Teaching English Language Learners - Report Example

Teaching English Language Learners Roll No: Teacher: 22nd July 2009 Teaching English Language Learners who do not know English as their first language face some problems while being at Schools. This paper contains a description of learning needs by students from diverse cultures. Also it takes into consideration the issue of relevant instructional strategies and teaching requirements for such students. The video, “My Brown Eyes” shows a child who do not know English as he is from a different culture. He faces some problems in adjusting in the school environment. Also he becomes a source of fun for the students because of his belonging to another culture. These aspects put the child into disturbing situation, which should be handled efficiently by the teachers and the administration in order to help out the child to resolve his issues and to set in the school environment. This paper will also highlight the standards used for English language teaching published by California State University. Overall, the paper will identify the needs of the child in terms of understanding and learning English. The video shows a child and his going to school. His parents are unable to give their child enough time as they work for the whole day long and return late night. The child gets happy on his parents present to him. The child gets up early when his parents are still asleep. He makes his own breakfast and also theirs and keeps in their room. When he reaches his school, he feels the absence of his parents. Also, he feels somewhat alienated because of lack of command on English language. He becomes a source fun for his class fellows because of his unresponsiveness. He remains unresponsive to his teacher’s questions because he is unable to respond in English. His teacher notes his inability and tries to report to the principal. The child is unable to have his breakfast because he considers himself different and also others regard him as a source of fun. He is unable to have his breakfast at his school because of the feeling of alienation. He also gets into a fight with three boys who insult him and make fun of his breakfast. Because of the conflict, the boys are taken to the principal who forgets to attend the matter because of something important. She asks the children to stay there until she returns. The three boys go away while the protagonist stays there. The principal gets knowledge about the student’s inability to talk in English from his class teacher. She soothes the boy and allows him to go home. The boy after reaching home adjusts his home and has his breakfast. The child is admitted in fifth grade. For his English lessons, he has to attend a lower class. Overall, the movie shows that he is a smart child but faces problem because English is not his first language. English should be his subject compulsorily because he needs to have good English in order to understand his class fellows and teachers. The child is unable to befriend his peers because of his sense of alienation and lack of understanding the talks. Therefore, his interaction is quite negligible. The principal and the teacher identify his problem of inability to speak and understand English. The student’s needs are not being met in the class as he is unable to understand anything. He needs proper counseling and also his parents are required to give some time to their child. The teacher is not only responsible for helping him in English language acquisition but should also help him in socializing as he remains silent and alienated. The reason for his continuous silence is clearly his inability to talk in English. For this student, the teacher should be able to speak in his language in order to make him understand initially and later on language switching can be there. The teacher seems to at the first stage of cultural diversity as depicted by Salyer. After seeing and talking to the student, the teacher is unable to judge him as a person belonging to different culture. She only understands him to be unable to talk in English. The first stage of cultural diversity is ignorance. She is unable to comprehend the diverse culture of the student and is ignorant about his culture and the reason of his not knowing English language. If I were the teacher of the child, I would have required much information about the student. Firstly, I should have collected information about the culture from which the child belongs. I would also require the information about the child’s family setup and his lifestyle. I will like to know much about the child. All the collected information will help me out in enabling the child to grow better in a new culture and society. In the typical class, the child can be accommodated by means of charts, audio-visual aids, pictorial presentations and group assignments. His skill at understanding and using English language can be enhanced by accommodating the child with full English sessions. The pictures, drawings and other visual aids can be much accommodating in helping the child to understand things. He looks quite good at his daily tasks as he prepares his own breakfast, arranges the house to some extent, mends the door and much more. He looks quite smart at doing his works. He only needs good teaching of English language and guidance towards societal development. The children of the class are required to be friendly with the child. For this purpose, the teacher should make groups in the class assigning them to do some physical tasks. Also there can be group assignments, which can help the child to appear better. The teacher should conduct a session in the class about diverse cultures and should ask the students about their responses. The teacher should appreciate all the cultures and should ask the children to make things belonging to different cultures. With these activities, there will be an effective cultural environment in the class and also the students will mix up with each other. The boy will also feel nice and his sense of alienation will be minimized. The parents of the child will be called at the school and they will be asked to give some time to their child so that he can take part in different activities of the class. The parents will also be asked to talk to the child in English a well as their native language so that the child becomes aware of both of them. English Language Development Standards Comprehension Answer simple questions with one- to two-word responses. Respond to simple directions and questions by using physical actions and other means of nonverbal communication (e.g., matching objects, pointing to an answer, drawing pictures). Begin to speak with a few words or sentences by using a few standard English grammatical forms and sounds (e.g., single words or phrases). Use common social greetings and simple repetitive phrases independently (e.g., “Thank you,” “You’re welcome”). Ask and answer questions by using phrases or simple sentences. Retell stories by using appropriate gestures, expressions, and illustrative objects. Organization and Delivery of Oral Communication Begin to be understood when speaking, but usage of standard English grammatical forms and sounds (e.g., plurals, simple past tense, pronouns [he or she]) may be inconsistent. Orally communicate basic personal needs and desires (e.g., “May I go to the bathroom?”). Intermediate ELD level* Comprehension Ask and answer instructional questions by using simple sentences. Listen attentively to stories and information and identify important details and concepts by using both verbal and nonverbal responses. Ask and answer instructional questions with some supporting elements (e.g., “Which part of the story was the most important?”). Comprehension and Participate in social conversations with peers and adults on familiar Organization and topics by asking and answering questions and soliciting information. Delivery of Oral Communication Organization and Make oneself understood when speaking by using consistent standard English grammatical forms and sounds; however, some rules are not followed (e.g., third-person singular, male and female pronouns). Communication *The ELD standards must be applied appropriately for students in each grade level from kindergarten through grade twelve. Instructional Strategies The instructional strategies that I will like to choose are behaviorism and constructivism. According to the learning theory of behaviorism, the knowledge that a person keeps or attains by means of experience or rationality can be assessed by means of change of behavior (Gredler, 2005). When a person attains knowledge, his/her behavior changes with the acquisition of knowledge. With the passage of time, when the child will learn English language, his behavior will change and he will be good among his peers. Because of his language acquisition, he will be able to befriend people and also his sense of alienation will be lessened. According to the learning theory of constructivism, knowledge comes to a person with the help of his/her past experience (Gredler, 2005). A person is able to learn on the basis of his/her past experiences in terms of knowledge acquisition. Knowledge is acquired by means of comprehension of experiences that a person goes through in his/her life time. The child will learn English language by the help of his past experiences. Also, he will know the importance of English language because it is due to lack of knowledge of English language due to which, he is facing troubles. The first activity that I would like to do in the class will be of drawing and giving names to the drawings. For example, I will make a drawing of fish on the board and will ask the students to make it and then name it. Similarly, there will be drawings of other things and the students will be provided with the names of the things. For this purpose, not only the board will be used but also there will be charts and pictorial PowerPoint presentations. The second activity that I will assign the class to do will be of dictation of the words that they have used while drawing. The dictation will help the students to learn the words that they have used. Also, they will be able to know the name of the drawings in English. These exercises will be supportive for the child as well as for other children in learning and developing English. This exercise has helped me a lot in learning about different students. The students that are from diverse cultures face problems in adjusting in new cultures. The most significant problem that they face is related to language acquisition. The child faced problem in understanding and speaking due to which, he felt alienated in his school. After being at home, he feels comfortable. The teachers are required to understand the needs of the children from diverse cultures in order to facilitate them with good learning. References California State Board of Education. (2005). Content Standards: English Language Development Standards for California Public Schools. Retrieved on July 21st, 2009 from http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/index.asp Gredler, M. E. (2005). Learning and Instruction: Theory into Practice. 5th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Salyer, Monte. Educators and Cultural Diversity: A Six Stage Model of Cultural Versatility. Education 113 (3), 503-508. Read More