ESL MTEL (Second-Language and Content Learning)

What is a paraprofessional, and how might an ESL teacher make optimal use of their presence in a classroom?

"PARAPROFESSIONAL" is another word for teacher's aide, or someone who plays a supportive role to a certified teacher in a classroom. Paraprofessionals often take responsibility for the logistics of the classroom or a lesson, give individual attention to students who need it, manage a group of students when the class is divided, and help the classroom teacher with assessments. ESL-trained paraprofessionals are also used in content classrooms. Many school districts hire paraprofessionals who speak the foreign language most widely represented in the student population; in these instances, he or she can provide interpretation when needed.

Define corpus and concordance, and describe how these technology-based tools can be used in the ESL classroom.

A CORPUS (plural corpora) is a collection of texts gathered by linguists for purposes of RESEARCH. Today, linguists use computers to search and analyze textual data for insights into language use. Corpora are used, for example, to compile dictionaries, and to juxtapose (to place together/side by side especially for comparing and contrasting) prescriptive and descriptive grammars. A CONCORDANCE is a list of the ways in which a word is used in CONTEXT. It can be very useful for an ESL student trying to understand idiosyncratic constructions - for example, which prepositions go with which verbs - or to see how an unfamiliar word is actually used in discourse. Simple search engines will return some of the information available from a concordance, but intermediate and advanced ESL students may benefit from a CONCORDANCE PROGRAM that provides more information than a dictionary about actual usage. Concordances can also show which words are typically used in association with one another - a useful tool when building subject-matter vocabulary.

Describe the role of diagnostic assessments in the ESL learning process, touching upon their utility in instructional planning.

A DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT is designed to reveal a student's strengths and weaknesses. Unlike a placement exam, a diagnostic exam is not used to determine the appropriate level of instruction for a student, but the results can be used to tailor instruction or provide the student with an awareness of areas in need of improvement. Unlike an achievement test, a diagnostic test doesn't measure whether students have learned what has already been taught, but instead focuses on the direction of FUTURE INSTRUCTION. Diagnostic tests are often detailed and comprehensive within a certain area of instruction (punctuation and capitalization, for example). ESL teachers often employ diagnostic exams at the beginning of an academic year, particularly if they have a new or unfamiliar students in class, in order to get a sharper sense of what they should teach during the academic year.

Define discourse markers and explain why they present particular challenges for ELL listening comprehension.

A DISCOURSE MARKER is a word or phrase used to organize speech, manage the flow of a conversation, or convey an emotional attitude. Discourse markers are often inessential to the literal semantic meaning of a sentence but can be critical in conveying the ATTITUDE of the speaker. Examples include "well," "um," "you know," "right," and "maybe." Research demonstrates that even proficient ELLs use fewer discourse markers than native speakers, and early ELLs misuse and misunderstand their pragmatic use in speech. Discourse markers are heavily bound to context and are thus difficult to teach in any systematic way; however, ESL teachers may illustrate some common forms, such as how the expression "Yeah, right" can signal either agreement or skepticism, depending on stress and tone.

Describe the main features of heritage language programs and the circumstances in which they are used.

A HERITAGE LANGUAGE is a language spoken in a student's home, or by his or her ancestors, which the student has a strong desire to learn or retain. In the United States, the term is used most often to refer to Native American languages, though not exclusively so: the term may refer to the home language of recent immigrants as well. The teaching of heritage languages became a public issue when Arizona passed PROPOSITION 203 in 2000, limiting ESL instruction to full immersion to last no longer than a year. The proposition was seen as threatening Native American language programs in schools on or near reservations. While Arizona addressed the issue in part by issuing waivers allowing for dual-language instruction, many heritage language communities have resorted to after-school and weekend instructional programs. Many colleges offer heritage language programs, including Spanish for individuals whose Spanish proficiency may have eroded after transitioning in school to an English-only curriculum.

Define peer assessment and explain its strengths and weaknesses as a form of assessment.

A PEER ASSESSMENT is when students grade one another's work based on a teacher-provided framework. Peer assessments are promoted as a means of saving teacher time and building student meta-cognitive skills. They are typically used as FORMATIVE rather than summative assessments, given concerns about the reliability of student scoring and the tensions that can result if student scores contribute to overall grades. Peer assessments are used most often to grade essay-type written work or presentations. Proponents point out that peer assessments require students to apply metacognition, builds cooperative work and interpersonal skills, and broadens the sense that the student is accountable to peers and not just the teacher. Even advocates of the practice agree that students need detailed rubrics in order to succeed. Critics often argue that low-performing students have little to offer high-performing students in terms of valuable feedback - and this disparity may be more pronounced in ESL classrooms than mainstream ones. One way to overcome this weakness is for the teacher to lead the evaluation exercise, guiding the students through a point-by-point framework of evaluation.

Define differentiation and describe how an English language development (ELD) framework can be used to differentiate content instruction for English language learners.

A teacher employs DIFFERENTIATION when he or she modifies instruction to meet individual student needs. Teachers may differentiate their instruction by (a) modifying the content of the lesson, (b) modifying how the lesson is taught or learned, or (c) modifying how students demonstrate their learning. One way for teachers to think about differentiation in an ESL context is as the merger of a CONTENT FRAMEWORK (such as the Common Core) with an ELD FRAMEWORK* (such as those developed by the WIDA Consortium or the state of California). ELD frameworks define proficiency levels for ELLs - for example, WIDA defines five levels, ranging from entering to bridging. The ELD framework also suggests ways in which teachers might differentiate various learning activities for students at different proficiency levels. For example, an entering student might follow an explicit, minimal writing model, and be given other activities to demonstrate the content knowledge, while a bridging student might be expected to organize his or her own lengthier, content-filled written response. *ELD - English Language Development

Describe the types of support an ELL enrolled in a mainstream curriculum may receive to assist in language learning, including pull-out and push-in programs.

As an alternative to either a bilingual program or an English-immersion program, many districts place English language learners in MAINSTREAM CLASSES and then use pull-out or push-in methods to provide them with additional English-language assistance. In a PULL-OUT MODEL, language specialists pull ELL students out of the classrooms for short, individual or group English language instruction. Lessons are often tailored to reinforce what the ELL is learning in the content classroom. Critics argue that ELLs pulled out of class may suffer social stigma; further, it is disruptive. In the PUSH-IN MODEL, the language specialist joins the mainstream classroom in one of several ways. The language specialist and the classroom teacher may co-teach, coordinating and dividing the curriculum. Alternately, they might divide the classroom into ELLs and native speakers during some portion of the day and teach simultaneous lessons at different degrees of English proficiency. More commonly, the language specialist can work with individuals or small groups in succession and serve as a ready resource for ELL students in need of assistance.

Define authentic assessments, describe their role in the ESL classroom, and distinguish them from performance-based assessments.

An AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT is an assessment designed to closely resemble something that a student does, or will do, in the real world. Thus, for example, students will never encounter a multiple-choice test requiring them to choose the right tense of a verb, but they will encounter context in which they have to write a narration of an event that has antecedents and consequents spread out in time - for example, their version of what caused a traffic accident. The latter is an example of a potential authentic assessment. Well-designed authentic assessments require a student to exercise ADVANCED COGNITIVE SKILLS (e.g., solving problems, integrating information, performing deduction), integrate BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE, and confront AMBIGUITY. Research has demonstrated that mere language proficiency is not predicitive of future language success - learning how to utilize knowledge in a complex context is an essential additional skill. The terms "authentic" and "performance-based" assessments are often used interchangeably. However, a performance-based assessment doesn't necessarily have to be grounded in a possible authentic experience.

Describe the intent and effects of California's Proposition 227 (1998) and Proposition 58 (2017).

As the state with the largest number of English language learners, California's ESL policies and innovations are important for teachers in any state to understand. In 1998, California voters approved PROPOSITION 227, which effectively ENDED BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS in public schools, requiring that ESL students enroll in one-year English immersion programs and then transition to mainstream English content classrooms. Studies showed mixed results - while students achieved greater success on standardized tests following implementation, so did students who continued in bilingual programs, suggesting that other factors, such as teacher training or the accountability measures of No Child Left Behind, were driving the improvements. In 2017, Californians passed PROPOSITION 58, which repealed Proposition 227 and gave public school districts the right to decide the best way to teach ESL students while retaining the responsibility to ensure that students achieve English proficiency. Given the apparent success of the Proposition 227 framework in raising student scores, its repeal is best seen as the result of a growing awareness of the value of MULTILINGUALISM in an interconnected world.

Explain the purpose, features, and limitations of curriculum-based assessments, and define the meaning of a probe in this context.

CURRICULUM-BASED ASSESSMENTS, also known as CURRICULUM-BASED MEASUREMENTS (CBM), are short, frequent assessments designed to measure student progress toward meeting curriculum benchmarks. Teachers implement CBM by designing PROBES, or short assessments that target specific skills. For example, a teacher might design a spelling probe, administered weekly, that requires students to spell 10 unfamiliar but level-appropriate words. Teachers then track the data over time to measure student progress toward defined grade-level goals. CBM has several clear advantages. If structured well, the probes have high reliability and validity. Furthermore, they provide clear and objective evidence of student progress - a welcome outcome for students and parents who often grapple with less-clear and subjective evidence. Used correctly, CBMs also motivate students and provide them with evidence of their own progress. However, while CBMs are helpful in identifying areas of student weaknesses, they do not identify the causes of those weaknesses or provide teachers with strategies for improving instruction.

Explain the importance of decoding for students learning to read and discuss the difference between implicit and explicit methods of teaching phonics.

DECODING is the practice of sounding out written words. In order to succeed at decoding, students need to understand the basics of PHONICS - how sounds correlate with letters - as well as how to blend sounds and segment words into DISCRETE SOUNDS. ELLs who successfully decode a written word may discover that they already know the word through speech - for this reason, decoding is often referred to as WORD IDENTIFICATION. Successful decoding reveals what the word is, but not what it means, either in isolation or in context. Therefore, decoding is an essential early reading skill. Research suggests that phonics is best taught explicitly - teachers systematically teach letter/sound correspondence and advance through progressively more complex words by means of grouping words with shared sounds. Alternatively, phonics may be taught implicitly - teachers present whole words and then break them into sounds, inviting students to identify common, known sound patterns.

Describe how assessment results can be used for ESL program evaluation.

ESL programs rely heavily on assessments to measure INDIVIDUAL STUDENT PROGRESS. This same aggregated data can and should be used to evaluate the OVERALL ESL PROGRAM and to identify areas of improvement. It is important to remember, however, that not all measures of ESL program success are easily quantifiable - the degree to which ELLs are integrated socially at school is one example - and thus assessment results should not be the only basis for program evaluation. Evaluators must be sure to use assessment data that pinpoints student success in both basic English proficiency and in use of English in the content areas. LONGITUDINAL (OR HISTORIC) DATA is also important: a school might be meeting regional or national benchmarks, but if its performance has declined over time, a responsible administrator will want to know why. Evaluators should also look at the assessment data from both PEER GROUPS - a school or district may be achieving consistent benchmarks but be lagging behind peers with similar students - and HIGH-PERFORMING GROUPS, which can serve as an inspiration for reform or renewal.

Distinguish between first generation, second generation, and third generation test questions.

Education theorists have identified three different types of test questions given historically to assess English language learner aptitude. Though each generation of test question has its strengths and drawbacks, the schema is meant to demonstrate a progression in the quality of assessment. The FIRST-GENERATION TEST QUESTION was typically a single essay question which a teacher graded subjectively on a full spectrum of language criteria: syntax, content, organization, spelling, and penmanship. Alternatively, a series of unrelated short-answer questions were given without supporting context. The SECOND-GENERATION TEST was composed of multiple-choice or true/false questions, a format that solved the problem of subjective grading but left each question devoid of context. In addition, each question could only assess one skill or concept, necessitating long or incomplete exam. The THIRD-GENERATION TEST attempted to test language used in authentic contexts, often by having students analyze a real-life text or perform an authentic writing task. Though these tests were once again subjective in nature, teachers began to use rubrics to reduce the uncertainty involved in grading.

Describe ways in which teachers can adapt classroom assessments for English language learners.

English language learners are at a disadvantage relative to their English-speaking peers when faced with CONTENT ASSESSMENTS. Researchers often say that they face doubling the cognitive load, as they must process both language and content in both their comprehension of the task and their production of a response. In order to get a clear sense of an ESL student's content knowledge, a teacher often must make adjustments to the test to render the language component more transparent and less taxing. Teachers can MODIFY written exams by giving ESL students fewer questions; questions and/or instructions in simpler, more literal language; or questions with embedded cues and prompts. Teachers may also allow ESL students to exhibit their knowledge in different formats - for example, by means of an oral question-and-answer, or by means of projects or presentations.

Describe several techniques teachers can use to develop English language learners' reading fluency and use Jay Samuel's automaticity theory to explain why reading fluency is highly correlated with reading comprehension.

FLUENCY in reading is the ability to read a text accurately, rapidly, and with feeling. The most important thing a teacher can do to promote fluency is to read aloud and often while taking care to read with expression and to model how words are not read one-by-one with equal spacing, but instead are read in groups with uneven pauses. Students can practice reading a line of text after listening to the teacher read it or read the text in unison with the teacher - either one student at a time (DUET READING) or the entire class (CHORAL READING). Research suggests that reading aloud is more helpful to developing fluency than reading silently and that students can profit from reading the same passages repeatedly until they achieve fluency. Fluency is highly correlated with COMPREHENSION. Jay Samuels developed the AUTOMATICITY THEORY to explain this correlation. According to Samuels, students have limited mental attention, and the more reading functions they can accomplish automatically - such as decoding skills - the more attention they have to grasp the broader meanings of a text. In this view, fluency is automaticity.

Contrast formative and summative assessments and explain how each are used in a classroom.

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS are conducted as part of an ongoing learning process. Their primary objective is to provide feedback that the students can use to improve their learning and teachers can use to improve their instruction. Formative assessments also contribute to student self-assessment by identifying areas of strength and weakness. Teachers should view formative assessments as a teaching tool - formative assessments should contribute to a student's knowledge in addition to measuring it. Formative assessments are also called ONGOING ASSESSMENTS, a term that emphasizes the value of learning and having frequent, diverse, informal assessments. SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS are conducted at the end of a learning process. Summative assessments document a student's knowledge or learning, often by assigning a score or grade. They may identify student learning needs and are often used by teachers to plan and improve instruction for future use. However, the fact that they are conducted at the end of a learning process makes it more difficult for the student or teacher to make effective use of the feedback they provide.

Describe federal requirements for the identification placement, and exit of English language learners from ESL programs.

Federal law (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974) stipulates that public schools must provide the means for ELLs to PARTICIPATE "meaningfully and equally" in educational programs. The law requires that ELLs be provided LANGUAGE SERVICES to achieve English proficiency. States and school districts have measures in place to identify ELLs upon intake, they must monitor ELL progress toward achieving proficiency in English and content areas, and they must ensure that ELLs do not exit language service programs until they have demonstrated proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The law also stipulates that ELLs be provided with needed SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES. Federal law does not prescribe what type of educational program be provided to ELLs - it leaves discretion to state and local authorities - but it does require the authorities to monitor the success of the programs and make adjustments if necessary. The EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT (2015) specified that ELL progress in English be assessed annually.

Explain why it is important for ESL teachers to provide students with explicit instruction on the content and conventions used in various types of discourse.

In order to effectively understand and use academic language, students must learn new, specialized vocabulary and develop strategies for deciphering complex and compound sentences. In addition to these basic skills, students also need to understand the different forms and functions of academic language and the basic conventions of each. Research suggests students benefit from EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION in these areas and benefit from repeated exposure to exemplary texts. Students will likely benefit from explicit instruction on how the form of a text follows it function, differences between persuasive and objective arguments, when to write from a third-person and a first-person point-of-view, and how to structure arguments with an appropriate balance of assertion and evidence.

Describe the characteristic features of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 and describe how it is likely to affect English language learners.

In the broadest terms, the EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT (ESSA) represented a devolution of authority from the federal government to the states. While ESSA retains the No Child Left Behind Act's (NCLB) basic framework of standardized testing and school accountability, ESSA grants states more discretion in how to MEASURE SCHOOL SUCCESS (for example, states may include measures of progress in addition to measures of attainment) and how to address low-performing schools. ESSA incorporates a measure of ELL PROGRESS - the rate at which students achieve English proficiency - into the overall Title 1 measure of school effectiveness, raising the potential that states and schools will make English-language education a stronger priority. (Critics worry that, by contrast, the relatively small population of ELLs will be lost, for funding purposes, in the larger Title 1 population.) ESSA also requires states to develop uniform STANDARDS for identifying, placing, and exiting students from ESL programs (previously, districts and schools could develop separate standards). ESSA also allows the CONTENT TEST RESULTS of ESL students in their first two years of schooling to be exempted from a school's reported results, reducing what were perceived to be unrealistic pressures under NCLB to realize early ELL success on academic content exams.

Describe the different ways in which a student might demonstrate listening comprehension depending on his or her level of English proficiency.

In the early stages of English learning, a student may only be able to signal understanding by nodding, smiling, or performing whatever action is being asked. At this point in language learning, a student's responses will be based heavily on NONVERBAL SIGNALS and reference to ILLUSTRATIONS or REALIA*. The student will then develop the capacity to signal comprehension by choosing between one of a pair or set of options ("Where did John go?" Home, or to the store?") before developing the capacity to formulate SIMPLE ANSWERS WITHOUT SCAFFOLDS. At a more developed level, students will be able to provide FULL-SENTENCE ANSWERS to comprehension questions and eventually to provide MULTI-SENTENCE SUMMARIES that reveal his or her comprehension of literal and implied meaning, central and supporting arguments, and connections to other texts and real-world experiences. *Realia - objects and material from everyday life, especially when used as teaching aids (brochures, maps, menus, documents, coupons, tickets, receipts, train schedules, etc.)

Describe the main features of newcomer programs, their strengths and weaknesses, and the circumstances in which they are used.

NEWCOMER PROGRAMS are a type of LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION EDUCATION PROGRAM (LIEP) developed specifically for immigrants who enter the United States between grades 6 and 12 and have experienced either INTERRUPTED SCHOOLING OR NO SCHOOLING in their home countries. These students often lack the basic literacy skills necessary to function in standard ELS classes, and almost invariably lack the academic English skills necessary to join their peers in content classrooms. School districts often create specific programs for these students, often off-site (thus the frequent term "newcomer centers"). A typical newcomer program provides separate, all-day instruction for a year, and may include after-school programs to help students and their families acculturate. *Major challenge -> level of complexity involved in creating and running them (stakeholders must have a clear vision of the program mission, design and resources, or else the program may not take root or thrive)

Describe how the use of property taxes to fund schools creates inequities that affect English language learners in part by creating disparities in teacher qualifications and retention.

Nearly half of school funding in the United States comes from LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES, which leads to significant discrepancies in funding for schools located in wealthy and impoverished neighborhoods. While federal Title 1 funds and some state funds lessen that funding gap, it still exists, and in many states and school districts, it remains dramatic. Fewer funds result in fewer resources, larger classes, and lower teacher salaries - which deters more experienced and qualified teachers from taking these jobs. In turn, the less experiences teachers take these jobs due to their availability. Placing these under-equipped teachers in overcrowded classrooms contributes to SUB-PAR STUDENT PERFORMANCE and HIGH TEACHER TURNOVER. A high percentage of ELLs live in low-income neighborhoods and thus experience these funding inequities.

Describe ways in which ESL teachers might advocate for greater access and equity in learning for their ELL students.

ESL teachers today are expected to not only be effective teachers, but also to serve as advocates for the interests of their ELL students. The important of ESL TEACHER ADVOCACY - which has been codified as standard by bodies such as TESOL and NBPTS (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards) - stems from the idea that ELLs are often disadvantaged in the education system, and that ESL teachers are uniquely positioned to understand what actions are necessary to improve ELL education and to act to effect change. Advocacy includes a wide range of activities, such as ensuring ELLs have fair access to school resources and programs, engaging the parents of ELLs to make sure they are aware of educational opportunities for their children, helping educate peers who may not have received training in delivering content instruction to ELLs, and correcting misperceptions at the school and in the community about ELL aptitude and education.

Explain the importance of retelling, restating, and summarizing for successful oral communication and provide examples of activities ESL teachers can organize to promote these skills.

Real-world communication relies heavily on one person summarizing an idea, event, or encounter for the benefit of others. ELLs need to learn how to deliver concise and accurate SUMMARIES for purposes of work and school and need to learn how to accurately PARAPHRASE conversations and TELESCOPE narrative events in order to sustain successful social conversations. Learning how to use REPORTED SPEECH - retelling what someone said to an audience later in time, as when you report Joe's words "I am sick" as "Joe said that he was sick" - is a relatively advanced language skill. Even early ELLs, however, can practice retelling events and experiences, and more advanced students can practice narrating them in different registers, as they might do in talking to a teacher rather than a peer. One commonly used technique to practice this skill is to have students interview one another and then report their findings to the class. Another is to have the students summarize a story or video using a targeted number of sentences - with the target set to help the students approximate the amount of detail to provide when summarizing.

Explain why it is important to activate students' prior knowledge when teaching academic language and describe a few classroom activities that can achieve this.

Students learn new content most easily when it relates to the KNOWLEDGE THEY ALREADY HAVE. This is a central tenet of constructivist theories of learning and is widely accepted. Student background knowledge can range from isolated facts or impressions to full-blown SCHEMA - a mental framework for ordering and integrating knowledge. Background knowledge also has affective value - students who can relate what they are learning to their own past experiences are more enthusiastic and ultimately successful. There are abundant techniques for ACTIVATING STUDENT PRIOR KNOWLEDGE. One of the more common is an anticipation guide that poses a series of engaging questions to students about the unit to come. Good anticipation guides provide teachers with insight into student background knowledge and also stimulate students to think and talk about what they already know. Another common technique is to have the students fill out a know-want to know-learned (KWL) chart, which lists student prior knowledge explicitly in the first column.

Explain why it is important to CREATE background knowledge for ELLs in content classes and describe several techniques for doing so.

Teaching is the most effective when it builds upon what a student already knows in order to introduce something new. Teachers accordingly learn techniques for activating student prior knowledge, using techniques such as brainstorming on know-want to know-learned (KWL) charts. However, ELLs may have little or no knowledge to activate about certain topics (for example, US history). In these situations, teachers may need to CREATE background knowledge before launching the core of a lesson. In order to CREATE BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE, teachers might use techniques such as anticipation guides, visuals, or parallels in the students' first culture or history. Teachers may also focus on key vocabulary through the use of techniques such as concept maps or word walls. If the new lesson depends on the students drawing connections with a previous lesson, the teacher may need to make that connection explicit - while native English speakers may pick up on a number of cues that suggest the connection, ELLs may not.

Describe the different skills that English language learners need to develop in order to successfully initiate and negotiate conversations.

Teaching students how to carry out successful conversations is one of the most important outcomes of any ELL program. Students who speak flawless English will nevertheless fail to achieve their communication objectives if they do not learn the patterns and conventions of conversational discourse. In order to become proficient in oral communication, students must learn how to INITIATE A CONVERSATION with greetings and formalities, using a register appropriate to the setting. Students must also learn how to REINFORCE their interlocutor's utterances, either through non-verbal cues (nodding, smiling) or appropriate and well-timed interjections. For social purposes, students should learn how to ALTERNATE conversation, ensuring that all parties are equal participants. Students should develop a repertoire of ACTIVE LISTENING techniques, and learn to extend the conversation with open, closed, and clarifying questions. These skills are particularly important when students have a specific conversational objective, such as achieving a consensus or securing specific information. Finally, students must learn the conventions of CLOSING A CONVERSATION.

Explain the significance of the 1974 Supreme Court case Lau v. Nichols and what came to be called the Lau Remedies.

The Lau v. Nichols suit was brought by Chinese students in San Francisco, who argued that the fact that their classes were taught in English rather than Chinese violated their rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In its unanimous decision in favor of the plaintiff, the Supreme Court ruled that schools receiving federal funding must provide ENGLISH-LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION to students who lack English proficiency. The Court based its decision on the Civil Rights Act of 1965 (rather than the Fourteenth Amendment), finding that the lack of appropriate language education represented a failure to grant EQUAL ACCESS TO EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES. The Court's decision meant that schools could no longer allow students to succeed or fail in an English-only curriculum but had to actively help students overcome language deficiencies. The LAU REMEDIES are guidelines issues by the Department of Education to help districts develop language policies in accordance with Lau v. Nichols. The Remedies stipulate that districts should develop the means to identify and evaluate ELLs, provide them with appropriate instruction, and evaluate their readiness to exit the ESL program.

Describe the defining features of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation of 2001 and discuss the impact the legislation had on ESL programs and instruction.

The NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT (NCLB) was based on the premise that setting and holding schools and student accountable to high standards would promote academic excellence. The act mandated that all schools receiving Title 1 funding adopt ANNUAL STANDARDIZED TESTS. Schools that failed to demonstrate adequate yearly progress on test results were required to create improvement plans and faced escalating penalties if they failed to improve. The NCLB established, for the first time, ACCOUNTABILITY AND FUNDING PROVISIONS FOR ELL PROGRAMS (under Title 3) separate from those allocated for the entire spectrum of socio-economically disadvantaged students (under Title 1). This separate attention raised the profile of ELL education issues. It also obliged states to monitor ELL academic performance more closely, and most developed uniform metrics for doing so. The NCLB required that states track three ANNUAL MEASURABLE ACHIEVEMENT OBJECTIVES (AMAO) - two that measured ELL English proficiency, and a third that measured ELL progress toward content standards. The third element proved problematic - few states managed to provide full accommodations for ESL students taking content exams. A large percentage of schools serving ESL populations failed to meet these standards and, they often argued, failed to receive the resources or other federal assistance necessary for improvement.

Define sheltered instruction observation protocol (SIOP) both as a survey method and as an instructional model.

The SHELTERED INSTRUCTION OBSERVATION PROTOCOL (SIOP) was originally developed in the early 1990s as a 30-item SURVEY to evaluate the effectiveness of a teacher's planning, implementation, and assessment of sheltered English instruction. The survey has been demonstrated to be valid and reliable and is still widely used to evaluate sheltered English programs, even those that do not follow SIOP as an INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL. The originators followed up on the success of SIOP as a survey tool by elaborating a full-scale approach to lesson planning and delivery, intended to give content instructors a systematic approach to teaching English language learners. SIOP divides the instructional process into EIGHT COMPONENTS: lesson preparation, building background, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, practice and application, lesson delivery, and review and assessment. Laura Bought Carmen Shoes In Pink Leopard Roar

Explain the significance for ESL education of the Supreme Court's ruling in the 1982 Plyler v. Doe case.

The Supreme Court ruled in Plyler v. Doe that children could not be denied education because of the IMMIGRATION STATUS. The case arose when the state of Texas passed a law that withheld funds to pay for the education of, and allowed districts to expel, students who lacked legal status. In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that the Texas law violated the EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE of the Fourteenth Amendment. Plyler v. Doe only applied to K-12 education. Legal battles continue over the issues of whether college students without status can be denied in-state tuition benefits, and whether public schools can gather information about the student legal status during the enrollment process for possible reporting to the immigration authorities.

Describe a range of methods ESL teachers can use to further their professional development.

The best PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT provides a teacher with new ideas and the knowledge of how to implement them in the classroom. The simplest - and likely most effective - form of professional development is NETWORKING with other experienced ESL teachers, either as a peer or as a mentee. ESL CONFERENCES provide the best intersection of networking with learning about ESL research. The latter can also be accessed through professional journals and the websites of informational clearinghouses such as the Center for Applied Linguistics or the Centre for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies. WEBSITES such as Colorin Colorado! and Brown University's Educational Alliance can be invaluable, and ESL teachers have established numerous useful blogs, online discussion groups, and Twitter feeds. Though they are potentially expensive in terms of both cost and time, SUMMER WORKSHOPS often offer more systematic training and a resume credential. Finally, committed career professionals should consider doing their own RESEARCH FOR PUBLICATION, particularly in an aspect of ESL that they are passionate about.

Explain how teachers might use student assessment results to develop strategies for reteaching specific content and skills.

When assessment results show that a significant portion of the class lack specific knowledge or a specific skill, teachers should consider RETEACHING the subject. It is important to remember that assessment results might be as formal as student scores on an exam, or as informal as students signaling their understanding with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down gesture. RETEACHING STRATEGIES include re-explaining the subject more slowly and using simplified vocabulary; using visual aids; relying on students who understand the concept to peer coach the students who do not; providing more background knowledge or calling on student experience to situate the new material in context; and focusing instruction on the suspected problem area, such as new vocabulary or a particular grammatical form.

Define the following teaching techniques and explain how a teacher might use them to enhance English language learner listening comprehension: frontloading/pre-teaching, chunking of information, and debriefing.

Teachers FRONTLOAD or PRE-TEACH when they explicitly teach vocabulary, rhetorical devices, sentence structures, or content that students will encounter in a subsequent lesson. This technique is particularly useful in preparing students for listening comprehension activities in order to ensure that the students don't disengage when they encounter unfamiliar words or forms. CHUNKING refers to the practice of dividing a lesson or a text into mentally digestible parts, often by stopping and inviting the students to pose questions, draw connections to prior knowledge, or anticipate what is to come. Teachers often chunk a reading comprehension exercise in order to ensure that students understand the text well enough to understand what is to come, either by asking direct comprehension questions or inviting the students to predict what will come next. DEBRIEFING is a specific type of lesson summary or wrap-up, usually used to revisit a key point or reinforce a specific learning goal, and to assess how successfully the students mastered the lesson.

Explain why content instructors may need ESL instructor help in understanding their ELL student needs and designing effective instruction for them, and what approaches an ESL teacher can take to help.

While content teachers in states with high numbers of ELLs are likely to receive PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES to help them understand how to work with ELLs, a minority of states mandate such training, even though a majority of content classrooms contain at least one ELL. ESL teachers are often called upon - either formally or informally - to HELP THEIR COLLEAGUES effectively reach their ELLs. ESL teachers might help by identifying an ELL's language proficiency level or go further to suggest appropriate teaching supports, reasonable expectations, and teaching methods. They might organize multi-teacher conferences to ensure that the student receives consistent instruction throughout the day. ESL teachers might usefully join parent-teacher conferences to address language concerns. Finally, ESL teachers might either recommend ESL-oriented professional development activities to their colleagues or, in the absence of such activities, volunteer to lead periodic training seminars.

Identify the sound that corresponds to the following symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet by providing a common English word that incorporates the sound.

tʃ "ch" sound, as in "chore" ə "uh" sound, as in "campus" or "love"...This symbol is called the "schwa" and represents a common English sound dʒ "j" sound, as in "jelly" ʃ "sh" sound, as in "shoe" θ "th" sound, as in "think" ð "th" sound, as in "the"

Explain the purpose, features, and limitations of performance-based assessments.

A PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT is one in which students demonstrate their learning by performing a TASK rather than by answering questions in a traditional test format. Proponents of performance-based assessments argue that they lead students to use HIGH-LEVEL COGNITIVE SKILLS as they focus on how to put their knowledge to use and plan a sequence of stages in an activity or presentation. They also allow students more opportunities to individualize their presentations or responses based on preferred learning styles. Research suggests that students welcome the chance to put their knowledge to use in real-world scenarios. In the ESL context, advocates suggest that performance assessments avoid many of the problems of language or cultural bias present in traditional assessments, and thus they allow more accurate assessment of how well students learned the underlying concepts. Proponents argue that performance assessments come closer to replicating what should be the true goal of language learning - the effective use of language in real contexts - than do more traditional exams. Critics point out that performance assessments are difficult and time-consuming for teachers to construct and for students to perform. Finally, performative assessments are difficult to grade in the absence of a well-constructed and detailed rubric.

Explain the purpose, features, and limitations of portfolio assessments.

A PORTFOLIO is a collection of student work in multiple forms and media gathered over time. Teachers may assess the portfolio both for evidence of progress over time or in its end state as a demonstration of the achievement of certain proficiency levels. One advantage of PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENTS is their breadth - unlike traditional assessments which focus on one or two language skills, portfolios may contain work in multiple forms - writing samples, pictures, and graphs designed for content courses, video and audio clips, student reflections, teacher observations, and student exams. A second advantage is that they allow to develop work in authentic contexts, including in other classrooms and at home. In order for portfolios to function as an objective assessment tool, teachers should negotiate with students in advance of what genres of work will be included and outline a grading rubric that makes clear what will be assessed, such as linguistic proficiency, use of English in academic contexts, and demonstrated use of target cognitive skills.

Explain the origins and significance of Florida's LULAC v. State Board of Education consent decree.

A consent decree is a mutually-binding agreement enforced by a court. In 1990, the LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS (LULAC) filed a suit claiming that Florida was failing to provide English language learners with equitable and comprehensible education under the existing framework of federal laws. The case was settled in US District Court according to the terms of the consent decree. The consent decree - which covers issues such as identification and assessment, equal access to programming, teacher qualifications and training, monitoring, and outcome measures - now serves as the framework for Florida's ESL programs. Within education circles, the agreement is simply known as the FLORIDA CONSENT DECREE.

Differentiate between proficiency and achievement tests.

ACHIEVEMENT TESTS are used to measure whether students have learned what has been taught - or, in other words, whether the student has gained the skills and knowledge targeted instruction. Achievement tests are typically summative by nature, as they are usually administered at the end of a learning cycle. LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TESTS are used to evaluate a student's overall language ability at a given moment in time rather than their mastery of recent classroom lessons. Proficiency tests (such as the TOEFL or IELTS exams) are often used to control access to schools or universities or to control the exit from ESL programs.

Describe the role of identification assessments in the ESL learning process.

An IDENTIFICATION ASSESSMENT is used to identify students in need of ENGLISH LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE. By federal law (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974), school districts must have procedures in place to screen newly arriving students for potential language assistance. Districts typically begin this process by conducting a HOME LANGUAGE SURVEY, a series of questions that seek to identify households in which a language other than English is spoken. In these cases, an expert will typically assess the student's educational history and, if there is little or no evidence of previous academic experience in English, refer him or her to take an identification assessment. Different states and consortia use different identification tests - in California, the CELDT (California English Language Development Test) is used (though the state is transitioning to a new test), whereas school districts in Texas may choose from a series of state-approved exams. A minority of states do not use an identification assessment at all but rely instead on a human screener to make ESL identifications. Identifying English Language learners is generally a 2-step process (1) home language survey (identifies students who may need English development services based on degree of English language exposure) (2) identification assessment (assesses the students' language proficiency and confirms student's language status)

Explain practicality as a feature of a good assessment and explain what teachers can do to make sure assessments are practical.

An assessment is PRACTICAL if it uses an appropriate amount of human and budgetary resources. A practical exam doesn't take very long to design or score, nor does it take students very long to complete in relation to other learning objectives and priorities. Teachers often need to balance a desire to construct comprehensive or content-valid tests with a need for practicality: lengthy exams consume large amounts of instruction time and may return unreliable results if students become tired and lose focus.

Define assessment bias and provide examples of how it might arise.

An assessment is considered BIASED if it disadvantages a certain group of students, such as students of a certain gender, race, cultural background, or socioeconomic class. A CONTENT BIAS exists when the subject matter of a question or assessment is familiar to one group and not another - for example, a reading comprehension passage which discusses an event in American history would be biased against students new to the country. An ATTITUDINAL BIAS exists when a teacher has a preconceived idea about the likely success of an assessment of a particular individual or group. A METHOD BIAS arises when the format of an assessment is unfamiliar to a given group of students. LANGUAGE BIAS occurs when an assessment utilizes idioms, collocations, or cultural references unfamiliar to a group of students. Finally, TRANSLATION BIAS may arise when educators attempt to translate content-area assessments into a student's native language - rough or hurried translations often result in a loss of nuance important for accurate assessment.

Define reliability as a feature of a good assessment and explain what teachers can do to make sure assessments are reliable.

An assessment is considered RELIABLE if it yields similar results when retaken. Factors that affect reliability include the day-to-day wellbeing of the student (students can sometimes underperform), the physical environment of the test, the way it is administered, and the subjectivity of the scorer (with written-response assessments). Perhaps the most important threat to assessment reliability is the nature of the EXAM QUESTIONS themselves. An assessment question is designed to test student knowledge of a certain construct. A question is reliable in this sense if students who understand the content answer the question correctly. Statisticians look for patterns in student marks, both within the single test and over multiple tests, as a way of measuring reliability. Teachers should watch out for circumstances in which a student or students answer correctly a series of questions about a given concept (demonstrating their understanding) but then answer a related question incorrectly. The latter question may be an unreliable indicator of concept knowledge.

Define validity as a feature of good assessment, and differentiate between content validity, constructive validity, and predictive validity.

An assessment is considered VALID if it measures what it is intended to measure. One common error that can reduce the validity of a test (or a question on a test) occurs if the instructions are written at a reading level the students can't understand. In this case, it is not valid to take the student's failed answer as a true indication of his or her knowledge of the subject. Factors internal to the student might also affect exam validity: anxiety and a lack of self-esteem often lower assessments results, reducing their validity of a measure of student knowledge. An assessment has content validity if it includes all the RELEVANT ASPECTS of the subject being tested - if it is comprehensive, in other words. An assessment has PREDICTIVE VALIDITY if a score on the test is an accurate predictor of future success in the same domain. For example, SAT exams purport to have validity in predicting student success in a college. An assessment has construct validity if it accurately measures student knowledge of the subject being tested.

Explain how a teacher can help promote English language learner reading comprehension by calling attention to a text's features, structures, and rhetorical devices.

An essential element of reading comprehension is the ability to predict how a text will be structured and how its author will present information or construct a narrative. Students who can successfully anticipate and identify these aspects of a text will have an advantage in overall comprehension because they can use what they already know to infer further meanings and evaluate the credibility of the author or the quality of his or her argument. Students can be taught the general FEATURES of fiction, non-fiction, and academic texts. Given the nature of the text, certain STRUCTURES can be expected: fiction, for example, will likely contain a lot of dialogue composed of informal (social) language; academic texts, in contrast, will eschew dialogue and likely use only objective adjectives, such as those indicating size or number. Different types of texts incorporate different RHETORICAL DEVICES as well: fiction may depend heavily on metaphor, while academic texts may rely on inductive and deductive arguments.

Define backward lesson planning and explain how it is useful for ensuring that students reach their learning objectives.

BACKWARDS LESSON PLANNING is a lesson planning process in which a teacher begins with a specific LEARNING OBJECTIVE - often excerpted from the state learning standards - and then work backward to develop lesson plans and activities that will help students achieve that objective. The authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe popularized the concept in their 1998 book Understanding by Design. The backwards lesson planning method is meant to rationalize classroom activities to ensure that each makes a clear contribution to the learning process. In a common description, the process is meant to focus attention on learning rather than teaching. The method is associated with the focus on standardized testing that arose in the No Child Left Behind era, but it has broader application as a method of systematizing instruction and ensuring that the various elements in a lesson plan fit together and build on one another toward clearly articulated objectives.

Differentiate between the two approaches to language instruction educational programs (LIEP) - the bilingual approach and the ESL approach - and identify factors that lead to the choice of one or the other.

BILINGUAL INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS begin instruction primarily on entirely in the student's NATIVE LANGUAGE and then transition to greater use of ENGLISH over time. Most bilingual programs phase out classroom use of the native language over time, but some continue instruction in both languages, targeting full biliteracy as a goal. ESL INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS, in contrast, provide ENGLISH-ONLY classroom instruction, with possible occasional use of a student's L1 in support. ESL programs include those that focus solely on developing English proficiency and those that focus on teaching ELLs academic content in ways that reinforce English language learning. Research points to many benefits of bilingual instruction - perhaps most clearly, a student's literacy skills in L1 facilitate literacy in L2. However, a bilingual approach is often not feasible, as it requires a fairly homogenous L1 population (in the United States, this leads overwhelmingly to Spanish-English bilingual programs), a sufficient pool of bilingual teachers, and a legal framework that allows for non-English instruction.

Define computer assisted language learning (CALL), differentiate between those that use computer technology as a tutor versus those that use it as a communication tool, and discuss the key contributions CALL can make to English language learning.

COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (CALL) is the use of computer technology to learn languages. Discussions of CALL often distinguish between the use of computers as a tutor and their use as a tool for communicating with others. The most commonly used tutoring applications in ESL classrooms include PRONUNCIATION TUTORIALS, in which students listen to native English speakers and record their own speech; READING TUTORIALS, in which electronic glossaries provide definitions and draw connections between related texts; and programs that provide outlines and graphic organizers to assist in the WRITING PROCESS. The use of computers as a communication tool is often called COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION (CMC). CMC may either be synchronous (real-time interaction) with a teacher or other students) or asynchronous (in which one student posts work for later review or augmentation by another user). CALL is widely-used to differentiate instruction and learning, as individual students can use CALL to learn different lessons at different rates. When used responsibly by self-motivated leaners, CALL can provide unique opportunities for self-guided learning. As a communication tool, CALL expands the possibilities for distance learning and collaboration beyond the physical classroom. And finally, computer-based assessments can automate much of the grading and feedback functions of teaching.

Define content-based instruction and compare it to sheltered instruction.

CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION (CBI) is a teaching method that teaches language indirectly by means of teaching CONTENT IN THE TARGET LANGUAGE. CBI is an UMBRELLA TERM that subsumes all teaching methods - such as sheltered instruction - that teach language and content simultaneously. In general, proponents of CBI argue that students can best learn languages indirectly, by focusing on (and being motivated by) interesting subject matter content. Some CBI programs carefully structure the subject matter content so that it systematically treats sequential features of the target language, while others are more immersive in the sense that they rely more heavily on the student's ability to infer meaning from a context-rich learning environment.

Explain the concept of curriculum mapping, identifying the various ways it can be applied to bring about curriculum consistency, and its relation to standardized learning objectives.

CURRICULUM MAPPING is the process of ensuring that what is taught corresponds to the EXPECTED LEARNING STANDARDS. In longer terms, it is a process that ensures that there are no gaps or redundancies in what is taught and that a course covers in a thorough and systematic way the corresponding learning objectives. Curriculum mapping usually involves allocating instructional time to the various topics to be taught, often in proportion to the topics' relative weight on standardized exams. Curriculum mapping is used not only to align the content of a course to a set of standards, but also to ensure CONSISTENCY in teaching from one grade level to another, in multiple classrooms teaching the same grade-level subject, and to maximize the extent to which the curriculum in one course reinforces the curriculum in another. The latter aspect of curriculum mapping is particularly useful for ESL teachers who are striving to teach content (especially vocabulary) that their students will use in content classes. The term "CURRICULUM CALIBRATION" is also used to describe the process of aligning curriculum to standardized learning objectives.

Describe the main features of a developmental bilingual education (DBE) program, its objectives, and its strengths and weaknesses.

DEVELOPMENTAL BILINGUAL EDUCATION (DBE) PROGRAMS are one of the three main bilingual LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION EDUCATION PROGRAMS (LIEP) in use in the United States. Like transitional bilingual education (TBE) programs, DBE programs (also called maintenance and late-exit programs) begin with instruction in L1 as soon as students enter school, and gradually transition to instruction in English. Unlike in TBE programs, however, students never transition fully to English - DBE programs aim to develop BILITERACY and to maintain a student's proficiency in L1 throughout the program - which typically lasts through 6th or perhaps 8th grade. Students in a typical DBE program might begin with 90% of their instruction in L1, and in their last year receive 50/50 L1-L2 mix. DBE programs often evolve as an option in an already-established TBE program. DBE programs differ in how students learn in the two languages - L1 and L2 might be used in alternate periods, on alternate days, in alternate semesters, or to teach different subjects. Recall: 3 main bilingual instruction educational programs 1. Dual Immersion (DI)/Two-Way Immersion (TWI) 2. Developmental Bilingual Education (DBE) program 3. Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) program

Describe the main features of a dual immersion program, its objectives, and its strengths and weaknesses.

DUAL IMMERSION (DI) or TWO-WAY IMMERSION (TWI) programs are one of the three main bilingual LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION EDUCATION PROGRAMS (LIEP) in use in the United States. The defining feature of DI programs that all students (both ELLs and English speakers) are taught in both languages, with the goal of FULL BILINGUALISM for the entire school population. Some DI programs balance the two instructional languages equally, beginning with the earliest grades, but it is more common for DI students to begin with a higher proportion (80/20 or 90/10) of instruction in the non-English language, and transition gradually to equality. Even a 50/50 instructional balance, however, doesn't lead to equal language proficiency - research has demonstrated that native English speakers do not obtain the same level of L2 proficiency as non-native speakers obtain in English. This difference can be attributed both to motivation (learning English is more of a necessity than is learning a foreign language) and to the fact that the surrounding world provides far more opportunities to practice English than a foreign language. In addition to the language benefit, DI programs are credited with promoting biculturalism and tolerance. Recall: 3 main bilingual instruction education programs 1. Dual Immersion (DI)/Two-Way Immersion (TWI) 2. Developmental Bilingual Education (DBE) program 3. Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) program

Explain how English language development (ELD) standards can help provide differentiated assessment and instruction for ELLs.

ELD STANDARDS are designed to help educators identify and meet the specific needs of ELLs, recognizing that they are at a disadvantage in relation to native speakers in meeting the Common Core or other standardized benchmarks. ELD standards identify a range of ENGLISH PROFICIENCY LEVELS, such as beginner, intermediate, and advanced, thus providing a beginning framework for differentiation. Many ELD frameworks develop further categories that SUBDIVIDE the primary proficiency levels - for example, California's ELD framework specifies learners in each of the three proficiency levels as needing substantial, moderate, or light support. The prescribed level of instructional support may vary by specific English skill, activity, or task. These categories provide teachers with a basis for providing differentiated instruction. Many ELD frameworks, including California's recognize long-term English learners (students who have been enrolled for more than six years and are not progressing toward proficiency) as a separate proficiency level and design differentiated lessons to meet their needs.

Explain why English language learners are underrepresented in gifted and talented (GT) programs.

ELLs remain underrepresented in GT PROGRAMS, despite long-standing awareness of the deficits and of the fact that selection should be based on cognitive aptitudes independent of English language proficiency. Many explanations have been offered for the discrepancy, including (a) the challenge for teachers in recognizing giftedness through the filter of another language and culture, (b) a bias toward verbal aptitude in the definition and assessment of gifted students, (c) the lack of appropriate cognitive testing in students' native languages, (d) a lack of systematic communication between school ESL and gifted programs, and (e) an unspoken sense that ESL learners must become proficient in English before their cognitive skills can be recognized. Though the US Department of Education offers JACOB JAVITS GRANTS to help states identify and serve gifted ELLs, the bulk of funding and guidance for gifted programs comes from the individual states. As a consequence, states differ greatly in how they administer these programs and in the measures they take to identify gifted candidates among the ELL population.

Explain how teachers might use student assessment results to modify and differentiate language and/or content instruction.

Good teachers make a habit of ANALYZING ASSESSMENT RESULTS in order to modify and differentiate their instruction. Teachers should attempt to determine whether cases of poor student performance were caused by language deficits or a lack of content understanding. Often teachers can determine this by looking at a student's response to other, similar questions, by assessing how well-written the student's responses are, or by consulting with a content instructor. If the teacher discovers that a large number of students scored badly on a certain question or group of related questions, they should RETEACH that subject to the entire class. The teacher should try to identify the CORE ISSUE - perhaps the lesson is too complex and needs to be divided into smaller, more manageable chunks; or perhaps success in the lesson was predicated on vocabulary that the students never grasped, in which case the teacher can begin anew with vocabulary instruction. If the problem is a lack of content knowledge rather than language knowledge, an ESL teacher can plan more content-related tasks in consultation with the content instructor. If the problem is language related and affects only one student or a group of students, the teacher can use scaffolding and differentiated teaching to address the deficits.

Explain the significance for ESL education of the Supreme Court's ruling in Castaneda v. Pickard (1981).

In 1978, Roy Castaneda, the father of two Mexican-American students, sued the school district of Raymondville, Texas, arguing that his children had unlawfully been placed in a classroom segregated by language ability, and further that the school district had failed to establish an adequate bilingual education program that would allow ELLs to re-enter the mainstream curriculum. Castaneda's case effectively challenged the courts to enforce Lau v. Nichols, which dictated that school districts take the necessary steps to allow ELL students to overcome their English language deficiencies. Castaneda v. Pickard In 1981, the Fifth US Court of Appeals issued what came to be called the CASTANEDA TEST to assess whether district bilingual education programs were meeting the standards of the right to equal education concept in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Education Opportunities Act of 1974. Specifically, bilingual programs (a) had to be based on sound theory and have a legitimate design, (b) had to be supported with appropriate resources and personnel, and (c) must be evaluated to determine if they are effective.

Describe the relationship between English language arts (ELA) standards (the Common Core and equivalent standards) and the English language development (ELD) standards created by various states and consortia.

In 2010, a majority of states adopted a common set of standards (the Common Core) outlining what students should be expected to know in mathematics and language arts at each grade level. States that did not adopt the Common Core standards created their own standards designed to be comparable. The ELA STANDARDS set benchmarks for student literacy skills in the various subject matter areas. ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (ELD) PROGRAMS utilize second-language instructional practices to assist students with limited English proficiency. When the Common Core was developed, many states with ELD programs, such as California, took steps to integrate the two sets of standards. In these settings, an ELD can be seen as a type of scaffolding program designed to help ELLs reach the same standards of literacy as native speakers. Other states and the WIDA (World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment) Consortium have also developed ELD programs to support ELA and similar standards.

Define sheltered English instruction (SEI), describe its key characteristics and objectives, and identify the major variants of SEI in use in the United States.

In a SHELTERED INSTRUCTION PROGRAM (also called sheltered English instruction), intermediate English language learners are taught the full cirriculum in English and are given appropriate support to further their content learning. SEI programs explicitly target CONTENT KNOWLEDGE and only address English development indirectly by creating highly contextualized learning environments in which students can practice their English skills. Schools with large, homogenous ELL populations may have separate SEI content classes - sheltered 8th grade life science, for example - or a teacher may simply implement sheltering teaching techniques in a classroom of mixed native English speakers and ELLs. SEI teachers deliver the same content as ordinary content instructors but attempt to communicate that content in ways that don't depend on STUDENT ENGLISH PROFICIENCY. Thus, they often simplify, use demonstration and realia, and allow students to use L1 resources to supplement their learning. States and school districts use different variations of SEI. The most widely used include the sheltered instruction observation protocol (SIOP), the specially designed academic instruction in English (SDAIE) model, guided language acquisition design (GLAD), quality teaching for English learners (QTEL), and the cognitive academic language learning approach (CALLA).

Explain the importance of meaningful and purposeful communicative interactions in promoting ELL language development and provide examples of classroom activities that further this goal.

MEANINGFUL AND PURPOSEFUL CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES are those that achieve a specific learning goal while engaging the students with a topic or a process that is interesting to them. The phrase "COMMUNICATIVE INTERACTIONS" points to the sociocultural aspect of language learning - students learn best when they are engaged in authentic communicative acts rather than simply listening to a lecture or practicing repetitive worksheet exercises. In order to make lessons meaningful, teachers should use AUTHENTIC TEXTS AND REALIA, examples and scenarios from the students' original cultures, and scenarios that reproduce scenes and activities that the students actually experience. Texts should include sympathetic characters facing familiar challenges. In order to promote communicative interactions, teachers should stage activities that draw students into CONVERSATIONS, such as small-group discussions, problem-solving tasks, skits, or dialogue journals. In guiding the conversation, teachers should ask open-ended, exploratory questions that avoid right/wrong answers and invite elaboration. Students should assess and discuss what they read and should write in order to be read - whether it be a product like a classroom newsletter or a journal to be read by a classmate or a parent.

Evaluate the importance of English language conventions (spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.) in writing instruction for English language learners and discuss how these conventions are addressed in a process writing instructional approach.

Modern approaches to writing treat the proper use of ENGLISH CONVENTIONS as one of several components of good writing, along with word choice, organization, voice, fluency, and message/content. Thus, while ESL teachers may choose to teach some conventions explicitly, they nevertheless take care to ensure not to let a focus on grammar, punctuation, or error correction impede the overall writing process in general. Process writing breaks the writing tasks into FIVE PHASES: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. In this framework, students focus on the correct use of conventions in the editing phase (though the teacher or peers may point out errors in the revising phase), well after the creative and expansive portions of the task.

Explain why ESL teachers need to be particularly attuned to using formative assessments to guide the learning process and modify the class curriculum.

Modern education theory recognizes the value of using FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS in every classroom context. Teachers achieve the best outcomes when they utilize frequent, varied, and non-intrusive assessments that address clearly-articulated learning objectives and transparent state standards. Modern theory also suggests that grades should primarily reflect whether a student has attained an educational objective and not whether he or she struggled along the way. This insight is particularly important when teaching ELLs: while under the COMMON CORE, they are held to the same English language arts standards as native speakers, so they enter the school system at a language disadvantage. In this context, ESL teachers need to make maximal use of formative assessments to identify what needs to be taught (or re-taught) and how. Teachers should use formative assessments prior to launching an instructional unit in order to gauge student knowledge and needs; during instruction to check for understanding, identify needed lesson modifications, and detect students in need of help; and after instruction to ensure student comprehension with an eye toward modifying subsequent instruction.

Describe how teachers can make effective use of portfolio assessments and explain why they might have a positive effect on student motivation.

PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENTS, in which either a student or a teacher collects a student's work over time for eventual formative or summative assessment, is a valuable assessment tool for ESL writing proficiency. Portfolios can be highly individualized or differentiated, allowing each student to be evaluated in terms of progress rather than by comparison with peers. By definition, a portfolio will contain a time-series of a student's work, making his or her progress over time evident. This quality is highly motivational. Finally, a well-constructed portfolio can help remind an ELL of the various processes involved in writing (by including various drafts) or the various traits of good writing (by including writing that focuses on vocabulary, voice, organization, etc.). Portfolio assessments share many of the weaknesses of other subjective assessments. To be effective, they should be accompanied by clear RUBRICS and frequent STUDENT-TEACHER CONVERSATIONS that clarify expectations.

Define print awareness and explain how teachers can foster it in early English language learners.

PRINT AWARENESS refers to a child's recognition that the written symbols on a page represent letters and words and correspond to spoken language. The term also refers to the awareness that English text is read from left to right and pages are turned from right to left. Print awareness is an essential pre-reading skill which students must grasp before they learn how to read, spell, or practice handwriting. Teachers can develop print awareness in early ELLs by modeling how a book is read, using a finger to trace the progression of reading from left to right and then wrapping around to the next line, showing how pictures are associated with parts of a story, explaining the role of title and author, and discussing how a book represents a complete narrative.

Explain the concept of task complexity and how teachers might use it to determine how much scaffolding is required when teaching a lesson to English language learners.

Peter Skehan developed the concept of TASK COMPLEXITY in the late 1990s as a framework for understanding the complexity of learning tasks in an L2 classroom. Skehan identified three factors that contribute to the complexity of a task: its CODE COMPLEXITY, which is determined by language factors such as vocabulary and sentence complexity; its COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY, which is determined by the nature of cognitive processing required of the students and whether they are accustomed to that type of cognitive processing; and the amount of COMMUNICATIVE STRESS involved in the task. Examples of communicative stress include time constraints or uncomfortable group dynamics. According to the theory, effective teachers will scale the scaffolding they provide to match the complexity of the task evaluated within this framework.

Discuss how recent educational policies (Bilingual Education Act, No Child Left Behind Act, Every Student Succeeds Act) reflect changing public views of bilingualism as either a resource or a problem.

Public debate on bilingualism in society and in schools can be simplified into two pools of thought: one worries that bilingualism ERODES NATIONAL UNITY AND IDENTITY, and thus the growing numbers of non-native speakers in schools is a problem to be overcome; the other views bilingualism as a RESOURCE TO BE CULTIVATED, arguing that a child's L1 helps him or her acquire English - and further, that globalization proves the importance of multilingualism. This debate is also often framed as one between the prioritization of assimilation versus multiculturalism. The BILINGUAL EDUCATION ACT (BEA) of 1968 (Title VII of the broader Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA) provided federal funding for bilingual education programs and recognized, at least implicitly, the value of students retaining their native languages and cultures. The NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT (NCLB), which replaced ESEA in 2002, struck all mention of bilingualism and implicitly repealed the BEA, renaming it the English Language Acquisition, Language Enforcement, and Academic Achievement Act. The NCLB's focus on standardized test results and short-term, transitional ESL programs mirrored broader national trends promoting assimilation, including the adoption of Proposition 227 in California and Proposition 203 in Arizona. ESSA, while not explicitly promoting the benefits of bilingualism, grants greater policy latitude to the states - leading some to adopt bilingual education programs.

Describe the role of redesignation or reclassification assessments in the ESL learning process.

RECLASSIFICATION (OR REDESIGNATION) ASSESSMENTS are used to determine whether an ESL student has reached sufficient proficiency to be classified as a fluent English speaker and effectively exit the ESL program. Federal law requires that states assess ESL student proficiency every year, but it does now specify the criteria that a state must use in making reclassification decisions. Most states consider additional factors beyond test results, including teacher and parental input, when making reclassification decisions. However, overall CRITERIA FOR RECLASSIFICATION differ widely by state - even states which use the same annual proficiency exam may set different thresholds for exit from an ESL program. Critics suggest that the reclassification process is often biased toward basic English proficiency but does not effectively measure student English proficiency in the content areas.

Describe the reasoning behind standards-based assessment.

Recent educational reform in the United States has focused on establishing grade-level content and skill STANDARDS to guide both instruction and assessment. This approach provides greater transparency - all stakeholders can view the learning objectives in advance - and gives teachers the means to develop integrated, proportional lesson plans. One reason policymakers advocated for a STANDARDS-BASED CURRICULUM, and in particular for standardized assessments, was to narrow the gap in academic achievement that exists between both states and the districts and schools within states. Standardized assessment rates would allow policymakers to identify districts and schools in need of more resources or educational reform. STANDARDS-BASED ASSESSMENT is also popular among those who see the need for greater teacher accountability, as student performance on standardized assessments arguable serves as a basis for measuring teacher performance. Critics of standards-based assessment focused less on the nature of standards-based assessment than on the number and assigned importance of these assessments, arguing that these factors force teachers to teach toward the exam. In response to these undesired effects, the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) scaled back the schedule of standardized exams prescribed by the previous No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation.

Explain why English language learners are overrepresented in special education programs.

Research demonstrates that English language learners are referred to SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS more often than their native English-speaking peers. The issue arises primarily because normal second-language development patterns can resemble emerging special education issues, especially to non-specialists. For example, if an ESL student doesn't speak much or respond to questions, he or she might have a hearing impairment or processing deficit - or simply be in the silent period stage of language learning. An accurate referral requires the ability to differentiate between the effects of a student's language ability, content knowledge, and cognitive abilities - a complex assessment that should only be made by a trained evaluator. The Department of Education recommends that, whenever feasible, disability assessments be done in the STUDENT'S NATIVE LANGUAGE in order to avoid confounding disability and language issues.

Describe techniques a teacher can use to promote reading comprehension in each of the three stages of reading: pre-reading, reading, and post-reading.

Research demonstrates that students who approach a text with a purpose comprehend it better than students who simply read it passively without any expectations or goals. Teachers can promote reading comprehension in the PRE-READING PHASE by explaining the PURPOSE of the exercise and what the students will be doing with the text once they finish reading it. They can preview the format of the text once they finish reading it. They can preview the format of the text so that students know what to expect as they read. They can solicit student background knowledge to build context and stimulate interest. Teachers should encourage students to monitor their comprehension while they read with a variety of SELF-QUESTIONING STRATEGIES. For example, when reading a text with headings, students can stop at the end of a section and verify that they grasped the point anticipated by said heading. If they are reading a persuasive essay, they can stop periodically and ask themselves if they are convinced by the writer's argument and evidence. Finally, students should ASSESS & SUMMARIZE once they have finished reading. If they find they they don't understand part of the narrative or the author's argument, they should return to the test to improve their comprehension. 3 stages of reading: 1. pre-reading 2. reading 3. post-reading

Describe how disciplinary procedures disproportionately affect ELLs and their prospects for academic success and describe the recent trend toward restorative justice.

Research shows that (a) in recent decades, schools have been made dramatically more use of HARSH DISCIPLINARY MEASURES, such as suspensions, even for non-violent student offenses; (b) these disciplinary measures disproportionately affect ELLs beginning at the secondary-school level; and (c) students subjected to disciplinary actions are far less likely to succeed academically. The high correlation between disciplinary action and student socioeconomic status suggests that the problem has complex and deep-seated societal roots. LACK OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AT SCHOOL is one often-cited factor for the increase of discipline incidents. Within the ELL context, this can arise if ELL students are unable to successfully join the mainstream curriculum or are tracked in marginal and unchallenging courses. RESTORATIVE JUSTICE refers to actions that schools can take to address disciplinary problems without suspending or expelling students. Restorative justice programs emphasize mediation of conflicts, the creation of support groups composed of peers and adults for students at risk, and the creation of disciplinary practices that keep students in school or at least engaged in academic activities.

Describe the main features of a structured English immersion (SEI) model of ESL education, its objectives, and the circumstances in which it is commonly used.

STRUCTURED ENGLISH IMMERSION (SEI) is an ESL instruction model designed to transition ELLs to mainstream classrooms quickly (usually after one year) by emphasizing ENGLISH-LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION and deferring ACADEMIC CONTENT INSTRUCTION until students transition to mainstream classrooms. Students in SEI classrooms are typically grouped by proficiency. SEI teachers do not simply teach in English but teach the rules and forms of English - proponents argue that explicit teaching of grammar facilitates the eventual transition of ELLs from intermediate to full fluency. SEI was one of two language models prescribed by California's Proposition 227 in 1997 (since repealed) and is the language model required under Arizona's Proposition 203. Critics argue that one year is not enough time to achieve the proficiency to succeed in academic subjects; further, SEI's focus on explicitly teaching challenging grammatical forms at a relatively early stage of instruction is controversial.

Describe in general terms the American approach to bilingual education before the 1960s, with a focus on immigration policy, expectations of assimilation, and issues of national identity.

Scholars customarily speak of the AMERICAN APPROACH TO BILINGUAL EDUCATION as one of neglectful tolerance from independence until approximately 1900. While the federal government provided no educational support to non-English speakers, individual schools with high immigrant populations often did on an ad hoc basis. In most schools, however ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS were given no instructional support and were expected to assimilate rapidly. While ELLs dropped out of school at higher rates than native English speakers, few attempts were made to determine why or offer remedies. Several factors turned American opinion against bilingual education, beginning in the 1880s when an influx of non-English speaking immigrants raised worries that America might lose its identity - of which English was an important component. These concerns were exacerbated by the American experience in the two World Wars and the insecurities caused by the Great Depression. Restrictions were placed on immigration during this period, an English language requirement was added to the naturalization process, and bilingual education programs were scaled back in districts they had previously existed.

Describe how teachers can frame a listening comprehension activity in order to get students to focus on the main idea, details, implied meanings, or idiomatic expressions.

Students who listen to audio or watch video files at their *ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT are unlikely to be able to answer multiple questions about multiple levels of meaning - at least not without listening to or watching the file multiple times. Teachers can help FACILITATE STUDENT LISTENING COMPREHENSION by identifying in advance what they are listening for: the main idea, details in support of an argument, or the attitude of one or more interlocutors toward a proposed idea. Teachers can also prime students to listen for implied meanings or idiomatic expressions by providing suggestive clues: "The narrator in this video uses an interesting expression that means 'to lose something forever' - let's see if we can find out what it is." Teachers might subdivide the class and have each group listen for a different aspect of comprehension, and then combine the elements in a subsequent discussion. Teachers should be aware that it is easy for students to understand almost nothing of what they hear - either because they panic when they can't understand and lose focus, or because they translate L2 into L1 and miss the overall meaning. *ZPD: the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he/she can do with help

Define David Ausubel's subsumption theory and discuss its insights into student retention of learned material.

Subsumption theory The educational psychologist David Ausubel's work underscored the importance of CONTEXT for learning. In his view, students learn best when the new material relates to what they already know. He labeled this kind of learning MEANINGFUL, and contrasted it with rote learning, in which students learn isolated information that they can only relate to other information in an arbitrary way. With meaningful learning, new information is SUBSUMED under existing cognitive structures and knowledge. Ausubel suggested that the most important factor determining whether students will remember what they learn is not repetition, but rather the INTEGRATION of that knowledge in a system of meaning. Even information earned by means of an artificial mnemonic device will eventually be lost, Ausubel argued, unless it is used and thus anchored in a broader network of meaning. Many of Ausubel's insights are now accepted as givens, but his work is a useful reminder of the importance of activating student prior knowledge, pre-teaching concepts, and in general providing students with a context for what is to be taught.

Describe the essential features of task-based language teaching and compare it to English for special purposes.

TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING (TBLT) is a teaching method that promotes student language learning through the accomplishment of REAL-WORLD TASKS - for example, ordering a pizza or buying a phone. Proponents argue instruction organized this way teaches both the FORMAL ASPECTS of successful communication (linguistic competence) and the SOCIAL ASPECTS of communication. In some contexts, TBLT can resemble English for special purposes, in which advanced students are taught the vocabulary and rhetorical patterns particular to a given occupation or media. While teachers implementing TBLT might pre-teach key vocabulary needed to perform a task, the method emphasizes student use of their whole repertoire of language skills, including the negotiation of meaning in situations where their formal knowledge of English is inadequate. Critics suggest that completion of a task is a poor measure of language improvement - once students reach a certain baseline competence, they can navigate a broad range of performance tasks, but may not be motivated or receive the instructional assistance to improve.

Explain the purpose, features, and limitations of textbook assessments.

TEXTBOOK ASSESSMENTS are the assessments provided at the end of a chapter or unit in an approved textbook. Textbook assessments present several advantages for a teacher: they are already made; they are likely to be accurate representations of the chapter or unit materials; and, if the textbook has been prescribed or recommended by the state, it is likely to correspond closely to Common Core or other tested standards. Textbook assessments can be limiting for students who lag in the comprehension of academic English, or whose preferred learning style is not verbal. While textbooks may come with DVDs or recommended audio links, ESL teachers will likely need to supplement these assessment materials with some of their own findings. Finally, textbook assessments are unlikely to represent the range of assessment types used in the modern classroom, such as portfolio or performance-based assessments.

Discuss the significance of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 to the issue of language education, with reference to the Department of Education's May 25 Memorandum to school districts.

TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 prohibits DISCRIMINATION on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program that receives funding from the federal government. In May of 1970, the Department of Education wrote a memo to school districts with high concentrations of Spanish-language students, warning them that a number of common educational practices denied these students their rights to an equal education, and thus constituted discriminatory policy in violation of the Civil Rights Act. Specifically, the memo stated that (a) when a lack of English ability excludes students from effective participation, districts must take steps to rectify the language deficiency; (b) districts must not misclassify ELL students as having special needs; and (c) ESL programs must be designed to achieve proficiency rather than simply lead to academic dead ends. The MAY 25 MEMORANDUM, as it came to be known, helped define access to appropriate language education as a civil right, and it identified several broad areas in need of reform. However, as a cabinet-level memorandum, it did not have the status of law. The principles within it, however, were endorsed as law by the Supreme Court in the 1971 case Lau v. Nichols.

Define tracking and explain how it contributes to the fact that English language learners are underrepresented in advanced placement (AP) classes.

TRACKING refers to the practice of placing students in separate academic tracks based on their academic or test performance at an early age. Tracking is closely related to ABILITY GROUPING, the grouping of students with perceived similarities in academic ability to allow for efficient and targeted teaching. Critics of the practice argue that is self-perpetuating - students in low-track courses receive instruction that is less cognitively-challenging and utilizes less academic language, all but ensuring that they will remain on that track. For example, ELLs enroll in high school college-preparatory classes at lower rates than their peers - and have lower rates of participation in post-secondary education as well. The vast majority of high school students have access to at least some ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) EXAMS due in part to federal funding of AP programs and teacher training, but the number of exams offered at a given school is directly correlated with socio-economic status, as is student participation in the AP program. AP classes, which are often writing-intensive and demand the use of academic English, are often seen as poor fits for ELLs.

Describe the main features of a transitional bilingual education (TBE) program, its objectives, and its strengths and weaknesses.

TRANSITIONAL BILINGUAL EDUCATION (TBE) PROGRAMS are one of the three main bilingual LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION EDUCATION PROGRAMS (LIEP) in use in the United States. Students typically enter a TBE program as soon as they start school and initially receive all or most of their instruction in L1. The goal of a TBE is an early TRANSITION TO THE MAINSTREAM CURRICULUM, and this typically happens after 2-3 years (another name for TBE is an early-exit program). TBE programs do not target L1 proficiency as a goal, and seldom explicitly teach L1 literacy. Instead, L1 is used as a transition into L2. Students in TBE programs often experience difficulty transitioning to the mainstream curriculum, requiring additional support during their first years after existing the TBE. Recall: 3 main bilingual instruction education programs 1. Dual Immersion (DI)/Two-Way Immersion (TWI) 2. Developmental Bilingual Education (DBE) program 3. Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) program

Identify the following organizations by acronym and describe how they can assist ESL teachers seeking professional development: TESOL, CAL, ACTFL, NCELA, and NABE.

Teachers and prospective teachers of ESL have a number of organizations they can turn to for information and professional development. TESOL (TEACHERS OF ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES) - the preeminent organization in the field, TESOL offers virtual seminars, online courses, certificate programs, and meetings/conventions dedicated to the field. www.TESOL.org CAL (CENTER FOR APPLIED LINGUISTICS) - a non-profit that conducts research into language and culture, develops assessment and curriculum material, and offers training and educational resources for teachers. www.CAL.org ACTFL (AMERICAN COUNCIL ON THE TEACHING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES) - a membership organization promoting language teaching, with particular expertise in language testing, including for teachers striving for bilingual certifications. www.ACTFL.org NCELA (NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION) - a resource site run by the US Department of Education, providing data, research, and the English Learner Tool Kit, which provides guidance to state and local educators on how to fulfill federal civil rights mandates in the area of English language acquisition. www.ncela.ed.gov NABE (NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR BILINGUAL EDUCATION) - a non-profit that advocates for educational equity and provides professional development and instructional resources for ESL teachers. www.NABE.org

Explain what an ESL teacher should take into consideration when selecting materials and resources to use in the classroom.

Teachers must take care that the RESOURCES they choose for the classroom are age-appropriate, culturally inclusive, language-accessible, affordable, varied, and easily accessible. One challenge ESL teachers face is that resources that are language-appropriate for older ELLs may not be age-appropriate. - i.e., students may perceive them as childish or demeaning. When assigning ONLINE LANGUAGE TASKS, teachers need to make sure students have time to complete the work in class rather than assume the students have access to technology or the Internet at home. Teachers should invite students to bring REALIA AND WRITTEN TEXTS from their native cultures for discussion but shouldn't make the presentation of a home culture mandatory. Teachers should strive to provide resources in DIFFERENT MEDIA (audio, visual, performative guides, etc.) in order to appeal to different learning preferences and to provide reinforcement of learning through multiple media.

Describe techniques teachers can use to demonstrate or model tasks for ELLs.

Teachers of English language learners (ELLs) should not rely entirely on verbal instructions when staging a classroom task or activity. Even if the ELLs understand enough to begin the activity, they may lack critical procedural understanding or the contextual understanding necessary to learn from the activity. In setting up such activities, teachers should DEMONSTRATE the key steps using both actions and words. When possible, verbal instructions should be supplemented with VISUAL DISPLAYS, such as flow charts, which divide the activity or process into identifiable stages. Teachers can also supplement verbal instructions with written summaries, ideally set out in brief, step-wise format. Finally, teachers might choose to CHUNK the instructions or stages in a task, pausing the students repeatedly to check their work and understanding before providing a demonstration of the next step.

Describe what factors a teacher should consider when choosing between implicit and explicit strategies for teaching grammar and for error correction.

Teachers should teach grammar both IMPLICITLY and EXPLICITLY, according to both the subject matter and student needs. In general, students whose L1 is grammatically very different from English will require more explicit instruction. Several aspects of English grammar are hard for even speakers of closely-related languages - for example, word order, prepositions, auxiliary verbs*, and modal verbs - and thus should be taught explicitly. The goal of language instruction is EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION, and teachers who are tempted to explicitly correct a student error should first ask themselves whether the error prevented communication. There are many reasons not to explicitly correct a student's spoken errors. Doing so interrupts the conversational flow, it may embarrass the student or discourage them from speaking in the future, and it may not even help - research shows that certain types of errors appear during the normal process of language development and then disappear without explicit correction. Teachers should be more liberal when correcting written work, both because the affective consequences are fewer and because students need more explicit instruction when learning academic language. *an auxiliary verb that expresses necessity or possibility (must, shall, will, shall, should, would, can, could, may, might); a verb used in forming the tenses, moods, and voices of other verbs; helping verbs (i.e. be, will, do, have, may, etc.)

Define 21st century learning, identify the framework's four critical skills (the four C's), and describe a few challenges to implementing them in a classroom that includes ELLs.

The 21st CENTURY LEARNING INITIATIVE, launched in 2002, attempted to identify the most important skills students need to learn in order to succeed in the 21st century. The initiative's organizers strove to update the 20th-century's model of education based on the three R's (reading, writing, arithmetic) and the objective of providing students with content knowledge-to reflect the transformative effect of the Internet and the implication that the next generation would succeed not by KNOWING things, but by KNOWING HOW TO DO things. After multiple revisions, the organizers defined the key 21st-century skills as the FOUR C'S: communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. These skills have been increasingly incorporated into state standards. Teachers may need to pay specific attention to ensure that ELLs engage in the four C's. When ELLs collaborate with native English speakers, they often get left out or left behind. In sheltered instruction content classrooms, ELLs may lack the English proficiency to easily express the higher order concepts required for critical thinking and may require specific prompts or scaffolding to engage effectively in communicative activities.

Explain the significance of the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 to ESL educational programs and place the act in the context of Johnson's War of Poverty and the broader stream of educational legislation.

The BILINGUAL EDUCATION ACT OF 1968 is a descriptive name given to TITLE VII OF THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT (ESEA) originally passed in 1965. ESEA was a cornerstone of President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty, reflecting Johnson's view of the importance of education in overcoming poverty. ESEA redefined the federal government's role in education, providing for dramatic increases in federal funding, as well as standards for equal access, educational achievement, and accountability. ESEA has been periodically reauthorized ever since its enactment. The 2001 reauthorization is called the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT (NCLB), and the 2015 reauthorization is termed the EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT (ESSA). The Bilingual Education Act provided federal funding for districts to develop bilingual programs but provided no guidelines on what those programs should look like. The Act did not require that schools adopt ESL programs, but it encouraged and funded district-led innovations and did much to elevate ELL rights as a concern separate from that of racial discrimination.

Explain why WIDA, as well as several independent states with high numbers of ELLs, differentiate various levels of student proficiency in English, and how teachers can use this framework in their instructional planning, organization, and delivery.

The Common Core State Standards hold ELLs to the same STANDARDS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS (ELA) PROFICIENCY as native English speakers, while recognizing that ELLs may need more time and more support to reach those objectives. In response, both the WIDA consortium and several states (such as California) developed ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (ELD) FRAMEWORKS to give teachers and parents a detailed roadmap of how ELLs could meet the ELA standards. The various ELD frameworks define SCALES of student English proficiency (for example, WIDA's ranges from entering to bridging). The frameworks then elaborate BENCHMARKS by grade and proficiency level (e.g., in the third grade, a student at the developing stage of proficiency should be able to...) and offer teachers curriculum guidance and provide instructional suggestions for the various grade and English proficiency combinations. In circumstances where ELLs are grouped by language proficiency, teachers can use the ELD frameworks to guide their classroom-level plans and instructional delivery; when faced with a class composed of students with varying levels of proficiency, teachers can use the frameworks to plan differentiated lessons and activities.

Define and differentiate between the following approaches to expanding an English language learner's vocabulary: definitional, structural, contextual, categorical, and mnemonic.

The DEFINITIONAL APPROACH to vocabulary learning is the most traditional. Students are either provided definitions or words or look them up in the dictionary, and they are drilled until they commit the meanings to memory. A STRUCTURAL APPROACH to vocabulary learning emphasizes the morphological features of a words - the root, prefixes, and suffixes. Once students learn the recurring morphemes in English, they can deduce the meaning of a word in isolation without relying on its context. The CONTEXTUAL APPROACH to vocabulary learning provides the student with multiple examples of the word used in a genuine context, allowing the student to infer the meaning without resorting to a dictionary or an explicit definition. A CATEGORICAL APPROACH to vocabulary learning groups words into lists (categories) based on a semantic similarity. For example, a student might be given a list of words associated with driving a car: steering wheel, to brake, to accelerate, gear shift, etc. A MNEMONIC APPROACH to vocabulary learning works by building associations between target words and mental images so that when the student hears the target word, the image is also evoked, facilitating recall of the word itself.

Describe the basis for granting ELLs accommodations on state-mandated content-area tests and provide examples of the types of accommodations states might grant.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 renewed the federal government's commitment to ensuring that states provide appropriate accommodation to ESL students taking state-level content exams. The ESSA leaves it to the states to define appropriate accommodation, and many variations exist. However, many states have joined multi-state consortia (the Partnership for Assessment of Reading of College and Careers and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium are the two largest) for ASSESSMENT DEVELOPMENT, leading to gradual harmonization of the accommodation standards. Examples of the ACCOMMODATIONS include allowing ESL students additional time to complete the tests, allowing the use of bilingual dictionaries, and allowing a native speaker to read a translated version of the test instructions. Separate legislation (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) mandates accommodations for students (including ELLs) with DISABILITIES.

Explain the concept of new literacies of online research and comprehension, and outline the five functions Donald Leu suggests are necessary for successful online learning.

The concept of NEW LITERACIES OF ONLINE RESEARCH AND COMPREHENSION (often called simply new literacies) is based on the assertion that online reading and research requires a different set of literacy skills than does traditional, paper-based reading and research. According to this still-emerging body of research, success in traditional reading does not automatically translate to success in online reading. Further, students are likely to have significant advantages in online literacy over their teachers. And online literacy is deictic, or ever-changing, in ways that traditional literacy is not, making online literacy an ongoing, dynamic engagement. Donald Leu has outlined FIVE FUNCTIONS critical to online literacy. The first is (1) IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM. Students must initiate online research by accurately formulating a question or a search phrase - a skill seldom, if ever, needed in traditional reading. Second, students must known how to (2) LOCATE INFORMATION ONLINE, skimming and choosing from search engine results. Third, students must be able to (3) EVALUATE SOURCES FOR RELIABILITY AND BIAS. Fourth, they must be able to (4) SYNTHESIZE INFORMATION DRAWN FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES - as the number of sources has grown, so has the likelihood that relevant information will be spread among multiple locations. Finally, students may be called upon to (5) COMMUNICATE THEIR RESULTS IN MULTIPLE NEW FORMATS, requiring a different range of rhetorical skills. Identifying the problem (I) Locate information online (love) Evaluate sources for reliability and bias (every) Synthesize information drawn from different sources (shoe) Communicate results in multiple new formats (color)

Discuss how a teacher might use the following types of assessments to assess student progress and maintain their engagement: standardized tests, textbook assessments, informal differentiated discussion questions, and portfolio assessments.

The goal of ASSESSMENT in education is to gather data that, when evaluated, can be used to further student learning and achievement. STANDARDIZED TESTS are helpful for placement purposes and to reflect student progress toward goals set by a school district or state. If a textbook is chosen to align with district learning standards, the textbook assessments can provide teachers with convenient, small-scale, regular checks of student knowledge against the target standard. In order to be effective, teachers must know where their students are in the learning process. Teachers use a multitude of FORMAL AND INFORMAL ASSESSMENT METHODS to do this. Posing differentiated discussion questions is an example of an informal assessment method that allows teachers to gauge individual progress rather than their standing in relation to a universal benchmark. (What does ___ mean? What did I just say? What is the difference between __ and ___?) Effective teachers employ a variety of assessments, as different formats assess different skills, promote different learning experiences, and appeal to different learners. A portfolio is an example of an assessment that gauges student progress in multiple skills and through multiple media. Teachers can use authentic or performance-based assessments to stimulate student interest and provide visible connections between language-learning and the real world.

Differentiate between use and usage, and significance and value as defined by Henry Widdowson and discuss how these terms relate to a difference between linguistic competence and communicative competence.

The linguist Henry Widdowson drew a distinction between LANGUAGE USAGE, or knowing how to construct words and sentences in accordance with formal rules; and LANGUAGE USE, or knowing how to use language in order to achieve an objective. Widdowson used these terms to draw a sharp distinction between LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE and COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE and argued that the latter took more time for second-language learners to achieve. Extending the same distinction, Widdowson argued that sentences have significance in isolation, but value when they are considered in the context of a communicative act. Widdowson's ideas influenced the communicative approaches to language learning, with their emphasis on authentic speech acts and the importance of pragmatic dimensions of communication. -linguistic competence: the measure of how much someone understands the use and speak of a certain language (an abstraction of grammatical knowledge) -communicative competence: the ability of someone to relay the message using a language in a clear manner (an abstraction of social behavior)

Describe the role of placement tests in the ESL learning process and discuss factors to consider when designing and using a placement exam.

The purpose of a PLACEMENT TEST is to identify a student's level of proficiency in the target language in order to guide his or her placement in a program or school. In order to be effective, a placement test should test an appropriate RANGE OF LANGUAGE SKILLS - a multiple-choice test, for example, might offer insight into a student's knowledge of grammar or vocabulary, but will not test language production or reception. Ideally, a placement test will be tailored to a specific language program or school by including a sample of the actual material taught so that the results provide for unambiguous placements. However, programs can also adapt or interpret the results of standardized exams. Ideally, a placement exam will also offer an initial diagnosis of student strength or weakness in order to help teachers provide early efficacious instruction.

Discuss current perspectives on the advisability of separating students into ability groups in the classroom.

The separation of students into groups on the basis of their PERCEIVED ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND A TOPIC is a long-standing teaching practice. It appeals to the parents of high-performing students who generally want their children to receive targeted, accelerated instruction; it often appeals to teachers as well, as it allows them to give specific instruction to different groups, avoiding unnecessary and redundant explanations. Research, however, suggests that the minimal advantages that ability grouping confers on high-performing students would better be gained by placing them in separate, gifted programs, which the negative effects of ability grouping on low-performing students are extensive and self-perpetuating - in other words, students who are placed in low-performing groups tend to fall further behind in their education. In-class ability grouping is thus looked upon with the same disfavor as its larger-scale counterpart, tracking.* *Tracking - separating students by academic ability into groups for all subjects or certain classes and curriculum within a school

Describe ways in which ESL teachers might use technology to differentiate instruction and note the limitations and cautions teachers must be aware of.

The single greatest advantage of technology use in the classroom is the opportunities it provides for DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION. Using computer technology, a teacher can differentiate a lesson by content and degree of difficulty, by the amount or nature of scaffolding provided, by learner-style preference, and by a student's preferred method of demonstrating learning. If students have access to the learning technologies at home, they can listen to or read a lesson multiple times, gaining the critical advantages of time and repetition. The same technologies can be used to DIFFERENTIATE ASSESSMENTS. With the right technologies, students can listen to questions multiple times or access hyperlinks to contextual information. limitations/cautions: School use of technology varies greatly, as does student access to technologies at home. Teachers must be cognizant of these limitations and careful not to disadvantage students who lack access. While technology-based learning is great for differentiation and for autonomous learning, students who lack direction may waste their time or pursue inappropriate goals. Finally, even a well-equipped classroom may lack bandwidth or suffer technology failures - teachers have to be prepared with alternative lesson plans.

Discuss the major landmarks in the English-only movement in the United States, and address how that debate has affected education policy.

The term "ENGLISH-ONLY MOVEMENT" in a broad sense refers to efforts to establish English as the only official language in the United States (which currently has no official language) and prohibit the conduct of government business in other languages. Various initiatives to pass English-only legislation in Congress have failed - however, more than 20 states have ratified some form of English-only legislation. English-only initiatives in education customarily take the form of prescribing English as the only language of instruction, eliminating bilingual education programs, and accelerating ESL transition programs. Proponents of English-language programs often argue that both the nation and recent immigrants are served by rapid assimilation and that the latter are best served by rapid assimilation and that the latter are best served by rapid transitions to mainstream classrooms. This sentiment led to the passage of several propositions BANNING BILINGUAL EDUCATION in the late 1990s and early 2000s, notably in Arizona, California, and Massachusetts. The latter two states subsequently repealed their propositions due to both popular pressure and growing recognition that L1 proficiency and use does not delay L2 acquisition and may accelerate it. While research supports the efficacy of bilingual education, the broader cultural debate continues about what constitutes national identity and whether that identity is threatened by the use of non-English languages in school and society.

Describe why English language students need to learn how to vary their speech according to their purpose, audience, and subject matter.

The term "REGISTER" refers roughly to the degree of formality or informality of speech, but in a broader concept, it refers to the way in which a particular group speaks to one another - for example, a group of doctors will speak to one another in a medical register. In the rough sense of the word, scholars often speak of three distinct registers: INFORMAL (which students would use in casual conversation among themselves), NEUTRAL (which might govern most student/teacher interaction), and FORMAL (which students would use in a presentation or when speaking to an unfamiliar adult). In transitioning from informal to neutral or formal conversational registers, students will need to learn to use complete sentences rather than rely on contextual meaning, eliminate slang and excessive discourse markers, and avoid hyperbole and repetition. English language learners also need to learn the basic conventions of the various ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES. For example, it may be appropriate to use figurative language when writing or speaking about the arts, but not when discussing math or logic. Language use also varies with purpose: the conventions that apply to speech intended to persuade are different than those that apply to exposition.

Define verbal communication in ways that distinguish the concept from both nonverbal communication and oral communication, and then provide examples of aspects of verbal communication from the point of view of both a managed conversation and from the point of view of a single utterance.

The term "VERBAL COMMUNICATION" is usually contrasted with nonverbal communication, and in this sense, it simply means communication that occurs via words. In this sense, it can include all four MAJOR LANGUAGE SKILLS: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The term "ORAL COMMUNICATION" narrows this field of skills to two: speaking and listening. One way to think about verbal communication is to consider the various aspects of spoken language beyond word choice that convey meaning in conversation. These PROSODIC ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE include pitch, stress, rhythm, length, and loudness. A second way to think about verbal communication is to focus on the goals of the conversational interaction and the different skills required to achieve those goals. For example, ELLs must learn how to identify the main point of an utterance while setting aside details or irrelevant information; in another context, they may need to focus on the details. Similarly, the skills needed to recap an event or a conversation when speaking to a peer are very different from those needed to give an oral presentation. ESL teachers need to understand the range of necessary skills and provide instruction and practice in each.

Describe ways in which technology might be of particular use in teaching English as a second language and discuss areas of potential concern.

The use of TECHNOLOGY in the classroom - and indeed, to blur the line between the inside and outside of a classroom - is widespread, limited in most cases only by funding and teacher unfamiliarity with emerging platforms. The adoption of technology is leading to the growth of blended learning, in which online learning replaces a portion of the face-to-face instruction time. Technology plays a key role in many classroom differentiation strategies, as students using software can learn at their own pace and using different learning styles. Technologies that are of particular value in ESL classrooms include DOCUMENT CAMERAS, which can easily provide a visual accompaniment to a spoken lesson; and ONLINE VOICE RECORDERS, which allow teachers and students to record specific lessons for targeted speaking practice. Any technology that gives quick access to pictures provides essential scaffolding for early ELLs. Anonymous chat and collaboration sites are particularly useful for ELLs who are not comfortable participating in class. ESL teachers need to be careful not to require technologies that their students cannot afford, or to assume that students have Internet connectivity at home.