Learning About Language Aquisition: Staying Prepared
Language acquisition is a concept that
all teachers should understand and research, whether they have ELL (English
Language Learners) in their current classroom or not. If we want to effectively
reach every one of our students, the information on this topic is prudent to
look in to. Unfortunately, I do not have any ELL students in my current student
teaching placement, but I can definitely relate to certain strategies that can
be used to effectively reach our ELL students.
Kristina Robertson and Karen Ford
discuss the importance of comprehending language acquisition and how it affects
our students in their article “Language Acquisition: An Overview”. When we
think someone is learning a new language, we might only see it as simple as it
sounds; however, this is far from the case! ELL students have to wrap their
minds around vocabulary, phonological components, grammatical structures, and
writing systems when learning English! This is an enormous feat, and I commend anyone
(especially young adults) who suit up and show up to this challenge.
One piece of the puzzle that I
found interesting is that a lot of the suggested strategies from Robertson and
Ford were parallel to those that also help students with special needs. I am
currently student teaching in an alternative setting, and I was able to refer
to their list for ideas! Reinforcing what my students do right and not focusing
on constant correcting, or utilizing read alouds as a guide for students to
learn to comprehend reading…even “guessing time” would be an awesome activity
for my students! Prompting my students to
“circle words they don't know and write down their guess of the meaning” during
silent reading could have a tremendous effect on their vocabulary. Plus- if every
student participates, no one will feel singled out in terms of not
understanding what a word means. We could go over it as a class, and make a
list of all the words. It could be their vocabulary for the week!
Researching to understand language
acquisition is not only critical in understanding our ELL students, but it is
also a great guide when working with other students. Don’t get me wrong, while
ELL students could benefit from all strategies suggested by Robertson and Ford;
students who speak English as a first/only language won’t qualify for the
entire list of strategies- but having the ideas in our toolbox won’t hurt,
either. We shouldn’t wait to understand this topic until we actually have an
ELL student placed in our classroom; rather, we should become knowledgeable as
soon as possible, so we can be prepared for when the occasion arises.
Resources:
“Language
Acquisition: An Overview” By Kristina Robertson and Karen Ford
http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/language-acquisition-overview#h-stages-of-language-acquisition
Great points, Emily!
ReplyDeleteWe should be ready to encounter everything as a teacher, and if our education program has taught us anything, it is to be adaptable: especially when dealing with students. As far as our ELLs go, we must meet them at their level of linguistic readiness. Just like you wrote in your response, the notion of second-language acquisition is something very daunting. From phonetic awareness to syntax, students require a lot of strategies to help them along this journey of language. The strategies that you listed Emily are great. I am a big proponent of the read aloud when working with students. I believe the read aloud gives students the appropriate phonetic awareness and modeling they need. Along with what I can only surmise as active reading with the circling of "guessing words," I agree that this silent sustained activity will help bloom authentic orthographic and lexical concerns from ELLs. In regards to the idea of making vocabulary words out of authentically uprooted words, I love it. What an enriching way to show these students that you are validating and fostering their intellectual inquires and requests. Overall, I agree with you, Emily. We shouldn't wait for an ELL to be dropped in our hands to know what to do with them. We should meet them at our doors, smiling, with open hearts. After reading this article, my only remaining question is how do we promote our Native English Speakers in helping out ELLs? What strategies could we employ in those students to be seen as another resource of learning for those linguistically challenged?
Emily, you made some good points, and I agree, we shouldn't wait until an ELL is placed in our class to take the time to research language acquisition. We have the means to prepare ourselves in advance and I wish I would have done the research sooner. There are several students scattered throughout my classes who struggle with the reading and the writing assignments that have been assigned to them throughout the school year, so I started the semester with a dialogue journal. The students have grown accustomed to getting out their journals at the start of the hour and writing, but I was so focused on the grading and correcting, that I missed the point of the actual writing activity. Going back to our theory class and appreciating the effort that the students put forth and what they did right as opposed to focusing on all of the things they did wrong is really what these students need as they try to understand who they are as writers.
ReplyDeleteI am having my students annotate an article next week, and giving them simple tasks like circling the unfamiliar words and looking up the definitions is a great way for all of the students to contribute in a way that is beneficial to each of them, but doesn't single anyone out.
Most of the time, my native English speakers do a great job of reading with the ELL for small group reading, but incorporating the think, pair, share is something that could also be very beneficial as it helps students come up with their own questions, answers, predictions, etc. and support it while opening up to the ideas of their peers.
Great points about how these strategies benefit all learners, and nice connections to your current placement, Ms. Hellewell! Thanks for prompting such an engaging dialogue from your colleagues as well!
ReplyDelete