Help! Some of these students do not speak English! An Orientation to the Content Needs of English Learners

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Help! Some of these students do not speak
English! An Orientation to the Content Needs of
English Learners
All together now Bhutanese refugee children,
some with disabilities, at a disability support
camp in Nepal. Photo Howard Davies / Exile Images

• Presenter Skip Cleavinger, M.A.
• Director of English Learner Programs, WCPS
• skip.cleavinger_at_warren.kyschools.us

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General layout for our time together

• Day 1 Important Terms, EL demographics in
  Warren County, Stages of Second Language
  Acquisition, Academic Considerations and Risks,
  WIDA Language Proficiency Standards, Academic
  Language Common Core
• Day 2 Developing language English Learner
  Programming in WCPS, Developing Language in the
  Content Classroom, Instructional Strategies
  Considerations that Work for ELs, Identify Assets
  and Resources

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Setting the Stage

• Lets identify some commonly held myths that
  undermine quality and robust instruction for ELs.
  
• Instruction in English is the responsibility of
  ESL teachers
• ELs must acquire the language of instruction
  first and only then can they benefit from for
  content instruction
• Having strong social language in English means
  that a student can understand the instructional
  and content language of the classroom
• ELs need time to acculturate, become comfortable,
  learn vocabulary for common objects and the
  language for social interaction.

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Setting the Stage

• It is so critically important for us to be aware
  of our own language use otherwise, language is
  invisible to us and we dont realize the
  opportunities we have to make content meaningful.

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Setting the Stage

• Throughout our time together, we will talk about
  the importance of knowing our EL students
  cultural and linguistic background. It is
  important first and foremost to know this all
  of our ELs come to us with rich experiences and
  language assets.
• Taking stock of these assets and utilizing them
  in instruction and in the community of your
  classrooms is not only good for your EL students
  development- it will enrich the classroom
  experiences for you and all of your students

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Important Definitions Background Information

• Who are English Language Learners (ELs)?
• ELLs are individuals whose native language is a
  language other than English. ELs are in the
  process of acquiring the English language and
  have not yet reached proficiency. For grades
  K-12, this is based on the results of a formal
  English language proficiency test.
• In Kentuckys schools, the ACCESS for ELLs is
  the English language proficiency test used to
  determine level of proficiency. It is given
  annually as required by federal law under NCLB.
• For your purposes, there are many informal ways
  to find out how much English a student knows.

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Some Key Vocabulary/Terms

• Limited English Proficient (LEP)- A lack of
  fluency in speaking, listening, reading, writing
  English. Determined through an evaluation with a
  standardized test of language proficiency. This
  is the term used in federal laws, such as Title
  III, Title VI, and IDEA.
• English Language Learner (EL)- This term is often
  used in the literature and is synonymous with
  LEP.
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD)- This
  is another term which is very popular in the
  literature at the present time. The term
  acknowledges cultural and linguistic differences,
  but includes the spectrum of language
  proficiency, including full proficiency in
  speaking, listening, reading and writing in
  English.

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Terms Continued

• Language Proficiency the level of skill a
  student demonstrates in a language or languages
• Dominant Language the language in which a
  student is most fluent
• Language Preference the language that a student
  prefers to speak
• Note The students preferred language may not
  be the one in which they are most proficient

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Terms Continued

• Simultaneous Language Learner- learning two or
  more language from birth
• Sequential Language Learner- learning a second
  language after first year- most ELL students are
  sequential language learners
• Circumstantial Bilingual- the situation in which
  an individual is living, working, learning in a
  setting in which is the dominant language is
  something other than their native language.
  Thus, the individual must learn the new language
  in order to adapt be successful

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Terms Continued

• Immigrant- (A) are aged 3 through 21(B) were not
  born in any State and (C) have not been
  attending one or more schools in any one or more
  States for more than 3 full academic years.
• Refugee- A refugee is a person who is outside
  their country of origin or habitual residence
  because they have suffered persecution on account
  of race, religion, nationality, political
  opinion, or because they are a member of a
  persecuted 'social group'. Refugees in Bowling
  Green have been resettled here via organizations,
  such as the International Center. Their status
  is recognized by the Department of State

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WCPS Stats

• 1290 students in WCPS are currently classified as
  English Learners
• This is 9 of our overall student population
• This classification is based on the students
  performance on a test of English language
  proficiency.

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WCPS Stats

• We have 49 languages and dialects represented in
  the district (based on a Spring 2012 survey of
  our ESL teachers)
• The language (other than English) that is most
  spoken in our district is Spanish
• When the languages of our Burmese students are
  combined, they are move into the second position
  for most spoken language
• Other very prevalent languages in our district
  include Bosnian, Arabic, Swahili, Japanese, and
  Vietnamese

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WCPS Stats

• About 35 countries are represented in our
  district currently
• The students and their families can be roughly
  classified as either immigrants or refugees
  depending on the circumstances of their arrival
• We have a refugee resettlement center here in
  Bowling Green, The International Center, and they
  are responsible for all primary refugee
  resettlement in this area

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WCPS Stats

• The classification of refugee is reserved for
  populations targeted for resettlement to the U.S.
  by the Department of States Reception and
  Placement Program and other agencies, such as the
  U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
• The President of the United States is responsible
  for determining the populations that will be
  targeted for resettlement and the approximate
  numbers who will get to come to the U.S.
• Burma (Myanmar), Iraq and Burundi are the
  countries from which the majority of our most
  recent refugee families have come

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WCPS Stats

• Newly arrived students begin have often just
  completed a very difficult journey, and they
  begin the journey toward acculturation to our
  community and our schools. They also begin the
  process of becoming bilingual.
• We must always keep in mind that EL students are
  expected to perform double the work of their
  native English speaking class peers. They are
  expected to learn academic content at the same
  time they are learning the language in which the
  instruction is taking place.

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EL Demographics

• Population of ELLs in the United States is
  growing faster than any other subgroup
• From 1989-1999, the number of students identified
  as English Language Learners (ELL) increased 104
  in the United States (Rhodes, Ochoa Ortiz, 2005)

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EL Demographics

• Estimated that during the 2003-2004 school year,
  there were 5 million ELL students enrolled in
  public schools-10.3 of total enrollment
  (Lazarus, 2006)
• By 2015, it is estimated that EL will comprise
  approximately 30 of the overall school
  enrollment in the U.S.
• Most EL students are born in the U.S.

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EL Demographics

• Over 400 languages are represented across the
  country, with Spanish the most prevalent
• Significant growth in Kentucky in last decade,
  with urban school districts showing the most
  growth. However, smaller and rural districts are
  also showing increases in numbers of students
  enrolled in schools who are English language
  learners (ELL)

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EL Demographics

• Over 95 languages are represented in Kentucky
  schools.
• Just over 17,000 ELs were being served in
  Kentuckys schools during the 2011-2012 academic
  year.
• In Warren County, we gave the ACCESS for ELs
  Language Proficiency Test to 650 students in
  2006-2007. During our 2012 ACCESS testing
  window, we tested 1199 ELs- a 84 increase.

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WCPS English Learner Programs

• International students are enrolled and screened
  at the GEO Center, which is next to Warren
  Central HS.
• The GEO Center screens English proficiency, and a
  plan is written to specify goals for instruction,
  classroom accommodations and testing
  accommodations.
• In WCPS, we have English as a Second Language
  (ESL) programs in all schools. Generally,
  students who are new to English are given English
  language development instruction

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WCPS English Learner Programs

• EL students are very quickly integrated into
  content classrooms, which is why you may be
  seeing students in your classrooms who are only
  lower intermediate English speakers.
• Support is given in the context of our EL
  Programs until students reach proficiency on an
  annual test of English.
• These students are then recertified and
  monitored for a period of 2 years.

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WCPS English Learner Programs

• Members of our department can be seen as sources
  of information regarding a variety of topics.
  Please ask if you have questions.
• The EL Department also assists with things, such
  as interpretation and translation, facilitating
  parent involvement activities, coordinating
  services with community organizations and
  stakeholders, etc.

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Five Very Important Considerations

• 1. Know your classroom community well. In the
  context of English Learners, we should know
• Educational history
• First (and second) language
• Something of their culture
• Proficiencies in the heritage language
• English language proficiency

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Considerations Cont.

• Information about educational, linguistic and
  cultural background is available from enrollment
  information.
• Language proficiency information is available
  form the ESL teacher. You should also have a copy
  of the annual Program Services Plan, which
  describes the goals for instruction and
  accommodations for classroom instruction
  testing.

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Considerations Cont.

• Seek First to Understand-
• Youve heard this a lot! Seek out information
  about topics such as second language acquisition,
  effective practices for ELs in the areas of
  instruction and assessment, fostering academic
  conversation in the classroom.
• District EL Module
• ESL teacher, GEO Center Staff, etc.

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Considerations Cont.

• These last two considerations are foundational
  beliefs that are so important when we consider
  the instructional needs of EL students in content
  classrooms
• 3. ELs are often considered difficult to
  teach, liabilities, etc., when in fact they
  bring tremendous linguistic and cultural
  resources and experiences to bear in our
  classrooms.

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Considerations Cont.

• 4. The language emphasis of the CCS and the
  (impending) Next Generation Science standards
  necessity our realization that, if we are
  teaching content, we are in fact teaching
  language as well. We are seeking to teach or
  apprentice our students to use the language of
  content as they explore and construct knowledge
  within each discipline. In the end, we want them
  to be able to describe, explain, analyze,
  synthesize, debate in articulate ways.

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Considerations Cont.

• 5. Do not coddle the EL by seeking to water
  down the content and language demands in your
  classroom.
• Maintain high expectations and provide high
  support .
• Academic language can only be learned by engaging
  with rich, academic, grade appropriate text (when
  appropriate support is provided by teachers who
  know how to support the language).

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Stages of Second Language Acquisition

• Preproduction (Generally first 3 months of second
  language exposure)
• Early Production (3-6 months of exposure)
• Speech Emergence (6 months to 2 years)
• Intermediate Fluency (2-3 years)
• Advanced Fluency

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Stages of Second Language Acquisition

• (Adapted from Hurley, S. R. Tinajero, J.A.
  2001 Lopez Gopaul-McNicol, 1997 Collier, C.,
  2004 Hearn, 2000 Roseberry-McKibbin 2002
  Rhodes, Ochoa, and Ortiz, 2005)
• 1. Preproduction (First 3 months of L2 Exposure)
• Characteristics
• Comprehension stage- student is developing
  skills even though expressive skills are minimal.
  Listening is critical skill at this stage-
  student learns to associate sounds and meaning.
• Student is able to understand basic directions
  when paired with demonstrations and visual cues
  may understand key words of concepts
• Very few oral skills are demonstrated at this
  point. The ELL student may respond nonverbally by
  pointing, gesturing, nodding and drawing. A
  silent period in which little or no
  verbalization is observed often occurs during
  this stage. The silent period can last up to
  about 3 months.
• Suggestions for Teaching Strategies
• Frequent opportunities for active listening using
  visuals and common objects from home or Classroom)

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Stages of Second Language Acquisition

• 2. Early Production (3 6 Months)
• Characteristics
• Word usage and comprehension are continuing to
  develop.
• Student listens with increased understanding.
• Student uses one or two word utterances, some
  short phrases/sentences particularly related to
  social/every day events (i.e., BICS).
• Suggestions for Teaching Strategies
• Questions to ELLs at this stage should be limited
  to yes/no type questions. It is also
  appropriate to incorporate either/or type
  questions or questions which require a very
  simple, factual response. ELLs should be
  encouraged to imitate correct responses by
  teacher/peers.

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Stages of Second Language Acquisition

• 3. Speech Emergence (6 Months to 2 Years)
• Characteristics
• Student uses longer and more complex
  phrases/sentences.
• Student is able to generate independent
  sentences and retell a short story in second
  language.
• Student may show problems with grammatical
  errors related to transferring information from
  L1 to L2.
• Student understands concrete written English
  that is accompanied by concrete contexts, such as
  pictures, objects, actions, and sounds.
• Student understands ideas that are within
  his/her range of experiences.
• Suggestions for Teaching Strategies
• Provide opportunities for student to retell
  stories, using picture and word cues
• Have student explain actions in a picture or
  picture sequences.

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Stages of Second Language Acquisition

• 4. Intermediate Fluency (2-3 Years)
• Characteristics
• Student engages in conversations and interacts
  more with others whose primary language is
  English.
• Students expressive language skills are
  significantly improved, fewer expressive errors.
• Students information processing is slower in
  L2 wont respond as quickly as a native
  speaker.
• Student is able to express thoughts and
  feelings.
• Suggestions for Teaching Strategies
• Provide opportunities for student to create oral
  and written narratives.

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Stages of Second Language Acquisition

• 5. Advanced Fluency
• Characteristics
• Student continues to demonstrate more proficient
  receptive and expressive skills in L2, but
  processing information may continue to be at a
  slower rate in the areas of memory, retrieval,
  and encoding. A slower rate of processing can
  persist for several years after learning a second
  language because significant amounts of time and
  practice are needed to decode a new language. For
  example, the student may first need to translate
  information from L1, then back to L2.
• At this stage, the ELL student generally produces
  grammatical structures and vocabulary comparable
  to native English speakers of the same age.
• Suggestions for Teaching Strategies
• Teachers continue ongoing language development
  through integrated language arts and content area
  activities with an emphasis on vocabulary and
  content information.

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To sum up the stage discussion

• The process of second language acquisition
  proceeds in definable, relatively predictable
  stages
• Generally speaking, higher stages are built upon
  reaching proficiency in previous stages

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Stage summation continued

• While the stages proceed in a fairly linear
  fashion, skill development in listening,
  speaking, reading and writing may not. Skill
  development can be evidenced in various areas at
  different points in the process, and progress in
  one area (e.g., reading) can impact progress in
  other areas (e.g., listening and speaking).
• Finally, the development of proficiency is
  greatly impacted by psychological, personality,
  emotional and social factors. For example,
  determination, motivation and/or a general
  outgoing attitude can speed up the process.
  Shy and reticent children will be hesitant to
  take risks and their second language development
  can take much longer.

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Two Types of Language Proficiency

• Basic Interpersonal Language Skills (BICS)-
  social language
• Academic Language or Cognitive Academic Language
  Proficiency (CALP)

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BICS (Social Language)

• Develops with even passive exposure to a second
  language within 1-2 years
• High contextual, concrete
• May be very misleading in terms of others
  perceptions of a students English Language
  Proficiency

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• Social language proficiency
• This type of language proficiency refers to the
  language used in informal interaction with
  others. The vocabulary used in BICS is often
  very general, and slang and other informal
  conventions are appropriate. Likewise, the
  language structures used are generally very
  direct. Oral language is often accompanied by
  facial expressions and gestures which can convey
  meaning, thus the language used in BICS can often
  be very simple yet still convey complex meaning
  at times. Vocabulary, syntax and semantics dont
  play a critical role in BICS, and this type of
  language proficiency can develop through very
  unstructured exposure to a second language in
  about 1-2 years.

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Social language proficiency continued Unspecific
referents are generally fine because people
within the context of the communication have a
common understanding of what the communication is
about what it is for.. Social communication
has an important role in the educational context.
Informal activities, discussion, instructions,
etc. are often expressed in BICS-like language.
Some jargon may be present and there might also
be content-specific and higher level vocabulary
(e.g., power verbs such as identify, specify,
classify, analyze, discern, signify,
etc.) Social/Instructional language
Proficiency is one of the 5 areas measured by our
states English language proficiency test, the
ACCESS
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Academic Language

• Development of academic language must be taught
  through purposeful, meaningful, explicit
  instruction
• Requires 5-7 years to develop completely
• ALP becomes a more critical skill as classrooms
  and instruction become increasingly
  decontextualized
• ALP encompasses the subject-specific vocabulary,
  semantic/syntactic control, and linguistic
  complexity (i.e., the length of oral or written
  response, the amount of detail, the
  cohesiveness of the parts of the communication)

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What Is Academic Language?

• Knowing and being able to use general and
  content- specific vocabulary, specialized or
  complex grammatical features, and multifarious
  language functions and discourse structures- all
  for the purpose of acquiring new knowledge and
  skills, interacting about a topic, or imparting
  information to others (Bailey, 2007).
• Simply, the language of text (Lesaux, 2009)

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Academic Vocabulary

• It is critical that all of our children be
  explicitly taught the meaning of academic
  vocabulary words. Researchers have determined
  that students must being able to comprehend the
  meaning of 90-95 of the words in a passage in
  order to gain meaning from that passage
  (Calderone, 2007 Klingner, Hoover Baca, 2008
  Lesaux, 2009)

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Typical, Developmental Processing errors for
English Language Learners

• Silent Period
• Negative Transfer or Interference
• Code-switching
• Over-generalization
• Simplification
• Language Loss

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Language loss

• Brain processing/learning theory and the
  importance of language as not only a mechanism of
  storage and retrieval, but also a platform onto
  which we can build new language concepts,
  vocabulary and language structures
• The development of schema and background
  knowledge. We need to access this knowledge to
  build more complex schema
• We want to really devote ourselves as
  practitioners and consultants to inform parents
  and educators about the importance of
  strengthening L1 while building L2. Losing L1
  (or even an L1 in atrophy) can impede development
  and make our jobs more difficult.

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WIDA (World Class Instructional Design and
Assessment) Consortium

• Consortium of 31 states that share English
  language proficiency standards and the ACCESS for
  ELLs, the test given yearly to assess English
  proficiency in our EL students. Kentucky joined
  the WIDA Consortium in 2006
• WIDA leaders developed the English language
  proficiency standards in 2004 and developed the
  ACCESS soon after. Last year, the ACCESS was
  given in 27 states to 975,441 students.

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WIDA Stages of Language Acquisition

• Level 1 Entering
• Level 2 Beginning
• Level 3 Developing
• Level 4 Expanding
• Level 5 Bridging
• Level 6 Reaching

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The WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards

• 5 Standards Students will acquire...
• Social Instructional Language
• Language of Language Arts
• Language of Math
• Language of Social Studies
• Language of Science

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Of every 100 White Kindergartners....

• 88 graduate from high school
• 58 complete some college
• 26 obtain at least a bachelors degree

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Of every 100 African American kindergartners.....

• 82 graduate from high school
• 35 complete some college
• 11 obtain at least a bachelors degree

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Of every 100 Latino Kindergartners....

• 63 graduate from high school
• 35 complete some college
• 8 obtain at least a bachelors degree

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Of every 100 Native American kindergartners...

• 58 graduate from high school
• 7 obtain at least a bachelors degree

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So, why is this such a challenge??

• The process of second language acquisition can be
  lengthy and difficult
• The process of adapting to the school culture is
  also very difficult for some (Generally, this is
  a function of how different their native culture
  is to the culture of the community and school in
  the U.S.)
• They enter school very far behind in terms of
  exposure to English
• They must learn English AND build academic
  skills. They are constantly in a race to catch
  up.

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Complicating the Challenge ELs are often a
complex mix

• Nationally, the EL population is very
  heterogeneous in Kentucky, we tend to have a mix
  of different refugee and immigrant groups, but
  this can vary from county to county
• The children vary widely in the quality and
  quantity of L1 they are exposed to at home
• Some have no exposure to L1 print at home
• The reasons for immigrating or seeking refuge
  vary greatly at times
• Factors relating to SES and amount of family
  education vary
• Family stressors vary

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More Complex Issues Refugees

• By virtue of their status as refugees, these
  individuals are fleeing their home due to war,
  fear of persecution, natural disaster, etc.
• Many refugees have experienced traumatic
  circumstances which will impact their emotional
  status significantly
• Refugees do undergo some training to prepare for
  their journey to the U.S., but it is generally a
  very short class. They do not have a choice as
  to the state or city in which they will live

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Language exposure statistics(Ortiz, S. (2004).
Powerpoint Presentation. National Association of
School Psychologists Multicultural Resources
Webpage)

• By the time they begin Kindergarten, native
  English speakers have approximately 21,900 hours
  of both active and passive (e.g., TV) exposure to
  the English language
• Given the same circumstances, Limited English
  speakers have on the average 3,650 hours of
  exposure to English when they enter Kindergarten
• Non-English speakers will enter Kindergarten with
  little or no prior exposure to English (as
  compared to 21,900 hours for the native speakers)

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• The 30 Million Word Gap
• According to research by Betty Hart and Todd
  Risley (2003),children from privileged (high SES)
  families have heard 30 million more words than
  children from underprivileged (low SES) families
  by the age of 3. In addition, follow-up data
  indicated that the 3-year old measures of
  accomplishment predicted third grade school
  achievement.

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The Origin Foundations of EL Programming in the
U.S.

• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which
  stated that no person shall be subjected to
  discrimination on the basis of race, color, or
  national origin under any program or activity
  receiving federal financial assistance.
• The Department of Health, Education and Welfare
  issued a memorandum on May 25, 1970 which
  clarified the application of Title VI to language
  minority students and directed the Office of
  Civil Rights (OCR) to implement, review, and
  enforce compliance procedures. The 1970
  memorandum directed that school districts must
  take clear steps to teach English to language
  minority students in order to open its programs
  to them

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The Origin Foundations of EL Programming in the
U.S.

• In the U.S. Supreme Courts findings in Lau v.
  Nichols (1974), the Justices ruled that the San
  Francisco Unified School District violated Title
  VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by not
  providing English instruction to Chinese-speaking
  students. In the Lau Remedies, the Supreme
  Court affirmed the authority of the Department of
  Health, Education and Welfare to ensure that
  districts provide bilingual, multilingual, or
  transitional bilingual services to ELL students.

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The Origin Foundations of EL Programming in the
U.S.

• Basic English skills are at the very core of
  what the public schools teach. Imposition of a
  requirement that, before a child can effectively
  participate in the educational program, he must
  have already acquired those basic skills is to
  make a mockery of public education. We know that
  those who do not understand English are certain
  to find their classroom experience
  incomprehensible and in no way meaningful.
  Justice Douglas

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Important Definitions Background Information

• What are the stages of second language
  acquisition and how is it the same or different
  from development of ones first language
• Second language development is similar to first
  language development in that it proceeds in
  stages and, generally speaking, receptive
  language develops before expressive language.
• One of the primary (and most useful) differences
  is that a first language is in place to some
  degree. Thus, concepts have been stored in
  memory and can be accessed to teach vocabulary
  and concepts in the second language. All major
  research findings conclude that success in
  learning academic English is much more likely if
  the first language is highly developed.

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Strategies to Address the Linguistic and Academic
Needs of Your EL Students
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Native Language Features

• Orthographical features The writing system of
  any particular language can take many forms, and
  the degree to which the system differs from the
  Roman alphabetic system we use in English will
  impact the language acquisition process. Spanish,
  the most commonly spoken native language among
  ELs in the U.S., also uses the Roman alphabet,
  thus Spanish speaking students will have some
  familiarity with the letters.
• Phonemic/Phonological features Some sounds and
  grapheme/phoneme correspondences are particular
  to English and are not found in many other
  language. For example, Spanish has only 5 vowel
  sounds and they do not vary. English, on the
  other hand, can have 11 sounds. The short /i/
  and /e/ sounds do not occur in Spanish, and a
  sound very similar to short /o/ is associated
  with the letter /a/ in Spanish.

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Native Language Features

• Phonemic/Phonological features cont Likewise,
  some consonant blends in English are not used in
  Spanish. There are many examples of
  phonemic/phonological differences between English
  and other major languages.
• Syntactic features The syntax of many languages
  can differ dramatically from English, and this
  will obviously impact the second language
  acquisition process. For example, in Spanish,
  noun modifiers come after the noun, rather than
  before. (e.g., pelota de tenis for tennis
  ball)
• Grammatical features Again, we can equip
  ourselves with some knowledge of the grammar of a
  particular language. In Spanish, one says,
  tengo frio to indicate that he or she is cold.
  This is literally translated as I have cold.

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Cultural Considerations

• We should seek information about the students
  dominant culture which pertain to social
  interaction, education, family member
  responsibilities, gender roles and
  responsibilities, education, literacy, etc.
• As with Linguistic Proximity, we want to know
  more about the cultural characteristics present
  in our classrooms. How divergent from the
  culture of our community is the culture of the
  student and their family (i.e., Cultural
  Proximity)?
• Also, what is the degree to which the student has
  adopted or acculturated to the culture of our
  community?

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Culture

• A combination of feelings, thoughts, beliefs,
  values, and behavioral patterns which are shared
  by racial, ethnic, religious, or other social
  groups.
• It is impossible to define any person by a single
  cultural label, as the many facets of all our
  lives intertwine cultures
• Culture is constantly changing

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Acculturation

• This describes the process, a relatively natural
  process, that occurs as an individual moves to an
  area with a dominant culture that he or she may
  not share.
• Acculturation takes place in very surface ways
  (e.g., adopting clothing styles, casual
  greetings, mannerisms of the dominant culture) to
  very deep features (full proficiency in the
  language of the dominant culture)
• Generational studies have mapped the acquisition
  of English proficiency in immigrant families

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Ethnicity

• The concept of ethnicity is complex in that
  many countries and regions of the world define an
  ethnic group differently. It could be based on
  religion, language, ancestry, or tribal group.
• Ethnicity is defined by NCCRESt as a strong
  sense of belonging, thus that sense of
  identification and belonging must come from
  within the individual and cannot be assigned by
  someone else.

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Race

• Race is a concept and distinction developed to
  separate and describe individuals according to
  their physical traits and characteristics.
• Race as a political and social construct has led
  to enslavement, marginalization, and even
  attempted annihilation.

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Explicitly Teach Vocabulary

• ELs, as we have discussed have a lot of catching
  up to do in terms of vocabulary. Seek authentic
  ways to introduce, teach and provide multiple
  encounters with rich vocabulary.
• The types of vocabulary have been classified by
  several folks, most notably Beck and McKeown.
  Our young students need the most basic vocabulary
  relating to themselves and their environment, and
  they also need highly functional academic
  vocabulary and linguistic features, such as
  but,or, if ___, then____, etc.

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Academic Vocabulary

• Type I Vocabulary (Basic)
• Type II Vocabulary (Cross discipline, high
  utility)
• Type III Vocabulary (Discipline specific)
• Beck, McKeown, Kucan (2002) Bringing Words to
  Life

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Seek to Strengthen the Native Language or L1of
your EL students

• Encourage parents to read to their children in
  the native language
• Encourage parents to use rich, robust native
  language
• Use native language support in your room whenever
  possible (e.g., post labels, use native language
  books videos if appropriate, make use of
  bilingual individuals as tutors or assistants in
  the classroom when appropriate.

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Frequently Assess the Language Skills of Your EL
Students

• This should be informal and geared to their
  language proficiency level. All tasks should be
  authentic and based in classroom instruction.
  Tasks may be verbal or nonverbal based on the
  proficiency of the student. If hey are not ready
  to talk yet, let them respond nonverbally by
  gesturing, sorting, nodding their heads, etc.

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Focus on Literacy

• Equip yourself with knowledge about the
  components of literacy that are critical for
  reading development.
• Use strategies that are known to be effective for
  ELs, such as preview techniques to
  discuss/predict the story based on the pictures,
  pre-teach vocabulary and common phrases,
  highlight particular vocabulary words which are
  pertinent to the story line.

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Utilize Heterogeneous Groups of Students for
Structured Academic and Language Tasks

• Group monolingual English speakers with EL
  students.
• Structure tasks in such a way that ELs have a
  chance to model native speakers in output (i.e.,
  speaking and writing)
• Always ensure that ELs have opportunities to
  engage in language activities with more
  proficient speakers.

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Set High Expectations

• Dont forget Vygotsky. Development occurs when
  we place a goal just beyond the reach of our
  students and provide supports and scaffolds for
  them to reach up to acquire the goal.
• With this group of students, it is very easy to
  fall into a trap of setting low expectations,
  watering down content, and essentially loving
  them into a deficit that they may never get out
  of.
• The best way for ELs to learn the language of
  school is to engage in rich, highly structured,
  meaningful, authentic academic events that
  require the use of langauge

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Some things to remember if you suspect that ELs
are lagging behind the rest

• First of all, there probably will be lags. We
  would lag behind our peers, too if we were sent
  by our parents to a school in which English is
  not the language of instruction.
• The greater the difference between the culture
  and language of the child and our dominant
  culture and English, the more you can expect some
  delays.
• Certain linguistic errors are a sign that the
  child is working to make sense of English.
  Likewise, the silent period is normal.

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Common manifestations of English Learners (ELs)
during classroom instruction that may mimic
various disorders or cognitive deficits.
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Slow to begin tasks ELs may have limited
comprehension of the classroom language so that
they are not always clear on how to properly
begin tasks or what must be done in order to
start them or complete them correctly. Slow to
finish tasks ELs, especially those with very
limited English skills, often need to translate
material from English into their native language
in order to be able to work with it and then must
translate it back to English in order to
demonstrate it. This process extends the time for
completion of time-limited tasks that may be
expected in the classroom. Forgetful ELs cannot
always fully encode information as efficiently
into memory as monolinguals because of their
limited comprehension of the language and will
often appear to be forgetful when in fact the
issue relates more to their lack of proficiency
with English.
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Inattentive ELs may not fully understand what is being said to them in the classroom and consequently they dont know when to pay attention or what exactly they should be paying attention to.
Hyperactive ELs may appear to be hyperactive because they are unaware of situation-specific behavioral norms, classroom rules, and other rules of social behavior.
Impulsive ELs may lack the ability to fully comprehend instructions so that they display a tendency to act impulsively in their work rather than following classroom instructions systematically.
Distractible ELs may not fully comprehend the language being being spoken in the classroom and therefore will move their attention to whatever they can comprehend appearing to be distractible in the process.
Disruptive ELs may exhibit disruptive behavior, particularly excessive talkingoften with other ELLS, due to a need to try and figure out what is expected of them or to frustration about not knowing what to do or how to do it.
Disorganized ELs often display strategies and work habits that appear disorganized because they dont comprehend instructions on how to organize or arrange materials and may never have been taught efficient learning and problem solving strategies.
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Resources
Great resources exist for you to continue your
learning in this area. Some great places to
start looking include httpell.stanford.edu
(Understanding Language) colorincolorado.org cal.o
rg (Center for Applied Linguistics) iris.peabody.v
anderbilt.edu E-mail me skip.cleavinger_at_warren.
kyschools.us
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References

• Artiles, A.J. Ortiz, A. A. (Eds.), (2002).
  English language learners with special education
  needs. Identification, assessment and
  instruction. McHenry, IL. Delta Systems Co, Inc.
• Fuchs, D., Mock, D., Morgan, P.L. Young, C.L.
  (2003). Responsiveness to intervention
  Definitions, evidence, and implications for the
  learning disabilities construct. Learning
  Disabilities Research Practice, 18 (3), 157-171
• Gerber, M. (2006). Response-to- Instruction
  Models of Assessment Are they valid for English
  language learners? Denver NCCREST.
• Hamayan, E., Marler, B., Sanchez-Lopez, C.
  Distinguishing learning disabilities from second
  language difficulties. (2006). Des Plaines
  Illinois Resource Center
• Harry, B. Klingner, J. (2006). Why are so many
  minority students in special education? . New
  York NY Teachers College Press
• Klingner, J., Artiles, A. Barletta, L (2005).
  English language learners and learning
  disabilities a critical review of the
  literature. Denver NCCREST.
• Rhodes, R, Ochoa, S. H., Ortiz, S.0. (2005).
  Assessing culturally and linguistically diverse
  students. New York Guilford Press