ESL, EAL/ESD Teaching methodologies and a little bit of theory

Overview Challenges students face ESL Teaching and Learning cycle Theory PALLIC and The Big 6 for Reading

Challenges High turn-over of teachers Learning discourse of schooling Learning in a second language Reactions to teaching methods Low expectations Racism Gaps in language skills Seeing the relevance of work Within SchoolOutside of School Health issues (hearing) High Transience / Prolonged absences Overcrowded housing Intergenerational trauma Family breakdown Responsibilities at home Lack of English environment at home Substance abuse

Together, all these can affect motivation and self-esteem in the school context which then have an impact on learning generally and language learning in particular.

Building the Field (Knowledge) Text Deconstruction Joint Reconstruction Independent construction ESL Teaching and Learning Cycle LOLO HOLO Transformations Writing workshops

Building the Field Base you work around a shared experience Watch videos (You Tube) Lots of Oral Language Build Vocabulary Use heaps of pictures and label them Play games (Quizzes etc) Revisit Field Every lesson

Text Deconstruction Introduce a model text (write your own! know your end point) Pull it apart using the structure of the genre Colour code Tell them the social purpose of the genre Know your Grammar (Functional) (Metalanguage) Teach writing tools Identify Audience Teach how MEANING is made by words.

Joint Construction Rebuild the original text Use what you taught in the deconstruction. Work together in groups or whole class.

A persons level of understanding in a language community will depend on the quality of the experiences they had. If as teachers we reduce students’ literacy experience to grammar and words, children have no chance to become informed about the social value of the text that they study. Language is social

Language development is about making informed choices Teaching grammar as grammar overloads students.This is not because grammar is hard. Rather, because children try to relate this knowledge to their other understandings. When they are not ready, they just cannot see the relevance. Use it as a load-reducing tool

The functional model

Recent Theory and the Big SIX Based on OECD PISA report on where indigenous students are situated internationally with regard to literacy outcomes. Big 6 looks at the 40 year debate on how to teach reading. A meaning first, Whole language (top down) vs decoding, phonics, sounds (bottom up) Findings were that there are 6 keys to effective reading development and that there are flaws in both (top down & bottom up approaches). The Big 6 need to work together as a team. When readers can’t use bottom up approaches they rely more heavily on top down. When readers can’t use top down they rely more heavily on bottom up. Poor readers need to focus on word recognition skills to facilitate links to context, which then helps with meaning.

Big Six Oral language and early literacy experiences Phonological awareness Letter-sound knowledge Vocabulary Fluency Comprehension

PALLIC Principals as Literacy Leaders with Indigenous Communities.