Improving
Academics
through
Language
Acquisition
Presented by:
Elizabeth Suman
ARE YOU A CULTURALLY AND
LINGUISTICALLY RESPONSIVE
TEACHER?
Definition
• “The validation and affirmation of the home
culture and home language for the purposes of
building and bridging the student to success
in the culture of academia and mainstream
society. Simply put, CLR is going to where the
students are culturally and linguistically for the
aim of bringing them where they need to be
academically. Metaphorically, CLR is the
opposite of the sink and swim approach to
teaching and learning.” Sharrocky Hollie PhD
Components
• You can define it
• Something that you are not that
you do
• You are not confused about your
identity
• You know who you are serving or
not serving
• You don’t celebrate Black History
Month
• Practice every day in every way
ACRONYMS
How many of these acronyms
can you identify?
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ELL
LEP
FLEP
ESOL
ESL
TESOL
LAB-R
L1
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L2
HLQ
BICS
CALP
SIOP
LEAP
SIFE
NYSESLAT
HOW IS AN ELL/LEP STUDENT
IDENTIFIED?
Types of programs RCSD has for LEP/ELL
students
• Free Standing ESOL : This is the
type of program we have at School
#41
• Bilingual: Spanish/English
• LEAP (Learning through English
Academic Program) : It’s a selfcontained class for LEP/ELLs who
are newcomers.
What does Free Standing ESOL
at School #41 Look Like?
• Can be push-in or pull-out: I do pull-out only
• Students are grouped together by grade level
and language ability which is determined by
the NYSESLAT score
• The NYSESLAT is given every May and includes
4 parts: Speaking, Listening, Reading and
Writing. It is also given by grade level: K-1, 24, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12.
• NYSESLAT scores are either Beginning,
Intermediate, Advanced or Proficient(When a
student reaches proficient, they exit the
program)
Free Standing ESOL at School
#41 Cont.
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According to the NYS regulations for ESOL found in
CR Part 154, beginning and intermediate students
should receive 70 minutes of ESOL a day and
advance students should receive 35 minutes a day.
Currently all of my students are receiving 35 minutes
of ESOL a day due to my being stretched so thin
between three schools.
ESOL focuses on building all four language skills:
reading, writing, listening and speaking
Lessons are alligned with what their classroom
teachers are teaching
ELL/LEP students also receive test accommodations
which include: separate location, extended time, and
listening passage read three times.
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
BASICS
Language Development Basics
• BICS (Basic Interpersonal
Communicative Skills) 12 yrs. to develop
• CALP (Cognitive
Academic Language
Proficiency) 5-7 yrs. to
develop
Stages of Language Acquisition
Stage
Characteristics
Approximate
Time Frame
Teacher Prompts
Preproduction
The student:
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Has minimal comprehension
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Does not verbalize
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Nods “Yes” and “No”
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Draws and points
0-6 Months
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Early
Production
The student:
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Has limited comprehension
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Produces one- or two-word
responses
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Participates using key words
and familiar phrases
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Uses present-tense verbs
6 Months1 year
• Yes/no questions
• Either/or questions
• One- or two-word
answers
• Lists
• Labels
Speech
Emergence
The student :
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Has good comprehension
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Can produce simple
sentences
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Makes grammar and
pronunciation errors
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Frequently misunderstands
jokes
1-3 years
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Intermediate
Fluency
The student :
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Has excellent
comprehension
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Makes few grammatical
errors
3-5 years
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The student has a near-native
level of speech.
5-7 years
Advanced
Fluency
Show me...
Circle the...
Where is...?
Who has...?
Why...?
How...?
Explain...
Phrase or shortsentence answers
•
What would happen
if...?
Why do you think...?
•
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Decide if...
Retell...
STRATEGIES FOR ENHANCING
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Activity
• Can you read the story The Traveler?
• This is how students with lack of CALP see
the reading tasks we give them.
• What can we do to make something like
more meaningful?
• One way to do it is through the SIOP
model.
SIOP (Sheltered Instruction
Observation Protocol)
• Lesson Preparation
• Building Background
• Comprehensible Input
• Strategies
• Interaction
• Practice/Application
• Lesson Delivery
• Review/Assessment
Lesson Preparation
• Content Objective
• Language Objective
• Content concepts appropriate
• Supplementary Materials
• Adaptation of content to all
levels
• Meaningful Activities
Building Background
• Concepts explicitly linked to
students’ background
experiences
• Links explicitly made between
past learning and new
concepts
• Key vocabulary
Comprehensible Input
• Speech appropriate for students’
proficiency level
• Clear explanations
• A variety of techniques used to
make content concepts clear
Strategies
• Ample opportunities provided
for students to use learning
strategies
• Scaffolding Techniques
• A variety of tasks that
promote higher order thinking
skills
Interaction
• Frequent opportunities for
interaction and discussion
• Grouping configurations
• Sufficient wait time for student
responses
• Ample opportunities for students to
clarify concepts in L1
Practice/Application
• Hands-on materials and/or
manipulatives
• Apply content and language
knowledge
• Activities integrate all
language skills (reading,
writing, listening and
speaking)
Lesson Delivery
• Content Objectives clearly
supported
• Language Objectives clearly
supported
• Students engaged approximately
90%-100% of the time
• Appropriate Pacing
Review/Assessment
• Review of key vocabulary
• Review of key content
concepts
• Regular feedback
• Assessment of student
comprehension and learning
CULTURAL MISCUES
Some Examples
• Talk: When it is and is not appropriate to talk
in a classroom
• Personal Space
• Clothes
• Materials
• Male and Female roles
• Asking questions
• Entering and Leaving the classroom
• Classroom movement (group work, amount of
movement)
• Pace, time
• Different teachers with different expectations
Code Switching
• We speak differently in different situations
• We need to validate the way our students
speak in addition to teaching them standard
English
• Many children don’t know that there is any
other way to speak
• Through literature and the use of role play we
can both validate our students’ home language
and teach standard English
• Different registers of language can also be
explored in writing
Final Thought
“Equality means
getting what you
need, not the same
thing”