SERVICE DELIVERY TO ELL STUDENTS WITH LANGUAGE LEARNING DISABILITIES: PRACTICAL MATERIALS AND STRATEGIES

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SERVICE DELIVERY TO ELL STUDENTS WITH LANGUAGE
LEARNING DISABILITIES PRACTICAL MATERIALS AND
STRATEGIES

• Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin, Ph.D.
• Professor, California State University,
  Sacramento
• and
• Speech Pathologist, Elk Grove Unified School
  District
• Karen Oakley, M.S.
• Sacramento City Unified School District
• Crystal Schafer, M.S.
• Rio Linda Union School District

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These slides are also available at

• www.hhs.csus.edu/homepages/SPA/Roseberry
• Click on the link that says Bilingual Resources
• Follow this to the handout
• These slides will be posted as of Monday, April
  14
• If some slides look funky, it is because we took
  out all the pictures/graphicsthis will make the
  whole presentation much easier to download and
  print!
• Thanks so much for your interest in our work ?

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Course ObjectivesThe Learner Will

• 1. Define the nature of an LLD in an ELL student
• 2. Discuss federal laws pertaining to service
  delivery for these students
• 3. List ways to incorporate multicultural
  materials and strategies into therapy and
  classroom settings
• 4. Outline strategies for modifying the physical
  and linguistic environment of ELL LLD students
• 5. Describe an appropriate hierarchy for teaching
  new vocabulary words to ELL LLD students.
• 6. List specific strategies for increasing the
  oral and literacy skills of ELL LLD preschool
  students.
• 7. Discuss ways to increase the literacy skills
  of elementary and adolescent ELL LLD students.
• 8. Summarize strategies for increasing family
  involvement in students learning.
• 9. List and describe ways to incorporate
  curriculum into language therapy

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At my school, we have a great deal of diversity
91 of our students are students of colour 9
are White. Many come from welfare homes. The
school has 900-1000 students.
I. INTRODUCTION
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In my district as a whole

• Children represent between 80-90 different
  language groups
• They come from all over the world.
• Sacramento, California and New York have the
  largest numbers of immigrants from the former
  USSR in the entire United States

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Thus, it is the overall goal of this course to
present ideas and strategies that are

• widely applicable to ELL students from a variety
  of cultural and linguistic backgrounds
• useable by monolingual English-speaking
  clinicians as well as bilingual clinicians, and
• easy, inexpensive, and fun to implement!

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As much as possible, the ideas presented will be

• Practical for use on Monday morning
• Useful for tying in with the general curriculum
  of the school
• Representative of evidence-based practice

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Evidence-based practice

• Requires an integration of best research evidence
  for clinical procedures with sound judgment and
  clinical expertise (Roseberry-McKibbin Hegde,
  2006).
• Means that as much as possible, we as clinicians
  should use only those procedures that are
  supported by research.

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We need to understand evidence-based practice
strategies to use with ELL students because

• According to the U.S. BOC 2000, during the 1990s
• The Hispanic population increased by 58
• The Asian population increased by 48
• The Native American, Pacific Islander, and Alaska
  Native population increased by 35
• The African American population increased by 16
• In the last 20 years, the non-Hispanic White
  population grew by 7.6
• Clearly, our diversity in the schools is
  increasing greatly in the 21st century.

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The ideas presented in this course will be
applicable to a range of settings, including

• Speech-language therapy pull-out rooms
• Self-contained special education classrooms
• General education classrooms

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You are encouraged to

• Share these ideas with general education teachers
  as much as possible
• Help general education teachers to understand
  that the more they help us implement the ideas
  presented, the faster our ELL students will
  progress!

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II. LANGUAGE-LEARNING DISABILITIES IN ELL STUDENTS

• A. Legal Considerations
• The IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education
  Act, 2004) states that students who speak a
  second language must be assessed in both the
  primary (first) language and English
• These students must show delays in BOTH the
  primary language and English in order to be
  diagnosed as having LLD (language-learning
  disability).
• An ELL student has a true LLD if he experiences
  difficulties learning in BOTH languages
• A LLD affects the students ability to learn any
  language

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• The student with age-appropriate L1 skills and
  low scores in English is NOT LLD and is not a
  candidate for special education
  (Roseberry-McKibbin, 2002).
• We must make teachers and administrators aware of
  the difference between a student with normal
  underlying language learning ability who needs
  more time and exposure to English (non special
  education) and the student who is truly LLD
  (qualifies for special education).

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There is increased focus on diverse students in
our schools

• English language learners now represent 9.6 of
  all students enrolled in public pre-kindergarten
  through grade 12 classes in the U.S. 67 of
  these students are enrolled at the elementary
  school level (Coltrane, 2003)
• The No Child Left Behind Act (2001) has put
  strong emphasis on achievement for low-income,
  diverse, and English language learner students

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Silliman, Wilkinson, Brea-Spahn, (2004) stated
that

• The sharp increase in enrollment in American
  public schools coexists with a crisis of
  illiteracy in America, which is particularly
  regrettable given the changed sociodemographic
  characteristics of American classrooms.
• A growing achievement gap exists among minority
  and nonminority students, those from poorer
  versus richer families, those whose native
  language is English, in contrast to those whose
  first language is not English, and those
  identified for special services versus those in
  regular education

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No Child Left Behind

• Addresses these inequities in several ways
• Students with disabilities must participate in
  state accountability systems for reading and math
  in grades 3-8
• Accommodations are allowed for these students as
  necessary
• Schools must show adequate annual progress toward
  all students being proficient in math and
  reading, or the school will face penalties.

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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA
2004)

• LEAs (local education agencies) are allowed to
  eliminate the IQ-achievement discrepancy gap that
  formerly was mandated in order to qualify
  students for many special education services
• There is a greater emphasis on pre-referral
  services
• Schools may now use more funds for early
  intervention

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There is a special focus

• On children in kindergarten through 3rd grade who
  dont technically qualify for special education
  but who need additional support.
• This includes ELL students
• There is also a special focus on children who are
  having difficulty developing their basic reading
  skills, especially in the early grades.

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The law also emphasizes

• That if too many ELL students are in special
  education, states will be asked to account for
  this
• If a particular group of students (e.g., ELL
  students) is overrepresented in special
  education, states will be required to provide
  coordinated, comprehensive, early intervention
  programs for these students

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B. Choosing the Language of Intervention

• When an ELL student is placed into
  speech-language therapy, a major consideration is
  the extent to which the students first language
  (L1) and English will be used in therapy.
• There are several factors to be considered when
  this decision is being made (Brice
  Roseberry-McKibbin, 1999 Genesee, Paradis,
  Crago, 2004 Roseberry-McKibbin, 2007).
• First, what is the level of the students
  proficiency in L1 and English? Proficiency levels
  can be obtained by testing language proficiency
  in both languages and by observing the students
  language usage in functional speaking contexts.
• Some researchers recommend that it the student is
  dominant (more proficient) in L1, it is best to
  conduct intervention in L1 (Goldstein, 2000
  Kayser, 2002 Perozzi Sanchez, 1992).
• It is especially beneficial to introduce new
  concepts in L1 first and reinforce them in
  English. Research shows that when a concept has
  been acquired in L1 first, it is usually easier
  to learn it in English (Perozzi Sanchez, 1992
  Kiernan Swisher, 1990).

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Kohnert and Derr (2004) stated that

• The overall purpose of intervention with
  bilingual students who have LLDs is to effect
  positive changes in their ability to communicate
  in both English and L1.
• When home and school languages are different,
  students need to have access to the languages of
  their homes, schools, and the larger community.
  Again, this means that both L1 and English
  communication skills must be targeted in
  intervention.

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Gutierrez-Clellen 1999, p. 129, stated that

• the literature in bilingual education over the
  last two decades suggests that children who are
  learning 2 languages may benefit from a bilingual
  approach in intervention. None of the studies
  designed to prove to the contrary have been able
  to show that an English-only approach is
  superior. The research clearly shows that
  mediation in the native language does not slow
  development or learning of a second language.
  There is no evidence that a bilingual approach in
  intervention would confuse or tax the learning
  abilities of children with disabilities.

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A second factor to be considered in deciding the
language of intervention is

• What language is used in the home?
• If the students L1 is not reinforced or
  developed in the school, the student may lose the
  ability to communicate effectively with immediate
  and extended family members.
• It is my clinical experience that while parents
  often speak English as well as L1, many
  grandparents speak L1 only.
• In todays world, more children are being cared
  for by grandparents. A major consideration to
  keep in mind is that if students can no longer
  effectively communicate with their grandparents
  (and other significant adults in their lives), a
  valuable relationship is negatively impacted.

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A third factor impacting our choice for the
language of intervention is

• What resources are available for conducting
  intervention in L1 as well as English?
• It is ideal to have a speech-language pathologist
  (SLP) who is a fluent speaker of the students L1
  to conduct intervention.
• However, the SLP is often a monolingual speaker
  of English. In this case, it is ideal of that SLP
  can work collaboratively with an interpreter or
  bilingual paraprofessional who speaks the childs
  L1 fluently (Kohnert, Yim, Nett, Kan, Duran,
  2005).

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The ideal is often not attainable

• Most of us are monolingual English speakers
• We serve students from a variety of linguistic
  backgroundsfor example, as previously stated, in
  my school district, students represent 80-90
  different languages
• Given that we may be forced to provide therapy in
  English in the absence of personnel to conduct
  intervention in L1 as well as in English, we can
  combine theory, research, and practice from ESL
  and speech-language pathology to provide
  appropriate intervention in English
  (Roseberry-McKibbin, 2001).
• Again, this is less than ideal and SLPs are
  strongly encouraged to utilize the support of
  bilingual personnel to provide bilingual
  intervention whenever possible.

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III. CREATING A CLIMATE OF ACCEPTANCE
INCORPORATING MULTICULTURAL MATERIALS AND
STRATEGIES INTO SPECIAL AND GENERAL EDUCATION
SETTINGS
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Use maps of the U.S. and the world. I ask my
students where their ancestors are from, and if
they know this information, we find their
countries of origin on a globe. This helps foster
cultural and ethnic pride as well as geographic
knowledge.
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Show interest in students home countries,
languages, and cultures.

• If students have lived in another country prior
  to coming to the U.S., or if they immigrate back
  and forth between their country and the U.S., I
  ask them questions about their home countries.
• I also ask them to teach me some words in their
  languages. It is humbling for me, and students
  love being the teacher!
• Try to convey the belief that it is cool to
  speak a different language and to have lived in
  another country. Some students feel inferior
  about being bilingual and biculturalwhat a
  shame! Being bilingual and bicultural is special,
  and I try to convey to students that as adults in
  the workforce, they will be especially desirable.

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Make sure that students know you are there for
them

• Emphasize to students that you want to help them
  succeed.
• Give students special attention when possible.

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Encourage development and maintenance of the
first or primary language

• Many ELL students profit from having a specially
  assigned peer buddy who speaks the same language
  they do. This can be a same-age peer or an older
  student who provides L1 support in the classroom
  or even in the therapy room.
• Encourage use of the primary language dont ever
  discourage students from speaking their primary
  language.
• Represent various languages by having signs in
  key areas. For example, one school I worked in
  had the word welcome in 20 different languages
  on signs in the front office.

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Make sure the environment represents diversity

• Display objects and pictures representing various
  cultures.
• Create classroom bulletin boards that show
  diversity.
• Provide books written in different languages.
• Use intervention materials that represent various
  cultural and linguistic groups.

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We can also incorporate multiculturalism by

• Inviting speakers from various cultural groups to
  come and share their languages and experiences
  with students
• Giving students opportunities to study their
  primary language and culture.
• Giving all students sustained exposure to
  multicultural activities

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Other ways to incorporate multiculturalism

• Developing thematic unitse.g. developing
  activities around Black History Month, Cinco de
  Mayo, Chinese New Year, etc.
• Using comparative study of folktales. For
  example, the story of Cinderella is told by many
  different cultural groups. Its an eye opener to
  see how other cultures depict her!
• Teaching the entire group or class words,
  phrases, songs in various languagesthere are CDs
  with songs in different languages. These can
  usually be purchased at a teacher supply store.
• Use biographical sketches with culturally and
  linguistically diverse role models. For example,
  in my sons second grade Houghton Mifflin reader,
  there was a story about Wilma Rudolph, an African
  American Olympian in the 1900s. There was also a
  story about a Hispanic female astronaut. It is
  ideal if we can use stories such as this as part
  of therapy and as part of the general education
  curriculum.

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Ask parents to come and visit

• They can wear native country dress, and talk
  about their cultures and customs.
• For example, at my sons school, the Japanese
  grandma of one of his classmates did a Japanese
  dance.
• Parents can share food and recipes (Tabors,
  1997). One mother taught a preschool class how to
  use chopsticks, and chopsticks are now part of
  the play kitchen.

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Both mainstream and culturally and linguistically
diverse students benefit when

• Culturally and linguistically diverse materials
  and activities are an integral part of
  speech-language therapy activities and the
  curriculum of the general education classroom

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IV. STRATEGIES FOR MODIFYING THE PHYSICAL AND
LINGUISTIC ENVIRONMENT FOR ELL STUDENTS WITH LLD
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1. Limit clutter and distractions in the
environment

• Classrooms today have multiple auditory and
  visual stimuli. The phone rings, people come in
  and out, and the walls and ceilings are often
  covered with art projects.
• This is very distracting for ELL students with
  LLD.
• Use the office. This can be a corner of the
  room with bare walls and a library-carrel setup
  that blocks visual distractions. Students may
  work at a desk in the office. This is a
  non-punitive way to support students who are
  distractible.
• It can also be effective to put headphones on a
  child during silent work times to help tune out
  auditory distractions.

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2. Do not give important information when the
room is noisy.

• Students often have difficulty with figure-ground
  ability, or the ability to pick out the
  professionals voice from other auditory stimuli.
• Even typically-developing ELL students may have
  extra difficulty if there is a poor
  signal-to-noise ratio and the teacher is speaking
  rapidly using decontextualized language that is
  so typical of classrooms.

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Listening conditions in the classroom need to be
favorable.

• Processing information in a second language under
  less-than-ideal conditions is a risk factor for
  second language learners. Research shows that it
  is even more of a risk factor for those who have
  LLDs (Nelson, Kohnert, Sabur, Shaw, 2005).
• In some places, teachers are using FM units that
  allow the children to hear them at 20-30 decibels
  louder research shows that children perform
  better when the teachers voice is amplified.
  This is especially true of ELL students with
  language-learning disabilities.

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3. Make good seating arrangements in classroom
settings

• Seat speakers of the same language together. In
  this way, they can provide assistance to each
  other, using L1 for support in learning academic
  content.
• ELL students with LLD need to sit close to the
  front of the classroom. Many times, these
  students sit in the back. This makes it more
  difficult for them to pay attention. If they sit
  close to the front, this will help them focus
  better they will also hear the teacher better.

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4. Use Preparatory Sets

• Always begin an activity or therapy session with
  a preparatory set
• Help teachers to do this in the classroom
• Make sure the students know what is ahead
• For example We will do the calendar, math, and
  then clean up and go to recess. Socalendar,
  math, and recess.
• In this way, students know the layout and are
  prepared for what will follow.

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5. Slow down your rate of speech.

• Students benefit if we pause frequently to give
  them processing time. Research shows that LLD
  students process more slowly than
  typically-developing students.
• LLD studentsespecially those who are ELLsprofit
  when professionals slow down and pause more often.

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6. Do a great deal of reviewrepeat information
and rephrase it.

• It is estimated that the average, monolingual
  English-speaking adult forgets 95 of what he
  heard within 72 hours of hearing it.
• ELL students with LLD benefit from hearing
  information repeated and reviewed often.
• Rephrasing is helpful. For example
• There are 9 planets in the solar system. The
  earth is one of the planets closest to the sun.
  The earth, one of 9 planets in the solar system,
  is close to the sun.

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7. Emphasize content words through increased
volume and stress.

• Research has shown that LLD students lack the
  ability to identify the big words, or content
  words and separate them out from the smaller
  words (function words).
• Increasing the auditory salience of content words
  through increased volume and stress can support
  ELL students with LLD. For example
• The ocean is a source of life for our planet.
  The ocean provides food, water, and other things
  that are important.

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8. Give extra processing time.

• Give children 4-5 seconds after asking a
  question.
• This is more easily said than done in todays
  fast-paced schools!
• If the professional asks a question and gives
  students 4-5 seconds to answer, these students
  will often perform better because they have been
  allowed wait time to process the information
  and form the information into output.

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9. Use a multimodal approach to instruction and
intervention.

• Students need to see, hear, and touch in order to
  fully learn and retain material.
• In the U.S., we rely heavily on the auditory
  modality. We expect students to hear things once
  and remember them.
• ELL students with LLD benefit from such learning
  enhancements as gestures, facial expressions,
  pictures, maps, objects, and diagrams to
  accompany what they are hearing.

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Do you like this PowerPoint background with the
childs hand prints?

• I do! Its cute!
• However, are you somewhat distracted by the
  amount of detail in this particular Powerpoint
  background?
• I am!
• This is one example of the overload experienced
  by our ELL students with LLD. They experience
  overloadboth visual and auditory.
• By modifying the physical and linguistic
  environment, we reduce students overload,
  leaving them free for learning.

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• V. INTERVENTION AND INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR
  PULL-OUT THERAPY AND GENERAL EDUCATION SETTINGS

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There are a number of strategies that can be used
successfully in therapy rooms and general
education classrooms with ELL students with LLD.

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Teach names for common objects in the classroom

• Use 4 x 6 index cards, and print the names of
  common classroom objects
• Tape the cards to each object
• This helps connect print to objects
• This is especially benefical for young children
  who are learning English and who have LLDs

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Focus on communication of meaning grammatical
correctness can come later.

• When early-stage ELL students make grammatical
  errors, recast the utterance. For example, a
  student might say It nice day. You can say,
  Yes, it is a nice day. Im glad you think it is
  a nice day! In this way, the students hear
  correct models. They are not overtly corrected by
  the professional. Students become discouraged and
  unmotivated to communicate when professionals say
  something like No, Josefina, stop. Say It is a
  nice day. If professionals recast students
  incorrect utterances, students are motivated to
  keep communicating. The communication process has
  not been interrupted, and students have been
  exposed to accurate models of language.

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We can also use the technique of focused
stimulation to provide correct language models

• For example, a student may consistently omit
  plural s (e.g. I see 2 horse.)
• We can play a game with a farm where we
  repeatedly model plural s. We might say Look,
  there are 3 horses and 4 cows. OhI see two pigs
  and several dogs too! The farmer is carrying two
  buckets of water, opening the farm doors, and
  taking the buckets of water to the animals. I
  wonder if he will find the eggs that the chickens
  laid.
• In this way, students receive repeated models of
  the correct form without being interrupted in
  their attempts to communicate meaning.

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Use computers with students

• Some ELL students with LLD can benefit from
  computer programs that teach language content and
  form. Computers are fun for many students.
• Several excellent websites for vocabulary,
  phonological awareness, literacy, and academic
  skills are
• www.starfall.com
• www.primarygames.com
• www.enchantedlearning.com
• The above websites offer free games and materials
  that can be available to students in their homes
  as well as at school.
• Earobics (Cognitive Concepts, 1997-2003) are
  commercially available software programs that are
  graded to students individual levels. The
  computer programs teach phonological awareness
  skills and keep track of the progress of each
  individual student. Students can work on the
  programs at their own pace. Students love
  Earobics because the games are fun, colorful, and
  have music and animation.
• For older students with writing/fine motor
  coordination problems, word processing can be an
  excellent option because students can freely
  express their ideas without the tedium of
  handwriting (Roseberry-McKibbin, 2007).

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Recruit primary language tutors and aides to
support student in L1. Possible sources

• Local high schools and universities often have
  clubs and foreign language programs whose
  students are willing to work with younger
  students from the same language background.
• Many multicultural churches appreciate the
  opportunity to reach out to their communities by
  providing services in L1. For example, in my
  area, we have Russian, Romanian, Korean, and
  Chinese churches whose members are willing to
  tutor students at no cost.
• Bilingual members of some service clubs (e.g.,
  Lions Club, Rotary Club) are often willing to
  tutor students whose first language is not
  English.

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Use music and songs

• Music is very helpful for learning new vocabulary
  especially, because the right hemisphere is
  utilized and vocabulary is remembered better.
• With ELL students who have LLD, I have used the
  Hokey Pokey to teach body parts and the concepts
  of right and left. Students really enjoy this!
• I have also used the song Old McDonald had a Farm
  to teach farm animals. I lay out pictures of the
  animals as the children and I sing the song.
• Using simple rhythm objects is fun for children.
  For example, they can shake marracas as they sing
  songs.

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Prepare a multicultural calendar

• Teach standard American holidays
• Discuss holidays from the students countries and
  cultures
• A great website for this is www.globalkids.info
• Make sure to be sensitive to students religious
  backgrounds.

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Have the students

• Engage in drama and role-playing activities in
  order to encourage expressive language and social
  interaction skills.
• Costumes and puppets help if they are shy!

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Students can also be taught to

• Write down information and instructions in a
  notebook.
• Many students do not know how to take notes. As
  they become older, lack of notetaking skill has
  an increasingly negative impact on academics.

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With regard to notetaking, students often need to
be explicitly taught to

• Focus on key/content words and write them
  downdont write down all the function words that
  are not semantically relevant.
• Distinguish between content and function
  wordsbig and little words

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For example, students can underline or highlight
the key/content words in sentences.

• The weather is hot in the summer.
• Abraham Lincoln was a president of the United
  States.
• Many people think that dogs are mans best
  friend.
• When they learn to do this, they can then be
  taught to take notes, writing down just the
  key/content words.

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Use visualization to help students form pictures
of information that they read or hear.

• Tell them that they can picture a TV in their
  brain/mind/head when they hear or read things,
  they can make pictures on this TV.
• Help them with this process by beginning with
  familiar items in their homes (pet, sibling,
  living room). For example, I will ask a student
  to tell me about his dog. When he has done so, I
  will tell him that his dog is not present he was
  able to describe the dog by using a picture in
  his brain.
• Nanci Bell (1991) has a comprehensive program
  called Visualize and Verbalize. This program
  helps students learn to form detailed mental
  images to build skills in vocabulary, reading,
  and writing.

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I have found that

• ELL students with LLD especially benefit from
  visualizing, or making pictures in their brain as
  an adjunct to reading or listening. Visualizing
  helps information to be retained better, thus
  aiding in listening and reading comprehension.

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Use Total Physical Response (TPR)

• Clinician touch your chin (clinician alone does
  this)
• Clinician touch your chin (clinician and
  children do this together)
• Clinician touch your chin (children alone carry
  out the command)

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TPR is an excellent strategy especially for LLD
students who are in the early stages of learning
English

• If these students are going through an initial
  silent period where they are comprehending
  English but not speaking it yet, TPR is
  especially effective.
• TPR helps students learn new vocabulary words
  without pressure to speak before they are ready.
• In addition, using body movements helps students
  form stronger associations between words and
  their referents.

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USING QUESTIONS APPROPRIATELY DURING
INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES

• Check comprehension frequently throughout the
  therapy session. We often check students
  comprehension at the end of a therapy session
  many ELL students with LLD need for us to
  continually monitor their comprehension. There
  are several ways to do this.
• Ask for a brief summary of what was just said. I
  ask students to Be the teacher and tell me what
  I just said/read.
• Ask students to express opinions about what they
  hear/read. In many cultures, children are to be
  seen and not heard. But mainstream schools expect
  students to express opinions, and we can help
  students adjust to this school expectation by
  asking them for their opinions and helping them
  express themselves.
• Ask students to speculate and expand upon
  information. It is especially helpful to ask
  students to predict what might happen.

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We can avoid questions that clash with students
cultural styles

• For example, in the U.S., we often say things
  like Any questions? or Did everyone understand
  that?
• However, in many cultures, students are taught
  that it is disrespectful to question authority.
  It is considered impertinent to indicate that one
  has not understood what the teacher has said.
• Thus, instead of asking direct questions such as
  those above, we can use the comprehension check
  strategies described in the previous slide.

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VI. DEVELOPING VOCABULARY SKILLS

• It is important for students of all ages to build
  their content knowledge/ conceptual foundation
  within meaningful contexts. Drill without context
  is usually ineffective.
• Develop knowledge of classroom/ curriculum
  vocabulary. We can ask teachers to provide us
  information about what vocabulary they are
  teaching in the classroom.

68
For example, if I have students from a classroom
where they are learning about the ocean and
marine life

• I use materials about the ocean and marine life
  as part of my therapy session.
• In this way, students are getting classroom
  vocabulary and concepts reinforced.

69
New words need to be learned in context

• Ideally, students should have concrete
  experiences when they learn new information

70
For example, if they are learning about horses,
its ideal to actually see and touch one
71
If concrete experiences are not available

• Objects are the next best choice. Small objects
  are useful because they are 3-dimensional and
  children can manipulate them.
• And, finally, if concrete experiences and objects
  are not available, then pictures are the third
  choice.

72
We can ask students to describe pictures and give
word definitionsthese skills are predictive of
success in literacy and school achievement
73
If students draw pictures of new words they are
learning.

• Then they will remember the words much better
• Payne (2003) If you can sketch a picture of it,
  then you know it!

74
WHEN TEACHING VOCABULARY

• PRESENT RECEPTIVE ACTIVITIES FIRST
• Follow these by carefully hierarchically
  sequenced expressive activities
• This is especially helpful for early-stage ELL
  students because it does not demand that they
  speak right away. These students are given
  verbal space by being able to respond initially
  through such means as pointing, nodding, etc.

75
VOCABULARY TEACHING HIERARCHY FOR ELL LLD STUDENTS

• Here is an example of a vocabulary hierarchy of
  IEP goals and objectives, beginning with
  receptive activities and progressing very
  gradually to expressive activities and finally to
  written language. This sample unit is used
  expressly with permission fromRoseberry-McKibbin
  , C. (2001). The Source for Bilingual Students
  with Language Disorders. East Moline, IL
  LinguiSystems.

76
VOCABULARY TARGET SCHOOL ITEMSAnnual Goal The
student will demonstrate increased receptive and
expressive vocabulary skills.

• Short term objective 1 When the clinician
  verbally gives school item target vocabulary
  words, the student will point to pictures of
  these items with 80 accuracy.
• Clinician Marisol, point to pencil.
• Student Points to the pencil.

77
Short term objective 2

• When the clinician holds up a picture and says
  Is this a(n) ____? the student will verbally or
  nonverbally indicate yes or no with 80 accuracy.
• Clinician Is this a desk?
• Student Verbally or nonverbally indicates yes or
  no.

78
Short term objective 3

• When the clinician gives a 1-2 sentence verbal
  description of a target word/concept and gives
  the student 2 choices of answers, the student
  will verbally supply the correct answer with 80
  accuracy.
• Clinician Listen. This is usually made of wood
  and has an eraser. Students write with it. Is it
  a pencil or a crayon?
• Student Pencil.

79
Short term objective 4

• When shown pictures of school item target
  vocabulary words, the student will give verbal,
  one-word labels with 80 accuracy.
• Clinician (shows a picture of a book) Anak,
  whats this?
• Student Book.

80
Short term objective 5

• When asked to verbally list 3-5 items in a given
  category, the student will do so with 80
  accuracy.
• Clinician Lisa, tell me the names of four
  different things we find in a classroom at
  school.
• Student Scissors, pencils, crayons, desks.

81
Short term objective 6

• When asked to define a target vocabulary word,
  the student will give a 5 word verbal
  description with 80 accuracy.
• Clinician Mario, what is a playground?
• Student It is a large outside place at a
  school where students play.

82
Short term objective 7

• When given a school item target vocabulary word,
  the student will use the word in a sentence with
  80 accuracy.
• Clinician Carlo, please use the word paper in a
  sentence.
• Student We write all our assignments on paper.

83
If students are old enough to read and write.

• You can then work hierarchically through
  objectives 8, 9, and 10
• For younger children who do not yet read or
  write, it is enough to work through objectives 1-7

84
Short term objective 8

• When presented with a paragraph or word list
  containing the school item target vocabulary
  word, the student will find and read the word out
  loud with 80 accuracy.
• Clinician Josefina, look at this story. Please
  find the word desk, and read the word to me after
  you find it.
• Student Finds the word desk and reads it aloud.

85
Short term objective 9

• When asked to spell a target vocabulary word, the
  student will spell the word out loud with 80
  accuracy.
• Clinician Jaime, please spell the word
  teacher.
• Student Spells the word aloud.

86
Short term objective 10

• When given a target vocabulary word, the student
  will write a sentence containing the word with
  80 accuracy.
• Clinician Estera, please write the word bus in
  a sentence.
• Student Writes a sentence containing the word
  bus.

87
Note

• Some students struggle so much with
  writingespecially spelling--that in order to
  save time, I have them verbally tell me the
  sentence they want to write. I write the sentence
  on an erasable white board and they copy it.
• In this way, they cement the vocabulary word
  even more firmly into their minds. They also get
  to practice writing words out correctly. In
  addition, they practice the important skill of
  sentence formulation.
• When possible, I have classroom teachers give me
  lists of spelling words the class is working on
  that week. I try to incorporate these words into
  therapy as much as possible. The children benefit
  greatly, and teachers love it!

88

• VII. SPECIFIC STRATEGIES FOR PRESCHOOL ELL
  CHILDREN WITH LLD

89
A. Increasing Oral Language Skills in Preschool
ELL Children with LLD

• Research shows that even children as young as 3
  years of age reject peers whom they perceive as
  different (Rice, Sell, Hadley, 1991 Tabors,
  1997 Weiss, 2002).
• Thus, a major goal for ELL preschoolers with LLD
  is to successfully interact socially with their
  peers.

90
With ELL preschool children who are LLD

• It is crucial to increase their ability to
  interact verbally with peers.
• We have said that ideally, these children will
  receive intervention in L1. However, the reality
  is that many of them are in daycare or preschool
  settings where only English is spoken.
• These children face the challenge of learning to
  successfully interact with peers in a language
  that is unfamiliar to them. If these children
  have a LLD in addition to not speaking English,
  they have double jeopardy.

91
How do we help ELL preschoolers with LLD succeed
in preschool/daycare settings?

• First, professionals such as SLPs, teachers, and
  childcare workers cannot just assume that these
  preschool children willl automatically engage in
  interactions with their typically-developing
  peers.
• Research has shown that these children need the
  adults around them to facilitate language
  interaction opportunities with peers.

92
Researchers such as Genesee et al. (2004), Tabors
(1997), and Weiss (2002) have recommended the
following

• If ELL LLD preschoolers are not successfully
  socializing with mainstream peers, they should be
  given assistance and support in acquiring the
  cultural understanding and social skills that
  they need to make friends and function
  effectively in mainstream settings.

93
Specific Suggestions

• When an ELL LLD child asks an adult for
  something, the adult can redirect the child to a
  typically-developing peer in the classroom. The
  adult can teach the child specific strategies for
  interacting with the peer.
• For example, if a Ryan, a Mandarin-speaking child
  comes and tugs on an adults arm and points to
  the bathroom, the teacher could say Ryan, go ask
  your friend Mark to go to the bathroom with you.
  Walk up to him and say Mark, bathroom please
  and take his hand.
• In this way, Ryan would be encouraged to interact
  with a peer and also learn an effective strategy
  for gaining a peers attention.

94
Tabors (1997) coordinated the Harvard Language
Diversity Project, a research activity of the New
England Quality Research Center on Head Start

• Tabors research yielded some excellent,
  practical, evidence-based strategies for
  providing additional support to ELL preschool
  children.
• Tabors recommended that teachers give children
  some immediate, routine phrases to use to
  initiate conversation with peers.
• If an ELL child with LLD can be taught such
  words/phrases as Hi Hows it going? Can I
  play?, they immediately open themselves up to
  more language exposure and interaction with
  other children.

95
Another practical strategy

• Professionals can ask parents of ELL LLD children
  to teach them a few key words in the childrens
  home language.
• The research of Tabors and her colleagues showed
  that it was extremely helpful during the first
  few weeks of preschool if the adults could say
  words like bathroom, eat, listen in the
  childrens first languages.
• This gave the children a sense of connection with
  the teachers and helped them learn preschool
  routines faster.

96
Tabors and her Harvard colleagues also
recommended that

• Adults give the preschoolers a great deal of
  verbal space for the first few weeks.
• In the Harvard project, the teachers welcomed the
  children and smiled at them, but they did not
  overwhelm them by issuing directives (unless
  necessary) or calling on them too much during the
  first few weeks.
• When the teachers did eventually begin addressing
  the children directly, they doubled the message
  by accompanying their words with a gesture,
  action, or directed gaze.
• This redundance enhanced the childrens
  comprehension of what the teachers were saying,
  and increased the childrens confidence.

97
One of the most helpful things for the preschool
children.

• Was the establishment of a consistent set of
  routines that were simple and used daily. For
  example, things like snack time, outside play,
  cleanup time, and circle time allowed the ELL
  preschoolers to immediately act like members of
  the group.
• It was found that during routines such as
  singing, many ELL children opened up for the
  first time as they sang songs in their second
  language of English.

98
Another successful strategy that helped the ELL
preschoolers fit into the group faster and
socialize more

• Teachers always structured small group activities
  to include a mix of ELL and monolingual
  English-speaking children.
• This was very helpful to the ELL children because
  they did not have to negotiate entry into the
  groups they were automatically included.
• Once included in the activities, the ELL children
  gained more exposure to English and more
  opportunities to interact with other
  children.

99
To include parents of ELL preschoolers.

• Teachers allowed them to volunteer for simple
  tasks such as pouring juice and cleaning up the
  paint areathese tasks required little-no
  knowledge of English.
• They also had parents demonstrate a skill or
  talent such as cooking a native dish for all the
  children, performing a folk dance in a native
  costume, and others.
• Parents felt included and were even more
  supportive of teachers efforts.

100
B. Increasing Literacy Skills

• Reading, writing, spelling
• ?
• Phonological awareness
• ?
• Oral language
• ?
• Foundation is environmental experiences and
  exposure

101
Begin with phonological awareness

• Phonological awareness is the ability to
  consciously reflect on and manipulate the sound
  system of a language.
• It is foundational to success in reading,
  writing, and spelling (Goldsworthy, 2003).
• Preschoolers who are ELL and have LLD especially
  need to develop phonological awareness skills
  (Roseberry-McKibbin, 2007).

102
Use the following hierarchy

• 1. Count the of words in a sentence
• 2. Count the number of syllables in a word
• 3. Count the number of sounds in a word
• 4. Identify rhyming words
• 5. Use sound blending skills (e.g., What word is
  this? S-u-n
• 6. Identify the first sound in a word
• 7. Identify the last sound in a word

103
Other ideas include

• Use rhythm sticks and clapping to facilitate
  knowledge of how many syllables there are in a
  given word. Students can clap out the syllables
  or use rhythm sticks to tap or shake for each
  syllable.
• Ask students to bring items from home that begin
  or end with target sounds
• Use a grab bag where students pull an object/toy
  out of the bag and tell the beginning or ending
  sound in the word.
• Use rhymes such as Dr. Seuss. Many ELL
  preschoolers with LLD have underdeveloped rhyming
  skills.

104
We can also

• Use stories with Rebus-style pictures and ask
  students to read the pictures
• Read a familiar story or poem and have students
  fill in missing words

105
If books are read many times..

• Children obtain more vocabulary and information
  each time they read the story.
• When they are familiar with a story, they can be
  encouraged to read it to peers and family
  members. This increases their confidence with
  reading.

106

• Researchers such as Fey, Windsor, and Warren
  (1995) and Kaderavek and Boucher (2006) caution
  that some children may not be motivated to read.
  This can be due to lack of exposure to books in
  the home, lack of desire to sit still and focus,
  and other variables.
• Thus, it is extremely important for professionals
  to make reading books motivating and enjoyable.

107
Ideas to make book reading enjoyable and
motivating include

• Keep book reading time short.
• Use predictable books because they have
  simplified and repetitive text that engage
  childrens interest.
• For example, a predictable book might start off
  with 10 little monkeys, sitting in a
  treeteasing Mr. Alligatorcant catch me! Along
  comes Mr. Alligator, quiet as can be, and SNAPS
  that monkey right out of that tree. 9 little
  monkeys etc.

108
Professionals can use books that

• Have highly exciting or dramatic story themes
• Have manipulative parts like flaps and movable
  tabs to engage children.
• Have buttons to press that make noises (e.g., a
  choo-choo noise for a train) or play music.
• Have many colorful pictures that accompany the
  words. Often, children who have limited exposure
  to books will become disinterested in books that
  have many words on each page.

109
And we know that we should encourage caregivers
to read, read, read!
110
Written Language Attainments Preschool Period

• We need to be sure that before they enter
  kindergarten, our preschool students can
• 1. Display interest in reading sharing books
• 2. Hold a book right side up
• 3. Identify the front and back of the book
• 4. Identify the top and bottom of a page
• 5. Look at and turn pages from left to right
• 6. Identify the title on the book cover

111

• 7. Identify titles of favorite books
• 8. Distinguish between pictures and print on a
  page
• 9. Know where the story begins in the book
• 10. Identify letters that occur in their
  own names
• 11. Print the first letter of their name
• 12. Recite the first 10 letters of the alphabet

112

• 13. Point to the first letter in a word14.
  Differentiate uppercase from lowercase
  letters15. Use terms such as letter, word,
  alphabet
• 16. Point to words individually as they are read
• 17. Respond to signs in the classroom
• 18. Recognize common environmental signs (e.g.,
  stop sign)

113
If preschool ELL students with LLD receive
comprehensive support in oral and written
language skills.

• They will be far more successful in elementary
  school and beyond.

114
VIII. WORKING WITH ELEMENTARY-AGED AND ADOLESCENT
STUDENTS ENHANCING LITERACY SKILLS
115
Many SLPs do not view literacy as something that
is our job. Many of us in public schools work
with students who have oral language problems,
and literacy is viewed as the province of other
professionals such as Resource Specialists.

• However, ASHA (2004) has been increasingly
  emphasizing the role of the SLP in supporting
  students with written language problems.
• ELL students with LLDs are particularly
  vulnerable to written language difficulties
  because 1) written materials are in their second
  language of English, and 2) their LLD often makes
  written language difficult.

116
There are many easy, simple, inexpensive
activities that SLPs can incorporate into therapy
to provide additional support to these students.

• In this section, we shall discuss some of these
  activities that cost practically nothing and
  potentially make a big, positive difference for
  ELL students with LLD.

117
A. SUPPORTING ELL STUDENTS WITH

• WRITING, FINE MOTOR, TRACKING, AND SPELLING
  PROBLEMS

118
Writing can be difficult

• Today in the U.S., most special education
  referrals involve students who have difficulty
  with writing.

119
Students may have difficulty because

• 1. They have poor composition skills
• 2. They have weak hand/finger muscles and poor
  finger dexterity
• 3. They may come from environments where writing
  and other pre-readiness fine motor skills have
  not been emphasized.

120
Teachers assume that

• Children come to school ready for paper-pencil
  tasks they should start writing immediately
• In fact, many are not ready and need to do
  activities like painting and playing with clay
• In todays kindergartens, there is no time for
  this children are asked to write before they are
  ready

121
Handwriting without Tears

• Is a multisensory, developmental approach that is
  virtually 100 successful.
• It is excellent for ELL children it is very
  visual and tactile
• It is also good for children who are left-handed,
  who reverse their letters, and who have
  difficulty forming their letters.
• www.hwtears.com

122

• There are many simple, inexpensive activities
  that can be used to help children who have
  difficulty with writing and fine motor skills

123
These include

• Use small pencilse.g. golf or bowling sizethe
  ensure an accurate grip
• Put a ? in the upper left hand corner to orient
  students as to where to begin writing.
• Have the child make letters in clay or playdough
• Have the child trace letters in a salt or sand
  tray to enhance the kinesthetic feel of the
  letter.

124

• Have the child pick up small objects with
  tweezers. If we are teaching vocabulary through
  small objects, we can kill 2 birds with one
  stone by having children use tweezers to pick up
  these objects this will help develop fine motor
  skills.
• Encourage the child to squeeze a squishy ball
  during listening activities. This enhances
  attention and helps strengthen hand and finger
  muscles.
• Overteach right vs. left. Many ELL students with
  LLD confuse right and left. I have
  pre-adolescents who are still inaccurate with
  these concepts!
• Make sure the child is sitting at 90 degree
  angles. Her feet should be flat on the floor, her
  posture straight, and her stomach touching the
  table. Her nonwriting hand should be flat and
  should support the paper as she writes.

125

• Have the child write letters in the air, writing
  from the shoulder
• Have the child wake up her body by stomping on
  the floor, moving aroundthis will enhance
  concentration.
• If the child is a leftie, the paper is turned in
  the opposite direction

126

• Make sure the child can easily write the letters
  A STONE these are the most frequently used in
  the Dolch list
• Teach spacing by having children overexaggerate
  spacing when they are first learning to write
• Use the Skittle test! If there is enough space
  for a Skittle to be placed between words, the
  child gets to eat the Skittle.

127
B. READING CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDENTS WITH
LEARNING DISABILITIEScompared to similar ELL
peers

• Poor reading habits
• move head jerkily from side to side
• hold book too close to face
• show insecurity, tension re reading
• frequently lose their place

128
Comprehension errors

• difficulty understanding main idea
• difficulty recalling story sequence of events
• difficulty recalling basic facts

129
Word recognition errors

• slow, laborious reading
• reversing words (not?ton saw?was)
• reversing letters (b ? d)
• not breaking down an unfamiliar word into
  familiar units to figure it out
• mispronouncing words (e.g., hall is read as
  hill)
• omitting words

130
Other characteristics include

• poor left-right orientation
• possible difficulty with visual tracking and
  convergence skills

131
SUPPORTING STUDENTS WITH VISUAL TRACKING AND
SPELLING PROBLEMS

• Do a picture walk before actually reading the
  story preteach key concepts and vocabulary
  through discussing pictures before the student
  attempts to decode words. This increases
  comprehension.
• Have students move their finger along each word
  as they read this will help them not to lose
  their place.

132
For students with spelling problems

• Test on day 1 write out each erred word 5x
• Day 2 test again for erred words, write 10x and
  say each sound out loud
• Day 3 test again for erred words, write each
  15x and say each sound out loud
• VERY effectiveits multisensory!

133

• C. Enhancing Reading Comprehension Skills

134
As we have said, reading is difficult for ELL
students with LLD

• Academic materials are written in their second
  language of English
• The LLD often makes reading difficult

135
We Can Teach Basic Sight Words

• The of and a
• To in you is
• That it at he
• For on are as
• With his they be

136

• If ELL students with LLD sound out basic sight
  words each time they encounter these words,
  reading comprehension and fluency will be slowed
  down greatly (Peregoy Boyle, 1997).
• Professionals can drill these sight words with
  students until the students can read them quickly
  and automatically.
• I use index cards and write the words down, one
  word per index card.
• When students can read the words quickly and with
  automaticity, reading comprehension and fluency
  are greatly enhanced!

137
PREVIEW-VIEW-REVIEW APPROACH

• Use classroom textbooks to teach students this
  approach
• This helps teach class curriculum content and
  enhance reading skills

138
BEGIN WITH PREVIEW

• 1. Get an overview of the chapter
• 2. Read the main idea sentence of key paragraphs
• Highlight key vocabulary words
• Read the concluding paragraph or summary

139
VIEW THE CHAPTER

• 1. Read the text aloud and have students follow
  along
• 2. Stop and have students explain content in
  their own words
• 3. Help the student organize and outline notes
  and readings

140

• 4. Review class notes which pertain to the
  chapter
• 5. Scaffold for the student
• 6. Help the student use context to enhance
  comprehension of words

141
Help the student visualize what is being read
142
REVIEW

• 1. Look over chapter headings and divisions again
• 2. Ask questions about the content
• 3. Help the student answer questions at the end
  of the chapter

143
Also review by

• 4. Have the student summarize the chapter in her
  own words
• 5. Ask the student for his opinions about what
  was read
• 6. Ask the student if she has any questions
  about the chapter
• 7. Help the student make up test questions about
  the content they have just read.

144
D. Special Considerations for Older Students with
Reading Difficulties
145
One difficulty many professionals experience is
that

• By the time students with reading problems reach
  adolescence, they are turned off to reading
  because it is so difficult for them

146
Nippold et al 2005

• Studied the free-time preferences and leisure
  activities of older children and adolescents.

147
They found that

• The most popular free-time activities were
  watching TV or videos, listening to music/going
  to concerts, playing computer or video games, and
  playing sports.

148
They also found that

• Reading was moderately popular
• During the 11-15 year age range, interest in
  pleasure reading declined.
• Boys were more likely than girls to report that
  they spent no time reading for pleasure

149
Nippold et al. 2005 said that

• The amount of time reading predicts word
  knowledge.
• Because word knowledge is so important for
  academic success, reading a variety of materials
  is very importantespecially for older students.

150
Nippold et al. suggested that professionals can

• 1. Encourage parents to read with their children
  at home and discuss what they have read.
• 2. Encourage parents to support the school
  library.
• 3. Explore with students their reasons for
  rejecting certain types of material and help them
  acquire reading materials that engage th