Blog Entry 2
Through interviewing Alma and hearing her experiences in interacting with an ESL curriculum, I have determined that she did not receive individualized instruction nor did her instructors implement strategies that might have allowed her to grow in her weakest areas. Of the five subsystems of language, she felt most confident with all of them; however, she did not feel as confident in spelling or pronunciation. Wright (2015) notes that “when Middle English was spoken, there was a much closer relationship between spelling and pronunciation,” but it has been close to 600 years after that, which subsequently resulted in the complex and sometimes illogical language we know today (Wright, 2015, p. 36). Had the educator known about ideas such as translanguaging, which posits that bilingual students cannot compartmentalize their individual languages, they could have realized that Alma was applying Spanish rules to the English language. She is aware of this now, but had she known about it before, it could have been something she could identify and grow around.
Another observation I made from the interview was that she was put into a pull-out classroom. She was not put into a mainstream classroom, which may have resulted in her missing necessary instruction that can only be taught by content-specific instructors (Wright, 2015, p. 107). It also may have led to her other teachers to determine that they do not share in the responsibility of ELLs. Fortunately for her, she had an English teacher who happened to be bilingual. Wright (2015) references these instructors as “excellent and experienced mainstream teachers with no training in ESL” and encourages that they enroll in certification programs to enrich their knowledge and fully meet the needs of his or her students (Wright, 2015, p. 112).
My takeaways for this assignment are that is important to learn your ELLs cultural background, provide an individualized learning environment, and stay up to date on research regarding English as a second language education. This interview allowed me to see through the perspective of someone who went through a flawed system, so that I may learn from those mistakes to make sure that my future students have opportunities to succeed to their full potential.
Reference:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub.
Great video Brandon. It is amazing that your friend came to the United States knowing almost no English and having to learn while here. I think it was definitely a mistake that she was placed in a special needs class as oppose to a ESL class. This is a fault in the education system but I will say from what I have seen so far this is something that is getting rectified. I think what may be the saddest part of your friends education training is that she may have missed out on the opportunity to hone in her Language Learning skills at a younger age. Being placed in the incorrect academic setting is completely counter-productive to the growth and training that she would have needed to excel. Stanford University published an article, “Six Key Principles for ELL Instruction” that states “Instruction moves ELLs forward by taking into account their English proficiency level(s) and prior schooling experiences”. (Stanford University, 2013). I think if the school that your friend attended would have taken the time to figure out her educational background or to test her English language abilities; they would have probably placed her more appropriately in an ESL class. Without getting an understanding of where your students have come from it is hard to get them on the path of where they need to go. I kind of see it as being a mechanic and a customer brings in their car and says it does not work. Instead of me, as the mechanic, asking anything about the car, I just start working on it. It wouldn’t make sense right? How would I know what to fix, if I do not know what is wrong?
ReplyDeleteReference:
Stanford University.“Six Key Principles for ELL Instruction.” Six Key Principles for ELL Instruction | Understanding Language, 11 Jan. 2013, ell.stanford.edu/content/six-key-principles-ell-instruction
Hi Jerome, thanks for you response! I agree with you that because Alma was placed in a special education course, rather than an English as a second language, she might have incurred some damages to her ability to grasp English better. The other point that you touch on deals with individualized instruction. It was clear in her instance that there was little to no differentiated instruction. Had she been placed with an instructor who valued this ideal, then it is likely that her deficiencies would have been identified and targeted specifically. This would have then allowed her to achieve mastery of something that was initially difficult. Wright (2015) finds it useful to try out different methods of instruction with a student to see whether or not he or she thrives under it (Wright, 2015, p. 64). Paying attention to the cause of effect structure could have had great implications for Alma’s instructional experience.
DeleteReference:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub.
Hi Brandon! Your interview with Alma was incredibly insightful seeing as though she was not placed in an ESL program and rather in a SPED program. According to Wright, “English language instruction for students who have been identified as ELLs is called English as a second language.” (2015, page 90) With this being said, if Alma was identified as an ELL I am wondering why the school neglected to enroll her in an ESL program. Alma also mentioned the toughest aspect of English for her being pronunciation. Wright notes how important oral language is considering, “it is the most often used form of communication,” however, “we tend to spend the least amount of classroom instruction time helping ELLs develop it.” (2015, page 151) In light of this one can see why Alma may have experienced difficulties when she was first trying to pronounce words, especially if she was not receiving developmentally appropriate content.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hi Kallie, thanks for your response! I identified with the quote you cited in regards to practicing language orally. As stated in my blog entry 1, we mainly worked through packets and other physical representations of language. Only rarely did we actually get to practice the material we had learned. Alma’s inability to correctly pronounce words is reminiscent of those circumstances, in that she struggled with pronunciation, but failed to receive necessary supplemental information to scaffold her learning and close the gap. Wright (2015), in conjunction with individualized instruction, realizes that developing a relationship with one’s student is vital to the student’s success so that it can be easier to identify what parts of language learning he or she is struggling with (Wright, 2015, p. 65).
DeleteReference:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub.
I think it is great that Alma's parents did not want to move her while she was in the middle of a grade. They have her the few months needed in order to finish off the year in Mexico, then brought her to America with them. I believe that had they moved her in the middle of the year and enrolled her in school hear, it could have affected her learning because she would have begin in the middle of the school year putting her behind all the other students. not only that but she would also be an English Language Learner making it even more difficult. It is good that she had someone in her school that was able to speak Spanish and help her with her English. It is said that “learners need opportunities to interact with other speakers and reach mutual comprehension.” (Wright, 53) so it is good that she was able to interact with somebody rather than nobody.
ReplyDeleteHi Nayab, thank you for your response. The interaction hypothesis that you reference is directly related to the experience that Alma had with her English teacher. Although it was not a peer or even the designated instructor assigned to teach her the ESL curriculum, she was able to interact with another nonnative speaker and receive direct feedback. The format is also comfortable and informal providing “corrections…within the natural flow of the conversation,” rather than the potentially stressful environment of a classroom (Wright, 2015, p. 53). These interactions were beneficial to her English development and are a tactic I hope to employ as a future educator.
DeleteReference:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub.
Brandon, I liked that you mentioned how being in a "pull out classroom" may have had negative effects on Alma. I believe that the education of ELL students should not be treated like an ancillary class. Alma's ESL education should have taken place in the main classroom, where her teacher could've developed a through relationship with her. Being in a pull out classroom could be the reason why Alma's educators did not realize she was applying Spanish rules to English. If Alma had been able to learn in an ESL classroom instead of being pulled out for instruction, she may have had the chance to be in a classroom with other ELL's and learned through interactions and peer learning (Wright 53).
ReplyDeleteHi Lola, thank you for your response. I am unaware if the implications that we know pull-out instruction carry were known during the period that Alma was enrolled in school, so I cannot necessarily blame her school or the administrators, but we can learn from past mistakes. Wright (2015) finds the pull-out ESL model to be the least effective and finds taking students out of their content area classes to be a reductive measure (Wright, 2015, p. 107). I agree with him that the students are missing out on crucial information at the expense of their inability to fully comprehend English. There is also a present stigma attached to students who are taken out of the classroom and create an inherent alienation that can broadcast itself in many negative ways. Avoiding this practice in place of a bilingual program would probably have benefitted Alma better.
DeleteReference:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub.
There are several programs that would have been more helpful to Alma such as, Transitional Bilingual Programs and Dual Language programs. These programs imbed Spanish and english in the content area instruction within the classroom, so students are able to feel comfortable within their own classroom instead of having to be pulled out of the classroom in order to learn a new language (Wright 2015). Pull out ESL instruction is a program that is not considerate of the comfortability of the student. I truly believe that students learn better when they are extremely comfortable and familiar with their surroundings, such as they would be in classroom that uses a more effective language program such as Dual Language.
DeleteWright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub.