It’s Definitely not just language! Towards a fair assessment of ESL and Bilingual students

Objectives To identify bilingual students with a genuine Learning Disability (LD) To avoid misidentifying bilingual students as having LD To establish a referral system that will best meet the needs of bilingual students with potential LD

Background “Historically in the United States, there has been a tendency to refer ELLs inappropriately to special education, which in turn has led to the over- identification ELLs as having special education needs” ( Hamayan, 2007)

ESL Progress in Different Programmes   http://beloitschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/dual-language-immersion- program-graph.jpg

Typical Bilingual Progress

ESL/SEN? How can we tell? Behaviour LD reasons SLA reasons Cultural reasons Doesn’t pay attention in class Is disruptive, disturbs other with silly behaviour Slow to respond to maths questions, even simple ones Cannot cooperate in group Immature

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Factors Subtest Intrinsic (LD) Extrinsic (SLA) Picture recognition Method: the tester presents 10 picture cards and asks what each picture represents Examines the child’s ability to use verbal labels to name objects. lacks vocabulary to describe the picture is unfamiliar with the cultural context. Vocabulary test: A word is spoken by tester and child asked to explain meaning. Scores compared with child’s chronological age to evaluate intellectual ability. vocabulary linked to stage of SLA, rather than chronological age. Reading test Method: list of words given and the child is asked to read them Decoding unfamiliar, decontextualized words especially difficult for ESL students.

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Factors Visual discrimination test: the child must find the letter or word which exactly matches the original This measures the recognition of letters and short words. Letter, word and information retrieval more difficult for ESL students. Free writing: the student writes a short story without help. Ability to write extended text depends on stage of SLA may not be familiar with conventions of narrative text in English Auditory sequential memory: Tester recites series of digits aloud at one digit per second. The child is required to repeat these digits Low scores on this test indicate difficulties with the retention of sounds in an order. Children having poor skills in this area often shows spelling difficulties. Auditory memory likely to be affected by stage of SLA Translation of digits from L1 to L2 and back to L1.

Approaches to assessment Monolingual Bilingual Language Delay Language Deficit Language Confusion Language Development Language Difference Language Transfer

The Discrepancy Model “…may provide an accurate description of monolingual students with a learning disability (Fletcher et al., 1998; Sternberg & Grigorenko,2001). However, it also describes quite precisely a major characteristic of normally developing ELLs!” (Hamayan et al., 2007, Reasons for the Misidentification of Special needs among ELLs).

Bilingual/Monolingual Vocabulary Development English Vocabulary Scores En - English monolingual ES - English dominant BB - Balanced Bilingual SE - Spanish dominant Sp - Spanish monolingual Allman, A: Proceedings of 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism, Sommerville, MA, 2005

Bilingual/Monolingual Vocabulary Comparison En – Monolingual English ES – English dominant BB – Balanced Bilingual SE – Spanish dominant Sp – Spanish monolingual Allman; Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism, Sommerville, MA, 2005

Must we wait until child is proficient in L2 before Identifying LD? Answer: No! “ESL students have the same rights to special needs interventions as any other students." (Carder, Bilingualism in the International School, 2009 ) “many school districts feel compelled to wait……Thus, the student remains without those specialised interventions for too long.”(Hamayan, 2007)

Don’t they need all the support they can get? SLLs need instruction - not support Language-related issues should be addressed by ESL teachers Referral to Special Needs support confirms view of bilingualism as potential problem Research shows Special Needs interventions do not benefit ESL students (Cline and Frederickson 1999; Skutnabb-Kangas, 2005)

Proposal for Bilingual Assessment Raise awareness of SLA issues among class teachers Develop a Pre-referral Procedure Establish an Assessment Team

Pre-referral Procedure Emphasis on qualitative, rather than quantitative, data Input from – ESL staff, Class teachers, MT teacher, SEN teachers, Family, School records , Councillors Elimination of SLA explanation for perceived behaviour before further action

Assessment Team Once SLA factors have been eliminated, begin LD assessment/interventions. Tests should be conducted/interpreted by LE, ESL and MT staff Testing must be conducted in L1 and/or L1 and L2 Assessment should use both formal and informal methods Performance should be compared to that of other bilinguals with similar background Factors contributing to interruption of L1 must be identified Adapted from Hamayan & Damico, 1991, Mattes & Omark, 1984; and Maldonado-Colon, 23013