English as a Second Language

Vocabulary Terms w ESL w ESOL w CLD w The field of English as a Second Language w The learners who participate ESL w Culturally and /or Linguistically Diverse

Vocabulary (cont’d) w TESOL w FES w LES w NES w The organization for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages w Fluent English Speaker w Limited English Speaker w Non English Speaker

Stages of Language Acquisition w Preproduction w Students communicate with gestures and actions. w Lessons focus on listening comprehension w Lessons build receptive vocab.

Stages of language Acquisition w Early Production w Students speak using one or two words or short phrases w Lessons expand receptive vocabulary. w Activities are designed to motivate students to produce vocabulary which they already understand.

Stages of Language Acquisition w Speech Emergence w Students speak in longer phrases and complete sentences. w Lesson continue to expand receptive vocabulary. w Activities designed to promote higher levels of language use.

Stages of Language Acquisition w Intermediate Fluency w Students engage in conversation and produce connected narrative. w Lessons continue to expand receptive vocabulary. w Activities are designed to develop higher levels of language use in content areas. w Reading and writing are incorporated into lessons.

Dimensions of Language Proficiency w BICS -- Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills w Universal aspects of language proficiency that are normally acquired by all native speakers of any language w Usually by ages 5-6 all children have developed BICS in their first language w Those language skills needed for every day face-to-face communication;personal, social situations w Contexts are clear and generally concrete w Not necessarily related to academic success w May take up to 2 years to develop in a second language

Dimensions of Language Proficiency w CALP - Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency w Those language skills associated with literacy and cognitive development. w Language skills required to go beyond ordinary social communication. w Cognitive demanding, de-contextualized. w Language skills needed for reasoning, problem solving, or other cognitive processes required for academic achievement in subject matter w CALP developed in first language contributes to the development of CALP in a second language. w May take 5-7 years to develop in a second language (depending on first language CALP, age and other variables).

ESL vs. Learning Disability VOCABULARY w The ESL student will have weaknesses in his 2nd language. w The LD students will have vocabulary problems in both languages. These problems can be identified when a child has been instructed in both languages.

CONCEPTS w We can expect the ESL student to have difficulty with special concepts (above- below) and directionality (center-left-bottom) w The LD student will have difficulty with concepts in general.

SOUNDS (Articulation) w You can expect that a person learning English will have problems with sound discrimination and pronunciation. Think of the sound system of his first language. Are there any similarities? Does s/he hear final sounds? How about the fine discrimination needed for vowel sounds? w The LD student will not have sounds (articulation) in either language. Someone speaking his first language with him of over a period of time could detect this. Student might exhibit garbling.

Perceptual Sequential Problems w Reversals-- are possible for 5-6 year olds w Rotations -- not expected w Inversions -- U-N are not expected w Transpositions -- bread-braed are not expected w Reversals - occurring in 3rd and 4th grade. w Rotations - Characteristics of a learning disability w Inversions of letters and numbers occur w Transpositions occur

The Magic Seven The Magic Seven Optimal Conditions for 2nd Language Acquisition w Low Anxiety Environment w Comprehensible Input w Communication Focus w Contextualized Language w Error Acceptance w Respect for Language Acquisition Stages w Teacher as Facilitator

QUESTIONS?