1. Language Development, Language Diversity, and Immigrant Education
Chapter 5
Presented by Kristen Poland

2. The Development of Language
SWBAT understand how language develops and how to support emergent literacy
+6,000 languages in the world
based on cultural needs and values
“I read once that the ancient Egyptians had fifty words for sand & the Eskimos had a hundred words for snow.”
-Brian Andreas
Coordinating Sounds
Meanings
Words
Sequences of Words
Volume
Tone
Inflection
Turn Taking Rules

3. Encouraging Development
Age Range
Milestone
Encouraging Development
Between
2 and 3
Identifies body parts
“Me”
Pairs nouns and verbs
450 word expressive vocabulary
Likes to here the same story repeated
3 and 4
Can tell a story
Sentence length (4-5 words)
1,000 word expressive vocabulary
Knows several nursery rhymes
4 and 5
1,500 word
Identify colors and shapes
Ask many questions like “why” and “how”
5 and 6
2,6000 word expressive vocabulary.
Defines objects by their use.
Uses all types of sentences (5-6 words in length).
Help child listen and follow instructions.
Repeat words.
Describe what you are doing, planning, and thinking.
Show child understanding.
Expand what the child says.
Talk about how objects are the same/different.
Help a child to tell stories using books and pictures.
Encourage play with other children.
Give child reasonable opportunities for decision making.
Let child tell and make up stories.
Talk about child’s interests.
Help child sort objects.
Praise children when they talk about feelings, thoughts hopes, and dreams.
Carry on conversations/ Talk to them as you would an adult.
Read books to them every day.
Receptive vs Expressive Vocabulary
3-4: Though they have a growing vocabulary they prefer words that can be pronounced easily
How things are the same/different: Labeling: class of similar objects ex. Dogs have 4 legs > all 4 legged creatures are dogs. Anything with long ears is a Rabbit
@ 6: expressive vocab -2,600; receptive is about 20,000
Early grades learn 20 words a day
Keeping in mind Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Concrete/Tangible . No abstract ideas like freedom or justice or unfortunately a grasp on sarcasm

4. Exposure to Grammar All heavily influenced by Cultural Norms
Pragmatic: Using language in social situations
Word order: Syntax
As they develop there is a stage of Overregularization (applying rules to everything)
Pragmatics: how to enter conversations, tell a joke, interupt, keep a conversation going, adjust to the listener (smaller child: simpler sentences or to a dog: commands)
>>> Metalinguistic Awareness

5. Necessary for school readiness regardless of language(s).
Codes + Oral Language
Emergent Literacy
Writing letters
Spelling/ Forming words
Words forming sentences
Spacing
Direction
Punctuation
Inside-out Process
What is a milk?
Where do I go to find these things?
Who is the list for?
Growth in Spanish language ability predicted higher reading performances in Spanish
Increasing receptive vocabulary in one language versus the other does not slow down development. it simply adds words to their expressive vocabulary
Outside-in Process
Necessary for school readiness regardless of language(s).
¿¿¿Questions???

6. Diversity in Language Development
SWBAT discuss what happens when children develop two languages.
Dual Language Development
additive bilingualism
subtractive bilingualism
Benefits
increased cognitive abilities
more advanced metalinguistic understanding of how language works
higher reading comprehension
+++ assets in the working world
travel and cultural possibilities
Student can become fully and equally bilingual if:
a) begin early in life (<5)
b) occurs across a wide range of contexts
c) is systematic, consistant, and sustained in the home and community
(+) Must consist of more than 25% of child’s language input or unlikely to learn
Contextualized: basic face-to-face conversation
Academic Language: used elementary -> university
associated with abstract, higher –order, complex concepts
Contextualized (2- 3 years)
Academic Language (5-10 years)

7. Language Loss What is lost?
There is a huge loss in language and culture because of stigmas and discrimination attached to a student’s heritage language.
San Diego and Miami study of 8th and 9th grade 1st and 2nd generation children of immigrants…
16% retained their ability to speak their heritage language well
72% said they preferred to speak English
Of the Native American languages,
1/3 still exist, and 9 out of 10 of those
aren’t spoken by the children
Students never live in the country
Heritage language: spoken to students at home or by older relatives when the larger community outside the home speaks something else.
What is lost?
Goal should be balanced bilingualism
Home language connects them to extended family & important cultural traditions
English connects them to academic, social, and economic opportunities.

8. Rolling your R’s as a non-native Spanish speaker
Learning a 2nd Language
Theory: Adult learning can be beneficial as they have mastered one language and know many study skills. Critical Period or learning a language There is no critical period but certainly for accuratelanguage pronunciation Sensitive Period for learning a language 14 month window
Rolling your R’s as a non-native Spanish speaker
Adult learning: Study skills
Critical period:
No critical period for language, but there IS for accurate language pronunciation
Sensitive period
Pronunciation
14 months “picking up on the “sound building blocks”. Window stays open when learning a 2nd
Rolling your RRRRRRRs: Try with pencil
Adolescence: almost impossible to speak without an accent
only if exposed as a child will adult learners have a hope of Lessening the non-native accent
Just as early exposure predicts English language and reading, so does it any 2nd language
burro: donkey
Puerto Rico

9. Signed Languages ¿¿¿Questions??? Myths: Interesting information:
All deaf and hard of hearing speak the same language
Signed language is simply a mimed version of the spoken language
It is easy to learn.
Children of Deaf Parents (CODA)s are at a disadvantage cuasing the child to be delayed or confused because the signed language will get in the way of their spoken language development
Interesting information:
There are just as many dialects in Sign Language as in any spoken language.
Signing has been proven to better infant temperaments before the use of the spoken language can convey they needs and desires.
All deaf people can understand you by simply reading your lips.
Myth 1) bus Argentina experience
Myth 4) Just as learning 2 languages at a young age simply increased your vocabulary, it so applies if one is spoken and the other is not
¿¿¿Questions???

10. ¡¡¡Break Time!!!

11. Dialect Differences in the Classroom
SWBAT address whether dialect differences affect learning and discuss what teachers can do.
ex. Dialects of American English: Southern, Bostonian, Cajun and African American Vernacular.
- Are they uses of the English language?
- With that said, is it possible to have different dialects among non-spoken languages (ex. ASL)?
“Regional variation of language characterized by distinct grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.
Not incorrect : because is dialect is logical, complex, and governed by rules
Implications for the classroom
Be sensitive- Know it will cause confusion for native english speakers (even more so ELLs)
Can be linked with Stereotyping
explain instructions in various ways
Accept their language as a valid and correct system
But only teach the Standard form of English
Implications for the Classroom???

12. Dialect continued… Speaking of those native non-English speakers
Code Switching :
-What is it?
- Is it a sign of higher master or a language or lower?
Genderlects
- What is it? Think gender stereotypes in reference to language.
As long as, they have good models, clear instruction, and opportunities for authentic practice.
Code switching: Moving between languages
Mr. & Ms. Petrini
can be a sign of higher language mastery
better suited vocabulary for the situation. Not always a direct English translation (like the Eskimos and snow)
Study applies to an American case study
*gender stereotyping
Girls: be more talkative and rely on speech to maintain relationships. More likely to talk about feelings
Boys: more competitive. Talk more about rights and justice
Overlapping speech in other cultures= seen more as turn taking than interruption
¿¿¿Questions???

13. Teaching Immigrant Students and English Language Learners
SWBAT discuss whether English immersion or bilingual instruction is better for English learners.
Immigrants
Voluntary
Involuntary
Refugees
Cultural Deficit Model: “culturally disadvantaged” or “culturally handicapped”
Caused problems > Rejected
The expectation is to assimilate -> Melting Pot
But for many, the GOAL is multiculturalism
Refugees: immigrants who relocate voluntarily because there home country is unsafe
prove: fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership to a particular social group, or political opinion
Home culture was inferior because it did not prepare students to fit into the school system here
No culture is deficient, but rather it may have incompatibilities between the students home culture and the expectations of the school

14. Implications for the Classroom
Keeping in mind that 1% of instructors are prepared to teach ESL (English as a Second Language)
Population growth of Immigrants & Projections
2030: 40% or pre-K-12th will speak limited-English
2050: Latinos will comprise ¼ of the US population
No culture is deficient, but rather it may have incompatibilities between the students home culture and the expectations of the school
Balanced bilinguals
Monolingual/literate students
Monolingual/preliterate students
Limited bilingual
Conversational and
Academic language

15. Language needed for success in an English-only school
Phonology Morphology Syntax Pragmatics Semantics Listening Speaking Reading Writing Language Arts Mathematics Social Studies Science Other Content Areas
Phonology: How sounds create language
Morphology: How words are formed
Syntax: The order of words in a sentence
Pragmatics: The meaning of words in a particular situation
Semantics: The meaning of words
¿¿¿Questions???

16. SWBAT explain who are the Generation 1
SWBAT explain who are the Generation 1.5 students and describe their learning characteristics
Adolescents stuck somewhere between the first generation of immigrants in their family (their parents) and the younger siblings that will be American-born.
DACA Law
DREAM Law
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
15 action deferred for 2 years to allow for an opportunity of employment and to get documentation
DREAM Act (rejected)
Provisional permanent residency for students who commit to serving in the military
ear-learners: they have built their knowledge of English on the language they have heard in their environment
often colloquial or slang
trouble learning to read and write accurately
rely on context, gestures, faciual cues and intonations to make sense of language
eye-learners: have learned through reading, writing, and vocabulary and grammar exercises
can write well
have more difficulty with oral interaction
How I imagine Rosetta Stone
perfect to fit very specific circumstances, but when does life present itself in textbook examples???
“Ear-Learners”
“Eye-Learners”

17. English-only Immersion Native Language Maintenance
Materials are presented as early and as intense as possible in English.
Some state laws require this
Accountability tests are only given in English
Deep understanding of your 1rst language metacognitive strategies are transferred to the 2nd.
Mix students learning a 2nd language with native speakers
> become fluent in both languages
Research on Bilingual Education
Accountability tests: if too many fail, the school is penalized
NLM 1) Academic content is not lost (science, math, history) is simply has a different name
Discussion
Interactive journals w/ older ELL students
be sensitive about public corrections, and build on what is correct. but do not accept incorrect answers
Use as much of their language as possible
Be a model of respect and diversity and an enemy of bigotry.
Engage with families
This can obviously be a stressful time for ELL students… what can teachers do to show support and increase self-esteem?

18. Special Challenges: ELLs with Disabilities and Special Needs
Discuss how teachers can recognize special learning needs and talents when they do not speak their student’s language
When questioning the possibility of a learning disability:
Are they progressing slower than usual?
What is the students educational and family background?
When did they come to the United States?
1) Talk to your ESL teachers for experience advice.
2) If they successfully learned literacy skills in the home country schools, they have something to build on
Keep a portfolio of their work!
¿¿¿Questions???