Three Foundational, Research-Based

Issues in ELL Instruction

Issues to Guide our Instruction for ELL Academic SuccessPresented by Marcia Gaudet • ELL Instructional Coach

I

Our Objectives today:

Our Content Objective today:I can identify three foundational issues in ELL instruction that have been identified in research.

Our Language Objective today:Pre: I will identify and describe concerns I have with instruction for ELL students by thinking, writing down, and discussing these with a partner.

Post: At the end of our time together today I will identify which issue category one concern fit under, discuss with a partner one idea on how to support and deal with this concern, and write it on an exit card.

What are three foundational issues in ELL?

1. Acculturation

2. Language Acquisition

3. Classroom Instruction that Works

Stephen Krashen’s 5-pronged theory of Language Aquisition1. Language acquisition is a subconscious and intuitive process much like how children pick up their first language.

2. The monitor: If students learn language through rules rather than naturally fluency will be delayed.

3. The natural order of acquisition: ELs will first acquire that which has the most meaning, form comes later.

4. Providing comprehensible input – to acquire language.

5. The affective filter: a cognitive shut-down if anxious.

What challenges are we facing?

No prior literacy

Literacy in L1

Literacy + study of English

Sociolinguistic DevelopmentLevel 6

Advanced Fluency Abstract language more accessible May need help with college essays

Level 5

Advanced Fluency 5 – 7 years Decontextualized, abstract vocab

SD Exits ELs

Level 4 4.8 Composite

Intermediate Fluency 3 - 5 years 12,000 receptive words 4.0 Read/Write

3 - 5 years to attain

Level 3 Often quiet, don’t

Speech Emergence: 1 - 3 years 7,000 receptive words ask questions

2-3 years to attain

Level 2 1,000 receptive words

Early Production: 6 months to 1 year

Level 1

Pre-Production: 0-6 months 1-2 receptive words

Note: In America 6 year olds in English speaking homes have 10,000 to 24,000 words of English in 1st grade when learning to read.

Stage CharacteristicsThe student…

Approx.Time

Teacher prompt

Level 1Preproduction

•Has minimal comprehension•Does not verbalize•Nods “yes” and “No.”•Draws and points

0 – 6 months

•Show me…•Circle the…•Where is…?•Who has…?

Level 2Early Production

•Has limited comprehension•Produces one or two word responses.•Uses key words and familiar phrases.•Uses present-tense verbs.

6 months to 1 year

•Yes/no questions•Either/or questions•Who…..?•What…?•How many….?

Level 3Speech Emergence

•Has good comprehension•Can produce simple sentences•Makes grammar and pronunciation errors•Frequently misunderstands jokes

1 – 3 years

•Why…?•How…?•Explain…•Questions requiring phrase or short-sentence answers.

Level 4Intermediate Fluency

•Has excellent comprehension•Makes few grammatical errors

3 -5 years

•What would happen if…?•Why do you think…?•Questions requiring more than a sentence response

•(

Age & Rate of Acquisition of Academic

LanguagePrior Academic Experience

Age on Arrival

Years needed in School to Acquire CALP

Students with literacy in the backgrounds

5-7 year oldsMay take 5-8 years

8-11 year old May take 4-5 years

12 years & older

May not catch up in 5 years.

Students without literacy in their backgrounds

Academic English takes 9-13 years to develop native speaker standards.

How we serve ELLs in the SFSD

Level 4,5, & 6 ELL

Regular Content & Classrooms

Level 2 & 3 ELL

Regular Classrooms & Content

Level 1 ELL

Immersion

Centers

Elem – Pull-out/Push-in

MS,HS - Sheltered

SFSD Serving 1800+ ELLs

270 Level 1 Immersion Programs

1300 + 2s & 3s

S.I.O.P. training is coming!

BICS & CALP

BICS - basic interpersonal communication skills (social language)– 1 to 2 years to acquire, context embedded

CALP - cognitive academic language proficiency (academic language)– 5 to 7 years, context reduced

To facilitate language learning we must re-embed lessons in context and make the language accessible and comprehensible to all our learners.

Examples of BICS & CALP

BICS…Social LanguageListening: Follows general classroom directions

Speaking: Converses easily about social situations with peers and teachers. May speak English without an accent.

Reading: may decode reading material with ease, but may not comprehend what is read.

Writing: Can fill out school forms. Can find and copy the answers to questions in textbooks.

CALP…Academic English

Listening: Can follow specific directions for academic tasks.

Speaking: Expresses reasons for opinions. Asks for clarification during academic tasks.

Reading: Reads academic materials with good comprehension.

Writing: Can write an essay supporting a point of view.

Nurture Ways we are less like people

IndividualUnique

Experiences,

Insights, reflections

ACCULTURATION

The adaptation to a new

Culture: language, etc.

ENCULTURATIONHow we learn to interpret the world-culture of caregivers:

language, beliefs, tastes, humor, behavior, etc.

THE BASICS OF BEING HUMANThings all are born with: Sensory abilities, linguistic wiring, genetic &

biological heritage, innate abilities, etc.

Ways we are less like people.

Ways we are more like people.

Acculturation - the process of adaptation and integration into a new cultural environment

(Collier).

OR – the chaos of moving…

between cultures!

Home culture….School culture 3rd Culture Kids!

The Transition Experience

Settled

Engagement

CommitmentStatusIntimacy

Settled

Re-Engagement

CommitmentStatusIntimacy

Leavin

g

TransitionEntering

Unsett

ling

Chaos

ResettlingPreparationCelebrationDenial

StatuslesnessAnxiety

ObservationIntroductionVulnerability

Unpacking your mind

Lasts about 1 year

The better youleave the betteryou enter.

Everyone goes through acculturation when they move – whether it is someone moving from the US to another country

or from another country to the US!

Cycle of Culture ShockCycle of Culture Shock

Adjustment/Recovery Basic needs met & routine

established Improvement in transition

language skills More positive experiences with

new culture. May experience stress in ‘home’

culture.

Mental Isolation Misses ‘home’ culture. Feels like outsider in new. May limit or avoid all contact

with new culture. Spends more or all of one’s time

with own cultural group.

Fascination Finds the new interesting and

exciting. Listens to the new sounds,

intonations, and rhythms of the new language.

Tries doing/saying things in the new culture/language that are interesting.

Tries out new activities, words and attitudes with a lot of enthusiasm.

Disenchantment Encounters Problems.

-At First: Basic Needs.

-Later: More Complex problems.

Misunderstandings Related to language, customs, mannerisms occur.

Cognition & Culture

The concept of things that particular people use as models of perceiving, relating, and interpreting their environment.

The process by which individuals perceive, relate to, and interpret their environment.

Therefore: Any effort to assess or provide intervention with cognitive development

must be done within the cultural context.

Acculturation - the process of adaptation and integration into a new cultural environment

(Collier).

ELL students go through many phases of development as they are with us…

Looking at these phases and the reasons for them can help us to better understand & accommodate for the needs created by these factors.

Take a minute and share with a partner, an experience you have personally had as a new person in a new culture: a new food you have tried, a lesson learned the hard way, a wrong assumption you made, etc.

Common Side Effects of Acculturation Process

Heightened Anxiety

Confusion in Locus of Control

Withdrawal

Silence/unresponsiveness

Response Fatigue

Code-switching

Distractibility

Resistance to Change

Disorientation

Stress Related Behaviors

Acculturation can also be referred to as Culture Shock

These are NORMAL side effects of acculturation NOT indications of disabilities.

The appropriate intervention for these is to ‘treat’ the impact of culture shock, which is not a disability.

Terms you will hear… ELL - English Language Learner LEP - Limited English Proficiency ESL - English as a second language ENL - English as a new languageTESOL - Teachers of English to

speakers of other languages

Who are ELLs?

Who are ELL students in South Dakota?– Refugee students - placed through the UN & Secondary refugee students (no financial help)– Students who are immigrating on other types of

visas: Ethiopia - Diversity visa, Mexico, etc.– Students born in the USA whose home language

is other than English– International students who have been adopted!– Students who are children of visiting

professionals and higher ed students (studying at Augustana, etc.)

Where do ELLs come from?

In the SFSD there are over 50 language groups

There is no Me without You - by Melissa Greene - Crisis in Ethiopia

At the Immersion Center we are now seeing students from:

• Iraq, Yemen (Arabic)• Somalia,Kenya,Tanzania,

Congo,Ethiopia, Burundi • Burma, Thailand• Mexico, Guatemala

What do teachers need to know to be effective with ELLs?

1. If teachers speak English, they have what students need!

• Speak clearly, not too fast, explain idioms

2. Hands on learning, visuals, props, etc. • Marzano’s Nonlinguistic Representation, context embedded

3. Remember 90%+ of communication with ELL’s is nonverbal - they see & feel everything! • They need to feel safe and that they belong in order for their brains to learn.

Classroom Instructional Resources

Marzano’s Classroom Instruction that Works with ELLs

Marzano’s Building Background Knowledge

SIOP is coming!

SIOP!

Sheltered Instructional Observation Protocol • Lesson Preparation

• Building Background

• Comprehensible Input

• Strategies

• Interaction

• Practice/Appliction

• Lesson Delivery

•

Sheltered Instructional Observation ProtocolS.I.O.P. – 8 Components, 30 Features

Lesson Preparation

Building Background

Comprehensible Input

Strategies

Interaction

Practice/Application

Lesson Delivery

Review/Assessment

Comprehensible Input:Nonlinguistic

RepresentationWords alone cannot convey meaning to ELLs.

Nonlinguistic representation help ELLs.

Nonlinguistic representations include real objects, pictures, pictorgraphs, diagrams, physical models, video clips, recorded sounds, gestures, and movement.

Seeing is remembering.

Maisha ya kipepeo

Demale anajaalia ya wazima kwamba alikuwa yai mbolea na wa kiume. Hatches ya yai katika vidogo larba.Ya larva anakula na kukua kiasi kubwa. The larva inaona yenyewe na aina twig na nje ngumu shell. A kikamilifu-grown wazima kipepeo anaibuka kutoka chrysalis. Wazima kuishi kwa muda mfupi tu. Wao hawawezi kula; wao kunywa tu kupitia stra yao kama cirkel proboscis. Watakuwa kuruka, mate, na kuzaliana.

Kipepeo LifecycleMetamorphosis ya Butterfly ya Rouanez

wote yai

yai

Watu wazima wa kike aliandika kwamba alikuwa yai fertilzed na wa kiume

Yai hatches katika larva vidogo (kiwavi)

kiwavi ya kula na kukua kiasi kubwa

kiwavi ya kujishikiza jani la na aina ngumu nje shell

Kijani Pupa

A butterfly kikamilifu mzima anaibuka kutoka chrystalis ya

Ndani ya Chrysalis mabadiliko ya kiwavi katika kipepeo

Watu wazima kuishi kwa muda mfupi tu

Marzano’s 6 Steps for Effective Vocabulary Instruction:

 1. The teacher provides a description, explanation, or example of the new term. Research shows that just giving students a definition does not “appear to be a useful instructional tool, particularly in the initial stages of learning a new word.” Therefore, the teacher uses conversational descriptions, explanations, and examples when talking about the word with students.

Question: What does this look like with ELL students? • Talk with an elbow partner

Marzano’s 6 Steps for Effective Vocabulary Instruction:

1. The teacher provides a description, explanation, or example of the new term.

2. Students restate the explanation of the new term in their own words.

3. Students create a nonlinguistic representation of the term.

4. Students periodically do activities that help them add to their knowledge of vocabulary terms.

5. Periodically students are asked to discuss the terms with one another.

6. Periodically students are involved in games that allow them to play with the terms.

Resources Available to teachers…

Acculturation: – ELL Teachers - ELL Working Files

– Home School Liaisons

Language Acquisition– WIDA Website; Can Do Descriptors

– Teacher & Parent ACCESS Reports

Classroom Instruction that Works – Document Library – ELL Handbook

– Instructional Resources Wikki-ELL: SIOP

What are three foundational issues in ELL?

1. Acculturation

2. Language Acquisition

3. Classroom Instruction that Works

Our Objectives today:

Our Content Objective today:I can identify three foundational issues in ELL instruction that have been identified in research.

Our Language Objective today:Pre: I will identify and describe concerns I have with instruction for ELL students by thinking, writing down, and discussing these with a partner.

Post: At the end of our time together today I will identify which issue category one concern fit under, discuss with a partner one idea on how to support and deal with this concern, and write it on an exit card.