Throughout this chapter I felt very suppressed and almost caged in. I correspond these themes with the reading because the means of measuring a student’s growth in language acquisition occurs in a variety of levels and dimensions; however, these dimensions are not measured with standardized test. As Valdes et. al discuss in chapter five, “L2 development is not a rapid process in children, it does not move to grammatical accuracy, and it is directly dependent on the eyes (or ears) of the beholder”(p.169). This passage spoke to me because it is a subjective world and one teacher may see great growth but another educator may look at the same data and not see any growth. I feel like there is such a disadvantage to ELL students. The picture I illustrated came out of the passage above. I utilized color and symbols to tell my story. An eye and an ear are represented in reference to the quote from Valdez et. al above, because they are the means of obtaining information for an ELL student and the means of which to be judged by educators. The eye is green to represent the freshness and growth of the ELL learner of his or her L2. The ear is blue to represent trust and wisdom. Trust in those educating the ELL student in their new language and wisdom because the ELL student will attempt to acquire new knowledge. The chain the center represents all that holds back an ELL student, standardized assessment, social injustice, lack of confidence and a range of other factors that create a “high affective filter.” It is colored in purple because ultimately the chain possesses power of the learner and leads to his or her own success or failure in language acquisition and eventually school over all. The text in the illustration speaks to the binding nature of standardized tests to ELL student success and will in due course lead to the breaking of our students. What can we do to break the chain and allow our students to be successful?
I truly appreciate your intuitive and in depth drawing and the symbolism behind each item and the colors used. Very Creative! I think ELL students should be held accountable for their standardized test scores at a point in their schooling when they have demonstrated their English proficiency. I know many school districts wait three years before they are deemed to have enough time to become proficient in English, which I think is just not enough time. How can they put a time frame on a student’s foreign language accusation? With that said, I think that they should still take the tests, but not have it count against their grades or their ability to graduate, and take it in a separate, less strenuous environment, just for the purpose of having exposure to what their peers are participating in.
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