Language Learners

... :.illi1111.1YI··· "' ' /c:·· .> ' ' • > • ", 0 ,-_-- .. ~,:-":' .- . ,· -· :_ -·.. '- ;~-- '·_ ;.... · '- •·•n···· ···.·.··.···r .... \··g···.:·J•· .. ··;··· -> '.··.·•s\····.·._.-<> ,~-,m.. ·. -'-< . < 1 _:J-~1--L..·.• ..·• ..·· .. ,: : ' . :- ::;: .; -~ .: .;.' J:._: :' .Language Learners Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice Wayne E. Wright University of Texas, San Antonio Caslon Publishing Philadelphia :ion. Particularly ap- ng and writing les- . Kendall and Outey · of the five stages of tder ELL students. rhts for the classroom. Classrooms <We, first a.ndforernost, language environments . ... Language lies at the very hearf of teaching and learning. of second language ssroom teachers. -Francis Bailey, Beverley Burkett, and Donald Freeman (2008) Connecting research . middle school grades KEY TERMS GUIDING QUESTIONS ofELLsandshows • differentiated instruction 1. Why is it important for sheltered instruction to in • sample performance clude both content and language objectives? indicators 2. What are the benefits of an integrated, thematic ap •thematic teaching proach to content-area instruction for Ells? 3. What do the languages of math, science, and social studies include, and who is responsible for teaching them? 4. How can teachers integrate culture into their content-area instruction? 5. How can teachers differentiate their instruction for the Ells in their classrooms? LL students face the challenge of learning to listen, speak, read, and write in EEnglish. At the same time they are also expected to meet the same grade-level academic content standards as their English-proficient peers. The school system is not set up to allow students to attain proficiency in English before learning aca demic content, nor should it be. ELL students are capable of learning academic content while developing proficiency in English if the instruction is specially de signed. ]'he strongest program models for ELLs, as mentioned in Chapter 4, are bilin ~rograms in whicn some content areas are taught in the students' nativehui ~e. Bilingual programs offertflebest assurance tnat EII:Swill not faJ:fbe1iind academically while they are learning English, and academic concepts learned in the native language can transfer to English once students have the language skills to talk about and use them. Even in bilingual program models, however, some con tent areas are taught through sheltered English instruction, the amount of which increases as students move up in grade level. In classrooms where native language instruction is not available or feasible, all content areas are taught using sheltered instruction. In this chapter, we focus on ways in which teachers can provide effective shel tered instruction in the content areas of math, science, and social studies and also discuss the importance of art, music, and physical education instruction for ELLs. An overview of each content area is offered, followed by a brief discussion of the language demciii<IStl at subject poses for LLs and ideas for making instruction in these content areas compre ensible for ELLs. We look first at some of the principles of providing effective content-area instruction for ELLs. _!/ii]www.wright.caslonpublishing.com 239 A Principled Approach to Teaching Content to ELLs Language Objectives: Students will . .. Content to Ells 1111 Use key vocabulary to discuss and describe the water cycle 1111 Use oral and written English with members of the group to identify the stages wdel provides a valuable in the cycle, describe each stage, and explain the importance of these stages tive sheltered instruction 1111 Use oral and written English to collaborate with other students to plan and ~servable items organized develop a water-cycle poster ion (see Chapter 4 for de 1111 Make an oral presentation to the class in which the group identifies, describes, cale of 0 to 4. The creators and explains the stages of the water cycle using sequencing language hers design lessons based .trategies, and techniques Note that the content objectives are the same for all students in the class. Note also that the language objectives direct attention to the language of the content area, that is, the key: vocabulary:,_g_e...nre_s,_anclregisters that all students need tole.ru:n. The language objectives, however, will need to be differentiated according to students' 1tent Classes ~lish language proficiency and !iteracyJ~.Y.I:l!~: More specifically, in this lesson all students need to learn new academic vo mic proficiency, learning cabulary, such as precipitation, condensation, and evaporation. Key vocabulary -size-fits-all instruction is about the water cycle also includes words such as cloud, water, rain, storm, sun, of students under the ELL sunshine, heat, rise, fall, puddle, lake, ocean-common words already known by 1 their student~ proficient English speakers that may be unknQ.wn by: some of the ELLs. Further, all ~1 stude-;rt;;ith the exact students need to be able to use the language of science to identify, describe, and ~lliltliatilieu~me explain the stages of the water cycle orally and in writing, and the formal language >roach is unconstitutional necessary for an oral presentation. English speakers will have the oral English they mic needs of ELL students. need to interact with others in their group, but ELLs may vary in their ability to use :ruage and academic needs English to, for example, agree, disagree, give opinions, or make suggestions. ELLs ~ted instruction. This ap also may vary in their ability to comprehend and use sequencing language in a lmark of teachers who are discussion of the various stages. orksheets, homework, and Adding language objectives to a science lesscin is one way to provide differenti nd blaming those who fail. ated instruction, because it adds a focus beyond that provided for non-ELL stu , using authentic formative dents. However, the expected level of performance of each ELL related to the lan and academic needs rela- guage objectives may not be the same. Each student's level of English proficiency mation to differentiate in must also be taken into consideration. A newly arrived ELL student, for example, nd continue to develop the would have great difficulty serving as the group's spokesperson to describe in de ustrates ways that teachers tail the intriCacies of the water cycle, even if he or she has the same knowledge and understanding as the non-ELLs. Students at this proficiency level could, however, label and read the names of the different stages on their group's poster, and then a student with higher language proficiency could provide detailed descriptions. > • '", •• ·,·. '·. • ·'·>~;.~:::::.J '---· '·... language and content-area tstruction is also language TESOL Language Proficiency Standards tee ESL instruction. When for the Content Areas )t only: on helping si~ ithe language necessary to __ The TESOL English Language Proficiency Standards for the content areas are a use :asks related to the content- ful tool for differentiated instruction for ELLs based on their level of English profi ciency. Recall that for each standard, TESOL provides sample performance indica 1bjectives can be combined, tors, which are examples of observable language behaviors ELLs can be expected to ts will collaborate in small demonstrate as they engage in classroom tasks. As noted in Chapter 6, most of the d prepare an oral presenta performance indicators contain three parts: language function (e.g., discuss and ent and language objectives give examples), content (e.g., uses of natural phenomenon), and support or strategy (e.g., from collections or pictures). These sample indicators can give teachers ideas for creating their own indicators in connection with each lesson or activity's lan guage objectives. le The following discussion includes sample performance indicators for each of lr cycle in sequence the grade-level clusters and each of the language domains for math, science and 242 Chapter 9 Content-Area Instruction for ELLs social studies. In each of these examples, pay attention to how the degree of lin guistic complexity increases as the need for support decreases across the five levels of English proficiency while the content remains consistent. Strategies for Modifying Textbooks· and Instructional Materials Grade-level content-area curricular materials were not developed with ELLs in mind, and therefore modifications are required to make grade-level content-area instructional materials accessible. Strategies for modifying text in textbooks in ~~~t1Qi!].ing, -~si~g~!aphic organizers, r~~E!!~~g thtU_ext in simplified Engt_ish, 3-I1_9__readingJt alol!d ':'Y}!_li:!t:l!C!~n:~~;]~l!'~~in~!~P_?l~2hr2_~~,_g~in,_ouroyi e ex amplesronelp ELLs understand the meaning. Jodi Reiss (2005) suggests that teach ersgiVe-instruction in and practicetrsingtexto66k-ai0e·s:·rtrtnable of contents, the index, chapter titles and section headings, outlines and questions, chapter sum maries and review sections, glossaries, text boxes and highlighted areas, text orga nizers, and graphics and other visuals. This exercise is an example of reading with students in the content-area classroom. Fortunately, there is a growing trend among publishers of content-area curricular programs to address the needs of ELL students. For example, some teacher's guides may include suggestions for modify ing content and activities to make them more comprehensible for ELLs. Some pub lishers also provide separate supplemental materials in simplified English or in other languages. Caution and

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