1. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Teaching ESL in today’s demanding climate — being prepared for professional challenges By Winnifred Tang, Ph.D. Dr. Winnifred Tang & Associates Learning Management Inc. Learn2ManageLD.com http://pro-ddayconferenceblog.blogspot.com/ Winter 2008

2. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Agenda  Introduction  Objectives  Resources: simple to high-tech  Questions & Discussion

3. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Meeting Challenges  Gain perspective on current challenges  Identify needs  Adopt strategic teaching  Encourage a spirit of collaboration

4. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Diversity — challenges and implications  Linguistic diversity http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/languageList.html  Cultural diversity  Socio-economic diversity  Cognitive diversity 

5. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Getting a perspective: Information is everything!  Do your research  meet the diversity challenge by arming yourselves with lots of information. Relevant information gives you power!  Work through human networks…connect with colleagues.  Share resources…find a way to distribute teaching resources and information.

6. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Setting Goals for success  Effective diagnostics  Effective matching of content to students  Effective grouping of students to maximize learning  Effective use of classroom resources

7. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Matters of diagnostics… What are we diagnosing? What does it take to learn English as a second language? Phonology (sound system) Semantics (system of meanings) Morphology (rules of word formation) Syntax (rules of sentence formation) Lexicon (vocabulary)

8. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Phonology  Learning the sound system of a language  sound-symbol correspondence  Building block for reading McCandliss, B. D., & Posner, M. I. (2003). Fostering Literacy through Understanding Brain Mechanisms. Education Canada, 43(2), 4-7.

9. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Language areas

10. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Language-based Learning Disability: Dyslexia  Phonological processing deficit  Working memory deficit  Syntactic processing deficit Gathercole, S., & Baddeley, A. D. (1993). Phonological processing and reading development. In Working memory and language. Hove, UK: Erlbaum Associates. Stanovich, K. E. (2000). Progress in understanding reading: Scientific foundations and new frontiers. New York: Guilford Press.

11. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section What are the traits to look for?  Poor spelling  Poor decoding  Poor reading comprehension  Word retrieval problems  Poor organization  Lack of self-confidence, low self-esteem

12. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Intervention Strategies  Phonological awareness training  Structured instruction in grammar  Modeling effective reading strategies  Cultivate intellectual curiosity, engage in wide reading & frequent reading  Encourage language activities

13. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Elaborating on intervention strategies Meaningful activities Sensitive to student characteristics Social engagement Dr. Deborah Butler http://www.ecps.educ.ubc.ca/faculty/Butler/ReserchProj.htm

14. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section The T-word: Technology The technology we love and hate!

15. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Conference Blog

16. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Hyperlinks

17. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section See how easy it is to share information!

18. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Social Software at its best

19. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section No substitute for a good teacher! We will always need good teachers!

20. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Throwing $ at a problem won’t solve it!

21. Tang-2008 VSB/Professional Development Day Conference ESL Section Teaching ESL in today’s demanding climate — being prepared for professional challenges Dr. Winnifred Tang Email: winnifred.tang@Learn2ManageLD.com Cecil Chau Email: cecil.chau@Learn2ManageLD.com