- Review your classmates’ posts and respond. Compare the answers of your classmates to yours.
PEERS POST:
- Identify how this teacher promotes comprehensible input.
To promote comprehension input, she uses a lot of visual aids for the ELL student to understand the work that they have to do in the class.
- Explain some of the complications of teaching ELLs that are presented by this teacher.
Some of the issues she talked about were advocating for the children, so they will be able to advance in school, and also that she doesn’t always have enough parental involvement to help the children better advance in the years that they are in school.
What ideas would you have for a teacher to overcome those challenges, based on what we have been learning?
Some of the ideas I would give a teacher would be to use visual aids to teach as this teacher has said. I would also try different ways to try to learn about the parent’s culture to better teach the children and learn things about them. I would also send out newsletters to the parents and asked do they have any ideas that we could use to better help their child in the classroom to be sure that they get an understanding of what is going on in the class.
- Infer some cultural challenges that teachers should be aware of.
Most of the time in our culture when we are speaking to each other we expect the person to have eye contact with us, as a form of respect but in some cultures, they don’t look at the person that is talking to out of respect. That is because that is a part of their culture and way of life. You should also look up information on the culture of the children that you are working with to have a better understanding,
How can this be impacted by Culture Shock?
Culture shapes how we see the world. When a person moves from one culture to another, can affect ELL’s adjustment to schooling, as well as their success in learning a language and making progress in school. Teachers must be open to learning about new cultures and sensitive to the different perspectives ELLs have on the world. (Piper 2014)
- Distinguish the strategies this teacher recommends.
A lot of visuals are important, She uses songs, body movements, memory for vocab, actions, and things that help with memory, teacher modeling, and story mapping. All of these are truly something that I believe helps because we have used these in the migrant program that I am in and the kids seem to enjoy them. All of them are ways that the children can truly learn and know what they are supposed to do and be able to advance through school.
- After listening to the teacher, outline strategies you would recommend.
I would recommend that you use the visual aids that she said to use and I would also teach by using the body movements while doing the lesson to keep children interested in the lesson and that would truly help them learn more and want to learn.
infer and describe how this teacher utilizes BICS, CALP, comprehensible input, silent period, language proficiency, total physical response, assessment, affective filter, scaffolding/differentiation
Ways that she uses all of these for the BICS she works with her co-workers to figure out what they need to know and what they should work on to be able to teach the children. CALP gives them the skills to learn how to use the language in society. For the Input, she uses this by using visual aids for them to better understand what is going on. The assessments also help her learn what level they are on and how much more help the students need.
-Priscilla Peed
Piper, T. (2015). Language, learning, and culture: English language learning in today’s schools. Bridgepoint Education.
Allen, T. [Taylor Allen]. (2014, February 4). Interview with ELL teacher (Links to an external site.)[Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/OBL5orPLxyk
MY POST:
Interview with an Experienced ELLs Teacher
How the Teacher Promotes Comprehensible Input
Comprehensible input is an instructional technique utilized by EL teachers to enable learners to grasp, understand, and retain most concepts during learning. Allen Taylor promotes the technique through mapping to get ideas in a word pool, and the use of charts to stress the importance of visual aids in learning and speaking English to the learners through vocabulary work.
Complications Associated with Teaching ELLs Presented by the Teacher
Some of the challenges encountered when dealing with ELLs highlighted by the teacher include, individual differences- the different abilities of learners to acquire the new language. Anxiety from the learners to learn the new language, and frequency at which the learner speaks the language- illustrated by parent and learner involvement in English language communication, and cultural challenges.
Ideas for a Teacher to overcome the Challenges Mentioned above Regarding the Course Content
Ideas to help teachers overcome the mentioned challenges include mapping- enabling the learners to find words in a word pool and cycle similar words, pronounce them, and later make sentences using the words. The use of charts communicates an abstract idea, promoting content retention among the students, and engaging the learners in vocabulary work (Piper, 2015).
Some Cultural Challenges that Teachers should be aware of and how they can be impacted by Culture Shock
Some of the cultural challenges include body gestures such as a child looking down (illustrated by Chinese learners), eye contact as in the case where maintaining eye contact by some communities is a taboo, thus might be difficult for such learners to abide by while in class, the language of communication- some words could be taboo in some cultures while other communities might be comfortable speaking the similar words.
Strategies Recommended by the Teacher and the Strategies I would recommend after Listening to the Teacher
The instructor has recommended useful strategies to fight the above-mentioned cultural challenges. They include familiarizing yourself with various languages to ensure you do not mention words prohibited in some communities. Conducting thorough research on word order and the tonal articulation of different words, being informed of the latest drama surrounding your environment and your students’ (an example is an inferno that attacked a refugee camp habited by most of her learners), and cultural aspects such as eye contact and body movements.
How this Teacher Utilizes;
BICS and CALP– The instructor utilized the two aspects of proficiencies by applying techniques such as pairing, asking and answering questions sessions, and engaging learners in reading and writing activities.
Comprehensible input – The instructor applies various input techniques such as mapping, and vocabulary work, and uses visual aids such as charts during classroom sessions.
Silent period, – The silent period is characterized by quietness from an ELL as they watch and listen to the instructors and English language speakers. The guide in the video utilized several techniques to help learners in the silent period; they include using a lot of body movements while with the learners, visual materials such as charts, and teaching the learners at the individual level.
Language proficiency – Taylor understands different languages, making her interact and teach the English language in a multicultural learning environment. Her objective to see her learners be able to speak the English language comfortably and interact with friends outside the school environment and in their higher endeavors, is a reflection of the level of her determination to help ELLs.
Total physical response – Total physical response is a teaching and learning technique that utilizes body movements to enhance language content retention. Allen Taylor emphasized body movements by instructors while interacting with the ELLs. Body movements enhance the visual representation of ideas thus enabling the learners to retain much of what is taught and can later dramatize in their free time.
Assessment, -The teacher mentioned assessments as key in tracking the learners’ progress in language acquisition since it enables the instructor to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the learners.
Effective filter – The learner’s attitude towards the success of second language acquisition. Allen (2014) argues that learners need motivation and a favorable classroom environment to fasten the acquisition of a new language. The instructor should therefore give correct instruction to the learners and ensure lively classroom sessions to enable the learners to enjoy the lesson.
Scaffolding/differentiation – Differentiation involves incorporating various teaching and study materials, a good lesson plan that aligns with the content, and assessments to fulfill individual needs. The instructor highlighted thorough research on the teaching content, understanding of the learners’ strengths and weaknesses, assessments, and learner involvement in class.
References
Allen, T., (2014). Interview with ELL teacher. Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBL5orPLxyk (Links to an external site.)
Piper, T., (2015). Language, learning, and culture: English Language learning in today’s schools.
