Title: Preparing to Educate English Language Learners Louise C. Wilkinson Distinguished Professor Syracuse University, USA (lwilkin@syr.edu)
1Preparing to Educate English Language
LearnersLouise C. WilkinsonDistinguished
ProfessorSyracuse University, USA
(lwilkin_at_syr.edu)
- The School of Foreign Languages and The School
of Special Education and Early Childhood
Education - East China Normal University, Shanghai
- May 19, 2009
2Overview
- US national law and English Language Learners
- Who are English language learners in the US?
- Academic Language Proficiency The key to school
success - Preparing to Educate English Language Learners
- Cross-cutting themes
- The whole child as learner
- Implications for teachers and other educators
- Audience questions and discussion
3No Child Left Behind 2001-NCLB
- Established standards for schools and states
penalties for falling short - Accountability
- Choices for students and parents
- Putting Reading First
- Teacher Quality Provision
- 2014 No more gaps
- Legislation to be re-authorized
4NCLB The National Assessment for Educational
Progress-NAEP
- Since 2001 and the passage of NCLB, NAEP results
are based on a national sample obtained from
aggregating the samples from each state.
5NAEP
- In 2005
- 31 of students in grade 4 read at or above the
proficient level - 31 of students in grade 4 read below the basic
level - In 2009 The patterns continue.
6The Score Gap
Grade 4 White average score minus Hispanic
average score
27
1992
29
2000
28
2003
Average score gap in 2009, 2005 did not differ
significantly from those of 2003 or 2000.
7Gaps Persist
- Especially resistant to improvement
Significantly lower achievement for students who
are English Language Learners (ELLs) - For reading achievement 4 8th-grade ELLs
Proficient/advanced 20 of former ELLs
8ELLs NCLB
- Defined by limited proficiency in an area that
directly affects learning and assessment - Membership is expected to be temporary
- ELLs face unique set of learning challenges
- -learning content-related knowledge and
skills that meet state standards - -simultaneously acquiring a second language
when their first language is not fully developed - -likely to have to demonstrate their learning
on an assessment in the second language
9Therefore
- ELLs present a unique set of challenges to
- Teachers
- Administrators
- Assessment systems
10ELLs in the U.S. Who Are They?
11Who Are English Language Learners?
- Comprise one of the fastest-growing groups among
the school-aged population in US - 5.1M classified as ELLs (probably 9 M)
- ELL school-aged population has grown by more than
169 from 1979 to 2003 (vs. 12 growth in
general) - 40 of school-aged population in 2030
- Over 400 different home languages
- Spanish is predominant (79)
12Who are English Language Learners?
- Some states have begun to look at the performance
of ELLs on State tests after they have gained
proficiency in English. - These reports show that some ELL students do well
in school. - But, many students who have lost the formal ELL
designation continue to struggle with academic
text, content, and language
13Who are English Language Learners?
- Largest and fastest-growing ELL population
- Students who immigrated before kindergarten
- U.S. born children of immigrants
- Compared to native English-speaking peers
- On Grade 4 NAEP, ELLs were 1/4th as likely to
score proficient or above in Reading and 1/3rd as
likely in Math - Less likely to score proficient on state tests
14Latino Students
- By the year 2030, 40 of US public school
students will be English second language learners
(ELLs) - The majority will continue to be Spanish speaking
- Despite intensive efforts since 2001, when the US
No Child Left Behind law was passed, ELLs
continue to lag behind in their reading
comprehension, writing, and math achievement
(United States Department of Education , 2008) - This lag increases as grade level increases
15José needs help!!
- José, age 9 years old, attends a low-wealth
school, and is repeating grade 3. He is an ELL,
but one who is a struggling reader and writer. - According to his teacher, Jose is a
perfectionist He doesn't want to make any
mistakes.
16Josés Literacy Learning Status
- Alphabetic knowledge
- Knows all letter names except y and x
- y confused with i
- Phonological Awareness Phonics
- Able to blend one- and two-syllable words
- Able to segment words into onset and rime
- Unable to clap out syllables of words
- Unable to do phonemic segmentation of words
- Difficulties applying phonemic orthographic
patterns in decoding and spelling (long and short
vowels, silent e)
17- Vocabulary
- Scope of vocabulary knowledge limited
- Has significant problems in understanding
multiple meanings - Oral Reading Comprehension
- Difficulty answering factual questions about
passages - Difficulty making appropriate inferences from
passages - Writing
- Labored due to limited vocabulary and difficulty
with spelling - Little planning evident tends to just write
and stop
18And So José Received Intensive Supplemental
Reading Writing Instruction for 47 Sessions
- But, is supplemental reading writing
instruction sufficient for José to achieve
necessary levels of language proficiency for
school success?
19Why Insufficient?
- Underlying causes of literacy problems are
related to the - Phoneme level
- Inadequate ability to segment words into
phonemes (Joses problem as well) - Word level
- Inadequate word recognition -- Related to
insufficient vocabulary knowledge (José problems
also) - Discourse level
- Inadequate knowledge of different narrative
expository text structures -- Seriously affects
reading comprehension (José has problems here
also)
20Implications for Achieving Adequate Language
Proficiency for School Success
- Little attention has been paid to how more
literate sentence-level grammar enhances reading
comprehension writing. - Failure to coordinate sentence-level grammar with
meaning may be a significant contributor to
literacy problems. - Instructional evidence is needed on
- How the integration of these more advanced
aspects of language proficiency significantly
enhance reading and writing for students like
José
21Four Examples of Josés Dictated Sentence Writing
Over 47 Sessions of Supplemental Reading
Writing Instruction
Session Sentence
8 Thats the chimney that Santa goes down
10 The cat went in the laundry
12 I need scissors, crayons, and tape to make a caterpillar
25 I like those words pea pods. When you open them, green little balls come out
33 Yummy, I like eggs. The turtle has to be careful because if somebody touches the eggs they can break
22- From Josés sentence writing, there examples of
more complex syntax (or flickers of more
literate expression. )
What evidence is there for José having more
potential than meets the eye?
23Grade 3 Language of Science
- From far out in space, Earth looks like a blue
ball. Since water covers three-fourths of the
Earths surface, blue is the color we see most.
The continents look brown, like small islands
floating in the huge, blue sea. White clouds wrap
around the Earth like a light blanket. The Earth
is shaped like a sphere, or a ball. It is 25,000
miles around! It would take more than a year to
walk around the whole planet. A spaceship can fly
around the widest part of the sphere in only 90
minutes.Even though spaceships have traveled to
the Moon, people cannot visit the Moon without
special suits. (From Outer Space by Meish
Goldfish) - http//www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/marketing/sfesl/t
ests/grade3.htmlreading2
24Grade 4 Language of Math (Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System)
From Martiniello (2008)
25Grade 5 Language of History
- The Mayan Indians lived in Mexico for thousands
of years before the Spanish arrived in the 1500s.
The Maya were an intelligent, culturally rich
people whose achievements were many. They had
farms, beautiful palaces, and cities with many
buildings. The Mayan people knew a lot about
nature and the world around them. This knowledge
helped them to live a better life than most
people of that time, because they could use it to
make their lives more comfortable and rewarding.
Knowledge about tools and farming, for instance,
made their work easier and more productive.
(From The Mystery of the Maya) - http//www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/marketing/sfesl/t
ests/grade5.htmlreading2
26Embedding Multiple Clauses
- The person I most admire is my mother because she
works really hard to give me and my brother
everything she can. - Clause types Relative, adverbial causal,
adverbial purpose, nominal direct object - Ese dia yo aprendi que uno tiene que balerse por
si mismo para lograr lo que quiere y poder hacer
todo lo que se propone. - Clause types Nominal direct object, adverbial
purpose, additive coordinate, relative
26
27Academic Language Proficiency The Key to School
Success
28The Increasingly Complex Puzzle of Academic
Success (Snow et al., 2007)
- Must know academic language of texts
curriculum, have motivation, know what it takes
to succeed, relative freedom from family problems
- Success primarily related to oral language
literacy skills
29The Specialized Register for Talking Thinking
in Classrooms (Cummins, 2000 Francis, 2006 Gee,
2004)
Academic Language Use (Specialized Varieties
More Literate)
Everyday Language Use (Vernacular Varieties
More Oral)
Secondary Discourse Abilities
Face-Face Conversational Abilities
Advanced Literacy-related Language Abilities
Primary Discourse Abilities
Metacognitive Metalinguistic Awareness
Strategies
Does Not Predict Academic Achievement
Associated with Academic Achievement
Are independent, but interdependent (Cummins,
2000)
30Academic Language Features
- Lexical/Semantic Features General academic
meaning, special academic meaning, derivations - Grammatical Features Independent, dependent,
complex, and coordinate clauses - Global Discourse Organizational Features
Comparison, description, argumentation,
paraphrase, sequening
31EVERYDAY ORAL LANGUAGE REGISTER (OLR) ACADEMIC LANGUAGE REGISTERS (ALR)
Vernacular varieties that are more oral Specialized varieties that are more literate
Describes primary language abilities Describes secondary language abilities and advanced literacy-related language abilities
Typical of face-to-face conversation Typical of the language of schooling, including the language of textbooks and composition
Insufficient for academic achievement Necessary for academic achievement
32Academic Language Proficiency
- Academic language is the Key Organizer
- Development of academic language
- -fundamental to academic success in all domains
- -is the primary source of ELLs difficulties with
academic content at all ages and grades - -remains a challenge after students achieve
proficiency on state language proficiency tests - -affects ELLs performance on large-scale
assessments
33Academic Language Proficiency
- The key role that academic language plays in
determining students success - Good conversational English skills do not
indicate adequate academic language skills - Primary middle school students ELLs show mean
vocabulary scores below the 20th percentile are
not
34Academic Language Elements
- Vocabulary knowledge (depth and breadth)
- Depth knowing multiple meanings, both common
and uncommon, for a given word - Breadth knowing the meanings of many words,
including multiple words for the same, or
related, concepts - Written vocabulary (distinct from oral)
- Complex sentence structures and syntax
- Structure of argument, academic discourse, and
expository texts
35Instruction for ELLs
- Reading is fundamental to the development of
- content-area knowledge and academic success.
- To be effective, educators must have a clear
understanding of the specific sources of
difficulty or weakness for individual students
and groups of students.
36Instruction for ELLs General
- ELLs often lack academic language necessary for
comprehending and analyzing text - The great majority of ELLs experiencing reading
difficulties struggle with the skills related to - Fluency
- Vocabulary
- Comprehension
- These areas are mutually interdependent
37Instruction for ELLs Reading
- ELLs need early, explicit, and intensive
instruction in phonological awareness and phonics
in order to build decoding skills - These skills are highly correlated across
alphabetic - languages (i.e., correlations above .9)
- K-12 classrooms across the nation must increase
opportunities for ELLs to develop advanced, rich
vocabulary knowledge
38Instruction for ELLs Reading
- Reading instruction in K-12 classrooms must teach
ELLs with strategies and knowledge to comprehend
and analyze challenging narrative and expository
texts - Instruction and intervention to promote ELLs
- reading fluency must focus on vocabulary
- development and increased exposure to print
39Instruction for ELLs Math
- Academic language is as central to mathematics as
it is to other academic areas - and is a significant source of difficulty for
many ELLs who struggle with mathematics - Early, explicit, and intensive instruction and
intervention in basic mathematics concepts and
skill - Academic language support to understand and solve
the word problems used for mathematics assessment
and instruction
40ELLs Assessment of Content Knowledge
- Assessments of content knowledge are influenced
by students language proficiency - Assessments with the most linguistically
challenging content show the largest performance
gaps between ELLs and native English speakers - Necessary to separate language proficiency from
content knowledge in some domains (mathematics)
than in others (reading language arts) - Can appropriate accommodations for ELLs address
their linguistic requirements?
41The Gap in Teacher Quality for ELLs
- US national law Not resulted in US teachers
being adequately prepared to teach ELLs - Were just putting teachers out there who arent
prepared to work with ELLs in their classrooms
(D. Short, Center for Applied Linguistics, 2009.)
42Preparing to Educate English Language Learners
- M. Shatz (U. of Michigan) L. Wilkinson
(Syracuse U.) August, Bailey, Bedore,
Bialystock, Brisk, B. Conboy, S. Ervin-Tripp,
Goldenberg, Kohnert, Peña, Reyes, Reese, Rymes,
Westby - Practice-based components integrating knowledge
of language and the development as related to
ELLs learning of language and literacy - Guilford Press Challenges in Language Literacy
Series, March 2010
43Cross-Cutting Themes
- L2 learning benefits from L1 learning
- Phonological awareness is important in all
languages - The foundation of literacy is oral language
- Opportunities to use L2 need to be meaningful
- Bilinguals are different from monolinguals
- Families are important to the educational process
- Mutual respect guides learning
44The Whole Child as Learner
- Bootstrapping or helping ones own efforts in an
area by using whatever skills one ahs in other
areas - Language skill affects every realm of social and
cognitive life - Children are not blank slates ready to be
inscribed with a dominant cultures standard
practices - All children are prepared to learn language(s)
45Teacher as Guide for Learning
- Recognize or learn differences between English
and childrens L1 and exploit these for learning. - Use relevant opportunities to teach language even
when teaching another content area. - Create interactive activities that engage ELLS
with more proficient speakers of English. - Encourage ELLs to use L1, and L1 learning
strategies in learning L2 as appropriate.
46Teacher as Guide for Learning
- Designate ELLs to serve as teachers of their
language and culture to other students, drawing
upon ELLs funds of knowledge. - Recognize that code-switching indexes skills use
it to help the child see appropriate uses of L1
and L2 - Relate English Language Development classes to
instructional goals and classroom work. - Recognize that ELLs are different from
monolinguals
47Teacher as Guide for Learning
- Maintain intervention beyond the conversational
stage emphasize mastery of academic language - Tailor lessons and interventions to students
both levels of proficiency---L1 and L2 - Use creative teamwork among all educational
professionals that ELL students encounter - Encourage productive home-school relationships
- Continue to learn! Professional development
48- Until I read the language development material
about Academic Language Proficiency for English
learner students it didnt occur to me that
learning a second language involves much more
than being able to communicate socially. As we
have seen with the multiple components and layers
of language development necessary to master one
language, achieving academic proficiency for a
single language seems to involve learning two
languages - social and academic. (Educator-in
training-2008)
49- When we consider what English learner students
encounter in terms of being immersed in a
different culture, the likelihood that their
native language is spoken at home, and available
resources in the English language, the students
task of becoming socially and academically
proficient in English seems daunting. This seems
like it would include more than learning another
two languages with the necessity of
translating the concepts, applying them.
50- Although I taught elementary school for several
years I never realized the vast difference
between these two registers. The expectation that
students would comprehend and produce language
with academic vocabulary was almost a given it
would happen naturally. This is of course, is not
the case with English learners and students with
speech/language impairments.
51Conclusion
- We most need teachers who are capable of
accelerating the learning of students who
experience the greatest difficulty acquiring
literacy" (Dozier, Johnston, Rogers, 2006, p.
11). - The quality of classroom instruction, by far, is
the most significant element in formal education.
52- To improve ELL learning, we must provide
innovative ways to educate pre-service teachers
about the the unique challenges and strengths of
ELLs, and how best to ensure their learning. - Further, we must provide future teachers with
paths to develop their own effective pedagogy
with ELLs.