EDEF 404 Student Case Study 1

EDEF 404 Student Case Study

Darcy MK Shioji

University of Hawaii at West Oahu

EDEF 404: Teaching Culturally Linguistically Diverse Learners

 EDEF 404 Student Case Study 2

I. Identification of the Subject:

Julie James is a fourteen year old girl that attends Bellcamp High School. She is currently

a freshman and her math teacher is Mrs. Ariel Samson. Julie is 100% Filipino, however she was

born and raised in Italy. Julie James knows three languages: Italian, English, and Tagalog. Italian

is her first language, English is her second language, and Tagalog is her third language.

II. Information Source:

One method used to gather information was an interview with Julie. The interview was

conducted at the end of the class period, and took about fifteen to twenty minutes. The interview

contained both standard and personality types of questions. The standard questions were

gathering basic information about Julie’s life. She was asked about her family, home life, likes

and dislikes, hobbies, etc. The personality type questions asked Julie how she views herself, how

she likes to think, etc. Julie gave well thought out answers and went into detail.

Another method used to gather information was a checklist from a career preparation

activity that Julie filled out in homeroom. The checklist activity was to determine if the students

felt that they would be able to sell themselves to potential employers. The checklist had students

looking at different aspects of themselves and rating themselves based off of a scale. Julie rated

herself and then wrote some comments about herself on the checklist.

The third method used to gather information was observations. Some of the observations

were done before class in the hallways during the passing period. This is when most of the social

aspects of Julie were observed. This observation was an informal observation done right before

Mrs. Samson’s third period math class. The rest of the observations were done during class. This

is when other aspects of Julie were observed. Any observations were noted in a notebook for
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references. The observation was a formal observation that was conducted during Mrs. Samson’s

third period math class.

Another method used to gather information is conversations with Mrs. Samson. Julie was

actually recommended for this case study by Mrs. Samson. The private discussions were held

during lunch before Julie’s class. Most of the conversations were just casual conversations about

Julie. This is also when Julie’s grades were viewed. Julie’s grades were another method to gather

information about her academic aspect.

III. Background Information

Julie James comes from a family of five. Her parents are still together and she has two

younger siblings; a younger brother and younger sister. Julie stated that her family is a middle

class socioeconomic family that lives with their aunty. Julie’s dad is currently here on Oahu,

while her mother is in Italy right now. Her mom is still in Italy because of her job, but they do

get to visit her occasionally in Italy. Julie knows that her mom’s highest educational achievement

was completing high school in the Philippines, however she was unsure if her dad had completed

high school. Julie’s mom works as an office cleaner in Italy, and her father cuts fish at Seafood

City in Waipahu.

Julie says that she has a great relationship with her family. She uses FaceTime to video

chat with her mom over the weekends. She stated that she misses her mom, but she knows that

they will go and visit her in Italy soon. Julie’s dad is always working so she hardly sees him.

When Julie and her siblings get home from school, her aunty is usually the one to take care of

them by cooking food for them. Julie is in charge of her younger siblings when they get home
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from school. She stated that she will help them with their homework, and then play with them

when they are all finished with their homework.

At home, the main language that is spoken is Italian. Occasionally, they will speak some

Tagalog. In Julie’s household, family always comes first. She was taught to look out for her

siblings and to take care of them when her dad is at work. Julie’s parents value education and

encourage Julie to help her siblings out with their homework after school. Julie and her siblings

have chores to do around the house as well. Julie does her chores, and then helps her younger

siblings with their chores when she’s done. The climate of their home in Italy is very warm and

welcoming. Julie said that they have family pictures posted all over their house in Italy. The

climate of their house on Oahu is also warm and welcoming, however there are no family

pictures up around the house because they are living with their aunty and all their family pictures

are in Italy.

Julie is of average height for a girl in 9th grade. She is more towards the taller side of the

average. Julie is skinny and a light skinned Filipino. She has long black hair with side bangs.

Most of the time, Julie’s hair is up in a ponytail with her bangs covering her forehead. Julie has

big round eyes as well. She has a strong Filipino accent, however occasionally her Italian accent

will come out when she is talking about Italy.

Julie attended elementary school in Italy. She did three school sports while in elementary

school: gymnastics, Kung Fu, and swimming. Also in elementary school, Julie took English

classes. These classes were offered at her elementary school and this is how she learned to speak

English. After elementary school, she attended middle school at another school in Italy.

Unfortunately, when Julie attend middle school, she stopped participating in school sports.
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Instead of playing sports, Julie started to pick up instruments and started playing music. Julie

came to Bellcamp High School in November of 2018. She has only been here for four months,

and she has already adapted to the American school system.

IV. Characteristics That Signify the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learner:

Julie said that her favorite subjects in school are English and music class. According to

Mrs. Samson’s class records, Julie’s current math grade is an A. She is at the top of her ELL

Algebra I math class. According to Julie, her current English and band grade is also an A. She

currently has a B in both science and history.

Julie loves to draw. In her free time she likes to sketch pictures in her sketch pad. She

also enjoys listening to music. Julie enjoys most types of song genres, except country music.

Julie likes to listen to music in all three of her languages. Depending on her mood, sometimes

she will listen to Italian music, other times she’ll listen to the current pop songs in English.

During family parties, Julie’s family likes to sing karaoke and most of the songs will be in

Tagalog. Julie also likes to play musical instruments. The three instruments that she knows how

to play are guitar, drums, and bass guitar. Julie’s favorite color is purple. Her pencil case, binder,

and backpack are purple. Julie likes to watch police television shows. Her absolute favorite show

is NCIS, however she enjoys watching anything that is crime and mystery related.

Julie does her best thinking at night right before bed. She likes to think when it is dark

and quiet in her room. Julie is usually lying in bed, about to fall asleep, when she does her

thinking. She does her thinking alone and hardly ever shares her thoughts with others.

Occasionally listening to music will also help Julie think. She says that music helps her focus on

her thinking and it drowns out the distractions around her.

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As far as Julie’s academic dimension, Julie is a visual and kinesthetic learner. She can

look at the math workbook, and figure out the work on her own. She tries out the problems and

then asks Mrs. Samson to check her work and answers. If she gets it correct, then Julie will move

on to the rest of the problems on her own without any help. If she doesn’t get it correct, she is not

afraid to ask for help to get further clarification on where she went wrong. According to Julie,

she feels that she learns best when the content is interesting. If the math problems incorporate

something related to music or sports, then she will be more interested in learning it and pay more

attention to the lesson. Julie says that math is the easiest subject, followed by English. Math is

easy for her because it just makes sense to her and she is just good and confident with numbers.

She likes that math is straightforward and there is only one answer. English is the second easiest

subject to her because it is her favorite subject. Julie enjoys learning more about the English

language. There are a lot of rules and exceptions in English, so she feels that she is always

learning something new in that class.

Julie is an independent learner. She does most of her learning in Mrs. Samson’s class on

her own. Because Julie is at the top of her class, she is allowed to move ahead in the workbook at

her own pace. She doesn’t need to pay attention to the lessons in class, instead she moves on to

the next sections. When Julie has completed all the sections of the chapter, then she is allowed to

take the summative whenever she is ready. According to Mrs. Samson, Julie doesn’t have to wait

for the rest of the class to take the summative. She comes in on her own time to take the

summative, and then she moves on to the next chapter of the workbook. Julie is only a few

sections ahead of her class. She tries not to move too fast on her own because she doesn’t want to

leave her friends behind. According to Mrs. Samson, although Julie is an independent learner,
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she likes to help her friends out with their work during class. She works well with, not only her

friends, but also her other peers in the class. Since Julie is usually ahead in class, her friends

would ask her for help first, before they ask Mrs. Samson. Mrs. Samson’s ELL math class

consists of about 30 students. Since Mrs. Samson is the only teacher in the room, she allows Julie

to assist her friends, so that Mrs. Samson can work with the other students.

The first language the Julie learned was Italian. This was her first language because she

was born and raised in Italy. The second language that Julie learned was English. She learned

English in elementary school because the school that she attended in Italy offered English

classes. The final language that Julie learned was Tagalog. She learned this language by

constantly visiting her family in the Philippines, and she slowly picked up the language just by

being immersed in the language and culture there. By the time Julie was in middle school, she

could speak three languages. According to Mastering ESL/EFL Methods by Socorro Herrera and

Kevin Murry, Julie is in the speech emergence stage of second and third language acquisition

(Herrera, 2016).

Even though Italian is her first language, Julie said that it’s the hardest language for her.

Italian is the main language that her family speaks at home. When she visits her family in the

Philippines, then she uses Tagalog. She also uses Tagalog when she talks to her friends. During

class, Julie is allowed to speak any language she chooses, however, if she is addressing the

teacher or asking a question, then she is required to use English. She claims that she only uses

English during her classes, and all other times it’s either Tagalog or Italian. Based off of

observations, Julie is mostly in the humor phase of the U-curve (Herrera, 2016). She respects the

different languages, and she laughs when she makes mistakes or can’t find the word she wants to
 EDEF 404 Student Case Study 8

use in the language she wants. She doesn’t get frustrated too often and understands that she is

still learning new things in the three languages. The only time Julie seems to cross to the hostility

phase of the U-curve is when she has a test using her second or third language. The hostility

phase occurs when there is frustration with a language and it seems to be incomprehensible

(Herrera, 2016). For example, to exit the ELL program at Bellcamp High, students need to take

multiple tests to prove that they are able to comprehend, speak, and write in English. This is the

only time that Julie will stress over English. She doesn’t necessarily get hostile with it, but it

does upset her and make her frustrated when she can’t recall the English version of the word she

wants to use. Also the word “test” seems to freak Julie out, so she stresses even more about it.

Julie is developing very well in the social dimension. Even though she just moved to

Bellcamp High School about four months ago, she already has made friends with many of her

peers. She mostly hangs out in a group of six girls. All six girls speak Tagalog and they all hang

out before school, during lunch, and even after school. Occasionally they will see each other over

the weekends to hang out and sometimes they will also have sleepovers. When Julie comes to

class, she always walks in with her group of friends and they all sit together in a group. This

group of girls are always laughing, telling stories, and having a great time. Julie is always willing

to help her friends during class and also talk story when they finish their work early. If Mrs.

Samson requires students to work in groups, then Julie will always ask her friends to be her

partners. In situations where Mrs. Samson assigns groups, Julie is more shy and reserved.

As far as Julie’s cultural dimension, she loves coming from three different cultures. Even

though she is 100% Filipino, she incorporates the Italian, American, and Filipino cultures into

her life. Julie states that she thinks it is fun to speak three different languages. Sometimes she
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will mix two of the languages into one sentence when she is talking to her parents just for fun.

Julie loves to visit her family in the Philippines. Her family tries to travel out there at least once a

year. Julie is proud of who she is and her culture. Unfortunately, Bellcamp High School has

uniforms, so she is required to wear her uniform. Even though she isn’t able to express her

culture on her clothing, she expresses it in other ways. On her binder cover, she has pictures of

her friends and family members. Julie says that she has little souvenirs and pictures of her culture

in her room.

V. General Appraisal, Recommendations, and Predictions:

Based off of all the information collected, Julie’s academic strengths are mathematics and

music. She performs well in math class, and is willing to help out her classmates in need. She

tries her best to stay a little bit ahead of her classmates and works well independently. Music is

also Julie’s strength because she is naturally good at it. She learned how to play the guitar, bass

guitar, and the drums before entering high school. Julie also has strong problem solving skills.

Working independently requires Julie to solve problems on her own and work though the

problems. By having strong problem solving skills, Julie is a successful independent student who

needs little to no direction from the teacher when it comes to mathematics. Another strength of

Julie’s is that she is very academically motivated. She doesn’t need much encouragement to do

well in school. She goes right to work with no complaints and is hardly ever off task. She is very

focused and motivated when in class and it shows through her grades.

One area of improvement for Julie is procrastination. Because the math work is so easy

for Julie, she will usually wait until the night before to complete homework or projects. She has

never missed an assignment or gotten a horrible grade on it; however, she should be completing
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her assignments early so that she doesn’t need to worry about them later on. Procrastination is a

minor area of concern for Julie because she will usually always have things done by the due date.

Working on time management skill will help Julie with her procrastination. I would suggest

using a planner to help her record everything that needs to be done and then prioritizing the

important things first. Julie also helps her younger siblings with their homework and plays with

them too. Thus, the planner will help Julie manage her time so that she can get to everything she

needs to do as well as spend time with her siblings. Julie also puts her siblings before herself, so

if her siblings need help with their homework she will help them first before working on her own

homework. Being able to manage her time better will allow her to complete thing on time and

focus on what she needs to complete.

Another area of improvement is taking initiative in both her academic life as well as

personal life. Academics wise, Julie needs to take more initiative in her group assignments and

projects. When Julie works with others, she goes along with everyone else’s ideas and

suggestions. Julie should take initiative and lead the group. She has the potential to become a

leader. She works well with others and is very determined, so she would make a great leader in

her class.

One recommendation for Julie would be to provide more challenging work for her,

especially in her math class. Since Julie considers math the easiest school subject, this would be

the perfect place to challenge her. A lot of math concepts bleed into each other, so finding more

challenging assignments would be beneficial to Julie. You can always go more in-depth with

incorporating more word problems or increasing the numbers. For example, Julie just learned the

different forms of quadratics in her class. One way to challenge her is to have her compare and
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contrast the three different forms and write about what each one is used for. Having her compare,

contrast, and write will not only challenge her mathematically, but it will also get her to practice

her English. Math isn’t always about numbers; mathematicians need to explain why they used a

certain formula, how they picked which numbers to plug in, etc. By getting Julie to think in this

sort of way will challenge her and push her to work harder. Adding in more contextual problems

would also challenge Julie’s mathematical abilities and push her to think outside the box. I would

also recommend that Julie present her work to her peers so that it gives the work more meaning

and her peers can see just how smart and talented she is. This will help her break out of her circle

of friends and maybe even make more friends among her peers.

Another recommendation for Julie is to have her help the other students when she

completes assignments early. It already appears as though Julie likes to help people. For

example, she likes to help her siblings with their homework, and she also helps her friends in

class. Therefore, I can conclude that Julie likes to help people, and this should be used to her

advantage. By having Julie help her other classmates and not just her friends, the class could

probably move faster through the content and less students will be left behind. There is only one

teacher in the class, so Julie could also help out Mrs. Samson by checking in with other students

and answering questions. Another reason why this is a recommendation is because according to

Mrs. Samson, about 90% of the class speaks Tagalog, which is the same language the Julie

speaks. Thus, if a student needs help and is not understanding the concept in English, Julie could

translate it to Tagalog and guide the student through the content. In this situation, Julie would be

practicing her math skills, practicing her languages, and helping her peers all at the same time.
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Based off of all the information gathered, I can predict with confidence that Julie will go

on to do great things. She is focused, determined, and grounded in her culture. She will be able to

accomplish anything she sets her mind to. Right now she doesn’t have any long term goals or

dreams other than to finish high school. However she has plenty of time to figure out what she

wants to do later on in life, and a strong support system to help her through the struggles.

I can see Julie excelling throughout the rest of her high school career. She is currently

only in her freshman year, and she is already doing very well in all of her classes. As mentioned

earlier, Julie needs to take multiple tests in English to exit the ELL program. I believe that she

will pass this test with flying colors on the first try. I can tell that she takes this test very

seriously and she will study hard for it. Once she is out of the ELL program, I would definitely

recommend that Julie try out an honors or AP class in the future to challenge herself and go on to

bigger and better things. I can also see Julie taking on some sort of leadership position at

Bellcamp high school. She has great people skills and can speak multiple languages. I feel that

by the end of high school Julie will be in the intermediate fluency stage (Herrera, 2016). She is

very motivated and focused on her school work, so adding in a leadership position would only

make her look that much better if or when she applies to colleges. I can see Julie graduating at

the top of her class, maybe even becoming the Valedictorian if she keeps up the hard work and

positive attitude. I feel that Julie will be able to get accepted into any college that she applies to.

Then after high school, I can see her going to her number one college choice and continuing her

education. Julie has the potential to do anything she sets her mind to, and that will take her far in

life.
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References

Herrera, S. G., & Murry, K. G. (2016). Mastering ESL/EFL methods: Differentiated instruction

for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. Boston: Pearson.