3 Strategies to Enhance Students’ Language Development

The article I read this week addresses research findings and technology used to support language learning. Murray (2020) states that “language learning is delicate in nature” (para 3). I agree with this statement because I think it takes a special educator to utilize various different educational approaches in order to teach language learning and development. Especially now during these unexpected times, educators are utilizing all available tools and resources possible to help ELL students. 

The article mentions three language development approaches for educators: the promotion of oral language, visual and auditory support, and the building of metacognitive strategies. These strategies can be utilized through remote and in-person instruction.

Oral language promotion involves having students engaged in discussions and using sentences with complicated syntax. For example, Murray (2020) states that “if a student cannot demonstrate the use of a particular vocabulary word, morphological unit (such as a prefix), or syntactic structure in expressive oral language, then that student will likely struggle with its written form” (para 6). In order to practice this concept, two activities that are mentioned in the article include “Whip Around” and “Turn and Talk.” Both of these activities are quick, easy, and involve practicing specific oral language.

Language is multimodal and multi sensory. It is build upon visual, oral, and auditory support. Visual support essentially includes scaffolds with images. Images should be cultural relevant and ensure students’ comprehension. Auditory supports include reading definitions and questions aloud tp students. By providing students with auditory language use, they will have an equal opportunity to connect with the content material. 

Murray (2020) mentions a web-based tool called “InferCabulary” that can be used to support metacognitive strategies. InferCabulary is a visual vocabulary program that teaches students new words by allowing them to infer meaning from a series of pictures (Murray, 2020). This web-tool seems very interesting because it allows students to hide answer choices they know are incorrect to help them focus on discovering the correct answer. In addition, I believe this kind of tool will help students develop critical thinking skills during language development activities. 

Murray, A. (2020, November). 3 strategies to enhance students' language development. Retrieved from https://www.smartbrief.com/original/2020/11/3-strategies-enhance-students%E2%80%99-language-development

Don't Make Assumptions About Your ELL Students

The article I chose to read this week was a very interesting read as it focuses on the importance of refraining from making assumptions about our ELL students. I thought this was an interesting article not only for ELL teachers but for teachers in general because making assumptions can happen quite frequently.  Ferlazzo (2020) begins the article by addressing that we as teachers do not assume what a student should or should not know or what a student can or cannot do based on our perceptions of their identities. Some assumptions that Ferlazzo (2020) mention include: 

• “an EL student is lazy, obstinate, or unintelligent because they're not raising their hand in class, they speak in another language to peers, or they don't complete their work
• sheltering content to make it accessible will not be fair to other students, makes the lesson too easy, or lowers expectations
• teaching language is the sole responsibility of the ESL department
• students must only speak in English at all times, and that using other languages slows their progress” (para. 4). 

This first bullet point stood out to me because there are many different reasons as to why an EL student may not raise their hand, complete their work, etc. We need to consider students cultures because there may be a reason why students are not raising their hand in class. Or, students may be struggling to complete their work due to taking care of younger siblings at home while their parents work a second job to make ends meet. 

I strongly believe that it is so important to welcome and teach students equally in the classroom setting. Students should have equal access to the same educational opportunities and not be regarded through assumptions. In order to disrupt these assumptions, Ferlazzo (2020) suggests that we:

• “learn how to say and pronounce the names of all students including creating a safe space for students to share pronouns they use to identify themselves
• learn as much as possible about the background, interests, and hopes and dreams of all students
• be prepared to assess and build background knowledge as needed
• consider how language can change depending on role, relationship, topic, purpose, and task, and that explicitly teaching this benefits all students
• ensure that all lessons and assessments are universally accessible by using visuals, writing while speaking, modeling, providing exemplars, having clear and concise directions, offering choice in how students demonstrate learning” (para. 10). 

Creating a safe and secure environment will help ELL students feel more at ease. I also love that Ferlazzo (2020) mentioned learning as much as possible about students backgrounds. This is so important! If we as educators don’t “educate” ourselves on our students backgrounds, then how will we ever recognize our students educational needs.

 Ferlazzo (2020) goes on to mention that we are not perfect and we do make mistakes no matter how hard we try not to. Unfortunately sometimes we do make false assumptions such that students who are proficient are able to perform well academically without support. This is false. An EL’s level of proficiency in social language does not correlate automatically with their proficiency in academic language. If I remember correctly, it takes a student anywhere from two years to acquire social language and five or more years to develop academic language. Another assumption is that one scaffold is sufficient for all EL’s. This is also false. Scaffolding for EL’s need to be created for varying levels of proficiency. These can be in the form of visuals, pictures, charts, interactive boards, etc. 

Since students spend the majority of their day with teachers who are not the “ESL teacher,” there needs to be a somewhat shared responsibility.  When working with EL’s, teachers are bound to make some mistakes, but it is important to focus on learning about students strengths, providing appropriate and differentiated scaffolds, and building a community where students will succeed.

Ferlazzo, L. (2020, November). Don't Make Assumptions About Your ELL Students. Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2020/11/dont_make_assumptions_about_your_ell_students_2.html

Remote Teaching Puts English Language Learners in an Impossible Situation

The article I read this week discusses the impact of remote learning on English Language Learners during these challenging times. The article focuses on one particular high school student in a Pittsburgh Public High School. She discusses how the change to remote learning has disrupted her learning English as a second language in challenging and frustrating ways. She is expected to complete all of her assignments online in English all while trying to navigate new online learning platforms. In addition, she is using Google translate for reading assignments just so she can keep up and not fall behind in class. As per Schneider (2020), educators say these types of students are some of the most at risk for falling behind without additional support. I agree and I think students should be given the opportunity to practice navigating through these new online platforms before expected to complete assignments. I’m sure many students around the world are struggling with the new technology platforms, but ELLs have an additional difficulty due to the language barrier.

Some additional barriers that ELL students are facing with remote learning include teachers not accepting homework assignments. As Schneider (2020) states, students are expressing that teachers "told them that they received too much help with the work and that the English in the completed assignments was beyond their level” (para 5). I personally took this statement to heart and was completely shocked. These ELL students are trying everything in their power to complete the assignments in these challenging times and for teachers to give that kind of feedback is saddening. In my opinion, the students are probably doing the best they can, spending more time on the computer than others, and are hopefully still learning some English language throughout the process. Students have also expressed that teachers outside of ESL classes speak so quickly that it is hard to comprehend what is being said and taught in online sessions. And, ELL students are too shy to ask teachers to clarify information or repeat directions in the event that they will hear negative feedback. 

The article continues to discuss some alternative ways to help students with the technology aspect of virtual learning. Zoom and the WhatsApp video call have been two methods used by educators in order to give students some additional help. Teachers are able to point and share the screen to give students somewhat of additional support.

As per the district, they are struggling to keep up with translation services for students and their families. There are 96 languages spoken within the district. When information is sent home to families in English, it takes several days until that same information is translated and sent home to families in their spoken language. This I feel puts an additional barrier on the students if their parents do not speak any English because they will have less of a support system at home in order to complete assignments. In addition, some students experience another barrier of having to take care of younger siblings so parents can go to work. These times sure are challenging for students and their families. 

Once ELLs return to school, educators and advocates say the next challenge will be figuring out how to make up and/or catch up for the learning that students have lost due to the additional barriers (Schneider (2020).

Schneider, S. (2020, October). Advocates say remote teaching puts English language learners in an impossible situation. Retrieved from https://www.wesa.fm/post/advocates-say-remote-teaching-puts-english-language-learners-impossible-situation

Incorporating ESL Speaking Games into Language Development

The article I read this week focuses on incorporating speaking games into lessons and activities for English as an Additional Language (EAL) students. After reading the article, I thought these activities could closely relate to our ESL students and can be used in an ESL classroom setting.  Adams (2020) mentions that these four games/activities offer a variety of learning styles to students and can be incorporated into lessons or simply a lesson idea on their own. Emotive drilling, Rotisserie, Treasure hunt, and Class surveys are the four speaking games Adams (2020) aims to discuss in the article.

Emotive drilling involves social skills practice. The students would be engaged in a variety of facial expressions that are presented on index cards (happy, sad, scared, etc.). In addition to the facial expression cards, there would also be cards with images that facilitate vocabulary and/or keywords to complete the activity. Essentially the game is somewhat simple. When you show the students an image on one of the keywords cards, you will then point at one of the faces on the facial expression cards and the students need to respond with the keyword in that emotion. For example, if the keyword is “bus” and the facial expression card is “sad,” then the student would respond “It’s a bus” in a sad way. Adams (2020) states that students find this activity very entertaining; because it makes them “WANT to say the words instead of HAVE to say the words” (para 7). I think this form of activity would be great to incorporate for ESL students because it focuses on vocabulary, speaking, listening, and social skills. I believe I could incorporate this kind of activity into my own classroom setting because teaching vocabulary through speaking activities is a huge goal in PreK.

Rotisserie is essentially how it sounds. Students would be engaged in the process of turning over multiple flash cards to practice different vocabulary/keywords.  In order to complete the activity, one student would come up to a large table where all cards are displayed, chose a card, and then ask the class, “what is it?” The activity would continue  until all cards have been turned over. This activity is great because it practices vocabulary but also helps students starts to move language from working memory into long term memory. I think this activity would be great to incorporate at the beginning of a unit where students are introduced to new vocabulary words. In addition, I would also include images/visuals with the flash cards during the beginning to help the lower level EL learners. As the activity progresses, some of the scaffolding can slowly be taken away depending on the students.

Treasure hunts involve images of items that are linked to a topic the students are learning or are vocabulary builder words. The teacher would hide the images around the classroom and instruct the students to search for them. Once the images are found, teacher will help the students move into groups and ask/tell each other what they found. During this process, I would definitely recommend monitoring the students to make sure they are on task and are repeating what they found. Adams (2020) believes this activity can be used after the students have been introduced to the language, as a way to “practice it more carefully and to ensure they fully associate and remember a word with the item in question, rather than having a prompt or someone else helping them” (para 16). I really like this activity because I think it allows the students to work together and practice their speaking skills with one another. Students not only will practice language skills but also social skills and peer to peer relationships. 

Class surveys are remade surveys that ask the students a series of questions. The questions would revolve around specific vocabulary and keywords that the students have been discussing. This activity can be adapted for specific learners. For example, you may chose to have students walk around and ask each other the questions or simply have the students complete the questions on their own. This activity gives the students more freedom to use and explore the language they have been practicing and really build their fluency and ability to draw upon language with less support (Adams, 2020). 

I believe these speaking games would be ideal to use with students at the elementary level because for many students their language skills are just beginning to blossom. However, I would still encourage the use of these activities for higher level students because they are great vocabulary building activities. I remember during my ESL observation hours, I observed a teacher at the high school level who was using flash cards with her students to practice vocabulary skills. ESL students need vocabulary practice throughout their language journey and as Adams (2020) states, these activities can be incorporated with students at varying ages and stages of language development. In addition, the students will eventually be able to lead these activities themselves and build independence and autonomy. 

Adam, G. (2020, October). 4 EAL speaking games for early years and primary pupils. Retrieved from https://www.tes.com/news/eal-ideas-tips-speaking-lesson-fun-games

Getting Creative While Teaching ESL Students Virtually

During these uncertain times, educators all over are trying to find ways to get creative while teaching ESL students virtually. The article I read this week was very inspiring! The article  focused on different ways that ESL teachers in a particular school district have become creative for their ESL students. The students in the school district are simultaneously learning on the computer in class and at home. 

The teachers emphasized that first and foremost as an ESL teacher, you become very dramatic, act things out, color code, and put things in two different language to make sure students understand (Joas, 2020). Students most often struggle with interpreting directions, so extra effort is required by teachers. Computer extensions in the form of emojis is one way that teachers manage to check student understanding. They are essentially a way for students to express to the teacher if they do/do not understand what is being discussed. 

Wearing a mask during instruction time also poses language learning difficulties for ESL students in regards to pronunciation. One teacher in the district made accommodations to teach her students from the school library so she could remove her mask. The students remained in the classroom and connected with the teacher virtually. By doing this, the teacher was able to articulate more clearly and follow up with the students while doing practice pronunciation activities. I personally believe this teacher went the extra mile for her students, which is amazing! I think all ESL students and teachers should be given an opportunity like this especially during in-person instruction. I myself am finding it difficult to work on pronunciation with my ELL students due to wearing a mask. 

Flipgrid was another tool that teachers within this school district found useful for ESL students. I have never heard of Flipgrid prior to reading this article. From what I understand of the article, Flipgrid is a program that allows teachers to pose a question and students have to respond. It appears as if Flipgrid acts as a video discussion board for students and teachers. All students are able to view the discussion and provide comments. The teachers have found that this is a great way to get students speaking and responding without putting them at the center of attention like in a normal class. 

In this new teaching era that we are experiencing, it is extremely important that teachers collaborate and share ideas with one another in order to enhance learning for our ESL students. 

Joas, J. (2020, October). Waterbury teachers find creative ways to educate english eearners virtually. Retrieved from https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/back-to-school/waterbury-teachers-find-creative-ways-to-educate-english-learners-virtually/2344145/

Online Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies

 

In the craziness of the pandemic, some educators may lose sight of prioritizing issues related to cultural responsive teaching. Gina Laura Gullo describes four culturally responsive teaching strategies that can be applied to students at any level and will help to ensure equity and inclusion for English Language students. The four strategies include: getting to know students on their terms, engage students in critical self-reflection, create multimodal learning stations, and use counter-stereotypic exemplars. 

Teachers can use online forums which allow students to introduce themselves on their own terms. When teachers introduce themselves, it's important to start by including culturally meaningful aspects of self-identification. Students should then be assigned to complete the same task of introducing themselves. Differentiation may be necessary for different ages of students. Younger students may post a photo or video while older students may chose to type an introduction. This allows students to tell you about themselves while defining who they are in the context of the classroom environment.

Critical self-reflection allows students to relate their own experiences and perspectives of the world to what they are learning. Students can learn material during online sessions, reflect before class, and then discuss the material to help others reflect on the culturally contextualized material (Ferlazzo, 2020). 

Learning stations offer a variety of learning materials in different formats in order to meet the learning styles of all students. Online hybrid learning offers an opportunity for this kind of learning in a variety of different ways. Gina Laura Gullo explains a great example: “a science lesson on dinosaurs might include a reading, a video lecture, an educational game, an online museum visit, an at-home craft, and a face-to face discussion.” This lesson seems like a great way to integrate learning stations into online learning. It seems like it would keep the students attention and also very engaged!

Counter-stereotypic exemplars are simply images that represent individuals that are not consistent with stereotypes. By including these pictures, students can view themselves and others in different manners (Ferlazzo, 2020).

I found these four strategies to be very interesting to read. I believe they are very important to include in online responsive teaching. The strategies seem like they allow the students more opportunity to be themselves and  become individuals. 

The article continues to discuss “sheltered instruction” to support diverse learners. The most effective culturally responsive teaching strategies to incorporate into online lessons are interactive games. Interactive games get the brain’s attention, require active processing, and include cultural tools.  Culturally diverse stories also allow for students to learn content more effectively and boost vocabulary. And, it is extremely important to include the element of inclusion. The goal is to have all students and their families feel included in learning and build a community among one another. This will allow for engagement and opportunities to share experiences. I strongly believe that developing a classroom community of learners will go a long way in the learning progress of students. 

Ferlazzo, L. (2020, October). Strategies for implementing online culturally responsive teaching. Retrieved from https://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2020/10/strategies_for_implementing_online_culturally_responsive_teaching.html