Title: English Language Learners: How Do They Acquire Literacy Skills
1English Language Learners How Do They Acquire
Literacy Skills?
- Andrea Honigsfeld, Ed.D.
- ahonigsfeld_at_molloy.edu
- Molloy College
2Agenda
- I. Pressing Issues
- II. SLA
- III. Research on Literacy and ELLs
- IV. Reading Writing Strategies
3Theres a nightmare in my literacy closet
4The Many Strands that are Woven into Skilled
Reading (Scarborough, 2001)
Source Neuman, Susan B. and Dickinson, David K.,
Handbook of Early Literacy Research
Reading is a multifaceted skill, gradually
acquired over years of instruction and practice.
5Children with reading difficulties
Children from diverse backgrounds
Children from low-income backgrounds
Lesaux (2006)
6What do teachers need to work effectively with
ELLs? (Rojas, 2001)
7What is Unique About ELLs?
8Krashen's Theories of Second Language Acquisition
- Natural order hypothesis
- Input hypothesis
- Affective filter hypothesis
9Stages of Second Language Acquisition
10Cummins Theories of Second Language Acquisition
- BICS and CALP
-
- Linguistic interdependence hypothesis
11(No Transcript)
12Pledge of Allegiance
- I pledge a lesson to the frog of the United
States of America. And to the wee puppet for
witch's hands. One Asian, in the vestibule,Â
with little tea and just rice for all. - Betty Bao LordÂ
-
13TYPES OF LANGUAGE SKILLS
- BICS
- Basic
- Interpersonal Communication Skills
- CALP
- Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency
14The iceberg metaphor
BICS
CALP
15Which is Which?
- Takes 5-7 years
- Specific vocabulary
- Complex sentence structure
- Higher level thinking skills
- School language
- Takes up to 2 years
- Face-to-face communication
- Survival English
- Playground language
16Cummins Theories of Second Language Acquisition
BICS vs CALP
- Takes 5-7 years
- Specific vocabulary
- Complex sentence structure
- Higher level thinking skills
- School language
- Takes up to 2 years
- Face-to-face communication
- Survival English
- Playground language
17(No Transcript)
18Literacy Research and ELLs
19Factors resulting in individual variances
- Motivation (Extrinsic and Intrinsic)
- First Language Development
- Prior Schooling
- Language Distance and Attitude
- Access to the Target Language
- Age
- Personality and Learning Style
- Peers and Role Models
- Quality of Instruction
- Cultural Background
- Others
- Adapted from Using the SIOP Model (2002). Center
for Applied Linguistics.
20Normal processes of second-language acquisition
- Language Interference or Transfer
- Silent Period
- Code-switching
- Language Loss
- Dysfluency (associated with lack of vocabulary,
word finding difficulties and/or anxiety) - Fossilization
21Four Corners Activity
- Good teaching is good teaching.
- Agree, Strongly Agree, Disagree, Strongly
Disagree - Literacy instruction for ELLs should mirror
literacy instruction for native English speakers
- Agree, Strongly Agree, Disagree, Strongly
Disagree
22Essential Components of Reading
- National Reading Panel
- Phonemic Awareness
- Phonics
- Fluency
- Vocabulary development
- Text comprehension
http//www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publicat
ions/reading_first1.html
23A Cautionary Tale
- What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading
to English Language Learners? - By Suzanne Irujo (2007)
24CAUTION Phonological Awareness for ELLs
- 1. ELLs cannot develop phonological awareness in
English until they are familiar with the sounds
of English. - 2. Once explicit instruction has begun,
modifications must be made to allow for more
practice with sounds that can potentially cause
confusion.
25CAUTION Phonics for ELLs
- ELLs often have difficulty discriminating between
similar sounds because the English language does
not have a regular system of correspondence
between letters and sounds. - Advanced decoding skills may develop, while
reading comprehension will not if students' oral
language proficiency is not developed to the
level of the texts they are expected to read. For
this reason, reading instruction should be
combined with intensive development of the oral
language. - Practicing skills must be embedded in meaningful
texts helps ensure that decoding skills don't
progress beyond students' ability to comprehend
the text.
26CAUTION Fluency for ELLs
- ELLs cannot achieve fluency in oral reading
before they have achieved fluency in
speaking.Students' own language experience
stories are a very good choice, as are
read-alouds that students have heard several
times and discussed. - ELLs' normal self-consciousness about accents and
errors can affect their reading fluency,
especially if they are asked to read aloud in
front of the entire class. - Decoding skills, fluency in oral reading, and
reading comprehension interact in various
ways.Effective instruction for ELLs integrates
these three elements of reading (plus vocabulary
learning) into the same lessons using the same
text, as each element helps build and reinforce
the others, producing a multiplier effect.
27Photo Big Books
- Tour the school building
- School yard, park, neighborhood walks
- Trips
- Retelling published stories
28CAUTION Vocabulary for ELLs
- 1. Failure to understand even a few words of a
text can have negative effects on comprehension. - 2. ELLs need more vocabulary instruction than
their native-speaking peers. - 3. ELLs need instruction in different vocabulary
words than their native-speaking peers. - 4. ELLs need different vocabulary teaching
techniques and strategies than their
native-speaking peers.
29CAUTION Vocabulary for ELLs
- What ELLs need
- words that are crucial for understanding a text
- words that are encountered in a wide variety of
contexts - frequently used words that contain word parts
(roots, prefixes, suffixes) that can help
students analyze other unknown words - words with multiple meanings, whether spelled
differently (homophones such as to, two, and too)
or spelled the same (such as a dining room table
and a multiplication table) - figurative language and idiomatic expressions
- academic words that indicate relationships among
other words (such as because, therefore, and
since to indicate cause and effect).
30Vocabulary What ELLs Need
- Avoid simply handing out lists of definitions or
asking ELLs to put the words into sentences - ELLs who are literate in a language should be
taught to recognize cognates and use them to
create meaning. - The meanings of words are acquired through
multiple opportunities to hear, say, read, and
write the words in slightly different meaningful
contexts. - Explicit explanations of unknown words should
include contextual support through real objects,
pictures or drawings, gestures, examples,
demonstrations, or experiments that accompany the
verbal explanations. - The use of context clues to infer meaning is not
always successful with ELLs because they may not
understand the context well enough to infer an
accurate meaning.
31Two Essential Criteria for Choosing Words
- Importance and Utility
- MILEAGE
- Conceptual Understanding
- POWER
32Differentiated Vocabulary Instruction
33(No Transcript)
34I SEE Strategy
- I Illustrate What does ____ look like? What
image(s) come to mind? - S State in one simple sentence what ____ is. Use
your own words. - E Elaborate on what you have just stated.
- E Examples. Add examples.
35What might beginner ELLs understand?
- ___________ cars are _____ __ ___ top __ ___
first ____ __ _ _____. ____ ______ _____ ___ car
___ ___ ____ __ ___ ____. ___ ______ down ___
first ____ ______ __ ______ _____ ___ ___ cars __
___ __ ___ ____ ____ ___ __ __ _____ ___ end ___
___ ____.
36What Might Intermediate ELLs Understand in
English?
- Roller-coaster cars ___ ______ __ ___ top of the
first hill ___ _ _____. Then _______ moves the
car for the rest of the ____. The _____ down the
first hill ______ __ enough speed for the cars __
___ __ the next hill ___ ___ __ _____ the end of
the ____.
37What Might Advanced ELLs Understand in English?
- Roller-coaster cars ___ pulled ___ the top of
the first hill ___ a chain. Then gravity moves
the car for the rest of the ride. The _____ down
the first hill _____ __ enough speed ___ the cars
to ___ __ the next hill and __ __ until the end
of the ride.
38CAUTION Reading Comprehension for ELLs
- Asking ELLs to read the same texts and do the
same activities as everybody else will only
result in frustration for teachers and failure
for students. - Implement the curriculum at a language level that
makes it accessible to ELLs, while at the same
time working to develop their oral language so
they will be able to comprehend texts at higher
levels. - Provide as much nonverbal support for reading
comprehension as possible, including pictures,
diagrams, real objects, gestures, acting, and
graphic organizers. - Explicitly teach comprehension strategies, such
as reader-generated questions, summarizing, and
monitoring comprehension. Teaching strategies is
not enough students must practice them with
texts that are accessible at their level of
language proficiency. If students don't
experience successful application of the
strategies, they won't even try to use them with
other texts. - Plan interactive activities around reading and
interpreting texts.
39CAUTION Reading Comprehension for ELLs
- ELLs are more likely than native speakers to lack
the background knowledge necessary for
understanding texts. - The language level of the text to be read,
compared with ELLs' language proficiency, is a
major factor in how much they will understand of
the text.Even advanced ELLs will experience
difficulty with unusual vocabulary, figurative
language, very complex sentence structures, or
unfamiliar styles and genres. For this reason,
the integration of intensive language development
with reading instruction is highly recommended
for ELLs at all levels of language proficiency.
40Summary of Key Issues
- Research on ELLs and literacy
- Second language acquisition and multiliteracy
development - Cultural, socio-economic, affective, and
academic challenges ELLs face - Meaning at the CENTER of all literacy instruction
- Differentiated instruction for all ELLs
-
41- Lets Help ELLs Follow the
- Yellow Brick RoadFrom Grappling to Grasping to
Comprehending
42Touch their heart
Then take the yellow brick road so they can feel
at home
Give them courage
Build their language