Case Study: Pablo Ortega
Ethan Linkous
TESL 221
12/6/2011
Rationale and Outline
I chose Pablo as my student because in our ever changing society it has become important for
teacher’s in public school to not only be able to provide instruction for those students that speak
English but to be able to effectively teach students who do not speak English as their first
language. I chose a Spanish speaking student because in our day and age the number of Spanish
speakers in our country and throughout the world is on the rise. I have recently gained interest in
the Spanish language while I was working at McDonalds over the summer. I was surprised that
Spanish is spoken just as much, if not more, than English on the job. I quickly befriended my
foreign co-workers. They represented many different parts of Latin America, from Guatemala,
Panama, San Salvador and Mexico. The idea for my case study was inspired by the son of my
co-worker and friend Jesus. Jose, Jesus’s son attends elementary school in Christiansburg. Jose
isn’t the only immigrant child attending school in the United States; millions upon millions of
students, just like Jose is in our education system at this very moment. It is my job to be prepared
for them.
My case study will chronicle the first four months of the academic year of Pablo Ortega. In the
first phase I describe his place of origin and his family. I also point out his limited vocabulary. In
the second phase I discuss Pablo’s educational background and how much exposure that he had
to English before arriving in the United States. I also provide a chart that chronicles the history
of Pablo’s Linguistic Development; it includes such things as his pronunciation and the amount
of vocabulary that he currently has in both his first and second language. In the third phase I
provide an interview that shows Pablo’s progress in areas such as CALP and BICS as well as
proper use of grammar and tenses. In the fourth phase I provide a problem scenario in which
Pablo’s progress in the classroom is declining and he is refusing to speak in English. I provide
the opinion of the situation by the Principal, Parents, School Counselor, the ESL Teacher, the
General Education Teacher, and Pablo himself. In the final phase a solution is agreed upon by
the committee that is put into place to help Pablo get back on track in the classroom. The final
two sections include the Annotated Bibliography in which I discuss my sources and why I used
them, also there is my reflection on my case study as the very last section.
Phase I
Name: Pablo Ortega
First Language: Spanish
Date of Birth: October 12, 1995
Ethnic Group: Mexican
Pablo Ortega was born on October 12, 1995 in Temapache, Mexico. Pablo is an only
child. He has spoken Spanish his whole life. It is spoken in his house and he continues to use
Spanish at school and seems determined not to learn English at all. Being an only child it seems
as if his parents have always allowed him to have whatever he desires. This is evident in our
efforts to teach English as he just simply refuses to even try and learn English.
Pablo lives with his both his parents and grandparents who traveled to the United States
to work as farm hands on a dairy farm in Shawsville, Virginia. Although the family migrated
here from Temapache, which is a city in Mexico that has over 100,000 people living within its
boundaries they were originally farmers who lived in the countryside. Their farm was destroyed
during a skirmish between the Mexican Army and a local drug cartel. This was two years ago
and the family has been moving towards the United States ever since.
His parents have learned some English so that they are able to communicate with their
employer and other authority figures. The grandparents on the other hand know little to no
English whatsoever and they like to keep Mexican traditions and this has may be a reason why
Pablo refuses does not want to learn English. In his mind if his grandparents don’t know English
why should he have to learn? This is a very likely cause of distaste of English.
Pablo has now been in the United States since the end of May. Over the summer he
helped his parents in the fields. Pablo has become friends with some of the other children from
Mexico, Melvin and Rosa in particular. These three are inseparable; they always sit next to one
another during class and at lunch. Melvin and Pablo play on the soccer team together and seem
to have a lot of fun together. Melvin and Rosa have become quite proficient in English. Perhaps
they can be recruited to help Pablo to except the fact that if he is in the United States he is going
to have to learn English if he wants to function properly in society.
Pablo is struggling in all of his classes, except for Gym. He is a very bright boy and when
he has help from the ESL teacher he easily completes his work. However, he refuses to use
English unless prompted to do so. He will never make any progress if this habit does not change.
After talking with his parents, we believe that we will have enough parental support to help
Pablo become proficient in the English language.
Phase II
Linguistic Background: Pablo attended elementary and middle school at school in a rural area
outside of Temapache. While at this school he was always at the top of his class. The documents
that we have of his time there state that he was very outspoken and asked many questions while
in the classroom. He excelled in Social Studies and Math. He had some trouble with using
punctuation but he made annual progress each grade that he was in. Pablo was also known as a
creative storyteller and did very well in his writing classes despite his struggles with appropriate
punctuation.
Type of literacy education he had: Pablo’s school was very poor and did not have the resources
that schools in the city had. The dropout rate was a staggering 48 percent by the 8th grade.
Reading and writing were stressed as the most important aspect of the school’s curriculum
according to the files that we have.
What is the priority given to literacy/literacy development in the home? Are there books at
home, do the parents read with the child, are the parents literate themselves: Pablo’s family
speaks almost entirely Spanish in the home environment. The books that they have are mostly in
Spanish. Pablo’s grandparents have read bedtime stories to Pablo since he was an infant. His
favorite is Lazarillo de Tormes. It is from his grandparents that his love of literature originated
from. They only thing in English print in Pablo’s house is the local newspaper and his school
work.
Describe the linguistic development of the 1st language of the child prior to his arrival in the
United States: If all of his classes were taught in Spanish, Pablo might very well be a contender
for Valedictorian of his class. His Spanish reading level, according to our test is the equivalent of
a freshman in college.
Describe the nature of English language learning the child had prior to his arrival in the United
States: Pablo’s exposure to the English language prior to his arrival to the United States was
nearly non-existent. The only English that he had come into contact with was through some Hiphop music that his friends listened to in Temapache.
Linguistic Development History
Vocabulary
Type and length of
sentences
Upon Arrival
L1/L2
L1: Has two close
friends. Melvin and
Rosa. Speaks
excellent Spanish.
Has a great grasp of
the language.
Vocabulary wellabove average.
2 months
L1/L2
L1: Still maintains a
great grasp of the
Spanish language.
The growth of his
native language is
being reinforced by
the people that he
associates with.
L2: Less than 20
words spoken. Can
say “Goodbye” and
“Hello”. Needs more
exposure to the
English language.
L1: Very long and
complex sentences
that showcase his high
level of intellect.
L2: His vocabulary
has grown to around
250 words. He has
mastered phrases such
as “Thank you” and
“You’re welcome”.
L1: Still speaks
Spanish at a high
level.
L2: Very short simple
sentences. For
example, “I need” or
“I want”.
Stages of
1. Negation
2. Questions
3. Past tense
1. “No need.”
2. “Why?”
3. No past tense
used
4 months
L1/L2
L1: His development
in Spanish has leveled
off a bit. He has been
trying to condensate
with his family and
friends in English as
often as possible.
L2: Now has a better
understanding of
English grammar. For
example, “I finished
my homework”
instead of “I
homework finish”.
L1: Spanish has not
suffered at all.
L2: Now can use
L2: Can speak a few
longer sentences to
complete sentences.
express his feelings.
Such as “I want to go” For example, “I feel
or “I need the pencil”. tired because of the
hard soccer match
yesterday.”
1. “No thank
1.”No thanks, Im not
you.”
hungry.”
2. “Who is that?” 2.’Where is the
3. “I had a
bathroom?”
sandwich.”
3. “I wanted a dog
when I lived in
Temapache.
Pronunciation
Hard to understand.
Has a very thick
accent.
Cultural/Pragmatic
Awareness
Uses non-verbal
communication when
speaking with English
speakers. Nods his
head and smiles a lot.
BICS/CALP
L1: Both BICS and
CALP are very high
level
L2: BICS- barely
knows any phrases.
CALP- Has some
understanding of the
English alphabet.
Prescriptive aspects of No prescriptive
English: Grammar
aspects developed
and Punctuation
1
Writing Ability in Class
1
L1: First Language, L2: Second Language
Hates speaking in
front of class.
Pronunciation has
slightly improved.
Must repeat what he
said several times.
When doing groupwork with English
speakers he often
remains silent and
does not attempt any
form of
communication.
L1: Both BICS/CALP
remain at a high level.
L2: BICS- Now
knows simple phrases
such as “Thank you”
and “You’re
welcome”
CALP- Vocabulary is
being gained through
the use of visual cues.
Has learned how to
use periods. For
example, “I had a cat.
His name was Jose.”
Struggles with
commas.
Has made much
improvement in his
pronunciation. Rarely
is asked to repeat
what he said.
Is beginning to
interact with his
English speaking
classmates. Can carry
on simple
conversations such as
what he did yesterday
and how he is feeling.
L1: BICS and CALP
are improving due to
his interaction with
his Spanish speaking
friends Melvin and
Rosa.
L2: BICS- Can hold
short conversations
with classmates and
teachers. Uses
complete sentences.
CALP-Can read
English books at a 6th
grade level, reading
skills are increasing
rapidly.
Has learned when it is
appropriate to use
question marks and
exclamation points.
Still struggles with the
proper use of
commas.
The beginning of the school year: “Me cat is nice.”
By the 2nd month: “My cat is great. I really like to have fun with my cat.”
By the 4th month: “My cat is named Jose. He is really cool. He purrs real loud when you scratch
his head.”
Pablo has made great strides in his writing ability. At the beginning of the school year he was
asked to write about his cat in English. As you can see from the example above, his limited
vocabulary and knowledge of the English language led him to construct a very low level
sentence. By the 2nd month Pablo sentence structure had greatly improved. You can see how
Pablo wrote two sentences about his cat and described how he liked to have fun with his cat. By
the 4th month Pablo was writing at a middle school level. When he applies himself he can
accomplish whatever he sets out to do.
Reading Analysis
Pablo’s reading ability has progressed quite well since the beginning of the school year. He has
always had an interest in reading. At first his limited vocabulary prevented him from reading any
English literature whatsoever. By the 2nd month of the school year Pablo was reading elementary
level books. He has attended an afterschool reading program that promotes reading. It is at this
afterschool program that Pablo is required to read for 45 minutes. By the 4th month Pablo was
reading whole books. He really likes the Magic Tree House series. If what he is reading interests
him he will give it his undivided attention. Getting Pablo to read was just a matter of convincing
him that English literature was just as worthwhile to read as the books he had read back in
Temapache.
General Observations
Pablo’s friends have been a great asset in his recent development as an ELL. Every Friday after
school, the ESL, Principal, and General Education teachers meet with Pablo and his parents and
discuss how he is developing. This has been quite effective, for having Pablo’s parents involved
in his education has shown Pablo that his family does care about his education. Pablo’s parents
have been encouraged to use English more often at home. This practice has yielded great results
for Pablo’s acquisition has skyrocketed over the past 4 months. Within a few years he should be
fluent in English.
Phase III
Analysis of Linguistic Development in English
Student: Pablo Ortega
Vocabulary: Pablo’s vocabulary has come a way since his arrival in the United States in May.
Pablo’s vocabulary has grown immensely since the beginning of the school year. In the first few
months the use of visual cues helped him learn many different objects that he encounter on a
daily basis. For example, at the beginning of the school year he had no idea how to say door,
window, floor, roof, building, and other words that can help a low level ELL student describe
their surroundings, where they are, etc. Pablo can now describe events that have occurred and
that are happening in the present.
Type and length of sentences: At the beginning of the school year Pablo spoke one word
sentences like a small child. For example, “Please?” and “Need!” He has been making rapid
process ever since his parents have been making him use English at his home. He still struggles
with the usage of commas and the occasionally misuse of question marks at the beginning and
end of sentences.
Stages of Negation: As Pablo’s grasp of the rules of grammar have grown so has his proper use
of negation. At the beginning of the year Pablo would use Spanish grammar to construct English
sentences. For example, “No me like corn.” By now Pablo says, “I do not like corn at all.” His
improvement is astounding.
Stages of Question: Pablo did not use any form of questions in his interview. However he has
learned over the past four months that question marks are only used at the end of a sentence
unlike in Spanish in which an upside question mark is placed at the beginning of a sentence in
addition to the normally positioned question mark at the end of the sentence.
Stages of Past Tense: Pablo did not use the past tense in his interview but he has learn when it is
appropriate to use past tense.
Pronunciation: Pablo’s pronunciation during the interview was very good. He was only asked to
repeat himself on a few occasions.
BICS and CALP: During his interview Pablo always used the appropriate BICS. His increase
usage of the English language is evident in his ability to properly respond to questions. His
CALP has not developed as fast as his BICS, but this is the case with many ELL students. His
improvement of CALP was shown when he was able to talk about Photosynthesis when asked,
“What have you learned in Science Class?” At no point did he use Spanish during the interview;
he answered every question with English.
Prescriptive aspects of English, grammar and pronunciation: Pablo did not make a single
grammatical error during his interview. When asked, “How do you like school?” he responded
with “At first I did not like school. It was scary and uncomfortable. But now I have learned a lot
of English and I like going to school.” This response demonstrates that Pablo has learned and to
properly construct sentences in English. His pronunciation is still hard to understand sometimes
and at times he talks way too fast. This has improved since the start of the semester. His English
was almost incomprehensible on the first day of school.
General Conclusions: Overall Pablo did very well in his interview. He demonstrated that he has
an understanding of how to construct sentences as well as how to answer questions. His
pronunciations need work and his CALP is not nearly on par with his BICS. I believe more
vocabulary work is needed if Pablo is going to show improvement in his CALP, all though his
use of Photosynthesis was excellent. He struggles with the vocabulary needed to comprehend a
science lesson.
Transcription of Interview with ELL Student
Student’s Name: Pablo Ortega
Date of Interview: November 23, 2011
Time: 1:55 pm – 2:05 pm.
Questions asked by Marty Schmitt, the ESL teacher of Eastern Montgomery High School.
1. What is your name?
a. Pablo Ortega.
2. Where were you born?
a. I was born in Temapache, Mexico.
3. What was the date of your birth?
a. October 12, 1995.
4. When did you come to the United States?
a. At the end of May.
5. Who do you live with?
a. My family.
6. Could you be more specific?
a. Well…I live with my mama, papa, and both my grandparents.
7. What does your family do for a living?
a. They work at a dairy farm.
8. Do you help them at all?
a. Yes over the summer.
9. Who do you hang out with?
a. Melvin and Rosa.
10. Why do you spend time with Melvin and Rosa?
a. Well they both are from Mexico like me. I didn’t speak much English at all so I
talked to them because they speak Spanish.
11. Do you like any sports?
a. I like Basketball and Soccer. I really like Soccer.
12. Why do you really like Soccer?
a. Because it is a lot of fun. I love to score goals and do my dance!
13. What dance is that?
a. The Macarena!
14. How do you like school?
a. At first I did not like school. It was scary and uncomfortable. But now I have
learned a lot of English and I like going to school.
15. Do you like Spanish or English better?
a. I like Spanish better. That is because I learned Spanish first.
16. What is your favorite class?
a. I really like History class. I like learning about the past and what happened.
17. What is your least favorite class?
a. Science class.
18. Why is that?
a. I don’t understand a lot of the things we talk about.
19. Why do you think that is?
a. I think it is because I don’t know a lot of words.
20. Do you like anything about science?
a. I like Photosynthesis. I think it is cool that plants use the sun and soil to grow and
the air that is bad for us.
21. What is your favorite part about school?
a. I really like lunch time. I sit with Melvin and Rosa every day.
22. You never sit with anyone else?
a. Nope.
23. What language do you use when you sit with Melvin and Rosa?
a. Usually Spanish but if we are talking about homework we speak in English.
24. How are you doing in school?
a. I am doing better now that I can speak some English.
Writing Sample
Example:
My family is really great. I live with my Mama. Papa, Abuela, and Abuelo. We all
work on a milk farm. I go to High school. My parents say High school is
important. My family moved from the United States from Temapache, Mexico. I
miss it sometimes. I brought my cat Jose with me to America. I have had Jose since I
was nine. I play soccer at the High school. My coach says that if I train hard
enough I might get a scholarship. I bet college is a lot harder than High school.
Phase IV: Problem Scenario
Student: Pablo Ortega
Problem: Pablo has made great strides in his acquisition of the English language.
Although recently he has regressed; he has been spending more and more time talking
to his friends, Melvin and Rosa and he speaks English only when he is instructed to
do so. His grades have also started to slip. He want tell his ESL teacher, or any
teacher for that matter, what is bothering and affecting his performance in school.
The Parents: Mr. Ortega and Mrs. Ortega have stated that Pablo has been spending
more and more time with Melvin and Rosa recently. He also has not been responding
to them when addressed in English. He says that he wishes to speak in Spanish when
he is at home. He also has not completed his last two homework assignments for his
Science class.
The Principal: As the Principal I believe that it is my duty to address this matter head
on. We all have been stunned at how quickly Pablo is learning English. Pablo’s
performance over the past few weeks has been well below the performance that our
faculty has come to expect of him. We need to stress to Pablo how important learning
English is to his future success. We all want to see Pablo succeed because we know
how intelligent he is.
School Counselor: At the beginning of this school year Pablo was almost mute. He
spoke little to no English and only conversed with his friends Melvin and Rosa.
While I believe that Melvin and Rosa have played a critical role in his pursuit of
learning English I also believe that have hindered him from making friends with
English speaking students. I think that it would beneficial for Pablo to spend time
with students whose first language is English. Perhaps this would encourage him to
study harder and want to learn English.
General Education Teacher: Pablo has made a lot of progress this semester. He seems
to have reached a peak and now he is reverting back to his old behavior of silence and
refusal to participate in the lesson. I believe that there is some sort of stressor in
Pablo’s life right now that is distracting him from his school work. If we can pinpoint
what this stressor is and deal with I believe Pablo’s focus would return to his
schoolwork.
ESL Teacher: Pablo just seems so distracted nowadays. The past few weeks he has
wanted me to speak to him only in Spanish. When I ask him why he wants me to only
speak in Spanish he doesn’t really give an answer he simply says, “Just do it”. I
believe that there is some sort of problem at home or he is feeling the pressure of the
upcoming midterm exams. I believe that we need to reduce the amount of stress that
Pablo is feeling and his grades back to normal.
Pablo: I haven’t felt like doing work for a long time. I just think that its stupid and
hard and I just don’t want to do it. It just makes me mad when I do my science
homework. Also my grandmother is sick and I have been taking care of her because
my grandfather is on a trip. I can’t deal with all of this right now.
Phase V: Problem Solution
All concerned parties met on December 4, 2011. The faculty shared their concerns
about Pablo’s recent struggles in the classroom. The Principal began the meeting by
telling the parents that all the teachers that were present at the meeting were truly
concerned about Pablo and only wanted the best for him.
The Principal then asked Mr. and Mrs. Ortega what they thought could be the
problem with their son’s recent regression. Mr. Ortega stated that he believed that his
son was not trying hard enough and that he was just being lazy. Mrs. Ortega stated
that she believed her son was stressed out by a number of things. The fact that he had
to care for his grandmother was while his parents were working was making it hard
for Pablo to spend the amount of time he needed to on his homework.
The committee agreed with both Mr. Ortega and Mrs. Ortega. While it was true that
Pablo having to care for his grandmother was taking away time from his homework,
he still was showing little to no effort in the classroom. Pablo essentially agreed with
this. He stated that he was just becoming frustrated with his schoolwork and instead
of asking for help he just didn’t try. Pablo also stated that having to care for his
grandmother while his grandfather was away was making it very hard to focus on his
homework.
The committee then formed an action plan designed to help ease the stress that Pablo
was feeling. Firstly, Pablo would attend tutoring for his science class after school for
45 minutes every day until his grades improved in that class. Secondly, he was
encouraged to make more friends other than Melvin and Rosa. Also the Principal
asked the parents if there was any way that they could make Pablo’s home
environment more successful. Mrs. Ortega said that she would take less hours at the
farm so that she could care for the grandmother while Pablo worked on improving his
grades. The committee is too meet once every two weeks for the rest of the academic
year to monitor Pablo’s progress.
Annotate d Bibliography
1. “Mexico.” CIA World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/geos/mx.html. Accessed on 12/5/11.
a. I used the CIA World Factbook to help layout Pablo Ortega’s
background. This is a valuable source for the information on the site is
updated annually and sometimes multiple times a year. I picked out the
city which Pablo is from using this site. Temapache, Mexico is the city
that I chose for Pablo and I used this site for that purpose. Also the part
of Pablo’s history in which his farm is destroyed by a skirmish
between a drug cartel and the Mexican Army was inspired from the
information that I received from this website.
2. Bautista, Nazan, and Martha Castañeda. "Teaching Science To Ells, Part I."
Science Teacher 78.3 (2011): 35-39. Education Research Complete. Web. 5
Dec. 2011.
a. I chose this article because it discussed one of the hardest subjects to
teach ELL’s, science. In the article it discusses that ELL’s tend to
struggle with science. The reason for this is that in addition to having
to learn a new language the students are also having to learn
vocabulary that is specific to a lesson, for example photosynthesis. The
article suggests using visual cues to help ELL’s grasp concepts in
science class. Diagrams and videos go a long way in helping ELL’s
understanding new vocabulary.
3. Chen, Hsuan-Yu, and Jaya S. Goswami. "Structuring Cooperative Learning In
Teaching English Pronunciation." English Language Teaching 4.3 (2011): 2632. Education Research Complete. Web. 5 Dec. 2011.
a. This article discusses the importance in teaching ELL’s the proper way
to pronounce words. I mention in the case study that Pablo speaks with
heavy accent sometimes and is often asked to repeat himself. This
article explains how creating a cooperative learning environment is
key in teaching ELL’s how to pronounce. One of the main reason why
Pablo struggles with his pronunciation is that he spends most his time
around people you speak English as a second language rather than
interacting with people who speak English as their first language.
4. LUECK, CYNTHIA E. "ELL Parents' Perceptions Matter." Delta Kappa
Gamma Bulletin 77.1 (2010): 9-16. Education Research Complete. Web. 5
Dec. 2011.
a. This was a study conducted that interviewed nine parents of ELL
students to find out what their perceptions of the ESL program was.
The study showed that most parents had misinformed perceptions of
the ESL program, although after they gained knowledge on the
program they tended to have positive perceptions about the program. I
included Pablo’s parents in the committees meeting for it was
important to hear their opinion on why they thought Pablo was
struggling with school.
5. Edmonds, Lori M. "Challenges and Solutions for Ells." Science Teacher 76.3
(2009): 30-33. Education Research Complete. Web. 5 Dec. 2011.
a. This article also discussed techniques used to help teach ELL’s
science. In this article visual cues were discussed as well as the need
for clear communication between the teacher and the ELL student. If
there is a bond of trust established between the two then it becomes
easier for the ELL student to ask for help on assignments.
Summary Reflection
I believe that this case study activity was a worthwhile assignment. The opportunity to construct
a case study in which you are allowed to create and design all aspects of the study was a very
interesting and challenging assignment. For example, when constructing the scenario in which
the subject student, in my case Pablo Ortega, was presented I found it difficult to create the
perspectives of the different people involved in the resolution of this problem. It would be much
easier in my mind too just record the real thought s of actually Principals and ESL teachers rather
than give my own interpretation of what I think that they would say in this situation. The
interview would be much more interesting to conduct with an actual student. The same problem
arises in this situation as I faced in phase four. Who am I to give the opinions of a student that
has traveled hundreds of miles to a foreign country so that his family can eke out an existence? I
don’t believe that I am qualified to do this. The main reason being is that I have lived in a stable
household my whole life and never moved in my life, and I certainly did not live in a foreign
country at any point in my short uneventful life.
Aside from my inability to put myself in other people’s shoes I see the importance in this
assignment. It really made me think about how I would react to an extreme situation. Before this
assignment, and certainly before this class began I was unaware of the challenges faced by ELL
students. A lot of their success depends on where they end up. If an ELL student is placed into a
school system in which he is not given support then he will fail. It is all about making the student
feel comfortable. Whether it be Science or History, English or Math if a student is placed into an
environment in which he feels comfortable and he receives the necessary amount of support that
he/she requires then that student is going to be successful. As teachers we have many
responsibilities, and it is certainly not an easy job any stretch of the imagination. Hopefully the
lessons that I learned from this case study and my other assignments will serve me well as I enter
the battlefield that we call the teaching profesion.