First_Grade_Word_Study_Guide
First_Grade_Word_Study_Guide pdf
Graphic and Questions Rubric
Kindergarten_Word_Study_Guide
Kindergarten_Word_Study_Guide pdf
Language Development Progression
Phonemic and Phonological Awareness testGM
Phonemic Awareness Reflection Rubric
Phonological Awareness activity assignment and rubric
Phonological Awareness Activity Checklist
References for Chapter 8-
Oral Language and Phonological Awareness Development
Overview
This goal of this course is to introduce learners to phonological awareness, a foundational component of reading development in young children. This unit is meant to introduce pre-service teachers to the concepts of phonological awareness and how to work with English Learners in their oral language development. Phonological awareness is often misunderstood, therefore not addressed accurately in classroom settings. The course is intended to supplement an existing course in foundational reading development.
Unit Introduction
Introduction:
This goal of this course is to introduce learners to oral language development, a foundational component of reading development in young children. This unit is meant to introduce pre-service teachers to the concepts of phonological awareness and how to work with English Learners in their oral language development. The course is intended to supplement an existing course in foundational reading development.
Audience:
The intended audience of this course are teacher candidates within a higher education certification program focused on elementary education.
Length of course:
This resource is part of a larger Reading Development course and has been designed to engage the participant for a minimum of 3 hours. This section of the course is taught for 2 weeks of a 16 week course. The content and standards are heavily supplemented with other activities, including working with young children during the face-to-face course setting.
Unit-level outcomes:
While engaging with this unit, learners will:
- Identify oral language acquisition stages
- Identify aspects of oral language instruction for English Learners.
Technology requirements:
Projector/Computer for instructor
Internet access with higher level bandwidth for viewing and creating videos
Access to Google applications for assignment creation
Online journal (You are welcome to use a paper journal as well)
Oral Language Development
Some games we play in this section:
Humdingers: write out 6 common nursery rhyme songs, such as Mary had a Little Lamb and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on index cards. Write out as many copies as you need for your class. Highlight each song an equal number of times. Randomly hand the cards out to the class. Students need to find their group by humming the tune of the song. Groups hum their song at the end to make sure everyone is correct and remainder of class guesses at the song. Discuss the importance of listening, how distractions can impact listening, and what this means for classroom instruction.
Bubbles: Go outdoors and blow bubbles for a few minutes. When coming back inside, have students tell you words to describe the experience and the bubbles. Write these words on the board. Then show students a picture of the bubbles. Mark out words that can no longer be used with just an image, such as sticky, wet, etc. Then write the word bubbles on the board. Continue to mark out words that can no longer be used with just the written word. This discussion relates to the experiences children have that adds to their background knowledge and oral language development.
Would you rather: This has various ways to play and there are many out there. Provide students with a set of cards with a question: "Would you rather _______ or _________? They answer aloud to partners with a sentence stem: "I would rather ____________ because ________________. This activity begins to show how we can assist Emergent Bilinguals in their oral language development as well.
Oral Language Development
UNIT 1 OBJECTIVES:
1. The student will identify stages of language acquisition.
CONTENT:
Close your eyes and listen to the sounds you hear. Perhaps you hear birds, cars driving nearby, people talking, the wind, or silence. Why should we stop to listen to the sounds we hear around us? It is relaxing! Although that is true, that is not the focus of what will be discussed in this unit. Young children learn to speak and listen well before they can read and write, however, we tend to focus on the end goal of reading rather than the skill development necessary to read.
For several decades, reading instruction has focused on word reading skills, not language comprehension. Language comprehension includes oral language comprehension because students can understand language and how it works, a critical component of reading comprehension. Theories will insist language is developed by nature, naturally develops, or nurture, taught skills. However, it is a combination of both nature and nurture because children will pick up on language skills and they have to be taught aspects of language, otherwise, they may always say ‘psketi’ for spaghetti. Oral Language instruction must be explicit and systematic, just as all other reading instruction should be.
Watch this video on the Simple View of Reading.
Once you have watched the video, use your reflective journal to write out an example of a scenario in which yourself or a young child you work with has either low language comprehension or decoding skills. How does that impact their reading comprehension?
One example from my teaching is when we had two high level readers in kindergarten who were reading at a third-grade level. However, when asked the comprehension questions at the end of the story, only one of the children could answer the questions. That child had both the language comprehension and the decoding skills to have full reading comprehension. The other child had good decoding with limited language comprehension, making the text easy to ready, but difficult to comprehend.
This is important because you will continually grow in your understanding of how oral language impacts reading as you work through this module.
Oral Language Development
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
It is necessary to understand how oral language progresses in order to internalize how the phonological awareness skills are systematically taught, dependent upon the language development of the child.
Read through the textbook explanation of language development (Language Development Progression) and reflect in your journal regarding what experiences you have in hearing each of these stages. What would you do for a child who comes into preschool with limited language development, perhaps still within the telegraphic stage?
Language Developmental Progression
An important aspect of cognitive development is language acquisition. The order in which children learn language structures is consistent across children and cultures (Hatch, 1983). Starting before birth, babies begin to develop language and communication skills. At birth, babies recognize their mother’s voice and can discriminate between the language(s) spoken by their mothers and foreign languages, and they show preferences for faces that are moving in synchrony with audible language (Blossom & Morgan, 2006; Pickens et al., 1994; Spelke & Cortelyou, 1981).
Do newborns communicate? Of course they do. They do not, however, communicate with the use of oral language. Instead, they communicate their thoughts and needs with body posture (being relaxed or still), gestures, cries, and facial expressions. A person who spends adequate time with an infant can learn which cries indicate pain and which ones indicate hunger, discomfort, or frustration.
Intentional Vocalizations: In terms of producing spoken language, babies begin to coo almost immediately. Cooing is a one-syllable combination of a consonant and a vowel sound (e.g., coo or ba). Interestingly, babies replicate sounds from their own languages. A baby whose parents speak French will coo in a different tone than a baby whose parents speak Spanish or Urdu. These gurgling, musical vocalizations can serve as a source of entertainment to an infant who has been laid down for a nap or seated in a carrier on a car ride. Cooing serves as practice for vocalization, as well as the infant hears the sound of his or her own voice and tries to repeat sounds that are entertaining. Infants also begin to learn the pace and pause of conversation as they alternate their vocalization with that of someone else and then take their turn again when the other person’s vocalization has stopped.
At about four to six months of age, infants begin making even more elaborate vocalizations that include the sounds required for any language. Guttural sounds, clicks, consonants, and vowel sounds stand ready to equip the child with the ability to repeat whatever sounds are characteristic of the language heard. Eventually, these sounds will no longer be used as the infant grows more accustomed to a particular language.
At about 7 months, infants begin Babbling, engaging in intentional vocalizations that lack specific meaning and comprise a consonant-vowel repeated sequence, such as ma-ma-ma, da-da- da. Children babble as practice in creating specific sounds, and by the time they are 1 year old, the babbling uses primarily the sounds of the language that they are learning (de Boysson- Bardies, Sagart, & Durand, 1984). These vocalizations have a conversational tone that sounds meaningful even though it isn’t. Babbling also helps children understand the social, communicative function of language. Children who are exposed to sign language babble in sign by making hand movements that represent real language (Petitto & Marentette, 1991).
Gesturing: Children communicate information through gesturing long before they speak, and there is some evidence that gesture usage predicts subsequent language development (Iverson & Goldin-Meadow, 2005). Deaf babies also use gestures to communicate wants, reactions, and feelings. Because gesturing seems to be easier than vocalization for some toddlers, sign language is sometimes taught to enhance one’s ability to communicate by making use of the ease of gesturing. The rhythm and pattern of language is used when deaf babies sign just as it is when hearing babies babble.
Understanding: At around ten months of age, the infant can understand more than he or she can say, which is referred to as receptive language. You may have experienced this phenomenon as well if you have ever tried to learn a second language. You may have been able to follow a conversation more easily than contribute to it. One of the first words that children understand is their own name, usually by about 6 months, followed by commonly used words like “bottle,” “mama,” and “doggie” by 10 to 12 months (Mandel, Jusczyk, & Pisoni, 1995).
Infants shake their head “no” around 6–9 months, and they respond to verbal requests to do things like “wave bye-bye” or “blow a kiss” around 9–12 months. Children also use contextual information, particularly the cues that parents provide, to help them learn language. Children learn that people are usually referring to things that they are looking at when they are speaking (Baldwin, 1993), and that that the speaker’s emotional expressions are related to the content of their speech.
Holophrasic Speech: Children begin using their first words at about 12 or 13 months of age and may use partial words to convey thoughts at even younger ages. These one word expressions are referred to as Holophrasic Speech. For example, the child may say “ju” for the word “juice” and use this sound when referring to a bottle. The listener must interpret the meaning of the holophrase, and when this is someone who has spent time with the child, interpretation is not too difficult. But, someone who has not been around the child will have trouble knowing what is meant. Imagine the parent who to a friend exclaims, “Ezra’s talking all the time now!” The friend hears only “ju da ga” to which the parent explains means, “I want some milk when I go with Daddy.”
Language Errors: The early utterances of children contain many errors, for instance, confusing /b/ and /d/, or /c/ and /z/. The words children create are often simplified, in part because they are not yet able to make the more complex sounds of the real language (Dobrich & Scarborough, 1992). Children may say “keekee” for kitty, “nana” for banana, and “vesketti” for spaghetti because it is easier. Often these early words are accompanied by gestures that may also be easier to produce than the words themselves. Children’s pronunciations become increasingly accurate between 1 and 3 years, but some problems may persist until school age.
A child who learns that a word stands for an object may initially think that the word can be used for only that particular object, which is referred to as Underextension. Only the family’s Irish Setter is a “doggie”, for example. More often, however, a child may think that a label applies to all objects that are similar to the original object, which is called Overextension. For example, all animals become “doggies”.
First words and cultural influences: First words if the child is using English tend to be nouns. The child labels objects such as cup, ball, or other items that they regularly interact with. In a verb-friendly language such as Chinese, however, children may learn more verbs. This may also be due to the different emphasis given to objects based on culture. Chinese children may be taught to notice action and relationships between objects, while children from the United States may be taught to name an object and its qualities (color, texture, size, etc.). These differences can be seen when comparing interpretations of art by older students from China and the United States.
Two word sentences and telegraphic (text message) speech: By the time they become toddlers, children have a vocabulary of about 50-200 words and begin putting those words together in telegraphic speech, such as “baby bye-bye” or “doggie pretty”. Words needed to convey messages are used, but the articles and other parts of speech necessary for grammatical correctness are not yet used. These expressions sound like a telegraph, or perhaps a better analogy today would be that they read like a text message. Telegraphic Speech/Text Message Speech occurs when unnecessary words are not used. “Give baby ball” is used rather than “Give the baby the ball.”
Infant-directed Speech: Why is a horse a “horsie”? Have you ever wondered why adults tend to use “baby talk” or that sing-song type of intonation and exaggeration used when talking to children? This represents a universal tendency and is known as Infant-directed Speech. It involves exaggerating the vowel and consonant sounds, using a high-pitched voice, and delivering the phrase with great facial expression (Clark, 2009). Why is this done? Infants are frequently more attuned to the tone of voice of the person speaking than to the content of the words themselves, and are aware of the target of speech. Werker, Pegg, and McLeod (1994) found that infants listened longer to a woman who was speaking to a baby than to a woman who was speaking to another adult. It may be in order to clearly articulate the sounds of a word so that the child can hear the sounds involved. It may also be because when this type of speech is used, the infant pays more attention to the speaker and this sets up a pattern of interaction in which the speaker and listener are in tune with one another.
LICENSES AND ATTRIBUTIONS
CC LICENSED CONTENT, ORIGINAL
- Authored by: Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French. Provided by: College of Lake County Foundation. Located at: http://dept.clcillinois.edu/psy/LifespanDevelopment.pdf. License: CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
As you consider the importance of oral language development, think about how this directly impacts reading development as we begin to explore the connections.
Phonological Awareness
You are welcome to add more activities here made for your space. For online sections, students can make vidoes, submit their reflection journal, or meet through ZOOM in small groups to complete activities. You can adjust this to make it fit how you teach.
We assess and teach a phonological awareness plan and do many more activties which are not Creative Commons. This is just a small portion of what we do regarding this topic in class, however, it does provide a good foundation in phonological awareness.
When you see the ear symbol, that is an indication that it is a discussion or embedded activit to do during class.
Play this game to demonstrate how oral language comprehension can depend on various factors. Line up in even-numbered lines along two sides of the room. The instructor will provide each person at the front of the line a whispered word. That person then tells the next person a word they associate with that word. This continues until the last person has their word and they say it aloud to the class. What did you notice that happened? Why was this the case? What word did each line begin with? If the instructor used the same word for each line, the end word can be very different. What makes this happen? Brainstorm a list of influencing factors that contribute to the varying ending words. Yes, this is a version of the telephone game.
Victoria-RuizVD: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
Phonological Awareness:
How does this tie into our understanding of oral language? Everything! Phonological awareness consists of the oral skills children need in order to read. The next image provides you with the specific skills which are a part of phonological awareness. Each skill will be explained in this unit and the following unit.
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
Phonological awareness skills can be divided into three areas: Word level, Parts of words, and Individual sounds. Children must be able to distinguish between a word they hear and an individual sound in the word they may hear. The whole word is a much easier skill and children as young as two can begin building skills in the number of words in a sentence.
| Word Level Skills | Word Parts Skills | Phoneme Skills |
| words in sentence | syllable | isolation |
| rhyme | onset/rime | segmenting |
| alliteration | blending | |
| addition/deletion/substitution |
Word Level Skills:
Word level skills consist of words in sentences, rhyming and alliteration because each of these skills works on the word as a whole. Read the explanations below each graphic and watch the videos that are linked below some of the graphics.
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
Sentence segmentation can also be thought of as working with words in sentences. One way to do this is to count the words in orally stated sentences. Three activities that can be used to teach words in sentences are to count the words in a sentence and use a manipulative to represent each word. The graphic uses tile squares to move as a sentence is read aloud. Of course we can clap or count the words on our fingers as well. It is important to remember that these sentences are not visible to the students. The words above the squares on the graphic are simple to show each tile represents one word in the sentence. The video also addressed syllables, which will be discussed in a later section. After watching the video and looking over the graphic, practice with small groups using the different methods to work with words within sentences.
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
Rhyming is defined as the same sound at the end of the word. These words will typically be one-syllable words for beginning phonological awareness, or CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words, such as cat, hat. Rhyming is a fun skill that can be worked on in any location with any objects. I remember going around the grocery store with my son and he would want to know what items were. If I told him this was lettuce he would immediately say lettuce, pettuce, wettuce, etc. We would have so much fun in the store, on car rides, and with many other daily activities. Rhyming does not have to be real words! Nonsense words are very valuable to help determine if children truly understand the concept of rhyming.
Rhyming skills can be reinforced through songs, books read aloud, matching games, I spy games and many more. Remember, no words are shown to the children. You can have a word list for yourself of potential rhyming words to use in a lesson, however, the children will not see those words. Pictures are wonderful to use because it also helps build vocabulary. For example, a child may have a picture of a jet, but they say airplane. The other picture would not rhyme with jet and you inform them of another word for airplane. The video addresses both rhyming and alliteration, which children can confuse because alliteration focuses on the beginning sound and rhyming focuses on the ending sounds of words.
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
Alliteration is defined as a repitition of sounds within a phrase or sentence. Do not confuse this with rhyming, which is the same sound at the end of the word. Alliteration is typically a repetition of the beginning sound, but can be a repetition of a sound with multiple words. An example would be Sally Sells Sea Shells By The Sea Shore. Tongue twisters are a favorite for children to try and say.
Can you pick out the three tongue twisters in this graphic? One was already provided above. Wite a minimum of two alliteration phrases with your name and share with the class. Remember, that in your teaching, children will not see these sentences, they will only hear what you read aloud. See if anyone can add to your alliteration phrase. How long can the phrase or sentence go on before you run out of words?
Parts of Words:
In the previous section, you learned about whole word aspects of phonological awareness. In this section, you will rediscover skills which focus on word parts. I mention rediscover because one skill is a familiar and one is new. Syllables and Onset/Rime are parts of word phonological awareness skills because they focus on parts of the word, rather than whole word. These are the next level of phonological awareness skills for young children. Read the explanations below each graphic and watch the videos that are linked below some of the graphics.
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
Syllables are defined as the single unbroken sound of a spoken word. A syllable will include a vowel sound and usually consonants. We can remember working with syllables as young children because it was common to discuss syllables and perform activities such as clapping out our names. Clapping out names is certaintly still perfomed in classrooms and tied into math curriculum by creating a graph of the number of syllables in every child's name. The names are not written down for this activity because for phonological awareness, there are no letters or words used. We use physical movements such as clappnig to help feel the syllables. Another common activity is to put your hand under your chin and count how many times your hand goes down as you say a word. One activity that includes entire body movement is a hopping game. Put colored dots down on the floor, such as the ones used for PE class, and have children line up. As you say a word, one child should hop forward one time for each syllable. For example, happy would have the child hop twice.
Reference the video above under counting words in sentences for work on syllables. After reviewing the video, create a class graph with the number of syllables in everyone's names in the class. How do accents and dialects play into how words are pronounced? Does blessed have one or two syllables? These are questions to keep in mind as you your with syllables with young children.
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
Onset and Rime is a more difficult skill than working with syllables. When we hear the word RIME we think about how words rhyme together and sound the same at the end of the word. That is not the case, although they are related. Onset is the part of the word that occurs before the vowel and the Rime is the remainder of the word. This will only be true in one syllable words. The graphics illustrates three activities that can be used to work with Onset and Rime. Remember that there are no letters or words used in phonological awareness and the letters with the tiles are used as a demonstration of what the tiles represent and would not be showed to a child completing this activity. As you can see, the tiles do work for Onset/Rime just as they work for syllables and words in sentences. We cut out pieces of felt to use that are different colors to use for these activities. Puzzles are a great option as well. You can purchase ready-made Onset/Rime puzzles, however, that is not necessary.
Print out pictures of one syllable words and cut them into two parts. This is illustrated above with the snake. As the child is putting this puzzle piece together they would say 'sn'. 'ake' and then read the whole word, snake. This same concept can also be used as a picture that is cut into two parts and complete it the same way as the puzzle. Watch the video above to learn how one teacher specifically teaches this concept to her students. Locate 10 one-syllable words you can use for your Onset/Rime pictures. Create either puzzles or the picture option. These can be made with a Google application such as Slides or Drawings.
Wrapping up Unit 1:
You now have an introduction to phonological awareness and oral language development. To ensure you have a good grasp of this content before moving on to the next unit, there are two assessment activities to complete. These will both be useful activities for you as a teacher and in interviews or parent discussions.
1. Look at the first graphic provided that is entitled Phonological Awareness. Does this graphic help you understand the main idea about phonological awareness? How would you improve this graphic? Write a paragraph to answer these two questions and then create your own graphic to demonstrate your understanding of phonological awareness. Submit your answers to these questions and your graphic in your course's LMS. The rubric and assignment details are posted in the PA graphic document.
2. You are more than likely going to have to explain to someone, a parent or principal perhaps, what you know about phonological awareness at some point. It is important to know how to talk about phonological awareness to different audiences. You will create your elevator pitch for a parent and a principal. This elevator pitch will be a 1 minute video, one for each audience. You will make this video in FlipGrid. The expectations and grading rubric for this video are attached.
Resources:
All YouTube videos are Creative Commons Open License
Children Image: Victoria-RuizVD: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
Lally, M. & Valentine-French, S. (2019). Language Developmental Progression. Life Span Development: A Psychological Perspective 2nd ed. pp. 91-93. College of Lake County Foundation. http://dept.clcillinois.edu/psy/LifespanDevelopment.pdf. License: CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Phonemic Awareness: One small, important part
Answers to phonemes in words: cat (3), house (3), car (2), tiger (4), shop (3)
Sounds which are short and have extra phoneme added to end: /b/, /d/, /t/, /ch/, /g/, /j/, /k/
Phonemic Awareness: One small, important part
UNIT 1 OBJECTIVES:
1. The student will distinguish between the hierarchy of skills in phonological awareness and phonemeic awareness.
2. The student will evaluate phonemeic awarenesss activities for accuracy and developmentally appropriateness.
3. The student will share two resources for phonemic awareness.
CONTENT:
In the previous unit, you built a foundation of phonological awareness. One aspect of phonological awareness is phonemic awareness. These two terms are often confused and this can lead to misleading instruction. One way to distinguish between these two terms is to understand what the words mean.
Phonological = study of language
This is the reason all of our oral language skills are under this larger term. Many times you see it represented by an umbrella with all the skills underneath.
Phoneme = smallest unit of sound
This is a term centered around a specific concept with language skills. A phoneme is that smallest sound in a word. Close your eyes again. Forget about how a word is spelled. Take turns with a partner and say these words aloud and count the sounds you hear. Cat, House, Car, Tiger, Shop. How did you do? The answers are in the instructor notes. Look at the graphic below. This visual is intended to have you think about a phoneme as a single flower petal.
How can you think about phonemes to help you understand it is an individual sound in a word? Create your own graphic using the remaining words from above.
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
One concept is important when thinking about the phonemes in words -- how to properly pronounce each of the 44 phonemes in the English Language. We document sounds with two back slashes on the outside of the sound. For example, cat would be /c/ /a/ /t/. Dialect and accents can make a difference in how an individual may voice the sounds, but there is one common error speakers make when pronouncing individual sounds of the English Language. An 'uh' is added at the end of certain letters.
Can you think of some letter sounds in which it should be a short sound, yet an 'uh' is added at the end? Discuss this with your partner and be ready to share out with the whole group. Some possible answers will be in the instructor notes. To help prepare you to know how to accurately pronounce the different sounds in the English Language, watch this video in which each sound is modeled and explained. As you watch the video, think about what sounds you may struggle with. It may have been over 15 years since you have had to practice making the sounds of the English Language.
Phonemic Awareness Skills:
Specific skills are taught as part of phonemic awareness: isolation, segmenting, blending, adding/deleting/substitution. These skills are higher level skills than the previously mentioned phonological awareness skills in Unit 1. Each of the phonemic awareness skills will be explained below with graphics, some videos, and text.
Isolation:
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
Sound isolation, or phoneme isolation, can be a challanging task for young children, as with many of the phonemic awareness skills. You will work with beginning sounds first, then teach ending sounds, leaving the most difficult middle sounds to the last skill in this set. Some of the vowel sounds are tricky and sound similar to each other, making middle sounds a higher level skill. This is especially true for Spanish speakers and the /e/ and /i/ sounds. One game you can play is to listen to a song as a class and do an action each time the sound is heard in the song. We like to use sit down and stand up everytime we hear a specific sound. Pick your favorite song you can use for this activity and save it for yourself. Many songs have YouTube videos to watch, however, remember that the children should not see the lyrics. Watch the video above and learn how one teacher works on isolating sounds on her hands.
Segmenting:
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
Segmenting spoken words into phonemes is separating the spoken word into all the sounds heard. For example, when we say cat we will segment the word into the three sounds we hear, /c/ /a/ /t/. When we say shop, we will segment the spoken word into the three sounds we hear, /sh/ /o/ /p/. This can be a confusing skill for adults to manage because we tend to think about how a word is spelled and not just the sounds we hear. Here is a graphic to help you remember that phonological awareness, including phonemic awareness, skills can be taught in the dark. This will make sure that you understand to not use letters or printed words with your children. We will do another activity after discussing blending.
Blending:
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
Blending spoken phonemes into spoken words is bringing all the sounds heard separately back together to form a spoken word. For example, when we say /c/ /a/ /t/, the child should be able to tell us the word cat. When we say, /sh/ /o/ /p/, the child should be able to say the word shop. This is a fun exercise to use when lining up children to transition to lunch. You can say, "it is time for /l/ /u/ /n/ /ch/. Who can tell me what time it is? Yes, it is time for lunch!" Children love to guess the words and know they have to listen carefully to know what it is.
Watch the video for segmenting and blending. What activities work well for you and your personality? Write in your reflective journal a minimum of three times of the day you can use blending and segmenting phonemes that is not your English Language Arts time. Phonemic awareness is a skill that is taught explicitly, however, it can be practiced throughout the day as well.
Addition/Deletion/Substition:
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
Now for the most difficult level of phonemic awareness skills for young children. These skills will not begin until the end of first grade into second grade. Phoneme manipulation involves addition (adding sounds), deletion (subracting sounds), and substition (exchanging one sound for another). This requires a strong foundation in the previously taught phonological awareness skills to master the highest level skills. What do each of these skills mean? From these examples below, you can see why these are more difficult. I encourage you to work on these skills with a partner on examples in the attached word study curriculu.
addition: "I will add /h/ to the beginning of 'at'. Now I have 'hat'. I will add /t/ to the end of 'ten'. Now I have 'tent'".
deletion: "I will take the /s/ from 'star'. Now I have 'tar'. I will say 'that' without the /th/. Now I have 'at'."
substitution: "I will change the /sh/ in 'ship' to a /ch/. Now I have 'chip'. I will change the /st/ in 'must' to /d/. Now I have 'mud'."
Selecting Quality Activities:
Providing children with quality is just as valuable as you understanding the content provided in this module. Many times we can locate pre-made activities that do not address the skill, but are cute or fun activities. We can still locate or create fun activities that fulfill the greater purpose of teaching a phonemic awareness skill.
Use the attached checklist to evaluate the two linked activities. Submit the two checklists in your LMS and be prepared to discuss your reasoning in a small group meeting.
FCRR Feed the Animals Syllable Game
Wrapping up Unit 2:
You now have more information about the specific skills included in phonemic awareness. To ensure you have a good grasp of this content before moving on to the next unit, there are two asssessment activities to complete. These will both be useful activities for you as a teacher.
1. You evaluated two phonemic awareness activities and discussed your reasoning in small groups. It is your turn to locate a minimum of two phonemic awareness activities you can teach to young children. Use the checklist from your own evaluation to make sure these activities will be appropriate. Share your activities with the remainder of the class on Padlet with the link provided in the LMS.
2. Write a short reflective paper over your understanding of the phonemic awareness skills. Be sure to include how comfortable you are with the skills introduced and where you may see yourself struggle in teaching phonemic awareness. Submit this paper in the LMS. The paper will be graded with the attached rubric.
Resources:
All YouTube videos are Creative Commons Open License
Feed the Animals Game. Florida Center for Reading Research.
Guessing Game. Florida Center for Reading Research.
Lightbulb image: Pixabay Open License https://pixabay.com/illustrations/light-bulb-idea-lit-inspiration-4514505/
Assessment
Assessing phonological awareness is an important aspect of the reading instruction. Assessment results let us know what a child understands and what they need more development within. As with phonological awareness skills, assessements for phonological awareness skills are all oral. Children do not see any words, however, they may use manipulatives, depedent upon the type of assessment.
The Phonemic and Phonological Awareness testGM document that is attached is to gauge your knowledge as a student learning more about these skills. This is not intended to use with children at all, but rather to see where you stand. Go ahead and take a few minutes to follow the instructions to see how you did.
Emergent Bilinguals: Effective Instruction
If working online, the charts can be created in an online format to share with each other.
English Learners: Effective Instruction
UNIT 3 OBJECTIVES:
1. The student will demonstrate basic understanding of language acquisition for English Learners, including the impact of dialect.
2. The student will demonstrate understanding of the speaking and listening domains when building activities.
3. The student will create phonological tasks, emphasizing explicit and systematic instruction for English Learners.
CONTENT:
You have been introduced to phonlogical awareness and the skills that fall under that larger term. This unit will look more closely at how to assist English Learners in their development of phonological awareness skills. Before we dive more into the instruction, you should know more about English Learners. Read this chapter below as an introduction to English Learners.
After you have read the chapter, answer the two discussion questions in your reflective journal and be prepared to discuss in class with small groups.
8. Helping English Language Learners Develop Literacy Skills and Succeed Academically
TESS M. DUSSLING
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to provide educators with background knowledge on English language learners and information on how to better assist culturally and linguistically diverse students to develop the literacy skills crucial for academic success. Differences in social and academic language will be addressed, as well as theories of language acquisition and language learning. Recommendations to educators will be offered to better assist students as they become proficient in the English language while being exposed to new content in the classroom. The chapter also will draw upon the importance of including students’ previous experiences, along with embracing students’ cultural and linguistic diversity.
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, readers will be able to
- discuss how English language learners’ prior experiences influence how they learn;
- explain different types of programs available for English language learners in schools;
- describe the difference between social language proficiency and academic language proficiency;
- explain the developmental stages of learning a new language;
- offer suggestions for helping English language learners succeed academically.
Introduction
Today’s classrooms in the United States are filled with children who speak a variety of native languages and who bring great diversity, culture, and previous experiences with them. As schools become increasingly diverse, there is an urgent need to prepare all teachers to meet the challenge of teaching both content and English language skills to students. English language learners are the fastest growing population of students in the United States (Calderón, Slavin, & Sanchez, 2011), raising many concerns over how educators can best meet the needs of this diverse group of learners. School-aged children considered to be English language learners (ELLs) rose from 3.54 million in 1998-1999 to 5.3 million in 2008-2009 (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, 2011), and it is estimated that one in five students has a home language other than English (Gonzalez, Yawkey, & Minaya-Rowe, 2006). As the number of ELLs increases in schools across the country, educators face the challenge of providing instruction in English to students who are learning English while combatting academic achievement gaps. While the research cited and strategies discussed in this chapter are presented in the context of teaching English language learners in schools in the United States, educators in other countries can also apply what is reviewed when teaching English as a new language abroad.
Who are English Language Learners?
The definition of an English language learner is not a simple one as some students may have relatively no knowledge of the English language when entering the classroom while others have mastered many English skills and are now focusing on more difficult academic content. Terms used to describe English language learners do tend to cause some confusion as terms may overlap and change over time. In order to alleviate any confusion, some common terms and acronyms will be briefly explained for a better understanding throughout the rest of the chapter.
English language learner (ELL) is a term used for a person learning English in addition to their native language. It is important to keep in mind that English language learners are students learning English while learning inEnglish. Throughout the chapter the term English language learner will be used as a way of emphasizing that the students are learning and progressing in a new language. This term is often preferred over others, as it highlights the learning aspect of acquiring a new language instead of suggesting that students with other native languages are in some way deficient.
Some schools still use the term English as a second language (ESL), but that term may not be accurate for students who already have knowledge of more than one language. Often, ESL refers to the instructional support English language learners receive while in school. You may hear teachers or students refer to ESL class or ESL time during the school day. Certified ESL teachers may be “push-in” teachers, meaning they come into general education classrooms to assist English language learners, or they may pull English language learners out of class for more intensive English language instruction.
English as a new language (ENL) is a term gaining popularity over ESL in some schools and teacher certification programs and is also the term used by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (2010). Similarly, as a way of highlighting that many English language learners may have competency of more than two languages, the state of New York has changed Common Core Learning Standard terminology from English as a Second Language Learning Standards to New Language Arts Progressions (EngageNY, 2014). Other common terms seen in schools include English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), English as a foreign language (EFL), and English as another language (EAL). Limited English proficient (LEP) is the term used in legislation and state or federal documents to refer to students who lack sufficient mastery of the English language; however, it has been suggested by teachers and researchers that this term has a negative connotation and views the child as “limited,” when in fact, the child is actually acquiring new language skills. A subpopulation of English language learners who have experienced little or no formal schooling are referred to as students with interrupted formal education (SIFE) or students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE). This group of ELLs has missed educational experiences in their home country due to a number of factors including the unavailability of school, war, or migration. It is quite possible that students with limited or interrupted education may not have a strong grasp of literacy in their native language and face a triple threat when entering schools in the United States: developing proficiency in the English language, learning grade-level subject matters, and developing and/or improving literacy skills (DeCapua, Smathers, & Tang, 2007). It should be noted that it is often much easier for a student to learn to read in English when they are already literate in their primary language (e.g., August & Shanahan, 2006; Rolstad, Mahoney, & Glass, 2005; Slavin & Cheung, 2005). Some researchers believe this is because students who are learning to read for the first time in a new language have to do twice the work since they are learning the process of reading while learning a new language (Short & Fitzsimmons, 2007). In a large review of scientific research on English language learners in the United States, Genesee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders, and Christian (2005) reported that English literacy development is greatly influenced by literacy knowledge in the learner’s first language. Additionally, English language learners who are literate in their first language can draw upon strategies they already know such as making inferences and using prior knowledge to help gain understanding when reading in a new language.
English Language Learners in Schools
The academic performance of English language learners cannot be fully understood without considering their social, cultural, and economic characteristics, as well as the institutional history of U.S. schools (Jensen, 2008). As would be expected, there is a large range of socioeconomic status levels and parental education attainment levels among English language learners. However, English language learners are more likely than native English speaking students to live in poverty and have parents with limited formal education (García & Jensen, 2006). This is mentioned because it is important to keep in mind that the educational achievement of English language learners, like native English speaking students, can be impacted by a variety of background factors including family income, parental educational attainment, parental language proficiency, and family structure.
It is imperative for educators to understand that children’s prior experiences can impact how they learn (e.g., Hammer, Lawrence, & Miccio, 2007; Konishi, 2007). There may be a tendency for teachers to lump English language learners into one group, expecting the children to act and learn in the same way. In reality, like native English speakers, English language learners come from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and languages. ELLs are a highly heterogeneous group of students with diverse backgrounds, abilities, and needs. These children bring with them a range of experiences and varying prior knowledge. Children will develop language skills at different speeds, and teachers should be aware that they cannot expect all ELLs to learn in the same fashion (Harper & de Jong, 2004). It is also important to consider a child’s prior language experiences. Some children come to school with prior exposure to English, while others may not be introduced to English until they begin school. Children’s outcomes may differ depending on when they were first exposed to English (Hammer et al., 2007). Understanding students’ linguistic and cultural knowledge both at school and beyond school (e.g., first language literacy, oral proficiency levels, language(s) spoken at home, and prior experiences) can help teachers link new material and vocabulary words to things students may already know (Cummins et al., 2005; de Jong, Harper, & Coady, 2013).
The amount of cultural and linguistic diversity in a classroom may vary depending on its location. In a metropolitan area there may be students from a great number of countries, representing many different languages, or a group of students that share the same native language if it is a location where many immigrants come to work in a specific industry or in a community that has recently welcomed a large refugee population. Each of these situations offers its own unique advantages and challenges. In a classroom full of cultural and linguistic diversity, English will be the only possible method of communication between a teacher and students. This will inevitably create a situation where students have no choice but to practice English often. On the other hand, if many of the students speak the same language, a teacher can embrace this by having the class note similarities and differences between the languages. Additionally, students can offer support for one another in their native language. Regardless of the composition of a class, it is important to remember that English language learners are not a homogenous group. As a reminder, even in a class where most of the students speak the same native language, they could have a variety of socioeconomic status backgrounds, may have lived in radically different parts of the same country, and could have vastly different experiences with formal schooling. For example, an English language learner in your class may have come from a country where students attend school for eight hours a day, five or six days a week, and prepare for competitive exams. Another student may have attended school in a refugee camp where classes with 70 to 80 peers took place in temporary shelters with little furniture.
Educational programs for English language learners
There is quite a bit of controversy about how to best ensure the success of English language learners. Policy makers, researchers, and educators alike have been trying to figure out what is the appropriate role of a child’s native language when learning English. A landmark legal case, Lau v. Nichols (1974), brought the issue of educational practices regarding English language learners into the limelight. Chinese American students challenged the school board in San Francisco, saying that they were not receiving appropriate educational opportunities because of their limited English proficiency. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students, acknowledging the need to better serve English language learners. While the outcome of the case was an important legal event for bilingual education, it did not establish any specific bilingual policy.
When referring to different types of educational programs for English language learners, it should be noted that there is a wide variety of both bilingual programs and English-only programs. Bilingual programs can encompass anything from dual language to early exit programs; while English-only programs may differ in the amount of help from the primary language they allow (Krashen & McField, 2005). In dual language programs, children are taught content in two languages throughout the school day, whereas early exit programs begin instruction in a child’s native language and then gradually transition to completely English instruction.
In immersion programs, a child’s native language plays virtually no role. While teachers may use supportive strategies to help English language learners, a common feature is the exclusive use of English text. English immersion programs are being encouraged in several states due to adoption of English-only legislation. These laws require that all children be taught English by using solely English, with claims that children can reach English proficiency in one year’s time (MacSwan & Pray, 2005). For example, California, Arizona, and Massachusetts have passed laws with the intention to bar the use of primary language instruction for English language learners. These states have replaced bilingual programs with Structured English Immersion programs, which aim to expedite the English learning process by using simple English in the classroom with little to no attention on the students’ native languages (Gándara et al., 2010). All three states aim to have students in Structured English Immersion programs for no more than one year before they are moved to regular classes. However, evidence from research suggests that students need three to five years to achieve advanced English proficiency (Genesee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders, & Christian, 2006). In their study on acquisition of English, MacSwan, and Pray (2005) found that only about two percent of children attained English language proficiency in one year. It has been suggested that since the United States has made an effort to maintain the dominance of the English language in schools, a culture has developed that defines students by English proficiency (Gándara et al., 2010). An example of this can be found in terms used in government documents and schools, such as Limited English Proficient, that focus exclusively on how well a student has acquired the English language.
In contrast to English-only programs, bilingual education programs involve both the native language and English when addressing academic content. Bilingual education can refer to a wide range of instructional programs for children whose native language is not English with the goal of helping students acquire English so they can succeed in mainstream classes. In the United States, the most common bilingual programs offer instruction in English and Spanish, as approximately 80% of ELLs in U.S. schools are from Spanish-language backgrounds (Loeffer, 2007). Proponents of bilingual education believe that effective bilingual programs should strive to instill proficiency in both English and the student’s native language. In two-way bilingual programs, half of the students are native English speakers and half are considered English language learners. These programs aim to teach children more about language and culture and rest on the premise that diversity is a valuable resource. According to Krashen and McField (2005), “when it comes to English acquisition, native-language instruction is part of the solution, not part of the problem” (p. 10).
A benefit of bilingual education programs is that children are able to further their language abilities in their home language while learning a new language. Studies conducted by Willig (1985) and Wong-Fillmore and Valadez (1986) found that benefits of bilingual education included improved reading and other academic skills, plus a recent meta-analysis by Rolstad et al. (2005) showed that bilingual education is superior to English-only programs by showing that bilingual education does promote academic achievement. Coppola (2005) stressed that knowledge gained in one language is available for use in the second language and that some language abilities can be transferred. A fear of English-only programs is that children will begin to lose skill in their native language. It is not a stretch to say that if children lose proficiency in their home language, they lose a piece of their identity. If students begin to lose their home language, communication with family members can become difficult, causing tension and disruption of family dynamics. Sadly, children may even begin to view their native language as inferior to English. Still, the hope is that bilingual programs will be adding a new language instead of replacing the native language with English. It should be noted that while benefits of bilingual education have a strong research base, a common argument against bilingual education is that many people have succeeded in acquiring a new language without such programs, fueling restrictive language policies in some states as mentioned previously.
Academic and Social Language Proficiency
Historically, literature has noted a divide between the development of social language abilities in English language learners and the development of academic language (Hawkins, 2004). Cummins (1979) coined the acronyms BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills) and CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) to help explain students’ language abilities to teachers. This distinction helps highlight that many English language learners may quickly develop proficiency in casual spoken English but may continue to struggle with academic language and writing. Awareness of the differences between social language and academic language can help teachers assist students in all domains of language—listening, speaking, reading, and writing. When making the distinction between conversational or social language and academic language, Cummins drew upon work by Skutnabb-Kangas and Toukomaa (1976), who had been studying Finnish children living in Sweden. While the children were seemingly fluent in both Finnish and Swedish, they were falling behind academically and not meeting grade level expectations. Cummins (1979) hypothesized that there were two elements of language proficiency, one reflecting the ability to carry on conversations about everyday events, and another that was needed to comprehend school subjects. In one study testing this hypothesis, Cummins (1984) examined four hundred teacher referral forms and psychological assessments of English language learners from a large school district in Canada. Similar to what was found with Finnish children in Sweden, the forms prepared by teachers and psychologists noted that the children had no difficulty understanding English, yet they were performing poorly on English tasks in the classroom and on the verbal portions of cognitive ability tests. Since the English language learners appeared to speak English well, the teachers and psychologists assumed difficulties in class were due to cognitive abilities rather than linguistic factors and placed many of the children in special education. Cummins argued that English language learners may not necessarily have difficulties learning, but that there was the possibility that they had not developed the appropriate type of language proficiency to be successful in an academic setting. He believed that these ELLs had developed the ability to converse casually, but had not developed academic language proficiency.
Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS), which are typically acquired first when learning a new language, refers to language skills often needed in social settings. Social language is the type of language students need for mingling in the lunchroom, on the playground, and in school hallways. Students may pick up on classroom routines quickly and learn essential vocabulary words such as water and bathroom. This is the type of language that is learned when there are many clues to aid comprehension. Background knowledge on the topic and clues such as facial expressions provide a context to understand this type of language; however, it can be easy to mistake the social ability that English language learners first develop for the type of proficiency and fluency necessary to succeed in the classroom.
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) refers to the formal academic language that is needed for success in school. In the literature surrounding the education of English language learners, academic language is thought of as the focus of the curriculum, textbooks, and formal instruction. This type of language is not part of a student’s typical vocabulary, yet is often required for lectures, reports, and other academic situations. When faced with academic language, students must be able to rely on the actual language, not clues, to make meaning. Introducing key terms before a lesson, utilizing pictures with new vocabulary words, and assessing background knowledge are all ways teachers can help engage English language learners with academic language.
Cummins (1980) stated that BICS, language used in informal and face-to-face interactions, can be acquired by English language learners quite quickly and easily, while the more cognitively challenging CALP takes longer to acquire. Teachers are confused often when English language learners, who seem to converse with great fluency, struggle in academic areas. It is likely that this confusion is due to the fact that it takes much longer to develop proficiency in content material because it is much more demanding cognitively. The distinction between BICS and CALP is often shown using a picture of an iceberg (see Figure 1). The tip of the iceberg that we can see represents BICS, the conversational fluency that can often lead to mistaken assumptions about a student’s academic work abilities. However, the much larger portion of the iceberg is beneath the water, representing CALP, the academic language necessary for success in the classroom.
Language Acquisition Theories and Application
For teachers to effectively meet the needs of English language learners, it is important to have an understanding about the process of acquiring a new language. Research has long supported the idea that similar language and thinking processes are at play between acquiring a first language and acquiring another language (e.g., Dulay & Burt, 1974; Ervin-Tripp, 1974; Ravem, 1968). English language learners, like monolingual learners, acquire language through a series of developmental stages that form a continuum. This continuum is divided into levels signifying the proficiency level of the language learner. It is important to understand that while all English language learners typically acquire English by passing through the same series of stages, the pace of acquisition varies greatly. Students who are literate in their native language or who have had continuous schooling are much more likely to move through the stages at a faster pace than someone who is not literate in their native language or who has had limited or interrupted formal education. Understanding a student’s English proficiency level can help teachers plan appropriate lessons and assessments to meet the individual needs of the English language learner.
Generally, English language learners have stronger receptive language skills (listening and reading) than productive language skills (speaking and writing), and their vocabulary will be stronger in whichever language they are exposed to the most often. An English language learner may know the name for a word in one language but not in the other language. For example, a child may know words for microwave and refrigerator only in Spanish because all prior experience with those objects occurred in the home with parents who speak Spanish. Conversely, the same child may know the names of school objects only in English because that is where they are exposed to them. Given appropriate exposure and opportunities to develop both languages, children can gain comparable abilities in each language.
Theories about how people learn a new language are often derived from theories about how people learn a first language. Since first language acquisition is accomplished by children worldwide, researchers and educators interested in second (or third or fourth) language acquisition have often used first language acquisition theories as a model. Linguist Stephen Krashen believes that there is no fundamental difference between how people acquire their first language and how they acquire subsequent languages. However, Krashen (1982) does make a distinction between language acquisition and language learning. He notes that language acquisition is a natural process in that young children typically acquire their native language at home with no formal teaching. Acquiring a language is simply “picking it up” and being able to use the language in natural situations. When people have acquired a language, they do not need to think about the formal rules of the language. Instead, there is a subconscious feeling that sentences “sound right” or “sound wrong.” On the other hand, learning a new language includes understanding things such as grammar and the formal rules of the language.
Krashen’s theories about how a child acquires a new language have been influential in promoting instructional practices that encourage teachers to focus on communication with students and that allow students to develop at a pace that is appropriate for their developmental stage. In their classic book The Natural Approach (1983), Krashen and Terrell first explored the stages of language acquisition and explained ways teachers could help with the process in the classroom. These naturally occurring stages, often referred to in literature surrounding the education of English language learners, are 1) pre-production, 2) early production, 3) speech emergence, 4) intermediate fluency, and 5) advanced fluency. An adapted summary of these five stages follows, along with approximate time frames, characteristics of each stage, and suggested instructional strategies for teachers. More information and summaries of these stages can be found on pages of websites such as ¡Colorín Colorado!,Everything ESL, ESL Base, and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
The pre-production stage is generally thought to last anywhere from a few hours to the first six months when learning a new language. Often referred to as the silent or receptive stage, English language learners are beginning to understand the new language but typically do not engage in conversations. Students at this first stage may just be starting to feel comfortable in a new setting and may use nonverbal communication to respond to comments. It is important to keep in mind that silence does not necessarily mean that the student is not learning. The English language learner may be taking in a lot of information, but is just not yet ready to speak. Helpful instructional strategies include using real objects to illustrate concepts, role playing or pantomiming, pointing to pictures, and employing total physical response (TPR). The total physical response method, developed by psychologist James Asher (1977), coordinates language with physical movement to help students learn the target language. In early TPR lessons, students may learn simple commands such as stand up or clap your hands (taught while the teacher is standing up or clapping his or her hands). As students begin to develop a greater grasp of the language, the commands can become more complex and students can even give out commands for their teacher and peers to follow. TPR does not have to be limited to students at the earliest stage of language acquisition. Including body movements can help children of all language levels and in a variety of subject areas (Segal, 1983; Zwiers, 2007). It is quite likely that a student would gain a deeper understanding of vocabulary and concepts, such as how planets rotate around the sun by actually moving objects around a model of a sun. The same could be true for acting out an important event being taught in a history or social studies class.
Early production, the second stage, thought to last six months to a year, is characterized by limited comprehension and the initiation of short sentences. Students at this phase are likely to grasp the main idea of topics but not every word spoken. During early production students may respond with one to three word groupings and begin to produce words that are frequently used. Teachers can help students at this stage by asking them yes or no questions during class. Granted, teachers are usually encouraged to ask open-ended questions to elicit more information from students; however, asking an English language learner yes–no questions during this phase may help create a low anxiety environment, help them feel more included in the classroom activities, and keep them engaged in the lessons. It may also be beneficial for teachers to rephrase statements using simpler vocabulary to boost comprehension.
Speech emergence, lasting anywhere from one to three years, is thought of as a time of experimentation as students begin to learn more about vocabulary and sentence structure. Students at this stage often engage in trial and error as they initiate simple sentences. Teachers can help by providing language models for students to use in response to questions and by expanding the question format to include how and why questions.
Students in the intermediate fluency stage begin to use longer and more complex sentences. At this time, students have typically been immersed in the new language for three to five years. Teachers can foster development at this stage by asking students to compare elements of language and focus on the similarities and differences between English and their native language. Many languages have cognates, which are words with shared meanings from common roots (e.g., curious/curioso, geography/geographía). Pointing out simple cognates can help increase students’ vocabularies and comprehension. This may also be a good time to point out false cognates which can be the root of some trouble in conversations for students. Examples of false cognates include rope and ropa, with ropa meaning clothes, and an even more troubling one includes embarrassed and embarazada (pregnant). During the intermediate fluency stage, teachers can also help students identify words they overuse, such as nice and good and build their vocabularies with more sophisticated terms.
The last stage in Krashen and Terrell (1983) is advanced fluency, which usually happens between years five and seven of learning a new language. At this point students are beginning to converse and write in much the same way as native speakers of English. It is also during this time that students truly begin to grasp the academic language used in formal schooling, which allows teachers to focus more on abstract terminology and concepts.
Knowing about stages of language acquisition helps educators understand that language learning is a gradual process and helps move some teachers away from the idea of avoiding presentation of academic content until students have a strong grasp on the language. Understanding the stages of language learning and where a student falls on the language learning continuum can help teachers tailor their lessons to meet the various needs of the students. Furthermore, when teachers understand an English language learner’s oral English proficiency, they can ask questions in a variety of appropriate forms, such as requiring a one word answer or a lengthy response (de Jong et al., 2013). Appropriately scaffolding instruction helps students feel challenged in the classroom, but not overwhelmed. Recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of all learners in the classroom involves targeting instruction at each student’s zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978). The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is a theory proposed by psychologist Lev Vygotsky explaining what a child can accomplish with support (e.g., scaffolding), compared to what he or she can accomplish independently. It may be helpful for teachers to think of this area as the area between what a student can do right now on their own and the point you want them to reach next. Teachers can help students reach that next area by providing support, guidance, modeling, and feedback to help them progress.
Building upon Cultural and Linguistic Capital
The rapidly changing demographics of the U.S. have posed extraordinary challenges for educators to accommodate the various needs of English language learners, including ways to promote the sociolinguistic, sociocultural, and socioemotional development of such a diverse student population (Li & Wang, 2008), in addition to teaching reading and content knowledge. To successfully address the needs of English language learners and to ensure their academic success, it is important for teachers to develop instructional practices that are culturally responsive and that build upon students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds (Gay, 2000; Li, 2008). For teachers to implement culturally responsive instructional practices, they must learn who their students are, where their students are from, factors that influence student learning both inside and outside of school, the types of resources available to the students, and appropriate strategies to facilitate student learning.
Culturally responsive teaching is built on the notion that culture is central to student learning. According to Nieto (2000), culturally responsive teaching creates optimal learning environments by recognizing, respecting, and using students’ identities and previous experiences as meaningful sources of information. Language learning is complex and can be affected by many interrelated factors. How can teachers build upon the rich cultural and linguistic capital of their students? How can we expect English language learners to succeed in the classroom without bearing in mind how their cultures, languages, and previous experiences have shaped their background knowledge? Making connections to students’ backgrounds is one of the most important aspects of culturally responsive teaching. While building background knowledge is essential for all learners, it is especially important for English language learners who are learning content and language simultaneously. Whenever possible, programs for ELLs should support the child’s native language. This helps show value in the English language learner’s native language and ensures that learning English is an additive process and not one that results in losing the native language.
Teachers must be able to understand the linguistic needs of English language learners and implement lessons that effectively meet those needs. Many teachers find it helpful to gain specific information regarding how much English their students use, when they use English, and with whom they speak English. Often, teachers may be working with children who may not yet have a strong foundation in their home language, making acquisition of English even more difficult. Young children in particular may not have completely developed many aspects of their first language.
Additionally, it is important for teachers to know about students’ levels of literacy in their first language, levels of oral proficiency in English, and educational background. A case study by Rubinstein-Avila (2004) of Miguel, an adolescent English language learner who was struggling with literacy development, was able to show that even “students who do not necessarily conform to teachers’ notions of ‘academic applied pupils’ may possess a great deal of awareness about their own learning and be highly motivated” (p. 300). Although Miguel was a struggling reader at school, his literacy skills were crucial for life at home. He helped his mother with legal documents and by scouring weekly sale advertisements to find the best deals. Miguel also served as a translator, both written and oral, for his mother. Studies such as this one are crucial to the field to show educators that English language learners bring a variety of skills with them to the classroom and have a lot to offer. This study showed that the ways in which an individual uses literacy may not necessarily conform to traditional school views of literacy. It is important for both researchers and educators to be aware of the various contexts in which students use literacy.
As English language learners are being enrolled in American schools in record numbers, educators must strive to provide effective learning environments that are developmentally and linguistically appropriate for all learners. Given that increasing numbers of students are coming from non-English speaking households, there is a need for educators to know about the needs of diverse students and to have an understanding of cultural and linguistic diversity (Coppola, 2005; Fernandez, 2000).
Helping English Language Learners Develop Literacy Skills and Succeed Academically
Research has shown that the process of learning to read is lengthy. It is recommended that all children, especially those at risk of experiencing reading difficulties, be exposed to print-rich environments that promote language and literacy growth (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). Components of appropriate language environments for students include engaging them in conversations to foster oral communication and cognitive abilities. English language learners benefit from exposure to language modeling and may need specific developmentally appropriate strategies to assist the development of language skills (Oades-Sese, Esquivel, Kaliski, & Maniatis, 2011).
Six years after the publication of the Report of the National Reading Panel (NRP; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000), which excluded studies with English language learners, a large research review on educating English language learners was published. The National Literacy Panel (NLP) examined research on literacy development of English language learners ages 3 to 18 and included studies from around the world (August & Shanahan, 2006). The NLP found that English language learners who are learning to read in English, just like native English speakers learning to read in English, benefit from early and explicit instruction in the crucial components of literacy identified by the National Reading Panel—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (NICHD, 2000). According to Linan-Thompson, Cirino, and Vaughn (2007), there is growing evidence suggesting that many early reading intervention strategies that have been shown to be effective with native English speaking students can also be effective with English language learners. With the majority of English language learners receiving reading instruction solely in English (August, 2006; Goldenberg, 2008), it is important to continue to identify interventions that have been effective with English speaking struggling readers that are also effective for English language learners who are struggling to learn to read.
Some adolescent English language learners may have reasonably developed language abilities, but still struggle learning to read. August and Shanahan (2006) suggest that it may be necessary, particularly for adolescent ELLs who cannot read or write in any language, to explicitly teach the basic components of reading, beginning with phonemic awareness and phonics. After adolescent ELLs have acquired the basic skills necessary for reading words, instruction can focus on comprehension strategies, fluency building exercises, and fostering greater vocabulary understanding through explicit instruction of words, word parts, and word relationships.
In addition to knowledge related to language and reading skills, teachers working with diverse learners also need a collection of strategies and techniques to help meet the diverse cultural and linguistic needs of students. Students who are at the early stages of English language proficiency benefit from linguistic, graphic, and visual supports (Facella, Rampino, & Shea, 2005; Herrel & Jordan, 2012). For example, linguistic supports could include things such as opportunities to interact and engage in conversations, providing students with language models, and modification of sentence patterns. Examples of graphic supports would be providing tables or graphic organizers to assist learners. Graphic organizers, such as idea webs or story pyramids, are greatly beneficial to ELLs because they can facilitate an understanding of challenging concepts and ideas without the use of long explanations that may be confusing. Cummins, Mirza, and Stille (2012) advocate for the use of visual aids and graphic organizers as a way to scaffold academic language for English language learners, noting that this can enhance literacy engagement. See Table 1 at the end of this chapter for websites offering graphic organizers that can be downloaded. As a way of providing visual supports, teachers can use pictures or illustrations, manipulatives, and multimedia. Effective teaching strategies for ELLs as described by Facella and colleagues (2005) include the use of gestures and visual cues, repetition, and the use of real objects. Other useful strategies for teachers may include grouping ELLs with students who have strong English abilities, exposing ELLs to rich oral language, and incorporating their home language whenever possible. It is important to note that these groups and tasks should be purposefully designed and monitored by the teacher to ensure comfort and inclusion. While cooperative learning activities can be extremely helpful for English language learners, it is imperative that teachers scaffold these activities so that English language learners of all proficiency levels can benefit (Zwiers & Crawford, 2011). Teachers should also encourage parents to read with their children, even if that is only possible in their home language. As mentioned before, language skills can transfer and skills in one language can support language and literacy building in the other language.
Many schools across the country use a framework known as sheltered instruction that incorporates techniques and strategies such as the use of graphic organizers and cooperative learning, as a way to help English language learners access the curriculum while emphasizing the development of academic language (Echevarria, 2006). The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model was developed through a federally funded research project (Center for Applied Linguistics, 2015) to help educators design and teach lessons aimed at improving the literacy abilities of English language learners. Additional research is still needed to specifically explore the effectiveness of the SIOP Model, since to date, no well controlled studies have been done to evaluate the model in comparisons to other approaches using evidence standards of research outlined in Chapter 2 of this textbook.
Summary
With the population of English language learners in U.S. schools continuing to rise, more and more teachers will be responsible for educating culturally and linguistically diverse students. English language learners come to the classroom with varying levels of English proficiency, various life and school experiences, as well as different learning needs. This chapter was designed to move through theory and into practice to help teachers engage all learners and design effective instructional opportunities for English language learners. A brief background of English language learners was presented, with an emphasis on language acquisition and learning theories. Information in this chapter provides educators with background knowledge and strategies to best meet the needs of English language learners to promote language acquisition and help them succeed academically.
| Resources | Sponsor | Weblink |
| Bilingual (English and Spanish) website for families and educators of English language learners | ¡Colorín Colorado! | http://www.colorincolorado.org/ |
| Lesson plans, teaching tips, and resources (including graphic organizers) for ESL teachers | Everything ESL | http://www.everythingesl.net/ |
| Meeting place for ESL and EFL teachers and students from around the world | Dave’s ESL Café | http://www.eslcafe.com/ |
| Collection of ready-to-use graphic organizers | TeacherVision | https://www.teachervision.com/ |
Questions and Activities
- Suppose you overhear a teacher say that an English language learner in her class seems to have a strong grasp on the language because she hears him talking and joking with his friends at lunch and recess. She expresses concern and confusion over why he continues to struggle with the content in class. What can you say to this teacher to help her understand language development for English language learners?
- Briefly explain how teachers can elicit responses and encourage classroom participation from English language learners in each of the stages of language acquisition addressed in this chapter (pre-production, early production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, and advanced fluency).
References are attached in document.
Photo Credit
- Photo by NOAA’s National Ocean Service, CCBY 2.0 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Iceberg
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Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice by Tess M. Dussling
Dialect and Other Languages:
A person's dialect can impact how words are pronounced, making some phonological task a little more difficult to assess. I always think about how Texans says certain words like get. We pronounce it as git. If you say 'Tell me a word that rhymes with get', but you pronounce it git, you will receive different responses. Accept the response if it matches how you said the word. Remember to focus on how to correctly articulate the different sounds in the English Language from the video in the previous unit. Watch this video to review phonological awareness and receive more information on how language and location can impact what children learn from language first.
Explicit and Systematic Instruction:
| Leah Carruth, Creative Commons Attribution, Share-Alike |
Introducing a new topic to children can be a daunting task, especially if you do not understand the content yourself or if the children do not speak English as their first language. One proven method for introducing any new topic is the gradual release model. It is written out as the I do, We do, You do model because the teacher will explain and model the concept, work with the children on the concept, and gradually let the children try the task on their own. Watch this video about the gradual release model to help provide a building block for your understanding of this topic. You will use this method in creating two activities at the end of the unit.
We hear the term explicit instruction in our trainings quite frequently now. What does that term mean to you? Discuss with a small group to determine what your working definition would be. Watch this video from Anita Archer regarding explicit instruction and how it ties into the gradual release model of teaching.
Systematic instruction is another term you will hear repeated in literacy instruction frequently. How would you define systematic instruction to your peers and parents? Discuss with a small group and design a working definition to present to the larger group. Once the definitions have been shared, use your previous reading about English Learners to create a chart explaining how this approach is useful for our English Learners to engage in phonological awareness instruction.
Strategies to assist English Learners (and all other students)
Many strategies are available to help young children learn a task. When it comes to phonological awareness, some of the strategies are part of the instructional procedures already in place. Using pictures is one example. You created pictures to use in one previous activity in this module. Pictures are a great way to encourage participation from all learners. If your English Learner is not speaking so much yet, you can ask them a question and they are still able to point to pictures that show they understand what you are asking. Other strategies include:
- Realia - using real objects in your lessons that children can touch while working on skills. Using baskets of items work for all of the skills in phonological awareness.
- Visual aids - use visual aids such as graphics to help children understand the skill being taught. Movement - being able to move their bodies helps children internalize the skill.
- Partner work - being allowed to work with someone takes the stress off the individual child.
- Manipulatives - using a variety of objects, such as linking cubes or coins, help children have a concrete and visual representation of the skill being taught. Make sure to use items that are relevant to your children in the classroom. Beads are a manipulative that are representative among many different cultures. Stay away from using foods for your manipulatives even though it is popular to do so. Many children have food insecurity, meaning they do not have regular access to food, and it is disrespectful in certain cultures to 'play' with food.
- Relationships - the most important strategy for any classroom setting. When you build relationships with your children, you learn more about them and that knowledge can be used within lessons. The manipulatives you use can directly relate to what children enjoy or have meaning to the children. When children know you care, they work harder, feel safe, and are more engaged in the classroom.
Wrapping up Unit 3:
Now it is time to show what you have learned throughout this unit and module. You have two tasks to complete, however, it does include multiple components.
Task 1: Review the explicit and systematic instructional approach within the content of the unit. Open the Kindergarten and First Grade Phonological Awareness Activity documents. Within these documents you will find instructional strategies (explicit) and weekly lessons (systematic) for phonological awareness. What do you notice about the types of activities taught, how the skills progress, and when skills are taught? Look at the standards used by your state. In Texas we use the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. How do these activities align to your state standards? Are they reflective of the phonological awareness skills addressed in your standards?
Write a reflective paper or record a minimum of five (5) minute video answering these questions and anything else you may have questions about while examining these two documents and your state standards.
Task 2: You will develop two phonological awareness activities, selecting a skill from two different columns on the chart below.
| Word Level Skills | Word Parts Skills | Phoneme Skills |
| words in sentence | syllable | isolation |
| rhyme | onset/rime | segmenting |
| alliteration | blending | |
| addition/deletion/substitution |
Using the provided template, you will create two lessons to teach your selected skills. Keep in mind explicit and systematic instruction as you create these lessons. You will add modifications for English Learners to the activities. Use at least two different langauge development stages below for your modifications.
- Pre-production
- Early production
- Speech emergence
- Intermediate fluency
- Advanced fluency
You may create these lessons in a format that best suits you as long as guidelines are met. Some potential formats are PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Word. The activities will be uploaded to Padlet for class sharing. A link will be provided during our meeting together.
Resources:
All YouTube videos are Creative Commons open license
Dusslinig, T. M. (2021). Helping English Language Learners Develop Literacy Skills and Succeed Academically.Chapter within: Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice
Forsythe, G. (2012). Who are your learners? graphic, https://www.flickr.com/photos/gforsythe/8203776321