Santa Monica Community College
May 6, 2011
Lia D. Kamhi-Stein (lkamhis@calstatela.edu)
Professor, MA in TESOL Program
California State University, Los Angeles
1.
2.
3.
Describe the profiles of international students,
late-arriving and early-arriving resident
students;
describe three students that reflect the
experiences of the three groups;
identify a variety of academic literacy
strategies (focusing on reading) designed to
help the three groups improve their content
knowledge and reading skills.
Students
Definitions
International Students
• Born and raised outside the U.S.;
• studied English in EFL settings;
• come to the U.S. on a foreign
student visa for purpose of
studying
• return to their country once they
have completed their studies.
Resident Students (I): Late-Arriving
Students
• Arrived in the U.S. after the critical
period;
• may or may not have studied
English before their U.S. arrival;
• plan to live in the U.S.
Resident Students (II): Early-Arriving
Students
(Caveat: Can a U.S.-born person be
called a “resident” student?)
• Born or arrived in the U.S. before
the critical period;
• may or may not have studied
English before their U.S. arrival;
• Have immigrant parents
Characteristic
International
Students
Late-Arriving
Resident
Students
Early-Arriving
Resident Students
Socioeconomic Status
Upper-middle
class & higher
Working class &
higher
Working class & higher
Purpose for Studying
English
Instrumental
Survival &
integrative
Like monolingual
students
Roles of the two
languages
Diglossic situation (one language used at home, English used
outside the home)
Knowledge
of culture
Home
country
Strong
Strong
Wide range
U.S.
Limited
Limited
Strong
L1
Highly
literate
Varying degrees
Limited
L2
Limited
Wide range; in
most cases, none to
limited
Extensive, though
inconsistent
Literacy
Experience
Characteristic
International
Students
Late-Arriving
Resident Students
Early-Arriving
Resident Students
Initially C1 (“we”
vs. “they”).
Eventually, they
develop the ability
to fit into both
cultures (unless
they choose not to
do so)
May question and/or
are questioned about
their cultural identity
(what am I?; Why am I
placed in ESL classes?)
Often associate with
similar students
and/or speakers of
non-standard dialects
Cultural
Identity
C1
Home culture
C2
Do not identify
with the U.S.
Perceptions
Self
Positive (though
the change in
setting--EFL to
Inner Circle--may
affect selfperceptions )
Wide range : low to
high, depending on
how they view
their home culture
(problem or asset)
Wide range : often
dependent on how
they view their C1
(problem or asset)
Often feel that their
teachers do not
understand them
Oth
ers
Positive (though
accentedness and
intelligibility may
be perceived as
May depend on
many factors; they
may experience
discrimination
May depend on many
factors (ethnic group
to which they belong,
visible minority,
Students
Classroom
Experiences
Orientation to ELD
Implications for Academic Instruction
in English
International
Students
Had positive
experiences
Eye learner (formal
study—learning)
Resident
Students (I):
Late-Arriving
Students
Exposed to
inconsistent
instruction and
expectations.
Eye learner (though
it may depend on
age of arrival)
Grammar: Explicit knowledge
Listening and speaking: weak
Vocabulary: mostly limited to
TOEFL
Reading: Strong foundation, range
in practice
Academic classroom: Challenged
w/pace, turn-taking, degree of
informality, cultural beliefs about
teachers’ & students’ roles, selfperceptions about pronunciation
Resident
Students (II):
Early-Arriving
Students
Exposed to
inconsistent
instruction and
expectations.
Ear learner
(informal,
naturalistic
acquisition)
Grammar: Intuitive, like
monolinguals
Listening and speaking: appear
fluent and confident
Reading: weak
Vocabulary: highly colloquial,
limited academic vocabulary
(typical of all students)
Academic classroom: Understand
expectations; sometimes, they may
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Originally from Turkey; high middle class
Began EFL studies in high school, at the age of 15; came to the U.S. to
study at SMC, transferred to UCLA
Was an eye learner;
Had strong self-perceptions that were challenged by peers
Strengths:
Had strong literacy skills in Turkish
 Had explicit knowledge of English grammar and metalinguistic awareness
 Was a strategic learner
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Challenges:
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Had limited background knowledge (about content and culture) to complete
reading assignments
Experienced a high cognitive reading load; had trouble keeping up with the
readings and the amount of vocabulary to learn (more details later)
Had not done much writing in English (academic or other) in Turkey
Used or knew only one register: “book” English
Had limited understanding of the culture of the U.S. classroom
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Originally from Mexico; working class
Arrived in the U.S. at the age of 11, did not know any English
Was a model student in Mexico and below grade level in the U.S.
Was not accepted by peers in her own ethnic group ; was frustrated by the
pronunciation of words in English, her peers laughed at her
Hated the “ESL label,” wanted to be a “regular student;” decided to enroll in
the “ESL track”
 ESL classes did not integrate language and content, she did not feel
challenged since all she did was worksheets
Transferred to mainstream classes as a senior; was challenged and supported
by her English teacher
Graduated from high school with honors, but “did not know how to read,
write or speak “proper” English; she memorized but did not understand
materials
Did not give up, attributes her success in learning how to read to a
commercial reading program
Enrolled in a community college, where she took courses for 4 years, until
she transferred to the CSU system.
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Born in Southern California in a Mexican, working class family
Spoke Spanish at home; English at school
Was an ear learner
Interacted with Mexican American students
Felt his teachers did not care about teaching him or his peers; he
perceived them as having low expectations (Why am I going to
teach you if you are not going to go to college?)
Was admitted to CSU school, where he completed a BA in French
Found himself to be lost in academia (voiceless in the classroom)
Struggled with academic register: wrote as he spoke
Was a fluent reader, but was not used to reading academic texts
Was determined to succeed
1.
Limited academic vocabulary
2.
Reading fatigue
3.
Reading rate
4.
Lack of concentration
1. May read in a linear manner (from beginning to end, without paying attention to
helpful features of the text).
2. May mentally translate into the home language to construct meaning (found for
readers proficient in their L1 who viewed the L1 as a resource).
3. May focus on individual words to help construct meaning (readers with
interrupted or extended K-12 U.S. schooling).
4. May engage in dictionary-based word-hunts (excessive & poor use of
dictionaries, readers with interrupted or extended K-12 U.S. schooling).
5. May engage in limited interaction with the text.
6. May not have enough culture or rhetorical knowledge
7. May read slowly, get tired, and give up
8. May not have enough knowledge of English to transfer skills and strategies
1.
Help students develop reading confidence and improve their
concentration:
a. Extensive reading (focusing on teacher- and student-selected
resources)
b. Timed reading (students read at a comfortable pace) and paced
reading (the teacher imposes the rate for reading—increased every week by
25 WPM)
Timed Reading
Step 1: Preview: A. Read the title. B. Read the first sentence. C. Read
the last sentence. D. Scan the article (names, dates, numbers, facts, etc.)
Step 2: Read for meaning: Build concentration. B. Reading in chunks,
thought groups. C. Question the writer.
Step 3: Grasp paragraph sense. A. Find the topic sentence. B.
Understand the paragraph structure.
Step 4: Organize facts. A. Discover the author’s plan. B. Relate as you
read.
Students complete multiple choice questions and record results on a
reading chart
Spargo, E. (1998). Timed reading plus: 25 two-part lessons with questions for guiding reading speed and comprehension (book one).
Lincolnwood, IL: Glencoe Mc Graw-Hill.
2.
Teach vocabulary:
a. Be selective about the words you target. Consider
word frequency, salience, students’ goals, the word’s
learning burden (Zimmerman, 2009)
b. Focus on the Academic Word List (AWL)
(Coxhead, 2000)
(See attached handout)
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/wordlist
s.htm
c. Have students think strategically about the vocabulary [vocabulary
cards, rating vocabulary knowledge (Coxhead, 2000), collocations, word
parts, vocabulary use, etc.]

Zimmerman, C. B. (2009). Word knowledge: A vocabulary
teacher's handbook. New York: Oxford University Press.
Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word List. TESOL Quarterly,
34(2), 213-38.
Pritchard, R. (2004). Strategic reading for English learners: Principles
and practices. CATESOL Journal, 16(1), 29-42.
3.
Use tools like The compleat lexical tutor,
http://www.lextutor.ca/ , to analyze the
vocabulary in a text that you want to use
text.
Go to Vocabulary Profiler and click on Classic View to analyze the
3.
Integrate instruction in the most common reading-to-write skill students will
need to survive in academia: summarization
Two approaches: a) cognitive
b) text-structure
Engage students in activities that go from knowledgetelling (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987) to knowledge
transforming (writing a critique)
4.
Dobson & Feak’s (2001) cognitive modeling approach:
1. Understanding and discussion: Students read on a
single topic (including competing rejected ideas); form simple
opinions on the topic.
2. Evaluation: Students are given a set of questions that
model the cognitive operations that are used to evaluate a
text.
Who is the audience? What is the issue? What are the author’s
conclusions? What evidence is presented and how good is the
evidence? How good is the study, if one is presented? Is the
author’s position based on the evidence? What assumptions
does the author make?
3. Constructing the Critique: Students write a critique
that is not based on personal opinion.
Regardless of the content or skills we teach, students
benefit from instruction that:
1. is systematic;
2. recycles vocabulary, tasks and materials in
different contexts;
3. engages students in discovery or awareness
activities, and activities that allow them to practice and
extend their knowledge; and
4. provides them with models and opportunities
for analysis (in terms of discourse features, language,
audience expectations, text structure, genres, etc.)