There are lots of opinions about whether nonsense words should be used for assessing literacy.  While I can see the reason to not use them for assessment, I don’t think they should be off limits for word play.

Read more:  I Teach Dual Language

Read more: I Teach Dual Language

There are tons of resources out there for English instruction on the butterfly life cycle but are you having trouble finding Spanish resources?   If so, go to our dual language blog for ideas!

Read more: I Teach Dual Language

Read more from I Teach Dual Language Blog.

Think of those special cars made for driver’s education.  The acquisition system is the young but eager teen sitting in the driver’s seat.  He is excited to be on the road and give the appearance of someone who has been driving forever.  However, sitting in the instructor’s seat is the learning system MONITORING with his foot on the chicken brake.  The learning system has studied the textbook and participated in many simulations.  He knows that the acquisition system is still maturing as a driver and closely MONITORS his conversational navigations with a desire for adherence to the grammatical rules of the road.  A very conscientious learning system might step on the chicken brake too many times and can frustrate the acquisition system who really wants to just enjoy the ride.

Another analogy?  Think back to the little cartoon angel and devil that would sit on the character’s shoulder encouraging her to make one decision or another.  There is no angel or devil when it comes to the learning and acquisition systems but, we are all aware of that feeling when a little voice inside our head starts to tap us on the shoulder second guessing the words we have just spoken.  For example, even a native-English speaker might question his use of “me” or “I” in a particular statement causing him to subvocalize a grammar rule learned years before. That voice inside our heads is the monitor of which Krashen is speaking.

As we can imagine, a monitor functioning on overdrive would cause a speaker, and especially a writer, to shut down and give up.  If an ELL’s mind is so focused on adherence to grammatical rules as he attempts to communicate, it will be impossible to for him to expound on a topic with any depth.  This is especially where we can see how a student’s personality can impact his learning of language.  A Type-A, perfectionist might employ his monitor to a greater extent than the more laid-back person who is content that his audience just “get the gist” of what he is saying without concern for correct conjugations or pronouns.  In some temporary or informal contexts, the underuse of a monitor is not a problem.  However, with our desire to build academic language, we want to help each learner find his sweet spot of using the monitor appropriately; not too much so as to prevent the utterance of meaning and not too little so as to be unable “to be understood by people not accustomed to interacting with ELLs” (from ELPS Speaking Proficiency Level Descriptors).

Next week, we will look at the Natural Order Hypothesis to understand how the knowledge and use of Language Proficiency Levels can aid teachers in finding that sweet spot of Monitor use.

On the other hand, someone who had the opportunity to be immersed in a second language at a young age for an extended period of time may be able to speak at a fluent rate and with extensive vocabulary.  However, if this individual had no cause to formally refine his grammar, he too may still be considered only an Intermediate speaker due to many grammatical errors.

What is it about that Advanced level proficiency that makes it so hard for a language learner to leave behind his Intermediate status?  We see it all the time with ELLs in our classrooms.  They seem to hit the Intermediate wall and can easily linger there for years.

Stephen Krashen, a leading research and activist in the field of bilingual education, proposed five hypotheses or notions on second language acquisition.  This week, we are going to look at the first hypothesis, the Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis. Krashen made a distinction between the subconscious process that children undergo when they acquire a language versus the conscious construction of knowledge when they are learning the grammar and rules of a language.  Krashen claimed that the acquisition system was a more natural system because it focused on meaningful interaction and communication.  The learned system was based on formal and explicit instruction in the way a language works.

In order for an ELL to be classified as an Advanced speaker, he must show evidence of language acquisition by participating comfortably in most conversations and academic discussions using more abstract content vocabulary.  Yet he must also show he has learned the language through his grasp of basic grammar and past-tense verbs.

Most classrooms tend to overemphasize one or the other.  Just as the phonics versus whole language debate culminated with most educators agreeing on the need for balanced literacy.  The debate over whether language is best learned or acquired must end with an agreement on the need for balance.  At EL Saber Enterprises, we hold to the belief that meaningful interaction is crucial to instruction that is embedded with opportunities for formally understanding the rules of the English language.  Continuously checking for this balance in our instruction will help our students to advance their language proficiency year by year and for the many years to come.

Next week, we will look into more of Krashen’s hypotheses and how they can help us maintain this balance.

So what does it mean to “Teach Speaking”? This means that the English language learner should be taught to produce English speech sounds. They should be able to use sound patterns, intonation and rhythm of English appropriately. They should also be able to select appropriate words for the specific audience and organize thoughts in a meaningful and logical sequence. Finally, ELLs should be able to use English confidently.

In class, discussions are essential. After a lesson has been completed, plan on having a class discussion about the lesson. The discussion may be held for a variety of reasons such as drawing conclusions, problem solving, sharing of ideas and feelings or predicting what might occur next. To form discussion groups, put students into groups of 4 to 5 and give a specific goal or objective to strive for.

Have you ever used simulations? They are another effective way to promote speaking. A simulation is similar to a role-play but is more elaborate. Instead of just pretending they are in a certain surrounding, the class will build a realistic environment in which to carry out their play. For example, if the simulation is that of a grocery store keeper, the class can build a realistic store by bringing in canned goods, coins, wallets, produce, etc. This activity could be used in several content areas and for many age groups. A high school economics class could use this simulation to learn about running a business or supply and demand. An elementary class could use this simulation to learn how to identify the price of an item and count the correct amount of money to pay for it. Through that activity or something similar, economics and math standards are addressed.  This idea could also be used in a vocabulary lesson to teach the terms of different grocery items.

Another great speaking activity for English language learners is “Story Completion”.  Have the class sit in a circle. You will start to tell a story but after a few sentences stop. The next person will add his or her own part to the story then stop and continue on to the next person. This allows students to add their own ideas in a creative, free flowing way. There doesn’t have to be a required number of sentences added per student.  This allows a student to add as much or as little as they feel comfortable with. An Advance speaker may be able to participate in the entire activity whereas a Beginning or Intermediate speaker might not feel so comfortable. These students could be assigned a partner to work with and participate to a lesser extent.

There are many more wonderful activities and suggestions given by Hayriye Kayi of the University of Nevada. Have you used any of these activities in your classrooms? Did they go smoothly or did you need to adapt them in any way? What types of simulations have you tried?  Share your ideas.

Phonemic awareness might be difficult for an ELL, especially if they don’t have enough experience with English to differentiate the sounds that differ from those of their native language. Things that will need to be included into your lessons are instruction of English sounds and continual practice with sounds that might be confusing (i.e., /b/ and /v/ for speakers of Spanish or /r/ and /l/ for speakers of Japanese). Also, if a student is already literate in their native language then phonemic awareness should transfer over. It will not need to be relearned. Instead the ELL will need to become familiar with English sounds and distinguish sounds that are different from their native language.

A teacher of ELL students may need to become aware of phonemes present in their students native language. Phonemes that do not exist or are different may be more difficult for the students to master and will require continual support. Also, the use of songs or poems like “Miss Mary Mack” can be used to help teach phonemic awareness because of their brevity and repetition.

Phonics can also pose problems because often ELL’s have a hard time discriminating between similar sounds. The most effective instruction will combine systematic phonics instruction with a print rich environment. Websites like English-4Kids offers free printable phonics worksheets to help support the teacher in phonics instruction.

In a recent article in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, JAAL, Dec 2010/Jan 2011 a study conducted by the University of California at Irvine-California Writing Project entitled Pathway Project describes their work with English language learners.  In this study the participants participated in professional development that trained teachers to work with students in improving their understanding of key writing components.  One of the key components was differentiating between topic and theme of literary pieces.

English learners were taught that the topic of the story is the ‘what’ and the theme of the story is the ‘so what’. They were provided with cognitive strategies to construct meaning from texts, cognitive strategic sentence starters, and do/what charts to respond adequately to prompts on high stakes exams required for graduation.

Because high stakes exams require all students including English learners to perform at a high level of academic literacy the study revealed that English learners who initially were having difficulty responding to the prompts especially as they pertain to theme began to see improvement their writing.