ELL Concepts - Research Paper Example

Two Questions for ELL Question The content/concept that a teacher may use to teach to his or her English Language Learners (ELL) is the of the fall of precipitation. Prior to student interaction, of course, the ELL teacher has to provide an explicit skill instruction to his or her students. According to Linan-Thompson and Vaughn (2007), the practice of explicit instruction considerably entails an overt demonstration or exercise in completing a certain task, which is basically teacher-led. Afterwards, the said teacher can begin to pursue a strategy -- i.e., providing practice as illustrated by Linan-Thompson and Vaughn -- so that his or her English Language Learners effectively interact among each other.

The notion of “providing practice” is generally defined as the praxis of supplying practice-based items so that learners have “multiple opportunities” (Lanin-Thompson & Vaughn, 2007). A guided practice includes the finding of, or comprehending, the subtle distinction of the words “downpour,” “drizzle,” and “sprinkle,” which according to Lanin-Thompson & Vaughn are different descriptions of the fall of precipitation. Since the characteristic of explicit skill instruction is routine or repetitive, English Language Learners are gradually able to acquire these words.

Giving this kind of learners an ample time for them to practice is undoubtedly empirical. Muniz-Swicegood argues that students who received explicit skill instruction and guided practice “can then practice the skills and strategies they have learned” (as cited in Lanin-Thompson & Vaughn). This practice could be done substantially through group discussion or interaction. Such strategy certainly increases the interaction among English Language Learners. Question 2 The basic stages of second language acquisition have great implication both to the teacher’s pedagogy and to the L2 student.

For one thing, learning becomes smooth, if not convenient, when the teaching is appropriate for the English Language Learner’s cognitive level. The preproduction stage, the first among the said stages, of learning acquisition for L2 child is commonly called as silent period. In this period, the child does “not produce any utterances” (Ritchie & Bhatia, 2009). The exposure to the new environment -- say a child from Korean background immersed into an English-speaking milieu -- is the underlying principle for the occurrence of the silent period.

Perhaps the child’s brain is “adapting” to the new and probably strange world/word. Early production stage is the theoretical stage in which an L2 child acquires or stores, in his or her mental framework, the second language; this stage fundamentally emerges before the occurrence of speech emergence period (Johansen, 1997). Here, the child mentally collects or stores several foreign words into his or her mind -- without speaking, or knowing how to speak, them orally. After the silent and early production periods vitally come the stage of speech emergence.

In this particular period, the target clientele is presumably well-developed with respect to his or her cognitive language level. Evidently, the L2 student learns to speak the language other than his or her primary language. According to Ritchie and Bhatia (2009), there are three levels of language proficiency period, one of which is intermediate. Here, the L2 learner has the average vocabulary of, and the ability to speak using, his or her second language (in this case, English). However, his or her knowledge of English is not yet advanced.

In the advanced language proficiency stage, however, the L2 student speaks and even writes in the near native manner. References Johansen, E. B. (1997). Life themes for ESL classes: You and your community. Portland, ME: J Weston Walch. Linan-Thompson, S., & Vaughn, S. (2007). Research-based methods of reading instruction for English language learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Rithcie, W. C., & Bhatia, T. K. (2009). The new handbook of second language acquisition (2nd ed.). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group.