Working with English Language
Learners:
Working with
communicative
differences and
disabilities
Cultural Differences


The rules of conversation are different among the
world’s cultures
There are many factors that influence how a person
communicates with others:







Age
Relationship
Situation
Expected Outcome
Oral Tradition
Previous Education
Gender Specific Responses
Cultural and Linguistic Differences



Language System variables such as soundsymbol relationships and methods of
communication are important factors
Culture Shock of students must be taken into
consideration when evaluating students
Acculturation process must be reviewed and
accepted
Acculturation Process
Euphoria
Culture Shock
Integration
Acceptance
Language Acquisition vs. Language
Learning


Language Acquisition is the process by
which children acquire language
(subconscious and natural) much like
learning their first language
Language Learning is not communicative. It
is the result of direct instruction and is most
likely not appropriate for very young learners
Stages of Language Acquisition

Silent Period/Pre-production Stage

Early Production Stage

Speech Emergence Stage

Intermediate Language Fluency Stage
Silent Period/Pre-production




Duration is 10 hours up to six months
Students often have about 500 “receptive”
Students may not make any utterances, but
can do some classroom activities through
pointing, drawing and acting
Students should not be forced to speak!
Early Production




Can last an additional six months after the
Pre-production Stage (6+6=12)
Students have developed close to 1,000
receptive/active words
Students can usually speak in one or two
word phrases
Yes/no, either/or, who/what/where/when
questions and answers
Speech Emergence Stage




Can last up to another year (6+6+12=24)
Students have developed about 3,000 words
and can use short phrases and simple
sentences to communicate
Students begin to use simple dialogue
Students may produce longer sentences, but
frequently with numerous grammatical errors
and pronunciation differences
Intermediate Language Fluency


May take up to another year after the Speech
Emergence Stage (6+6+12+12=36)
Students have typically developed about
6,000 words and can make more complex
sentences and questions as well as speak at
greater length
Advanced Language Proficiency




Five to seven year process
Accent often remains
Students have learned how to communicate
well in social situations and can usually
handle themselves without help
Students have learned many specialized
vocabulary words
BICS vs. CALP


Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills or
BICS are conversational language skills that
usually develop within two to five years
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency or
CALP is the ability to understand academic
(education) language and can take from
seven to ten years to completely develop
So…How Long Does It Take???

Research has been done in a variety of settings and
with different language groups. It looks something
like this:



Students who were between 8-11 years old and had 2-3
years of native language education took 5-7 years to test at
grade level
Students with little or no formal schooling who arrived before
the age of eight, took 7-10 years to reach grade level norms
in English language literacy
Students who were below grade level in native language
literacy also took 7-10 years to reach the 50th percentile.
Most never reached grade level norms
Acquiring a Second Language…What’s
“Normal,” What’s Not

Interference:
–
ESL children may manifest interference or transfer from their first language
to English. This means that a child may make an English error due to the
direct influence of a native language structure. For example, in Spanish,
“esta casa es mas grande” means “this house is bigger.” However, a literal
translation would be “this house is more bigger.” A Spanish-speaking child
who said, “this house is mor ebigger” would be manifesting transfer from
Spanish to English. This is a normal phenomenon-a sign of a language
difference, not a language disorder.
Acquiring A Second Language…

Silent Period:
–
The younger the child, the longer the silent period
tends to last. Older children may remain in the
silent period for a few weeks or many months,
whereas preschoolers may be relatively silent for
a year or more
Acquiring a Second Language…

Code switching:
–
This involves changing languages over phrases
and sentences. For example, a Spanish speaker
might say- “Me gustaria manejar-I’ll take the car!”
(“I’d like to drive-I’ll take the car”). Or, a Filipino
student might say, “With my teacher, I have utang
ng loob (debt of gratitude) because she has been
so good to me.” Again, this is a normal
phenomena engaged in by many fluent bilingual
speakers worldwide.
Acquiring a Second Language…

Language Loss:
–
Some children who are English language learners
undergo the phenomenon of language loss. As
they learn English, they lose skills and fluency in
their native language if their native language is
not reinforced and maintained.
How Should Students Learn?


The idea of “the more English the better” has proven
to be fallacious and can actually slow down a
student’s learning considerably
Research shows that the average native speaker
gains about 10 months of a academic growth in a
school year. The ELL must outgain the native
speaker by making 1.5 years’ progress in English for
six successive school years. In order to have skills
that are commensurate with those of native English
speakers, ELLs must make nine years progress in
six years.
So…can somebody help me with this
process of getting the testing done?



Please contact the ESL Department for
assistance with questions 412.622.3736
Translators can be made available as
needed for evaluation and/or IEP meetings.
Always…always…always…find out how long
the student has been here before you begin
to test
You can do it…

Remember that doing
an evaluation on an
ELL can be
complicated, but can be
done. If you have any
questions whatsoever,
please don’t hesitate to
call us!