I am a pre-service teacher and am reading about Affective filter hypothesis and the factors that contribute to foreign language learning or learning prevention. My question is have you found/ or if you find that an ELL student in your class is withdrawn or unwilling to participate because he/she feels uncomfortable what do you do to get him/her to participate? Even before it gets to that point...what kinds of activities can you do to create a welcoming environment for ELL students? Thanks, Danke, merci, grazie, gracias...
It is really going to depend so much on how long they have been learning English. Most ELLs have a "quiet period" that is about a year, where they are soaking things up, but not producing much English to evaluate. Most ELLs will do best in an area where they feel safe to make mistakes, somewhere where their culture is accepted and celebrated, because everyone needs feelings of home and familiar. Know that ELLs will become adept at using basic interpersonal communication (BIC) that gives the appearance of more English understanding, but is usually quite deficient in CALP, the English that allows them to acquire the more complex vocabulary of of contents and literacy.
[QUOTE="A classmate and I co- wrote a paper last semester on best literacy practices for ELLs and struggling readers because we had experience w/ both.[/QUOTE] Leaborb, I have been a "professional" substitute teacher, sometimes taking long-term assignments that last for months, and the most enjoyable classes that I have had the privilege to teach were ELLs. I LOVE IT! In one California school district, Spanish-speakers were only slightly the majority. My Spanish skills helped a lot because I was usually able to scrape-up enough elementary Spanish to be understood, but for the others, I had to rely on Google language translation, which I also LOVE! In one class of about 15 students, we had Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Hindi, and Dari (spoken in Afghanistan). I am interested in your essay on "Best Literary Practices for ELLs" if you still have it, and don't mind sharing, I would love to read it. If you can't find it, or would rather not, it's okay, I understand. Good luck
PM Your email address. I'll clean up the paper and send it to you. [/QUOTE] Lea, the system would not permit me to PM you. Here is my email address Thanks
Thank you, Lea, I will print it out to peruse later; it looks like good reading. I'm seriously thinking about entering the field of ESOL. I became interested while subbing for ELLs; also a few years ago; this area received a fresh batch of Afghanistani Dari speaking students--no English! AND, a fairly large group of unaccompanied minors from South America. The districts want single-subject English teachers for these positions. From my understanding,the unaccompanied minors were placed in an International school. But all of this really peaked my interest, it's something I really enjoy and may as well spend a few years engaged in it, IF I can get through the linguistic courses. Thanks again
