LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY & ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Second Language Acquisition Anticipation Guide

Younger students learn second languages more easily and quickly than older students. FALSE FALSE

English language learners need one to three years to master social language in the classroom. TRUE

Students don’t always acquire social language naturally in informal contexts. They may need to be taught how to communicate appropriately in social situations. TRUE

English language learners who speak fluently in the cafeteria and playground are completely proficient in English. FALSE

English language learners will acquire English faster if their parents speak English at home. FALSE

Literacy and academic proficiency in the native language has little to no relationship with academic proficiency in English. FALSE

The culture of students doesn’t affect how long it takes them to acquire English. All students learn language the same way. FALSE

Students should be strongly encouraged to speak English right from the first day of school. FALSE

Factors Affecting Second Language Acquisition  Motivation  First language development  Language distance and attitude  Access to the language  Age  Personality and learning style  Peers and role models  Quality of instruction  Cultural Background

General Principles of L2 Development Research confirms that language acquisition is enhanced when:  attention is given to background knowledge and experience.  the content and language are real and purposeful.  language is made comprehensible.  anxiety is low.  interaction is high.

Cummins Iceberg Theory BICS CALP

Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS)  Skills involved in everyday communication; listening, speaking, carrying on basic conversation, understanding speakers & getting basic needs met  Pronunciation  Grammar  Vocabulary  Not related to academic achievement  Universal across all native speakers  Attained after 2 or 3 years in the host country

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP)  Skills that are needed to succeed in the academic classroom; problem solving, inferring, analyzing, synthesizing & predicting  Language of the classroom; decontextualized  Language outside of immediate interpersonal context  CALP in 1 st & 2 nd language overlaps in spite of differences in language  Related to literacy skills  Attained between 5 to 7 years in the host country

BICS versus CALP Cognitively Undemanding (BICS) Cognitively Demanding (CALP) A B C D Context Embedded Context Reduced

Cognitively Undemanding & Context Embedded Quadrant A:  Survival language  Can follow directions if model is provided  Can negotiate understanding by the speaker’s actions, facial expressions, gestures, etc.  Total Physical Response (TPR)  Choosing the correct answer when asked questions, such as: Do you want the red one or the green one (and the speaker is pointing to the items)?

Cognitively Undemanding & Context Reduced Quadrant B:  Telephone conversations (because they are not communicating face to face).  Filling out a job application with no model to follow.  Reading directions without illustrations.  Simple written text.  Simple homework assignment with nothing to connect it to the work done in class.

Cognitively Demanding & Context Embedded Quadrant C:  Book reports using a template format.  Instruction through graphic organizers, visuals, realia, role play.  Presenting an academic paper.  Dramatic scenes where students memorize lines (a play).  Doing hands-on experiments through scientific inquiry.  Math with manipulatives.

Cognitively Demanding & Context Reduced Quadrant D:  Standardized tests  Texts without visuals  Lectures  Listening to the news  Math word problems  Mainstream content texts

BICS versus CALP Cognitively Undemanding (BICS) Cognitively Demanding (CALP) A B C D Context Embedded Context Reduced

Language Proficiency…  is an outgrowth of cumulative experiences both inside and outside of school.  can reflect complex thinking when linguistic complexity is reduced and support is present.  both socially and academically are required for school success.

Academic Language Think – Pair – Share  What is Academic Language?  What is the difference between Social Language and Academic Language?  How do ELLs move from Social Language to Academic Language?

In a nutshell, Academic Language is “the language of school.”

“Classroom language includes a continuum of registers, from the informal conversation among students, to the more formal presentation of ideas to the register required in written academic discourse” (Gibbons, 2003).

Spans several linguistic levels  Vocabulary Usage: The specificity of words or phrases for a given context  Language Control: The comprehensibility of the communication based on the amount and type of errors  Linguistic Complexity: The amount and quality of speech or writing for a given situation

Vocabulary Usage  Non-specialized Level cat  General Academic Level domestic house cat  Content Specialized Academic Level Felis silvestris catus Felis silvestris catus

Language Control  Language patterns and grammatical structures specific to content areas. Example: The hypotenuse is opposite the right angle.  Complex, textbook sentences Example: Passive Voice

Linguistic Complexity  General academic structures  Discipline specific genres Example: Lab reports for science; word problems in math.

What Makes Academic Content Easy or Hard for ELL Students?

Math Easy  Some notation is the same  Some is “hands- on”  Some concepts transfer  Lower volume of written material  Computation uses less “language” Hard  Some notation is different  Some processes are different  Word problems, vocabulary  Concepts are often abstract

Science Easy  Demonstrations, “hands-on”  Visuals, pictures, diagrams Hard  Cause-effect, if-then relationships  Hypothesis-testing  Volume of vocabulary  Terms with technical & non-technical meanings (table, kingdom, power, etc.)

Social Studies Easy  Interesting to different cultures  Opportunities to incorporate ELL students’ culture Hard  Technical & non- technical terms (subjects, power, etc.)  Volume of reading  Cultural assumptions are not always explicit  Abstract concepts

Literature Easy  Interesting to student from another culture  Opportunities to incorporate ELL students’ culture Hard  Volume of reading requires analysis & evaluation  Required background knowledge  Variety of language used (poetry, Shakespeare, root words, etc.)

Do you speak Math? To complete the following… The square of the quotient of a and b you must understand that…  the first part of the expression (the square of) has to be translated last and  the second part (quotient of a and b) goes in parentheses to signify the squaring of the whole quotient.

Do you speak Math? The number a is five less than the number b Without the proficiency required to understand the linguistic complexity of this sentence, you may incorrectly translate that as: a = 5 – b rather than the correct translation: a = b - 5

Who is best equipped to address the Mathematics language structures illustrated in the previous slides?

Can you identify the important details in the following…?

Once upon a time down on an old farm, lived a duck family, and Mother Duck had been sitting on a clutch of new eggs. One nice morning, the eggs hatched and out popped six chirpy ducklings. But one egg was bigger than the rest, and it didn't hatch. Mother Duck couldn't recall laying that seventh egg. How did it get there? From The Ugly Duckling

Can you identify the important details in this…?

A train carrying 179 passengers leaves the station traveling due east at a rate of 45 miles per hour. A second train carrying 220 passengers leaves a different station an hour later traveling due west on the same track, going 60 miles per hour If the stations are 255 miles apart, how many miles from the halfway point between the stations will the trains collide?

Academic Language Proficiency vs. Academic Achievement Academic Language Proficiency  Language-based  Reflective of the varying stages of second language acquisition  Representative of social and academic language contexts  Tied to a state’s English language proficiency standards (WIDA) AcademicAchievement  Content-based  Reflective of conceptual development  Representative of the school’s academic curriculum  Tied to a state’s academic content standards

Language vs. Content  Language proficiency involves the language associated with the content areas.  Academic achievement reflects the knowledge and skills associated with the content.  WIDA ELP standards focus on academic language; academic content standards focus on academic content.

Academic Achievement Through L2 To be successful academically, English language learners need:  Technical and non-technical vocabulary development  Language of academic processes  Learning strategies and thinking skills  Grade-level content concepts  Prior knowledge and experiences established and/or tapped  Interaction, hands-on, comprehensible instructional experiences  Feedback and comprehension checks