English Language Learners By Lidia Sedano

(ELL Assessed annually to determine their proficiency level ) Levels of English Language Learners Level 1: Beginning/Pre-production Level 2: Beginning Production Level 3: Intermediate Level 4: Advanced Intermediate Level 5: Advanced Level 6: Fully English proficient Level 7: Fully English proficient- Never Limited-English Proficient (ELL Assessed annually to determine their proficiency level ) Level 1: Beginning/Preproduction –does not understand or speak English Level 2: Beginning Production-Understands and speaks conversational English-with difficulty Level 3: Intermediate- Understands and speaks with decreasing difficulty Level 4: Advanced Intermediate-understands and speaks without apparent difficulty Level 5: Advanced- Near proficient level Level 6: Fully English proficient-formerly LEP

Stages of Second Language Acquisition Pre-production Early Production Speech Emergence Intermediate Fluency Pre-production-Silent period –ELL may have up to 500 words in their receptive voc. But are not able speak Early Production=voc. 1000 words. Speak one-two word phrases Speech Emergence – voc. 3,000 words communicate with simple phrases and sentences Intermediate Fluency-voc. 6,000 words use more complex sentences when speaking and writing

ESL Terminology ESL: English as a Second Language ELL: English Language Learner Alternative Assessment: Any test that is altered in any way for an English Language Learner BICS: Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills, or social/conversational English CALPS: Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency, or academic English L1: First language or native language L2: Second language LEP: limited English Proficient

Ideas to Help ELL Students in the Classroom Use the ESL staff as a resource. As a team you can help the ELL student with their learning needs. It is not necessary to talk louder, but it sometimes helps to speak slower. Incorporate the culture and language of the ELL students, both they and the other students will benefit. Be aware of cultural differences. Use gestures and visual aids when you teach. Use graphic organizers and Venn diagrams. Locate yourself close to the ELL student when teaching. Be concise with the information you give to the ELL student to avoid “information overload”.

Ideas to Help ELL Students in the Classroom Check for comprehension. ESL students may be able to decode words but not understand what they have read. Use bilingual labels when possible. Phonemic awareness may be challenging for ESL students who have not acquired the English sound system. Integrate reading, writing, speaking and listening in real life contexts. Make a sheet of important vocabulary related to what you are teaching. Label important content words in your classroom. Pair ELL students with a mentor who will help them, Speak conversationally to the student as much as possible.

Resources Diaz-Rico, L. (2004) Strategies for Teaching English Learners. New York: Pearson Education Inc. Stages of Second Language Acquisition http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/language_stages.php Language Translators http://www.word2word.com/dice.html Google site-limited translations-includes Spanish http://www.Google.com/language_tools?hl=en ESL Lesson Plans and Activities http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/eslplans.html Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/index.html?src=mr