Professional Development Tool

If you are in the position to provide Professional Development for your teachers in the area of ESL but don't know where to start, this is a great tool. In Resource B (pp. 119-122) of Mary Ann Lachat's book, Standards-Based Instruction and Assessment for English Language Learners, there is a survey that you can give teachers that allows them to self-evaluate their need for training in many areas. The survey is very comprehensive and would allow you to really see what the needs of your staff are. If don't have access to the book, leave me a comment and I can make you a copy of the survey and mail it to you or I can scan it and email it to you.

Why and How to Use Blogs with ESL Students

Blogs are web logs/journals that are maintained as a place to share thoughts and ideas, photos and videos, etc (like the one you're reading!). Readers can comment on entries (called posts).

There are several reasons to use blogs with ESL students. According to Lori Langer de Ramirez in Empower English Learners with Tools, blogs can be used for:

• Class debates
• Poetry collections
• Creative writing
• Novel or story reviews
• Commenting on essential questions
• Responding to photos of art, historical figures, and audio files of music or speeches
• A detective or suspense short story in installments (meaning different blog posts build on the story over time)
• Group discussions 
• Writing journals or diaries

Students can practice reading and writing as they write blog posts and comment on other's posts. They can also practice speaking and listening if audio or video files are part of the blog they are viewing or creating. Blogs can be great practice for all four language domains! 

One last feature of blogs that makes them a great tool for ESL students is that blog posts can serve as a sort of writing portfolio, whereby students can look back over earlier posts and see their growth in writing. Students also love being able to use technology and being independent in creating something of their own. 

Professional Development Resource

Dr. Christel Broady is the Program Director for the ESL Endorsement program at Georgetown College. She is a KYTESOL board member and is a frequent speaker at the state and national level. She is a passionate advocate for ESL students. She is available for professional development. You can contact her at Christel_Broady@georgetowncollege.edu

Matching Instruction to Language Acquisition Phase

Earlier, I did a post on the four general stages of language acquisition. In this post, I wanted to give you a couple of tips I found on matching instruction to each phase/level.

Beginning Level (Preproduction Stage)-
Provide concrete activities featuring input that is augmented by pictures, real objects, carefully modified teacher speech (see post on guarded vocabulary), and frequent repetition of new vocabulary

Early Intermediate and Intermediate (Early Production and Speech Emergence)-
Ask questions that evoke responses of single words and brief phrases
Provide opportunities for student to use their primary language as they acquire the second language

Early Advanced Level (Intermediate Fluency)-
Engage student in opportunities to speak with greater complexity, read several pages of text even thought they may have limited comprehension, and write paragraphs
Offer a curriculum that supports and explicitly teaches learning strategies


Source: Diaz-Rico, L.T. & Weed, K. Z. (2010) The crosscultural, language, and academic development handbook. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Stages of Language Acquisition

I wanted to give you some information on the general stages of language acquisition so you could work on recognizing them in your ESL students and providing the proper support at each stage. Here are the four stages:

1. Preproduction- this is also called the silent period because the learner is absorbing the sounds and patterns of the new language, tuning into the pace of speech, and starting to pick up on words. Understanding is highly contextualized and the learner often communicates non-verbally. If you have a "silent" student, do some investigating and see if they might simply be in this stage of acquisition. If so, be patient with them; don't force them. Give them low stress opportunities to express themselves.
2. Early Production- the learner attempts words and phrases (single or two/three word phrases)
3. Speech Emergence- learners are a bit more confident and talk readily; begin to use full sentences
4. Intermediate fluency- learners are able to initiate and participate in conversations; they begin to self-correct language errors 

In a later post, I'll give you some ideas on how to match instruction to each of these stages!


Source: Diaz-Rico, L.T. & Weed, K. Z. (2010) The crosscultural, language, and academic development handbook. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

The Phases of Acculturation

Acculturation is the process of adjusting to a new or non-native culture. It is helpful to be aware of its phases so that you may recognize them in your students and be of support to them during the process of learning a new culture. The phases are as follows:

1. Honeymoon-there may be a sense of excitement at the sense of novelty of life in a new culture
2. Hostility- As time goes by and the newness wears thin, students may find that their cultural mannerisms are misunderstood and/or that they struggle to understand their new culture. In this phase, students often feel impatient, anxious, frustrated or even angry. Teachers can offer support by cultivating a supportive, respectful, and caring classroom environment.
3. Humor- Students begin to reshape their cultural identity as they begin to understand more about their new culture and how they fit into that culture
4. Home- Students at this phase "value and celebrate their own bicultural and bilingual identity". They feel at ease in the second culture

Source: Herrera, S.G & Murry, K.G. (2011). Mastering ESL and bilingual methods. Boston: Pearson.

Administering a Classroom Test to ESL Students

Assessment is part of every mainstream teacher's classroom. Here are a few tips on adapting test taking for your ESL students:

• Let students know throughout the unit how their achievement will be measured
• Align instructional methods and assessment methods
• Check comprehension frequently throughout instruction
• Supplement tests with other measures (observation, participation, discussions with students, and projects)
• Review tests "through the eyes of an English learner". Look for difficult language and cultural bias; provide support such as word banks
• Read tests to beginning English learners
• Allow more time for English learners or give the test in sections

Source: Diaz-Rico, L.T. & Weed, K. Z. (2010) The crosscultural, language, and academic development handbook. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.