ESL: Every Student Learns

to WriteAmanda Baker

2010 SWP

I’m Learning to Speak English, Por Favor

Be pashunt please, I don’t know how to spellOr read or write your language.  Por favor,

I’m learning to speak English—ESL.  And I am getting better, I can tell.

“The bull is mad.  Be carefull, matadoor!”           Be payshent please, I don’t know how to spell.

For words like ant and aunt or bell and belle,You must know what the extra letter’s for.

I’m learning to speak English—ESL. 

My teacher said I’m going to excell.Excell. A word worth 50 cents—or more!            

Be paishunt please, I don’t know how to spell. 

She told me that I’d fall…. I did!  I fell                      Into meaty words like a…carnivore!    

I’m learning to speak English—ESL. 

I want to know my nouns and verbs so well                       That someday I will get a perfect score.

Be patient (!) with me while I learn to spellAnd write and speak in English—ESL.

-J. Patrick Lewis

Did you get that?

Lets slow it down and use some

prompts.

Did you get it then?

Think..Pair..Share

How did you feel?

“I felt different from everyone else… I couldn’t really be with anybody because they couldn’t understand me and I couldn’t understand them. There was no way I could try to make things better for myself. It was hard just feeling bad.

I felt it was hard for me to tell them all that I felt, express it all; so I just kept some feelings inside myself.”

Immigrant Children From ChinaAges 10-11

The Inner World of the Immigrant ChildCristina Igoa

Feelings an ESL Child Might Go Through

_________________________________________________

* Isolation- always into their work or staring off

* Exhaustion- from sounds of a new language and all the strange sights and events in a new culture

*Loneliness- feeling the child gets when he/she is alone, different, and separate

*Struggle in School- students feel like they are being rushed to learn and start to struggle

“Cultural Differences- the culture will affect how the student values education and learns”

The Inner World of an Immigrant Childby: Cristina Iso

Activity Time

Look at a cultural scenario. Discuss in your group what

you think is causing the problem.

“Most ESL students are not only trying to learn to write

in English, they are also trying to learn how to read

and speak in English.”-Theresa Tighe

How long does it take to learn English?

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.

Students who were below grade level in native language literacy also took 7-10 years to reach the 50th percentile. Many of these students never reached grade level norms.

- Thomas & Collier

Stages of Language AcquisitionStage Student Characteristics Approximate Time

Frame

Preproduction

Often verbally unresponsiveHas minimal comprehensionMay be silent; no class participationDraws or points to show understanding

0-6 months

Early Production

Produces one or two word answersHas limited comprehensionParticipates in classUnderstands key words and known phrasesDepends heavily on context to grasp meaning

6 months- 1 year

Speech Emergence

Produces simple sentencesHas good comprehensionParticipates but makes grammar and/or pronunciation mistakesMore fluent oral responses

1-3 years

Intermediate Fluency

Produces complex sentences Has excellent comprehensionMakes few, if any grammatical errorsContinued difficulty understanding humor and slangLanguage approaching academic levels

3-5 years

Advanced Fluency

Approaching native level of fluencyFluent grade level comprehensionAt an academic level of English proficiencyMay still struggle with idioms and slang

5-7 years

Why do ESL students struggle with writing? ESL students have limited vocabulary. ESL students are reluctant to use invented spelling. Content being restricted to words they know how to spell. Some verb tenses are inaccurate- write in present tense. The chaotic structure and grammar of student’s

composition make their writing difficult to understand. Students are reluctant to share their work. When they do share their work they prefer to do it with

another ESL student, and that student can not give appropriate feedback.

When an ESL student reads their writing aloud, they have no sense of what sounds right and what does not.

Writing is more formal. Written English has more reflection. Expectations are much higher for formal written English.

Six Stages of Writing

1. Drawing a picture2. Scribble write3. Writing via letter like forms4. Writing via reproducing well-learned

units or letter strings5. Writing using invented spelling6. Writing with conventional spelling

GOAL!!!!!

What should you not do?

Do not expect ESL students to free-write in English.

Do not have ESL students write in journals every night at home unless you are going to read them every night.

Do not assign open-ended topics to ESL students.

Do not expect students who are not fluent in English to self-edit.

-Judie Haynes and Debbie Zacarian

What SHOULD you do?

Vocabulary Book- you must start with the basics first and with pictures

Survival Notebook Have them write in their native language: you can have

them alternate days- two days in native language and two days in English

Respond to literature Word walls or an individual wall dictionary Let them copy sentences or make lists Pick one skill to work on at a time. i.e. verb tense Allow your students to spend more time in the prewriting

stage. Have the students develop a topic orally with a small group. Chart facts about a nonfiction topic. This will strengthen

the link between oral and written language. Have students read the facts from the chart aloud.

More Strategies

Use graphic organizers to introduce the skill of arranging information for writing. Have students learn to write from this organizer.

Use sentences on your organizer rather than phrases. ESL students have a hard time to go from notes to comprehensible sentences.

Be more hands-on when editing and revising. Research said ESL students need to be taught the writing

process… prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing, and celebration.

ESL students should write about what they know. Get parents involved- send home writing packs or have

“Family Write Nights”.

Even More Strategies

Label the room Avoid slang, colloquial language and idioms (i.e. mash the

button, fixin to). Model your own writing Morning Message- If you write down the day’s activities on

the board as you say the words, you model the organizational function of writing and the form.

Dialogue journals- ask a student a question and respond to them with something about you and another question.

Alphabet Books- create a word for each letter of the alphabet Read alouds Vocabulary journals- when a student comes across a new

word when reading- they write it down with the sentence.

Katie Wood Ray Would Be Happy to Hear This One:

“Read like a Writer”ESL students NEED model texts. Have them notice specific things that writers do. You might have to take it down a level or two.Teach nonfiction reading writing first. This type of instruction gives ESLs language chunks that they can use in their writing.

What are some strategies you can take back to your classroom?

Let’s Work!!!

Why is writing essential for an ESL student to learn?

Writing is essential for all students!! People must be able to fill out applications, communicate,

get into schools, etc. no matter what language they speak.

What was I thinking!!!!

* ESL students do have to work harder at writing and are normally behind in this area.

“Once children learn how to learn, nothing is going to narrow their mind. The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another.”

-Marva Collins

“Non-native = Non-intelligent!”

- Dr. David Marlow

Resources

1. Into English! by Josefina V. Tinajero and Alfredo Schifini

2. Reading, Writing and Learning in ESL by Suzanne F. Peregoy and Owen F. Boyle

3. The Inner World of the Immigrant Child by Cristina Igoa

4. www.colorincolorado.org

5. “Tips for Teaching ELLs to Write” by Judie Haynes

6. “Crestwood Elementary Students Study Foreign Language: English” by Theresa Tighe

7. www.everythingESL.net

8. 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners Adrienne L. Herrell and Michael Jordan

9. Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas Judie Haynes and Debbie Zacarian