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Case Study:

of Sofia Teixeira

5/10/2015

Charlene A. LogueSalem State University

Case Study: Sofia Teixeira

Section 1: Background of Learner

Sofia is a fourteen year old (according to her paperwork) fifth-grader from Cabo Verde

(known as Cape Verde), Africa – the island of Monte Vermelho to be exact. When I interviewed

her and asked her how old she was, she said that she was twelve years old. Many of the teachers

and faculty members at the school believe that she is older than her documentation declares due

to her physical appearance. She is approximately 5feet 7 inches tall and is fully developed.

Sofia’s outside appearance does not match her inside persona; she is a very sweet, soft-spoken,

and quiet student. The tone of her voice is reminiscent of a young child’s. She loves to draw and

is extremely artistic. In fact, she was one of three students whose entry in the schools’ t-shirt

design contest was chosen for this year’s t-shirt. She is often designing jewelry, sketching

pictures of beautiful flowers, and making origami figurines.

Sofia’s many drawings of exotic flowers seem to be a representation of her memories of

her homeland – Cabo Verde – from the Portuguese meaning Green Cape. The Cape Verde

islands consist of two small (volcanic in origin) archipelagos, about 400 miles off the western

coast of Africa. Cape Verde comprises ten islands, nine of which are inhabited, and is located

375 miles (600 kilometers) off the coast of Africa – Senegal to be exact. The combined area of

all the islands is 1,557 square mile. Population is 531,046 and the ethnicity is Creole (Mulatto):

71%, African: 28% and European is 1%. The official language is Portuguese and a blend of

Portuguese and West African words known as Crioulo is also spoken ( (World Atlas, 2015).

Sofia’s journey to the United States was initiated by her maternal grandfather. He wanted to

bring the rest of his family here to live with him and to work. Sofia travelled to the United States

with her mother and her cousin Edu in 2012. Her cousin is now nineteen years old and according

to Sofia, he is the only family member who can speak English in her home. Sofia’s father

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immigrated to this country a year later, but does not live with her and mother. He is remarried “to

another girl” Sofia told me sadly during our interview. When I asked her if she sees her father,

she replied, “He doesn’t call me, my mother wants me to call the police – so he will pay for me.”

Her mother has a fourth-grade education and speaks little to no English. Sofia does all the

translating and interpreting for doctor’s appointments, parent/teacher conferences, and all other

speech events such as banking and paying bills. The responsibility of helping her mother has

been a key motivator in Sofia’s second language acquisition. Lightbown and Spada describe

motivation in second language learning as a complex phenomenon. “If learners need to speak the

second language in a wide range of social situations or to fulfil professional ambitions, they will

perceive the communicative value of the second language and are therefore likely to be

motivated to acquire proficiency in it” (p. 87).

In performing my case study, I have seen Sofia’s dedication to her mother and family,

sense of responsibility, creativity, and a desire and willingness to learn English as well as all

content subjects. She has a very kind nature and also has smiling eyes – this is a welcoming

quality that is felt when you are in her presence. She has been a prepared participant and a

valuable case study student. In such a short period of time I have been able to find out key facts

of her life and journey which have given me insight to her learning which has informed her

instruction. When I let Sofia know that her homeroom teacher shared the fact that she had an

interesting story; then asked her if she would like to tell me about her journey from Cape Verde

to the United States – she seemed eager to tell. She told me that she was not happy when she

found out that she would be taken to the United States for the reason that she would be leaving

her older sister who had just given birth to a baby boy. While she was telling her story, her eyes

were filling with tears – she did not cry, but she had to turn away to stop the tears from coming. I

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could literally feel the heaviness of her heart with each feeling that she shared. Most people think

that everyone and anyone who comes to this country leaves behind poverty, economic instability,

and deplorable living conditions. While this may be true; people are forgetting that many who

come to the United States leave behind many valuable things: family, friends, and

culture/language/identity. As teachers of these remarkable students, we need to remind ourselves

of these very important facts.

Presently, Sofia is identified as a level 3-Developing by WIDA’s English language

proficiency criteria:

General and some specific language of the content area

Expanded sentences in oral interaction or written paragraphs

Oral or written language with phonological, syntactic or semantic errors that may impede

the communication, but retain much of its meaning, when presented with oral or written,

narrative or expository descriptions with sensory, graphic or interactive support

When I matched up the descriptors for levels of English language proficiency with Sofia’s

schoolwork, it was clear that in the domains of speaking and listening she is a level-3

developing with some level-4 expanding attributes such as being able to discuss stories, issues,

concepts, and follow multi-step oral directions. However, in the domains of reading and writing

it is evident that her writing is limited and she shares attributes of both level-2 beginning and

level-3 developing; and her reading skills show the same results. I feel that her educational

background to this point has been limited and has not been provided with the strong structural

and functional knowledge of English – a fact that explains her proficiency level at this juncture.

This study has looked to identify and analyze the area(s) that Sofia needs to improve upon, as

well as the approaches that have supported her successes. The last section of this case study will

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include a memorandum to Sofia’s ESL teachers at the Abraham Lincoln Elementary School

offering recommendations for Sofia’s continued English language acquisition and development.

Methods of Investigation

The majority of my findings were derived from observations and conversations I had with Sofia.

Sofia is not in my homeroom class, she is in my partner teacher – Mrs. Gatti’s homeroom class,

which means that I only have her class in the second half of the day for the subjects of

mathematics and science. The class time runs from 12:40 pm to approximately 2:25 pm; I have

to fit both subjects into such a short period of time. One of the strategies I have put into place to

fit in math, science, technology, as well as accommodate each learner’s needs is Learning

Centers. A learning center is a self-contained section of the classroom in which students engage

in independent and self-directed learning activities with a teacher table to introduce and teach

new concepts and scaffold lesson activities with both ELLs and Special Ed students. By using

the Learning Centers I have been able to work with Sofia one-on-one in the past few weeks. This

opportunity has given me ample time to collect data and get to know her better. I kept notes and

recorded relevant and noteworthy information as it occurred. Since I work closely with Sofia’s

ELA teacher Mrs. Gatti – I have been able to collect some writing samples and get updates on

her improvements in reading. To supplement this information, I conferenced with Sofia’s ESL

teacher Ms. Haines weekly who was able to provide me with L1 and L2 background information,

WIDA ACCESS and MCAS assessment scores, and all documentation to support the history of

this student (e.g., student and parent information, report cards, permanent education record).

Additionally, during recess I have been able to get a glimpse of her social interactions with the

other fifth-grade students. She is a good athlete and plays well with her peers. I synthesized all of

the information and resources and looked for what could help Sofia continue to flourish and

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become proficient in every domain (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) of the English

language. Now, after reviewing all of the information I am able to express Sofia’s L2 student

profile and the linguistic and non-linguistic factors that help to form it.

Home Language Use

The focus of Sofia’s home language is her usage while living here in the United States.

Sofia presently lives in a three bedroom apartment in Revere, Massachusetts, that is located near

the beach. There are eleven family members including her who live in the flat altogether. She

shares a bedroom with her mother, aunt and female cousin. She does not have access to a

computer at the house, but frequently goes to the Revere Public Library to do homework and use

the computer. The predominant language spoken at Sofia’s home is Creole, but some family

members also speak Portuguese. Creole is the colloquial language that is spoken in Cape Verde,

it is spoken in the streets and is also the language of their music and poetry. Portuguese is used

for legal matters, in the media, in public offices, in churches and schools. The mixture and use of

both languages reflects its citizen’s unbelievable diversity that has been produced by centuries of

migration ( (The Creole Language, 2015). The majority of Sofia’s conversations are in English

with the exception of speaking Creole with her family and some Portuguese with her friends.

L1: Creole and some Portuguese

Sofia’s primary use of Creole is to converse with her immediate family members, and she uses

some Portuguese words when she is talking to her cousins and friends who speak the language.

Sofia recently told me that she thinks that she is losing more of the Portuguese language and also

forgetting some words in her NL of Creole. This may be due to the fact that she is speaking more

of her L2 than her L1 during the course of the week. There is really no clear indication of Creole

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attrition, maybe it is the Portuguese language that she is losing. When she is at home with her

family she listens to the music that was on the radio in her native home and to artists like Elida

Almeida and Sia Tolno, and that her favorite Cape Verdean music is Reggae. She is a big fan of

Bob Marley and also likes his son Ziggy. She has an iPod mini and has many of her favorite

genres as well as her favorite American music on it. Another routine for which her home

language is needed is a babysitting job for a new family who also speak Creole. Two afternoons

a week for 2 hours she cares for a set of 4-year old boys while their mother is cleaning,

organizing, and cooking for the family. Sofia’s main source of communication in her L1 is with

her mother and aunt, neither of the two women speaks English.

L2: English

Sofia uses English to communicate at school, watch television and videos, listen to

music, and to converse with her friends and some of her family members. Sofia loves American

TV and music. She likes Pop music and some of her favorite artists are Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and

Rihanna. For TV, she enjoys watching teen dramas, certain reality shows, and situation

comedies. Sofia watches Pretty Little Liars, The Gilmore Girls, and Keeping up with the

Kardashians. Sofia admits that she watches TV often and for long periods of time; and listens to

music more than she is supposed to. Like my Albanian friend, Marika, who watched show after

show of Curious George, Sofia admitted that she also loves cartoons. Marika explained how the

cartoon helped her connect the verbal language with non-verbal actions of the characters. In

other words, communication is the combination of verbal cues and non-verbal cues; and

communication is key in learning to speak a new language. Marika also told me that as a visual

learner she would watch various kid programs to learn new vocabulary, how to speak, and how

to ask questions.

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When Sofia first arrived in her new home, she too watched hours of PBS Kids and the

networks cartoons. One of her favorite kid shows used to be and still is – Sesame Street. She

attributes her speaking and listening improvements to the hours spent in front of the television

and the time spent listening to her favorite songs. In her article, How to Get to Sesame Street:

Multimedia Technology and Second Language Acquisition, author Katherine Latta writes, “For

ESL students television can help to teach language culture, and even reading skills. We need to

help the students develop active viewing habits, so that they are not just watching shows but

thinking about them as well. In the classroom we can control their input, keep it healthy and not

too overwhelming. But we cannot control their home television viewing habits. So instead we

need to make sure that they have healthy viewing habits” (2003). Unfortunately, Sofia does not

read many books (chapter) on her own for enjoyment, only those that are assigned readings.

However, she does read teen and celebrity magazines which supports her reading

comprehension.

Sofia’s family is not highly communicative and when they are it is in their L1, therefore,

when she is at home she is not using English to ask questions, explain herself, or perform

everyday tasks. When the family does come together for meals they speak in the L1 and Sofia

has admitted that she sometimes does not want to talk in Creole she only wants to listen to the

conversation. On Sunday mornings, she and her family attend the 10:00 am mass held at Saint

Anthony of Padua Parish in Everett, MA where the sermon in given in both English and in

Portuguese.

It seems that her opportunities to talk with other students or friends in her L1 are limited

and when there is a conversation – she says that “they speak in English and some Portuguese

words.” It sounds like there is some cross-linguistic influence that may be occurring. Gass

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explains this as “Any language influence from the first language to the second language, from

one interlanguage to another, or from the second language back to the first language” (p. 139).

Sofia has two younger cousins who have recently immigrated to the United States with their

parents; and are also attending the Abraham Lincoln Elementary School. They are limited

English proficient (LEP) and need the aid of their older cousin to translate and interpret in their

NL. Her translation abilities and responsibilities are motivating her L2 while maintaining her L1.

Academic Language Use

Sofia’s school environment in Revere is different than what she was accustomed to in her

homeland. Cape Verde has a 6 – 6 formal education structure; primary school has an official

entry age of six-years-old lasting the duration of six grades. Secondary school is grades 7

through 12. Primary school is free and mandatory; and the school year is approximately 34

weeks in length (Cape Verde, 2014). Sofia told me during an interview that she went to

preschool; however, there were no early childhood programs in place when she was living in

Cape Verde. According to her school records, she was in the third grade when she left to come to

this country. The major differences between her hometown school in Monte Vermelho and

Revere are distance, weather, and classroom structure. Her hometown school was across the

street from her home and now she has to take the school bus; every day in her native land Sofia

could wear shorts and sandals, and now she wears a school uniform and seasonal clothing.

Contrary to having one teacher to teach all subjects, Lincoln Elementary rotates the classes of

ELA and Social Studies with the classes of Mathematics and Science. Each day of the week the

students attend a different “special” (computers, library, art, music, and gym). There is no second

language instruction offered at the Lincoln Elementary, however, in a Monte Vermelho school

there is bilingual education of Creole and Portuguese. Education mentality may trump all other

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differences. From what Sofia’s ESL teacher told me, the Cape Verdean people do not put as high

a value on education, and in fact, many students (elementary included) go to school from 7:00

am to 1:00 pm so that they can work after school to help support their families. Poverty is still a

main problem for Cape Verdean children; and the government does not provide financial

assistance to families, especially not to single parents ( (Children of Cape Verde: Realizing

Children's Rights in Cape Verde, 2015). Sofia told me that she helped her mother clean when she

was in Cape Verde – I have the feeling that this young girl has always helped support her family

in some way and still is.

The language of education in Cape Verde is Portuguese. Sofia told me that when she was

in the third grade she did not like to read in Portuguese either. My theory is that her literacy skills

were low in Portuguese as well; still there is no evidence that support this notion. The interview I

did with Sofia revealed that her mother only has a fourth-grade education and struggles with

reading and writing. She does not know the level of education that her father has. This may

account for Sofia’s own struggles with reading and writing. In the article What No Bedtime

Story Means, the author writes, “Familiar literacy events for mainstream preschoolers are

bedtime stories, reading cereal boxes, stop signs, and television ads, and interpreting instructions

for commercial games and toys. In such literacy events, participants follow socially established

rules for verbalizing what they know from and about the written material” (Brice-Heath, 1892)

L1: Creole and some Portuguese

The Portuguese language like many of the Romance languages has many cognates to help

decode vocabulary words that are in English. Since Portuguese has some words that are similar

to both Spanish and English, Sofia tries to use her L1 to figure out difficult L2 vocabulary words.

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For example, she was able to read and define the following words from her knowledge of

Portuguese:

OBSERVAÇÃO = OBSERVATION

CAPACIDADE = CAPACITY

GENETICAMENTE = GENETICALLY

FREQÜÊNCIA = FREQUENCY

These are all academic words that she needs to know for science and math which also happens to

be an important part of her Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). CALP refers to

the ability to manipulate language using abstractions in a sophisticated manner; and according to

theorist Jim Cummins, “CALP is the ability to think in and use a language as a tool for learning"

(1979).

L2: English & Writing Samples

Sofia uses English in the classroom as well as in the cafeteria and schoolyard. She uses

all four domains of her L2 to navigate throughout her academic and social life. Sofia agrees with

me that the skill of listening is her strongest ability. She listens carefully and follows directions

well. In our interview she named writing as her strongest ability; that is because she relates

drawing to writing – and she loves to draw. Below are two recent samples of Sofia’s writing (see

Appendix A and B) for a journal assignment that was given to her by the ESL teacher, Ms.

Haines.

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I was surprised when I opened up her journal notebook and saw the incoherent writing of

improper grammar usage, no punctuation, and sloppy lettering. It does not show her usual care of

spacing and lettering. Even when she does not understand the content of a math or science

lesson, she still follows instructions and keeps notes that are neat and clear. Sofia’s ELA class

with Mrs. Gatti is reading the book Bud, not Buddy – the story of an orphaned African American

boy living in Flint, Michigan during the Depression. Again, I was shocked and disappointed

when I read Sofia’s type-written (see Appendix C) response to this essay prompt:

Write an essay identifying four of Bud’s characteristics based on the conflicts he faces throughout the story. In your essay, be sure to label the types of conflicts (internal, external, etc.). Use specific details to support your answer.

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I also looked over another writing assignment (see Appendix D) to help identify more areas that

need to be strengthened and improved. Some of things that the Common Core is requiring of

fifth-grade students are: note-taking, paraphrasing, logical thinking, typing, etc. In many ways,

Sofia is still not able to meet the academic expectations for grade five.

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Mrs. Gatti’s feedback on both assignments read similar comments, “Not cohesive, no

elaboration, random ideas, no knowledge of paragraph and/or story structure.” Mrs. Gatti sets

up appointments with all of her students for Writer’s Workshop. Wayne Wright points out, “The

only way for teachers to help ELLs improve their writing is to read what they write and then talk

with them about their strengths and areas in need of improvement” (p. 231). Sofia does not seem

bothered by her teacher’s feedback and happily meets with her to get the extra help.

Sofia also has areas that she needs to work on in reading. Based on my observations and

conversations with both Mrs. Gatti and Ms. Haines I have been able to identify the following

areas in need of improving:

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Fluency

Segmenting and Blending

Finding a base word or root word and applying it

Comprehension skills

o Figuring out

o Putting things together

Step by step practice

o First, then this, then this – the ability to chunk the pieces

Comparing and contrasting

Ms. Haines points out that Sofia is better with fiction than with non-fiction text. Recently, when

she was part of a whole group and reading between a 600 and 700 lexile – this was too difficult

for her. The ESL teacher added that when the group had to compare two separate articles about

Martin Luther King, Jr. she was able to talk about the big concepts and she understood both

articles. With some current small successes and glimpses of improvement in her small whole

group setting, Sofia seems less apprehensive about making mistakes and even more willingness

to speak about the text. Her willingness to speak in group social settings contrasts her shyness to

speak in class and in small group situations; therefore, her gains and goals in ESL are

surmountable. I think that the ESL classroom is less intimidating and its atmosphere lowers the

affective filter. Removing that barrier makes it possible for any ELL to reach their full potential.

Testing and Assessment Data

The testing and assessment data I have analyzed are from Sofia’s personal educational

record, WIDA ACCESS scores, her DIBELS reading scores, BSRI reading scores, her grades

from grades 3 and 4, and MCAS test scores for 2013 (not available for 2014 due to the school

taking the pilot PARCC exam instead), and the writing samples provided by her ELA/homeroom

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teacher and ESL teachers. The data is analyzed to offer some quantitative evidence to support the

statements made Sofia’s English proficiency within this case-study. Though the data is from the

past two years, it helps explain Sofia’s strengths and areas that need improvement

WIDA ACCESS 2013

Sofia took the English Language Proficiency test on May 16, 2013. Below is a chart of

her scores (see attached report):

Language Domain Scale Score

(Possible 100 – 600)

Proficiency Level

(Possible 1.0 – 6.0)

Listening 266 2.0

Speaking 236 1.5

Reading 299 2.3

Writing 288 2.4

Oral Language 251 1.8

Literacy 294 2.4

Comprehension 289 2.2

Overall Score (Composite) 281 1.9

WIDA ACCESS 2014

Language Domain Scale Score

(Possible 100 – 600)

Proficiency Level

(Possible 1.0 – 6.0)

Listening 343 4.3

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Speaking 315 2.6

Reading 308 2.7

Writing 320 3.4

Oral Language 329 3.5

Literacy 314 3.1

Comprehension 319 3.3

Overall Score 319 3.2

The 2013 and 2014 tests have provided information regarding the levels of Sofia’s social

and academic English language proficiency that she attained. Oral language is 50% listening and

50% speaking. Literacy is 50% reading and 50% writing. Comprehension is 70% reading and

30% listening. The Overall Score is 35% reading – 35%writing – 15% listening and 15%

speaking. The data demonstrates that Sofia made noticeable gains in all four domains in the short

span of one school year.

DIBELS Scores 2013

DIBELS are a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early

literacy skills from kindergarten through sixth grade. They are designed to be short (one minute)

fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of early literacy and early reading

skills (DIBELS Data System, 2001). Sofia was tested once in September, again in December,

and finally in May of the school year 2013-14. Her reading fluency improved steadily as the year

progressed (see attached test results).

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Bay State Reading Institute (BSRI) Test Results

Sofia was first assessed with the BSRI reading test in grade four. BSRI is a program

designed to improve literacy among Massachusetts students. The program was implemented in

2008 to provide intervention for struggling readers. The comprehension composite measures the

ability to understand a sentence as a whole unit and multiple sentences in a reading passage.

Sofia’s average performance indicated an ability to read and comprehend a sentence as a whole

thought, regardless of the complexity (see attached Individual Score Summary). Sofia scored a

weak performance on the vocabulary subtest which measured her ability to decode basic words

and to recognize common sight words. Sofia also scored a weak performance in the listening

comprehension which measures understanding of language without printed cues. Though there

are no current BSRI tests scores on file – my own observations and work with Sofia have shown

that she has made significant gains in these domains.

MCAS Test Scores 2013

For the first year that Sofia took the MCAS exam she received a score of 238 in English

Language Arts – she scored Needs Improvement (see attached score sheet). The score for

mathematics is 236. Students at this level demonstrate a partial understanding of subject matter

and solve some simple problems. Because of the scores of the year prior, she was then placed in

ESL as a LEP student and her MCAS score sheet shows no scores (see attached score sheet).

Grades

I was able to retrieve Sofia’s grades for three and four; in the third grade she seemed to

be making improvements throughout the school year; however, in the fourth grade Sofia seems

to be struggling and having language difficulty in some content subjects (see attached report

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cards). Her lack of substantial progress in grade 4 resulted in her repeating the fourth grade. Her

file includes the document (included and attached) which states that Sofia will be retained at

grade four – 2013. When she completed the second year of fourth grade, she was successfully

promoted to the fifth grade.

Questionnaire Data and Summary of Non-Linguistic Factors

The recorded questionnaire asked linguistic and non-linguistic factors that contribute to

Sofia’s student profile. I asked for information about linguistic factors because I have been able

to surmise many of her non-linguistic factors by observation throughout the case-study. The

questions asked are listed:

1. Where were you born?

2. Where did you go to school?

3. How long did you attend school in Cabo Verde? What grade were you in before you left your home?

4. Was school in your country different than school in the United States?

5. How old were you when you came to the United States?

6. Why did you come to the United States?

7. Who did you come with? Did you come with both parents?

8. Did you have family or friends here when you arrived?

9. Did you study English or any other language when you were in Cabo Verde?

10. Did you learn how to read in Portuguese?

11. Did you study English in Cabo Verde?

12. Did your first language help you to learn English? If so, how did it help?

13. What language(s) do you speak at home now with your family?

14. Other than you, does anyone else speak English?

15. Describe your journey to the United States.

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16. What is your parents’ educational background?

17. Which do you like better – reading or writing? Why?

18. How much do you read for school each week?

19. Do you read at home? About how many pages?

20. Do you feel that your English has been improving since you came to the United States?

21. What is easier for you – Speaking, Listening, Reading, or Writing? Explain.

Sofia can sometimes be shy when it comes to answering questions in a whole-class

format; she may even get flustered while making a presentation when she is in a small group.

However, she works extremely well in small groups and is able to give and receive help from her

classmates – this is when she may be the most industrious. When I asked her if she preferred

working in small groups, she replied, “Yes, because the other students can explain things to me.”

I think that when one student in a group can grasp the concept being taught, then he/she can help

the others in the group. Sofia prefers to learn by doing, she does not like to learn things directly

from a book. She excels in the lab portion of science and is always ready to take part in the

experiment. In the unit of matter, I had the students making the non-newtonian fluid – Oobleck

to experience the properties of the substance and Sofia was one of the first to “get her hands into

it.”

One of the reasons why Sofia does so well in Ms. Haines’ classroom is because of the

atmosphere of the room. There are photos, posters, and maps of every place on the planet. It is a

very interactive classroom – music, videos, and an abundance of visuals. She is a free spirit who

is very athletic, so being able to move about freely in the classroom to work with others

accommodates her learning style. I have set up the classroom I am teaching in similar to the ESL

classroom.

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Sofia’s life has been moved around and unstable. She and most of her friends in Cape

Verde come from lower-class backgrounds. As I mentioned earlier, education – namely literacy

does not hold the same importance in her homeland as it does here. She was not read to as a

small child and was not encouraged to read. Her parents have not been present at the last two

parent/teacher conferences, so I wonder if her family (mother especially) has high expectations

for her. She told me that she wants to be an artist – she is aware that she must get to high school

at least and graduate. Her goal of passing the PARCC exam helps to motivate her to be a good

student and to do her homework. Her teachers hold her accountable and encourage her to stay for

department night (different days for each teacher) to get extra help with assignments or to just

read to and with her. With the exception of the two afternoons that she babysits, she attends the

other three days for the extra help.

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Memorandum

Dear ESL Faculty at Abraham Lincoln Elementary,

Sofia is a wonderful student who is developing better English abilities under your

instruction. More importantly, her motivation and willingness to learn is ideal. In my time spent

with her over several weeks I have noted some areas where she can improve on. Gass (2013)

describes motivation as a function of time and success. “Improving proficiency in an L2 is a

long-term project. Nevertheless, success in this long-term project depends on success in a series

of short activities. Clearly, however, motivation is not static; it changes, depending on the

context and it changes over time” (p. 455). A few things seem to be is missing in Sofia’s learning

at present time. The first is exposure to English at home that will provide the rich vocabulary that

comes from conversations in the TL; the other is skills and strategies that good readers use.

These may not be attainable in her home, but I would like to suggest that you encourage Sofia to

talk with her peers at school and with the friends she has made in her neighborhood. Also,

continue the read-alouds to Sofia in order to expose her to a wide range of literature, to enrich

her vocabulary, to help her understand sophisticated language patterns, to model that different

genres are read differently, to support her independent reading, and to encourage a lifelong

enjoyment of reading. “Just listen…and read is based on the hypothesis that language acquisition

takes place when learners are exposed to comprehensible input through listening and/or reading”

( (Lightbown & Spada, 2012).

Sofia has mentioned that she has been working hard to “write better,” but I do not think

that she is using some of the strategies that have been taught by both of her teachers in ELA and

ESL. My suggestion would be to have her continue to write in her journal and model a journal

entry; guide and support her writing with more scaffolding with sentence/paragraph starters and

Logue 21


graphic organizers; have her connect her writing to her drawing; carry on the encouragement to

read – we know that there is a strong relationship between ELL students’ reading ability and

their writing ability in English (Wright, 2010).

Sofia is a very motivated student, but many of the structures of the English language have

eluded her – or have just not connected yet. She may need a more traditional grammar

instruction approach; with the right approach (finding a way to make things click in) will be key

in her continued development in becoming English proficient in all four domains. I believe that

as she becomes more proficient she will have more confidence and will be in a more comfortable

place to speak and present to a larger group or to the whole class.

On a final note I would like to say that though Sofia has shown some level of difficulty

with speaking in large groups and may feel shy in a group of native English speakers, I do feel

that she will overcome this and will find her place and her voice in the classroom. She just needs

to be given positive and affective feedback as well as a little extra push to speak in class. Sofia

has learned some new techniques and strategies (for academic content vocabulary) from her

individual experience of working with me and I have gained an extraordinary amount of

knowledge from her as well. I appreciated the opportunity to work with Sofia and eager to hear

about her continued progression. If you have any questions about Sofia and there is anything

more I can do, you may email me at [email protected]. Thank you and have a good day.

Sincerely

Charlene A. Logue

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mailto:[email protected]


Brice-Heath, S. (1892). What No Bedtime Story Means: Narrative Skills at Home and School. Language in Society, 49-76.

Cape Verde. (2014, March 31). Retrieved from Education Policy and Data Center: www.epcd.org

Children of Cape Verde: Realizing Children's Rights in Cape Verde. (2015, April 28). Retrieved from Humanium: Help the Children: www.humanium.org

Cummins, J. (1979). Bics and Calp. Toronto: University of Toronto.

DIBELS Data System. (2001). Retrieved from Center on Teaching and Learning: www.dibels.uoregon.edu

Gass, S. M. (2013). Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course. New York: Routledge Publishing.

Latta, K. (2003, May 10). How to Get to Sesame Street: Multimedia Technology and Second Language Acquisition. Retrieved from www.dcmp.org

Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2012). How Languages are Learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The Creole Language. (2015, September 05). Retrieved from Cape Verde: www.capeverde.com

World Atlas. (2015, April 17). Retrieved from Fast Facts: Africa - Cape Verde: www.worldatlas.com

Wright, W. E. (2010). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.

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