English Language Learners: How Do They Acquire Literacy Skills?

Andrea Honigsfeld, Ed.D.

ahonigsfeld@molloy.edu

Molloy College

I. Pressing Issues

II. SLA

III. Research on Literacy and ELLs

IV. Reading & Writing Strategies

There’s a nightmare in my literacy closet…

Nightmares/Concerns Questions/Wishes

Reading is a multifaceted skill, gradually acquired over years of instruction and practice.

The Many Strands that are Woven into Skilled Reading(Scarborough, 2001)

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE LANGUAGE STRUCTURES VERBAL REASONING

LITERACY KNOWLEDGE

PHON. AWARENESS

DECODING (and SPELLING) SIGHT RECOGNITION

SKILLED READING: fluent execution and coordination of word recognition and text comprehension.

LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION

WORD RECOGNITION

increasingly

automatic

increasingly

strategic

Skilled Reading- fluent coordination of

word reading and comprehension

processes

Source: Neuman, Susan B. and Dickinson, David K., “Handbook of Early Literacy Research”

Children with

reading difficulties

Children from diverse

backgrounds

Children from low-income

backgrounds

Lesaux (2006)

What do teachers need to work effectively with ELLs? (Rojas, 2001)

SLA

Cultural Sensitivityand Empathy

Strategies and techniques

What is Unique About ELLs?

Krashen's Theories of Second Language Acquisition

Natural order hypothesis

Input hypothesis Affective filter

hypothesis

STAGE Appropriate Expectations

Preproduction Nodding, pointing, TPR

Early Production

One or two word responses

Speech Emergence

Phrases or short sentences

Intermediate Fluency

Longer sentences, fewer grammatical mistakes

Stages of Second Language Acquisition

Cummins’ Theories of Second Language Acquisition

BICS and CALP Linguistic interdependence

hypothesis

Pledge of Allegiance

I pledge a lesson to the frog of the United States of America. And to the wee puppet for witch's hands. One Asian, in the vestibule,  with little tea and just rice for all.

Betty Bao Lord 

TYPES OF LANGUAGE SKILLS

BICSBasic

Interpersonal Communication Skills

CALPCognitive

Academic Language Proficiency

BICS

CALP

The iceberg metaphor

Which is Which?

Takes up to 2 years

Face-to-face communication

Survival English

Playground language

Takes 5-7 years Specific

vocabulary Complex

sentence structure Higher level

thinking skills School language

Cummins’ Theories of Second Language Acquisition BICS vs CALP

Takes up to 2 years

Face-to-face communication

Survival English

Playground language

Takes 5-7 years Specific

vocabulary Complex

sentence structure Higher level

thinking skills School language

Literacy Research and ELLs

Factors resulting in individual variances Motivation (Extrinsic and Intrinsic) First Language Development Prior Schooling Language Distance and Attitude Access to the Target Language Age Personality and Learning Style Peers and Role Models Quality of Instruction Cultural Background OthersAdapted from Using the SIOP Model (2002). Center for Applied Linguistics.

Normal processes of second-language acquisition

Language Interference or Transfer

Silent Period Code-switching Language Loss Dysfluency (associated with

lack of vocabulary, word finding difficulties and/or anxiety)

Fossilization

Four Corners Activity

Good teaching is good teaching. Agree, Strongly Agree, Disagree, Strongly

Disagree

Literacy instruction for ELLs should mirror literacy instruction for native English speakers: Agree, Strongly Agree, Disagree, Strongly

Disagree

Essential Components of Reading

National Reading Panel: Phonemic Awareness Phonics Fluency Vocabulary development Text comprehension

http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/reading_first1.html

A Cautionary Tale

What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language

Learners?

By Suzanne Irujo (2007)

CAUTION: Phonological Awareness for ELLs

1. ELLs cannot develop phonological awareness in English until they are familiar with the sounds of English.

2. Once explicit instruction has begun, modifications must be made to allow for more practice with sounds that can potentially cause confusion.

CAUTION: Phonics for ELLs

1. ELLs often have difficulty discriminating between similar sounds because the English language does not have a regular system of correspondence between letters and sounds.

2. Advanced decoding skills may develop, while reading comprehension will not if students' oral language proficiency is not developed to the level of the texts they are expected to read. For this reason, reading instruction should be combined with intensive development of the oral language.

3. Practicing skills must be embedded in meaningful texts helps ensure that decoding skills don't progress beyond students' ability to comprehend the text.

CAUTION: Fluency for ELLs ELLs cannot achieve fluency in oral reading before they

have achieved fluency in speaking.Students' own language experience stories are a very good choice, as are read-alouds that students have heard several times and discussed.

ELLs' normal self-consciousness about accents and errors can affect their reading fluency, especially if they are asked to read aloud in front of the entire class.

Decoding skills, fluency in oral reading, and reading comprehension interact in various ways.Effective instruction for ELLs integrates these three elements of reading (plus vocabulary learning) into the same lessons using the same text, as each element helps build and reinforce the others, producing a multiplier effect.

Photo Big Books

Tour the school buildingSchool yard, park, neighborhood walksTripsRetelling published stories

CAUTION: Vocabulary for ELLs

1. Failure to understand even a few words of a text can have negative effects on comprehension.

2. ELLs need more vocabulary instruction than their native-speaking peers.

3. ELLs need instruction in different vocabulary words than their native-speaking peers.

4. ELLs need different vocabulary teaching techniques and strategies than their native-speaking peers.

CAUTION: Vocabulary for ELLs

What ELLs need: words that are crucial for understanding a text; words that are encountered in a wide variety of contexts; frequently used words that contain word parts (roots,

prefixes, suffixes) that can help students analyze other unknown words;

words with multiple meanings, whether spelled differently (homophones such as to, two, and too) or spelled the same (such as a dining room table and a multiplication table);

figurative language and idiomatic expressions; academic words that indicate relationships among other

words (such as because, therefore, and since to indicate cause and effect).

Vocabulary: What ELLs Need

Avoid simply handing out lists of definitions or asking ELLs to put the words into sentences

ELLs who are literate in a language should be taught to recognize cognates and use them to create meaning.

The meanings of words are acquired through multiple opportunities to hear, say, read, and write the words in slightly different meaningful contexts.

Explicit explanations of unknown words should include contextual support through real objects, pictures or drawings, gestures, examples, demonstrations, or experiments that accompany the verbal explanations.

The use of context clues to infer meaning is not always successful with ELLs because they may not understand the context well enough to infer an accurate meaning.

Two Essential Criteria for Choosing Words

Importance and Utility

MILEAGE

Conceptual Understanding

POWER

Differentiated Vocabulary InstructionLevel 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

wavesoceanwaterto riseto fallenergybigtallsurfer

tides

high tide

low tide

Earth

Moon

force

gravity

sand

beach

sea life

tide pools

pollution

oil spill

recreation

disaster

harm

facing (away from)

mess

shore

ashore

blue whale

rescue

wash up onto

transportation

trading, to trade goods

to contaminate

“I SEE” Strategy

I= Illustrate: What does ____ look like? What image(s) come to mind?

S= State in one simple sentence what ____ is. Use your own words.

E= Elaborate on what you have just stated.

E= Examples. Add examples.

What might beginner ELLs understand?

___________ cars are _____ __ ___ top __ ___ first ____ __ _ _____. ____ ______ _____ ___ car ___ ___ ____ __ ___ ____. ___ ______ down ___ first ____ ______ __ ______ _____ ___ ___ cars __ ___ __ ___ ____ ____ ___ __ __ _____ ___ end ___ ___ ____.

What Might Intermediate ELLs Understand in English?

Roller-coaster cars ___ ______ __ ___ top of the first hill ___ _ _____. Then _______ moves the car for the rest of the ____. The _____ down the first hill ______ __ enough speed for the cars __ ___ __ the next hill ___ ___ __ _____ the end of the ____.

What Might Advanced ELLs Understand in English?

Roller-coaster cars ___ pulled ___ the top of the first hill ___ a chain. Then gravity moves the car for the rest of the ride. The _____ down the first hill _____ __ enough speed ___ the cars to ___ __ the next hill and __ __ until the end of the ride.

CAUTION: Reading Comprehension for ELLs

Asking ELLs to read the same texts and do the same activities as everybody else will only result in frustration for teachers and failure for students.

Implement the curriculum at a language level that makes it accessible to ELLs, while at the same time working to develop their oral language so they will be able to comprehend texts at higher levels.

Provide as much nonverbal support for reading comprehension as possible, including pictures, diagrams, real objects, gestures, acting, and graphic organizers.

Explicitly teach comprehension strategies, such as reader-generated questions, summarizing, and monitoring comprehension. Teaching strategies is not enough; students must practice them with texts that are accessible at their level of language proficiency. If students don't experience successful application of the strategies, they won't even try to use them with other texts.

Plan interactive activities around reading and interpreting texts.

CAUTION: Reading Comprehension for ELLs

ELLs are more likely than native speakers to lack the background knowledge necessary for understanding texts.

The language level of the text to be read, compared with ELLs' language proficiency, is a major factor in how much they will understand of the text.Even advanced ELLs will experience difficulty with unusual vocabulary, figurative language, very complex sentence structures, or unfamiliar styles and genres. For this reason, the integration of intensive language development with reading instruction is highly recommended for ELLs at all levels of language proficiency.

Summary of Key Issues

Research on ELLs and literacy Second language acquisition and multiliteracy

development Cultural, socio-economic, affective, and

academic challenges ELLs face Meaning at the CENTER of all literacy

instruction Differentiated instruction for all ELLs

Let’s Help ELLs Follow the

Yellow Brick Road:From Grappling to Grasping to

Comprehending

Build their language

Touch their heart

Give them courage

Then take the yellow brick

road so they can feel at home