Methods of Teaching English to ELLs

The first image I drew is of a mind map that depicts the methods that the tutors in the One-on-One English program used in order to keep their English Language Learners actively engaged in what they were learning. Throughout the reading I ran into passages such as these two that depicted the means by which the volunteers kept the ELLs engaged: “volunteers would engage their young “English buddies” by interacting with them around colorful books and by telling stories using pictures” (Valdès, 2010, p. 70). Another passage that depicts the methods volunteers used to engage the ELLs was: “The volunteers would be trying hard to keep children interested in the colorful books they had selected to use with their young buddies. They would exaggerate, repeat, and pantomime. Some would walk outside with their child and talk about playground equipment, arriving school busses, and the activities of other youngsters preparing to go home” (Valdès, 2010, p. 46). It seems to me that the volunteers had a large bag of tricks in order to keep their “English buddies” actively engaged. The pairs would not just stay inside of four walls (which the kids probably were in all day), but they would go outside and learn while enjoying themselves.
Another passage that caught my attention was when the authors said “it was not unusual to see these volunteers’ dyads crawling on the floor to make meaning evident to their buddies, or by making flying motions pretending to be birds” (Valdès, 2010, p. 71). While my picture of the male teacher dressed as a woman is a stretch from crawling and making flying motions, I believe it is still relevant to the extremes teachers and tutors should go to keep their students actively engaged. ELL students have a hard enough time understanding what is being said to them, in order to help them comprehend, English speakers should use any means necessary, even dressing as the opposite gender.
My question I pose to you is, what other methods do you think would be applicable for teaching ELLs?

My experience teaching ELLs

Week: 3
Chapters 2 &3
Levi - Creative Connector

            The first connection I found between the reading (Chapters 2 and 3) and my life has to do with the speed at which children learn second languages.  Valdés et al. (2011) states "The expectation underlying the proposition [Proposition 227] was that students would acquire sufficient English to succeed in mainstream classes after one year, based on the assumption that children acquire second languages quickly and with ease." (p. 44).  While working at a preschool I interacted with a Turkish student ("M") who was a complete beginner in learning English.  Turkish was the language spoken at home and all of his friends spoke Turkish.  Throughout the school year we worked extensively with M to develop the language that would prepare him for Kindergarten.  At the end of the year M had learned very little "content language".  However, because M had friends that spoke Turkish he already had social skills.  This was a great advantage to his time at school.  M was able to quickly develop language to interact with the other students in order to express his self ("no", "me too", "my turn", "stop", etc.).  By the end of the year M was able to use short sentences when interacting with teachers and peers. 

            The use of books, games, and puzzles as a way to connect with students (Valdés et al. 2011) is my second point of connection.  When working with M I often used the same resources.  I would work on identifying furniture, vehicles, household objects, animals, colors, and numbers.  His favorite book, and the one he responded best to, was a Sesame Street book that had flaps that you would lift up to reveal an object (e.g., there was a picture of an apartment building; you would lift the flap that was a window in the building to find a picture of a shower).  This book used a lot of fun colorful pictures to help engage the learner.  It also used the flaps to create an added layer of fun.  M often took this book home to "read" with his parents.

            The last point of connection is not to myself, but to how I view our current level of understanding second language acquisition (SLA).  Valdés et al. (2011) provide a transcript of an interaction between one of the volunteers and Selena.  In this interaction the volunteer insists that Selena repeat everything the volunteer says in order for Selena to become and English speaker.  The repetitions are broken and disjointed, and it is obvious that Selena is not learning English from the volunteer.  I believe that our current system of education English language learners (ELLs) is as flawed as this volunteers ideas of how to teach Selena to speak English.  Repetition is important, but if you push the student to the point where they are completely lost and have no idea what they are uttering, you are not teaching that student anything.

            I do not know much about teaching ELLs or the process of SLA, but from the number of "failed" studies that have been conducted it is obvious that the process is very complex.  Many of the schools that have high percentages of ELLs are very low income schools.  Why has the government not put more money into providing these schools with the resources they need to best serve their students?  

Building Background Knowledge for Teachers of ELLs

While digesting chapters two and three, I was overwhelmed by the numerous connections that I have made thus far in terms of what I have and am learning in my courses as well as an ESL program through Mercy Bridges that I volunteer for, which almost exactly mimics the One-On-One study demonstrated in this book. As the rigorous researcher, I picked a few concepts to broaden background knowledge that would be essential for all teachers in relation to ELLs in their classroom.

The Structured English Immersion, (SEI) an assimilation approach, and Bilingual programs a pluralistic approach, which were described in the text are only two of the various types of implemented ESL classroom instruction. I further researched other popular ESL program models found in schools across America. All program models are either assimilative meaning, the ELL is mainstreamed into the dominant culture, or pluralistic where there is support in the minority language and culture to build self-esteem and achievement.

Language maintenance programs are pluralistic programs, which in short concepts are derived from L1 and transferred in L2 . Another ESL program model is Enrichment programs, which are pluralistic and encompass classrooms with both native speakers of English and ELLs 50% English 50% Language other than English (LOTE). Immersion programs umbrella Two Way, Enrichment, and English Immersion. Two way is a pluralistic approach and involves a gradual increase of English incorporated in the curriculum until 50% of instruction is English. Enrichment, a pluralistic approach. English is an assimilation approach. Focusing back to the programs used in the text SEI and the Bilingual approach, I believe they made the best choice in picking the Bilingual approach for their research because pluralistic models help with developing both L1 and L2, which is helpful for conversing at home and keeping their culture evidently existing in their life.

I also took note in the Design Research Experiment. As teachers, it is inevitable that we will be consciously and unconsciously researching and conducting experiments based on the situations that take place during the day. Some inquiries will last a day and others will exceed a school year of research. It is important for us as educators to be aware of the reliable research available to us so we can continue to best facilitate English language learning.

Exposing, Extracting, Engaging and Evaluating English

Ten words that describe this weeks reading of chapter 2 and 3 include; confusing, hypothesis, interaction, access, experiment, implementation, iterative, traditional, unfinished, and situational.

The classroom for an ELL student can be confusing because the student might be functioning in a class where he does not possess the background knowledge for the language, nor the key to unlocking it. Additionally, because this field is so vastly undiscovered one can be jumbled in the jargon.

Hypothesis fits with this week’s reading because, we explore research design, which was hypothesized around in it construction; but, also ELL students utilize tools of their L2 (Language 2) and try to hypothesize or make approximations in the language meanings.

Experiment; chapter two discussed the experimentation of a program, One-to-One English, in order to increase students’ exposure to English. Experiment connects to the ELL students needing to “try out” language and speaking to see what is acceptable and “correct” in this new language of English.

The need for the program, One-to-One English, came out of a lack of access of English to ELL students. With increased access comes an increase practice, which leads to increased mastery. Implementation connects because the goal was to increase exposure to the English language through speech, literature, and games.

Iterative or the idea of repeating to reach a goal, I believe fits agreeably because oral language is always changing with new slang, idioms, and context. Therefore, ELL students are continuously learning to develop automaticity; just as the One-to-One English program went through revisions to meet the needs of the students involved.

Traditional because the method classroom teachers’ implement for ELL students cannot be “traditional” even though volunteers in the program were conducting session in this manner. I used unfinished; since the study revile more in coming chapters and understanding ELL learning and teaching will continue to evolve.

Finally, situational because teaching is constantly changing—what works this week may not tomorrow. Conversation and language is as well because we have a purpose, an audience, and a mode of communicating; come may be more formal.

Now where do we start?

Essence Extractor

What Encompasses SLA

While reading the introduction and chapter one of Valdes, Capitelli, and Alvarez (2011), a significant amount of the information given ties nicely with what I have or am currently learning in my Teaching English as a Second language (TESOL) classes. As the "Idea Illustrator," I tried to take significant ideas addressed that reflect what those who are encountering the TESOL program would benefit from knowing as well as those who are unfamiliar with the program would benefit from as well.

The illustration attached represents an outdoor picture in a broader sense of different elements that encompass second language acquisition. Below is a brief description Second Language Acquisition elements and how it correlates with the image it is attached to.

The Supreme Court cases at the top of the picture represent the sky which is purposeful in the fact that it covers English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers and non ESL teachers. These court cases, among many others, are set in stone and cannot be removed just as the sky is always present the decisions of the cases are too.

Research and different methodology (clouds) are always coming and sometimes going such as the One-On-One method (seen in chapter one). The research and methods brings about a large variety of perspectives, approaches, debates and disagreements (rain).

Below the clouds is an umbrella. SLA is an umbrella of goals and hopeful outcomes that are "soaked" and reflected by everything illustrative above. These elements are influenced, selected and taught by teachers whose students are English Language Learners (ELL).

Lastly, at the bottom of the page, is an ELL and an English translation of her wants and needs. The fact is as stated on page 18, “ELLs can’t be made to wait to use the language until they’re like native speakers. They must learn through and with flawed English.”

How do we select or know what methods are beneficial to use if all ELLs in our classroom learn differently? 

Brain Drain and the English Language Learning Student

In my reading of Valdes, Capitelli, and Alvarez (2011), a lot was brought to my attention that I was unaware of in the education of children who do not speak English as their first language; more specifically Latino children. In the reading, I was met with ideas and terminology I was unfamiliar with; these terms include “brain drain and minority integration.” In order to better grasp the background knowledge of the reading and fully understand the purpose I must explore!

The first term I researched, was the idea of “brain drain” (Valdes et. al., 2011). Brain drain was discussed in the reading and I only know this as a term for a puzzle game—naturally in dug deeper. According to Anup Shah (2006), brain drain is the mass exodus of skilled or educated individuals out of a particular population. I assert the name comes from the draining of educated or “brainy” individuals leaving a less skilled or educated population.

I recall my brother discussing this about individuals who attend the University of Rochester for Medical School—very often individuals will obtain a intense education here and take it out of the area—the resource is then drained. This transitory nature makes it hard for population; and as Shah (2006) describes “compromise[s] the system’s knowledge, memory and culture (n. pag.).”

Another term discussed in Valdes et. al. (2011) reading was the idea of migration integration. I can infer that I would have something to do with assimilating new comers into a region or country; however, I wanted to know more. According to Spencer P. Boyer, minority integration is the host countries ability to accommodate the minority populations in order to establish correlation or parallel and eliminate otherness. By establishing connection, we can avoid bigger issues of human trafficking and xenophobia.

I feel I have a better understanding of the background of how bilingual and multi-linguistic student enter our classrooms. With this knowledge of brain drain and minority integration, I understand the trials students and their families face when entering a new country with a different language. We as educators need to look from our students perspectives and understand they may feel like outsiders not only in the classroom but in their neighborhood and community as well. We need to consider the open ended-ness of the question how would we feel if… [no one talks like me, looks like me, prays like me]…?

References:

Boyer, Spencer P. (April 16, 2009). Center for American Progress. In Learning from Each Other: The Integration of Immigrant and Minority Groups in the United States and Europe. Retrieved September 21, 2011, from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/04/immigrant_integration.html.

Shah, Anup. (April 14, 2006). Global Issues: Social, Political, Economic and Environmental Issues That Affect Us All. In Brain Drain of Workers from Poor to Rich Countries. Retrieved September 21, 2011, from http://www.globalissues.org/article/ 599/brain-drain-of-workers-from-poor-to-rich-countries.

10 words describing the issues of teaching ELLs

Week: 2
Introduction and Chapter 1
Levi -Discussion Director

The ten words that I think best capture the major themes of this section of the reading (Introduction and Chapter 1) are: controversial, insecure, trial and error, innate, divided, unresolved, adaptive, necessary, unfair, and obligatory.

The issue of teaching English language learners (ELLs) has been a controversial field from the beginning.  How best to teach these students has been an prevailing question in our educational system. The number of studies conducted on this important aspect of learning is surprisingly small.  Due to this small number of studies, the findings have provided educators win and insecure understanding of how to teach ELLs. The field has developed over time with a "trial and error" air present through its inconsistency.  What is important and fundamental in second language acquisition (SLA) has changed vastly since it became a field of interest.

Valdés et al. (2011) bring light to Chomsky's work stating that "children are able to acquire a first language only because they are born with an innate language mechanism that is independent of other cognitive mechanisms".  This idea has greatly contributed to the field of SLA.  However, researchers are divided on how this "innate language mechanism" influences SLA.  As a result of this divide and the unresolved nature of the findings of SLA research educators have had be become adaptive in the ways they teach their students.

With the large number of ELLs in our school system in is unfair to them that we do not know how best to teach them.  It is necessary that we continue our research of SLA in order to meet our role as educators for all students.  Especially with the recent shifts in achievement standards and standardized assessment as a result of No Child Left Behind, it is absolutely obligatory that we continue our research on SLA.  Otherwise, we will not be able to teach our ELLs "to the test" and provide them with the same "mile wide, inch deep" understanding of our current curriculum.

             

Why must ELLs take the same standardized tests and why are they graded with the same scale as the English speaking students?  Yes, I believe they should know, understand and be able to communicate about the topics assessed by these tests, but clearly they are at a disadvantage because our current educational techniques are not sufficiently meeting their needs.            

Connecting to Latino Children Learning English

The field of second language acquisition has developed immensely in the most recent decades. In 2011, Valdès, Capitelli and Alvarez concluded SLA was first established during and after World War II, “at the time when there was an increased interest for the defense community in the use of foreign languages in counterintelligence” (p. 18). The interest in using foreign languages in counterintelligence still occurs today, if not with more of an interest. When I was in the military I worked with many Naval and Marine Corps personnel that were linguists. They were valuable assets to our team and they were tasked with encoding and decoding material and oral communications. I will never forget when I was in our office in Iraq, an Iraqi man was talking to us on the phone but we could not understand him. A few minutes later a Marine with blond hair and blue eyes walked into my office and started speaking on the phone in Arabic! Afterwards, he said the military paid for him to go to school to learn Arabic and Farsi, the downfall of his skill was the high demand for him to constantly be deployed in dangerous areas.

In early 2002, the United States Federal Government has passed the No Child Left Behind Act, making schools and teachers accountable for their student’s English and math proficiency, as reflected on annual state tests. Valdès et al. (2011) argues the tests “unnecessary complexity leads ELL students to misinterpret and misunderstand test questions and is an additional source of measurement error” (p. 38). Not only does NCLB put English Language Learners at a disadvantage, but also students with disabilities are at a disadvantage. Both ELLs and student with Disabilities are required to meet unrealistic benchmarks, putting unnecessary pressure on the students.

According to Valdès et al. (2011) “linguistic hypersegregation is yet another challenge currently facing children of immigrants in American schools”. The authors go on to argue that in these settings students go to schools in underresourced schools (p.6). Growing up I lived in a neighborhood that was predominantly of Russian origin. The school I went to was one of the poorest schools in the district. We received very little money from school taxes compared to more affluent neighborhoods, and it was very evident, our supplies were outdated or did not work at all.

Diverse Life Experiences and Various Transformations

While reviewing and reflecting upon both of the Experience Surveys, my results weren't surprising. It was interesting for me to clearly see the amount of contact I've had with individuals with disabilities. One of my closest friends who is physically impaired went to the same house where I was babysat. Being friends with her beginning at such a young age made if very difficult to have any sort of judgmental or uncomfortable feelings towards her. We went to the same high school and our relationship remained the same in and outside of school. I often invited and took her to several social gatherings through my church. I can't ever remember a time where I felt uncomfortable with her she was someone I trusted and could talk to about anything.

As for the level of interaction in terms of diversity with other individuals my results were expected. When I was younger diverse interaction took place when I was with family members, at church, and at my elementary school where two of my classmates came from Haiti. English is the second language for my father and his entire side of the family so, I grew up around Ukrainian speakers. Often times I would attend a Ukrainian church near my home with family and go to Sunday school with peers who recently came to America from Ukraine. When I began college, I joined the international club and attended many events where I was the minority and often thought about how my friend with disabilities and my friends from different ethnic backgrounds may have felt in different situations. I now have a strong interest to peruse my student teaching in another country that I know very little about in hopes to have a stronger understanding of my ESL students someday and to further engage in my critical process of transforming myself, schools, and society towards social justice for multicultural education.

Diversity and Transformation of Self

Week:1
Reflection on diversity surveys and "Transformation of Self"
Levi

Growing up I was exposed to very little diversity.  I lived in a small farming town.  Most of my peers were lower middle class white Christians.  I never noticed discrimination or segregation of students based on ethnicity or disability, however economic status quickly created cliques that would remain until graduation.  I was exposed to people with disabilities when my mom began dating a man who had an intellectually disabled son, "B.".   I had never interacted with people with disabilities before meeting B. and was very insecure when I was around him.  However, after spending time with him, going with him to his Special Olympic practices, games and meets I began to feel more comfortable.  I soon began to help coach for Special Olympics (which I still do).  It was not until college that I came into contact with students with varying cultural and religious backgrounds, as well as members of the GLBTQ community.  Since I began working with students I have become increasingly aware of their vast diversity.  I believe that culturally it would be beneficial to recognize and introduce our children to the many different groups of people in their community; from those with psychological disorders, to people of different cultures and races, to people of different socioeconomic status.  Allowing our children the opportunity to know and be comfortable with people that are different from them would help our society as a whole to break down the walls separating the many diverse groups of people in the world.

           

I agree and support most of the ideas presented on "The Transformation of Self" sheet, especially the opening paragraph.  I do believe that educators must be in constant evaluation of themselves and their students in order to benefit all of their students.  However, I do not agree that the officials within our school system and our society have brainwashed us, which is was I believe the closing of this article is trying to convince the reader of.  I agree that "We must ask the unaskable questions" but I do not believe we are failing as a society to recognize what needs to be changed.  Change takes time, we know what needs to happen, we must stay on task and achieve our goals.

My Diversity and Experiences

Reflecting on the Personal Contact Inventory I was not surprised by the results. I was often in contact with individuals with disabilities because I grew up with a twin brother who was diagnosed with Attention Deficient Disorder. After his diagnosis my mother refused to send my brother to another school that was “better equipped to handle students like my brother”. My mother researched the laws and went in front of the Board of Education and argued for my brother to be accommodated in our current school. My mother was instrumental in having the first special education class implemented in our school.

Growing up we were in a rural community in Florida that was predominantly mono-cultural. After I graduated high school my cultural experiences changed drastically, I went from being in a mono-cultural community to being in an extremely diverse environment. For four years I was blessed with the opportunity to serve in the Untied States Navy. From the moment I stepped off the bus at boot camp I realized the community I was going to be in was extremely different from my town in Florida. During my four years in the military I was blessed with the opportunity to immerse myself into cultures that were entirely unlike the culture that I grew up in. I will always be appreciative for my experiences, because I have incorporated my knowledge and experiences into my lessons for my students, making them much more interesting.

I continue to use my experiences with special education and multi-culturalism to shape who I am as a person and as a teacher. As educators it our responsibility to consistently evaluate ourselves and teaching strategies, and to be open-minded to our students’ abilities and experiences. It is our responsibility to teach our students to have the same open-mindedness, one way to do this is to learn about our student’s culture and background so we can incorporate their experiences into our lessons. If we make that connect to our students it will gain their interest and make them want to learn and become more interactive in the classroom.

My Culture My Society My Outlook

I found the results for my Experience Surveys to be expected. I come from a culturally diverse nuclear and extended family; however, the cultures in my family do not intermingle as readily as one may assume. The survey was hard to complete because; my religious, school, and family are culturally diverse when combined—they are mono-cultural individually.

I do not find my experiences to be mono-cultural, in fact, I would argue that I have had a wholly multicultural experience and have widened mono-cultural experiences of others. I find the most growth in my survey of experience falls in my activities as a teenager and my current work experiences. In my teenage activities and my current work experience I have ventured outside can be called the “Hometown Bubble” into surrounding suburban areas and the City of Rochester.

In high school I did not fit in with my “mono-cultural peers” I found myself making acquaintances elsewhere. Similarly, with my work experience, I see a verity of faces with a verity of experiences but what connects, us at work, is helping individuals who are severely developmentally disabled.

This experience connects to my Contact Inventory because my passion for working with individuals with disabilities comes from my childhood experience. In 3^rd grade I met and became best friends with a classmate with "Spinabifida"—cognitively my best friend was my contemporary; however, physically she was severely disabled. Her passing troubled me for many years after, and I still miss my best friend; but it has broadened my experience. Now, I understand how disability does not mean one is unable; it simply means input and output for these students will be different.

I connect this reflection to the Transformation handout because I believe I represent already a lot of what is discussed. I connect most deeply to the ideas of my own identity affecting my students learning, needing curricula to be inclusive and diverse in presentation to students. I also see the necessity as social justice educators to challenging the status quo of our oppressive society.

The Transformation of Self

In our first posts we examination diversity in our lives and discuss the following text: