English Language Learner (Ell) Proficiency Standards
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ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER (ELL) PROFICIENCY STANDARDS LISTENING AND SPEAKING Introduction Research consistently indicates that all language learners pass through a “silent" stage before they begin speaking. This stage must be respected. Learners must not be threatened or forced to speak. Research also states that consistent and overt student engagement in the form of active speaking and listening is essential to student learning and language acquisition. Teaching strategies, including cognitive learning strategies, choral responses, group discussions, and other student engagement activities, must be incorporated frequently in order to build student skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Learning can be accelerated through the use of comprehensible input, total physical response, linguistic encoding (parallel talk describing the student's actions), and the creation of multiple, authentic opportunities for students to use the language. Speaking Pre-Production: Primary Before children are ready to speak, they should be encouraged to point, identify, act out, and illustrate to demonstrate their comprehension. As soon as children voluntarily begin to speak, the teacher needs to accept the children’s attempts, and to scaffold and extend responses so that children are encouraged to develop more complicated speech. The teacher can encourage speech by: • using total physical response, the natural approach, and linguistic encoding (narrating the children’s actions and intents)1; • grouping students of similar proficiency levels in groups of two to three students to facilitate instructional conversations; • grouping English learners with English native speakers so they can hear English spoken regularly; • beginning all lessons with pre-teaching vocabulary and a language objective; • focusing on the language function that the students will need to use to carry out the lesson; and, • focusing on meaningful activities that involve "hands on," choral readings, echo reading, shared reading and writing, and singing. Speaking Pre-Production: Intermediate/Secondary The above methods can also be used with intermediate and secondary students. In addition, the Preview/Review method can be effective. Under this method, students are grouped by their first language. The lesson is then previewed, taught in English, reviewed, and clarified. For at least part of the day, when possible, beginning students are also placed in small groups with native English speakers so that they are motivated to use their new language. 1 Preparing for Success, 2001, Dr. Carolyn Weiner SBOE Approved ELL Proficiency Standards, 1-26-04 1 Listening and Speaking ELL I Performance Conditions: Students at this stage comprehend simple statements and questions. They understand the general idea of basic messages and conversations that pertain to common, routine matters. Their interactions are short, face-to-face, informal, and with one person at a time or in small groups. Although students can initiate and respond to basic statements, their speech is largely guided by questions and feedback from the teacher. English learners rely heavily on repetition, gestures, and other nonverbal cues to sustain conversations. Their speech is slow. Communications that students listen to and comprehend are short and include familiar routine words. Context strongly supports their utterances. Delivery of Oral Beginning Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced Advanced Communications The student will: The student will: The student will: The student will: The student will: Standard: • Respond to • Use common social • Respond to and initiate • Respond • Participate in small greetings with simple greetings and simple greetings, courtesy, and appropriately to most group discussions, The student will words, gestures, and repetitive phrases using leave-taking, and provide social interactions, including greeting express orally his or other nonverbal isolated words or strings basic personal information including introducing familiar and unfamiliar her own thinking and behavior. of 2- to 3-word responses related to the context of self, asking about the people, responding ideas. (e.g., Hello. How are the conversation with key other, and responding appropriately to you? Thank you. You’re words and short phrases to questions about introductions by other welcome.) (e.g., name, address, personal information, people, and asking and age). using phrases and responding to detailed some simple questions regarding sentences. personal information, using phrases and simple sentences. (LS-R3, LS-R5) • Use gestures to • Use more utterances • Communicate in a • Communicate • Communicate communicate basic accompanied by gestures limited way some basic immediate personal immediate and future needs (e.g., points to indicate basic needs immediate personal and and survival needs, personal and survival toward door when (e.g., says “bathroom” survival needs without using accurate and needs, using precise, needing to go to the while pointing toward the necessarily using somewhat varied descriptive, and varied restroom). door). purposeful, yet restricted, vocabulary. vocabulary. vocabulary (e.g., I’m hungry.) * Correlated to the Readiness level for Kindergarten. SBOE Approved ELL Proficiency Standards, 1-26-04 2 Listening and Speaking ELL I Delivery of Oral Beginning Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced Advanced Communications The student will: The student will: The student will: The student will: The student will: Standard: • Identify by name a • Identify by name • Identify by name • Describe immediate • Describe familiar surroundings, such as few familiar objects, some familiar objects, many familiar objects, objects, people, and classroom, school, or The student will people, and events people, and events people, and events events with both home. express orally his or (e.g., family members, (e.g., family members, (e.g., family members, general and more body parts, clothing, body parts, clothing, body parts, clothing, specific words and her own thinking and ideas. pets, foods, common pets, foods, common pets, foods, common phrases. occupations, seasons, occupations, seasons, occupations, seasons, common school, common school, common school, classroom, and home classroom, and home classroom, and home objects). objects). objects). • Recite simple, • Recite familiar • Retell simple stories • Retell simple stories familiar rhymes and rhymes, songs, and in a logical sequence, in a logical sequence, songs with expressive stories with clear, using key words, using expressive phrasing and audible, and expressive phrases, and simple phrasing. (LS-R1) intonation. phrasing and sentences. intonation. * Correlated to the Readiness level for Kindergarten. SBOE Approved ELL Proficiency Standards, 1-26-04 3 Listening and Speaking ELL I Standard English Beginning Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced Advanced Conventions The student will: The student will: The student will: The student will: The student will: Standard: • Speak in isolated • Speak in isolated • Speak in short • Speak in short • Speak in short words (usually a single words or strings of 2 to patterns of words and phrases and simple phrases and simple The student will noun or verb), 3 words, depending on phrases using English sentences using sentences, using the identify, describe, and depending heavily on gestures to express grammatical structures English grammatical following English apply conventions of gestures to express meaning. and linguistic forms structures and linguistic grammatical structures meaning. outlined in the forms outlined in the and linguistic forms standard English in Advanced Level with Advanced Level with with occasional errors: his or her habitual errors that some errors, although verb tenses (present communications. sometimes impede the errors do not tense, including “to communication. impede be,” present communication. progressive, and future tenses, imperatives, modal auxiliaries); possessive adjectives and subject pronouns, including articles; and, prepositions of time and place; adverbs of time and frequency. * Correlated to the Readiness level for Kindergarten. SBOE Approved ELL Proficiency Standards, 1-26-04 4 Listening and Speaking ELL I Comprehension of Beginning Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced Advanced Oral Communications The student will: The student will: The student will: The student will: The student will: Standard: • Comprehend a • Comprehend a few • Comprehend some • Comprehend many • Comprehend a wide- limited number of common words and words, phrases, and words, phrases, and ranging number of The student will listen common words and simple phrases in short sentences in sentences in sustained words, phrases, and actively to the ideas simple phrases in conversations on topics conversations on topics conversations on topics sentences in sustained of others in order to conversations held on of personal relevance of personal relevance of personal relevance conversations on topics acquire new topics of personal (e.g., social courtesies, (e.g., social courtesies, when spoken at a of personal relevance knowledge. relevance (e.g., basic basic needs), when personal information, normal rate with some when spoken at a greetings and spoken slowly with basic needs, abilities) rephrasing, repetitions, normal rate with some courtesies) when frequent rephrasing, when spoken slowly with and contextual clues. rephrasing, repetitions, spoken slowly and with repetitions, and some rephrasing, and contextual