Teaching English language learners through literature and literacy

Special Education

Before one is able to evaluate the third grade English language learner who is the subject of this evaluation, one first must understand the unique teaching strategies used for effective instructional practices for English language learners. Without first understanding what should be used, one cannot properly evaluate the learning process of an English language learner.

This evaluation will begin with an overview of the effective teaching strategies that can be used in providing instruction to English language learners. It will then evaluate how these said teaching strategies have served Joe, a third grade English language learner. This evaluation will be conducted using both the Student Oral Language Observation Matrix and the Student Written Observation Matrix. The paper will conclude with a summary of why Joe is performing where he is and offer suggestions of how his performance can be improved.

Effective Teaching to English Language Learners

In her text entitled Perspectives on Teaching K - 12 English Language Learners, author Jane M. Govoni highlights a thorough pedagogical approach to successfully teaching a complicated language to non-native speakers. In Chapter Six, which is subtitled "Making Connections," Govoni focuses on the importance of not only teaching the language, but also teaching literacy. In this chapter she stresses the importance of incorporating literature as a method of teaching language. Her belief is that language is worthless if it does not lead to literacy. According to Govoni, literacy is the ability to read and understand the meaning of the language found on a particular page. Thus, the job of the English language teacher is to teach language through literature in order to develop literacy.

After a lesson, the English language teacher wants his or her students to be able to walk away with two things. First, with an increased functional use of the English language and its rules. Second, and more importantly, with a comprehension of what was being read and discussed. This factor is the most important because often times a language's meanings and use are effected by context. In order to understand context, one must be able to comprehend. The ability to comprehend, according to Govoni, means being literate.

In order to teach literacy to a class of English language learners, the instructor must spend time on background information. For example, before reading and discussing a text, the first step is to discuss the necessary background information unique to the English-language culture that is necessary for understanding the text. Second, such background information as vocabulary and pronunciation can be taught in regards to key points in the text.

Student Written Language Observation Matrix

In order to evaluate Joe's level of written proficiency, this evaluator was given the opportunity to both observe Joe engaged in the writing process and to review samples of Joe's written works.

Fluency: It is immediately clear that Joe is capable of writing in English at a higher level then he is able to speak it. It is the opinion of this evaluator that this is a result of Joe having a timid personality and perhaps experiencing some levels of culture shock. It is believed that, because he can write at a remarkably advanced level of proficiency, that he is much more proficient conversationally than he demonstrates. However, because of a lack of confidence and generally shyness about him, he tends to refrain from speaking in English. On the other hand, writing is a much more private, independent activity, thus giving Joe a better environment for him to demonstrate his true level of English proficiency.

Perhaps nowhere is this fact more clear than when one reviews Joe's level of written fluency. For example, whereas Joe was at a level two in terms of oral fluency, when writing Joe is at level four, or able to write paragraphs with fully developed sentence structures typical of the average third grade student.

Organization: Joe's written organization tends to be somewhat sequenced, but never substantially sequenced. It seems he knows what he is trying to say, yet lacks the ability to always convey his thoughts in writing. However, this problem with sequence seems to be a general problem for the third grade level, as many native English language speakers were also struggling with sentence organization.

Grammar: Joe's grammar is good but not perfect. He tends to make more minor grammatical errors than does his peers. For example, Joe regularly commits the classic non-English language grammatical error of adding an -S to a third person singular verb. These types of grammatical rules that are significantly different than the rules of the child's native language will take some time to eventually comprehend. Even if Joe understands the rule, he will still struggle with the habits of his native language.

Vocabulary: Joe seems to have an average vocabulary for a third grade student. Although he knows enough words to convey his meaning, sometimes his meaning is conveyed in an awkward manner. In other words, there are occasions when a different word choice could better convey the message of Joe's writing. For example, many of his classmates are able to use more culturally appropriate words to convey meaning whereas Joe is stuck using textbook English language.

Genre: Joe's written work samples show a remarkable range of genres, thus leading one to conclude that Joe knows different genres and makes appropriate choices in his writing. For example, one writing sample was a letter to his parents. In this piece, Joe wrote using a very informal and personal style of writing. In a short report on a field trip to a farm, Joe's writing is more detailed. Although it still conveys what he liked about the trip, it is written to an appropriate audience.

Sentence Variety: Joe's sentence variety ability is not yet full, but he does have access to several patterns. It is noted that he tends to make a pattern out which type of structure he decides to use.

Conclusions: Based on the above cited observations as viewed through the Student Written Language Observation Matrix, Joe is performing at a Fully Proficient level, or Phase IV. In terms of his SWLOM Percentile Score: (20 + 1)x4 = 84%.

Whole Language Proficiency

Whole language proficiency refers to the combined assessment of an English language learner's oral language and written language proficiency. Whole language proficiency is determined by the following formula: (SOLOM Score x 2) + {(SWLOM Score + 1)x2} = WLP Percent.

In the case study at hand, Joe's whole language proficiency would be determined as follows: (17 x 2) + {(20 + 1) x 2} = 34 + 42 = 76%. This means that Joe's estimated whole language proficiency is 76% of expected native speaker proficiency for a third grade child.

Conclusions

Based on the recommended strategies for teaching English language learners, it is this evaluator's opinion that the instructor in Joe's room does an excellent job at providing such successful strategies as one on one work and the providing of necessary background information. Because of these strategies, Joe is performing at a rather high level of proficiency.

At the same time, as Joe's class continues to advance, Joe may have trouble grasping new concepts as quickly as his native-speaking peers. To help overcome this gap, the instructor should focus on providing background-based transitions for Joe. In other words, new concepts and topics should be introduced to Joe with a heavy reference back to how the new material relates the material he has already learned.