Chapter 6Listening & Speaking

Wright, W. E. (2010). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory,

Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.

Guiding Questions1. What does the research tell us about the

relationships between ELLs’ oral language development, literacy development, and educational achievement?

2. How can an understanding of ELLs’ listening and speaking strengths and needs inform a teacher’s choices of instructional approaches, methods, and strategies?

3. How can TESOL standards guide instruction and assessment for ELLs?

4. How can teachers promote oral language use in the classroom as a foundation for ELLs’ literacy development and academic achievement in English?

5. How can teachers promote the development of higher levels of oral language proficiency for ELLs?

Introduction Past – Listening and reading considered as

passive skillso Students simply receiving oral or written input

Present - Listening and reading recognized as active skills of constructing meaningo Ex: native speakers in political debates and personal

arguments hear the same thing but interpret it differently

Challenges for ELLs: o At the most basic level must attend to each phoneme

• change of one phoneme can change the meaning Ex: bit/pit

o English speakers do not always speak in complete sentences.

• Often start a sentence but then get off on a tangent without finishing their earlier thought.

Introduction Oral language is invisible

o Once spoken, an utterance is gone forever (unless recorded)o Can’t rewind real life conversations to hear an utterance they missed.o Can’t pause the conversation to look up a word in a dictionary.

To be comprehensible to others, an ELL needso Adequate pronunciationo A smooth rate and flow of speecho A sufficient vocabulary and grammaro An understanding of the sociocultural context of the speech event

Different types of speech activities are structured by unwritten norms that are known by native speakers but may be elusive to ELLs

Despite being the most frequently mode of communication, oral language typically gets the least amount of classroom instruction time

What We Know from Research about Oral Language and ELLs

CREDE Reporto The empirical literature on oral language development in

ELLs is smallo It takes time for ELLs to develop oral English proficiencyo ELLs need some English proficiency before interaction

with native speakers is beneficialo Use of English outside of school enhances ELLs’ oral

English developmento Use of L1 for beginning-level ELLs contributes to

academic developmento English oral language proficiency tests fail to capture the

full oral language proficiency of bilingual students

What We Know from Research about Oral Language and ELLs

National Literacy Panel Reporto Oral language skills are more important for reading

larger chunks of text for comprehension than for reading at the word level

o Oral language skills are in English are strongly associated with English reading comprehension

o Oral language skills in English are associated with better English writing

o English oral language proficiency is not strongly related to English spelling skills

o L1 language literacy skills plus good English oral language skills are strongly associated with good English reading comprehension skills

o ELLs need consistent ESL instruction

Basic Issues for Oral Language Development in the Classroom

The Silent Periodo Non-English speaking students (i.e., Level 1) may not be ready to start

speaking when they first enter the classroom

Wait Timeo ELLs may need time to process the input and time to draw from their

developing linguistic system to formulate their thoughts in English before speaking.

Teacher Talk in the Classroomo Teachers should talk less and plan classroom activities that give

students regular opportunities to speak

Correcting Students Speech Errorso Teachers should correct only those errors students are ready

to learn how to correct

Promoting Oral Language Development in the Classroom

When to Correct Student Speech Errorso When students are ready to learn the correct formo When errors impede comprehension or communicationo During ESL instruction when a particular language form

has been taught and is being practicedo During content-area instruction which includes specific

target language forms• Ex: a language objective about using the past tense in a

lesson about historical eventso When errors are unintentionally offensive or could be

embarrassing if the student made the errors in front of fluent English speakers

Promoting Oral Language Development in the Classroom

How to Correct Student Errorso Provide implicit corrections through recasts by responding

naturally but in a manner that models the correct formo Student: “My mom, she buy me shirt red.”o Teacher: “Your mom bought you a red shirt? Very nice! My wife

bought me a blue jacket.”o Provide explicit corrections in a manner that does not

embarrass or ridicule the studento Teacher: “I think you mean your stove is in your kitchen. Is that

what you meant?”o Provide corrections with gentle reminders of past instruction

o Student: “At my house we have four pet.”o Teacher: “Remember how we practiced making plural words? So

how would you say you have more than one pet?”o Student: “Pets.” o Teacher: “You got it. Four pets. Great job!”

Group Activity

• Correcting Student Errors– Form groups of 4 to 5 student– On the activity sheet read each scenario of an

ELL student English speech error– Determine whether you should ignore or

correct the error.• If you decide to correct, indicate whether the

correction should be provided through direction correction, or in-direct correction through modeling

– Share and discuss your decisions with the class

Activity sheet available on the Companion Website

Vocabulary• The more words ELL students know, the more they can

speak and write and understand what they hear and read.• ELLs need

– about 2,000 words to engage in conversations, – about 5,000 words to read authentic texts\– over 10,000 words to comprehend complex academic texts

(Folse, 2011)

• Tiers of Vocabulary– Tier 1- Basic words– Tier 2 - High utility words that cut across academic content areas

• general academic words• all-purpose academic words• “words worth teaching”

– Tier 3 - Content- or domain-specific words.

Vocabulary• The average English-speaking student

– Enters pre-k with knowledge of about 3,400 root words, – Knows about 8,000 word meanings by the end of second grade– Learns about 860 new word meanings each year. (Biemiller,

2010)

• ELL students must rapidly develop their English vocabulary knowledge else they will fall further behind their English-speaking peers.

• Bot possible to teach thousands of words directly.• Imperative for teachers to Engage students in the right

kinds of oral language activities and in extensive reading – The primary means through which ELLs will naturally acquire the vast

amount of new vocabulary words in English.– Read alouds and independent reading

Vocabulary

• Need for some direct vocabulary instruction – One of the main components of daily ESL

instruction– Further development through sheltered content-

area instruction

• Robust approaches to to vocabulary development combines– Direct explanations of the meanings of words– Fun, interactive, and thought-provoking

activities to reinforce these meanings

Suggestions for Vocabulary Instruction (Marzano & Pickering, 2005)

• Step 1- Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term (along with nonlinguistic representation such as pictures).

– Kid friendly definitions– Can be done in home language

• Step 2- Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words.

• Step 3- Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the term or phrase.

• Step 4- Engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms in their notebooks.

• Step 5- Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another.

• Step 6- Involve students periodically in games that allow them to play with terms.

Vocabulary

• Same steps can be used during ESL and sheltered content-area instruction and within the context of daily classroom interactions and readings.

• Students need multiple encounters with new vocabulary words to really learn them;

• Provide multiple opportunities for students to hear, read, and use these words beyond a single lesson or instructional period

Common Core State Standards for Listening & Speaking

• To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students must have ample opportunities to take part in a variety of rich, structured conversations—as part of a whole class, in small groups, and with a partner. Being productive members of these conversations requires that students contribute accurate, relevant information; respond to and develop what others have said; make comparisons and contrasts; and analyze and synthesize a multitude of ideas in various domains.

CCSS Anchor Standards for Listening & Speaking

• Comprehension and Collaboration1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and

collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

3. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.

• Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas4. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that

listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

5. Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.

6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

ELPA 21 – English Language Proficiency Standards

Grades 2-3: Standards 1 and 2

Listening Development Strategies

• Total Physical Response (TPR)– Developed in the 1970s by James Asher.– Teachers provide a set of commands in the target

language and students respond by taking a specific action.– Examples

• “Stand up,” “Sit down,” “Pick up your book,” “Put the book on the table,” and “Put the pencil next to the book.”

• Thumbs-up or thumbs-down to respond to a true-false question

• Personal white boards to draw or write a response to an oral question

• Students point to an illustration or word (or part of a word) in a book that is being read aloud

• Perform a skit or act out a story

Listening Development Strategies Listening Comprehension Tasks

o Students listen to a source of spoken language and then complete a task that demonstrates their comprehension.

o Video recordings of authentic speech samples may be a better source for listening comprehension tasks

• See visual clues conveying meaning together with the oral language.

o Lower-level ELLs—use simpler recordings with speech at a slightly reduced rate

o Advanced ELLs—use recordings featuring native-speaker interaction at normal speech rates

Listening Centerso A designated spot in the classroom with a tape, CD, or MP3

player with multiple headphoneso Listen to recordings of books, follow along in hard copieso Enable students to receive comprehensible input in a low-

stress environment.

Speaking Development Strategies

Oral Retelling– Explanations students give in their own words of

something they have heard or read– Commonly used with reading as a comprehension check

Songs and Chants– Add a rhythm or a tune to a piece of text to make it

more memorable– To be most effective, the song should be

• Sung at a moderate pace

• Have clearly audible lyrics

Speaking Oral Presentations

– Show-and-Tell• A simple but effective oral presentation• Students show something cool they have brought from home, tell

their classmates all about it, and answer their questions about it.

– Other types of oral presentation provide opportunities for ELLs to use their language skills to create a project individually or in a small group and then to describe it to the class.

– YouTube Example: Fanny’s Class 0001

Minimal Pairs– Words or phrases that differ by only one phoneme

• Ex: pen/pan; he bit the boy/he hit the boy.

– Working with minimal pairs can help ELLs discriminate between words that initially may sound the same to them.

Strategies for Classroom Interaction

Cooperative Learningo Student collaboration in pairs or in small groups to solve

a problem, complete a specific task, or complete a project.

• Most effective when the task is made clear and each student is given a clearly defined role.

o A form of scaffolding provided by classroom peers that contribute to the oral language development of ELLs in several ways.

o Examples of cooperative learning structures• Think-Pair-Share• Roundtable• Concentric Circles• Numbered Heads Together

Strategies for Classroom Interaction

Role Play– Ex: To practicing forming and asking questions, students role play a

buying shoes at a shoe store.

Barrier Games– Students are put into pairs– One student in each pair is the designated artist and is given paper

and a pencil– The partner is given a pattern or picture, which he or she places behind

some type of barrier where the artist cannot see it.– The partner looks at the pattern or picture and then, using English and

with hands behind his or her back (to prevent pointing), tells the artist how to draw it.

– YouTube Example

Strategies for Classroom Interaction

Obstacle Course– The teacher sets up an obstacle course in the classroom or outside on the

playground.– Students are put into pairs or small groups.– One student in each pair or group is blindfolded and must make it

through the obstacle course guided only by instructions from his or her team mates, who must speak in English and may not touch the blind folded student.

– YouTube Example

What Am I?– Students wear a headband with a card on the front that they cannot see

but other can (or card could be taped to each student’s back).– The card has a picture or the name of some objects, animal, or person.– Each student has to figure out what is on his or her card by asking

questions of other students, such as, “Am I an animal?” What color am I?...

– YouTube Example

Strategies for Classroom Interaction

Acting Out Stories– Enables students to internalize new language learned from reading by

incorporating it into the oral performance.– Student must also communicate with their peers to collaborate in

planning, creating props and scenery, and preparing for the performance.

– YouTube Example (see Companion Website for additional YouTube clips)

Class Discussions– Critically important for ELL students’ oral language and academic

development.– Enable students to demonstrate their knowledge and communicate

their thoughts and ideas with their classmates and teachers.– Should take place in connection with reading a book together or

viewing a film, or as part of a connect area lesson.

Assessing Listening and Speaking

The only way to effectively assess ELL students’ oral English language proficiency is to talk with them and listen to them talk– The strategies and activities described in this

chapter provide avenues for observing students’ oral language use

– Ease-drop on student language use when not engaged in academic tasks

– Talk with students during these less-structured situations

• Before and after school, recess, lunch, etc.

Any time students are listening and speaking teachers have an opportunity for assessment

Assessing Listening and Speaking

Formal Oral Language Assessmentso Give student a specific task that requires oral language

use• Have student describe an illustration of a scene• Read a book together and have the student retell the story

Wordless picture books – student must use illustrations to tell the story

Teacher observations can be guided by rubrics.

o Assists the teacher in paying attention to different aspects of students’ oral language development

SOLOMStudent Oral Language Observation Matrix-R

See Figure 6.2 and 6.3 Focus on 5 aspects of students oral language

proficiencyo Comprehension

• How much does the students understand when he is spoken too? How well does she follow classroom discussions?

o Fluency• Does the student have a hard time speaking? Is it difficult to have a

conversation with him? Does the student’s speech flow well but occasionally gets stuck as he searches for the correct word

o Vocabulary• Is the student able to say everything he wants, or does he struggle

because he lacks the vocabulary to fully describe what he is thinking? Does he ever use the wrong words?

o Pronunciation• Do others have to struggle to understand what he is saying because he

has a strong foreign accent.o Grammar

• Are grammar errors so frequent it is hard to understand the student?

Oral Language Assessment Practice

• Watch Bernardo’s Oral Presentation– http://youtu.be/NsvAgsKGw0s

• Assess hisEnglish oral language proficiency using the SOLOM-R

• Discuss your scores and evaluation with your classmates