Running head: Literacy Needs of English Learners 1
A Description of Literacy Needs of English Learners
Elizabeth Antobam
La Sierra University
Running head: Literacy Needs of English Learners 2 California has many immigrants who come to work and stay to get a better education for themselves and their children. I am a perfect example of this. I speak three different local dialects as well as English as a second language. Even though English is the language of instruction in classrooms in my country of origin, it is taught differently and there are not enough resources to help students become proficient in the language. As an English learner, I find it difficult to believe that knowing and speaking a native language very well helps in learning English language. I believe that students taking English as a second language can become proficient in English when they are equipped with all the necessary resources they need to progress in English language. For students learning English, making reading, writing, listening and speaking of the language fun will make it easier and less stressful for them to learn. In California, students learning English as a second language are required take the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) every year to determine their placement in the English Language Development program. There are many factors affecting the performance of these students in the CELDT, therefore, knowing their difficulties and finding strategies and resources to help them progress and to become proficient in English is key to every school in California. Learning a second language can be very challenging. When a student whose first language is not English is identified, the student is tested using the CELDT to determine the students proficiency level and find strategies to help the student. CELDT is used to assess the students writing, reading, speaking and listening skills for appropriate placement. According to the California Department of Education website, students are tested for English language proficiency as early as kindergarten. Students from private schools, from out of state and from out of the country are also tested for placement. Students are placed in ELD programs depending Running head: Literacy Needs of English Learners 3 on their proficiency. The stages of the test are beginning, early intermediate, intermediate, early advanced and advanced. According to the California department of Education, there are 1,346,333 English learners in California public schools. Below is a data from www.cde.ca.gov with some of the top ten languages spoken by these students. 1. Spanish: 84.67 percent 2. Vietnamese: 2 .3 percent 3. Pilipino (Filipino or Tagalog): 1.4 percent 4. Cantonese: 1.3 percent 5. Mandarin: 1.1 percent 6. Arabic: 1.0 percent 7. Hmong: .09 percent 8. Korean: 0.8 percent 9. Punjabi: 0.6 percent 10. Russian: 0.5 percent
Parents of these students may not speak or understand English, and it may be very difficult for students who do not get parental involvement with their education to perform well on the test. For this reason, I think when this problem is identified, parents could be given the opportunity to learn the language in order to help their children regardless of whether the school is a Title I or not. Also, English learners who get family support while learning English have a chance of doing better and moving to the advanced level faster than students who do not get any family support, and this is true with education in general. Even though there could be a student who genuinely has a special need as well as an English learner, a number of English learners may be incorrectly placed in the special education program. Some major problems in the English language development program are misidentification of English learners and over identification of English language learners for special education. Running head: Literacy Needs of English Learners 4 Also, teachers need extra help, more aides and resources to give the students the support they need. About three months ago, I visited a school that has students who need help in reading. Majority of these students were English learners. In this class, there was one particular student who needed extra help, probably a one-on-one instruction. This student was listening to the reading on audio because he could only read about two percent of his work. I realized that this student needed so much help to identify words, to recognize words, in reading fluency and help needed to understand the text. This student was left alone to do his own thing and the teacher checked on him every once in a while because the teacher was alone. I would be surprised to see this student get to the advanced level of the CELDT soon, because he needs more help than is being given. This student needs to be engaged in many English language development activities to help him climb the CELDT ladder and to boost his confidence level. Areas of need for English learners are vocabulary, fluency, academic language, background knowledge and comprehension. Students need direct instruction to use new vocabulary to form Standard English sentences. As English learners acquire more vocabulary they will be able to better comprehend what they are reading and better express what they want to write. Asking them to write new vocabulary with their meanings in a log and use them in their writing could enrich students vocabulary. Herrell & Jordan (2012) indicate that using realia, visuals and hands-on activities will enhance a students vocabulary. Students can act out new words, see it in a picture, or use real life products to learn vocabulary. Field trips also help students get a better understanding and experience new concepts as well as new words. The more vocabulary students have, the more fluent they will become. Fluency is another need for English learners. Students need to read with accuracy and speed to enable comprehension. In order to assess a students fluency, she can be timed to read a Running head: Literacy Needs of English Learners 5 selection and check for errors. Encouraging reading with expression and change in tone enhances the reader and listener to understand what is being read. English learners could also record themselves reading aloud and listen to recording later for self-assessment. Academic language is another need for English learners. This is the language used for instruction in the classroom. Students need to be familiar with certain language structures in order to understand academic language. Teachers can model the functions of the language for students and give them something to practice on independently so they can use it in subsequent lessons. Because of cultural differences, checking a students background knowledge before introducing a new topic is very crucial. Taking a book walk with students, asking questions from the text and using KWL will be a good tool to activate background knowledge (Herrell & Jordan p.74). Modeling or demonstrating what is being learned for students to see will enhance comprehension. Another strategy to enhance comprehension is to ask students to retell verbally and/or write a summary of a selection they have read to improve comprehension. They can learn to use context and picture clues to understand a text. Predicting what will happen in text and drawing conclusions about a selection can help students understand what they read. Students can also talk to a peer or have a group discussion to agree on meaning. Among these strategies, I have observed teachers use modeling, visualizing, asking questions, and summarizing, I have never seen KWL in the classrooms that I have observed. More importantly, teachers need enough resources to identify English learners in their classrooms. One of the resources to assess and plan an effective program for the English learner is an informal multiple intelligences survey. This is used to determine the students area of intelligence, which could either be linguistic, logical - mathematical, spatial, bodily - kinesthetic, Running head: Literacy Needs of English Learners 6 musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist. If the teacher knows the students and how they learn, the teacher could use this to help the student master a skill. Another resource is the Informal Reading Inventory (IRI). This inventory has three levels - the independent reading level, instructional reading level, frustration reading level. Teachers can use an IRI to assess students reading and then use that information to provide students with appropriate reading materials that are at their reading levels. Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) is a researched based strategy that helps student to learn academic language as they become proficient in English. According to Sheltered Instruction Observation website, the SIOP Model has eight components: Lesson Preparation Building Background Comprehensible Input Strategies Interaction Practice/Application Lesson Delivery Review & Assessment This strategy when used will help improve English learners understanding of academic language. Above all, to be a highly qualified teacher requires passing many tests of competency. A teacher in California must prove competence in the subject area taught, (Multiple Subjects Test for Elementary schools and Single Subject Test for Secondary Schools) and pass a Reading Instruction Competency Assessment (RICA) in addition to fieldwork or internship. In brief, parents or families of English Learners need to be educated about CELDT. I didnt know what CELDT was and why the test was administered until my daughter started public school. I remember filling out a form about the languages spoken at home. Next, I Running head: Literacy Needs of English Learners 7 received CELDT results from her school indicating her placement level and that she had been classified as English learner. I wasnt very happy because she could read very well all by herself in kindergarten and answer questions from her reading. Even though we spoke a different language at home, we read to her every day, and she also read to herself as part of her homework every evening while in kindergarten. The following year she was tested out of the program. Before taking language and literacy K-8, I had a different view about CELDT, and I believe other parents may also have questions about it. The reason for the CELDT is very important, but parents need to be informed about it and learn some strategies in order to help their kids at home. Parents also need to be educated about how important it is for English Learners to get family support to become competent in the language.
Running head: Literacy Needs of English Learners 8 References
Facts about English Learners in California CalEdFacts. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sd/cb/cefelfacts.asp Herrell A. L., Jordan, Michael. (2012). 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners. Fourth Edition, Boston, MA. Pearson Education Inc. Online Writing Lab General Format. (2014). Retrieved from Owl.english.purdue.edu Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/siop/about/index.html State of California Commission on Teacher Credentialing Basic Skill Requirement. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/leaflets/cl667.pdf Strategies and Resources for Mainstream Teachers of English Language Learners. (2014) Retrieved from http://educationnorthwest.org/sites/default/files/ell.pdf