Who are English Learners?. Vocabulary Terms and Definitions Policies and practices pertaining to...

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Who are English Learners?

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VocabularyTerms and Definitions

Policies and practices pertaining to the education of English Learners

are governed by a variety of legislative acts, court decisions, recommendations, and

interpretations thereof at the federal, state, and district levels.

Vocabulary

English Learner

Most recently used term

A person who has significant exposure to a language other than English at home

TESOL

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

An international organization

Common name of university teacher preparatory programs

Vocabulary

ESOL: English for Speakers of Other Languages

TOEFL: Teaching English as a Foreign Language

ESL: English as a Second Language

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

ELL: English Language Learner

LEP: Limited English Proficiency

Vocabulary

Bilingual Learner

Strength approach rather than deficit

Recognizes more complete picture of student

Vocabulary

Sequential Bilinguals

Someone who learned one language, and then another

Students entered school with a language dominance other than English

Students only learned English when they entered school

Characteristic of most English Learners entering USA schools up through 1990’s. Mom

Simultaneous Bilinguals

Someone who learned more than one language from birth on. Kids

Students might enter school without a dominant language (dual dominance)

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Further PossibleClassifications of English

Learners

Immigrant

Move to another country or region to which they are not native in order to settle there

Voluntary

Strong desire and resources to move

Migrant Worker

Someone who is working outside their home country (UN definition) or moves within a country to follow seasonal work (internationally used) Dad

In USA, considered an at-risk population

Federal and state funds and materials available

Adopted

International adoptions Over 8,000 adoptions last year China and Ethiopia

USA born

Refugee

A refugee is a person who is unwilling to remain in their country because of a well-founded fear of being persecuted or killed for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or for holding certain political opinions. Dinka. Wat Tham Krabok.

Resettlement process is begun by the U.S. Department of State along with the Department of Homeland Security.

70,000 yearly in USA

Fox Valley

Family Reunification Cases from Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, and Burma

Catholic Social Services Refugee Resettlement

World Relief

Legal Residents/Citizens

Undocumented Workers/Illegal Aliens

An estimated 12 million in USA; 4% of the population

85 % Hispanic

84,000 in Wisconsin

Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE)

Reasons for Gap War Famine Gender inequality Poverty Lack of Access Fear Broken home/fractured family structure Motivation Lack of understanding of opportunities Lack of resources/support network

Variables: considerations within classifications of

English Learners that may affect language acquisition

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Level of education of student

Level of education of parents

Reason for being in USA

Attitude towards USA

Attitude towards English

Intended length of stay in the USA

Children of visiting professors

military personnel

exchange student

Variables: considerations within classifications of

English Learners that may affect language acquisition

Continuity of education—interrupted education

Value of education

Access to quality instruction

Household fear concerning legality of residency. (Ex.: Ana)

Lack of knowledge of educational rights

Hesitancy to talk about some aspects of their background

Possible traumatic border crossing

Reception of local community Why don’t you go back where you came from?

Variables: considerations within classifications of

English Learners that may affect language acquisition

Present or previous deficits

Nutrition

Sleep

Home resources

Inability to live in home country

Limited access to family, friends and community of home culture

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Fear

Stress

Culture Shock

Parents sacrifice—how far would you walk to feed your family?

Demographics

Over 400 languages spoken by English Learners nationwide

Spanish, Vietnamese, Hmong, Chinese, Cantonese and Korean have the highest number of native speakers in USA today

How has the ELL population changed in recent years?

Relative Growth of ELL’s

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education's survey of the states' limited English proficient students and available educational programs and services, 1991-92 through 2001-2002 summary reports. Supplemented by state publications (1998-99 data), enrollment totals from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 2004-2005 Consolidated State Performance Reports, and data reported by states.

In 1989, the total enrollment of students in elementary and high school was about 40,600,000. In 2006 the enrollment was about 49,000,000. So there was just a just a gentle rise.However, English Language enrollment was about 2,000,000 1989 and by 2006 it had soared to over 5 million.

Projections

Nationwide, the population of English Learners is expected to continue growing relatively faster than monolingual English speakers

Population of English Learners is expected to increase to more than half of the total U.S. population by the year 2050 according to NEA

Translation: in the future, it will be even more likely that you will have an English Learner in your class

Wisconsin

WINSS

Wisconsin's Information Network for Successful Schools

Resource available to public

By Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

15 years ago, 97% of students in Wisconsin were English proficient

Last school year, 94.5 were English proficiency

This aligns with the shift in demographics we have seen at a national level, the the relative growth is smaller in Wisconsin

Examples

Explore WINSS

http://winss.dpi.wi.gov/

RationalWhy Learn about English Learners?

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Because

Practical: Current demographics and projected increase of English Learners locally and nationwide

Ethical responsibility: To be prepared to best work with English Learners

Marketability: ESL/Bilingual is considered an area of high need at federal and state levels

Pedagogical: techniques that will help English Learners will help other students as well

It is important to learn about teaching English Learners for a number of reasons, including…

ActivityDrag picture to placeholder or click icon to add

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Drag picture to placeholder or click icon to add

Part 1

Turn and talk to your elbow buddy.

Person whose first name begins with a letter closer to the beginning of the alphabet is Partner A. The other person is Partner B.

Partner B, your job is to listen.

Partner A, it will be your job to talk. Use complete sentences.

Partner A, tell about the best vacation you have ever taken!!!

Partner A, do not use any words that contain the letter “e.”

Begin now!

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Stop!!!

Part 2

Partner A, your job is to listen.

Partner B, it will be your job to talk. Use complete sentences.

Partner B, tell about the best birthday party ever!!!

Partner B, do not use any words that contain the letter “a.”

Begin now!

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Stop!!!

Reflections

How did that feel?

What did you notice about your or your partner’s rate of speech?

How was the quality of your speech impacted? Did you want to or did you just insert a word with the letter E/A because

there are no other words that quite mean what you wanted to say? Did you insert one of those words and not realize it until after you had

said it? Did you delete words? What words/types of words did you omit?

How was the quantity of your speech affected?

How do you think you sounded to your partner? Did it bother you? Would it bother you if you had to do it in front of the class? We can here debunk the Myth that children learn languages faster and easier: Adults are

more efficient learners. They can learn a language faster than a child. There are some reasons why they often do not, including time spent in the target language, motivation/desire, and very importantly: fear. Younger have less inhibitions, little fear of looking foolish or failing. Motivation, other psychological and social factors come into play. Steven Krashen talks about the affective filter in language learners. So, children may learn faster than some adults, but adults really can (and sometime do) learn a second language faster.

Reflections

Did you loose any enjoyment even though it was a topic of real pleasure for you?

What might the impact be on a second language learner, spending hours in a setting with only their second language? Mentally taxing Zone out

Connections to English Learners

This activity was to help you understand a bit of what it is like to be a second language learner

The barrier you encountered impacted your use of language, not your knowledge base or understanding of the topic on which you were to speak

I hope this helps you connect with & understand a second language learner

Questions or Comments?