Cross-Linguistic Competence

Moving Beyond Language Arts Remediation

English Language Development

It’s not about “best” practice; it’s about the right practice and the right instruction for each learner.

Next Steps

Shared

Responsibility:

Everyone has

A Part to Play

No

Responsibility:

Sink or

Swim

Sole Responsibility:

ESL Will “Fix It”

English as a Second Language Instruction

English Language Arts Instruction and Remediation

English Language Development Instruction

ELD Framework

Cross-Linguistic

Competence

Sheltered Instruction

Content Area Objectives

English Language Development Objectives

Core Curriculum Framework

Requirements• PHLOTE Assessment• Parent Involvement • 45 minutes/one class period a day to develop all 4

(+1) modalities • Sheltered Instruction in the Content Areas• Least Restrictive Environment • Service Plans and Form A’s• Program Evaluation

Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis

• Language interference is real

• Rules and norms of the first language do not necessarily transfer

• Skills must be relearned in the second language

Interdependence Hypothesis

• Knowledge in one language supports knowledge in a second language

• Rules and norms from languages might differ but these are negotiated

• Most skills transfer naturally from one language to another

Preparedness Hypothesis

• Academic skills are the key

• Language skills are secondary to background and intelligence

• School readiness determines literacy and, therefore, fluency regardless of the first or second language

Get It Right From the Beginning

• Example(s): Grammar Translation, Audiolingual Methods

• Avoid fossilization of errors• Explicit and direct instruction methods• Focus on linguistic competence and deep literacy • Conversation is scripted then practiced• Impromptu language production is slow to develop

Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say• Example(s): Conversation and Interactionist

Methods• Comprehensible Input• Negotiation of meaning • Focus on consultative registers and discourse• Emphasis on cooperative learning and

impromptu language production

Just Listen and Read

• Example(s): Immersion, Comprehension-based ESL Models including The Natural Approach

• Acquisition is valued above learning• Implicit instruction and teachable moments are key• Strategies developed to prepare for both acquisition

and learning • Receptive skills are primary; production comes later

What Is Teachable • Example(s): Developmental Models (see

Pienemann 1985, 1988) • Some things can be taught others cannot• Language learning only occurs at developmentally

appropriate stages • Explicit instruction and implicit instruction are

balanced within scaffolding• Production takes time; error analysis is critical

Getting It Right in the End • Example(s): Eclectic and Balanced Communicative

Models, including those focusing on academic language

• Focus on meaning not form• Assess student skills and readiness• Scaffold • Balance student background and academic

demands• Data-driven instruction

Cross Linguistic Competence “In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was made flesh. It was so in the beginning and it is so today. The language, the Word, carries within it the history, the culture, the traditions, the very life of a people, the flesh. Language is people. We cannot even conceive of a people without a language, or a language without a people. The two are one and the same. To know one is to know the other.”~Sabine Ulibarri

“Bilingual-bicultural education is like an impressionist painting---very attractive from a distance, but unclear and confusing when one gets very close to it.”~Sabine Ulibarri

Empirical Findings • Some empirical data is available but limited• Most data is from small sample sizes, single

language students, or focused on narrow skill sets (such as phonics)

• Little empirical data exists in the US and with our demographics, studying students in language transition

• We continue to study and make strategic decisions

Books: • Developing Literacy in Second Language Learner: Report of

the National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth, edited by Diane August and Timothy Shanahan

• How Languages are Learned, Revised Edition, by Patsy M. Lightbrown and Nina Spada

• Myths and Realities: Best Practices for Language Minority Students by Katharine Davies Samway and Denise McKeon

• Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL: A Resource Book for K-12 Teachers, 4th ed., by Suzanne F. Peregoy and Owen F. Boyle

• Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, 2nd ed., by H. Douglas Brown

References

Organizations:

• The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) www.cal.org

• The Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE) http://crede.berkeley.edu

• Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) www.tesol.org

• The National Association of Bilingual Education (NABE) www.nabe.org

References

Summarizing Format

• GIST: Getting It Summarized Together

• Can be done first as a group or independently

• A 20 word summation of a concept, etc.

• Complete sentences are required as developmentally appropriate.

• Find various other GIST formats online

Define Your Program

School Plans• Goals• ___________________

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• Considerations• ___________________

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