ESOL English for Speakers of Other Languages

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ESOLEnglish for Speakers of Other Languages

• Nancy Urnes- Coordinator
• Jill Morey ESOL Teacher, PNH

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Terms

• ELL English Language Learner
• ESOL English for Speakers of Other Languages
• LEP Limited English Proficient/Proficiency
• LAS Language Assessment Scales (Beginning,
  Early Intermediate, Intermediate, Proficient,
  Above Proficient)

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What do I already know?

• Note card Activity
• 1. What do I know about ESOL/ELLs?
• 2. I want/need to learn more about.
• 3. I hope you can help me to..

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Parkways ESOLPopulation

• K-12 700 students
• K-1 stay at their home schools and receive
  services from traveling teachers
• Center Schools 4 Elementary (Carman Trails,
  Green Trails, Craig and Ross)
• Middle (Central Middle, NEM 07-08)
• High School (Central High and North High starting
  in 2009 Levels 0-3/4, then Monitor 1 and 2
• Our students come from over 50 countries and
  speak more than 40 languages

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Why do we have ESOL

• 2000 With No Child Left Behind, the federal
  government mandated accountability for various
  sub-groups.
• ELLs are one of these groups. Each district
  must provide services for ELLs districts report
  to the state, and then the state reports to the
  federal government. There is federal money
  (Title III) available to help fund this program.

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A typical Parkway ELL

• No such thing!
• Temporary resident/refugee and/or immigrant
  (privacy laws).
• Employment / education of parents
• Educated background / background of extreme
  poverty education interrupted or never formally
  begun (Sanel)
• While proficiency can take time, younger students
  can acquire language quite quickly
• Usually 7-9 years to reach fluencywe tend to get
  them in the 2nd-5th year

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Role of ESOL teacher at Parkway North

• Many hats
• Flexible push in/pull out/sheltered instruction
• Working with problem areas and scaffolding
  student learning in each class in which they need
  help.
• Parent liaison
• Teacher Resource for assistance with ELLs

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Cultural Shift from native culture to Parkway.

• and US public education!
• The US system is different than most other
  countriesteacher/student interaction more formal
  in other countries (examples?)
• Students stand when teacher comes in, sit when
  teacher says sit. How can that confuse an ELL?
  How can that confuse a teacher at North?
• Teacher last name v. Teacher
• Dress
• Passive v. active learning culture (teacher is
  center of all knowledge in many cultures)

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Reminders when speaking to a family of
non-nativespeakers

• Speak more slowly, not more loudly ?
• Tone and facial expression are very important to
  consider (the student needs to read all of these
  signals and understand what you are saying. It
  can be very confusing)
• Limit slang (or be ready to explain it)
• Limit idioms (or be ready to explain them)
• Use simple language without being condescending
• Ask family if they have questions. They may not
  feel comfortable initiating a question.

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ELLs at Home

• Students play many roles for their families and
  are sometimes under a lot of pressure outside of
  school to care for family and take on a more
  parental role.
• It is important that students maintain their
  native language at home communicating on a deep
  level with parents is absolutely essential.
• Current research (Dr. Patricia Kuhl at the
  University of Washington) is proving that a
  multi-lingual upbringing is an asset to the
  intelligence of the child, especially in the area
  of mental dexterity.

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ELLS in the US population

• As of 2000, ELLs were the fastest- growing
  segment of the school-age population in the US.
• 1 in 4 students are LEP(ELL) in many areas
• 95 of students are LEP(ELL) in some areas
• The ideal program supports SLA all day long with
  a variety of methods no relegating to corner!
• Law, Barbara and Mary Eckes. The More Than Just
  Surviving Handbook ESL for Every Classroom
  Teacher. 2000. Winnipeg. Portage and Main Press.

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Strategies for teaching ELLs

• Empathize
• Foster a sense of belonging
• Slow your rate of speech
• Use visuals whenever possible
• Honor a silent period
• Teach (Pre-teach) key words (website resources)
• Value bilingualism

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Culture Shock

• Dont forget about culture shock in its many
  forms.
• Euphoria of something new (honeymoon)
• Exhaustion at having to figure things out all the
  time (honeymoon is over)
• Withdrawal and silence (normal and necessary for
  some)
• Frustration, depression, confusion
• Gradual acceptance, assimilation
• Reverse culture shock

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Language Services what does that mean?

• Sometimes parents of ELLs mistake language
  services for SSD, or students are placed in
  remedial classes solely based on their English
  language ability. There can be a stigma attached
  based on cultural values.
• Self-Esteem
• Bilingual resources can help students understand
  the content of classes while providing a bridge
  to help close the language barrier gap.
• ESOL teachers will assist students in improving
  their reading and writing skills in English
• Language skills transfer from one language to
  another.

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Second Language Development or SLA

• Early Child Education Brief
• 10 Essential Findings
• 10-15 minutes in subject area groups
• Each group will teach the rest of the groups 2 of
  the Essential Findings see if you can think of
  specifics from your experience to support the
  findings. Do the findings raise other issues?

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ESOL Levels

• TESOL has developed a standard of ELL/ESOL levels
• They range from level 1 (beginning) to level 5
  (Advanced)
• Handout Placement issues for upcoming year.
  Please be vocal about how ELLs are doing in your
  classroom. We want to be sure they are correctly
  placed with appropriate support.

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Diversity is the one true thing that we have in
common. Celebrate it everyday. -anonymous

• -Embrace and highlight the ethnic diversity in
  your classroom with flags, bulletin boards,
  guest-speakers ex. Green Trails clocks,
  Thanksgiving Feast, Spring International
  Festival
• -Culturegrams Website
• -Student initiated projects

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Culture quiz.

• http//www.eslcafe.com/quiz/world1.html

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Top Ten Tips

• Here are some more tips (handout)
• What have you done that has worked for your
  students in the past?
• Lets share ideas! Butcher paper reporters for
  each subject area

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Scaffolding Writing

• Example of all of the resources out there to help
  us. We are not alone!

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Final thoughts about ELLs

• Foster an appreciation for cultural diversity
• Be mindful of the difference in social language
  and academic language
• Learn as much as you can about your ELLs first
  language

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Additional Support

• ESOL Website for North
• Subject Specific Website links
• Strategies for working with ELLs
• Updated Resources in library for teachers and
  students
• Ongoing discussion and meetings all year.

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Questions???

• Contact Jill Morey or any of the counselors in
  the guidance office.
• For a list of the names and extensions of the
  ESOL teachers in Parkway, go to the Curriculum
  and Development website and click on the ESOL
  department website
• Thank you and have a great year!!!

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Across Cultures

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vNMHJszvPmzs
  Japanese Game Show
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vNMHJszvPmzs
  James Blunt
• http//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/314033542
  7200009 El Salvadorian family