Week 10 discussion post - CLDE 5030
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University of Colorado, Denver *
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5030
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Linguistics
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Feb 20, 2024
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Uploaded by marisol321
Week 10 Discussion Post
This week we read about adolescent L2 language development and the definition and processes associated with the LTEL label - Long-Term English Learner. In Lou (2020) we read about the 4E’s: Engage, Elicit or Engineer, Examine, and Evaluate (translanguaging was also mentioned in Lou). The 4E’s were intended to guide non-ELD teachers with methods for teaching vocabulary and literacy in their content classrooms while being “responsive to the unique and diverse learning needs of the adolescent ELLs in order for them to strive to be at the academic forefront” (Lou, 2020, p. 3). Instruction must focus on more than semantics, morphemes, syntax, vocabulary and semiotics; instruction must embrace and understand students’ cultural backgrounds . Content-area and explicit vocabulary instruction. Explicitly modelling and scaffolding of disciplinary text comprehension are key.
Brooks (2019) addresses the difference in students are identified as English Learners and those identified as Long-Term English Learners. The students who cycle through repeated cycles and have plateaued in their diagnostic and prescriptive identification as English Learners in levels three, four, and five, but who fail to test out may deal with labels and an EL testing cycle that can
be disheartening and discouraging. Students may feel like they are not learning, that there is no hope, and there is no end in sight. The problematic factors in testing that may fail to correctly identify what and how much students are learning, and the socially constructed grouping and labels can be an educational barrier. This seems like an obvious idea and pattern that high school and middle school teachers see often; in fact, the student I have identified for my case study is an LTEL, and I picked him because I see this group in high school as the group of kiddos who are quantitively so close to testing out of their EL labels and finding more success in schools. However, qualitatively and anecdotally, LTEL students are also more likely to face obstacles other than just acquiring English which are impacting their academic growth and achievement; just the mere label and cycle of supporting their language growth can be an perceived as an obstacle and may not address root causes that keep LTEL’s from catching up with and keeping up with their fluent-English peers. “Rejecting the LTEL label and the coinciding interpretations of the students to whom it is applied does not mean ignoring the reality
for their classification. […] Rejecting the LTEL classification means that the number of years that a student has been classified as an EL is not a proxy for their linguistic experiences” (Brooks, 2019, p. 91). As teachers, especially as an English teacher or anyone who is involved in literacy instruction, teachers need to leverage students’ language abilities to foster growth in two or more languages. “This does not mean ignoring the fact that students are bilingual and their bilingualism in certain situations will provide unique affordances or difficulties. However, it means recognizing students as individuals with multifaceted linguistic abilities” (Brooks, 2019,
p. 93). Brooks is giving teachers a pep talk to see bilingualism as an asset to be leveraged, and not terminally linguistically and/or academically handicapped.
Academic linguistic plateau is also addressed in Menyuk and Brisk (2005). A student’s individual ability, previous literary and educational experiences are factors that Menyuk and Brisk (2005) identify as influential factors that can indicate or impede student success. Teenagers are likely to use complicated vocabulary, concepts and language forms such as idioms and figurative language. Adolescents are able to use more complex syntax and semantic
structures and they are also more likely to understand complex syntax and semantic structures. While their conversational speaking and listening skills may sound much more advanced than their applicable abilities in academics, language functions and application can vary by content area. this is part of the language acquisition plateau.
Clark-Gareca, Short, Lukes, & Sharp-Ross (2020) use the term long-term English Learners (LTELs) to define LTEL students as those who have been in an English dominant educational system for six years or longer who have not made “sufficient” progress towards English proficiency to lose the designation as an English Learner. Such students may have more advanced speaking and listening skills but struggle with literacy in both their heart language and in English. Such students may have inadequate academic instruction and/or interventions, lack consistency at home (frequent moves to different homes and schools). Clark-Gareca, Short, Lukes, & Sharp-Ross (2020) discuss how EL students are frequently identified as having SPED needs because distinguishing between learning disabilities and struggling with English language acquisition may be indistinguishable standardized during testing, leading to misidentification. This misidentification can both miss EL students with SPED needs, but also sometimes identifies
EL students as being SPED when they are not. Clark-Gareca, Short, Lukes, & Sharp-Ross (2020) promote the Internationals Network model and other educational programs in which teachers gain expertise in the content-specific demands and strategies for their content / classroom.
My question to my peers: What is your favorite explicit vocabulary or literacy instructional practice? Any helpful tricks or tips for peers?
References
Brooks, M.D. (2019). Recognizing brilliance in the undervalued.
Transforming Literacy Education for Long-Term English Learners.
(1st ed., pp. 89-94). Taylor & Francis Group.
Clark-Gareca, B., Short, D., Lukes, M., & Sharp-Ross, M. (2020). Long-term English learners: Current research, policy, and practice.
TESOL Journal.
11(452), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.452
Lou, Y. (2020). Teaching Disciplinary Literacy to Adolescent English Language Learners: Vocabulary Development and Reading within the Disciplines. TESL Canada Journal
. 37(1), 63-75. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v37i1.1329
Menyuk, P., & Brisk, M.E. (2005).
Language Development and Education: Children with Varying Language Experiences.
Palgrave Macmillan.
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