Inclusion Strategies for Secondary Classrooms Working with English Learners Kimberly Truong EDSC 310 – F17 California State University, Fullerton Professor John Costa

Students with Special Needs Students with special needs is a specific area of teaching, but not all needs are the same. The phrase is a very large umbrella that houses those with learning disabilities, physical disabilities that may hinder them from learning in a traditional classroom, as well as English learners. Students with special needs are those who need a little something extra to help give them the same opportunities as their peers to learn the same material. This presentation focuses on how to help those who struggle to learn English as a second language.

Working with ESL Students in Orange County It is important for all teachers (not just ESL and English teachers) to learn how to work with ESL students in Orange County New immigrants are settling in all parts of The United States, but Orange County has always been a hub of immigrants from many different parts of the world. There are even students who have been in The United States for 40 years, but have never learned how to speak English professionally, and want to learn.

Orange County Racial Demographics Census.Gov

Vocabulary Older students and native English speakers are able to learn new vocabulary much more easily than others Vocabulary is “a broad class of objects or events bearing a unique label and spanning multiple instances and examples” (McCoy/Gellar 89).

Teaching Vocabulary Vocabulary should be taught using the students’ experiences and background knowledge in order to ensure the students can later research and teach him or herself how to be independent learners and thinkers. Exceptions may include beginning ESL students, with whom may be easier to simply translate the word. As the students become more advanced, however, we should encourage them to implement the same skills on how to extrapolate information from the context of the conversation.

Utilizing Taxonomic Trees Many students are visual learners. Using a taxonomic tree to thoroughly define a word may help the student understand that word beyond what is written in the dictionary. Breaking up ideas, words and definitions help the students learn easily and swiftly as well as help the instructor think of relevant examples to the student’s life and experiences.

Taxonomic Tree Example Food Fruit Grown Has seeds Vegetables No seeds Proteins Meats Pork Beef Chicken Fish Nuts Dairy Milk Cheese

Beyond oogle Translate Many turn to technology to help them learn new concepts, ideas and even languages. While Google Translate can help the student translate what a word means in their first language– it does not describe the deeper meaning of the word, how to use it and the context it may be used in. “The National Institute for Literacy (2007) also noted that another typology of vocabulary categorizes words as (1) high frequency, everyday words; (2) non-specialized content-area words that are common across subject matter areas; and (3) specialized content words” (McCoy/Gellar 89).

Engaging Students Learning a new language requires practicing conversation Encourage students to converse in English as much as possible Whether the student is a young child or an adult, games and activities always make learning something new easier and more enjoyable It is important to understand that learning a word’s definition is not the same as really understanding the meaning and utilizing it appropriately to communicate effectively with others.

Engaging English Learners ESL students are often eager to learn English. It is usually less effort to encourage the students to participate. However, this does not mean the students won’t be frustrated. Lecturing English learners leave them out of the process of learning and can possibly frustrate them. How can you lecture someone in a language they are trying to learn? Encourage participation, connect with them and teach through conversation instead of through lectures and slide shows.

Engaging English Learners in Other Classrooms It is ridiculous to think a student is only learning English in his or her English class. They are also learning English in their math, science, history and other classes– as well as outside the classroom. The struggles to learn other subjects exist when students struggle to learn the English language. All instructors should do their best to help the student learn and do the best they can without any more struggle than they would have in their first language.

Training All Teachers It is important to properly train teachers of other subjects how to engage English learners in those subjects. ESL teachers should also be prepared to explain other subjects when their students come to them with struggles in their other classes. English learners may be hesitant to ask for extra help or explanation in any other class, and teachers need to be able to recognize this and offer extra help and resources the student needs to succeed.

Works Cited McCoy, Jan D, and Leanne R Ketterlin-Geller. “Rethinking Instructional Delivery for Diverse Student Populations.” Sage Journals, vol. 40, no. 2, 2004. https://cpehn.org/chart/languages-other-english-spoken-home-orange-county-2012 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/orangecountycalifornia/PST040216