Appendix A: Three Genre Reading Scaffolding Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan #1
Name: Chen Chen
Lesson #, Lesson Title: Short Story Penguin Chick
Date (including day of the week): Monday
Grade Level & Class Title: 6th grade, Reading Class
Period or Block: 1st
Instructional Context
o How does this lesson connect with and build on the previous lesson(s)?
 Our students are intermediate level English language learners and are able to
read with fluency to comprehend the text in English. But their writing skills are
limited.
 Students have been learning about basic literary elements, such as setting, plot
development, character. Students understand the differences between fiction and
non-fiction.
o How do you expect to build on this lesson in subsequent lessons?
 Students will apply the summarizing skills and retelling story skills to more
complicated texts.
Standards Addressed
o NCTE/IRA Content Standards Addressed:
1- Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding
of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to
acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the
workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and
nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
3- Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and
appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other
readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their
word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g.,
sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
4- Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g.,
conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of
audiences and for different writing process.
10- Students whose first language is not English make use of their first language to
develop competency in the English language arts and to develop understanding of
content across the curriculum.
Learning Objectives
o List the specific content learning objectives for the lesson.
 Students will be able to comprehend the content of the short story Penguin
Chick.

Students will be able to summarize the main idea of the story and find details to
support the main idea.
 Students will be able to retell the story by looking at the main idea chart.
o Note any goals or expectations related to student participation in the lesson.
 Students will use gestures to act out the new verbs.
 Students will answer the questions that I ask as they read the story.
 Students will finish the main idea chart.
 Students will retell the story by using the chart and act it out.
Academic Language Objectives
o List the Academic Language or content language needed for this lesson.
 Verbs
 Tenses
 Chronological adverbs
Students will learn the new verbs from the text and act them out with gestures. They will
get familiar with different tenses that appear in the text. Students will learn words and
phrases that signaling chronology, such as “after”, “finally” and use them in their orally
speaking and writing.
Assessments
o All informal assessments will be documented in the Instructional Strategies and
Learning Tasks.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks (Procedures & Timelines)
Pre-reading: (5-10 minutes)
o The students will be asked to answer a warm-up question: “What is the
life like in Antarctic?” Students will be given time to predict what they
think the climate should be in Antarctic.
o The students will watch a Youtube video about Antarctic introduction
(background information).
o Students will be guided to learn the vocabularies. They will read aloud and
paraphrase the new vocabularies that are pulled out from the story in index
cards.
 fierce whips
 huddle shuffle
 echoes down
 junior
Individual Reading Response Exercise (20 minutes)
o Students will be distributed iPads to read the story for several times. The
content on iPads will be controlled.
 The first time, students will be asked to underline the chronological
adverbs and the new words in the text.

The second time, students will be encouraged to ask any language
questions in the text. Their questions will be answered.
 The third time, students will then be asked to listen as the story is read
aloud, and keep looking at the text on iPads, as well as answer the
questions that appear on the screen (Insert comment). Students are
required not only to orally answer the questions, but also to highlight the
answers from the text on iPads. The questions are asked based on
students’ comprehension. They include:
 What is the meaning of “emperor penguin”?
 What is the setting?
 Why don’t they build a nest?
 Where does the egg stay for keeping warm?
 Why does mother penguin go so far for food?
 Does penguin father have a hard job to do? Why?
 How long should the father keep the position?
 Why the cold can kill the chick?
 When mother comes back, where does chick go?
 What is the difference between adult and chick’s beak? Why?
o Students will be asked to think about the concepts of main idea and details
by presenting a stack of legos.
 The whole structure of the stack of legos is main idea, and all the
pieces that put together for the structure are details.
o Students will be guided to summarize three main ideas in the story based
on the timeline. Also, they will be taught to insert chronological adverbs in
front of each main idea.
 The father stays with the egg.
 The father takes good care of the egg.
 The mother cares for the chick when she returns.
Group Activity (20 minutes)
o Students will be divided into three groups and write down three details for
supporting each main idea on posters based on the scaffolding questions.
o Students are asked to retell the story based on the main idea chart (the
chart is attached in the end) and insert the chronological words like “then”,
“finally” to organize the information.
Individual Response (Last 5-10 minutes of class/Homework)
o Students are then asked to act out the story and videotape the process as
their homework.
Authentic assessment evidence
o Students will be assessed informally during the pre-reading activity based upon
their performance of paraphrasing new vocabularies.
o Students will be assessed about their comprehension of the text based upon their
answers to the questions and their highlighting sentences in text.
o Performance during the group activity will be assessed based on whether students
can finish the main idea chart correctly and if they retell the complete story.
o Students’ retelling story skills will be assessed using a rubric by watching their
videos. The rubric will be differentiated for different levels if necessary.
Student Supports
o Consider the topic, skills, and strategies used in this lesson. How and where have
supports and scaffolds for these been incorporated into the lesson(s)?
 I will scaffold students to understand the content meaning by asking the
questions I have listed above.
 As students are asked to write details in group, I will use several guiding
questions to help them finish the task, such as “How can father protect it”,
“Why does father have to stay”, “How does mother take care of the chick” etc..
 I will use some guiding questions to help students retell the story.
o Are there additional supports that specific students/student groups might need?
ELL? IEP? 504? Gifted?
 Since the students in this class are ELLs, I will ensure they have a basic
understanding of language meaning before moving deeper into content.
Materials and Resources
o List the handouts, notes, books, and other materials you will need for the lesson.
 Index cards with new vocabularies
 IPads with story and questions
 A stack of legos
 Big paper for group activity/markers
Main Idea Chart
Time
Main Idea
Details
Winter
Spring
Summer
Tatham, B, illustrated by Davie, H.K. (2002). Penguin Chick, HarperCollins Publishers,
pp. 91-109.
Lesson Plan #2
Name: Chen Chen
Lesson #, Lesson Title: Movie Forrest Gump
Date (including day of the week): Wednesday
Grade Level & Class Title: 6th grade, Reading Class
Period or Block: 2nd
Instructional Context
o How does this lesson connect with and build on the previous lesson(s)?
 Our students are advanced level English language learners and are able to
follow the movie in English.
 Students understand the concept behind theme, as it has been discussed in the
context of other literature.
 Students have already seen the movie Forrest Gump in last class.
o How do you expect to build on this lesson in subsequent lessons?
 Students will learn to brainstorm and use thinking maps in their future writing.
 Students will apply character analysis skills in other literary texts.
Standards Addressed
o NCTE/IRA Content Standards Addressed:
2- Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding
of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to
acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the
workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and
nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
4- Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g.,
conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of
audiences and for different writing process.
7- Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and
questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data
from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to
communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
11- Students whose first language is not English make use of their first language to
develop competency in the English language arts and to develop understanding of
content across the curriculum.
12- Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of
a variety of literacy communities.
Learning Objectives
o List the specific content learning objectives for the lesson.
 Students will be able to comprehend the theme of “everyone can be a hero” in
the movie, Forrest Gump.
 Students will be able to understand the characters that contribute to the hero,
Forrest Gump.

Students will be able to make a personal connection to their own experiences
and think about what differences they can make for themselves.
o Note any goals or expectations related to student participation in the lesson.
 Students will participate in the discussion about “who is the hero in their
minds”.
 Students will make a resume for Forrest Gump as the application of school.
 Students will orally report what Forrest did and what differences he made
according to a timeline.
 Students will discuss whether Forrest was a hero or not and what kinds of
characters contribute to what he did.
 Students will brainstorm and write what they may do to make a difference for
themselves or others.
Academic Language Objectives
o List the Academic Language or content language needed for this lesson.
 Adjectives
 Tenses
 Idioms or slangs
Students will use different adjectives to describe Forrest Gump’s characters. They
will use past tense to report what Forrest did, use present tense to present their
opinions, and use future tense to state what they are going to do to be heroes.
Students will meet idioms or slangs as they watch the movie, and they will be
informed immediately about the meaning of idioms and slangs.
Assessments
o All informal assessments will be documented in the Instructional Strategies and
Learning Tasks.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks (Procedures & Timelines)
Pre-reading: (5-10 minutes)
o Students will be asked to learn new words that are pulled out from the
movie.
o Students will be asked to either agree or disagree with this statement:
 Everyone can be a hero.
o The class will be divided into four groups to discuss their opinions
towards the statement. They will give examples of the heroes in their
minds and give reasons why they think they are heroes.
Individual Reading Response Exercise (15 minutes)
o Students will then be asked to make a resume for Forrest Gump for the
school principle on their small white boards. They will be asked to
indicate his IQ and whether he was disabled or not. The format of resume
will be presented on the big white board. Then, they will present their
resumes to the class.
o Students will be guided to recall their memories of the movie. They will
be asked to list what Forrest Gump did according to a time line: before he
joined the army/as he was in the army/after he left the army (In this phase,
students will orally report their thoughts, and I will write them down on
the board).
o As a class, we will discuss what benefits he brought to others according to
the time line (These things will be written out in a chart on the board, and
students will be encouraged to come write their thoughts during
discussion).
Group activity (20 minutes)
o The class will be divided into four groups, and each group will be
distributed a big piece of paper and several markers. Students will be
asked to list the characters that Forrest Gump had based on what he did.
Several vocabularies that describe characters will be given on the white
board.
 What kinds of characters do you think help Forrest make so many
differences for himself as well as for others?
o Students will then be asked to discuss whether they think Forrest Gump is
a hero or not. They will give reasons to support their statement.
o Each group will select one student to present their opinions in front of the
class.
Individual Response (Last 5-10 minutes of class/Homework)
o As a final activity, students will be asked to think about whether they can
be heroes for themselves. They will use thinking maps to brainstorm their
ideas (I will explain the concepts of thinking maps and ask them to come
up with as many reasonable ideas as possible, without any judgment).
 Are you able to relate your experiences to state how you make a
difference for yourself or others?
o They will be asked to write a paragraph (5-6 sentences) to state what they
can do to make themselves as heroes, and will finish this for homework on
their classroom blogs.
Authentic assessment evidence
o Students will be assessed informally during the pre-reading activity based upon
their participation of discussion.
o Students will be assessed informally about their comprehension of the movie
based upon their products of resumes and answers to the questions.
o Performance during the group activity will be assessed based on whether students
connect Forrest’s characters with what he did and whether they present their
opinions in front of class clearly and coherently. A rubric will be given to assess
their presentations.
o A rubric will be given to assess students’ writing homework. I will evaluate their
comprehension of the theme, language fluency as well as their skills to relate to
their daily life.
Student Supports
o Consider the topic, skills, and strategies used in this lesson. How and where have
supports and scaffolds for these been incorporated into the lesson(s)?
 I will guide students to recall their memories about the movie, and facilitate
them to make complete sentences.
 I will use several guiding questions to scaffold students to come up with Forrest
Gump’s characters.
 I will give students different types of thinking maps as examples to help them
brainstorm.
o What are the places in your lesson where the content might be confusing or “knot
up”? What alternative ways do you have to present/explain the content if you
need it?
 It may be difficult for students to come up with examples of heroes who seem
ordinary or they may think it is too difficult for them to be heroes. I will give
them such examples and tell them heroes could be those who overcome external
obstacles and themselves as well.
o Are there additional supports that specific students/student groups might need?
ELL? IEP? 504? Gifted?
 Since the students in this class are ELLs, I will provide vocabularies and
sentence structures for their productive skills.
Materials and Resources
o List the handouts, notes, books, and other materials you will need for the lesson.
 Small white boards and markers
 A big board
 Big paper/markers
Lesson #3
Name: Chen Chen
Lesson #, Lesson Title: Chinese Folktale The Boy with the Magic Brush
Date (including day of the week): Monday
Grade Level & Class Title: 6th grade, Reading Class
Period or Block: 1st
Instructional Context
o How does this lesson connect with and build on the previous lesson(s)?
 Our students are intermediate level English language learners.
 Students have already learned the concept of the basic elements of story, such as
character, setting, plot etc..
o How do you expect to build on this lesson in subsequent lessons?
 Students will apply story map to analyze stories in future readings.
 Students will use story map for their future creative writing.
Standards Addressed
o NCTE/IRA Content Standards Addressed:
3- Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding
of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to
acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the
workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and
nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
4- Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to
build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical,
aesthetic) of human experience.
5- Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and
appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other
readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their
word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g.,
sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
8- Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g.,
spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to
create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.
13- Students whose first language is not English make use of their first language to
develop competency in the English language arts and to develop understanding of
content across the curriculum.
12- Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own
purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of
information).
Learning Objectives
o List the specific content learning objectives for the lesson.
 Students will learn the folktale and be able to get familiar with the elements of
story, such as setting, character, plot, etc..
 Students will be able to find clues from the text according to the story map.
 Students will be able to use the story map to summarize the folktale.
 Students will be able to use the story map to create their own stories.
o Note any goals or expectations related to student participation in the lesson.
 Students will draw pictures in the pre-reading activity, and share their work with
partners.
 Students will answer the questions after they listen to the story and review the
story.
 Students will finish the story map sheets and present their work in front of the
class.
 Students will participate in summarizing the story according to the story map.
 Students will brainstorm and write their own stories.
Academic Language Objectives
o List the Academic Language or content language needed for this lesson.
 New vocabularies
 Tenses
 Simple, compound and complex sentences
Students will meet several new vocabularies in the folktale. I will pull out the new
words and guide students to guess the meaning. Students will also meet several
compound and complex sentences in the folktale. I will rewrite the complex
sentences for students to ensure they understand the content knowledge. They will
read past tense in the text, and report their opinions in present tense.
Assessments
o All informal assessments will be documented in the Instructional Strategies and
Learning Tasks.
Instructional Strategies and Learning tasks (Procedures and timelines)
Pre-reading: (5-10 minutes)
o Students will be asked to answer a question: “ What is the thing you want
most?” They will draw pictures on their small white boards about it.
o Students will then be asked to share their pictures with shoulder partners,
and explain what the object is, and give several reasons why he/she wants
it so much.
Individual Reading Response Exercise (15 minutes)
o Students will be guided to learn new words appeared in the folktale.
o Students will then be asked to listen as the folktale is read aloud, and then,
they will be asked to answer several questions. Complex sentences will be
read first, and then paraphrased into simple sentences as the folktale is
read aloud.
 Who is the most important character in the story?
 When and where did the story happen?
o Students will then silently read the stories themselves multiple times.
 The first time they will be asked to underline new words or parts of the
story they don’t understand. This will then be discussed.
 After they read the second time, they will be asked to close the book
and brainstorm whatever plot they can remember. I will write them
down on the board.
 Then I will introduce story map to students. It helps us organize every
important element from the story, just like the string links every bead to
make a beautiful necklace.
Group activity (20 minutes)
o The class will be divided into four groups and each group will be
distributed a big paper. Every student will be distributed a story map sheet
as a clue. Students will be asked to work as a group and fill in the story
map sheet and then present it to the class on the big paper. They will
compare their answers after the presentation, and I will give them
comments about their answers.
o Students will be asked to summarize the story based on the story map
within 8 sentences. Each group will select one member to orally report it
in front of the class.
Individual Response (Last 5-10 minutes of class)
o Students will be asked to use the story map to create their own stories.
They will use thinking map to brainstorm whatever idea they come up
with, and then fill in the blank of the story map.
o Students will be asked to write their own stories based on their story map
within 10 sentences, and will finish this for homework on their classroom
blogs.
Authentic assessment evidence
o Students will be assessed informally during the pre-reading activity based upon
their participation and discussion.
o Students will be assessed on their comprehension of the folktale according to their
answers to the questions.
o Performance during the group activity will be evaluated based upon whether or
not students finish the story map sheet correctly, and their participation in the
discussion.
o A rubric will be given to assess students’ summaries for the story. It will focus on
whether or not students include every element of the story in their summaries, as
well as language fluency and accuracy.
o A rubric will also be given to assess students’ writing homework. I will evaluate
if their stories include all basic elements, whether or not it is complete, and their
logic and language fluency.
Student Supports
o Consider the topic, skills, and strategies used in this lesson. How and where have
supports and scaffolds for these been incorporated into the lesson(s)?
 I will guide students to remember the plots in the story by asking several
questions, and facilitate them to make complete sentences.
 I will provide a model for students to help them summarize the story and create
their own stories
 I will give students different types of thinking maps as examples to help them
brainstorm their own stories.
 Students will be encouraged to create their stories based on their previous
experiences.
o What are the places in your lesson where the content might be confusing or “knot
up”? What alternative ways do you have to present/explain the content if you
need it?
 The students need to predict what happened to the emperor in the end in order to
finish the story map. I will guide students to predict the ending by asking
questions. “Why did Ma Liang draw strong wind for the emperor?” What might
happen for the ship with strong wind?”
o Are there additional supports that specific students/student groups might need?
ELL? IEP? 504? Gifted?
 Since the students in this class are ELLs, I will explain the meaning of new
words and analyze several compound and complex sentences.
 If students cannot answer the questions after they listen to the story, I will ask
them to answer those questions after they read the story.
Materials and Resources
o List the handouts, notes, books, and other materials you will need for the lesson.
 Small white boards and markers
 A big board
 A necklace
 Big paper/markers
 Story map sheets
Story map
Setting (Place
& Time)
Characters
(Main & Minor)
Problem
Attempt
Solution
Giskin, H. (1997). Chinese Folktales, NTC Publishing Group, Lincolnwood, IL, pp.7677.
Appendix B: Assessment Student Analysis Project
Part I Background Information
The placement of my practicum is at the English Language Center (ELC) of
Vanderbilt University (VU), which serves English language training for international
students from VU. The student I selected for my case study is a young man from Saudi
Arabia who is nicknamed as Husain. He has been studying in the ELC’s program to
improve his English for a year and a half. In this section, I will introduce my student’s
cultural and linguistic background, as well as the setting I observed.
1. Cultural Background
I checked Husain’s files and had an interview with him to learn his socio-cultural
background (See the interview protocol in Appendence A).
Husain is from a small city of Saudi Arabia. He is 19 years old. He came to the U.S.
fifteen months ago. Husain enrolls in a language program of Vanderbilt University at the
ELC. As soon as he finishes the program at the ELC this July, he will go to the university
that accepts him to pursue an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering. It is not
easy for Husain to come here. He was selected from 7,000 applicants in his country by an
oil company, Sabic, which is also his sponsor. Husain needs to come back to Saudi
Arabia after graduation and work for Sabic for at least 10 years as the exchange. As the
top student in Saudi Arabia, he performed very well in former schools, especially in
sciences.
Husain has a big family. In this family, there are seven people in total, father, mother,
one elder brother, one elder sister, two younger sisters, and Husain. Father plays a role as
a “boss”, mother is in the second position. Younger brothers and sisters are supposed to
respect elder brothers and sisters. Husain’s father is the only economical source for the
family, and his mother is responsible for housework and providing educational support
for children. As Husain’s mother only has high school degree, the educational support is
limited as memory check for the content of textbook. But due to visa issues and the
sponsorship, Husain’s family do not come to the U.S. with him. Husain lives with his
classmates who are also the sponsored members from Saudi Arabia in the dormitory in
Vanderbilt University.
In Muslims’ world, males and females do not talk. For general politeness, males
shake hands or kiss cheeks as greetings. Being a pious Muslim, Husain has many
limitations in communicating with females. In Islam’s belief, males cannot see females’
body except hands and face. Due to the religious belief, Husain has not had a girlfriend.
His mother will help him “blind date” with a good girl. They cannot date until they get
engaged. However, before the engagement, Husain can see the girl for only once to say
“Yes or No”.
The big holiday that Muslims celebrate is called Eid al-Adha. During the festival,
Muslims wear traditional clothes, sacrifice their best domestic animals (like a cow or a
goat), as a symbol of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his only son. During the Eid,
Muslims cannot eat or drink until sunset.
While I asked Husain to bring me an artifact or anything he thinks that can symbolize
his life, he introduced the traditional Arabic clothes for males to me. From it we can see
that Husain is a traditional Muslim, and he has been deeply affected by Arabic culture.
2. Linguistic Background
I learned Husain’s linguistic background from the interview with him and the
interview with the director of the ELC, as well as a language use survey (See the
Appendence B).
Husain speaks Arabic as the first language. He learned English since the 7th grade.
His English teachers in Saudi Arabia are nonnative English speakers and they speak
Arabic in class. Although Husain has learned English for about seven years, his English
learning was not effective in Saudi Arabia. We can learn it from the results of Michigan
Placement Test that Husain was assessed at the beginning days at the ELC. His score is
44 overall, which indicates that Husain was in Basic level at that time.
Because Husain and his classmates are a whole group at the ELC that often contacts
with each other, the language Husain uses with them is Arabic. However, since Husain
arrived in the U.S., he has had much more opportunities to use English. Other than
speaking and writing English for classes at the ELC, he also reads English from
newspapers/magazines, information from Internet/TV and books in the library, writes
English via emails and on Facebook, as well as speaks English with native speakers
during the trips and service learning.
Husain has made a huge progress in English proficiency since he began to study at
the ELC. We can tell it from the results of three TOEFL tests that Husain has taken since
last June. His first TOEFL score is 58 out of 120, after 2 months and a half, he got 78
points, and in the TOEFL test this March, he got 92 points. After reviewing the subscores of TOEFL test, I found that Husain has made the greatest progress in reading and
listening abilities. He got 18 points out of 30 points in reading section, 16 points out of 30
points in listening section in the first TOEFL test last June. While he earned 24 points in
reading section and 22 points in listening section in the TOEFL test this March.
3. The Setting---The English Language Center
The setting I observed is the English Language Center of Vanderbilt University. In this
part, I will describe what I have observed in this center from the perspective of culture
and the perspective of language respectively.
1) Culture
The ELC does something to support students’ culture. New arrivals in low level are
encouraged to do presentations to introduce their countries’ culture in order to dismiss
stereotypes. For my participant’s case, according to Arabic culture, he needs to pray five
times a day. The ELC allows Saudi Arabian students to pray in any classroom that has no
class. At the beginning of my classroom observation, it was Ramadan for Muslims. The
Saudi Arabian students did not drink or eat anything until sunset. The teacher learned that
and never drank water or ate anything in front of them. Furthermore, the program in
which Husain is enrolled includes both in-classroom teaching and out of classroom
activities to improve English. The out of classroom activities are language learning
through service learning, outdoor recreation activities, and engineering site visits. The
ELC usually gives several options for students to choose rather than to force students to
do something they do not like. For example, females in Saudi Arabia are not expected to
use hammers for physical activity. The ELC learns that and respects the female students’
choice whether to do it or not in service learning at homeless shelters. However, unlike
Herrera’s statement in meets criteria level that “the students’ culture is respected and
valued as a source of knowledge and experiences that advance learning” (Herrera et al.
2007, p.110), there are not any artifacts or characters other than English on the wall at the
ELC. The only decorations at ELC are pictures of Nashville.
2) Language
ELC does not care about whether students use their first language (L1) or not outside
the classroom. However, it makes a clear policy to forbid L1 use in class, which is unlike
Herrera’s saying in meets criteria level that “supports L1 use at home and school”
(Herrera et al. 2007, p.110). As for the program that Husain is in, the students who
continually speak Arabic in class will be reported to their sponsor, which may result in
their loss of sponsorship.
Part II Assessment Requirements
The ELC is part of Vanderbilt University proper that provides English training for
international students. The purpose of Husain enrolling in the language program at ELC
is to better attain the college-level academic study in the U.S. from a Basic level to
Advanced level.
In this section, I will introduce how the ELC prepares students in academic English
abilities from curriculum’s perspective and assessment’s perspective respectively.
Regarding the curriculums provided at the ELC, since Husain and his classmates have
specific purpose to be successful in academic study from the language program, the
curriculums provided for Husain focus on academic study more than on daily use. As a
sponsored group, Husain and his classmates are full-time students enrolled in the
language program at the ELC. They have Reading/Vocabulary, Listening/Speaking,
Writing/Grammar classes on daily basis. All the classes prepare students to use English in
college-level environment. In Reading/Vocabulary class, the teacher teaches students to
use reading strategies for reading academic papers on diverse topics, and summarize the
reading materials from multimedia sources, such as Internet, newspaper, and magazine
etc.. The teacher also helps students broaden academic vocabularies by asking them to
check dictionary and practice paraphrasing. In Writing/Grammar class, the teacher
teaches students to write academic paper and cite references in APA style. The ELC
provides TOEFL/SAT test preparation courses as well to help students get higher scores
in these tests.
Besides formal study in classes, they also learn English from service learning,
outdoor recreation, and site visits, which belong to part of academic orientation. Students
in Husain’s program provide service for the community, such as being volunteers for
humanity. Through talking and writing the experience from service learning, students
learn English in real world situation. For example, while Husain was providing service in
the homeless shelter, he learned many vocabularies about door that are not easily
acquired in daily life. Students ski, hike etc. as their daily outdoor events. Since each
event recruits only one or two international students, Husain and his classmates have
enough opportunity to practice English with native speakers during the trip. Moreover,
ELC organizes day trips for students as site visits, such as visiting NASA in Alabama.
Because all the students in Husain’s program major in engineering, visiting NASA helps
them broaden he vocabularies in space engineering.
Furthermore, ELC also recruits paid language partners for Husain and his classmates.
It provides a chance for Husain and his classmates to communicate with different native
speakers. Students meet their language partners for one hour every week. In order to
ensure the effectiveness of the meeting, the language partners are required to prepare
diverse topics that covers from campus life and school work to culture resources before
the meeting and report it to ELC once a week.
As for the assessment, before Husain and his classmates enrolled in the language
program at ELC, their English proficiency was assessed by Michigan Placement Test
when they were in their country. As soon as he enrolled in the program at ELC in January
last year, he was assessed by Michigan Placement Test again for placement. After six
months, Husain was assessed by Michigan Test for the third time to see his progress. He
will also be assessed by Michigan Placement Test this July as the final assessment at the
ELC. In Husain’s program, in order to ensure the students’ visa status, the ELC gives one
attendance reporting every two weeks. As Husain and his classmates are sponsored, the
ELC also does progress reporting for the company every three weeks. In this report,
teachers need to grade and comment on students’ attendance/ participants, attitudes,
proficiency, and achievement.
Based on what I have mentioned above, although Husain and his classmates enrolls in
the language program at the ELC for improving their academic English as the preparation
for their undergraduate degree, the program for them goes beyond academic English
training. ELC is the first stop for Husain’s group in the U.S., so ELC also takes the
responsibility to help them adjust to the life here. Besides the formal classes to improve
students’ reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills, the service learning, outdoor
recreation, site visits, as well as language partner, these events provide chances for
Husain and his classmates to experience real life in the U.S., and increase their interest in
learning authentic English and engineering. I think the curriculums in this program at the
ELC are well designed and effectively support students to learn authentic academic
English.
As for the perspective of assessment, the ELC only uses the Michigan Placement Test
for assessing students’ English proficiency. Although the reliability and validity of the
Michigan Placement Test are very high, I still doubt the assessment is limited. What is
more, teachers’ comments in the progress reporting are more attitude oriented and
depends on teachers’ subjective judgments, as well as the reports directly relate to
students’ sponsorship, I doubt the objectivity of the report in students’ English
proficiency. I suggest the ELC to consider using diverse standard assessments to assess
students’ English proficiency as supplements, such as the Comprehensive Adult Student
Assessment System, the Basic English Skills Test, and so on. Rather than commenting on
students’ attitudes, I think portfolio assessment that includes students' very best and worst
work, the use of reflective journals, and thinking logs can better reflect students’ progress
in English learning.
Part III States of SLA
According to Tennessee English Proficiency Levels, there are five levels to describe
English language learners’ English proficiency. This section will discuss the stage of
English language proficiency that Husain is operating from.
Based on Husain’s scores on the TOEFL test and my classroom observation, I believe
his English proficiency is in Level 4---Advanced level, in which students “are able to
function well in most everyday situations but still require academic language support.
They may have difficulty understanding text beyond the literal level. They often make
errors in structure and idiomatic language” (Tennessee English Proficiency Levels).
I began the classroom observation since February, and Husain took his third TOEFL
iBT test in mid-March. He got 92 points out of 120 points in total in the test. The scores
in reading, listening, speaking and writing sections are 24, 22, 23, and 23, respectively.
From the TOEFL iBT performance feedback, I learn that Husain’s reading ability is in
high level. Test takers who get score from 22 to 30 belong to those who are in high level
of reading skills. Test takers in this level “have a very good command of academic
vocabulary and grammatical structure; can understand and connect information, make
appropriate inferences and synthesize ideas, even when the text is conceptually dense and
the language is complex; can recognize the expository organization of a text and the role
that specific information serves within the larger text, even when the text is conceptually
dense; and can abstract major ideas from a text, even when the text is conceptually dense
and contains complex language” (TOEFL iBT Performance Feedback for Test Takers). In
listening skills, Husain reaches the cutting score of high level, which means that he can
“understand conversations and lectures in English that present a wide range of listening
demands that include difficult vocabulary (uncommon terms, or colloquial or figurative
language), complex grammatical structures, abstract or complex ideas and/or making
sense of unexpected or seemingly contradictory information” (TOEFL iBT Performance
Feedback for Test Takers). Regarding the speaking skills, Husain is in fair level, which
indicates that he is able to speak in English clearly and coherently not only about his
personal experiences and opinions, but also about academic reading and lecture materials
with only minor communication problems. As for Husain’s writing ability, he is in fair
level. The score can be interpreted as although Husain expressed ideas with reasons,
examples and details, he still has grammar mistakes or incorrect uses of words, and may
not provide enough specific support and development for his main points (TOEFL iBT
Performance Feedback for Test Takers).
The Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL, is designed to assess the
English language proficiency of persons whose native language is not English in an
academic setting. As seen in the report based on the first year’s operational data from
September 2005 to December 2006, the total reliability of the TOEFL iBT test is as high
as 0.95 (TOEFL iBT Score Reliability and Generalizability). Regarding the validity,
researchers conduct studies of these validity-related topics, such as factor structure,
construct representation, criterion-related and predictive validity, and consequential
validity. Sawaki and Nissan’s report shows that the observed
correlations between TOEFL iBT listening section scores and the simulated academic
listening tasks were 0.56 for undergraduate students and 0.64 for graduate students.
(Sawaki & Nissan, 2009). Due to the high reliability and validity of the TOEFL test, the
evaluation of Husain’s English proficiency is reliable.
I observed Writing/Grammar and Reading/Vocabulary classes, and designed an
observational protocol for the classroom observation (See Appendence C). The textbook
for Reading/Vocabulary class covers diverse topics, including language, human history,
sciences, art, and so on. Husain usually gets the right answers for the questions affiliated
with the texts. In the mid-term of Reading/Vocabulary class, he got 94 points out of 100
for a reading material that talks about language acquisition. From it we can tell that
Husain’s English proficiency matches with the description of the Advanced level,
students in this level can “identify the main ideas and relevant details of discussions or
presentations on a wide range of topics” (Tennessee English Proficiency Levels). He can
understand the context of most text in academic areas with vocabulary support, such as
asking the teacher to paraphrase “irrigation” and “salinization”. Moreover, in the
Reading/Vocabulary class, Husain did a reading report that introduces the Tower of
London in both spoken and written form. I found that Husain spoke fluently and
coherently in the whole presentation, except some pronunciation mistakes in vowels he
made. For example, he pronounced “ow” in “allow” as /əu/ instead of /au/, “a” in
“evaporate” as /ei/ instead of /æ/. During classes, compared to other students who speak
Arabic with classmates, Husain usually speaks English with his classmates. Unless he
cannot make himself understood, he uses Arabic instead. Therefore, I think Husain’s
speaking skills are advanced because he “actively [engages] in most communicative
situations familiar or unfamiliar” (Tennessee English Proficiency Levels). As for
Husain’s writing skills, I think he is in the level that between intermediate and advanced
level. Although he can write multi-paragraph essays and personal letters, such as emails
and messages on Facebook, he rarely uses clauses and has some mistakes in grammar and
word choices. For example, Husain uses “I want to look closely at…” instead of the
correct use “I want to have a close look at…”.
From my classroom observation, I conclude that Husain’s reading skills and speaking
skills are in Advanced level, and his writing skills are at the beginning stage of Advanced
level. This judgment is mostly consistent with the TOEFL iBT results, except in the
speaking skills. My judgment of Husain’s speaking skills is higher than the TOEFL iBT
interpretation. In my opinion, it is because in real situation, the topics that Husain is
engaged are not only about academic study, but also about daily life.
Husain performs more naturally when communicates with persons on familiar topics
than speaks to a computer on only academic topics.
Part IV Content Area Knowledge
Since the student in my case enrolls in an English language program, all the content
area knowledge he learns is about English. In this section, I will evaluate his writing
abilities based on the Six-Trait Scoring Rubric.
I got a writing sample from Husain, in which he summarizes an article first and then
writes his reaction to the article (See Appendence D). I evaluate the summary and the
reaction respectively.
I give the summary 6.0 points in ideas, as the topic is narrow and manageable, and the
details and support are clear and relevant. All the details are accurate, and the reader’s
questions are anticipated and answered. In the aspect of organization, I give it 5.5 points.
“The [Tower] of London is considered [as] one of the most [famous] tourist attractions in
London”, which is an inviting introduction that draws me in; and “That’s why this
building [enjoys its fame] among [tourist attraction]” as a “satisfying conclusion” leaves
me a sense of closure. The sequence is logical, and the “structure moves me through the
text”. However, there are some problems in the transitions. Husain uses “also” as a
transition word in the essay, which makes me feel confused, as the context before and
after “also” is not going forward one by one. In the conventions part, I give 4 points. The
spelling is good. But internal punctuation, like commas, is sometimes missing. For
example, in “Richard the Lionheart and Henry III”, I suggest a comma before “and”.
Husain does not use capitalization for “the Tower of London”. As for the grammar,
Husain has problems in plural forms, preposition, and pronouns. For example, the
original sentence “Drawings and handwritings by the prisoners are still in this building’s
walls, which describe the pain and sorrow those prisoners underwent” should be edited as
“Drawings and handwritings by the prisoners are still on this building’s walls, which
describing the pains and sorrows they underwent”. In the aspect of voice, I give 5.0
points. Overall, the summary is engaging and the narrative writing is connected. But the
sentence “Prisoners were fatigued there” does not move me in the context. I have no idea
what the meaning it is. I give 4.5 points in the aspect of word choice. I can figure out the
writer’s meaning on a general level, but some words are not accurately used. For
instance, “since it was founded” should be changed as “since it was constructed/built”, as
“founded” is usually used for organizations, while “constructed /built” are used for
buildings. Moreover, in the sentence “It is very hard to penetrate this building.”, I think
“penetrate” is not used appropriately. When Husain says, “They stayed there with their
families for a while”, I suggest he can provide the exact time period instead of “a while”.
Since the sentence styles are not various, and connecting words are not very clear, I give
4.5 points on sentence fluency.
As for the reaction article, the points for every trait will be lower than those in the
summary article. In the aspect of ideas, I give 5.0 points. Although this article reflects the
writer’s original thinking, there are two sentences off the topic. They are “I have been
supporting Manchester United, English soccer team, since I was eleven years old.” and
“During my travels to many states here in the United States, historical buildings always
were in my list; for example, the empire state in New York City.” The grade of
organization is 4.5, as the transitional words are wrongly used. For example, Husain uses
“because” at the beginning of the article, which is not appropriate; and in the middle of
the article, the transitional words “however” does not make sense. Regarding the aspect
of conventions, I grade 3.5 points. The tense Husain uses is not consistent in the whole
article. Sometimes he uses present tense, and sometimes he uses past tense. He uses
“jewelries” wrongly, because “jewelry” does not have the plural form. The sentence “my
feelings are mixed and lost between terror and excitement when I think of visiting this
building” can be edited as “my feeling is mixed with terror and excitement when I think
of visiting this building”. In the trait of voice, I grade 4.5 points. The narrative writing is
sincere, but not passionate. But I want to mention that Husain describe his own feelings
in this article. He says that he wants to scream during the visiting, which is a good
sharing with readers. As for the word choice, I grade it as high as 4.0 points. “The
language is functional, even if it lacks energy.” For example, in the sentence “I already
thought that I have to put this building in my list when I visit London”, “thought” and
“have to” are not correctly used. I revise it as “I have already decided that I should visit
this tower when I go to London”. Another example is Husain wants to “look closely at”
the jewelry, which does not make sense. Based on the original meaning, I edit it as “have
a close look at”. In the aspect of sentence fluency, I give 4.0 points. The inappropriate
uses of transitional words affect the whole fluency. Moreover, the sentence structures are
not various, and some sentences are not even structured. For instance, in the sentence
“however, I don’t know why I think that when I visit this building, I will hear a sound of
screams because I already knew that prisoners were tortured in that place. Hence, my
feelings are mixed and lost between terror and excitement when I think of visiting this
building”, the meaning is not clearly stated, and some content are repeated. I revise it as
“I don’t know why I believe I will hear screams when I visit this building. Maybe, I knew
that prisoners were tortured in this place; or, my feeling is mixed with terror and
excitement.”
Based on what I have mentioned above, I judge Husain’s writing abilities is at the
beginning stage of Advanced level. I analyze the reason why the scores on Six-Trait
Scoring Rubric are different in the two articles. Husain can borrow the ideas, words, and
structure from the original essay in the summary article. However, in the reaction article,
all the things he writes should be developed and organized by himself. So, it is no wonder
that Husain does a better job in the summary article.
Part V Instructional Recommendations
Since Husain enrolls in an English language program at the ELC of Vanderbilt
University, which is a private organization that does not receive funding from
government, he does not have to take the mandatory assessments that are required by TN
State and Federal government. The only required assessments for Husain and his
classmates are the Michigan Placement Test which plays a role as measuring students’
progress in English proficiency at the ELC, and the TOEFL test as well as the SAT test
that are the admission requirements of universities and colleges.
This section will discuss the instructional recommendations and an assessment plan
on a daily, weekly, and quarterly basis for Husain.
From the scores of the TOEFL test and my observation protocol, I find that Husain’s
speaking ability is better than his reading, listening and writing abilities. In order to
improve Husain’s reading and listening abilities, especially the abilities of reading
academic papers and listening to academic lectures, first, I suggest the ELC to ask Husain
to broaden his academic vocabularies by reading more academic books and list
vocabularies that he is unfamiliar with. Husain needs to check English-English dictionary
to find the literal meanings of the words, and make sentences to gain the authentic uses of
them. Second, I suggest the ELC to create an activity before each class. The teacher asks
students to summarize what they have learned from last class. In this way, the students
not only can practice summarizing and speaking abilities, but also force themselves in
class to listen to the teacher carefully and absorb as much information as possible. Third,
I think the ELC could encourage students to explore more resources for extending their
knowledge in academic study, such as the speeches made by TED conversations.
In order to improve Husain’s writing ability, I suggest the ELC to create a writing
workshop for Husain and his classmates. Since their English proficiencies are above
intermediate level, editing of writings one to one is more effective than the reflection of
the whole class. Or the teacher could ask students to do peer review and group review
before students submit the final version of the paper.
As for the assessment plan for Husain and his classmates, I suggest the teacher at the
ELC to use running records on a daily basis. For example, while the teacher is checking
student’s summary of last class, the teacher can take notes of what difficulties the student
meets in speaking ability. The teacher may also create portfolios for students to assess
writing ability. The teacher asks students to put their thinking logs, thinking maps of
brainstorming, best and worst work samples, peer reflections and self-reflections into the
portfolios. The teacher checks the portfolios to find out the students’ strengths and needs.
These kinds of assessments are all informative for effective instruction. On a weekly
basis, the teacher may ask students to reflect their performances based on the learning
goals set up one week before. On a quarterly basis, the teacher can measure students’
progress by the Michigan Placement Test and the TOEFL test.
Attachment A
Socio-cultural background protocol
General information:
Name:
Age:
Nationality:
L1:
How long have you been in US?
Why come to US?
Highest degree:
How long have you learned English?
Former school records:
Educational Beliefs:
How did teacher teach English in your country?
Preferred approach for learning: group/peer/individual? Visual/listening?
What are the appropriate behaviors for students in your country?
Family:
How many people are there in your family? What is the hierarchical structure of the
family?
What type of educational support is provided in the home? Who provide it?
Social discourses of the culture:
How do people greet each other?
Religious Beliefs:
What religious beliefs are held by family?
Are there any specific restrictions and public rituals associated with the beliefs?
Holidays:
What traditional holidays do you celebrate?
What is the traditional food/clothing for the holidays?
Activity:
Bring an artifact or draw the most important images in your mind that can symbolize
your life.
Attachment B
Language Use Survey
L1
I read
Newspapers/ Magazines
Advertisements
Books
Information from
Internet/TV
I write
Emails
Lists
Diaries
Letters to family/friends
I speak
With family
With friends
In church
During trips
Service learning
L2
L1+L2
Attachment C
Observational Protocol
Student Number:
Teacher:
Subject:
First Language=L1
Date: T=Teacher
Students= Ss
Second Language=L2
Scale: 1= never
2=rarely
3=sometimes
4=frequently
5=always
Student Verbal Interaction
Interaction Interaction with Ss in
Interaction with Ss in
with T
L1
L2
Whole group peer Whole group peer
Class
Class
Anecdotal records
Clarify information
Expansion
Paraphrase
Repetition
Correction Self-correction
Correction by T
Appendence D---Writing Sample
Summary:
London is the worldwide capital of tourism, in my perspective. It has an
enormous number of attractions. The tower of London is considered one of the most
important famous tourist attractions in London. The most important part of this complex
is the white tower. The tower of London has had many functions since it was founded. It
first was the most substantial prison in England due to the high quality of its protecting
system. Prisoners were fatigued there. Drawings and handwritings by the prisoners are
still in this building’s walls, which describe the pain and sorrow those prisoners
underwent. It is very hard to penetrate this building. Also, prisoners were taken to this
building through a gate called traitor, which was hard access. After that, Richard the
Lionheart and Henry III turned one its parts to a royal residence. They stayed there with
their families for a while. Today, this building was turned to the home of crown jewels.
The gold bars and precious metals where held there as an exhibition. There two
characteristics why people love to visit this building today: The beefeaters that are
accountable for protect this building and the ravens which give this place its exalted
horror. That’s why this building has its position among tourism.
Reaction:
Because travelling is one of my favorite hobbies, London should eventually be a
prospective destination. Honestly, I had never heard of the tower of London before
reading this article. However, I wanted to visit London though because of the EPL, the
English Primer League, which is the best local soccer tournament in the world. I have
been supporting Manchester United, English soccer team, since I was eleven years old.
(Forgive my detour Mr. Michael) The tower of London attracted my attention when I first
read its interesting name. I already thought that I have to put this building in my list when
I visit London. The fact that this building was a prison stimulates me more and more.
Also, I want to look closely at all the precious metals and jewelries. However, I don’t
know why I think that when I visit this building, I will hear a sound of screams because I
already knew that prisoners were tortured in that place. Hence, my feelings are mixed and
lost between terror and excitement when I think of visiting this building. Moreover, the
architect of this building is super amazing. During my travels to many states here in the
United States, historical buildings always were in my list; for example, the empire state in
New York City. In the end, all the aspects of this building assure that visiting this place is
my fate.
References:
Pray, L. (2009). Six-Trait Scoring Rubric. Unpublished course materials.
Pray, L. (2009). Tennessee English Proficiency Levels. Unpublished course materials.
Sawaki, Y. & Nissan, S. (2009). Criterion-Related Validity of the TOEFL iBT Listening
Section. Retrieved April 19, 2011, from
http://www.ets.org/research/policy_research_reports/rr-09-02_toeflibt-08
TOEFL iBT Performance Feedback for Test Takers. (2007). Retrieved April 30, 2011,
from http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/TOEFL_Perf_Feedback.pdf
TOEFL iBT Score Reliability and Generalizability. (2007). Retrieved April 19, 2011,
from
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/TOEFL_iBT_Score_Reliability_Gener
alizability.pdf
Appendix C: Foundations Fieldwork Experiences
Fieldwork #1
Part I Description of the school
Thurgood Marshall Middle School is the biggest middle school in Nashville that has
been founded for four years. There are 11,000 students in it, which covers grades from 5th
grade to 8th grade.
There are two schedules for students there. 5th and 6th grader students have block
schedule. From 9:00 am to 11:00 am, they have reading and language art classes; and in
the afternoon, they have science, math, and history classes. During the daytime, they also
have PE class. As for students in 7th and 8th grade, they use the second schedule. They
have seven classes a day. Each class lasts for an hour.
This middle school is mixed by both English lanuage learners and regular students.
There is a program, English Language Learners program, specially designed for ELL
students. There is only one ELL teacher in this school. But there are about 90 students
total in this program. 35 receive direct service and the remaining students are on consult.
All of the reading materials for ELL students are in English. They have a textbook, but
the teacher generally uses leveled texts for reading groups as students’ reading range is
broad. In ELL program, 5th and 6th grade students have class together; and 7th and 8th
grade students have class together.
The background and English profiency for students in ELL program are quite
different. ELL students in Thurgood Marshall Middle School come from many different
countries, including Albania, Mexico, Hunduras, Nigeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, San Marino,
Laos and so on. Some students have stayed in America for a long time, but do not speak
English at home; some students have been in America for only two months. If the
students arrive in America recently, they will have their own English language class to
get extra help. New placements for these students are based on tests. According to the
results of tests, ELL students are divided into four levels---ELL level 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Students with different levels are mixed in the same ELL class. Besides formal English
instruction in classroom, Thurgood Marshall Middle School also provides free tutoring
for ELL students, whose purpose is to help students that need more help in language.
There are a few challenges for Thurgood Marshall Middle School. For example,
cultural barriers between students and teacher, as well as difficulties in communication
with students’ parents influence learning efficiency. Furthermore, ELL students may have
learning disability. There also exist some schedule conflicts in having ELL class and
academic classes. Besides, the teachers for ELL students in this school are not enough.
As students in different levels of English proficiency are mixed in the same ELL class,
the teachers cannot guarantee every student to get appropriate instructions that are
consistent with their English ability.
Part II Observation of the classroom
The classroom is well organized. On the front wall, twenty-six alphabets are on the
top of the board. Several pictures of thinking maps are beside the right hand of the board.
Beside the left hand of the board, there are two posters, “Calendar” and interpretation of
“DIVERSITY”---Different Individuals have Values for Each other Regardless of Skin,
Intelligent, Talents or Year. On the right Wall, there is a big world map. A television and
Power Point screener are respectively in two sides of the map. On the left wall, there are
5 posters---Synonyms, Homophones, Compound, Contractions, and Antonym. In the
back of the classroom, there is a big window. Ms Woodroof’s desk is in one corner. On
her wall, there are some posters---“Good Readers”, “Ways Readers Choose Books” and
the vocabularies of different subjects. In another corner, there is a round table, which is
used for group instruction. There are six rectangle tables in the middle of the classroom,
each of which is for four students who are in different English levels.
Twenty-one students are in the classroom, thirteen boys and eight girls. After “Pledge
of Religion to the American Flag” and introduction to our visitors, a female teacher
comes in. Ms Woodroof lets four students go out and follow that teacher to another
classroom to get extra language help. Then class begins.
W: What day is today? (The teacher points to the calendar poster.)
S: Today is Thursday.
W: Today is Thursday. So, yesterday is….
S: Wednesday! (S1, a middle-east Asian student is the first to answer the question.
A white girl X near my table shows little interest in answering it.)
W: Tomorrow is….
S: Friday!
W: Tomorrow is Friday. We will have a party for our classmate Y. (Most students
giggle.)
Then Ms Woodroof asks students to introduce their class for us. Students in groups
begin discussion. A white girl in my left hand begins to speak, “Today our classroom has
two sweet visitors.” After she speaks this, her partner repeats this sentence. Next, Ms
Woodroof selects names from a box. The first student should answer the question is the
middle-east Asian student.
S1: Our class has nice visitors. (Ms Woodroof writes down the sentence on the
board.)
W: What are nouns in the sentence? (Some students answer it. The teacher
highlights all the nouns. The white girl X turns back and looks at us.) Great!
What nouns are they? (“Common nouns!” A black boy shouts the answer.)
What is the verb? (Students answer it.) Yes, “has” is the verb. “Has” is a big
verb. But there is one word missing. What is that? (Students answer “nice”, but
nobody knows it is an adjective.) Great! “Nice” is an adjective. Let us read this
sentence together! (Students read it.) Look at “our”, this “our” sounds the same
like “hour”, so they are….(Students glance at left handed wall and say,
“Homophones.”) Good, let’s add them to our chart. (The teacher moves to the
left wall, and adds “our-hour” to the poster “Homophones”. Then the teacher
gives several tickets to S1 as reward.)
Then, Ms Woodroof selects another name to make another sentence. The white girl X
does not pay attention to the teacher. Later, the teacher asks X to make a sentence.
X: Our class has smart and intelligent students. (X speaks in a low voice and the
teacher comes closer to her.)
W: Every student read it aloud. (Student read it.) Do you agree that our class has
smart and intelligent students? Thumb up or down? (Everyone thumbs up.) X, do
you remember how to speak “have” in your native language? (X shakes her head.
The teacher asks several students to speak in their native languages to express
“have”. A boy who shares the same native language with X answers the question.)
X, are you familiar with this? (X smiles and nods. She seems excited.) Very good!
(The teacher gives X several tickets as a reward.)
Part III Reflection and connection to literature
Ms Woodroof encourages students to speak their native language to strengthen the
concept of “have”, which belongs to transitional bilingual education. The white girl X in
the classroom seems frustrated to follow with the class as the whole class is overwhelmed
by English. Just as Baker says, in submersion education classroom, “frustration, nonparticipation, even dropping-out can be outcomes tht educationally, economically and
politically disempower children” (Baker, 2001, p.195). Appropriate usage of native
language can reduce ELL students’ anxiety in English learning and improve learning
efficiency.
In the classroom, students are asked to discuss in group what the class is, which is
constructivism, since it includes “dialogue among peers” (Nieto & Bode, 2007, p.135). In
this interactive learning process, students can show their creativity and intelligence.
Moreover, in the classroom, four students in different English levels form a group is a
kind of cooperative learning strategy. It is true that students who are in ELL level 4 can
help students in lower ELL levels, which shows “a positive correlation between
cooperative learning and student achievement” (Nieto & Bode, 2007, p.135). However,
as the teacher cannot distribute enough attention to every student, and the results of group
work are showed by certain individuals in the group (mostly by students with higher
English proficiency), the learning efficiency of every ELL student cannot be guaranteed.
References
Baker, C. (2001). Foundations of Bilingual Education (pp.195). Tonawanda, NY: UTP.
Nieto, S. & Bode, P. (2007). Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of
Multicultural Education (pp.135). New York: Allyn & Bacon.
Fieldwork #2
Part I
Federal and state laws, as well as judicial rulings provide a basis of protection for ELL
students. On the legislative level, there are several key laws that have played a vital role
in guaranteeing English learners’ rights. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act forbids
discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in any programs that receive
federal funding (Jammal & Duong, 2008). The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 (Title
VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) authorized resources for new ELL
programs, to train for teachers and aides, and to provide education for parents. The
reauthorization of this act in 1974 guaranteed equal opportunities for education, and
defined native language instruction as a bridge in bilingual education to support English
acquisition. The reauthorization of this act in 1994 provided more support for promoting
and maintaining native languages, and gave grant and funding preference to programs
that promote bilingualism rather than more English-oriented programs (Garcia, 2005).
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002 supported standards-based education reform,
which encourages instruction and assessment in English. NCLB paid more attention to
“the academic and linguistic concerns of the low English proficiency community (LEP)”,
but less funding for teacher training and teaching (Jammal & Duong, 2008).
Several laws on the state level rather than the federal level also helped shape modern
American education. In 1998, Proposition 227 required all instruction in California
public schools to be in English and provided initial short-term placement in intensive
sheltered English immersion programs for ELLs. Proposition 203 in Arizona and
Question 2 in Massachusetts were passed later as the similar effects (Garcia, 2005).
There have also been several important judicial rulings related to the issue of
bilingual education. In Lau v. Nichols, the Supreme Court ruled that “there is no equality
of treatment merely by providing students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers
and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed
from any meaningful education”. However, this decision did not indicate any specific
action for bilingual education. Castaneda v. Pickard declared that ELL programs must be
based on sound educational theory, implemented effectively with adequate resources and
personnel, and must be evaluated as effective with evidence. Horne v. Flores clarified
that the federal government should not supervise spending for teaching ELLs (Garcia,
2005).
Part II
Federal and state laws as well as judicial rulings have great influence for almost every
aspect of public schools. For curriculum, on one hand, laws emphasized effective
educational programs for ELLs in order to promote their academic achievements which
may be impeded by their limited English, which ensure ELL students’ equity. On the
other hand, as federal government controls money, which means “everything” for public
schools, laws’ influence on curriculum can be negative. For example, No Child Left
Behind Act ties funding with standard test scores closely, which leads teachers to teach
for tests. In this way, teachers might focus on students’ performance on tests rather than
their deeper understanding that can be transferred to similar problems. As to assessment,
although the federal government does not specifically require which standardized tests
each state should employ, it provides guidelines in selecting tests. Federal legislations
also mandate the basic qualifications teaching staff should equip with, and individual
states can determine what the specific qualifications they should have. As to the laws’
effect on integration of students, there is no denying that as laws and judicial rulings
addressed no discriminations for minorities and overruled the “separate but equal”
doctrine of segregation, they propel the integration of students.
Part III
Connecting the legislations and judicial rulings to the practice, I have noticed an
embarrassment between laws and effective teaching practice. Title VI of the Civil Rights
Act prohibits “discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in programs
receiving federal financial assistance” (Garcia, 2005). So, it is illegal to segregate the
students by ELL qualifications. But in Thurgood Marshall Middle School, ELL students
are pulled out for English language learning, which can be viewed as “discrimination”.
However, according to Samway and Mckeon (2007), “in order to ensure ELLs to receive
the most appropriate education, they may need to be placed in specialized programs that
serve only ELL students”. The readings cause me to wonder what extent can teachers
violate laws in order to benefit our students most. To protect the authority of laws or to
provide the most appropriate education for students is a question for teachers to consider.
Another thing I want to mention is the legislations’ effect on assessments. The middle
school I visited has state and English proficiency standards, and it obeys the standards set
by TN state government strictly. For example, in this school, ELLs are given one year
waiver for the TCAP test in reading and writing, but still have to take math, science, and
social studies accommodations, which exactly match with the state rules.
References
Garcia, E. E. (2005). Teaching and Learning in Two Languages. New York: Teachers
College Press.
Jammal, S. & Duong, T. (2008). Language Rights: An Integration Agenda for Immigrant
Communities.
Samway, K. D., & McKeon, D. (2007). Myths and realities. Protsmouth, NH: Heinemann,
ch.8, pp.121-144.
Fieldwork #3
Part I
The school I have chosen to do community description is Tusculum Elementary
School. Tusculum Elementary School is located along Nolensville Pike, southern area of
Davidson County, which is the oldest county in Middle Tennessee. Davidson County is
named in honor of William Lee Davidson, a North Carolina officer who died in the
Revolutionary War. “As the county's many known archaeological sites attest, the
resources of Davidson County had attracted Native Americans for centuries.” The first
white child to be born in Middle Tennessee was born in Davidson County (Wikipedia,
2010). Nashville & Davidson County Metropolitan Government that was merged by the
City of Nashville and the Davidson County government in 1963 is near Tusculum
Elementary School.
The area that Tusculum Elementary School locates is more like an urban area. There
are many businesses there. Most of them are markets and restaurants serving for
Hispanics and Latinos. The class level of people there is lower than people living in
Greenhills and West End. The diversity of population in the community is great,
including Hispanics, Latinos, Whites, African Americans, Asians and Native Hawaiians
etc..
When I was driving around Tusculum Elementary School, I found the houses for
living there are not made by wood or brick, but by vinyl siding. The sizes of the houses
are much smaller than what I have seen around Vanderbilt University. There are no trees
or flowers around the houses. It is an area of “no oxygen”. I haven’t seen any swimming
pools around the houses. The number of parking lots there is limited. Moreover, a big car
dealership is in the community. I do not think it is common for a district (except
downtown) having a car dealership. As there is a large population of Hispanic and Latino
immigrants in the community, Latino stores are here and there. Besides, there is a big
K&S international supermarket there. The language on the advertisement wall includes
Chinese, Japanese, English, Spanish and Korean. Many piñatas are hung up as
decorations inside the market. In the doorway, there are Chinese, Latino and Spanish
newspapers. The products in the market include Mexican food, Chinese food and Korean
food. The meat that this K&S market sells is rare in US. For example, there are duck
heads, chicken feet, pork liver, and pork tails in it. What is more, when I had my lunch in
Las Americas, I found the mural on the wall is Latin style. The songs on TV that were
playing are in Spanish.
The religions in the community are diverse. I have seen many different churches
there. They include Tusculum Church of Christ, Tusculum Hills Baptist Church, Radnor
Primitive Baptist Church, a Korean Christian church, and two Catholic churches. Most of
these churches are very small. Furthermore, there are two parochial schools in the
community. One of them is St. Edward Elementary School which is associated with St.
Edward Catholic Church. This school has served the Nashville community for over 48 years
providing a Catholic education.
Part II
During our field trip to the K&S international Supermarket, which mainly serves
Asian and Latino immigrants, I took the photographs from the advertisement wall outside
the supermarket (see figures 1, 2, and 3). Figure 1 is an advertisement of Chinese flower
tea, Figure 2 is an advertisement of Britain tea and Figure 3 is an advertisement of
Japanese green tea. Students could discuss whether they have tasted these kinds of tea,
whether they know what the ingredients of the tea, and what healthy effect they can have
for people. Furthermore, students could discuss whether they know the languages that
appear on the brand boxes.
As to Chinese and Japanese students, they could discuss tea culture in their
countries. It would be interesting for students to know that there is Gongfu tea ceremony
in China. The teapot and cups for Gongfu tea are special. If there are any Chinese
students in the classroom, they might be willing to perform the way of brewing tea.
Figure 1 Chinese Tea Ad
Figure 3 Japanese Tea Ad
Figure 2 Lipton Tea Ad
Part III
The subject I want to teach is social study. I focus on geography part. The overall goal
of the lesson is to introduce world map for students and introduce characteristics of
climate and soil that are suitable for tea growing. I will choose the pictures that I have
presented in Part II as the supplementary teaching tools. These materials are new to
students, and they are relevant with the teaching goal and other countries’ culture, which
will increase students’ interests and their learning efficiency.
After a brief introduction of the world geography that our world has seven continents, I
will introduce each continent respectively. When I move to Europe, I will tape Figure 2
on Scotland, since Lipton is a brand that originated from Scotland. In this way, students
establish the relation between Lipton with Scotland, which will help them better
remember the position of Scotland.
When I move to Asia, I will tape Figure 1 on China land and tape Figure 3 on Japan
land. Then, I will circle several parts in China land as well as some parts in Japan land,
and explain why these places are famous for good tea, what characteristics of climate and
soil those places have. I will also briefly introduce the origin of tea and some tea culture
in Asia. Then, I will ask students to try to find some places in America that share the
similar characteristics of climate and soil as Asian part. In this way, students not only
remember the position of Asia, but also remember the natural conditions for tea growing.
References
Wikipedia, (2010, October 26). Davidson County, Tennessee. Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davidson_County,_Tennessee
Fieldwork #4
Part I Interview protocol
1. What kind of program has been implemented in your school for ELL students?
a. Is this program effective in your opinion?
b. What would you change about your school’s ELL program?
c. What other kinds of programs have you worked with?
2. Please tell us about your professional background.
a. Did you feel prepared for teaching ELL students?
b. Do they have professional development offered for you and other teachers?
c. Why did you decide to focus on ELL education instead of other forms?
3. What is the most challenging experience that occurs for you on a daily basis?
4. What is the most rewarding experience that occurs for you on a daily basis?
5. How do you use your students’ personal cultures in your class?
6. Are you able to engage with the students’ families in a creative and effective way?
7. How do you feel state and federal standards affect your lesson planning and
classroom?
8. How do you involve parents in the teaching of your students?
9. What difficulties do you face during communication with parents?
10. Do you find students are more effective learners if their parents are more
involved/would you correlate student achievement with parental involvement?
11. What advice would you give students, who are studying to be ELL teachers?
12. Is there anything you would like to add to this interview, which you believe would
prove helpful to pre-service teachers?
Part II
Interviewers: Chen Chen and Erica
Teacher: Heather Woodruff
1. What kind of program has been implemented in your school for ELL students?
Okay, we have a pull-out model at the middle school. They receive direct instruction in
reading and writing from me, the ELL teacher, which is called ELD and ELD reading.
They receive math, science, and social studies in regular classroom.
There is another one, Title I Program – Currently we offer free tutoring for ELL
students provided by other teachers at the school. They could be teachers that students
already have during the day, but they are not qualified ELL teachers.
a. Is this program effective in your opinion?
Yes, umm. Students receive direct instruction and full English immersion in other
classes. Most other subjects make appropriate accommodations for ELL students.
b. What would you change about your school’s ELL program?
It would be nice if all of the general education teachers were trained with ELL
strategies, which are strategies that allow ELL to access the content.
c. What other kinds of programs have you worked with?
Not another ELL program. It was a self-contained ELL class. At a previous elementary
school in Virginia, I was a general education teacher for 6th grade student, and ELL
students were pulled out for an hour a day (with beginners), and the rest were in regular
classes all day long.
2. Please tell us about your professional background.
This year is the 13th year of teaching. I taught general education grades 2-5, and this is
my third year in ELL. I earned BS and M.Ed. degree at University of Tennessee at
Knoxville and my ELL endorsement at University of Virginia and have thirty-one
postgraduate hours in language acquisition, science, and social studies.
a. Did you feel prepared for teaching ELL students?
Well, I had seven years of teaching before getting my endorsement. The endorsement
was helpful, but I still had many things to learn. Some of the learning curve may have
been about program models that were not addressed in the ELL endorsement.
b. Do they have professional development offered for you and other teachers in ELL?
Yes, we have comprehensive literacy training, which is the way we are delivering
reading to ELL students and strategies training, such as the use of thinking maps. There
are many different offerings for ELL professional development and for general education
teachers.
c. Do ELL teachers and general education teachers attend these seminars?
For ELL teachers, they are required. But for general education teachers, they are not.
Most of the trainings are during the school day – so a teacher has to get a reliable
substitute. Some trainings are offered during the summer but not all, and many of the
teachers have summer jobs as well.
d. Why did you decide to focus on ELL education instead of other forms?
Firstly, I love being able to see growth quickly, which is very fulfilling as a teacher. In
general education – you work hard but the results are not that clear. But in ELL you see
the gains on a daily basis. Secondly, most of the ELLs are motivated students and very
few have behavior problems. But there are some challenges – worrying about parents’
immigration status and jobs. I do a lot of advocating for kids, which is a different set of
challenges.
3. What is the most challenging experience that occurs for you on a daily basis?
As to ELLs, there are disruptions within a family system. Many of our ELLs are living
below the poverty line. The other thing is getting resources for what the students and the
parents need. I need to do a lot advocating for them. Communication can also be an issue.
Here, we have a Spanish translator, but we still have nine other languages besides
Spanish.
4. What is the most rewarding experience that occurs for you on a daily basis?
I think it is to see their gains and that they love to learn new things. Moreover, the
students can make connections with other content classes.
5. How do you use your students’ personal cultures in your class?
We celebrate holidays and talk about families, incorporate what students do in their
home countries. I also make comparisons between their school here and in their home
countries. In read-aloud time, I choose are historical fiction, such as the Holocaust. They
make the biggest gains when seeing others overcoming really bad experiences, which
mirrors their own experiences.
6. a. Are you able to engage with the students’ families in a creative and effective way?
Last year, we had an ELL parent night. We invited students and parents to learn about
resources within the community of the school. Lately, we have had conferences, and have
spoken with 5-6 parents directly and others are spoken via phone. And a cultural festival
is on the potential list to do.
b. Do the parents want to help? Do they feel awkward?
Some feel very uncomfortable at school maybe because of their own school
experiences and language barrier, but they offer lots of support at home.
7. How do you feel state and federal standards affect your lesson planning and
classroom?
Well, we have state and English proficiency standards. And two years ago, I was apart
of task forces that wanted to merge these standards tighter for intermediate students. With
regard to state assessment, ELLs are given one year waiver for the TCAP test in reading
and writing only, so students in US would be required to take math, science, and social
studies with accommodations. And much math in middle school level from what I’ve
seen is a lot of vocabulary. So Students may not do as well as they should.
8. What difficulties do you face during communication with parents?
I am dealing with a 6th grader now who arrived in the US in January but was born here
and lived in Chicago till four then went back to Mexico. He had all her schooling there.
But he is not even making those basic gains, since coming here. When we asked for
records from the previous school from her mother, she seemed reluctant in giving those
records and revealed that her son is dyslexic. Because she will not communicate, the
school cannot assist the student effectively. Not sure if this is a cultural thing? Maybe she
is fearful of the extant of his needs? I suspect it is something greater.
9. Do you find students are more effective learners if their parents are more
involved/would you correlate student achievement with parental involvement?
Yes. I can think of only a few exceptions. If a student has parents that work with him
or her at home or expose him or her to education opportunities outside school, it will help
the student.
10. What advice would you give students, who are studying to be ELL teachers?
Start collecting materials and go to all the books sales you can. So you can create
your own classroom library. Research the districts model you are planning to work and
visit teachers in that district and look at upcoming state standards. Read Ed Week!
Definitely pay attention to what is happening at the national level. Also, I would say I felt
more comfortable was because I had a strong teaching of reading background instead of
someone who just has ELL experience. Find people, who are research based, make sense,
and tried and true, then read everything they have written. Ask questions. You must
advocate for students! In most cases, I am the only advocate they have because of the
language barrier.
11. Is there anything you would like to add to this interview, which you believe would
prove helpful to pre-service teachers?
Obviously I cannot learn all my students’ languages but I think it is important to be in
their shoes.
Here, it is. After ten years in general education, I wanted my time with students to be
100% instruction. Your school might have a lot of distractions, and you will be doing
scheduling, advocating for kids and that will take up your instructional time. Wish
someone had told me that because I was frustrated. Sometimes I spend 10-20% of my day
working on that. Remember attempt to have a plan and hope for the best. The more you
know before the first day the better because there will be many changes that day.
Part III Discussion
Parent involvement is a big issue and “good relations with parents can be the difference
between loving and hating your job” (Nieto & Bode, 2007). We need to think more about
how to build good relations with parents and getting their support. Thurgood Marshall
Middle School where I have done the interview organized “ELL parent night” to involve
parents, but not all parents supported it. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits
“discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in programs receiving federal
financial assistance” (Garcia, 2005). I think this rule is not only for students but also for
their parents. ELL students in this school are integrated with other regular students in
general education classes. But in this activity, their parents are “segregated” with other
regular parents. Perhaps the intention of this activity is good, but it could be viewed as
discrimination for ELLs, which makes some parents feel uncomfortable to attend this
activity.
What is more, as the teacher stated in the interview that “much math in middle
school level from what I’ve seen is vocabulary, so students may not do as well as they
should”, I think the school should consider to take more effective program for ELLs.
ELL students’ academic development should not be delayed by their limited English.
According to Samway and Mckeon (2007), one of the features of effective programs
for ELLs is the integration between language and subject matter development. One
possible option is ESOL program, in which teachers can incorporate the curriculum
content into it, or collaborate with content teachers in a push-in model. In this way, the
teaching methods can be incorporated with development of both language and content.
Moreover, in order to improve ELL students’ academic development, schools can
incorporate more native language instruction. From Lucas and Katz’s report (1994),
we can see “native language is a key resource for teaching both content and English”.
Appropriate uses of ELL students’ native language will help them catch up with
regular students.
Besides, as Barth (2006) said, “Schools are full of good players. Collegiality is
about getting them to play together, about growing a professional learning community”,
being pre-service teachers, we should create healthy relationships with our colleagues
to improve professional practice. Furthermore, as the teacher mentioned “school might
have a lot of distractions”, in order to improve our efficiency, getting familiar with our
colleagues’ duties and know when to call for help and receive support from them is
important (Marchesani, chapter 12).
References
Barth, R. (2006). Relationships within the schoolhouse. Educational Leadership, March,
2006, 9-13.
Garcia, E. E. (2005). Teaching and Learning in Two Languages. New York: Teachers
College Press.
Lucas, T., & Katz, A. (1994). Reframing the debate: The roles of native languages in
English-only programs for minority students. TESOL Quarterly, 28 (3), 537-561.
Machesani Chapter 12
Nieto, S. & Bode, P. (2007). Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of
Multicultural Education (pp.135). New York: Allyn & Bacon.
Samway, K. D., & McKeon, D. (2007). Myths and realities. Protsmouth, NH: Heinemann,
ch.8, pp.121-144.
Appendix D: Language Assessment Midterm
Question 1
A) 1. Description
The placement of my practicum is at the English Language Center (ELC) of
Vanderbilt University (VU), which serves English language training for international
students from VU. The participant of my project is a Saudi Arabian student who is
sponsored by a company. He has been studying in ELC’s program to improve his English
for a year and a half.
1) Culture:
ELC does something to support students’ culture. It meets the basic level on Herrera’s
rubric, since the “students’ culture is respected and valued on principle”(Herrera et al.
2007, p.110). New arrivals in low level are encouraged to do presentations to introduce
their countries’ culture in order to dismiss stereotypes. For my participant’s case,
according to Arabic culture, he needs to pray five times a day. ELC allows Saudi Arabian
students to pray in any classroom that has no class. At the beginning of my classroom
observation, it was Ramadan for Muslims. The Saudi Arabian students did not drink or
eat anything from sunrise to sunset. The teacher learned that and never drank water or ate
anything in front of them. Furthermore, the program in which my participant is enrolled
includes both in-classroom teaching and out of classroom activities to improve English.
The out of classroom activities are language learning through service learning, outdoor
recreation activities, and engineering site visits. ELC usually gives several options for
students to choose rather than to force students to do something they do not like. For
example, females in Saudi Arabia are not expected to use hammers for physical activity.
ELC learns that and respects the female students’ choice whether to do it or not in service
learning at homeless shelters. However, unlike Herrera’s statement in meets criteria level
that “the students’ culture is respected and valued as a source of knowledge and
experiences that advance learning” (Herrera et al. 2007, p.110), there are not any artifacts
or characters other than English on the wall at ELC. The only decorations at ELC are
pictures of Nashville.
2) Language
ELC needs improvement in the language component of Herrera’s rubric. ELC does
not care about whether students use their first language (L1) or not outside the classroom.
However, it makes a clear policy to forbid L1 use in class, which is unlike Herrera’s
saying in meets criteria level that “supports L1 use at home and school” (Herrera et al.
2007, p.110). As for the program that my participant is in, the students who continually
speak Arabic in class will be reported to their sponsor.
3) Community
The community for the students I observe in class meets the basic level in relation to
the rubric, as “recognizes selected organizations as valuable to the positive overall
development of CLD students” (Herhhrera et al. 2007, p.112). The International Student
& Scholar Services (ISSS) often organizes activities for them, such as celebration of
Arabian festivals, and field trips to downtown. What is more, as Nashville is a diverse
city, the Nashville community also provides resources for them, such as prayer time in
local mosques.
2. Suggestion
I have several suggestions to improve the environment. First, the administrators at
ELC can exhibit pictures or artifacts from other countries around the center to show
support for other cultures, so that students feel their cultures are respected by the center.
Second, teachers can be more tolerant for the L1 use in class, since students there are in
beginning levels. Appropriate use of L1 helps students get the real meaning of new
vocabularies and sentence structures. Third, teachers at ELC can fully utilize the
activities organized by ISSS and by the Nashville community, treating them as assets for
students’ English development. Doing this will help students integrate daily life with
their language learning.
B) Assessment Framework
1) Socio-cultural background protocol
In the protocol (see attachment 1) to learn about students’ socio-cultural background, I
will check students’ files to learn general information, such as nationality, L1, reason and
time to move in US, when to begin learning English and former school records etc.. Such
information depicts basic pictures of the students and tells me the economic status of their
families in US, as well as students’ former school performance. Then, I will do individual
interviews with the students to learn their educational beliefs, family, social discourses of
the culture, religious beliefs and traditional holidays. Educational beliefs help me know
students’ learning background, which gives me information to assist students to learn
more effectively. From family part, I can learn who I should contact with when I need
family support. From social discourses of the culture and religious beliefs, I can know
how to communicate with students and their families appropriately. Based on questions
for holidays, I can organize some activities to celebrate students’ holidays, which shows
their cultures are respected in US. Last, I will ask students to bring an artifact or draw the
most important image in their minds that can symbolize their life for me. From this
activity, I can learn more about students’ origins and culture.
2) Language use survey
3) Observational protocol
In the observational protocol, I want to know how students verbally interact with the
teacher and classmates, and what strategies do they use during interaction. In the class I
observe, students are all from one country. So I divide students’ interaction among
themselves into L1 use and L2 use respectively. No matter which language students use, I
divide their interaction into whole class, group work and peer work to see if there is any
difference for students to interact with each other in different forms. The strategies I think
students may use to assist communication in class include clarify information, expansion,
paraphrase, repetition, and correction. I also divide correction into self-correction and
correction by the teacher to check students’ awareness of mistakes they commit. Rather
than using check mark to see whether students do anything, I use rating scales to record
how often students do in certain context. The frequency can show students’ learning
attitude and English proficiency, as well as make it easier to analyze data. Moreover, I
leave one column to record anecdotes, in case there is anything interesting happens in
classroom.
Attachment 1
Socio-cultural background protocol
General information:
Name:
Age:
Nationality:
L1:
How long have you been in US?
Why come to US?
Highest degree:
How long have you learned English?
Former school records:
Educational Beliefs:
How did teacher teach English in your country?
Preferred approach for learning: group/peer/individual? Visual/listening?
What are the appropriate behaviors for students in your country?
Family:
How many people are there in your family? What is the hierarchical structure of the
family?
What type of educational support is provided in the home? Who provide it?
Social discourses of the culture:
How do people greet each other?
Religious Beliefs:
What religious beliefs are held by family?
Are there any specific restrictions and public rituals associated with the beliefs?
Holidays:
What traditional holidays do you celebrate?
What is the traditional food/clothing for the holidays?
Activity:
Bring an artifact or draw the most important images in your mind that can symbolize
your life.
Attachment 2
Observational Protocol
Student Number:
Teacher:
Subject:
First Language=L1
Date: T=Teacher
Students= Ss
Second Language=L2
Scale: 1= never
2= rarely
3=sometimes
4=frequently
5=always
Student Verbal Interaction
Interaction Interaction with Ss in
Interaction with Ss in
with T
L1
L2
Whole group peer Whole group peer
Class
Class
Anecdotal records
Clarify information
Expansion
Paraphrase
Repetition
Correction Self-correction
Correction by T
Question 2
According to Tennessee levels of English language proficiency, I think ESA’s
English oral language proficiency is in level 3-Intermediate. From the transcript, I can see
ESA is “able to understand most oral language pertaining to familiar topics but have
difficulty using academic vocabulary”, her speech is “basic and contain frequent errors”
(Tennessee English Proficiency Levels). Since ESA only tells a story based upon a
wordless picture book in this test, there is not too much interaction between her and the
teacher. But we can also see that ESA fully understands simple questions from the
teacher. For example, when the teacher asks her “What does it look like?” and “What else
do you see?”, she answers them appropriately. Furthermore, ESA organizes the story
from a wordless picture book and makes it understood. ESA’s grammatical competence,
which is the ability refers to master “lexical items and rules of word formation, sentence
formation, literal meaning, pronunciation, and spelling” (Brantley, 2007, p.18), is in
intermediate level. The sentences that ESA makes sometimes are not grammatically
correct, for instance, “But he [//] he looks sad um has um good room”; and some
sentences do not make sense, such as “and there like slippers boots chair uh shirt in the
window”. But ESA still can structure grammatically correct sentence, such as “and then
frog came out of the jar”. ESA uses repetition, such as “the dog broke the jar so [//] so he
could smell” and self-correction, like “the boy went out [//] outside and he got mad” as
communicative strategies, presenting her strategic competence is also in intermediate
level. As for the second standard in level 3 of Tennessee levels of English language
proficiency, “communicate orally with some hesitation” (Tennessee English Proficiency
Levels), ESA is consistent with it. She has a lot of unfilled pause and longer unfilled
pause in transcript.
In further research of the stages of development, ESA’s grammatical morpheme
acquisition is in the highest level. She uses regular past –ed, like “lived”, and third person
singular –s, like “he looks sad” (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p.84). As for the negation,
ESA is in stage 3. She says in the transcript, “I don’t know” and “the little frog was not
happy”, which matches with the statement “learners begin to place the negative element
after auxiliary verbs like ‘are’, ‘is’, and ‘can’” (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p.85). Her
proficiency of possessive determiner is between stage 2 and stage 3. ESA keeps using
“his” in sentences, and occasionally use “their slippers boots”, which shows she knows
more than one form of possessive determiner. ESA’s proficiency of reference to past is in
stage 4. She uses a lot of regular past tense as well as irregular past tense in narration. For
instance, “waked up”, “looked up”, “fell out”, and “felt”. But at the beginning of
narration, she does not use past tense to tell story, so she is not in the highest stage
(Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p.91).
Applying the checklist I design to assess students’ oral language ability to the
transcript, ESA’s oral English language proficiency is intermediate. ESA knows many
vocabularies in daily life and does a good job in word choice. Occasionally, ESA makes
mistakes in using prepositions. For instance, in the sentence “the dog was so happy 'cause
the dog was in the boys head”, the preposition “in” should be “on” instead. ESA also
makes mistakes in sentence structure, such as “frogs frogs little frogs mom and dad but
which ones my frog they said”, in which sentence structure is in disorder. I am impressed
by ESA’s use of some phrases, such as “came out of the jar”, “got stuck in” etc.. It makes
her oral language seem idiomatic.
Overall, from this test, it is concluded that ESA’s oral English language proficiency is
in level 3- intermediate level. However, there is no denying that this test has some
limitations. For example, as ESA narrates the story all the time, we cannot measure her
oral language proficiency in interaction. The observational protocol I design in
attachment 2 can be a supplementary tool to further assess ESA’s oral English language
proficiency. ESA would better be exposed more opportunities to practice oral English.
Attachment 1
Checklist of oral English language proficiency
____ 1. Pronunciation is not severely influenced by L1.
____ 1) Pronounces vowel sounds correctly
____ 2) Pronounces consonant sounds correctly
____ 3) Uses word stress correctly
____ 4) Uses phrase/sentence stress well
____ 2. Answers are on topic
____ 3. Uses grammar correctly
____ 1) Uses tense markers correctly
____ 2) Uses prepositions correctly
____ 3) Produces questions correctly
____ 4) Uses sentence structures correctly
____ 5) Uses phrases correctly
____ 4. Uses vocabularies correctly
____ 5. Uses idioms correctly
____ 6. Speaks fluently
Attachment 2
Observational Protocol
Student Number:
Teacher:
Subject:
First Language=L1
Date: T=Teacher
Students= Ss
Second Language=L2
Scale: 1= never
2= rarely
3=sometimes
4=frequently
5=always
Student Verbal Interaction
Interaction Interaction with Ss in
Interaction with Ss in
with T
L1
L2
Whole group peer Whole group peer
Class
Class
Anecdotal records
Clarify information
Expansion
Paraphrase
Repetition
Correction Self-correction
Correction by T
References:
Brantley, D.K. (2007). Instructional Assessment of English language learners in the K-8
classroom. Pearson: Boston. (Chapters 2 & 4)
Herrera, S.G., Murry, K.G. & Cabral, R.M (2007). Assessment accommodations for
classroom teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Allyn and
Bacon: Boston. ISBN 0-205-49271-1.
Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2006). How languages are learned (3rd edition).
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tennessee English Proficiency Levels, handout delivered by Dr. Lisa Pray.
Appendix F: Educational Linguistics Case Study
Part I Introduction to the learner
In order to help readers get a clear picture of the subject in my case study, in this
section, I will describe his cultural background, functional use of L1 and L2, education
background and attitudes toward L2, as well as challenges he meets in US.
1. Cultural background
The participant of my case study who is nicknamed Xiao is a Chinese English learner.
He is now a graduate student who is majoring in International Education Policy and
Management in Peabody College. He is twenty-three years old, and he is outgoing and
confident. He studied English for eleven years in China when he was in middle school.
Mandarin is his first language and English is his second language. His pronunciation of
Mandarin is standard. He arrived in US in August this year.
2. Functional use of L1 and L2
When Xiao was in China, he did not have many opportunities to be exposed to
English environment. All of his English teachers are Chinese, and he did not have
chances to communicate with native speakers. He spoke Chinese in daily life and only
used English in classroom and English tests. Although Chinese government emphasizes
the importance of English, as for Xiao himself, before he decided to go abroad to pursue
a master degree, he lacked motivation in learning English. As he reported, “I learn
English only for passing the exams…I don’t need to use it in my life, so why do I have to
work hard on it?”
3. Education background and attitudes toward L2
He majored in physics in college. He usually skipped English classes and did not do
any homework for his English course. There are two English examinations for college
students in China, College English Test 4 (CET-4) and College English Test 6 (CET-6).
Xiao only passed CET-4, which is the lowest English requirement for college students to
get a bachelor degree in China. In the fourth year of college, Xiao started to spend more
time in learning English because he needed to take TOEFL and GRE test to go abroad for
further study. It was learning English for test. In his TOEFL test, he earned 85 out of 120
points. His scores in reading, listening, speaking, and writing are 27, 17, 17, and 24
respectively, and the total possible points in each section are 30.
As for his time in middle school and high school, he reported that the last class he
wanted to have was English class. Other than finishing teachers’ assignments, he did not
do other English readings. Moreover, during his middle school and high school, Xiao did
not attend any after-school English training courses that are viewed as popular and
“normal” for most middle school and high school students in China.
4. Challenges in US
Xiao reported that he has met some difficulties in US. Listening is the biggest barrier
for him. During the conversation, he said that he could only understand 30 percent of the
content in class. Although Xiao is outgoing and talkative, he is struggling to make
himself understood.
Part II Oral and written language abilities
In this section, I will analyze Xiao’s oral and written language abilities from the aspects
of phonology, morphology, morphophonology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics
respectively, which are based on the oral and written samples I have collected.
1. Analysis of phonetics & phonology
In the oral language sample, Xiao’s pronunciation is good, especially on the word
“strategy”. Although the IPA form of “strategy” is /strætidʒi/, native speakers produce it
as /strædidʒi/. Xiao pays attention to the subtle change and pronounces it as /strædidʒi/.
Moreover, he has no difficulty in pronouncing /n/ and /l/, which is a popular problem for
Chinese English learners.
However, he still has some problems in phonology. He always adds a schwa after /d/
sound. For example, he pronounces “good” as /gʊdɚ/, “and” as /əndɚ/. I think the reason
for it is because in Chinese, there is a character sounds like /dɚ/ and it is very commonly
used. When Xiao pronounces the ending sound /d/, he connects Chinese /dɚ/ sound with
it and automatically adds a schwa after it. Xiao’s other problem in phonology is that he
cannot pronounce inter-dental consonants /θ/ and /ð/ correctly. To produce these two
sounds, we need to “put our tongue between our teeth and [obstruct] the flow of air with
the tongue and teeth” (Justice, 2004, p.17). However, Xiao usually does not put his
tongue between his teeth to pronounce the two consonants. In result, he produces “their”
as / dɛə/, “them” as /dəm/. I think the reason for this problem is that there is no sound in
Chinese that requires putting tongue between our teeth. When Chinese English learners
produce inter-dental consonants, they need to force themselves to do this first. It is a little
“energy-consuming” for their mouths.
2. Analysis of morphology & morphophonology
In the aspect of morphology, Xiao made mistakes in the –ing form of verbs in writing
sample. He spells “shopping” as “shoping”, “training” as “traing”. He also makes
mistakes in spelling “volleyball” as “vollyball”, and “competition” as “competation”.
However, Xiao does well in spelling plural forms of nouns. For instance, he spells the
plural forms of “child”, “advice” and “knife” correctly.
In morphophonology, Xiao does a good job. He can tell the differences of the “s”
sound in “strategies”, “classes”, and “parents” and pronounce them /z/,/əz/, and /s/
respectively. And in Xiao’s writing sample, he does not have any problems in spelling the
words that are -s ended, such as “pleased” and “matches”, despite the sounds of –s being
different.
3. Analysis of syntax
As for the aspect of syntax, Xiao often makes mistakes in word classes, both in oral
language and writing. The examples follow.
In oral language, (a) “That is a kind of waste money.”
(b) “Everyone have different backgrounds.”
(c) “At that day, we just come to the building and talk about…”
(d) “They find the things are not useful for their.”
In writing, (a) “The government could save 5 billion for cure disease”,
“I am not pursue fellowship but my dream”.
(b) “How much money the government pay for the cancer per year…”.
(c) “When I choose admissions from universities, I prefer Peabody.”
In (a) type of mistakes, Xiao misses –ing form for “waste”, “cure” and “pursue”. In
(b) type of mistakes, Xiao has problems in using the 3rd person singular form correctly.
He does not use the 3rd person singular form from the verbs “have” and “pay”, although
“everyone” and “the government” are singular nouns. In (c) type of mistakes, Xiao
cannot use verb tense correctly, especially in the past tense. Xiao also makes oral
mistakes in pronouns, such as in example (d). At this time, he should use the objective
form “them” instead of “their” (Justice, 2006, p.165). In contrast, in Xiao’s writing, he
can use pronouns correctly. For instance, he writes “let them play sports” and “you can
organize a team to help us do it”. I suppose Xiao has already understood the correct ways
of using pronouns, and the reason that contributes to his mistake in oral language is that
in oral language, he does not have enough time to think about the forms of pronouns.
Moreover, Xiao also has problems in subcategorization. The examples are listed as
follow.
In oral language, “I hold the first meeting with my partners at Friday noon.”
Correction: “I held the first meeting with my partners on Friday noon.”
In writing, “I insist exercising.”
Correction: “I insist on exercising.”
It is a big problem for Chinese English learners to remember the phrases that consist of
prepositions.
Nevertheless, Xiao rarely makes mistakes in phrase structure, no matter whether it is
in oral language or in writing samples.
4. Analysis of semantics & pragmatics
In the aspect of semantics, most of Xiao’s writing and speaking make sense. In his
writing samples, he uses idioms, such as “the cheaper the better” and “win-win project”,
but he still has some problems in lexical semantics (Bergman et al., 2007, p.235). For
example, in his writing, he writes “we should learn how to arrange our money”. There is
a mistake in word choice of “arrange”. Native speakers usually say “manage money”
instead of “arrange money”. In his oral language sample, Xiao says, “We can use money
to take investment.” The word “take” is used inappropriately. Native speakers usually say
“make investment” instead. The reason contributes to the mistakes is possible because the
translations of “arrange” and “manage”, “make” and “take” are very similar in Chinese.
As Xiao usually refers to English-Chinese bilingual dictionary for learning English, he
does not distinguish the differences between them.
As for the aspect of pragmatics, Xiao does not have any problem in talking with me.
He fully understands what I ask him to answer and what content is relevant to the topic.
Nevertheless, in a video that Xiao recorded, he was supposed to speak on a specific topic,
but he went off the topic. The topic is “you have three to five minutes to talk about the
following prompt. What does individual responsibility towards the environment mean?
You may consider the responsibility, problems and solutions in life style, shopping,
personal finance, or your field of study”. Part of Xiao’s answer is as follows.
“I think life style, such as go to bed early and get up early is a good health habit for
people, such go to take a ride, play some sports is also very good and healthy…I think a
lot people have know that and take the actions, so they have a good condition of body.
The second is shopping. I think we should try don’t buy something that’s unnecessary.
Some people, when they see some cheaper things on the advertisement, they want to buy.
But after that, they find the things are not useful for their. So that is a kind of waste
money. Next is personal finance. What is personal finance? Such as how to deal with
your money, maybe. For example, if you have too money, such as 2,000, you shouldn’t
take it on your wallet, maybe you should save it into the bank account or take some
investments.”
The excerpt above is not relevant to the topic. I think it violates the maxim of
relevance in pragmatics (Bergman et al., 2007, p.274).
Part III Stage of second language acquisition
In this section, I want to discuss Xiao’s stage of second language acquisition.
Generally speaking, Xiao’s receptive skills are at level 4, and his productive skills are
at level 3 according to Tennessee English proficiency levels. Xiao can read different
genres of materials fluently, yet with some difficulties in understanding complex
sentences. He is able to catch the main points in face to face conversation, but he is
struggling to get the details from speech in classroom. As for his speaking and writing
skills, he produces simple sentences with restricted vocabularies.
To prove my justifications above, I will do further analysis of his development of
grammatical morphemes, negation, questions, possessive determiners, relative clauses,
reference to past and his first language influence in pragmatics specifically.
1. Acquisition of grammatical morphemes
According to Krashen’s summary of second language grammatical morpheme
acquisition sequence, Xiao’s acquisition of grammatical morphemes is in the
intermediate level. In the sentences “Parents want their children to get better education.”,
and “I am going to be a graduate student of Peabody.”, we can see Xiao has no problems
in dealing with plural, copula (to be), auxiliary, and articles. But he sometimes makes
mistakes in -ing, past verbs, third person singular –s (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p.84).
The examples are listed below.
In oral language, (a) “That is a kind of waste money.”
(b) “Everyone have different backgrounds.”
(c) “At that day, we just come to the building and talk about…”
In writing, (a) “The government could save 5 billion for cure disease”,
“I am not pursue fellowship but my dream”.
(b) “How much money the government pay for the cancer per year…”.
(c) “When I choose admissions from universities, I prefer Peabody.”
2. Development of negation
Xiao’s development of negation is in stage 4. “In this stage, ‘do’ is marked for tense,
person, and number, and most inter-language sentences appear to be just like those of the
target language” (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p.86). In the writing sample, Xiao states “I
didn’t think about this question.”, which proves that he is in this stage.
3. Development of questions
Xiao’s development of questions is in stage 5. In this stage, “inversion [occurs] in whquestions with both an auxiliary and a main verb” (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p.87).
During the conversation with Xiao, while he was confused about the word “method”, he
asked me, “What is the meaning of ‘method’?”
4. Development of possessive determiners
As for the development of possessive determiners, Xiao is in the post-emergence stage.
As Xiao says in oral language, “I met a girl in IEPM. His name is XX. I like to have
group study with her. ” This utterance matches the definition of stage 3 in development of
possessive determiners, “Differentiated use of ‘his’ and ‘her’ but not when the object
possessed has natural gender” (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p.89).
5. Development of relative clauses
In the aspect of development of relative clauses, it is interesting to find that there are no
relative clauses in Xiao’s oral language samples or writing samples, even though
academic writing samples are included. This phenomenon corresponds to the theory in
Lightbown and Spada’s book (2006, p.91), “where learners have a first language with a
substantially different way of forming relative clauses, [such as Chinese and Japanese,]
they may avoid using relative clauses” (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p.91).
6. Development of reference to past
As for the development of reference to past, based on Xiao’s oral language and writing
samples, I cannot find any sentences in past tense except one is incorrectly used. In
Xiao’s oral comment on group study, he states, “I think group study is very helpful, but
someone didn’t agree with my idea.” I think in that context, he should use present tense
instead. Xiao does not use any past tense in his samples, but it does not mean it is
unnecessary. There are many sentences should have been used in past tense. For instance,
“I hold the first meeting with my partners [on] Friday noon.”, “There is a party for our
Chinese festival last Saturday.” In result, I think Xiao is in level 1 in the development of
reference to past, which corresponds with the content in the book that in that level,
“learners with limited language may simply refer to events in the order in which they
occurred or mention a time or place to show that the event occurred in the past”
(Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p.91).
7. First language influence of pragmatics
In the aspect of first language influence of pragmatics, Xiao is in stage 2, in which
“reliance [is] on unanalyzed formulas and imperative” (Lightbown & Spada, 2006,
p.102). When I was about to talk with Xiao, he said, “Let’s begin the interview.” During
the interview, he requested me, “Open the window, please.” The two sentences he used in
request are formulaic.
Part IV SLA Theoretical Framework
In this section, I chose communicative competence as the second language acquisition
theoretical framework for my case study. I am going to support the analysis with my
samples.
1. Dell Hymes’ model
In Dell Hymes’ model, communicative competence includes “tacit knowledge and
ability for use”. This tacit knowledge includes “both grammatical competence and
sociolinguistic competence” (Johnson, 2004, p.89). Xiao acquires English grammatical
knowledge from English classes, and he gains sociolinguistic competence from his first
language. Hymes defines sociolinguistic competence as “the ability to use the
grammatical rules that are appropriate to a given social context” (Johnson, 2004, p.87),
which can be further explained as the knowledge of “when to speak, when not, and as to
what to talk about with whom, when, where, in what manner” (Johnson, 2004, p.87).
Xiao started learning English in middle school, when he had already had cognitive ability
and high level of first language. After he knew the meaning of the context in English, he
transferred his sociolinguistic competence in L1 to L2. That is the reason he speaks
appropriately in different social contexts.
What is more, in Hymes’ model, non-cognitive factors, such as motivation,
confidence and courage belong to ability for use (Johnson, 2004, p.89). As I have
mentioned before, Xiao lacks motivation in learning English, which results in his low
scores on TOEFL test. However, Xiao is confident and outgoing, and he always seizes
any chance to speak in public. I think this is the reason he does not have many problems
in pronunciation. Practice makes his pronunciation perfect.
2. Canale and Swain’s models
Within Canale and Swain’s models (Johnson, 2004, p.89), communicative
competence includes grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, strategic
competence, and discourse competence. Strategic competence is defined as “verbal and
non-verbal communication strategies that may be called into action to compensate for
break-downs in communication due to performance variables or to insufficient
competence” (Johnson, 2004, p.90). Xiao has gained strategic competence. As he said in
the interview, when he had difficulty in referring to a machine, he would search the
Internet or draw pictures for assistance. From the conversation with him, I found he also
used gestures to supplement his speech.
Discourse competence is defined as “knowledge of rules governing cohesion and
coherence” (Johnson, 2004, p.90), and it includes transition words. In Xiao’s samples,
there are some transition words, such as “then”, “however”, “so”, “such as”, and “for
example” and so forth. Xiao acquires this competence from English class. In writing class
for English learners, teachers give students a list of transition words that are divided into
different types. They encourage students to use these words to make text flow smoothly
and coherently.
3. Lyle Bachman’s CLA model
In Lyle Bachman’s communicative language ability model, there are three
competencies, language competence, strategic competence and psychophysiological
mechanisms. He divides language competence into organizational competence and
pragmatic competence. There are two subcomponents for pragmatic competence,
functional competence and sociolinguistic competence (Johnson, 2004, p.92).
Sociolinguistic competence in CLA model is different from that in Hymes’ model. It
is defined as “sensitivity to differences in dialect or variety, to differences in register and
to naturalness, and the ability to interpret cultural references and figures of speech”
(Johnson, 2004, p.93). Xiao reported that he had difficulties understanding English that
spoke by people who have dialects. In this way, his sociolinguistic competence is not at a
high level.
4. Additional types of data needed
In order to provide a more accurate explanation in communicative competence for my
case study, I still need additional types of data.
First, from the samples I have collected, I found Xiao rarely used past tense. In order
to judge whether he gains grammatical competence in this aspect, I will give him a task,
“Tell me what happened in your past two months.”
Second, I will give Xiao several sentences which are in the same meaning but in
different contexts, and ask him to guess the appropriate situations the sentences will be
used. In this way, I can make justification for Xiao’s functional competence, since
functional competence “enables us to interpret relationships between utterances or
sentences and texts and the intentions of language users” (Johnson, 2004, p.93).
Third, to get more accurate justification about Xiao’s sociolinguistic competence, I
need to observe how he acts in classroom. I need to observe how he interacts with his
classmates and professors. I can also observe what his reaction to the videos that are
related to American culture for him. For example, I will play the video Who’s on first for
him and see whether he can interpret the cultural references.
Fourth, I need data for explaining discourse competence. I will present some pictures
for him, and ask him to create a story according to the pictures. This activity will help me
judge whether Xiao achieves coherence and cohesion in a text.
Part V Instructional Plan for the Learner
In this section, I will design an instructional plan for the participant of my case study. I
believe this plan will help him improve English proficiency, considering the theoretically
supported recommendations made by Lightbown and Spada and the SLA framework
discussed above.
1. Let’s talk
From the samples I have collected, I found Xiao rarely used relative clauses and past
tense, and he often makes mistakes in subcategorization in syntax as well as in lexical
semantics. Moreover, his listening and speaking abilities are lower than reading and
writing abilities. According to these data, I recommend to adopt the teaching approach
“Let’s talk” for him (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p.150).
I will arrange Xiao to have pair work with a student who is in higher English
proficiency level than him. During the conversation between them, the other student will
be dominant. He can provide a lot of input of relative clauses and past tense. After being
adequately exposed to the information, Xiao will mimic the similar sentence structures
and create sentences under the grammatical rules. If Xiao makes mistakes, the partner
will give him corrections during the negotiation of meaning (Lightbown & Spada, 2006,
p.153).
I will also organize group discussion of a specific topic for Xiao and other students.
Since they are focusing on the same topic during the discussion, they will use the words
that are relevant to the topic. It is a good way to increase Xiao’s amount of vocabulary.
During the interaction with other students, Xiao will know which words are more
appropriate in the situation. In this way, Xiao’s grammatical competence in semantics
and syntax will be improved.
2. Other instructional plans
From the samples I collected, I found Xiao lacked interests in learning English and
his functional use of L2 was limited. His understanding in English-speaking countries’
culture was not enough, either. As a result, I will give him some recommendations that he
can do outside classroom.
I recommend him do readings from Time ect. magazines. Since readings from these
sources are closely connected with English speakers’ lives, and provide authentic
language environment for Xiao, they can help Xiao gain sociolinguistic competence.
I also recommend Xiao check the meaning of the words by English-English
dictionary rather than English-Chinese bilingual dictionary. As Xiao has problems in
lexical semantics, checking English-English dictionary helps him get the original
meanings of words.
Furthermore, in order to improve Xiao’s listening ability, I will ask him to listen to
VOA and CNN. Maybe I will require him to listen to Special VOA first, then, move to
standard VOA. During the process of listening, he needs to take notes. At the end of each
news item, Xiao should organize a report based on the notes. This practice will help him
improve his summarizing ability as well.
Besides the above activities, I will also require Xiao to carry a notebook in his pocket,
so he can pick up slang and idioms whenever and wherever. It is a good way to
accumulate vocabulary. I also recommend Xiao watch English movies and make friends
with native speakers, which can help him gain a higher level of sociolinguistic
competence.
Part VI Implications
After doing this project, I have learned a lot from the participant of my case study as
well as the readings. In this section, I am going to discuss my critical reflection on it.
First, it is not easy to be a good ELL teacher. As ELL students are from different
countries, the most important thing to be an ELL teacher is to tolerate and respect
students’ cultural and linguistic background. Being a good ELL teacher should be fair for
everyone and provide appropriate personal attention to each student. Personal attention
for students can increase students’ motivation in learning, which is proved to benefit
English learning (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p.64). Moreover, since learning English is a
“case by case” study, I should have enough time to get background information as well as
oral and written samples from my students and know what levels they are at. Then,
according to their different levels and problems in learning English, I can make
individual instructional plans for them
Second, interest is the best teacher. Within Hymes’ communicative competence
model, non-cognitive factors such as motivation, stage confidence, courage and so forth
make contributions to second language acquisition (Johnson, 2004, p.89). Lightbown and
Spada (2006, p.63) also state in the book, “If learners need to speak the second language
in a wide range of social situations or to fulfill professional ambitions, they will perceive
the communicative value of the second language will therefore be motivated to acquire
proficiency in it.” Xiao skipped English classes when he was in China because he did not
need to use English for communication in daily life, which resulted in his low motivation
in learning English. I should increase my students’ interests in learning English. When I
back to China, I can create English authentic use environment by organizing English
story telling competitions and drama plays. I can also adopt co-operative learning
activities to increase my students’ motivation in learning English (Lightbown & Spada,
2006, p.65).
Third, I should choose the most appropriate teaching approach for my students. There
are many teaching approaches for ELL classroom, such as “Just listen and read”, “Let’s
talk”, “Get it right in the end” and so on. Nevertheless, none of them is perfect. On behalf
of students, ELL teachers can adopt different models in different situations. Teaching
approaches depend on students’ needs. In bilingual program, the teaching approach “Two
for one” propels students’ academic development without limitation of L2 (Lightbown &
Spada, 2006, p.157). If students’ communicative competence are low, the teaching
approach “Let’s talk” is suitable (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p.150).
Fourth, achieving sociolinguistic competence is the most difficult part for English
language learners, especially for ELLs who are in other countries. From the case study, I
found Xiao’s sociolinguistic competence was weaker than other types of communicative
competence. As for the teacher who is also an ELL, it is a big challenge for him/her to be
a model for students. Schools should consider to employ native speakers as
supplementary teaching resource. As for myself, I need to try my best to collect teaching
materials, such as books, magazines and videos, to create my own classroom library to
help students gain more knowledge about English-speaking countries’ culture.
References
Bergman, A.; Currie Hall, K, & Ross, S.M. (2007). Semantics. In A. Bergman,
K.Currie Hall & S.M. Ross (Eds.) Language files 10: Materials for an
introduction to language and linguistics (pp. 231-308). Columbus, OH: The
Ohio State University Press.
Johnson, M (2004). Communicative competence versus interactional competence. In
M. Johnson, A philosophy of second language acquisition (pp85-99).
London: Yale University Press.
Justice, P. W. (2004). Relevant linguistics: An introduction to the structure and use
of English for teachers (2nd edition). Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University
Center for the Study of Language and Information.
Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2006). How languages are learned (3rd edition).
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Appendix G: Practicum Teaching Mini Lesson Plans
Mini Lesson Plan #1
Unit 3 Friends and Family Block 4
Instructional Context:
Students have already learned basic vocabulary for the topic of Friends and Family, and
practiced “because/because of” sentence structures in the previous three blocks. Block 4
should wrap up all the things that students have learned.
Content Objectives:
Students will be able to understand the volunteer opportunities from three NGOs in
Nashville, which are listed in a chart.
Language Objectives:
Students will be able to tell partners/class about what kind of work they will volunteer,
and give their reasons by using “because/because of”.
Key Vocabulary:
Volunteer
Budget
Abuse
Sibling
Refugee
Materials:
Copies of the chart and directions
White board and markers
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks
Time
2 mins
Activities
Students will be given directions of the
activity and provided meanings of several
key vocabulary.
3 mins
Students will be practice the conversation
with their shoulder partners.
A: What would you like to do as a
volunteer?
B: I’d like to be a….because…
Rationale
Directions will guide students to do the
activity. Explaining the vocabulary makes sure
students understand what they are expected to
do.
Students will get familiar with the context and
sentence structures from pair work.
20 mins
5 mins
Students will play Chain Game. As the
first student states his/her willing and
reasons, the second one will repeat the
first one’s willing and reasons. Then the
third student will introduce the first two
students’ story for the class, and so on.
The teacher will help students take notes
on the white board as they may meet new
vocabulary in the conversation.
Conclude what students have learned
today.
Students will have more opportunities to
practice “because/because of” sentence
structures and reinforce new vocabulary.
General conclusion, including review
grammar and vocabulary.
Assessment Evidence:
Students’ performance in the pair work and Chain Game will be the evidence for
assessment.
Handout of BLOCK 4
Organizations
Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity
 Help people who are
homeless or are not able to
buy their houses to purchase
and own quality and
affordable homes.
CASA

Help children who are hit by
their parents find permanent
and safe homes.
Catholic Charities of Tennessee, Inc.
 Help people who are from
poor countries adjust to
their new lives as refugees
in Nashville.
Opportunities &Duties
 Budget Coach Volunteers Help
Habitat partners review money
management.
 HomeWORKS Instructor
Volunteers Help Habitat families learn
to deal with legal issues in order to
own the houses.
 HomeWORKS for Kids
Volunteers Tutor partner family
children classes, such as math, science,
reading and social studies.



Reviewing documents
Interviewing the child's parents,
siblings, neighbors, and school
officials
Provide medical care services

Family Mentor –Teaching life
skills and providing transportation
assistance.

English Language Tutor –
Teaching English for refugees.

Youth Assistant – Help refugee
youth in improving academic
performance.

Office Assistant – Filing, data
entry and creating mailings.

Elders Assistant – Creating a fun
and engaging social meeting for
Refugee Elders.
In the chart, there are three non-government organizations in Nashville that need
volunteers to make a difference in our community. What kind of volunteer work would
you like to do? (If you know other options to volunteer, or you want to do something else
to contribute to your community, please feel free to share them with us.)
Brenda says: I would like to be a Homeworks for kids volunteer in Nashville Area
Habitat for Humanity because I like spending time with children.
Kumiko: Brenda would like to be a Homeworks for kids volunteer in Nashville Area
Habitat for Humanity because she likes spending time with children.
I would like to be a …. because…..
Ayakos: Brenda would like to be a Homeworks for kids volunteer in Nashville Area
Habitat for Humanity because she likes spending time with children. Kumiko would like
to be a…..because she….
I would like to be a …. because…..
You can take notes during the activity.
Mini Lesson Plan #2
Unit 4 Block 1
Content Objectives:

Students will be able to preview the unit by talking about the pictures.
Language Objectives:


Students will be able to brainstorm key vocabulary for the topic.
Students will be able to practice language use in doctor room.
Key Vocabulary:
Food pyramid
Scale
Overweight
Medication
Diet
Vegetables: cauliflower, tomato, broccoli, carrot, cabbage etc..
Carbohydrate
Materials:
Textbook
White board and markers
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks
Time
3 mins
Activities
As I introduce the topic of the lesson to
students, I will ask students to brainstorm
some healthy habits and routines. If
students mention healthy food, I will ask
students “what food do you eat?”
Ask students to describe what they see in
the first picture. Introduce key vocabulary,
like scale, food pyramid.
I will further explain food pyramid for
students and expand their vocabulary in
food.
Rationale
Warm up activity, which leads students to the
topic.
3 mins
Ask students to describe what happens in
the second picture. I will introduce the
vocabulary about describing weight and
blood pressure. Then, ask students “do
you think Stanley is healthy?”
Build students’ background knowledge about
the topic and help them get the vocabulary that
they may use in future activities.
2 mins
Ask students “what is happening in the
Introduce healthy habits and routines.
6 mins
Brainstorm students’ vocabulary about food.
Expand students’ vocabulary about the topic.
third picture?”
3 mins
3 mins
Optional
Ask students to link the story in the three
pictures, and role play it with shoulder
partners.
Students will perform the skit about the
story.
Check the answers of listening
Practice students’ speaking abilities in using
the vocabulary that they have learned.
Practice students’ communicative competence.
Assessment Evidence:


Students’ response in vocabulary brainstorming part will demonstrate their understanding of
my questions.
Students’ oral abilities will be demonstrated in their performance in the pair work and skit.