Teaching ELLs

Evolvement of ELL

ESL: English as a Second LanguageBuilding native intuition

EFL: English as a Foreign LanguageBuilding grammar translation skills

ELL: English Language Learners

A Little About Language Learning

• Language is acquired.• The purpose of language is for

communication. To learn a language is to develop the communicative competency.

• The Language Acquisition Device (LAD) black box gradually disappears after age 7.

• Language is a conventional product with the influence of cultures and values.

Theories

• Language learning takes place with meaningful and comprehensible input.

• STEPHEN KRASHEN’s I + 1 theory. (similar to Vygotsky’s ZPD.)

• The greater the differences between L1 & L2, i.e. the more numerous the mutually exclusive forms and patterns in each, the greater the learning problem and the potential area of interference.

Assessment of the teaching implications of generative grammar.Natural approach--Stephen Krashen & Terrell, 83

KRASHEN, STEPHEN

Language Acquisition Theory: Five Hypotheses

The acquisition –learning distinction hypothesis

The natural order of acquisition hypothesis

The monitor/editing hypothesis

The comprehensible input hypothesis

The affective filter hypothesis

Professor at USC

Selected Books by Stephen Krashen

Explorations in Language Acquisition and Use (2003)

The Condemned Without a Trial: Bogus Arguments Against Bilingual Education (99)

Three Arguments Against Whole Language: Why They Are Wrong (1999)

Foreign language education the easy way (1998)

Under Attack: The Case Against Bilingual Education (1996)

The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom (1996)

The Power of Reading : Insights from the Research (1993)

Writing: Research, Theory and Applications (1992)

Fundamentals of Language Education (1992)

Input Hypothesis (1992)

Second Language Acquisition and learning, (1988)

Principles and Practice in SLA (1982)

Second Language Acquisition and Second language learning, 1981

A Subconscious Process of internalizing concepts & developing functional skills as a result of exposure & comprehensible input.

Focus on need to communicate linguistic functions. Forms are developed out of communicative needs in real life contexts.

Lessons are characterized by student centered situational activities and organize around the needs, desires, and interests of the students.

Success is based on getting things done with language.

ACQUISITION/LEARNING DISCTICTION HYPOTHESIS

A Conscious Process of memorizing rules, forms, and structures, usually as a result of deliberate teaching.

Focus on the forms to be mastered.Forms are learned for later functional applications.

Lessons are organized around grammatically based, contrastive analysis type of syllabuses. Lessons are characterized by teacher-developed drills and exercises.

Success is based on the demonstration or performance.

ACQUISITION LEARNING

Implicit knowledge: Rules and generalizations are not taught unless requested by students.

Errors in forms are accepted as developmental. Focus is on reinforcement.

The 4 language skills are developed through functional communicative activities which allow the skills to emerge and develop naturally.

Lessons are characterized by low student anxiety as production and eventual mastery are allowed to occur on the student’s own schedule after sufficient input.

ACQUISITION/LEARNING DISCTICTION HYPOTHESIS

Explicit knowledge: Rules and generalizations are not taught deductive or inductively.

Error correction is a critical feature to promote the mastery of linguistic forms and structures.

Students develop the four language skills by following a teacher-directed calendar (for four skills)

Early emphasis on production skills may produce unnecessary anxiety in students in initial stages.

ACQUISITION LEARNING

Grammatical structures are acquired (not learned) in a predictable order.

Not every acquirer, however, will acquire grammatical structures in the exact same order. Certain structures tend to be acquired early and others late, and there are variations of process among language acquirers.

For example: the progressive tense marker –ing, as in, he is coming home, and he plural –s, as in , two socks, are usually among the first morphemes acquired by children.

Typically, late acquired linguistic items are the third person singular morpheme –s, as in, the man goes to the show every Friday, and the ‘s’ possessive marker, as in, John’s hat. The late morphemes might come as much as a full year after the early ones.

THE NATURAL ORDER OF ACQUISITION HYPOTHESIS

This states that conscious learning has an extremely limited function in second language performance. It can only be used as a monitor, or an editor.

We can thus use the monitor to make changes in our utterances only after utterance has been generated by the acquired system. This may happen before we actually speak or write, or it may happen after.

There are three requirements that must e satisfied in order to use the monitor successfully.

1.The performer has to have enough time.2.The performer has to be thinking about correctness, or be focused on form.3.Te performer has to know the rule.

Learned competence output (The Monitor)

Acquired competence -------------------------------

THE MONITOR OR EDITOR HYPOTHESIS

This states that we acquire (Not learn) language by understanding “input” that is a little beyond our current level of acquired) competence with the help of context.

Language learners need to understand input language that included a structure that is part of the next stage.

This process occurs in this fashion:

Input + one level beyond the current level of knowledge

Finely tuned input

Natural Order 1234 … . I + 1….. I 50 51

Roughly tuned input

Natural Order 1234 … . I + 1….. I 50 51

THE COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT HYPOTHESIS

Use Caretaker Speech

1. It is motivated by the caretaker’s desire to be understood. Caretakers modify their language in order to communicate, not in order to teach language. Spoken fluency emerges gradually and is not taught directly.

2. Caretaker speech is structurally simpler than the language adults use with each other. Caretaker speech tends to get more complex as the child grows in linguistic maturity.

3. Caretaker speech must ensure that whatever input the students are receiving, that it is “comprehensible.”

4. When caretakers talk to acquirers, their input automatically contains “I + 1”-- the grammatical structures, the acquirers understand the message and are “ready” to acquire.

THE COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT HYPOTHESIS

When the filter is “up”, input may be understood but will not reach the language acquisition devise; it will not strike “deeply.”

THE AFFETIVE FILTER HYPOTHESIS

INPUT

Language Acquisition

Device

COMPETENCE

Filter

ANXIETY

FEAR

PRESSURE

INSECURITY

Methods

• Create a comprehensible environment.• Provide support (pal, buddy systems).• Voc instruction: word origins, cognates• Total Physical Response• Authentic communication• Use mother tongue before English.• Think, care, share.• Use music and songs.

A Scenario of an ELL student:

• Sitting there, doing nothing, and sometimes acting silly

• Lagging behind and being ignored• Becoming a target being ridiculed• Lacking communication, and the teacher

doesn’t understand him• Experiencing cultural shock

What do ELL students have in common?• They appreciate more from the teachers’ effort than the native

English-speaking students.

• Don’t want to be embarrassed. They hate surprise. They don’t take sarcasm well.

• They are proud of their own cultures and also appreciate the new culture. Help raise self-esteem and build self-confidence.

• They have many stories that they’d like to share.• They can do it if they have more time. They need to get ready.• Pals in and outside the classroom are crucial.• They vary their abilities between productive and receptive

skills.• They need not only learning materials but also people to

interact with them.• Don’t just give them a book to read. Read the book with them.

Strategies for Promoting Success• Know Who They Are• Optimize Conditions for Second Language Acquisition• Create a Welcoming Language-Rich Environment• Build on ELL's Prior Knowledge and Teach Vocabulary• Explain Cultural Assumptions and Use Relevant

Material• Use Visual Aides and Teach to all Learning Styles• Lighten the Linguistic Load• Differentiate conversational English from Academic

English

Strategies for Promoting Success

• Teach Language Along with Content• Teach Interdisciplinary Thematic Units• Design Curricular Units for Depth Rather Than

Breadth• Actively Teach Study Skills; help them memorize

and repeat• Use Hands-On Activities• Modify Assignments, Assessments and Testing• Use Cooperative Learning• Involve parents

Three important activity modes:

DescriptiveInterpretiveInteractive

Vocabulary

• People with good Voc: physicians, lawyers,professors• The average vocabulary of an adult American is

approximately 10,000 words, 12,000 if they completed higher education, and 15,000 if they completed a PhD. Standard English language is comprised of around 450,000 words. Over 150,000 of these words have been added within the last century. The largest contributor to the English language are advertisers attempting to find new ways to describe and sell their product.

• http://thestripclub.blogspot.com/

How do children develop their vocabulary?• Use receptive skills more than the productive skills.• The first language and the second language learners may

process this differently.• First 50 words: names of people, animals, & moving objects• 18 months – be able to produce about 50 words • 22 months – be able to produce up to 300 words• kindergarten – be able to produce 1000 to 3000 words• 1st grade – 2500 words• 6th grade – 6500 words• 12th grade 10000 words• College – 12000• Graduate school -- 15000

Instructional Strategies:

• Pre-teach important vocabulary. Write down key words on paper and draw pictures next to them will keep them focused in the class.

• Preview the lesson. Provide key points about the lessons and have some volunteers explain these key points to the ELL students in their first language.

• Sketch it out. Use pictures, lists, charts, graphs, Venn diagrams, and colorful maps to help students grasp the concepts from the abstract to the concrete.

• Act it out. Use gestures and body language for the role play to increases student comprehension.

• Break out. Work cooperatively in small groups to give students more opportunity to speak and interact meaningfully with others.

Instructional Strategies:

• Break it down. Break down large chunks of information into smaller chunks to help students’ comprehension.

• Slow down. Speak slowly, using short and simple sentences.

• Keep it short. When reading aloud, keep passages short and check your newcomer’s comprehension as you go.

• Encourage them to write. Don’t be so critical about the grammatical mistakes.

• Practice makes perfect. Provide more drill and practice opportunities. Use flash cards and word walls. Create a cheat sheet to reinforce their learning. Play quiz games, such as Jeopardy.

• Constantly check for ELL students’ understanding.

Technology tools:

• Using synthetic speech functions http://www.readplease.com/

• Blogging or keeping a diary

• Free translation (google, freetranslation.com)

• Using multimedia, YouTube, TeacherTube

• Recording reading aloud

Tools

• Worksheet / crossword puzzles• Drawing tools• Flash cards for terms• Mnemonics (HOMES for the Great Lakes)• Pictures (e.g., Poverty) and Videos• Games

Games

• Word puzzles or Wuzzles (ppt)• Word begets words (CONGRATULATIONS)• Scrambled words (ppt)• Alphabet challenges: Identify items of things

or people in the classroom containing different initials to complete a list of the 26 alphabets in sequence. (apple, book, cabinet, door, …)

Word Association across boundary

Link from the first word to the next word, and repeat the linking until the last word.

For example:• School --> house --> dog --> fast --> run• Halloween --> _____ --> _____ --> _____ --> white• friends --> _____ --> _____ --> _____ --> ghost• football --> _____ --> _____ --> _____ --> sleep

Word Riddle Challenge

• Take a 9-letter English word "STARTLING". Can you remove a letter at random from the word one at a time and the remaining letters will continue to be a meaningful word until the last letter?

Word Riddle Challenge

• STARTLING• STARTING• STARING• STRING• STING• SING• SIN• IN• I

Morphing from one word to another

Change one letter at a time to transform one word into another. For example, change from hate to love, hate, late, lace, lice, live, and love.

• Can you change the following? • Lame --> good• site --> lies

Morphing from one word to another

• Can you change the following?

• Lame --> fame, fare, fore, ford, food, good• site --> bite, bits, bets, bees, lees, lies

Charade

• Have students express ideas in actions.

A Cloze Passage

• The starfish has a most peculiar way of eating. His stomach jumps right out of his mouth! The stomach surrounds and digests the food. When finished with his dinner, the star fish (1) ____ his (2) ____ back into his mouth. It may not be polite but it is the only way he knows.

1. (a) leaves (b) grows (c) tucks (d) studies2. (a) napkin (b) blanket (c) plate (d) stomach

Fun videos:

The bird that acts.wmv

SimonSez.wmv 

The End!!!

Best Luck To You All!!!

Best Luck To You All!!!