Effective Instruction for
English Language Learners
Seyyed Ahmad Fatemi-Samir Fatemi- ‫سید احمد فاطمی‬-‫سمیر فاطمی‬
Agenda
•Dialogue
Demonstration
Application
•By the end of the session you will have
more:
•knowledge about the unique needs of
ELL’s
•strategies to implement this fall
•confidence to plan and modify lessons
for ELL’s
•enthusiasm for teaching ELL’s
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Dialogue:
What do you know about English
Language Learners?
Your own experiences
or What you’ve learned
•“exploding demographics”
•(Flores, 1994)
Issues
• home language/school language
• time required to learn English
• instructional resources
• classroom segregation
• teacher capacity
Instruction!
• “English learners are best
served when their teachers
provide instruction-including
corrective feedback--when it is
needed.”
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Source: (Scarcella, 2004, p. 53)
• “The most powerful way of
learning academic English is
through good instruction.”
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Source: (Scarcella, 2004, p. 53)
Big Ideas
• Increase academic vocabulary:
multiple encounters with words.
Automaticity with sight words
Oral language development:
lots of dialogue
Big Ideas
• Safety nets of increased
context: e.g., visuals
Focus on comprehension through
strategic, analytic reading and
think-alouds-explicit instruction!
Don’t make assumptions-check
for understanding often
Second Language Acquisition
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Natural Order (Krashen): pre-production,
speech emergence, intermediate,
advanced
Affective Filter (Krashen)
Comprehensible Input (Krashen)
Output (productive speech) (Swain)
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Natural Order (Krashen):
pre-production
speech emergence
intermediate
advanced
• TELPAS
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Beginner (B)
Intermediate (I)
Advanced (A)
Advanced High (AH)
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What ELL’s Bring:
Linguistic Transfer from L1
Prior knowledge/declarative knowledge
Strategic/procedural knowledge
Motivation to learn English
Cultural and linguistic resources
“Funds of Knowledge”
What ELL’s need:
•Vocabulary/Academic English
• English Grammar
•Increased CONTEXT
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Modifications:
VOCABULARY focus
Visuals/video/multimedia
Hands-on
Real Objects
Preview-TEACH-Review
Small group/partner work
• “Unstructured and unplanned
grammar instruction is a
disaster for ELL’s.” (p. 100)
• No on-the-fly instruction!
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Source: (Scarcella, 2003)
Annenberg Video
•http://www.learner.org/resources/s
eries204.html
•Clip: 17:00-23:00
•Thoughts?
•Shared reading component
More on oral language development
• Singing
• Poetry/chart stories
• Routines
•<Word Study>
Sight Words
•Automaticity
•Word lists
•250 words
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Source: Bear, D. R., Helman, L., Templeton, S., Invernizzi, M., & Johnston, F. (2007). Words
their way with English learners: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction.
Columbus, OH: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
• 100 most common words=
• 50% of words in a text
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Source: (Nation, 2005)
Word Walls:
Build Academic Vocabulary
•Interactive-DAILY!
•Students
contribute
synonyms
•Student “own” the
words--they sign
their name.
•Word Walls
•Visual
Scaffolding
•<Sheltered English>
•What is Sheltered English?
•Content learning + language
learning
•Importance of schema
building: front-loading
•Pre-reading activities
Shared Reading
• Advantages of shared reading
• Active reading and engaging
texts.
• Thinking aloud to make
meaning explicit.
Application
Consider a classroom reading book you
recently used. What vocabulary or concepts
were presented in the book that could cause
confusion for ELL Learners?
What could you do to scaffold the reading
experience that would benefit ELL learners?
Turn and Talk
1. What might this look like in your
classroom?