inability to understand teacher instruction given in english in esl classroom

7/26/2019 Inability to Understand Teacher Instruction Given in English in ESL Classroom

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Inability to understand teacher instruction given in English in ESL

classroom

Receptive skills

The receptive skills are listening and reading, because learners do not need toproduce language to do these, they receive and understand it. These skills are

sometimes known as passive skills. They can be contrasted with the productive

or active skills of speaking and writing.

Example

Often in the process of learning new language, learners begin with receptive

understanding of the new items, then later move on to productive use.

In the classroom

The relationship between receptive and productive skills is a complex one, with

one set of skills naturally supporting another. or example, building reading skills

can contribute to the development of writing.

http!""www.teachingenglish.org.uk"knowledge#database"receptive#skills

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Receptive %anguage refers to how a person comprehends and processes

language. &t the most basic level, people have a basic vocabulary they

understand. Included is a foundation of concepts a person understands, such as

spatial concepts '(above, beside, between), etc*. Other concept categories

include+ sie, temporal, -uantity, and -uality concepts. hildren are continually

learning the meanings of new vocabulary words and organiing them in their

brains into categories. Thus, if a child learns the meaning of the word,

(enormous,) the child may /le that vocabulary word away in their (brain /le) for

sie concept words.

ategoriation skills are especially critical to address with a student on theautism spectrum. 0ost children tend to process information in a holistic fashion 1

seeing the big picture or main idea and T2E3 considering the details of an idea.

They naturally are hard wired to process the big picture. This is called, (entral

oherence.) In contrast, it is theoried that children on the autism spectrum

have 4eak entral oherence. In other words, it is theoried that children with

&56 are hard wired to naturally lean toward processing the /nite details of

information before attempting the see the big picture. 5eeing the 7I8 9IT:RE is

necessary for categoriing and classifying information.
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/knowledge-database/receptive-skillshttp://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/knowledge-database/receptive-skills


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onsider a child who is learning about the history of the Titanic. & child that

processes holistically would learn the big picture of the event! The Titanic was a

famous luxury ship that struck an iceberg and sank in the early part of the

century. 5tudents that have 4eak entral oherence may get stuck on less

important, or less relevant details of the event such as the number of people

aboard, how long it took to sink, or the names of famous people aboard. 4hilethese are details that may be included in the study of the Titanic, they are not

the most crucial details.

To illustrate further using a social context, student that processes information

holistically might arrive onto the playground for recess and scan the whole scene

categoriing various activities! playground e-uipment, games kids are playing on

the blacktop, and games kids are playing in the /eld. T2E3, the child would ero

in on which activity 1 'i.e. detail* they want to play for the day. In contrast, a child

with 4eak entral oherence, may arrive on the same playground focusing in on

/nite details such as the number of playground clerks out that day as compared

to the day before, a broken chain on a swing, how many kids are waiting for the

glider, etc. In summary, it is important to note that for students on the autism

spectrum, receptive language work should focus on categoriation and

compare"contrast activities throughly given the fact that this is not the preferred

mode of processing for many students.

Receptive language skills also focus on how a child comprehends, or understandslanguage. There are two types of comprehension. %iteral comprehension refers to

how one understands concrete information in a passage they read, or in

something they hear. %iteral comprehension -uestions start with (42) words

typically 1 (who, what, where, when). %iteral comprehension is the /rst type of

comprehension to develop because the information is concrete and explicitly

stated in the story. hildren who have receptive language delays or disorders

often rely on visual cues or pictures to help them understand the details of a

story. &s students strengthen their receptive language skills, they are able to

wean o; of these visual prompts. %iteral comprehension can be checked by

asking children -uestions after a story such as, (4ho was the story about


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experience they already have with a topic and blend this with details they have

learned from the story to answer the -uestion. 0any inferential comprehension

-uestions begin with -uestion words such as, (why, what if, how, do you

think=). or example, given the story (%ittle Red Riding 2ood), an inferential

-uestion would be! (2ow did %ittle Red Riding 2ood /gure out that 8randma was

really the wolfs slipper was broken into pieces on the castle

stepss emotions"intentions, and author>s purpose, to name ?ust a

few. 5tudents may be more adept at making inferences of one particular type

over some others. This type of comprehension is the focus for students in

@nd"Ard grade and continues well beyond the elementary age years.

0any students with 5ocial Thinking challenges may display diBculty with

inferential comprehension in /ction and texts focusing on character depth and

change. 5ome students will be able to be -uite pro/cient in making logical

inferences and deductions given non#/ctional, scienti/c or factual types of

material. This manner of forming deductions is more linear and evidenced based,

where as /ction pieces focusing on character change and interpersonal dynamics

is more emotive and sub?ective in interpretation. It is important when addressingreceptive language needs for students, to be diligent in assessing inferential

comprehension needs in various contexts. 5uch contexts may include logical,

deductive reasoning types of tasks, short /ctional, social scenarios, more

complex inferential scenarios involving character change, emotive motivational

factors in a story, or the morale or lesson that author intends for readers. Older

students with 5ocial Thinking challenges may struggle more with these kinds of

comprehension patterns.

0uch of the above information focuses on the comprehension and vocabularyportions of Receptive %anguage skills. Receptive %anguage also includes a

person>s ability to process auditory information. (9rocessing) refers to receiving

information by hearing it, storing it in short term memory, transferring that

information to the working memory where vocabulary, grammar, and

comprehension tasks are at work, then /nally taking that understanding to other

areas of your brain to formulate a response to the information. & student with

receptive language needs can have diBculties at any point during this process.

5hort term memory de/ciencies, auditory se-uencing problems, a weak

vocabulary base, grammatical errors, and word /nding diBculties can impede

the eBciency of auditory processing. 0any times students will work onincreasing the capacity of their short term memory, work on se-uencing steps,


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and work on following directions that have multiple parts to strengthen this

receptive language skill.

http!""?illkuma.wordpress.com"receptive#language#ideas"

Receptive language skills

CReceptive language skillsD describe the ability to understand spoken

language. They can also be referred to as verbal comprehension

skills> and are essential for accessing the entire curriculum.

'0c0ahon F 0ulholland, @GGH*

The following points are features of receptive language skills. 9upils may!

9 have dif/ culty following class routines+

9 / nd it hard to concentrate+

9 over#rely on looking at others to copy what to do or may need

more gestures to understand+

9 have dif/ culty in understanding abstract concepts 'impacting on

learning areas especially 0athematics and 3umeracy F 4orld

&round :s*+

9 need instructions repeated many times or re-uire them to be

broken down and simpli/ ed+

9 give inappropriate answers to -uestions they have been asked+

9 opt out of tasks or withdraw from activities they don>t

understand+

9 echo what has been said to them 'echolalia*+

9 / nd it hard to learn new vocabulary+

9 give irrelevant or inappropriate answers as they have not

understood the underlying meaning+

9 fail to read facial expressions and invade other people>s personal

space+

9 take things literally+ and

9 present with behavioural dif/ culties.
http://jillkuzma.wordpress.com/receptive-language-ideas/http://jillkuzma.wordpress.com/receptive-language-ideas/


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5trategies to 5upport hildren with Receptive

%anguage 6iBculties

The teacher should!

9 have speci/ c learning intentions which should be provided for

the class+

9 check that the pupil is listening and encourage active listening+

9 state the pupil>s name before giving an instruction or gain eye

contact 'if appropriate*+

9 use visual strategies and non#verbal cues to support what is

being said+

9 help the pupil to make links to previous knowledge and

experiences

9 emphasise key words with slight stress+

9 think about the length of the instruction being given, it is useful

to think in terms of whether it is a single or multi#command

instruction, give one piece of instruction at a time to allow

pupils to process this before adding more+

9 consider the complexity of what is being said e.g. (before you go

outside, you must / nish your worksheet)+

9 check that the pupil has understood, observe their response and

clarify any misunderstandings+

9 encourage the pupil to use self#help strategies for example.

Rehearsal or visualisation+

9 encourage the pupil to let you know when they have not

understood, this can be via verbal or non#verbal means, such as

using a traf/ c light> system+ and

9 allow the pupil time to process the information, apply the >G

second rule> 1 the teacher counts silently to G to allow the pupil


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to formulate a response.

inability to understand teacher instruction given in english in esl classroom

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