, Strongly Agree, Disagree, Strongly
    Disagree
  • Literacy instruction for ELLs should mirror
    literacy instruction for native English speakers
  • Agree, Strongly Agree, Disagree, Strongly
    Disagree

11
Essential Components of Reading
  • National Reading Panel
  • Phonemic Awareness
  • Phonics
  • Fluency
  • Vocabulary development
  • Text comprehension

http//www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publicat
ions/reading_first1.html
12
A Cautionary Tale
  • What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading
    to English Language Learners?
  • By Suzanne Irujo (2007)

13
CAUTION Phonological Awareness for ELLs
  • 1. ELLs cannot develop phonological awareness in
    English until they are familiar with the sounds
    of English.
  • 2. Once explicit instruction has begun,
    modifications must be made to allow for more
    practice with sounds that can potentially cause
    confusion.

14
CAUTION Phonics for ELLs
  • ELLs often have difficulty discriminating between
    similar sounds because the English language does
    not have a regular system of correspondence
    between letters and sounds.
  • Advanced decoding skills may develop, while
    reading comprehension will not if students' oral
    language proficiency is not developed to the
    level of the texts they are expected to read. For
    this reason, reading instruction should be
    combined with intensive development of the oral
    language.
  • Practicing skills must be embedded in meaningful
    texts helps ensure that decoding skills don't
    progress beyond students' ability to comprehend
    the text.

15
CAUTION Fluency for ELLs
  • ELLs cannot achieve fluency in oral reading
    before they have achieved fluency in
    speaking.Students' own language experience
    stories are a very good choice, as are
    read-alouds that students have heard several
    times and discussed.
  • ELLs' normal self-consciousness about accents and
    errors can affect their reading fluency,
    especially if they are asked to read aloud in
    front of the entire class.
  • Decoding skills, fluency in oral reading, and
    reading comprehension interact in various
    ways.Effective instruction for ELLs integrates
    these three elements of reading (plus vocabulary
    learning) into the same lessons using the same
    text, as each element helps build and reinforce
    the others, producing a multiplier effect.

16
CAUTION Vocabulary for ELLs
  • 1. Failure to understand even a few words of a
    text can have negative effects on comprehension.
  • 2. ELLs need more vocabulary instruction than
    their native-speaking peers.
  • 3. ELLs need instruction in different vocabulary
    words than their native-speaking peers.
  • 4. ELLs need different vocabulary teaching
    techniques and strategies than their
    native-speaking peers.

17
CAUTION Vocabulary for ELLs
  • What ELLs need
  • words that are crucial for understanding a text
  • words that are encountered in a wide variety of
    contexts
  • frequently used words that contain word parts
    (roots, prefixes, suffixes) that can help
    students analyze other unknown words
  • words with multiple meanings, whether spelled
    differently (homophones such as to, two, and too)
    or spelled the same (such as a dining room table
    and a multiplication table)
  • figurative language and idiomatic expressions
  • academic words that indicate relationships among
    other words (such as because, therefore, and
    since to indicate cause and effect).

18
Vocabulary What ELLs Need
  • Avoid simply handing out lists of definitions or
    asking ELLs to put the words into sentences
  • ELLs who are literate in a language should be
    taught to recognize cognates and use them to
    create meaning.
  • The meanings of words are acquired through
    multiple opportunities to hear, say, read, and
    write the words in slightly different meaningful
    contexts.
  • Explicit explanations of unknown words should
    include contextual support through real objects,
    pictures or drawings, gestures, examples,
    demonstrations, or experiments that accompany the
    verbal explanations.
  • The use of context clues to infer meaning is not
    always successful with ELLs because they may not
    understand the context well enough to infer an
    accurate meaning.

19
What might beginner ELLs understand?
  • ___________ cars are _____ __ ___ top __ ___
    first ____ __ _ _____. ____ ______ _____ ___ car
    ___ ___ ____ __ ___ ____. ___ ______ down ___
    first ____ ______ __ ______ _____ ___ ___ cars __
    ___ __ ___ ____ ____ ___ __ __ _____ ___ end ___
    ___ ____.

20
What Might Intermediate ELLs Understand in
English?
  • Roller-coaster cars ___ ______ __ ___ top of the
    first hill ___ _ _____. Then _______ moves the
    car for the rest of the ____. The _____ down the
    first hill ______ __ enough speed for the cars __
    ___ __ the next hill ___ ___ __ _____ the end of
    the ____.

21
What Might Advanced ELLs Understand in English?
  • Roller-coaster cars ___ pulled ___ the top of
    the first hill ___ a chain. Then gravity moves
    the car for the rest of the ride. The _____ down
    the first hill _____ __ enough speed ___ the cars
    to ___ __ the next hill and __ __ until the end
    of the ride.

22
CAUTION Reading Comprehension for ELLs
  • Asking ELLs to read the same texts and do the
    same activities as everybody else will only
    result in frustration for teachers and failure
    for students.
  • Implement the curriculum at a language level that
    makes it accessible to ELLs, while at the same
    time working to develop their oral language so
    they will be able to comprehend texts at higher
    levels.
  • Provide as much nonverbal support for reading
    comprehension as possible, including pictures,
    diagrams, real objects, gestures, acting, and
    graphic organizers.
  • Explicitly teach comprehension strategies, such
    as reader-generated questions, summarizing, and
    monitoring comprehension. Teaching strategies is
    not enough students must practice them with
    texts that are accessible at their level of
    language proficiency. If students don't
    experience successful application of the
    strategies, they won't even try to use them with
    other texts.
  • Plan interactive activities around reading and
    interpreting texts.

23
CAUTION Reading Comprehension for ELLs
  • ELLs are more likely than native speakers to lack
    the background knowledge necessary for
    understanding texts.
  • The language level of the text to be read,
    compared with ELLs' language proficiency, is a
    major factor in how much they will understand of
    the text.Even advanced ELLs will experience
    difficulty with unusual vocabulary, figurative
    language, very complex sentence structures, or
    unfamiliar styles and genres. For this reason,
    the integration of intensive language development
    with reading instruction is highly recommended
    for ELLs at all levels of language proficiency.

24
Summary of Key Issues
  • Research on ELLs and literacy
  • Second language acquisition and multiliteracy
    development
  • Cultural, socio-economic, affective, and
    academic challenges ELLs face
  • Meaning at the CENTER of all literacy instruction
  • Differentiated instruction for all ELLs
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