For Our Colleagues

1
For Our Colleagues

• Results from the TOEFL and More Findings from
  Educational Research

2
Educational Challenges Focus on the Front of
the Classroom

• Teachers must be able to deliver high quality
  instruction in English.

• The curriculum must be a high quality program
  delivered with consistent quality and adequate
  assessment and remediation options.

3
Teachers A Snapshot

• The TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)
  is a standard assessment instrument in the field.
• The test is produced by the Educational Testing
  Service (ETS) in the United States.
• The total scale for TOEFL is 200 to 800, but the
  comparison scale shows an effect range of 660 to
  300.

4
Teachers A Snapshot

• On the TOEFL, scores above 600 are considered
  excellent and scores below 400 are considered
  very weak.

5
Baseline Comparisons
6
Results Discussion

• The average score earned was a 373 Total with sub
  scores ranging from 386-349
• The TOEFL Average for an EA student is 614

• Listening Comprehension 386
• Structure and Written Expression 349
• Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension 386

7
Result Discussion

• Two local universities were represented in the
  sample, and the average scores were 346 and 378
  respectively.
• Those with Professional degrees earned average
  scores of 384 versus the 370 of the Licenciatura
  (all degrees in English or Idioma Lenguage)

8
Result Discussion

• There is no apparent correlation between
  experience in teaching and teaching English with
  the score earned.
• Those who had traveled in the United States,
  reportedly between 2 weeks and a month, earned an
  average lower than the group as a whole a total
  score of 360.

9
Result Discussion

• We also surveyed the faculty on a number of
  related issues
• Support of the government goal 100 agree
• Believe students value learning English No
  29, Some -- 21, and Yes 50
• Believe parents value learning English No 21,
  Some 14, and Yes 65
• Believe it will detract from Salvadoran identity
  No 71 and Yes 29

10
Conclusions

• That in this group at least, the average level of
  demonstrated English proficiency was low.
• Only two had studied English outside the
  University setting, and their average score was a
  341.
• Time spent in the United States did not seem to
  make a difference in English proficiency.

11
Curriculum and Assessment

• A Reality Check
• EA students in last years class averaged a 614
  on the TOEFL. That result took place after a 14
  year educational process reflecting state of the
  art thinking on teaching and learning a second
  language alongside an overall curriculum driven
  to produce students capable of competing at the
  highest levels in two languages.

12
Curriculum and Assessment

• A Reality Check
• EA, and other bicultural students, are in class
  on average a minimum of 1080 hours per year
  compared to less than 60 of that for Salvadoran
  public school students.
• By the middle and upper grades, EA students spend
  from 70 to 80 of their class time in English
  though the social language and special classes
  are typically conducted in Spanish.

13
Curriculum and Assessment

• A Reality Check
• The EA staff is composed of over 35 native
  English speakers, 45 fluent English speakers,
  and the remaining 20 monolingual Spanish
  speakers.
• English acquisition is a mission-driven coherent
  and consistent message.
• Motivation is also present in the investment of
  time and resources to English acquisition.

14
Curriculum and Assessment

• Few if any of those basic features are present in
  Salvadoran public education.
• Therefore, the scale, scope and expectations for
  success should be adjusted accordingly.

15
Curriculum and Assessment

• Curriculum Reality Check
• The 2001 Programas de Estudio de Ingles outlines
  a series of objectives for students in the 10th
  and 11th grades.
• Those objectives are covered in the EA course of
  study by the end of grade 3 with some of them
  addressed starting in the 4 year old program.

16
Curriculum and Assessment

• Assessment is important to be sure Yet,
• It is only a means to an end
• It has to reflect the reality of the curriculum
  experience and not a theoretical framework
• It can be used as an element in improvement or an
  instrument of destruction
• It is best when done in a multi-modal format
  which means it does not lend itself, in a most
  meaningful way, to one-shot, high stakes measures
  though such a method is attractive to
  policy-makers.

17
Appendix

• Relevant Research Findings
• in Bilingual Education

18
Key Research Findings

• The average 4-5 year old native speaker has an
  pre-school vocabulary of 4-5,000 word families
  and adds word families at the rate of
  approximately 1000 per year of schooling.
• The average second language speaker adds a like
  number of new word families per year, but does
  not make-up the original native speaker 4-5000
  word family base.

19
Key Research Findings

• There are at least seven methods to use in
  approaching ESL education
• ESL -- grammar, vocabulary, and conversation in
  a specific time block
• Content-ESL -- specific time block of instruction
  with focus on subject content areas
• Sheltered Instruction -- Subject matter is taught
  in English with nnodifications

20
Key Research Findings

• Structured Immersion -- No L1 support offered but
  English content is modified
• Transitional Bilingual -- The goal is transition
  to English without support.
• Maintenance Bilingual -- A significant amount of
  instructional time is in L1 to support bilingual
  development
• Two-Way Bilingual -- Half of class has L1
  English, the other half is L1 Spanish, and half
  of class time is spent in English and other in
  Spanish

21
Key Research Findings

• Native language proficiency is a strong predictor
  for L2 success.
• L2 success is observed to be easier for students
  with greater formal education and from higher
  socio-economic backgrounds.
• Attitude and motivation are important factors in
  some contexts.

22
Key Research Findings

• Generally, current research does not view 2nd
  language acquisition from the perspective of a
  net loss in terms of L1 fluency or proficiency
  rather as a net add to communication abilities
  for the learner.
• Age is a factor in the speed and fluency of the
  L2 learner, but there is not a critical
  development period per se and differences between
  learners accounts for the majority of variation
  found.

23
Key Research Findings

• Pre-school education is important in L2
  development given the importance placed on
  language development and interest at that level.

24
Key Research Findings

• Pre-requisites for successful readers, L1 or L2
• Understanding the notion of literacy
• An abstract knowledge of the sound and structure
  of language
• A certain level of vocabulary development
• Conversational skills including the ability to
  adapt language to reflect non-present listeners

25
Key Research Findings

• There are several key points were novel skills
  need to be developed in reading
• Learning about print versus non-print
• Learning to recognize and write letters
• Learning to decode words
• Reading simple texts fluently
• Reading complex texts for new information
• Reading strategically
• Reading critically

26
Key Research Findings

• Assumptions regarding school learning
• Certain disciplines may lend themselves knowledge
  transfer across language
• L2 acquisition is facilitated in languages within
  the same root family
• Different subjects have different epistemologies
  with different demands on learners

27
Key Research Findings

• Assumptions regarding school learning
• There are multiple forms of knowledge
• Prior knowledge plays a significant role in
  learning
• Achievement motivation, the set of beliefs
  children hold about how and why they do well in
  school, is implicated in the relatively poor
  performance of language minority children

28
Key Research Findings

• When parents establish partnerships with their
  childrens schools, they extend learning
  effectively into the home and reinforce academic
  values outside of the classroom.
• In assessing language proficiency of L2 learners,
  both discrete and more holistic and authentic
  uses of language should be employed.

29
Key Research Findings

• Common Components of Successful Programs
• Feature L1 Instruction, especially initially
• An early phasing in of English Instruction
• Teachers specifically trained in instructing ESL
  learners.

30
Key Research Findings

• Attributes of Effective Schools and Classrooms
• A Supportive School-Wide Environment
• School Leadership
• A Customized Learning Environment with
  Articulation and Coordination within and between
  schools
• The use of Native Language and Culture
• A Balanced Curriculum (with basic and high order
  skills) and Explicit Skills Instruction
• Opportunities for Student-Directed Activities
  the use of Instructional Strategies that Enhance
  Understanding and Opportunities for Practice
• The Use of Systematic Student Assessment and
  Staff Development
• Home and Parent Involvement

31
Key Research Findings

• Two-way immersion programs have the highest level
  of long-term success -- but that is not an option
  at this point in Salvadoran education in most
  settings.

32
Next Steps

• Provide support help in English strengthening and
  pedagogy.
• Provide seminar experiences in critical reading,
  writing, and speaking.

33
Research Resources

• Educating Language-Minority Children, Diane
  August and Kenji Hakuta, National Academy Press,
  Washington, DC, 1998.
• Becoming Bilingual in the Amigos Two-Way
  Immersion Program, Mary T. Cazabon, Elena
  Nicoladis, and Wallace E. Lambert, Center for
  Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence,
  Research Report 3, 1998. Washington DC

34
Research Resources

• A Critical Period for Second Language
  Acquisition? A Status Review by Kenji Hakuta,
  Stanford University. Draft 9/7/99.
• Language Minority Student Achievement and Program
  Effectiveness, Wayne Thomas and Virginia Collier,
  Washington DC US Department of Education, 1995.

35
Research Resources

• The Development of Second Language Proficiency,
  edited by B. Harley, P. Allen, J. Cummins, and M.
  Swann, NY Cambridge University Press, 1990.
• Bilinguality and Bilingualism, J. Hamers and M.
  Blanc, 2nd ed., NY Cambridge University Press,
  1989.

36
Research Resources

• Teaching Languages to Young Learners, L. Cameron,
  NY Cambridge University Press, 2001.
• Vocabulary Description, Acquisition and
  Pedagogy, ed. N. Schmitt and M. McCarthy, NY
  Cambridge University Press, 1997.

37
Research Resources

• Second Language Writing. Ed. Barbara Kroll, NY
  Cambridge University Press, 1990.
• Language Program Evaluation. Brian Lynch. NY
  Cambridge University Press, 1996.

38
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39
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT LANGUAGE ?
40
Summarising the Implications

• Language learners need to learn as many words as
  possible as soon as possible (initial 2000 word
  target, with 10,000 words as ideal longer-term
  target)
• Vocabulary development will have to be given much
  more prominence in language teaching
• Vocabulary teaching will (probably) have to be
  much more explicit and systematic
• Teachers will have to develop their own expertise
  in vocabulary development principles and
  techniques, so that they can provide appropriate
  introduction, storage and retrieval activities
  for their students

41
Summarising the implications

• Perhaps, a huge mental shift for many teachers
  whose teaching careers have been dominated by the
  idea that language is lexicalised grammar, and
  not what it actually is grammaticalised lexis
• Perhaps, too, teachers will have to learn (if
  they do not know) what is happening in the field
  of research and development in lexis (corpus
  linguistics) and the necessary terminology to
  talk about vocabulary

42
Thoughts and Questions
This is something that squares with my own
thinking
This is something thats still going round and
round in my head
These are three things Im going to take away
and try to learn more about
43
THINKING ABOUT VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
44

• When we asked students back in the 1980s about
  feelings on learning vocabulary, two-thirds of
  them said they were not taught enough words in
  class. Teachers seemed keen to teach grammar and
  pronunciation, but learning words - particularly
  words that they needed in everyday life - came a
  very poor third.
• Vocabulary 2nd ed. (2004) Morgan J and Rinvolucri
  M p5 Introduction

45

• Our perception of a word can be affected by..
• -its sound
• - the kinetic sensation of the lungs, throat,
  mouth, tongue, and nose, when saying the word
• - its tune
• - its pitch
• - its speed of enunciation
• - the other word company it keeps
• - its spelling
• - its shape on the page or screen
• - conventional associations semantic and
  syntactic categories
• - literary associations (a pail of water)
• - the associations the word has for the learner
• -the circumstances of meeting the word
• Vocabulary p 6-7

46
Thoughts about learning vocabulary

• it is a branching process rather than a linear
  one (words are learnt in association with others)
• it is an intensely personal process (associations
  depend on our past and present experience)
• it is a social process, not a solitary one (we
  expand our understanding of meaning by
  interchanging and sharing with others)
• it is not simply an intellectual process, but an
  experiential hands-on process, too (language is
  not an object - it has to be incorporated within
  the learner)

47
How and why do we remember words ? Part 1

• You are going to see a list of words.
• Look at them for 1 minute, but dont write
  anything.
• Then try to write down as many of them as you can
  remember.

48

• water life rabbit line home
• field ball dog apple sheep
• head hill picture year sky
• chock-a-block cloud horse shape
• pen wind pig cow foot
• door snow flower cat
• 28 words
• From A Way With Words 1, by Stuart Redman and
  Robert Ellis CUP 1989

49
How and why do we remember words ? Part 2

• The next set of words are all the dictionary, but
  youve perhaps never seen them before.
• Once again, look at them for one minute, without
  writing anything. Then try to remember and write
  down as many as you can.

50

• beamish geek pluvial
• thirl crewel fink
• genet kris smegma
• hanuman decurion miscible
• 12 words
• from Websters New World Dictionary 3rd ed 1996

51
What does it mean to know a word ?

• To understand it when it is written or spoken
• To recall it when you need it
• To use it with the correct meaning
• To use it in a grammatically correct way
• To pronounce it correctly
• To know which other words you can use with it
• To spell it correctly
• To use it in the right situation
• To know if it has positive or negative
  connotations
• Adapted from Ellis G and Sinclair B (1989)
  Learning to Learn English CUP

52
To recall it when you need it

• All these words begin with in-
• to breathe in in _ _ _ _
• without life in _ _ _ _ _ _ _
• synonym for wrong in _ _ _ _ _ _ _
• the opposite of superior in _ _ _ _ _ _
• the opposite of guilty in _ _ _ _ _ _
• a beetle is one of these in _ _ _ _
• a measurement (British) in _ _

53
To use it with the correct meaning

• Which is the odd-one out in each set ?
• (1) pal mate buddy chum foe
• (2) swift fleet sluggish nifty brisk
• (3) adore abhor detest loathe despise

54
To use it in a grammatically correct way

• Put these words into pairs (1 countable, 1
  uncountable)
• eg furniture table
• accommodation bread baggage
• advertisement money banknote
• job cars fact flat loaf
• furniture information publicity suitcase
• journey traffic table travel work

55
To pronounce it correctly

• Find the two words which have the same
  pronunciation for the highlighted parts of the
  word
• (1) sword swear switch
• (2) quay play see
• (3) ought colonel third
• (4) timber number climber
• (e) yacht caught hot

56
To know which other words you can use with it

• Match the words in Column A with the words they
  collocate with in Column B

A vast fast utter wide bone thick narrow all bo
red sheer
B stiff range chaos asleep alone coincidence es
cape idle majority fog
57
To spell it correctly

• Finish these words with the correct ending
• - acy -asy -isy
• (1) democr___ (6) idiosyncr___
• (2) accur___ (7) fant___
• (3) obstin___ (8) ecst___
• (4) conspir___ (9) priv___
• (5) diplom___ (10) hypocr___

58
To use it in the right situation

• Mr Blair, would you like to take a seat?
• Mr Blair, dyou want to park your bum here ?

59
To know if it has positive or negative
connotations

• thin skinny petite slender willowy
• svelte lissome slim anorexic
• fat chubby well-built plump obese
• voluptuous overweight
• typical real
• A typical man vs A real man
• shy nice easy-going liberal

60
Thoughts and Questions
This is something that squares with my own
thinking
This is something thats still going round and
round in my head
These are three things Im going to take away
and try to learn more about
61
Helping our students learn, store and retrieve
the words they need 3 options

• By Topic or Theme for example colours rooms in
  a house in the supermarket on vacation crime
• By focusing on Meaning for example collocation
  semantic sets register discourse analysis
• By focusing on Formfor example word formation
  roots, suffixes, prefixes compounds phrasal
  verbs

62
Helping our students learn, store and retrieve
the words they need

• By Topic or Theme No 1 Put these animals into
  groups
• sheep dog goat lion pig zebra
• horse wolf turtle cow camel
  cat
• crocodile hamster giraffe tiger
• elephant guinea pig bear antelope

63
Some possible groups

• Animals which eat meat (carnivores), animals
  which eat plants (herbivores), and animals which
  eat both (omnivores)
• Wild animals, farm animals, pets
• Grouping by size
• Grouping by how dangerous they are
• Grouping by country

64
Helping our students learn, store and retrieve
the words they need

• By Topic or Theme No 2
  
  
  banana
• 
  Fruit
• FOOD
• Meat
• pig cow sheep
• pork

65
Other possibilities

• CLOTHES, with branches for cold weather, hot
  weather, and wet weather
• ROOMS IN A HOUSE, with branches for living room,
  dining room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, etc
• PARTS OF THE BODY, with branches for head, arms,
  legs, trunk, etc
• ANIMALS, with branches for wild, farm,
  domestic/pets
• SPORTS, with branches for indoor, outdoor

66
Helping our students learn, store and retrieve
the words they need

• Focusing on Meaning No 1 Which adjectives can
  be combined with which nouns ?

67
Helping our students learn, store and retrieve
the words they need

• Focusing on Meaning No 2
• Complete the table with the appropriate
• normal adjective
• hot boiling ______ enormous
• ______ delicious ______ tiny
• ______ exhausted ______ freezing
• ______ awful ______ filthy
• ______ ancient ______ wonderful

68
Helping our students learn, store and retrieve
the words they need

• Focusing on Form No 1
• Which of these words can be combined with
• -less and ful ?
• use home
• end harm
• tact care
• thought taste
• pain hope

69
Focusing on Form No 2 When you are old and
grey
a poem by Tom
Lehrer

• Since I still appreciate you
• Lets find love while we may
• Because I know Ill hate you
• When youre old and grey
• So say you love me, here and now
• Ill make the most of that
• Say you love and trust me
• For I know youll disgust me
• When youre old and getting fat

70

• An awful debility
• A lessened utility
• A loss of mobility
• Is a strong possibility
• In all probability
• Ill lose my virility
• And you your fertility
• And desirability

71

• And this liability
• Of total sterility
• Will lead to hostility
• And a sense of futility
• So lets act with agility
• While we still have facility
• For well soon reach senility
• And lose the ability

72

• Your teeth will start to go, dear
• Your waist will start to spread
• In twenty years or so, dear
• Ill wish that you were dead
• Ill never love you then, at all
• The way I do today
• So please remember
• When I leave in December
• I told you so, in May

73
Thoughts and Questions
This is something that squares with my own
thinking
This is something thats still going round and
round in my head
These are three things Im going to take away
and try to learn more about
74
Some Homework

•   Q What are binomials and trinomials ?
•   Q Whats the difference between an
  opaque and a transparent idiomatic
  expression ?
•   Q What are homophones, homonyms, hypernyms
  and hyponyms ?
• Q Why do you always say (in Spanish) blanco y
  negro and I always say (in English) black
  and white ?
• Q Why do you always say (in Spanish) tarde o
  temprano and I always say (in English)
  sooner or later ?
• asheehan_at_mineduc.cl

75
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Write to us! ingles_at_mineduc.cl