Literacy for English

Language Learners
by
Shawn Barron
2011
The Numbers
1990 - 10% of each age group of
children in NZ had English as their
second language
In 2001 the number had increased to
15%
In May 2002, 3.2% of all NZ students
were NESB funded - thats 23,260
Of those, over 1/3 were NZ born
Slightly more than 3/4 are in primary
or intermediate schools
By 2016, 11% of the population under
15 years will claim Asian ethnicity
By 2050 22% will claim Pasifika
ethnicity
Languages spoken by children 0-14 years in NZ
(Franken & McComish, 2007)
(Franken & McComish, 2007 p13)
What they mean:
Students of the NZ Education System currently come from more than
100 different ethnic and language backgrounds
They may enter the NZ school system at any age
They may or may not enter school with literacy in their first language
They may have completely varying ways of learning English:
outgoing and risk-taking, observing before trying, confidence in
conversational English with classmates but not in class
They may be NZ born, migrant, or refugee
17% of the total population is from non- European and non-Maori
backgrounds. This statistic translates equally to the student
population.
(Franken & McComish, 2007)
ESOL in Schools
Most common arrangements within English speaking schools include:
Special resources and support from the mainstream teacher in the
normal class context
Extra in-class support from another teacher or teacher aide
Withdrawal from classes for individual or small group support
Enrollment in timetabled ESOL classes as an option
Short periods in intensive, part-time or full-time, ESOL programmes
Individual support at various times in an ESOL or Learning Support
Centre
(Franken & McComish, 2007)
The First Steps
Getting to know
your
students
backgrounds
can enable
you to teach
them more
effectively
Protocol to Gather Information about Learners:
Name:
External and family characteristics
Country or place of origin
Reasons for coming to NZ
Date of arrival: Born in NZ:
Intended length of stay:
Parents Occupation:
Parents Education:
Parents language and literacy ability:
Uses of literacy at home (specify languages)
Family attitudes toward native language and culture
Family attitudes toward English and NZ culture
Language(s) used at home for speaking
Language(s) used at home for reading/writing
Personal characteristics
Age
Oral proficiency in L1
Oral Proficiency in L2
School Experience
In home country: how long, where, languages used
Current School Experience: how long, languages used
Attitudes toward L1 and L2
Personality Traits
Interests
(Brisk & Harrington, 2007 PP. 211)
Welcoming New Students
Imagine trying to pay attention to this for 6 hours a day.... if you
dont understand a word
How long before your mind starts to wander? How long before
you want to do something else? This is what it feels like for
your new student who speaks no English
Do not force newly arrived students to take part in
English activities right away
Reaching out to new students in their first language is
essential
Make an effort to include their language and culture in
classroom activities
Teach them some helpful phrases in English ie. Can
you repeat that please, I dont understand, I
need help
Make resources available in their first language - books
and a dictionary ie. Chinese-English
Reduce their fears of being lost by giving them an
identity card
QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Find a support system for the student within the
school of students who speak the same
language
Concentrate on the message or intent of the
response and not on formation or grammar
(Ernst-Slavit, Moore, & Maloney, 2002)
(Brisk & Harrington, 2007)
Strategies for Teaching Reading to Beginning
English Learners
Have books available in the students L1
Bilingual books
Immerse students in print once they are ready - label
everything in the classroom and create a word bank
Drawing as re-telling a story
Match words or phrases to pictures of the story read
Give them a partner to read with who is more proficient in
English
Introduce vocabulary words prior to teaching
If another student is available in class who speaks the
same language (though this may be unlikely) use them!
Have them explain the main point of the reading to the
less proficient student
Increase wait time for response to questions
Our goal as teachers is to make these students bilingual
allowing them to learn only through English would be
damaging and discouraging
Many of the literacy skills practices that we
conduct with early readers apply to ELL
students as well. Use shared reading and
cloze activities. Teach active listening and
phonemic awareness.
Bilingual language development is strongly
supported in the research literature and in the
Ministry of Educations own recommendations In
bilingual approaches the use of the students first
language is encouraged because it is considered
to facilitate language and conceptual development
in general, thus leading to improved educational
outcomes.
(Franken & McComish, 2007 pp42)
Strategies for Teaching Reading to Higher
Level English Learners
All of the research indicates that students who are already literate in their first language will
achieve greater and faster success in acquiring English literacy
Research also supports continued instruction in the students L1 which seems to give ELL
students far better literacy skills
Be careful when selecting reading material - Basal readers can offend by looking too
childish and they can in fact hinder older students who have oral language skills beyond
what these books contain. There are basal readers designed specifically for ESL students
Sheltered content instruction - teaching years 4-8 involves teaching extensive content
material that requires specific literacy skills. ELL students require tailored instruction to
access these academic texts - present it at their reading level
LEA - Language Experience Approach
LEA
Language Experience Approach
student relates stories to teacher, students stories are recorded
verbatim without changes or corrections
student reads the story aloud as does the teacher
after a few days the story is reread and discussed - new and difficult
words are written on flashcards for the word bank
students dictation is stapled into book form
student rehearses story and reads it to the teacher, friends etc.
(Gunderson, 2009 pp132)
Example from the English Language Learning
Progressions from ESOL Online
English Lanuage Learning Progressions Years 1-4 A resource for mainstream
ESOL teachers pp21 From ESOL Online
Strategies for Teaching Writing to Beginning
English Learners
Allow students to write in their L1 until they build confidence to build in their L2
Drawing as pre-writing: story board before you write, a common practice with
beginning writers of any language background
Use writing to label photographs with simple sentences
Have a picture dictionary available
For older students have a cross language dictionary available
Allow students to write in their L1 from time to time, the focus is on building a
love for writing not on writing in English
Strategies for teaching writing to higher level
English learners
Dialogue journals: a place for students to write to the teacher and for the teacher to respond. A
personal conversation that is private and can focus on any topic at all. Students grammar is not to be
corrected, though the teacher in turn models appropriate grammar and language. (Brisk & Harrington
2007)
Similarly, Lee Gunderson describes a Writing Conference in which the teacher meets with the student
to discuss in depth their writing and makes comments in a modeled adult style on the back - often a
transcription of what the student has written
Written conversations: between classmates or in the form of letters to pen pals in other classrooms,
schools or countries.
Use computers: it makes everything faster. Teachers and students can interact to review and edit as
students write. Physically it is easier for them to see what they are writing which makes it easier for
them to correct.
Good conversation skills do not necessarily
mean equivalent literacy skillsProficiency in
everyday language can be achieved in one to
two years; however, proficiency in the language
needed to succeed in content-area classes (e.g.
literature, mathematics, chemistry) can take five
to seven years or more.
(Ernst-Slavit, Moore, & Maloney, 2002 pp118)
Teaching Oral Language - Listening and
Speaking
Have students participate in small group discussions instead of whole class
Provide sentence starters and model appropriate statements ie. I thought the
character was because
Drawing can again be useful in getting students to visualise what they want to say
before they say it
Increase wait time for students responses and teach other students to do the same
Allow time for students to share and teach their own language to others, this will
give them a degree and power rather than always feeling like they are behind
everyone else
Students will make frequent mistakes in their speaking as they learn English,
constant correction can exhaust and discourage them. Correction is best done
through gentle modeling of appropriate speech patterns
Paraphrase: repeat back to the student what you think they are trying to say
(Brisk & Harrington, 2007)
The English Language Learning Progressions
Reviewed Resources
Teaching and Learning Sequences
Links to National Standards
An Abundance of Professional Readings
Easiest resource to locate and navigate

There is also a large amount of information
on teaching ESOL within MOE Literacy
texts: Learning Through Talk Years 1-3 and
Years 4-8, and Effective Literacy Practice
Years Years 5 to 8

This is an issue that is being actively and
continuously addressed by the NZ
education system and will inevitably be a
part of almost every NZ teachers required
skills
Assessment Tools and Guidelines
In primary school, good literacy practice for NESB
students would pay careful attention to individual language
development in both (or all) languages, would involve
families, and would create learner-centred, language rich
environments that are both linguistically stimulating and
intellectually challenging(Hudelson, 1994, p151). Some
Schools already achieve this to a large extent.

(Franken & McComish, 2007 pp177)
References
Brisk, M., Harrington, M. (2007) Literacy and Bilingualism 2nd Edition. London: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Ernst-Slavit, G., Moore, M., Maloney, C. (2002) Changing Lives: Teaching English and literature to
ESL Students. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 46(2) pp116-128 (Retrieved from UC Education
Journals library online)
Franken, M., McComish, J. (2007) Improving English Language Outcomes for Students Receiving ESOL
Services in New Zealand Schools, with a Particular Focus on New Immigrants. Report to the Ministry of
Education. Retrieved from Ministry of Education, Education Counts Website:
http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/7441/esolinschools.pdf
Gunderson, Lee. (2009) ESL (ELL) Literacy Instruction: A guidebook to theory and practice 2nd
Edition. New York: Routeledge. very very useful and practical
Linan-Thompson, S., Vaughn, S. (2007) Research Based Methods of Reading Instruction for English
Language learners Grades K-4. Alexandria VA: 2007. ASCD.
ESOL Online - TKI http://esolonline.tki.org.nz