Addressing Cultural Differences
in the Classroom
Amy Talley
Our Essential Questions
• Who ARE our LEP children and where do
they come from?
• How do I find out who my LEP kids are
and their proficiency levels?
• How can I meet their needs?
What do all these
acronyms mean?
• ESL? ESOL?
• ELL? LEP?
• NOM?
Who are our English Language
Learners in WSFCS and where
do they come from?
Take a guess!
How many languages do you think are
represented:
• in the WSFC schools?
• At the high school where you will be studentteaching?
How many LEP students are
• In the WSFC schools
• At the high school where you will be student-teaching?
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WSFCS in 2014:
12,502 NOM students out of 54,000
6,231 LEP students
100 languages
High School: Number of students- number of
languages 2014
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Atkins: 10-2 (Chinese, Spanish)
Carver: 68-4 (Arabic, Portuguese Creole, French, Spanish)
East: 68-5 (Arabic, Chinese, Chinese Cantonese, Kru/Ibo/Igbo, Spanish)
Glenn: 120- 10# older data
Mt.Tabor: 48-5 (Arabic, Filipino, French, Shona, Spanish)
North: 109 – 4 (Arabic, Hindi/Urdu, Marshallese/Ebon, Spanish)
Parkland: 154 – 3 (French, Spanish, Xhosa/Zulu)
Reagan: 18 – 5 (Chinese, German, Marshallese, Russian, Spanish)
Reynolds: 125 – 12 (Arabic, Chin, Chinese, Italian, Karen, Kayah,
Kishwahali/Kwa/Kitendo, Nepali, Punjabi, Spanish, Filipino, Yoruba)
• West: 64- 8 (Arabic, Chinese, Cantonese, Korean, Spanish, Swahili,
Filipino, Vietnamese)
WSFC Demographics
The top 5 languages are:
Spanish-11,143
Arabic/Egyptian/Lebanese/Syrian-214
Chinese-142
Kayah/Karenni-114
Vietnamese-100
Important Acronyms:
• ESL – English as a Second Language, an
ESL student receives ESL services
because they scored below proficient in
the English language on a language test.
• ELL – English Language Learner
• LEP- Limited English Proficient
• NOM-National Origin Minority
OK, so I’m going to have some
LEP students at my school
and maybe in my classes.
But I am the ____ teacher.
That has nothing to do with
me. That is the ESL teacher’s
problem!
So, you thought you were just
going to have to teach social
studies/math/science/literature?
•
Remember that no matter what subject
you teach, you are teaching your
students language on some level. It
may be just academic vocabulary, but it
may also be that students are learning
the course content in their second or
third language.
So how are our LEP students
performing?
• LEP Gap Data 2014 By School.pdf
Laws Affecting English
Language Learners
T/P/S:
Work in groups of 3. Each member reads and
highlights a portion. Come together as a group
and share the significance of your legislation.
How will this legislation affect you as a teacher?
Then, let’s share as a big group. Which laws are
most important?
Student Rights
• At this point in time, in accordance with federal law,
students do not have to provide any proof of legal status
to attend US schools.
• All students must fill out a HLS upon registering for
school. If there is another language listed, they are
given a language test to determine their language
proficiency.
• LEP students are given the choice to receive ESL
services. They may waive services.
• All teachers are required to modify instruction and
assessment as needed for LEP students.
• The ESL program is federally mandated to prevent
discrimination practices in the retention and grading of
LEP students. Retention of an LEP student should only
be considered if academic difficulties are not related to
second language acquisition.
WSFC School Policy
• School Classroom Teachers: Classroom
teachers with LEP students are responsible for
making their classroom instruction accessible,
even for students at a beginning level of English
proficiency. EXAMPLE. Classroom teachers
are responsible for familiarizing themselves
with the WIDA standards and their students’
levels of English proficiency in order to
differentiate their instruction and to make
modifications. They are also responsible for
assessing students in such a way that does not
discriminate against them on the basis of their
language proficiency. Such accommodations for
state testing must be well documented.
• ESL teachers are supposed to be
responsible for teaching the language
of the content (WIDA standards.
www.wida.us).
• The mainstream teacher is supposed to
be responsible for teaching the content
while supporting the language
simultaneously. This is the ideal.
David Sisk (ESL Coordinator, District
Level)
OK, so now I know that I
need to try to meet the
needs of my ELLs. I’ll just
have a look for “foreign
sounding” last names on
my roster and start
modifying/accommodating!
• Connect with ESL teacher/contact person.
• Don’t wait for them to come to you.
How can you be proactive in figuring out
WHO your students are?
The first step to being an effective
teacher is getting to know your
students.
• Questionnaire
• Brainstorm questions for your possible
questionnaires. Please add to my list!
Other ways to get to know your
students:
• Talk with other teachers, guidance
counselors, community groups.
• Incorporate journaling, family
interviewing when possible.
• Ask students privately if they would
like to share information about their
home countries/cultures that pertains
to class.
• Invite students to stay after for tutoring.
Well, at least I won’t have to
worry about my LEP
students’ EOC scores.
Surely they will be exempt
or will have to take a
modified EOC!
WSFC LEP Procedures:
• Identification: How will I know who my LEP
students are and what modifications they
need?
• Testing Accommodations:
Accommodations Form
• “Modification/Accommodation forms are done by
the LEP committee in the school, then they are
to be shared with all teachers that have contact
with the LEP student. We have asked the ESL
teachers to make sure they are sharing the
forms or information with each teacher because
they are responsible for making sure the student
receives all mods and accommodations due to
them---liability issue if not followed. The student
is not really able to use the testing
accommodations unless they have received
them in the classroom throughout the year.”
Ann Talton, ESL Lead Teacher (WSFCS)
*Grading (see handout)
OK, so I have no choice. I have
to change the way I teach to
cater to English Language
Learners. It is their legal right,
but why is it the RIGHT thing
to do?
Let’s talk about how it feels to be in a situation where you
do not speak the language?
• Have you ever experienced an ineffective language
teacher? (Don’t mention names!) What made this
teacher ineffective? How can you avoid the same
situations with future students?
• Were there any cultural misunderstandings?
• Situations that made you feel uncomfortable?
• What made you uncomfortable/more comfortable in
foreign language settings?
First, we will talk about specific teaching strategies and
ways to modify. Then, we will talk about cultural
differences/stereotypes.
• Examine the can-do descriptors. With a
partner from your cohort, choose a topic
that you will most likely have to teach.
Plan appropriate assessments of this topic
for ELL students with different levels of
proficiency.
Can you see how these documents could be
helpful to you?
• IDEA: Talk to your ESL teacher. Write
your students’ names on these documents
and refer to them often!
• Now let’s think about planning
INSTRUCTION so that students can
successfully meet our assessment
objectives.
• More Than English: Teaching Language
and Content (Dare
County): http://morethanenglish.edublogs.
org/resources/weblinks/
SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO
TO HELP LEP STUDENTS: think
about your own experiences
learning another language
• Read over the handout, Instructional
Strategies to Assist LEP Students.
• Choose the three most important
suggestions. Do you have any others to
add?
Reading with the LEP student
• Reading is important in all classes and can
be especially challenging for the LEP
student.
• Use pre-reading, while-reading, and postreading strategies
Pre-Reading Strategies
• Activate Prior Knowledge: discussion, graphic
organizers, pre-tests, interesting
photograph/image
• A hands-on activity or demonstration to get them
interested
• Pre-teach vocabulary
• Give them an outline of what they will be reading
• Show images from the text they are going to
read (Cortázar)
While-Reading Strategies
• Give students guiding questions
• Have them fill out a graphic organizer while they
read.
• Highlight the text for them. Shorten the text.
• Paragraph summaries: Give them summaries,
and students match summaries with
corresponding paragraphs.
• Adapt the text. Select supplemental materials.
• Consider allowing students to read in their native
language?
Importance of Group Work
• Many students are more comfortable working and
communicating with peers in small groups.
• Make your group assignments clear.
• LEP students will need language structures. Consider
giving them specific questions and language support.
• Help all students learn polite ways of working
cooperatively. You could post polite ways of asking
questions, asking for clarification, requesting more
details and explanations.
• Brainstorm group and partner activities: Roundrobin,
roundtable, Jigsaw, Numbered Heads Together,
Interviews, Information Gap, PMI (Plus, Minus,
Interesting): about an issue, role play
Writing Strategies
• Word Walls, vocabulary posted and
referred to frequently
• Focus on content and meaning over
grammar and form
• Dialogue Journals
• Mini-lessons based on mistakes you see
in their writing
• Peer editing
How could you modify:
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A lecture?
A reading assignment?
A project?
A paper or any type of writing assignment?
A quiz?
A unit test?
A group assignment?
A science experiment?
Now, let’s talk about stereotypes.
• Why is it important to know about cultural
norms, even though each student is a
unique individual?
• Diversity Situation Analysis
• http://www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/Page/1169