National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction
English Spoken Here article, American School Board Journal
National Science Foundation Special Report on Language and Linguistics
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Friday, January 26, 2007
Content 1(a): Teaching ELL, ESL, Bilingual learners in a regular classroom
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3 comments:
Some of these sites were not working in classs so we found some other ones ourselves. Our brochure includes current research on the topic, some myths anout ESL and ELL, strategies for teachers and administartos, and resources for parents, teachers, and students (interactive websites).
The asbj article entitled,"English Spoken Here," speaks to the commitment on the part of those involved in providing ELL students with on-going support, as they acquire proficiency in English.
The article begins with the story of three Lithuanian boys whose parents sent them to a small school in rural upstate N.Y. after the break-up of the Soviet Union. The school and community came together as one and helped these boys succeed. They went on to earn college degrees and two of the three boys went on to play professional basketball in Europe. The commitment of the school and community ensured, from the onset, the boys success. A small school setting and close-knit community ensured that the boys received the on-going support that they needed. When you are faced, however, with a suburban or urban school setting, the challenge becomes more complex. Time is an issue as you try to work within the time frame given to help an ELL student achieve an adequate level of proficiency in English. The article does address the time factor and how "In Feb. 2004, former Education Secretary Rod Paige introduced a new policy that "adds flexibility" to NCLB's testing requirements for language minority students." The article also addresses various models used in helping students learn English. Findings concluded that ELL students who were placed in an English only setting, did not fair well in the long run. The "additive" approach seemed to work best. That is, when the student is allowed to use their native language while learning English. The article also addresses the fact that students acquire "playground English" in a short amount of time but "academic English" takes longer to acquire. It takes five to eight years to become proficient in a new language. This fact is what stands out for me. What do we do with this information? How can we, as educators, join forces, elementary through high school, and realize realistic goals for our ELL students without referring them when the time limit given to us by our districts is up?
I need to show the guidance counselor in my school this article. She just placed a Spanish speaking student in my class. He is a nice enough student but he cannot understand or speak English. I met with the counselor and inquired why he was not put in the bilingual program that our school offers. It turns out the mother does not want him in the bilingual program she feels he would learn the language faster by placing him in a main stream program. The counselor than told me she agrees with the mother and feels the student will be better off for it. Needless to say the student is lost as far as learning science.
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