Case Study 1

Second Language Acquisition: Case Study

Christi Cartwright Lacerda

Second Language Acquisition and Assessment

Lawrence High School

October 2014

Case Study 2

I. Introduction

Today ELLs are becoming increasingly prominent in classrooms of all grade levels all

over the country. This influx has not been gradual. In fact, as Goldenberg (2008) describes, just

in the last twenty years the picture has changed dramatically: "In 1990, one in 20 public school

students in grades K-12 was an English Language Learner (ELL). ... Today that figure is 1 in 9.

Demographers estimate that in 20 years it might be 1 in 4" (p. 10). With this in mind, this case

study seeks to better understand the theories behind second language acquisition and how they

can be applied to an individual student's challenges and successes. Through this application and

analysis, a better understanding of the links between teaching and learning a second language

can be achieved.

II. Background Information on Learners

Mateo is 16 years old and is in eleventh grade at Lawrence International High School.

Mateo is from Nagua, Dominican Republic and moved to the United States nine months ago with

his mother, father, brother, and two sisters. His parents and siblings also speak some English,

although Spanish is the primary language used at home and outside of school. According to

Mateo’s home language survey, past report cards, and performance in class, Mateo is above

average in terms of reading, spelling, and decoding in Spanish. Upon arrival, Mateo’s W-APT

scores show that he knew little to no English. He scored 1 on his composite proficiency score

which takes into account speaking, writing, reading, and listening. Mateo is motivated to learn

English as indicated by his participation in class, study habits, and interview responses.

Andy is 17 years old and in tenth grade at Lawrence International High

School. Andy is from San Marcos, Guatemala and moved to the United States in October 2013.

Case Study 3

He lives with his mother and siblings. His father is in Guatemala. Adrian completed grades 1-6

in Guatemala and was designated SLIFE when arriving to the US. His W-APT records show that

he arrived with little to no English, a composite score of 1. A year later, Andy's scores show

improvement. He reached a 2.2 ACCESS score with 1.6 in speaking, 1.9 in reading and listening,

and 3.8 in writing. Writing continues to be Andy's strength in my ESL 2 class. His progression

from SLIFE through ESL 2, study habits, and participation in class, indicate that Adrian is

motivated to learn English. His habit of asking questions, following directions, and copying from

the board are habits that make him well-suited for academic success in the United States

schooling system.

Both Andy and Mateo’s language background is typical of the majority of ELLs in

Massachusetts and across the nation. As Goldenberg (2008) states, "By far the majority of ELLs

- 80 percent - are Spanish speakers" (p. 10). In my classroom, that figure is 100 percent. Of the

31 students currently enrolled in my ESL 2 class, 27 are from the Dominican Republic, 3 are

from Guatemala, and 1 is from Ecuador. As Goldenberg (2008) describes, it is also far less likely

for immigrants from Mexico or Central America to have a college diploma: "Consequently, most

ELLs are at risk for poor school outcomes not only because of language, but also because of

socioeconomic factors" (p. 10). However, Mauricio differs from the majority because his parents

were educated in the Dominican Republic and speak some English. Adrian's father continues to

live in Guatemala to support their family. Adrian's parents do not speak English. In fact, they

often rely on Adrian to translate.

Both Mauricio and Adrian are also highly motivated and have strong study skills. Adrian

participates more frequently by taking notes in class and raising his hand to participate. Mauricio

comes from a culture where mimicry and memorization are highly emphasized to learn a first

Case Study 4

and second language. Even though he did not learn much English in Dominican Republic, he has

the habit to copy everything from the board and engages in strategies such as “listen and repeat”

and memorizing definitions from the dictionary. He has an A average in ESL 2 and History and a

C average in Art, Algebra, and Biology.

III. First Language Acquisition

There are a variety of approaches to understanding how a person acquires their first

language. An understanding of the approaches can give us insight into the potential successes

and challenges that both Adrian and Mauricio face in learning a second language, English.

Brown (2014) sums this up by stating, "A coherent grasp of the nature of first language learning

is an invaluable aid, if not an essential component, in the construction of a theory of second

language acquisition." Despite living in the United States for only nine months, Mauricio has

been able to progress from ESL 1 classes to ESL 2 curriculum. Like the "Input + 1" hypothesis

referenced by Fillmore and Snow (2000), Mauricio can understand more than he can produce.

This is evident in his understanding of simple present questions (ie. Do you have any pets?) and

his response "I not have pets." He understands the question, but has not yet mastered the use of

the auxiliary verb in simple present tense.

Similarly, Mauricio can "transfer" some skills he has learned in his first language to aid

him in second language learning. This shows evidence of literacy in Spanish. Mauricio's ability

to recognize cognates is one example. When studying literary elements in class, he was able to

recognize the similarities between "character" in English and "carácter" in Spanish. Once having

made the connection, he was able to define character in English. As indicated in his Home

Language Survey, Mauricio reads at the 11th grade level in Spanish. Continuing to enhance

literacy in his native language can benefit him in second language acquisition as well.

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As a SLIFE student, Adrian was enrolled in both SLIFE ESL classes as well as a

Spanish class to foster his native language skills. This practice seems closely tied to the research

stated by Goldenberg. Goldenberg (2008) finds through the NLP study that teaching students to

read in their native language first or simultaneously while learning English boosts their

comprehension and literacy. This could be due to a number of factors. However, the most

plausible explanation is supported by research on language "transfer." In fact, as Goldenberg

(2008) asserts, if you learn higher order thinking skills in one language, "you wither already

know it in another language or can more easily learn it in another language" (p. 15).

IV. Age and Acquisition

Goldenberg (2008) cites a body of research suggesting that it takes an average of six

years to develop native-like fluency of a language (p.12). However, to what extent the speed of

language acquisition is impacted by age is a controversial topic among linguists. In both

Mauricio and Adrian's cases, they began learning English after the "critical period" that Brown

(2014) describes. Whether or not this is advantageous or disadvantageous depends on which

theorist's perspective is applied. Brown (2014) cites Walsh and Diller (1981) who state that

"different aspects of an L2 are learned optimally at different ages" (p. 57). Their research

suggests that "lower order processes such as pronunciation are dependent on early maturing brain

functions, making foreign accents difficult to overcome after childhood. Higher-order functions,

such as semantic relations, are more dependent on late-maturing neural circuits, which may

explain the efficiency in adult learning" (p. 57). This can be seen in both Mauricio and Adrian's

cases as well. Mauricio struggles with pronouncing sounds that differ from Spanish and English,

such as the "s" in school or student. His adds an "e" sound before those letters as they would

occur in Spanish. Similarly, ordinal numbers present a challenge because the "th" sound in

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English is absent in his native language. Although Mauricio can understand "fifth" or "seventh,"

there is little difference between his cardinal and ordinal pronunciation.

Although ELLs may never reach native-like pronunciation, that is not to say that they

cannot learn an L2 successfully. Adrian's strong writing and speaking skills are a clear example.

Adrian has a habit of building on past vocabulary in class in his writing. One example is his use

of the phrase on the other hand as a compare and contrast expression. Weeks after explicit

teaching in class, Adrian used this expression on his own in a writing assignment for a new unit.

Adrian's ability to benefit from explicit vocabulary teaching and his ability to apply this

knowledge in a later assignment are examples that highlight the first of three misconceptions

shared by Marinova-Todd, Marshall, and Snow (2000). Debunking the myth that young children

make the most effective L2 learners, they describe that "older learners are generally faster and

more efficient in the inital stages of L2 learning" (p. 12). They benefit from explicit teaching and

have often already developed some effective language learning study habits.

Both Adrian and Mauricio's age and cognitive development allow them to use higher

order thinking skills such as comparison and justification regularly in class. For instance,

Mauricio was able to explain why he prefers nonfiction over fiction. This requires defining new

vocabulary, forming an opinion, and articulating a response - all higher order thinking skills. In a

unit on nomads, Adrian was able to justify why living on a plain would be better than in a desert.

Furthermore, "Ausubel noted that people of all ages have little use for rote, mechanistic learning

that is not related to existing knowledge and experience. Rather, most items are acquired by

meaningful experience" (as referenced by Brown, 2014, p. 62-63). Therefore, opportunities to

engaged in higher-order cognitive processes are most certainly beneficial for the L2 and content

area learning.

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Brown (2014) also connects the role of egocentricity to language learning, emphasizing

that as adolescents develop inhibitions that could act as a wall to L2 learning. Interestingly,

Mauricio notes that his "favorite" aspect of English is listening, yet speaking is easiest and

writing is most difficult. When observing Adrian in his Biology class, he was reluctant to speak

and participate. This was interesting to see as he participates frequently in his ESL class. This

could be due to his comfort level. In a subject where he feels more confident, he speaks more.

Similarly, Mauricio's interactions in English are usually directed towards the teacher or when

engaging in a structured activity in English. When speaking socially - both inside and outside of

class - Mauricio communicates in Spanish. This is most likely due to "the drive to conform" that

Brown (2014) states. Since the native language of nearly all students at International High

School is Spanish, it is both natural and "more comfortable" to interact this way.

Case Study Part 2

VI. Human Learning

Brown (2014) focuses on the processes of human learning and the psychological

perspectives that impact second language acquisition. Brown (2012) first emphasizes the need to

establish prior knowledge. The diagnostic test and writing prompt administered at the start of the

school year are one way that teachers at International High School take into account prior

English knowledge of students, primarily reading and writing capabilities. Even if a student

cannot yet write in English, their writing in their native language can be influential in

determining L1 literacy. When Alex first arrived in Lawrence this was the case. His limited

writing abilities in L1 gave rise to questions about prior school completion before Alex's

identification as a SIFE student.

Now, a year later, Alex's writing shows progression and coursework in both English and

Case Study 8

Spanish have been tools in his progression. Brown (2012) also lists motivation, needs, strengths,

and weaknesses as influences in establishing entry behavior. Both Alex and Mateo show high

motivation through their participation in class as well as extracurricular academic programs.

Mateo attends MCAS Biology preparation classes after school every Wednesday. Alex attended

my Conversation Enrichment class in the morning and told me he took a taxi in order to arrive on

time. These examples highlight the level of motivation discussed by Brown (2012) as a critical

factor in second language acquisition and progression.

While motivation is a strength, it is also important not to assume that students have prior

knowledge of classroom behavior and expectations. Collaborative activities such as

Think/Pair/Share and Turn & Talk differ from the educational style of many students in

International School who are used to interacting with peers socially, but not academically. This

requires explicit teaching of how to act in a group, phrases to contribute to an academic

discussion, and scaffolding for pair and group projects.

Ausubel (1968) contrasts meaningful and rote learning techniques which can be applied

to the methods the teacher utilizes and the activities within the classroom (as cited in Brown,

2014, p. 83). As Ausubel (1968) describes, meaningful learning is the "process of relating

(associating) new events or items to already existing cognitive structure" (as cited in Brown,

2014, p. 83). Meaningful learning has proven more effective in terms of its greater potential for

retention (Brown, 2014). One classroom example of meaningful learning is the folktale graphic

organizer used by Mateo in my ESL2 class on Jewel in the Sand. By first classifying the

elements of the story in this way, Mateo was able to verbally retell the story. In the following

week, through an interactive quiz, Mateo was able to demonstrate an understanding of both main

Case Study 9

ideas and details from the story. It is possible that these examples of scaffolding helped Mateo to

remember details of the story weeks after first reading the narrative.

Transfer from Spanish to English is a benefit for both Mateo and Alex in learning

English. Although Spanish is a Romance language and English is a Germanic language, these

two languages are remarkably similar in terms of semantics, syntax and phonology because of

their common Latin origins. However, there are also cases of interference as well. One example

that particularly affects Mateo is the Dominican tendency to drop the endings of words even in

Spanish. This tendency leads the interference of word endings such as third person singular "s",

plural "s" and past "ed" endings. Similarly, the change of subject verb order in English questions

is nonexistent in Spanish, leading to questions such as "I can go to the bathroom?"

VII. Individual Differences

While the languages themselves play a role in a student's acquisition, it is also important

to take an individualized approach when teaching and learning a foreign language. As an ESL

teacher, I try to incorporate multiple modalities for ELLs in the classroom, including visuals,

word walls, hands-on activities, and use of technology such as DVDs, CDs, Mimio Vote, and

computer labs. Based on behavior in a variety of classes and personal interaction, both Mateo

and Alex seem to be reserved and self-controlled, but also social when working in small groups.

They are eager to raise their hand in class, but also work well quietly and individually. Alex

prefers to work with the other Guatemalan student in class and is often very talkative when they

are paired together. However, he is more reserved or less willing to communicate when grouped

with other students. This could be both a cultural and individual factor because the majority of

the students in class are from the Dominican Republic.

The writing samples of Mateo and Alex may shed light on their learning styles and

Case Study 10

individual differences. When compared, it is possible that Alex takes a more organized and

logical approach to his ideas. His sentences are structured yet few risks are taken. Risk taking has

serious implications for ELLs. As Beebe (1983) describes, negative ramifications range from

fear of "a bad grade on the exam, a reproach from the teacher, a smirk from a classmate" (as

cited by Brown, 2014, p. 149). This is an opportunity where I can encourage further risk taking

by using strategies such as "praising students for sincere efforts to try out language, use[ing]

fluency exercises where errors are not corrected at that time, and give[ing] outside-of-class

assignments to speak or write" (Brown, 2014, p. 136).

On the other hand, Mateo's fluid response on his immigration prompt lacks punctuation

and his ideas blend into one another. There is less restraint, but there are also more errors. It

seems that Alex more closely "monitors" himself and prefers to use language that he is "certain is

correct" (Brown, 2014, p.136). Mateo, on the other hand, seems to be more tolerant with

ambiguity and more concerned with expressing his ideas than with punctuation or grammatical

structures. While this is a strength in terms of developing fluency, at times it can make his

writing difficult to follow. Brown (2014) suggests ways that as the teacher I can get "students to

make their mistakes work for them" including tape recording oral production, peer correcting

errors, and extra credit work" (p. 136).

VIII. Affective Factors

Brown (2014) directly connects the affective domain with language learning: “language

is so pervasive a phenomenon in our humanity that it cannot be separated from ‘who I am’ as a

human being" (p. 143). In terms of affective factors, perhaps the most central is self-esteem. Self

esteem and self-efficacy involve one's belief in one's own capabilities. Global, situational, and

task self-esteem all play important roles in second language acquisition.

Case Study 11

Recently, I asked my ESL 2 class to perform a play called "Jewel in the Sand." I selected

roles for students based on their demonstrations of self-esteem in class. Students who outwardly

displayed confidence in their speaking abilities were given longer parts and students with lower

willingness to communicate (WTC) were given smaller parts. One part was called "chorus" and

was meant for all students to speak collectively. As expected, all students, even the most shy - or

least willing to communicate - were more comfortable and confident when reading the chorus as

part of a group. This activity also gave students an opportunity to take risks. Students had the

option of using their lines or remembering their lines without the script. Varied levels of

scaffolding allowed students to take small steps towards risk-taking.

Anxiety is another important factor tied to the affective domain. When reflecting on both

Mateo and Alex, anxiety seems to be more facilitative than debilitative. Both are good test

takers, meaning anxiety does not disable them from performing well on exams. Their class work

and test scores are both consistently between 80-100 percent. Other students in class, however,

have illustrated signs of debilitative anxiety. Unfortunately, in one memorable instance, a student

spoke softly when called on in class. Another student, with more confident speaking skills,

reacted by saying (in Spanish), "speak like a man." This negative social evaluation echoes

research by Horwitz (2010) and MacIntyre and Gardner (1989) on components related to foreign

language anxiety, "fear of negative social interaction, arising from a learner's need to make a

positive social impression on others" (as cited by Brown, 2014, p. 151).

This was a low moment for me, as an educator who wishes to foster a learning

environment where such remarks would not have occurred. I spoke to the student who made the

remark after class and asked him if he'd ever felt nervous when learning English. Of course, he

had. I also discussed ways that he can act as a leader instead of discouraging other students from

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speaking. In future situations, I plan to draw on Brown's (2014) strategies for creating a

classroom where anxiety can be managed. Both too much or too little anxiety can make the

classroom less productive (Brown, 2014, p. 151).

Another important issue to address in terms of affective factors is related to extroversion

and introversion. Interestingly, the definitions of extroversion and introversion are different than

I originally thought. This is the case for many educators and can present problems such as

incorrectly judging students, as Brown (2014) describes: "In language classes, where oral

participation is highly valued, it is easy to view active participants with favor and to assume their

visibility in the classroom is due to an extroversion factor (which may not be so)" (p. 155). This

finding will help me to be sensitive to equally valuing the assets of a variety of personality traits

from willingness to take risks and social interaction to attention to detail and concentration

(Brown, 2014, p. 157).

IV. Language, Culture, and Identity

Culture, race, and ethnic identity are closely tied with learning a new language. In fact,

there are serious cultural implications that can either foster or hinder language development. In

terms of Lawrence High School, there is a stark difference in nationality when comparing

student and teacher demographics. While the vast majority of students are from Hispanic

backgrounds, relatively few teachers share the same origins. Like most of the United States,

white Caucasian teachers, like myself, are most representative. In some ways, this can make it

harder for me to relate to my students because I have not shared their same immigration

experience. In the case of Andy, for example, he lives with his mother and siblings in the US, but

his father still lives in Guatemala. Although I can, and do, sympathize with the difficulty and

stress of this situation, I have not personally lived through the same experience. As Helms (1995)

Case Study 13

suggests, it will be useful for me to reflect on my own cultural identity in order to more closely

relate to students and their potential struggles or successes.

On the other hand, our cultural differences can be the start of a two-way dialog that can

open minds and dispel limiting stereotypes. As Abrams (2002) comments, “Language

classrooms can celebrate cultural and individual differences, and even engage in a critical

analysis of the use and origin of stereotypes (as cited by Brown, 2014, p. 179). Although to an

outsider it could seem easy to categorize all Spanish-speaking students together as having the

same culture, I know from my classroom that the students themselves are highly aware of their

cultural identities, heritage, and those of their peers. Mateo is from the Dominican Republic,

which makes him part of the majority in my classes. Andy is from Guatemala. He is one of two

students from Guatemala in the class. He prefers to work with Nixon, the other Guatemalan

student and will complain when asked to work with a different student. At the beginning of the

semester, Nixon even refused to work when not paired with Andy. It seems that the comfort level

of working with someone who has a shared cultural identity is very strong. From time to time,

tension arises between various nationalities in the class, most notably between Dominican and

Puerto Rican students. I have also witnessed stereotyping of outside nationalities including

calling two Asian teachers in International High School “Chinese” and commenting that they

“look the same.” Such examples highlight the importance on my part of emphasizing culture in

classroom discussion in meaningful ways.

Culture and language also interact on a more basic, discourse level. Brown (2014)

remarks on the “directness” of discourse across cultures (p.182). Reflecting on the difference in

discourse has led me to change the way I give directions and discipline in my classroom. The

discourse in a white suburban English-speaking high school, like my own, was indirect. A

Case Study 14

teacher might say, for example, “Now would be a good time take out your books.” However, in

terms of both second-language teaching as well as differences between discourse in English and

Spanish, a more direct approach (i.e. “take out your books”) is more effective.

Lastly, the attitude of the ELL towards the language they are acquiring can have a

significant impact. In Gardner and Lambert’s (1972) studies, a positive correlation was found

between ELLs who have a positive outlook on the “cultural group whose language they are

learning” (as cited by Brown, 2014, p. 191). Therefore, it is essential to help students from

Lawrence, like Mateo and Andy, interact with American cultural outside of their city. This could

broaden their worldview and impact their view on American culture.

Case Study Part III

IV. Communicative Competence

Brown (2014) defines language in terms of communicative competence by stating that

"language is interactive communication among individuals each with a sociocultural identity" (p.

206). By looking at language through its social context, a clear distinction can be made between

Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) and Cognitive/Academic Language

Proficiency (CALP). As ESL students, Mateo and Andy are at the interface of both distinctive

types of language. They must learn not only academic and content-specific language to succeed

academically, but also social language to communicate both inside and outside the classroom.

In ESL 2 Andy and Mateo are currently studying genres of writing including letters,

emails, essays, and editorials, and have read both fiction and non-fiction texts. This has provided

an opportunity to compare formal and informal language. Andy seems to have a strong grasp on

how language differs when writing and speaking. He has responded well to lessons which could

be classified as "content embedded" and "cognitively demanding" in terms of Cummins' Model

Case Study 15

of Academic Language (as cited by Brown, 2014). The class content on genres has included

many clues for understanding including audio and visual aids, use of graphic organizers, and

sentence starters. This makes the cognitively demanding tasks of reading a text and writing a

prompt more accessible to him. Andy's five paragraph essay (see Observation Log III) shows

more complex sentences and the use of many academic phrases provided in class such as "as you

can see" and "in my opinion." His ability to create a well-written academic essay shows that

through Cummin's Model, students are able to complete cognitively demanding tasks if the

lesson is content embedded. In a context reduced environment, perhaps less success would be

achieved.

In Mateo's case, more support was needed to arrive at the completed assignment. In the

rough draft of Mateo's essay, he wrote as if he were speaking. There were few periods to mark

the ends of each idea and paragraphs to give structure to the essay. However, regardless of the

essay's grammatical or "organizational competence," as Bachman (1990) details, it was rich in

examples of each concept and included many vivid details. For example, when discussing

responsibility, Mateo described not using his phone while driving. This is a powerful example

that suggests that Mateo understood what Bachman (1990) would call the "pragmatic" aspect of

the assignment and was able to effectively convey his thoughts in his second language (as cited

by Brown, 2014, p. 209).

Mateo's essay is reflective of Escamilla's (2009) The Misunderestimation of Manuel. At

first glance, Mateo's essay lacks paragraphs and punctuation and has errors of word formation

and spelling. As Escamilla (2009) describes, we all too frequently look at what a student did not

do or did incorrectly instead of noticing what communication was achieved or what thoughts,

ideas, and messages were exchanged. The essays that Andy and Mateo wrote were both

Case Study 16

"representational" and "personal" and achieved these intended "functions" as described by

Halliday (as cited by Brown, 2014, p. 213).

X. Interlanguage

The middle stages between learning a language and becoming fluent are known as

interlanguage. Selinker (1972) describes interlanguage as "a structurally intermediate status

between the native and target languages. Within interlanguage there are a number of stages

ranging from learners who make a wide variety of errors to those whose production has become

more consistent.

A key difference that marks the "emergent stage" from the subsequent "systematic stage"

is the ability to make corrections when errors are addressed by readers or listeners. Recognizing

errors is a key area for development for both Andy and Mateo. Both are limited in viewing their

own errors and still struggle when an error is pointed out. This interchange between Mateo and I

can shed light on his ability to correct his own grammatical mistakes. Mateo wrote Jefferson

Davis sent men to buy camel from nort Africa. When I told him to read it again for spelling

mistakes he was able to correct the spelling of north by using the textbook. I then asked, did

Jefferson buy only one camel? This allowed Mateo to add the plural s. Similarly, Andy wrote a

comparison of the two animals in the text Camels eat plants of desert but horses do not. So, the

camel is better desert animal. The errors in Andy's sentence are reflective of Coe's (2009) list of

differences between English and Spanish sounds and writing. As Coe (2009) explains,

"adjectives and nouns typically post modify head nouns", making desert plants the more

common construction in English, but plants of the desert would be more natural in Spanish.

Brown (2014) categorizes errors as being global or local. Global errors impede

communication, while local errors allow a reader to accurately guess the intended meaning

Case Study 17

(Brown, 2014, p. 252). Going back to Mateo's example of responsibility, we can see a number of

apparent phonological or orthographic errors, yet it is still possible to make out Mateo's intended

idea: I show responsibility when I Drive I not luck the phom in the street. Mateo can benefit from

incorporating direct teaching of phonetics and spelling into a lesson. In this case, explicitly

teaching the difference in pronunciation and spelling between "look" and "luck". Brown (2014)

remarks that as a classroom teacher it is necessary to address global errors on the spot. In fact, it

is actually the production of errors that spur learning: "Errors offer a window of opportunity for

learners to benefit from awareness of a mistake" (Brown, 2014, p. 254).

While errors may provide an excellent avenue for language growth, this is only possible

if there is both correction and uptake. Frequently, recast is used as error correction strategy

alone. This is an implicit strategy which allows a listener to "reformulate ... an utterance in an

unobtrusive way" (Panova & Lyster, 2002, as cited by Brown, 2014). When observing, this is the

most common form of feedback. I must admit I also use this technique frequently, although it is

not the most effective. ELLs, including Andy and Mateo, benefit more by explicit correction.

Elicitation is a more effective technique in that it asks the learner to reformulate his or her

response or, at least, repeat back the corrected response.

When sharing his opinion on the statement Only people in deserts need to worry about

water, Mateo said I strongly disagree because many people no have water. This was an

opportunity to choose a form of correction. In this case, I opted for a combination of repetition

and elicitation by first repeating Mateo's response with exaggerated intonation, then asking him

to self correct. When unable to do so, I said many people don't have water and asked him to

repeat. However, this was effective given that I was walking from pair to pair, giving

individualized feedback. In a whole group discussion, this form of error correction can have

Case Study 18

limitations in that it takes time and can digress from the main purpose of the lesson. In this class,

the objective was to focus on the sentence stems I strongly agree, I agree, I am neutral, etc, not

the auxiliary verb in present tense. In Andy's case, when stating I am agree, I pointed out the use

of verb to be and how it differs from Spanish. In Spanish, a speaker would say Estoy de acuerdo

or while in English the verb "to be" is unnecessary. This marks an instance where the student's

error was directly connected to the language objective and warrants a more detailed explanation.

Making connections between errors and differences between Andy's L1 and L2 can help him to

remember this critical academic phrase.

XI. Current Assessments

As a sophomore and junior, both Andy and Mateo are personally impacted by the current

assessments mandated by the state. Mateo recently took the Math and ELA MCAS retakes in

November and both students will test for ACCESS in January. In addition to the mandated state

assessments, Andy and Mateo are tested frequently in school and district-wide assessments in

Speaking and Writing. According to Andy's W-APT data, he placed at 2.2 with his highest

proficiency in writing (3.8) last year. Still today, writing remains Andy's strength. On ACCESS

in October of 2013, Andy placed at level 1. His ACCESS scores show progress in terms of L2

growth. There is currently no data on Mauricio as he arrived in February last year, just after

ACCESS testing.

While such testing can provide data on a student's skill level and language competency,

they have a variety of limitations, as expressed by Bailey and Wolf (n.d.). Three of the key

challenges they discuss are identifying language and skills in the Common Core State Standards,

defining alignment, and guiding the development of future assessments (p.1). To take a closer

look, when considering any assessment, factors of "reliability, validity, and fairness" must be

Case Study 19

considered (Catarius, 2013). Perhaps most important is the issue of fairness, or "equity in

outcomes of testing" (Catarius, 2013). If Andy and Mateo do not pass MCAS, they face a

number of repercussions. First of all, they will graduate with a certificate of attendance in place

of a diploma. The lack of a high school diploma would put them at a disadvantage for almost any

job in the future. Secondly, standardized test results can be a deciding factor for college

admissions. Although there are accommodations for ELLs such as word-to-word dictionary and

a Spanish MCAS for Math, more is needed to bridge the gap between ELLs and native English

speaking students.

XII. Conclusion

Taking into account the principles of language learning from the perspectives of theorists

on the impact of culture and identity has made me more aware of the individual process that my

students including Andy and Mateo are going through. By looking at the process of learning both

an L1 and L2, I am able to see the steps that I went through and my students are currently

experiencing. As Brown (2014) aptly remarks, "Your understanding of the components of

language determines to a large extent how you teach a language" (p. 7). By looking deeply at the

factors of second language acquisition, I am better equipped with strategies that not only

specifically nurture language development but also create a comfortable classroom environment.

Case Study 20

References

Aledi, J. & Linquanti, R. (n.d.) Issues and opportunities in improving the quality of large scale

assessment systems for English language learners. Understanding Language. Stanford

University of Education.

Baily, A. & Wolf, K. The challenge of assessing language proficiency aligned to the Common

Core Standards and some possible solutions. Understanding Language. Stanford

University of Education.

Brown, H. D. (2014). Principles of language learning and teaching. New York: Pearson.

Catarius, L. (2013). Test scores and beyond. Presentation for Lawrence Public Schools.

Coe, N. (2001). Speakers of Spanish and Catalan. In M. Swan & B. Smith, Eds. Learner English:

A teacher's guide to interference and other problems (pp. 90-112). New York:

Cambridge University Press.

Escamilla, K. (2009). The misunderestimation of Manuel: Issues in reductionist paradigms and

parallel monolingual frameworks in the quest to improve policy and practice for

bilingual learners. University of Boulder: Boulder, CO., p. 1-26.

Fillmore, L. and Snow, C. (2000). What teachers need to know about language. CAL:

Washington, D.C. p. 2-42.

Goldenberg, C. (2008). Teaching English language learners: What the research does - and does

not - say. American Educator.

Helms (1995) from Sue, et al. (1998). Multicultural counseling competencies: Individual and

organizational development. Sage Productions: Thousand Oaks, CA.

Marinova-Todd, S.; Marshall, D.; & Snow, C. (2000). Three misconceptions about age and L2

learning. TESOL Quarterly, 34(1), pp. 9-34.

Case Study 21

Appendix

I. Student Interviews

Case Study 22

Case Study 23

Immigration Writing Prompts (DDMs)

Case Study 24

Case Study 25

Case Study 26