1. The CALLA Model: Strategies for ELL Student Success
Anna Uhl Chamot, Ph.D.
Jill Robbins, Ph.D.
Second Language Learning Consultants
Washington, DC

2. THE COGNITIVE ACADEMIC LANGUAGE LEARNING APPROACH (CALLA)
ANNA
8:30

3. PURPOSE OF CALLA Focus on learner.
Improve academic language proficiency.
Motivate with content topics.
Teach learning strategies.
ANNA

4. AUTHENTIC CONTENT Aligned to curriculum standards.
Interesting school and cultural topics.
Linked to students’ prior experiential and cultural knowledge.
Taught through hands-on/inquiry-based/cooperative learning tasks.
ANNA

5. ACADEMIC LANGUAGE
Language development through content across all curriculum areas.
Vocabulary and discourse of content subjects and cultural topics.
Linked to students’ prior linguistic knowledge.
Development of language awareness.
ANNA

6. LEARNING STRATEGIES Thoughts and actions that assist learning tasks.
Ways to understand, remember, and recall information.
Ways to practice skills efficiently.
JILL
Finish 8:45

7. Analyzing Textbook Language
Using the sample from a text for your level, work with a group to identify some of the content difficulties for ELL students
Samples
Display a sample and talk through one
paragraph to demonstrate how to do the activity

8. CALLA Sites Lowell, MA McAllen, TX Mesa, AZ New York, NY Ogden, UT
Philadelphia, PA
Washington, DC
Alief, TX
Allentown, PA
Arlington, VA
Bethel, AK
Boston, MA
Chula Vista, CA
Dearborn, MI
El Paso, TX
Fargo, ND
Federal Way, WA
Houston, TX

9. CALLA INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE
Five Recursive Phases
ANNA

10. Expansion CALLA’s Five Phases Practice Preparation Self- Presentation
Evaluation
Recursive nature of model
These phases can take place over a period of days -
not necessarily in one lesson.
Practice

11. PREPARATION Identify objectives. Elicit students’ prior knowledge.
Develop vocabulary.
Provide motivation.
This is not TEACHER preparation prior to the class.
This is preparation of the students to learn by letting them know the
Topic and objectives coming up
‘stirring the soup’ analogy
What kinds of preparation help your students?

12. Applying PREPARATION How does preparation help your students?
What works to encourage vocabulary development?
How can you stimulate increased motivation in your students?
JILL
What kinds of preparation help your students?

13. PRESENTATION Present new information in varied ways.
Model processes explicitly.
Explain learning strategies.
Discuss connections to students’ prior knowledge.
What kinds of presentation methods would help your students?

14. Applying PRESENTATION
What kinds of presentation methods would help the English learner?
Does presenting with a variety of media help ELLs?
What kinds of presentation methods would help the English learner?

15. PRACTICE Use hands-on/inquiry-based activities.
Provide different cooperative learning structures.
Use authentic content tasks.
Ask students to use learning strategies.
What practice types are most effective for English students?

16. Applying PRACTICE
What kinds of practice activities would help English learners?
Which are better for ELLs, individual or cooperative group practice activities?
What practice types are most effective for English students?

17. SELF-EVALUATION Students reflect on their own learning.
Students evaluate themselves.
Students assess their own strategy use.
This is NOT teacher evaluation. Why is it important to evaluate strategy use? IF you don’t 0 how will you know the next time which strategies will help you?

18. Applying SELF-EVALUATION
What are the benefits of SELF-evaluation vs. evaluation by others?
How can you help English learners to evaluate themselves more accurately?
How

19. EXPANSION Students apply information to own lives.
Students make connections between language and content.
Students relate information to first language knowledge.
Parents contribute to learning.

20. Applying EXPANSION
How can what has been learned in ESOL class help English learners in their other classes?
Can better communication with parents or involvement of the community help English students?

21. CALLA Instruction Summary
Teacher Responsibility
Prepare
Changes over time
Present
Practice
Self-Evaluate
Expand
Student Responsibility

22. Listen & Respond
Listen to the research findings and choose one point to respond to.
On a note paper, write a practical example or application of one of the research findings.
Share your example with a colleague.
JILL - GIVE INSTRUCTIONS HERE FOR THE LISTENING ACTIVITY
Let participants know I will choose one or two to respond at random
This puts on a little pressure - as language learners need to be pushed to
listen harder and speak more

23. Research Findings
The learning process is mentally active and strategic.
Learning involves higher level thinking, not just memory.
Social context and interaction are critical.
Students learn content by relating it to their prior knowledge.
Students learn processes through integrative practice individually and with peers.
Learning strategies can be taught and learned.
Anna:

24. THINKING ABOUT THINKING: A MODEL OF METACOGNITION
Declarative Knowledge:
Self Knowledge
World Knowledge
Task Knowledge
Strategy Knowledge
Procedural Knowledge:
Planning
Monitoring/ Identifying Problems
Evaluating
Give examples:
When you first learned to ride a bike, what kinds of declarative knowledge did you need to learn?
What kinds of procedural knowledge did you need?
What kind of knowledge do you use in teaching?

25. Why Teach Learning Strategies?
Show students how to be better learners.
Build students’ self-efficacy.
Increase student motivation for learning
Help students become reflective and critical thinkers.
JILL

26. TIPS ON TEACHING LEARNING STRATEGIES
Build on students’ current learning strategies.
Demonstrate how to use the learning strategy by modeling.
Give the strategy a name.
Provide ample practice opportunities.
Compare to learning tai chi - names of the stances or movements help me to remember them. Same works for teaching strategies

27. Metacognitive Strategies
Planning
Understand the task
Organize materials
Find resources

28. Metacognitive Strategies
Monitoring: While working on a task:
Check your progress on the task.
Check your comprehension as you use the language. Do you understand? If not, what is the problem?
Check your production as you use the language. Are you making sense? If not, what is the problem?
ANNA

29. Social Learning Strategies
Cooperation: work with others to:
complete tasks
build confidence
give and receive feedback
Jill

30. Metacognitive Strategies
Evaluation: after completing a task:
Assess how well you have accomplished the learning task.
Assess how well you have used learning strategies.
Decide how effective the strategies were.
Identify changes you will make the next time you have a similar task to do.
ANNA

31. Metacognitive Strategies
Self-Management: Manage Your Own Learning
Determine how you learn best.
Arrange conditions that help you learn.
Seek opportunities for practice.
Focus your attention on the task.
Jill

32. Research Support for Teaching Learning Strategies
All second language learners use strategies - BUT
“Good” language learners use more varied strategies and use them more flexibly.
Frequent use of learning strategies is correlated to higher self-efficacy.
Define self-efficacy
Why is increasing self-efficacy our goal?

33. More Research Findings
Students need to develop metacognition.
Transfer is difficult.
Language of instruction matters.
Strategy instruction improves academic performance.
Instruction needs to be explicit.
Strategy instruction improves academic performance: work by Pressley, O’Malley & Chamot, Cohen shows that it does help
Instruction needs to be explicit: this means naming the strategy, talking about when and why to use it, evaluating how much it helps, etc
Students need to develop Metacognition: Metacognition is understanding how we learn
Transfer is difficult: what seems obvious to teachers - that a skill one learns in English class could help in Math
Language of instruction matters: first language is preferable - can you talk about thought processes in your second language?

34. CALLA Instruction Is... Learner-centered Reflective Supportive Focused
Enthusiastic
Anna: