Transcript 10 Things to Remember When Working with ESL Students

10 Things to Remember When
Working with ESL Students
Surry County Schools
1. Language learning is a LONG process.
• A student may become proficient with
basic social language (what you hear them
speak with friends) within a few months to
3 years time, BUT…
• Some research shows it takes 5 to 10
years or more to develop proficiency with
academic language, which is what they
encounter in class and must
have to succeed in school.
Academically speaking:
Listening and reading proficiency usually
develop first. Speaking follows, and writing
is almost always the last domain the student
develops.
2. Language learning is an emotional process.
• ESL students, especially in secondary
school, may be very reluctant to
participate in class for fear of
embarrassment. This fear can manifest
itself as shyness, aloofness,
laziness, frustration, anger,
rebellion, or apathy and can
affect even the “toughest” ESL
student or the one who has
been in U.S. schools for years.
3. If no learning disability is evident in an ESL
student, most of his difficulties are due to
language gaps.
• Lack of background knowledge
• Academic, content-specific language
• Find out exactly what the student didn’t
understand. Often the simplest words are
the ones that trip them up.
• Sticky notes for unknown words
BEFORE doing assignment
4. Pre-teaching is better than re-teaching.
• ESL students do not have the same background
knowledge as native English speakers, neither
linguistically nor culturally.
• Often it is necessary to spend extra time building
background for a concept before jumping into
instruction. Students will not be able to fill in the
gaps in their schemata on their own and thus
their understanding will be partial, at best.
5. You must know students’ proficiency levels.
• Determined by annual ACCESS test
• The ESL teacher can give you this
information or you can find it in cumulative
folders.
6 Reaching
• Can-Do Descriptors on Federal
Programs site will help guide
you in planning instruction and
assessment that is appropriate
for students’ levels.
5 Bridging
4 Expanding
3 Developing
2 Emerging
1 Entering
6. Lecture or textbook alone are not effective.
• The ESL student’s brain faces different
processing demands than that of a native
English speaker.
• Low proficiency students will understand next to
nothing, and even advanced students are rarely
able to pick out the most pertinent information or
organize it in notes.
• Provide outlines of lecture, and fill in more or
less information for students according to their
proficiency level.
• Supplement, supplement, supplement!
7. Set fair expectations
• Plan instruction and assessment
that is i + 1.
• Be flexible with what you accept as
evidence of learning.
• Remember that ESL students need: many
visuals; much repetition; concrete
examples; clear, detailed instructions;
simplified language; chance to clarify in
their native language.
8. Consider the language component of your content.
• SIOP = content learning and language
development going hand-in-hand
• What language are you presenting or
requiring of your students in your class?
• What do students have to: listen to, read,
say, write?
• Collaboration with ESL teacher
Language objectives from
content objectives:
• Formula for language objectives: verb + topic + support
• Algebra 1 example:
Content Objective: A.SSE.3a Write expressions in
equivalent forms by factoring to find the zeros of a
quadratic function and explain the meaning of the zeros.
• Language objective: Explain to a partner how you solved
the problem using past tense verbs from a word wall.
• Biology example:
Content and Language Objective combined: Bio. 1.1.1
Explain how the structure of the organelle determines its
function using a sentence frame: A _____ has/is ______,
which allow(s) it to __________ by ___________.
9. SIOP instruction is good for all students.
• The SIOP Model, when implemented correctly,
is very engaging and makes content accessible
to all students, even those who speak no
English. Many SIOP strategies are also effective
for students with disabilities.
• SIOP is “just good teaching,” with a significant
difference: the consideration it gives to language
development. It is the extra step needed to help
LEP students close the gap academically.
Data from Charlotte-Mecklenberg
Levels of Teacher SIOP PD in High School vs Student
Achievement in English
Teachers
with
Lo/Med/Hi
SIOP PD
I
II
III
IV
Total # of
students in
sample
Lo
11%
28%
54%
7%
180
Med
16%
40%
42%
2%
57
Hi
6%
4%
75%
16%
51
Total
31
76
160
21
288
10. Set students up for success.
• Motivation
• Frustration
• Lack of academic support
outside of school
• Students need to feel that content is within
their reach or they will shut down.
• Small successes go a long way!
Teaching Learning Zones
(adapted from Mariani, 1997; Hammond and Gibbons, 2007)
High challenge
frustration
zone
apprenticeship
zone
Low support
High support
nowhere
zone
pobrecito
zone
Low challenge
Best wishes for a very successful
school year!
Sarah Torres
SIOP Coach
[email protected]