SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONMonday, January 30, 2012

ELD 506: Understanding Language Acquisition and Cognition

Learning Team A

With an influx of immigrant students into public school classrooms,

…teachers are challenged by educating English Language Learners (ELLs). Since English Language Development (ELD) policies are compulsory and steadfast, students must acquire English as a second language while simultaneously learning academic content.

…working with ELLs that language acquisition progresses in stages. As students work towards second language acquisition (SLA), these steps of development evolve within a predicable continuum of language behaviors; however, as each student is unique, he or she will progress through the stages at different rates.

It is widely understood by most educators…

BICSL2: SLA CAL

P

…teachers need to make informed pedagogical decisions regarding communication, language acquisition, & validation of social & academic language. The following information will provide valid & important facts & strategies regarding SLA of minority language learners.

With the emphasis on accountability,…

English Language Learners…

Reminder: Find a word for our Word Wall!

acquire second language (L2) at a different rate than native speaking peers.

have linguistic & cultural experiences that affect their language learning abilities.

benefit from pictures, pair & share, pantomime, experiential activities, & journaling to enhance SLA.

English Language Learners…

perpetually learn new words from their teachers & peers.

draw pictures & ask for vocabulary clarification.

increase knowledge of reading, writing, & print.

Piper (2007): “It is necessary, but not sufficient, to surround ELL children with all kinds of oral & printed language” (p. 375).

Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

The SLA process is more rapid for some students than others.

The pace at which ELLs progress with SLA depends on home support, the student’s primary language (L1) use, & L2 recognition.

Four stages of ELD SLA: Pre-production, Early Production, Speech Emergence, & Fluency.

ELD SLA Stage 1: Pre-Production minimal receptive

vocabularies. comprehending key words

in a conversation. relying heavily on context

cueing & imitation. focusing on internalizing L2

while adjusting to new culture (Niles, 2011).

less than 6 months in English-speaking school.

possess less than a 500-word English vocabulary. (Portland Public Schools, 2000).

ELD SLA Stage 2: Early Production

very limited receptive L2 comprehension & vocabularies.

depends heavily on context to derive meaning.

1 – 2 word sentences. demonstrates L2 reading abilities

if illustrations support the content (Niles, 2011).

attends to hands-on demonstrations with increased understanding.

has attended English-speaking school 6 – 12 months; continues to adjust to the culture.

has 1,000-word English receptive vocabulary (Portland Public Schools, 2000).

ELD SLA Stage 3: Speech Emergence

can understand ideas about events within the range of personal experience.

more adept at hearing smaller elements of speech in L2 (Niles, 2011; Portland Public Schools; 2000; Hurley & Tinajero, 2001).

producing whole sentences in writing & speech. Demonstrating comprehension of charts, graphs,

diagrams, & lists orally and in writing (Niles, 2011; Hurley & Tinajero, 2001).

1 – 3 years of schooling in L2. 7,000 words of receptive & expressive English vocabulary.

ELD SLA Stage 4: Fluency

participates in everyday conversations without highly contextualized support (Niles, 2011), communicating thoughts more completely.

expresses thoughts & feelings using complex statements with increased level of accuracy.

engages in & produces connected narrative, demonstrating good comprehension (Hurley & Tinajero, 2001).

utilizes an expanded vocabulary while making complex grammatical errors (Niles, 2011).

has attended English-speaking schools for 5 - 7 years.

possesses receptive & active L2 vocabularies of about 12,000 English words or more.

Extensive research has indicated…

…that language proficiency & cognitive development are intertwined. In 5 – 7 years, second

language learners (SLLs) ascend 4 stages of ELD SLA towards advanced fluency.

Within 2 years, SLLs acquire social conversational skills & are capable of chatting with peers, performing basic classroom chores, & consuming instructional media.

BICS and CALP

Cummins (1979) termed a student in this stage of development possessing BICS, or basic interpersonal communication skills.

The ultimate goal, Cummins postulated, was for a language learning student to become a cognitive academic language proficient (CALP).

CALP is the language skills required to perform more advanced school tasks successfully, such as categorizing, comparing, analyzing, & accommodating new knowledge.

To reach the CALP level, a SLL requires 5 or more years of exposure to an L2.

The Five Cs

In tandem with CALP, ELLs must seize command of what Diaz-Rico & Weed (2006) termed the 5 Cs: Communication Conceptualization Critical thinking Context CultureAs ELLs master the 5 Cs, they become what Hymes (1972) called “communicatively competent.”

Beyond simply knowing grammatical rules of L2 to knowing when, where, & how to use a L2 appropriately.

Educating the ELL population…

…and providing them with the resources to successfully complete each stage of SLA is a challenge that teachers are facing across the country. In an attempt to educate the ELLs in our classrooms, school districts are developing & implementing local educational agency plans, or LEAPs, that outline the procedures to assist students & teachers in the SLA process.

During SLA, ELLs must…

learn grade level specific content simultaneously.

learn & become proficient with social academic language.

To meet the needs of all learners in the classroom, teachers must: have the education & resources necessary

to modify teaching strategies differentiate instruction based on ELLs stages of SLA.

Educating the ELL population…

…and providing them with the resources to

successfully complete each stage of SLA is a

challenge. In an attempt to educate ELLs in our

classrooms, school districts are developing &

implementing plans that outline the

procedures to assist students & teachers in

the language acquisition process. During SLA,

ELLs must learn grade level specific content

simultaneously & learn & become proficient

with social & academic language.

Report

Cards

due

Mon!

Find CALP LP’s!

To meet the needs of all learners…

…in the classroom, teachers must have the education & resources necessary to modify teaching strategies & differentiate instruction based upon each student’s stage of SLA while keeping in mind that there is no timetable for this process.

Resources

Cummins, J. (1979). Working Papers on Bilingualism,19, p. 121-129.

Diaz-Rico, L.T., & Weed, K.Z. (2006). The Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development Handbook. A complete K – 12 reference guide (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence. In J. B. Pride & J. Holmes (eds.), Sociolinguistics. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin.

References (cont.)

Hurley, S.R. & Tinajero, J.V. (2001). Assessing Progress in Second-Language Acquisition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Niles, K. (2011). Content strategies and scaffolding: Techniques to promote academic success for English language learners: Stages in English acquisition [PDF document]. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Website: http://www.academicesl.com/ PA2011/index.html.

References (cont.)

Piper, T. (2007). Language and learning: The home and school years (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill-Prentice Hall.

Portland Public Schools (2000). ESL/Bilingual resource guide for mainstream teachers. Retrieved fromwww.pps.k12.or.us/curriculum/PDFs/ ESL_Modifications.pdf.

Robertson, K. & Ford, K. (2008). Language Acquisition: An Overview. Colorin Colorado Retrieved from colorincolorado.org/article/26751.

References (cont.)

Vance, Noelle (2008). Language development: Second language acquisition. Language Development – Research Starters Education, 1. Retrieved from http://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e0h&AN=27577653&site=ehost-live.

Image References

All clip art was obtained through the Microsoft Office 2010 Clip Art Gallery except for the following:

Dance Steps: www.leroc-in-bristol.co.uk/Resources/Clip_Sources/dancstep.gifReading Circle: www.indianruminations.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ ClipArt_Reading_Circle-315x254.jpg