Strategies for Esl Teachers

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Tennessee ESL Resource Guide ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Strategies for ESL Teachers 5.1 Strategies for ESL Teachers ____________________________________________________ ESL teachers work with students in a variety of conditions: pull-out classes, core classes where children start in the ESL class for all or part of the school day and are gradually mainstreamed into content-area classes, and newcomer centers where language and social/cultural skills are developed before the students are moved into school settings with native speakers. Each of these settings requires the teacher to use different ways of organizing the classroom, designing a curriculum, and presenting lessons. However, some basic elements underlie all good language instruction: 1 Interactive lessons with hands-on activities and cooperative learning, Encouragement of creativity and discovery, Versatility and flexibility, Enhancement and support of the mainstream curriculum, Opportunities for all students to feel successful, 1 Adapted from The Art of Teaching ESL, Leader's Guide to Video.(1993). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Accommodation of the needs of students at different levels of ability, and Integration of language skills, thinking skills, and content knowledge. The review of various theories, methods, approaches and strategies on the following pages is intended to be a resource for ESL teachers in providing ideas for ways to incorporate these elements into their lesson plans.

Transcript of Strategies for Esl Teachers

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Strategies for ESL Teachers____________________________________________________

ESL teachers work with students in avariety of conditions: pull-out classes,core classes where children start in theESL class for all or part of the schoolday and are gradually mainstreamedinto content-area classes, andnewcomer centers where language andsocial/cultural skills are developedbefore the students are moved intoschool settings with native speakers.Each of these settings requires theteacher to use different ways oforganizing the classroom, designing acurriculum, and presenting lessons.

However, some basic elementsunderlie all good languageinstruction:1

• Interactive lessons with hands-onactivities and cooperative learning,

• Encouragement of creativity anddiscovery,

• Versatility and flexibility,

• Enhancement and support of themainstream curriculum,

• Opportunities for all students tofeel successful,

1 Adapted from The Art of Teaching ESL, Leader's Guide to Video.(1993). Reading, MA:Addison-Wesley.

• Accommodation of the needs ofstudents at different levels ofability, and

• Integration of language skills,thinking skills, and contentknowledge.

The review of various theories,methods, approaches and strategies onthe following pages is intended to be aresource for ESL teachers inproviding ideas for ways toincorporate these elements into theirlesson plans.

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BICS/CALP2

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A person's proficiency in a languagerefers to the degree to which thatperson is able to use the language.Language is used for various purposes.In education we can classify the uses oflanguage into two dimensions: thesocial dimension and the academicdimension (Cummins, 1981). We cancompare language to an iceberg. Theportion that is visible on the surface,usually the social dimension, is only afraction of the total iceburg. In orderto use a language in academic work,the speaker must have an extensivefoundation related to the language.This foundation is acquired throughusing the language over an extensiveperiod of time in settings designed tobuild that foundation.

Cummins refers to the skills necessaryfor social interactions involving lan-guage as Basic Interpersonal Com-munication Skills (BICS). Theyinvolve listening comprehension andspeaking skills sufficient to understandand respond to social interactions.

BICS can be compared to the visibleportion of an iceberg. They demon-strate the learner's ability tounderstand and use spoken languageappropriately. Most non-nativeEnglish speakers acquire sufficientBICS in English within a two-year

2 Adapted from Law, B. and Eckes, M. (1990). The more than just surviving handbook: ESL forevery classroom teacher. Winnipeg: Peguis Publishers.

period to meet their needs in socialsituations.

Cummins refers to the language skillsnecessary to function in an academicsituation as Cognitive/AcademicLanguage Proficiency (CALP). Theseskills encompass listening, speaking,reading, and writing abilities,specifically in relation to learning incontent academic areas. Studentsgenerally require from five to sevenyears to acquire CALP skills. Thesecan be compared to the portion of aniceberg that is not visible because it isunder the surface of the ocean. CALPrefers to all experience associated withlanguage, both concept developmentand linguistic development.

Definitions

BICS-Basic InterpersonalCommunication Skills: The skillsinvolved in everyday communication -listening, speaking, carrying on basicconversation, understanding speakers.and getting one's basic needs met.

CALP-Cognitive AcademicLanguage Proficiency: The skillsthat are needed to succeed in theacademic classroom, including prob-lem solving, inferring, analyzing,synthesizing, and predicting. They gobeyond the BICS, demanding muchgreater competence in the language.

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Characteristics of Students'Basic InterpersonalCommunication Skills3

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Listening Comprehension:

Students generally understand non-technical speech, includingconversation with teachers andclassmates. Since they sometimesmisinterpret utterances, nativespeakers of English must adjust theirvocabulary and rate of speech.

Speaking:

• Grammar and word order -students have a fair command ofbasic sentence patterns. They avoidconstructions which demand morecontrol of grammar and wordorder. They also begin to over-generalize, applying grammar rulesthey have learned in inappropriateplaces. For example, students oftenapply the -ed past tense ending toirregular pasts,resulting informations such as "bringed"instead of "brought".

• Vocabulary - The vocabularywhich students use is adequate forsocial conversation, but not forsuccessful participation indiscussion of subject-area content.The fact that students can carry ona social conversation, often inrelatively unaccented speech, oftenpersuades observers that the student

3Adapted from Help! They Don't Speak English Starter Kit. Virginia: Eastern Stream Center onResources and Training, 1992.

is in greater command of thelanguage than is actually the case.

• Pronunciation - Although studentsmay have a noticeable accent, theirpronunciation is understandable.Younger students, especially, maybegin speaking with almost noaccent though their command ofvocabulary, grammar and syntaxmay be slight.

• Fluency - Students' fluency issmooth, although the length of theirutterances is somewhat limited bydifficulties with English. Theirspeech may be marked byrestatements, repetitions, andhesitations.

Reading: Reading skills improve, andstudents profit greatly from inclusionin basal reading groups. Althoughstudents may now prepare someassignments independently theirperformance in content classes isusually adequate.

Writing: Students use more complexsentence structure in their writing.The introduction of many irregularword forms adds to the difficulty oflearning English and students needassistance with them.

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Range of Contextual Support and Degree of CognitiveInvolvement in Communicative Activities4

Cognitively Undemanding

I

TPRDemonstrations, IllustrationsFollowing directionsArt, Music, PEFace-to-face conversationsSimple gamesAnswering lower-level questions

II

Telephone conversationsNotes on refrigeratorWritten directions (without diagrams or examples)Writing answers to lower-level questions

Context-reducedContext-embedded

III

Mathematics computationsScience experimentsSocial studies projects (map activities, etc.)Developing academic languageUnderstanding text through discussion, visualsAnswering higher-level questions

IV

Subject content (without diagrams or examples)Mathematics word problems (without illustrations)Explanations of new abstract conceptsReading for information in content areasWriting compositionsWriting answers to higher-level questions

Cognitively Demanding

4 From Cummins, J. (1981) "The Role of Primary Language Development in PromotingEducational Success for Language Minority Students." Schooling and Language MinorityStudents: A Theoretical Framework. Los Angeles: Evaluation, Dissemination, and AssessmentCenter, California State University.

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The Natural Approach____________________________________________________

“. . .(language) acquisition is asubconscious process that isidentical to the process in firstlanguage acquisition in allimportant ways. While acquisi-tion is taking place, the acquireris not always A-Ware (sic) of it,and he or she is not usually A-Ware of its results. Learning isconscious know-ledge, orknowing about language.”Stephen Krashen, 1985

Krashen claims that this subconsciousprocess of acquisition is superior todirect classroom instruction. Thisclaim is controversial, but several ofthe concepts of the Natural Approachhave proven useful for languageteachers.

Comprehensible Input: Studentslearn best when exposed to samples ofthe target language that are at or justabove the student's current level ofacquisition of the language. Teacherscan ensure that the language used inthe classroom is comprehensible byevaluating the students on the Stages ofLanguage Acquisition chart on thenext page and can design activities thatensure input and output at anappropriate level for the student.

Low Affective Filter: Students arebest able to absorb and mentallyprocess the language input they receivewhen they are in an environmentwhere they are relaxed and theiranxiety level is low. The teacher can

provide this by making the classrooma warm, supportive place wherestudents feel free to take risks withlanguage.

The Monitor: Krashen hypothesizesthat language instruction results in thecreation of a mental monitor throughwhich the learner filters spoken andwritten output. The monitor aidslearners in achieving accuracy, butmay hinder the development offluency. The ideal is a balance wherethe student has opportunities forunrestricted fluency and for using themonitor to "edit" and developaccuracy.

Meaningful Communication:Research shows that more learningtakes place when students are engagedin communication that is meaningful tothem because more of the content andstructure of the communication enterslong-term memory. Communication ismeaningful when it touches on thestudents' real lives or centers on topicschosen by and of interest to thestudents. Teachers can ensure thatmeaningful communication happens inthe classroom by allowing students tochoose books, materials and topics thatinterest them when appropriate.

Stages of Language Acquisition:Students go through predictable stagesin acquiring a language. Thefollowing chart shows characteristicsof each stages:

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Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4Pre-Production Early

ProductionSpeech

EmergenceIntermediate

FluencyStudents comprehendsimple language butcannot producelanguage yet.

Students comprehendmore complexlanguage and can makeone or two wordresponses.

Students can speak inphrases and sentences.

Students can combinephrases and sentencesinto longer passages oflanguage, oral andwritten.

Characterized by• minimal

comprehension• no verbal

production

Characterized by:• limited

comprehension• one/two word

responses

Characterized by:• increased

comprehension• simple sentences• some basic errors

in speech• reading limited to

what can becomprehendedorally

• writing limited tobrief responses

Characterized by:• good

comprehension• use of complex

sentences• some errors in

written language

Students can:• listen• point• respond with

action• draw• choose• act out

Students can:• name• label• group• answer yes/no• discriminate• list• categorize• count

Students can:• retell• define• explain• compare• summarize• describe• role-play• restate• contrast

• Students can:• analyze• create• defend• debate• predict• evaluate• justify• support• examine• hypothesize

Teacher should:• use visual aids• modify speech• focus on key

vocabulary• ask for physical

responses

Teacher should:• use yes/no

questions• ask for single-

word answers• use cloze exercises• expand on student

answers

Teacher should:• use games• incorporate

language from TV,radio, movies

• conduct writingexercises

• use readings forlanguage input

• use problem-solving activities

Teacher should:• help students

develop academicskills, especially inreading andwriting

• use activities thatrequire analysis,hypothesizing,justifying andsupporting.

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Resources on the Natural Approach

Hadley, Alice Omaggio. TeachingLanguage in Context. Boston:Heinle & Heinle, 1993.

Krashen, Stephen D. Inquiries andInsights. Hayward, CA: AlemanyPress, 1985.

_________. Principles and Practice inSecond Language Acquisition. NewYork: Pergamon Press, 1982

_________. Second LanguageAcquisition and Second LanguageLearning. New York: PergamonPress, 1981.

Terrell, Tracy D. "A NaturalApproach to Second LanguageAcquisition and Learning." TheModern Language Journal61(1977): 325-37.

_________. "The Natural Approach toLanguage Teaching: An Update."The Modern Language Journal 66(1982) 121-32.

_________. "The Role of GrammarInstruction in a CommunicativeApproach." The Modern LanguageJournal 75 (1991): 51-63

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Total Physical Response (TPR)5

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Total Physical Response (TPR) is alanguage teaching strategy whichintroduces new language through aseries of commands to physically enactan event. The student responds to thecommands with action. Research onthis strategy shows that more efficientlearning with fuller student involve-ment occurs when students actuallymove than when they do not. Forbeginning students, an advantage ofTPR is that students are not requiredto make oral responses until they haveachieved and demonstrated full com-prehension through physical actions.

Seven basic steps of TPR:

1. Setting up. The teacher sets up asituation in which students follow a setof commands using actions, generallywith props, to act out a series ofevents. These events should be appro-priate to the age level of the students.

Suggestions for K-5

• Making a salad, peanut buttersandwich or other simple dish

• Building something with blocksor Legos

• Drawing a picture

Suggestions for 6-8

• Baking a pie• Changing a light bulb

5 Adapted from McCloskey, M.L. & Nations, M.J. (1988). English Everywhere: An IntegratedCurriculum Guide. Atlanta, GA: Educo Press.

• Washing a car

Suggestions for High School:

• Shopping for groceries• Ordering and serving food in a

restaurant• Changing a tire

2. Demonstration. The teacherdemonstrates or has a student demon-strate the series of actions. Studentsare expected to pay careful attention,but they do not talk or repeat thecommands.

3. Group live action. The groupacts out the series as the teacher givescommands. Usually this step isrepeated several times so that studentsinternalize the series thoroughlybefore they produce it orally, or,when appropriate, read the series ofactions.

4. Written copy. The series is puton chart paper or blackboard forstudents to read and copy.

5. Oral repetition and questions.After the students have made a writtencopy, they repeat each line after theteacher, taking care with difficultwords. They have ample opportunityto ask questions, and the teacher pointsout particular pronunciation featuresthat may be causing problems.

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6. Student demonstration.Students are given the opportunity toplay the roles of reader of the seriesand performer of the actions. Theteacher checks comprehension andprompts when needed.

7. Pairs. Students work in groups oftwo or three, one telling or readingthe series, and the other(s) listeningand responding physically. During thegroup work time, the teacher canwork individually with students.

Several authors have developed TPRscripts on a variety of topics forteachers' use. (See Resource List)Develop your own activities aroundfamiliar situations or around schoolexperiences that might be frighteningor confusing to students from othercultures (e.g., an earthquake ortornado drill, or a job interview).

TPR can also be an effective tool forstudent assessment. You can observestudents who are not yet producingmuch English as they participate inTPR activities and determine just howmuch the student is able to understand.

Sample Scripts

Watching TV

1. It's time to watch your favoriteshow. Turn on the tv.

2. This is the wrong show. You hatethis show. Make a terrible face.Change the channel.

3. This show is great! Smile! Sit downin your favorite chair.

4. This part is very funny. Laugh.

5. Now there's a commercial. Get upand get a snack and a drink. Sitdown again.

6. The ending is very sad. Cry.7. The show is over. Turn off the TV.8. Go to bed.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear(A Jump Rope TPR Game)

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,turn around.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,touch the ground.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,read the news.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,shine your shoes.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,go upstairs.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,say your prayers.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,turn out the lights.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,say goodnight.

Resources for Total PhysicalResponse

Asher, J. (1977). Learning anotherlanguage through actions: Thecomplete teacher's guidebook.Los Gatos, CA: Sky OaksProductions.

Enright, D.S. & McCloskey, M.L.(1985). Jump-rope games.Branching Out: TESOLNewsletter Supplement No. 2.29(3), 12-13.

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Hadley, Alice Omaggio. TeachingLanguage in Context. 2nd ed.Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1993.

Linse, C. (1983). The children'sresponse: TPR and beyondtoward writing. Hayward CA:Alemany Press.

Nelson, G. & Winters, T. (1980). ESLOperations: Techniques forlearning while doing. Rowley,MA: Newbury House.

Romjin, E. & Contee, S. (1979). LiveAction English. New York:Pergammon Press.

Veitch, B. (1981). Cook and learn:Pictorial single portion recipes.Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

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Cooperative Learning in Multicultural Classrooms6

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In cooperative classrooms, studentsfind value in helping one anotherlearn. They don't see educationalgoals as attainable by the few: onlythree As per class. Rather, they seethem as attainable by all: everyoneaccomplishing a set of goals. Theclassroom is organized so that thegoals are most likely to be attainedwhen students cooperate andcollaborate. When the class workstogether toward a goal, they become acohesive, powerful, and positive force.

Research shows that using peers ascollaborators, teachers, and tutorsresults in better academic achievement,ethnic relations, pro-socialdevelopment, and attitudes towardschool, learning, and self inmulticultural classrooms. It alsoincreases a sense of student-ownershipof the classroom environment andactivities.

In the cooperative classroom, languagelearning is enhanced by the use ofpeers as co-teachers and of language asa medium of communication ratherthan a separate subject. When smallgroups of students collaborate on acommon task, they must clarify andnegotiate meaning with one anotherwhich results in complex languageinput, including low-level input(repetition of information), middle-

6 Adapted from McCloskey, M.L. (1990) Integrated Language Teaching Strategies. Atlanta, GA:Educo Press, pp. 4-5.

level input (stating of newinformation), and high-level input(integrating information and creatingrationales for its use). All of thesetypes of language input are crucial tosecond language acquisition.

In cooperative learning settings,students can use higher level cognitiveprocesses as they compare contrastingviews in order to come to a consensusand jointly synthesize information topresent it to the rest of the class.Throughout this process students of alllevels of language proficiency gainpractice in the use of the languagenecessary to carry on thesenegotiations -- practice that is morevaried, purposeful, and directed tostudents' proficiency levels thangroup-paced worksheets, which areusually inappropriate for youngchildren.

Many other rewards come with thecooperative learning environment.Discipline improves, freeing theteacher from the role of maintainingsocial control in favor of the role ofconsultant to individuals and smallgroups. Since what students like to do,i.e., talk, is put to productive usetoward their academic achievementand language development, studentsspend more time on task. At the sametime, students become more active,self-directed, and communicative

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learners as they work cooperativelytogether.

Common Questions aboutCooperative Learning7

What is cooperative/collaborative learning?

Cooperative learning is a form ofindirect teaching in which the teachersets the problems and organizes thestudents to work it out collaboratively.(Kenneth Bruffee, 1984)

Cooperative learning means more thanmerely putting students in groups fordiscussion or completion of tasks.Johnson and Johnson (1984), two ofthe most prominent researchers oncooperative learning, have defined thefour elements crucial to effectivecooperative activities:

1. Positive interdependence amonglearners in respect to resources, taskaccomplishment, or reward;

2. Face-to-face interaction in smallgroups (although computers andcomputer networks may allowcooperation that is not face-to-face.);

3. Individual accountability forparticipation or internalization ofthe relevant knowledge or skills; and

4. use of interpersonal and smallgroup skills in the learning process.

7 Adapted from Thrush, E.A. (1990) “Working Together: Cooperative/Collaborative Learning.”TESOL in Action Monograph Series, 5 (2). Atlanta, GA: GATESOL.

But notice that cooperative learninginvolves more than just working insmall groups. The elements of groupreward and individual accountabilityare crucial to the success of a coop-erative learning task. In a meta-analysis of 46 studies that comparedcooperative and competitive learningstrategies carried out over an extendedperiod of time in elementary and highschool classrooms, 63 percent reportedsignificant differences in favor of thecooperative structure. However, whenonly those studies which includedgroup rewards for individualachievement were considered, 89percent resulted in superior per-formance under the cooperative mode(Slavin, 1983).

How can you give a groupreward based on individualachievement?

A study by Johnson, Johnson, andStanne (1986) illustrates one way toaccomplish this. Seventy-five 8thgraders were assigned to threeconditions in groups of four to workon a computer simulation teachingmap reading and navigational skills.In the first condition, students weretold that they would be completingindividual worksheets every day, buttheir grade would be determined bythe average scores of the teammembers on the worksheets and thefinal exam. In the competitivecondition, students worked in groupsand completed daily worksheets, butwere told that their grade would be

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determined by their rank within thegroup. In the individualisticcondition, students were told that theirscores would be compared to presetstandards to determine the grade.After the simulation was completed,all student were tested individually onthe map skills they had learned.Students in the cooperative conditionscored higher on the computersimulation and on the tests of conceptslearned than students in either of theother conditions. In addition, studentsin the cooperative condition engagedin significantly more task-orientedverbal interaction and indicatedgreater acceptance of females as workpartners. Knowing that their gradesdepended not only on their ownlearning but on how much each oftheir group members learned aboutmap skills, students were highlymotivated to teach each other andensure that every group memberlearned as much as possible.

The idea is to have the students worktogether while learning the skills, thentest them individually but have theirfinal grades dependent on the averageof the group. If this is not possiblewithin your academic structure,perhaps a certain percentage of theirgrade could be determined by theaverage of the group scores, the restby their individual test scores.Another, relatively simple way, is togive the group a task, and tell themthat you will ask one student from thegroup at random to report orally orthat you will choose one paper fromthe group to grade. That individual'sgrade becomes the group grade.

Knowing this, the group members willsee to it that everyone in the group hasmastered the task.

In some cases it may work better toassign a group project in which eachindividual is responsible for a part ofthe project, but a single grade is given.Work in class should be structured sothat the students in the group candiscuss and plan together, and adviseeach other on their segments of theproject, but not do another student'swork. See the Suggested Activitiessection for possible assignments.

Won't students object to gettinga group grade?

The Johnsons have conducted over 70studies of cooperative learning inclassroom settings. Their observationis that once students becomeaccustomed to the concept of grouprewards, it seems logical to them, andindeed, the only way to grade a taskthat all have contributed to. Even atthe college level, students areincreasingly required to work inproject groups and are accustomed tohaving their grades based on acombination of group work andindividual tests.

Research shows that high achievers donot lose anything by working ingroups with students of lesser abilities.If anything, they learn more fromteaching and explaining to others.

What are the benefits ofcooperative/collaborativelearning?

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Carol Ames (1984) has elaborated onthe motivational processes thatunderlie the effectiveness of differentlearning situations as follows:

1. When learners receive someindication of success, they feel moresuccessful and competent. Theindication of success or failure isusually a grade or other externalevaluation, comparison withprevious performance, orcomparison with others'performance. Competitivesituations, by their nature, reducethe number of learners who can begiven "successful" externalevaluation, or who can see theirperformances as superior to others',thus limiting the number of learnerswho will feel competent and willrate their own performance assuccessful. Cooperative settings, onthe other hand, increase thepossibility for success as it ismeasured by completion of thegroup task, allowing more learnersto feel competent.

2. Success in competitive settings tendsto result in exaggerated inflation ofself-esteem while failure results inexaggerated deflation. Self-esteemand feelings of competence stronglyinfluence the individual's motivationto engage in an activity, socooperative learning, by providingmore learners an opportunity forsuccess, motivates the majority toengage in further learning, whilecompetitive learning motivates onlythe few who receive highevaluations.

3. The perception of failure incooperative settings depends on thegroup outcome. Those who are insuccessful groups perceive their ownperformance as successful eventhough they may have low abilities,but those in unsuccessful groupsmay see themselves as unsuccessfuland experience feelings of low self-esteem. For that reason, it isimportant that the teacher structuresthe task and monitor groupperformance to provide the supportneeded to make the experiencesuccessful for everyone.

4. Cooperative settings reduce theperceptions of differences amongindividuals. Students who haveparticipated in cooperative groupstend to see other students as moresimilar to themselves than studentsin competitive settings.

The result is that cooperative learningresults in higher achievement levelsfor all students, not just those top fewwho would also be successful incompetitive settings. Naturally enough,cooperative learning helps studentsdevelop better interpersonal skills.Perhaps most importantly, cooperativelearning has been shown to be anextremely effective way ofmainstreaming handicapped, minority,and LEP students. Study after studyshows better acceptance of thesestudents by the majority aftercooperative learning experiences.Some male students express a greaterwillingness to work with female

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students after a cooperative experienceas well.

Who benefits the most fromcollaborative learning?

“One of the most important findings toemerge from the cooperative learningresearch is the strong achievementgains among minority pupils incooperative classrooms.. . Anglosshow equal or somewhat greateracademic gains in cooperativeclassrooms compared to traditionalclassrooms, but minority studentsshow far greater gains in thecooperative compared to traditionalmethods. ” Spencer Kagan (1986)

Kagan explains that this is an effect ofbringing the social organization of theclassroom more in line with that of thehome environment. Many of ourstudents come from cultures whichvalue the group, especially the familyand the community, over theindividual. The traditional Americanclassroom, with its emphasis oncompetition and individualachievement, is not an environment inwhich members of these groups canflourish.

What is the teacher's role incooperative learning?

“Teacher roles in cooperative learningclassrooms are quite different fromthose of traditional classrooms; alongwith the changed social structurecomes a changed pattern of teacherattention, expectations, and discipline.The need for discipline, especially

individual discipline, is reduced, andthe ability of teachers to consult withindividual students is increased.”Spencer Kagan (1986)

Frank Smith (1986) suggests thatteachers model collaboration for theirstudents by writing with them:brainstorming, composing, and editingtogether. This doesn't mean thatteachers ask for ideas from studentswith a set of acceptable answersalready in mind, but that they actuallywork through the process of a newwriting task with the students.Teachers are often hesitant to do this,thinking that they shouldn't putthemselves in the position of beingtentative, of starting and backing up,of rethinking and revising in front oftheir students. They are afraid theywill be seen as not fully competent intheir own language skills. But this ishow all writers really write. Whenstudents do not have a model of howadvanced writers work, they tend toassume that good writers never falter,never make mistakes, never changewhat they have written. Judging theirown efforts against this impossiblegoal, they see little chance of everbecoming good writers.

Also, collaborating with studentsprovides them with a model forcollaboration. They learn how tocreate the kind of give and takenecessary for good collaboration.They learn how to negotiatedifferences in concepts.

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Suggested Cooperative Learning Activities and Projects8

Dyad Activities

Dyad Activities help students practice some aspect of English structure withoutthe presence of the teacher. The students work in pairs. Each student has theanswers for the other student, and can provide immediate correction. Theteacher can prepare the exercises ahead of time, or the students can writeexercises in pairs and exchange them. The teacher should check them foraccuracy first.

Sample Dyad Activity

Instructions: The exercises for Student A and Student B are cut apart so thatStudent A sees only the first four sentences and Student B sees only the last foursentences. They sit facing each other. Student A reads sentence 1, filling in theblank with the correct form of the word in parentheses. Student B checks theanswer and tells Student A whether the answer was right or wrong. Then StudentB reads sentence 2, filling in the blanks, and Student A checks the answer. Theycontinue until they have done all the sentences.

Student A:

1. My car is ____________ than yours (fast)

2. My car is the same make as his.

3. His car is ____ __________ color ______ mine. (different)

4. His car is more expensive than hers.

Student B:

1. My car is faster than yours.

2. My car is _______ ________ make ______ his.

3. His car is a different color from mine.

4. His car is ____ ____________ _______ hers. (expensive)

8 Thrush, E.A. (1996) Preface to Modules for English Learning. Rome, Italy: Italian Ministry ofEducation.

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Information Gap Activities

In an Information Gap activity, each student (in a pair or group of 3-4) has someinformation that the others in the group need in order to complete a task. Thestudents must ask each other questions to get the missing information.

Sample Information Gap Activity:

Instructions: The charts below are cut apart so Student A sees only the first chartand Student B sees only the second chart. They sit facing each other and ask eachother questions to fill in the missing information in the charts. This can also bedone for groups of 3 or 4 students, but every student's chart must have differentinformation. When the charts are completed, the students can look at each others'chart to check their information.

Student A:

Car Model Ford Taurus Nissan Altima FerrariCountry of Origin U.S. ItalyPrice $15,000Type sedan sedan

Student B:

Car Model Ford Taurus Nissan Altima FerrariCountry of Origin JapanPrice $13,000 $50,000Type sports car

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Interview Grid

This is a structured way of having students ask and answer questions about topicsmeaningful to them. It ensures that they use the grammar points relevant to theday's lesson.

Instructions:

The students work in groups of 4-5. The teacher provides them with a grid likethe following:

MarySmith

________Teacher

________Student

________Student

________Student

________Student

live now? Memphislive..last year? Mexicowatch on TV..lastnight?

Simpsons

do..last weekend? movieseat...for breakfast? beans,

cheese,eggs

First, the teacher models the questions, writing them on the board and having thestudents repeat them. Then the teacher points out how “Mary Smith” answeredthe questions and how those answers are indicated with just a few words. Thenthe students ask the questions of the teacher. The teacher answers, and thestudents note down the answers in the appropriate spaces. This shows the studentshow to do the exercise. Then they work in their groups, taking turns asking eachother the questions and jotting down the answers. Afterwards, the teacher asksfor a report from each group on what the members watched last night, etc.

Notice that the cue words can be changed to elicit whatever language point theteacher wants the students to practice. The sample grid focuses on irregular pasttense verbs.

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Jigsaw Listening

Jigsaw Listening activities give students practice in listening to information inEnglish, then conveying that information to someone else. In a Jigsaw exercise,students work in groups of 4 or 5. Each student in each group has a numberfrom 1 to 4 or 5. The teacher gives each group a different text, cut into the samenumber of pieces as the number of students in the group. For example, if thereare 4 groups of 4 students each, the teacher might choose 4 different texts aboutcomputers and cut each into 4 pieces. Each student would read one piece of onetext. Within the groups, students would tell each other what they read, so thateach group would then have all the information from one of the 4 texts. Then thestudents would form new groups -- all the number 1s would be in one group, allthe 2s in another, and so on. Each member of the new group would give theinformation from the text read by the old group. The result is that each person inthe class would get all the information from all 4 texts.

Alternative: The students in the new group would have a task to complete usingthe information provided by the group members. For example, they might haveto fill out a grid that classifies the information in some way.

Sample Jigsaw Activity

This activity is a little different because the students gather information ratherthan reading it. This works well as an introductory activity for a new class.

1. The students are divided into groups - 4 groups of 4 or 5 groups of 5 workbest.

2. Each student in the group is assigned a number, from 1 to 4 or 5.3. The students interview each other to fill in a grid like the one below.

____________Student's name

____________Student's name

____________Student's name

____________Student's name

HobbiesPetsSports

4. The students form new groups: all the 1s together, all the 2s together, and soon. Between them, each group now has information about all the students.

5. The students in the new groups choose some information about the class thatthey find interesting, and design a graphic display for the information. Forexample, they might draw a bar chart showing how many students in the classhave dogs, how many have cats, and so on. They can present their graphs tothe class or display them in the room.

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Memory Games

These games are usually played with index cards, but pieces of any stiff paper canbe used. Either the teacher or the students make up sets of cards with matchinginformation. For example, one card might have the infinitive form of a verb; thematching card would have the irregular past form. Or one might have theEnglish word for a computer keyboard; the matching card would have a picturecut out of a magazine, or the word in another language. When several pairs ofcards are ready, they are mixed up and placed face down on a table. The students(usually in groups of 4 or pairs) take turns revealing 2 cards. If the cards match,the student keeps the cards. If the cards don't match, they are replaced on thetable and the next student takes a turn. When all cards have been turned over, thestudent with the most matches wins the game.

Alternative: When a card is turned over, the student must say what the matchingcard will say before turning over the second card. This promotes active memoryinstead of passive and is more advanced.

Numbered Heads Together

The Numbered Heads Together technique solves several problems with groupwork; it forces the group to take responsibility for the learning of each member,it ensures that one student in the group does not do all the work while the otherssit passively by, it prevents a few students from volunteering all the answers tothe teacher's questions, and it guarantees that all students have an equal chance ofbeing called on. Numbered Heads Together is often used to check comprehensionof a text students have read or something they have listened to.

Instructions:

1. Students work in groups of 3 or 4.2. Each student has a number from 1 - 3 or 4.3. The teacher asks a question about a text the students have read or about some

topic they have studied.4. The groups discuss the question for a few seconds, decide on an answer and

make sure everyone in the group knows the answer.5. The teacher calls a number between 1 and 3 (or 4) at random and indicates a

group.6. The student with the indicated number in that group gives the group's answer.

If the answer is wrong, the teacher goes to another group.

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Alternative: The teacher assigns each member of each group a letter in a word -W I N for groups of 3 or T E A M for groups of 4, for example. Then theteacher can call a group number and a letter to designate the student to answer.For example, if the teacher calls “5W” then the student in group 5 with the letterW answers the question. Or the teacher can give out cards in a deck - each groupwould have an Ace, King, Queen, and Jack. Then the teacher calls “6Jack” forexample.

Role Plays

Role plays help students use language fluently. They also help them learn to becreative, imaginative, and resourceful. In a role play, unlike a dialogue, theteacher provides only a brief description of the characters and situation of therole play. The students then improvise the words and actions.

In a guided role play, the teacher may write out a few hints of the dramatic actionwhich is to occur. For example, a guided role play of a formal introductionmight look like this:

Student Visitor to the SchoolSay hello and give your name Say hello and give your name

Welcome the visitor to the school Say you're happy to be there and giveyour purpose

Offer to help if needed Thank the student

Strip Story

A strip story is simply a text that the teacher has cut into strips. The studentswork in groups to put the text back together in the right order. To do this,students have to look for clues, including sentence beginnings and endings, andcoherency cues. The students must read the text closely to be able to reconstructit. The teacher should elicit from the class what cues they used to reconstruct itso they become aware of strategies to use in their own writing. There should alsobe some follow-up activity using the information from the reconstructed text.

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Question and Answer Game

This game is particularly useful in getting students to practice question forms. Itcan be used to check comprehension of a text students have read or somethingthey have listened to.

Instructions:

1. The teacher writes on the board several pieces of information from the text.For example, if the text were about computers, the teacher might write thecategories and answers below.

Software Hardware Abilitiesword processorspreadsheetdatabase

CPUmonitormouse

RAMROM33 mhz

Each student should choose a category and an answer and try to form anappropriate question. For example, if the student chose the category ‘hardware’and the answer ‘monitor’, the question might be, “How does the computer displayinformation to the user?” Notice that there may be many correct questions foreach answer.

Alternative: The teacher might cover the answers on the board with sticky notes.Different amounts of money can be written on the sticky notes. Then the studentsmight choose ‘Hardware for $1,000.’ The teacher would take off the sticky notethat says $1,000, revealing the answer behind it. If the student forms anappropriate question, the teacher gives the sticky note to the student. The studentwho finishes with the most money wins the game.

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Resources on CooperativeLearning

Ames, C. (1984). “Competitive,cooperative, and individualisticgoal structures: A cognitive-motivational analysis.” In C.Ames and R. Ames (Eds.)Research on Motivation inEducation: Vol I, StudentMotivation (p. 177-206).Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

Bruffee, K. (1984) “Collaborativelearning and the conversation ofmankind.” College English 46,pp. 635-52.

Cohen, E.G. (1986) Designinggroupwork: Strategies for theheterogeneous classroom. NewYork: Teachers College Press.

Coelho, E., Winer, L., & Olsen, J.(1989) All sides of the Issue:Activities for cooperative jigsawgroups. Hayward, CA:Alemany Press.

Enright, D.S. & McCloskey, M.L.(1988) Integrating English:Developing English languageand literacy in the multilingualclassroom. Reading, MA:Addison-Wesley.

Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, R. (1984).“Motivational processes incooperative, competitive, andindividualistic learningsituation.” In C. Ames and R.Ames (Eds.) Research onMotivation in Education: Vol 2,

The Classroom Milieu (p. 249-278). Orlando, FL: AcademicPress.

Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., &Holubec, E.J. (1991)Cooperation in the classroom:Revised. Edna, MN: InteractionBook Company.

Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T.,Holubec, E.J. & Roy, P. (1984)Circles of learning: Cooperationin the classroom. Alexandria,VA: Association for Supervisionand Curriculum Development.

Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T. &Stanne, M.B. (1986). “Effects ofcooperative, competitive, andindividualistic goal structures oncomputer-assisted instruction.”Journal of EducationalPsychology, 27, pp. 668-677.

Kagan, S. (1986) “Cooperativelearning and socioculturalfactors in schooling.” InBeyond language: Social andcultural factors in schoolinglanguage minority students (pp.231-98) Los Angeles:Evaluation, Dissemination andAssessment Center, CaliforniaState Unversity.

Kagan, S. (1988). Cooperativelearning: Resources forteachers. Laguna Niguel, CA:Spencer Kagan, Ph.D.

Moskovitz, J.M., Malvin, J.H.,Shaeffer, G.A. & Schaps, E.

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(1983) Evaluation of acooperative learning strategy.20 (4), pp. 687-696.

Orlick, T. (1982). The secondcooperative sports and gamesbook: Challenge withoutcompetition. NewYork:Pantheon.

Poole, D. & Thrush, E.A. (1987)Interactions I & II: Speakingactivities. New York: RandomHouse.

Poole, D. & Thrush, E.A. (1997)Interactions I: Multi-skillsactivities book. New York:McGraw-Hill.

Slavin, R.E. (1983). Cooperativelearning. New York: Longman.

Smith, F. (1986) Insult to intelligence:The bureaucratic invasion ofour classrooms. Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann.

Thrush, E.A., Baldwin, R.J., & Blass,L. (1997) Interactions Access: Alistening/speaking book. 2nd ed.New York: McGraw-Hill.

Trimbur, J. (1985). “Collaborativelearning and teaching writing.”In Perspectives on research andscholarship in composition. BenW. McClelland and Timothy R.Donovan (Eds.) New York:MLA, pp. 87-109.

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The Language Experience Approach9

____________________________________________________

The language experience approach isreadily adaptable to second languagelearners and students in bilingualprograms at a variety of levels. Thisapproach has a number of featureswhich enhance whole languagelearning for LEP students. Studentslearn that what they say and think isimportant enough to be written down;they learn how language is encoded bywatching as their oral language is putinto print; and they use familiarlanguage -- their own -- in follow-upactivities which investigate languagestructures they have learned, includingleft-right, top-bottom progression,letter-sound correspondence, spellingpatterns, sight vocabulary, andconventions of print.

There are six basic steps in theapproach:

1. Share and discuss anexperience. This can be a trip, anactivity such as cooking, playing agame, or role playing, a book(wordless or with words), a story, atrip, a science experiment, apersonal narrative, a film, or avideo.

2. After the discussion, elicitdictation from individuals orthe group. Write students'suggestions on the blackboard, chart

9 Adapted from McCloskey, M.S. & Nations, M.J. (1988). English Everywhere: An IntegratedCurriculum Guide. Atlanta, GA: Educo Press.

paper or overhead projector for allto see, using the students' exactwords without correcting orchanging.

3. With the students, read andrevise the story together.Periodically, read back the dictation,asking if it is what the studentsintended. Encourage students tosuggest changes to improve thepiece. In the context of takingdictation and helping students withrevision, you can teach andreinforce such skills as letter-soundcorrespondence, usage,capitalization, punctuation, andword endings and parts. You canalso teach such composition skills asusing a strong lead and organizing astory chronologically. The revisedstory is copied to be saved and re-used.

4. Read and re-read the storytogether. Individuals may readwith or without you, and the classmay read in chorus. Invite studentsat various levels to participate indifferent ways. Having students ofdifferent proficiency levels worktogether can be very helpful.

5. Have students use the piece inmany follow-up activities,including matching activities,writing activities, copying,unscrambling words or sentences

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from the story, etc. Students canillustrate the parts of the story thatthey dictated, making a cover andturning the story into a class smallor big book. Select follow-upactivities based on student levels.Beginning students might search forcertain words and underline them,read the story in chorus, orparticipate in an oral cloze activity.(In a cloze activity, every nth wordis left out of a passage for studentsto fill in.) Intermediate studentsmight unscramble sentences, choosewords and make cards for a wordbank, or match sentence strips tosequenced pictures from the story.Duplicate the story and havestudents use small copies forreading, selecting, and practicingvocabulary words. Children mayenjoy making covers for their owncopies of the story, illustrating thepages, and taking the books home toread to family members. Olderstudents may enjoy ‘publishing’ theirbooks on the computer, editing eachothers' stories and collaborating onpage layout and design.

6. Students may move fromreading their own or classpieces to trading and readingone another's work. They mayalso move from dictating to theteacher to writing their own pieces.

Resources for The LanguageExperience Approach

Ashton-Warner, S. (1963). Teacher.New York: Simon & Schuster.

Dixon, C. & Nessel, D. (1983).Language experience approachto reading (and writing): LEAfor ESL. Hayward CA:Alemany.

Rigg, P. (1989) “Language experienceapproach: Reading naturally.” InRigg, P. and Allen, V. (Eds.),When they don't all speakEnglish, pp. 65-76. Urbana, IL:NCTE.

Van Allen, R. & Allen, C. (1976)Language experience activities.Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

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Integrated Language Teaching10

____________________________________________________

The principles of Integrated LanguageTeaching can be incorporated intoESL classes, where integrated lessonswill prepare students for the contentarea classes as well as improving theirEnglish skills. They can also be usedby the content area teacher to help allstudents build literacy skills whilelearning the subject matter of the class.

These principles are:

1. Language should not be taught inthe discrete chunks of reading,writing, speaking and listening, but asa whole.

2. Language skills are developed whenlanguage is being used as a tool toaccomplish a task or reach a goal, notwhen the language itself is the subjectof study.

3. For language skills to develop,students need to be exposed to largeamounts of language that is interestingand useful to them.

4. If students use the skills of listening,speaking, reading and writingnaturally in the process of solvingproblems and completing tasks, theywill develop these skills better than ifthe skills are isolated.

5. Students already have knowledgeand experiences that they can bring to

10 From Enright, D.S. & McCloskey, M.L. (1988)Integrating English:Developing Englishlanguage and literacy in the multilingual classroom. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

their exploration of a topic throughthe use of the target language.

6. Students need practice in all thevarieties of ways that native speakersuse the language to develop theirproficiency.

7. A supportive environment isimportant for the full development oflanguage proficiency.

Sample Integrated Language Project:

1. Together, the students and teacheridentify a topic to explore. In a contentarea class, this topic will be related tothat area.

2. Brainstorming produces ideasrelated to the topic. Web diagrams,Venn diagrams, and other methods ofsemantic mapping can be used tostimulate thinking and developsubtopics. (See Strategies forMainstream Teachers for examples ofvisual devices.)

3. The teacher helps the students drawon their background knowledge,experience, and cultural heritage indeveloping the topic.

4. Students use all the skills oflanguage -- reading, writing, speakingand listening -- in exploring the topicand communicating about it. They mayread literature related to the topic, usereference books, draw pictures andwrite about them, etc.

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Whole Language____________________________________________________

Whole Language has been widelyadopted in the teaching of reading tonative speakers of English. It has beensomewhat controversial, partlybecause of some misinterpretations andmisapplications of its underlyingprinciples. Many schools nowsupplement Whole Language teachingwith more traditional approaches toreading such as instruction in phonics.

Phonics instructions, widely used inelementary schools in the 70s and 80s,focused on teaching students to decodewritten language by sounding outwords letter by letter. Phonicsinstructions was replaced by wholelanguage in many areas, but hasrecently been reinstated in some schoolsystems.

Phonics instruction can be of value tonative speakers by helping themconvert the written words to thespoken forms they already know.However, it is not particularly helpfulto LEP students with little or nospoken English. Knowing how tosound out a word is of no use if thestudent doesn’t know the meaning ofthat word. Also, until speakers ofother languages have acquired the fullsound system of English, soundingwords out may not be possible. Forexample, Spanish has five vowelsounds while English has thirteen.Children who have only heard Spanishwhile growing up will not be able to

distinguish the additional vowel soundsin English for quite some time.

However, Whole Language as a tool inteaching LEP students incorporatesmany of the same ideas and strategiesas the Natural Approach andIntegrated Language Teaching. Thebasic principle is that literacy isdeveloped through engagement withmeaningful, interesting languagerather than study of discrete units suchas grammar, vocabulary, or phonics.The emphasis is on function ratherthan form.

In Whole Language teaching, as inIntegrated Language Teaching,students work on completion of a taskor project which requires the use of alllanguage skills. There is often aproduct at the end of the project: anoral or written report, a posterdisplay, a brochure, a recipe book, ora class newspaper, for example. Thepreparation of this product mayinvolve students in reading orinterviewing people to gatherinformation, talking to each other inplanning, and designing the product,and speaking or writing in deliveringthe final product.

Note: There is a commonmisperception that because WholeLanguage Activities do not start withthe teaching of grammar, vocabulary,spelling or punctuation, these elementsof language can never be dealt with. Infact, while the primary focus of a

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Whole Language Activity is thecontent, not the form, all themechanics of the language areimportant in the final stages ofproduction of the project, just asprofessional writers do a final edit ontheir texts. As much as possible,students should rely on sources otherthan teacher correction in doing a finaledit. These sources of help can includethe dictionary, the spelling checker onthe computer, other students, grammarreference books, and other toolsappropriate to the students’ age andskill level. This helps encourage goodhabits that they will use outside theclassroom when the teacher is notavailable.

Examples of Whole LanguageActivities

Student Newspaper - The classicwhole language activity, creating astudent newspaper requires students touse all language skills to gatherinformation, write, and edit articlesfor a newspaper. Students can work ingroups to write sports and newsarticles and write movie, book, andTV reviews. Either the teacher or thestudents may produce the finalnewspaper using a typewriter orcomputer, and distribute it to the class.The students’ motivation to read thenewspaper will be high because thearticles will be on subjects of interestto them and written by theirclassmates.

Fashion Show - Fashion shows areespecially fun for pre-teen and teenstudents. Students have to read and

research the names and types ofclothing, styles, and materials. Thenthey organize and rehearse thepresentation of the fashions. Groupsmight be assigned a particular seasonor type of clothing such as sportswear,formal, professional, etc. They canchoose the music and write thenarrative that one student reads as theothers parade in the clothing.

Cookbook - the students can create aclass cookbook with recipes - perhapsfor specialties from their nativecountry or culture. They need to learnmeasurements and standard ways ofgiving cooking instructions. They cando research to provide information onthe nutritional value of the dish theyhave chosen. If possible, older studentsmight prepare the dish for the classand invited guests. Some high schoolclasses have been able to take overtheir school cafeteria for a day andprepare lunch for all the teachers andstaff of the school. Their teachershave found that this increasesacceptance of the students by theschool community.

Resources for WholeLanguage

Edelsky, C. and Smith, K. "Hookin''em in at the start of school in a'whole language' classroom."Anthropology and EducationQuarterly 14 (1983) 257-81.

Galda, L. and Pellegrini, A.D. (eds.)Play, Language and Stories: Thedevelopment of children's literate

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behavior. Norwood, NJ: AblexPublishing, 1984.

Goodman, K.S. What's Whole inWhole Language? Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann, 1986.

Smith, F. Understanding Reading.New York: Holt, Rinehart &Winston, 1971.

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The Cognitive Academic Language LearningApproach -- CALLA11

____________________________________________________The Cognitive Academic LanguageLearning Approach is specificallydesigned to help students make thetransition from ESL classes tomainstream, content-area classes. It isbased on the theoretical assumptions ofBICS - that the development ofsocial/conversational language skillsare not sufficient to ensure success inthe academic environment. It is alsobased on the belief that content-richlessons will be more interesting andmotivating for students.

CALLA lessons have 3 parts:

1. Content: The content should comefrom the social science, science,math or other content areacurriculum at the appropriate gradelevel.

2. Language: The language of thelesson is the vocabulary, grammar,and function (describing, defining,classifying, etc.) of the content area.

3. Strategy: Specific learning strategiesare explicitly taught and practicedduring each CALLA lesson.Strategies include organizing,planning, attending to specific typesof information, self-monitoring forprogress, self-evaluation, grouping,note-taking, using imagery to

11 From Chamot, A.U. & O'Malley, J.M. (1987). “The cognitive academic language learningapproach: A bridge to the mainstream.” TESOL Quarterly, 21 (2). Washington, DC: TESOL

understand and remember newinformation, transferring what isknown to new situations,elaboration, making inferences toguess meanings or fill in gaps, usingresource materials such asdictionaries and encyclopedias, andworking together cooperatively.

Important Elements of CALLA

1. Hands-on activity that leads todiscovery learning.

2. Use of realia, visuals, and othernon-textual material to reinforce thelanguage of the lesson.

3. Explicit discussion of the strategiesstudents are using to learn anddiscover.

4. Use of note-taking, outlining, andother academic skills.

5. Encouragement of high-levelcognitive skills such as analyzing,synthesizing, and hypothesizing inaddition to memorization of facts.

Resources

Chamot, Anna Uhl & J. MichaelO’Malley. The Calla Handbook:Implementing the CognitiveAcademic Language LearningApproach. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1994