ESOL
Methods
Overview and Resources
English Development Goals
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Goal 1: to use English to communicate in social setting
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Goal 2: to use English to achieve academically in all content areas
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Goal 3: to use English in socially and culturally appropriate ways
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Revised standards will be published by TESOL (www.tesol.org).
6 Skills to Develop in English
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Listening
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Speaking
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Reading
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Writing
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What to say, to whom, in what context
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Thinking critically and creatively
What do our ELLs need to master in
order to function linguistically?
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The sound system of the language
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The vocabulary of the language
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The syntax and grammar of the language
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The pragmatics and sociolinguistics
Teachers need to know
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Phonology: The sound patterns of language
Morphology: The words of language
Syntax: The sentence patterns of language
Semantics: The meanings of language
Pragmatics: The influence of context
Discourse: Oral and written interaction
Non-Verbal Communication: up to 93% of communication!
Etiquette & Protocol
Communicative Competence
Canale (1983, pp. 14-17)
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Grammatical Competence: knowledge of language code
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Sociolinguistic Competence: knowledge of the norms of interaction
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Discourse Competence: ability to connect utterances
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Strategic Competence: manipulation of language to meet
communicative goals
Technology
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Multimedia computing, the Internet, and the World Wide Web in
language classrooms
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CALL
 E-mail
 Chat
 Listservs
 Blogs
 Podcasts
 …
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Computer technology is a powerful tool that requires the teacher to
organize, plan, teach, and monitor
From Needs to Methods
and their Application
SOLOM: Pronunciation
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“terdy-five” instead of “thirty-five”
“da” instead of “the”
“ditionair” instead of “dictionary”
uses “sh” instead of “ch” i.e., “shild” instead of “child”
v sound instead of y, w, and f i.e., “vield” instead of “field” and “ve”
instead of “we”
“tink” for “think”
i’s sound like e’s
Stress of word incorrect: im-por-TANT
Listening
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Listening to repeat
 The Audiolingual Legacy
 Minimal pairs (ship vs. sheep)
 Backward buildup
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Listening to understand
 The Task Approach
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Listening for comprehension
 The Comprehension Approach
Total Physical Response (TPR)
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TPR is based on the association between language and body
movement
 Listening and understanding before speaking
 Understanding through body movement
 Never force speaking
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Promoting comprehension in a low-anxiety environment
Speaking
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BICS (informal)
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CALP (formal)
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Communicative functions
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Principles for favorable environment for speaking
 The emotional setting
 The physical setting
 Groups
Speaking
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Articulation of individual sounds
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Stress and pitch with syllables, words, and phrases
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Intonation with longer stretches
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Accent
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Active intervention methods
 Clarification checks
 Correction
 Completion, etc.
SOLOM/SWLOM: Grammar
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“have so much different people” instead of
“there are so many different people”
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“We spent there about 5 years” instead of
“We spent about 5 years there”
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“In age around” instead of
“We left our country at age ____”
Reading
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Transferring Literacy from L1 to L2 (= English)
 Print carries meaning
 Directionality
 Sequencing
 Visual discrimination
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Literacy learning is easiest when schools provide initial
literacy instruction in a child’s home language (= L1).
No literacy in any language
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Special treatment
 Literacy is introduced in a meaningful way
 The link between oral language and print is made as
naturally as possible
 Students have the opportunity to enjoy reading and writing
 Age, family role, and previous schooling
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Seven instructional procedures
 Environmental print
 Meaning-based
 A silent period in reading
 Low-anxiety environment
 Motivating activities
 Integration of structure and function
 Integration of content and literacy
Reading Strategies
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Pre-reading activities
 Help build students background knowledge
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Language Experience Approach (LEA)
 Encourage students to respond in their own words
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Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA)
 Develop student abilities to predict text
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Literature response group
 Assist students in understanding the richness of literature
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Post-reading strategy
 Invite active student participation
Writing
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Process Approach
 Shift from product to process
 Prewriting, writing, and editing
 Peer review
 Conferencing
Writing
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Cohesion
 Reference
 Substitution
 Ellipsis
 Conjunction
 Lexical cohesion
Error Treatment
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People generally accept errors when children are learning their L1
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Teachers tend to correct errors in L2
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In the early stages of language learning, fluency is more
important than accuracy
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Error correction is not necessary in levels 1 to 3
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Error correction is essential in levels 4 and 5
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Once fluency is established, it’s time for accuracy.
Need for ESOL Standards
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“If standards are to be attained by ALL students in the U.S., the
learning characteristics and particular instructional and
assessment needs of learners who lack proficiency or have limited
proficiency in English must be acknowledged and incorporated
into the development, implementation and assessment of
general educational standards.” TESOL (1997)
TESOL’s ESL GOALS and Standards
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3 general goals:
 BICS
 CALP
 Pragmatics/Socio-Linguistics
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3 standards each
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3 grade-level clusters:
 Pre-K – 3
 4-8
 and 9-12
p. 74
Florida’s Standards
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CCSS http://www.corestandards.org/
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ESOL http://www.fldoe.org/aala/
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A variety of ESOL strategies have been matched to performance
indicators so that the content of the curriculum becomes
comprehensible to LEP students at all levels of language
proficiency.
History of Language Teaching
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Grammar-Translation Method
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Audio-lingual Method
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The Direct Method
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Communicative Approaches
Methods that take recent SLA theory into account
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The Natural Approach
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Communicative Language Teaching
 Content-based ESL
 Cognitive Academic Language Learning (CALLA)
 Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)
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ESOL Specific
 Sheltered Instruction (SIOP)
 Specially designed academic instruction in English (SDAIE)
Characteristics of Whole Language Techniques
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The curriculum is learner-centered
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Language is learned from whole to part
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Language learning employs all four modes of language
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Language activities are meaningful and functional
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Language activities are social and personal
3 Key Principles to Remember
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Increase comprehensibility
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Increase interaction
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Increase thinking and study skills
DR/TA
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Directed Reading Thinking Activity is a
technique to guide learners’ thinking processes during reading
1.
Establish goals to read purposefully
2.
Make inferences and predictions while reading
3.
Evaluate the fit (or gap) between information in the text and
their own mental representations of the text
Teaching texts
forwards
1)
2)
3)
4)
Read the text
Answer the study questions at the end of the chapter
Discuss the material in class
Do selected applications based on the material
backwards
1)
2)
3)
4)
Do selected applications based on the material
Discuss the material in class
Answer the study questions at the end of the chapter
Read the text
1. Application
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Start by doing something that applies to the material to be learned
in a concrete way
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The “applications and extensions” section at the end of the chapter
or teacher’s guide
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Hands-on application puts material into context and increases
comprehensibility
2. Discuss the application
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Ask students what happened, why, what would happen if…
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Use key vocabulary in discussion
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Activate prior knowledge (schema)
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Model thinking skills
3. Review study questions
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Ask students to identify main ideas
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Set a purpose for reading
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Preview chapter: pictures, diagrams, subheadings, chapter
organization
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These strategies increase comprehensibility and teach thinking and
study skills
Resources
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http://www.sde.idaho.gov/LEP/docs/Curriculum/ESLStrategies.doc
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http://www.pps.k12.or.us/curriculum/PDFs/ESL_Modifications.pdf
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http://www.fldoe.org/aala/pdf/smart.pdf