...Review of “Research Summary and Bibliography for Structured English Immersion Programs” of the Arizona English Language Learners Task Force Stephen Krashen University of Southern California Kellie Rolstad Arizona State University Jeff MacSwan Arizona State University The “Research Summary and Bibliography for Structured English Immersion Programs” of the Arizona English Language Learners Task Force purports to present a scholarly and balanced review of current scientific knowledge regarding effective programs for English Language Learners (ELLs) in general and Structured English Immersion (SEI) in particular. However, we find that the review neglects to reference significant research bearing on the questions raised, and frequently draws inappropriate conclusions from the research presented. Perhaps most disappointing is the tendency in the review to neglect important conceptual distinctions which could have usefully guided the research summary. Below we address each area of literature review in turn, pointing out significant limitations and incorrect interpretations as they arise. 1. What is the current state of scientific research in the area of effective instruction for English Learners? The review cites references to make the point that there are relatively few high quality studies regarding program effectiveness for English Language Learners, with estimates ranging from five (Gersten & Baker, 2000) to fifty (Genesee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders...
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...Duration: 15 – 20 minutes iii Writing: A comprehension will be written by my learners concerning Michael ‘story - Comprehension Questions: Where did Michael Chabon’s parents buy a new home in 1969? Who is James Rouse? Where was “the Plan,” displayed? What does Chabon see in the slide show? Find the name of the neighbourhood Chabon’s family moved into. Where does the author say he put the map of Columbia? Chabon states that some critics believe the “grand experiment” of Columbia had failed. What reasons are given for this failure? What does Chabon say about childhood in the essay? (http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/04-42-2-c.pdf) Learning Outcome: Learners will demonstrate their comprehension of assigned readings by writing concise summaries that identify the author’s main point (thesis) and supporting ideas, paraphrasing and quoting key words and phrases when necessary to avoid plagiarism they require considerable thought to write – it is easy to get them wrong and create a learning strait jacket. Learners will identify the shape of text (e.g. introduction, body, and conclusion) by reading non-fiction essays and articles. Description of activity and assessment: Since the intent of the unit is to assess writing standards, I know that they needed to provide a well-written product. In this case, I would still provide them with some choice. Additionally, the standards I chose had to do with evidence, and so they needed to do research, cite evidence...
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...Revision: English for Written communication 1. What is communication? Communication is defined as giving, receiving or exchanging information, opinions or ideas so that the message is completely understood by everybody involved. 2. List problems in communication Status & role: one way communication in hierarchy Cultural difference: technical and medical jargons or Google work environment Choice of communication: using the wrong medium(phone) to communicate Length of communication Use of language: grammar, vocabulary Disabilities: hearing and sight Known or unknown receiver Individual perception/ attitudes/ personalities: racial difference / labeling people according to their looks, false perception Atmosphere/noise/distraction Clarity of message Lack of feedback 3. What is written communication? Why is it Important compared to oral communication? (4 marks) Written communication is a form of communication written using symbols between people or groups. It is important for - For record purpose - Legal issues - For reference purpose - Purpose of clarity (pictures, authority, etc) - To be formal 4. What are the good practices that increase the effectiveness of communication? (4 marks) Ways to improve effective communication - Continually practice writing in the language - write with a clear purpose that meets the needs of the reader - decide what you want to say and put this in a logical and suitable sequence - Use words, sentences, paragraphs and layout to convey your...
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...Introduction The theme of the course paper is “Project Work in Teaching English”. The objectives of the paper are to highlight the importance of project work in teaching English, to describe its main peculiarities and types, to discover how it influences the students during the educational process and if it helps to learn the language. The problem of using project work in teaching English is of great importance. Project work is characterized as one of the most effective methods of teaching and learning a foreign language through research and communication, different types of this method allow us to use it in all the spheres of the educational process. It involves multi-skill activities which focus on a theme of interest rather than of specific language tasks and helps the students to develop their imagination and creativity. Nevertheless, teachers are not keen on the idea of providing project work into their lessons because of the disadvantages this method has. The main idea of project work is considered to be based on teaching students through research activities and stimulating their personal interest. The research topic of the course paper is the process of teaching and learning a foreign language with the help of project work. The research focus of the paper is the content of project work activities. The research tasks are set as follows: to describe the principal characteristics of project work, to identify the types of projects and to analyse...
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...Introduction The urgency is that last years the imperative need of using a foreign language appears in all areas of a science, manufacture and culture. Importance and openness of the problem of effective teaching foreign languages have caused its topicality, and consequently the choice of a theme for the given course work. In present practice of teaching foreign languages there is a problem facing the teacher to address to experience of the colleagues, to innovative ideas, to a science, is that low authority of a subject because of shortages of a present technique of teaching. Aim to investigate the role of contemporary methods in teaching foreign languages, to distinguish the most rational techniques of teaching a foreign language which can be used in school. In this work it is necessary to solve the following primarytasks: 1. To investigate the bases of teaching a foreign language 2. To study effective ways and techniques of teaching a foreign language 3. To observe ways of teaching English language in contemporary methods 4. To work out exercises for using innovation technologies of teaching English language in contemporary methods The subject of this course paper is variety of methods and ways and their effectiveness of using in teaching a foreign language. The object of research is the process of teaching and pupils who are the subjects of this teaching process. Theoretical value of this course paper is in its results, having received which it will...
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...Reading and Second Language Learners Research Report May 1999 This report prepared by Magda Costantino, Ph.D. The Evergreen Center for Education Improvement The Evergreen State College Olympia, Washington 98505 With assistance from: Joe St. Charles Susan Tepper Edlamae Baird Acknowledgment to Gary Burris and Lynne Adair For their invaluable assistance with the project This material is available in alternative format by request. Contact Bilingual Education at 360-753-2573, TDD 360-664-3631. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction complies with all federal and state rules and regulations and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age or marital status. Table of Contents (click on page number for access) Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 3 Chapter One Language Acquisition and the Language Learner .......................................................... 7 Section One: How Does First Language Develop? .................................................... 7 Section Two: How Does Second Language Develop? ............................................... 9 Foundational Theories ...............................................................................................
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... Introduction English language teaching has become very important because of the global status of English and people all over the world are learning this language. English language programs worldwide have become increasingly aware of the needs for curriculum review due to both demographic and situational changes taking place. As students’ populations, societal views, and institutional factors are constantly changing, English language programs need to be implemented routinely to make the changes necessary to facilitate the desired outcome of the program. Determining the needs of students is seen as a direct way to inform the teachers of the possible goals and objectives necessary to create a teaching and learning environment suited to the needs of the students. According to Nunan, 1989, the effectiveness of a language program will be dictated as much by the attitudes and expectations of the learners by the specifications of the official curriculum. It is important to understand how students’ perceived language needs because this will give the language teachers the idea on what to teach to the learners. The needs of a learner represent the gap between what the learner wants to get out of the learning experience and his or her current state of knowledge, skill, and enthusiasm (Noessel, 2003). Each learner is unique, and brings to the learning situation his or her own different learning style, knowledge set, pool of past experiences, and motivation. In learner-centered instruction...
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...AND DIFFERENTIATION IN TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED LANGUAGE LEARNING by Joy Egbert Washington State University jegbert @ wsu.edu In his popular 1997 article, Steve Ehrmann encouraged us to ask useful questions about technology for education (Ehrmann, 1997). In the years since Ehrmann asked his questions, increased pressures from legislative bodies, educational stakeholders, and business have driven an ever-increasing influx of technology into schools; however, this is not necessarily the evil that it has been portrayed as in various media. Within classrooms the availability of technology is offering us as language teachers the opportunity to usefully question what we do and why. Although technology itself is incapable of action or thought, its presence in our classrooms and schools is helping to facilitate questions about the goals of language classrooms, conceptions of teaching and learning, and our ability to address student needs. If we ask good questions and apply the answers to use technology in effective ways, resultant changes in our thinking and our pedagogy can lead to greater student achievement This paper first asks questions about and discusses language classroom goals. It then reflects on two related, essential strategies for language teaching and learning that can help us meet these goals: engagement and differentiation. Finally, the paper provides examples of how technology can be used to engage and differentiate for our learners and support goal-centered learning. Goals...
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...Using Technology to Support Literacy in a Preschool Classroom CIEC 6180 Esmeralda Torres Introduction What is literacy? Literacy is defined simply as the ability to read and write. This is taught in all classrooms in many different ways from reading books to writing summaries of books. Literacy though, can be taught through technology as well. In today’s world, technology continues to grow at a rapid pace and has therefore opened many opportunities for teaching and learning. Connecting students with digital literacy will allow teachers to support their students’ literacy growth. It is not just about the pencil and paper anymore. When we think about technology we immediately envision a computer, a tablet, or a smartphone but technology is not just those things. Televisions and radios are technology as well and can be used to support children’s literacy development in different ways. There are many different methods and programs that allow us to target all types of students therefore teachers should embrace technology and its many educational uses. This paper will look at how different types of technology can be used to support literacy in a preschool classroom. Why use technology? Using technology in our classrooms will actually help motivate students into learning. The excitement the students get when a laptop or tablet is pulled out is what begins that motivation. Even those children that were not paying attention are suddenly paying attention all because...
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...Proficiency Level of English Communication Skills of BSHM-HRM Students in EARIST Cavite Campus: Input for Enhancement Program In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements For the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management ABSTRACT English is considered as the universal language therefore it is commonly used as medium of instruction in school, home, and even in society. Being proficient in it is an edge in many aspects like in career, technology, society and even in travelling foreign countries. However,despite of the advantages of being proficient in it, still most of the students were not able to express themselves properly. For some reason, some students could not achieve this we called English Language Proficiency. This study aims to determine the English language proficiency of BSHM-HRM students of EARIST Cavite Campus, Academic Year 2014-2015. A total of fifty (50) selected BSHM-HRM students were taken as respondents of the study. The questionnaire was the data-gathering instrument used. CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION Hospitality Industry is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the world. Hence, it involves dealing with different people from different countries. In order to communicate with them, English proficiency is being used. Considered as a universal language, it is no wonder that most of the universities worldwide include English as one of their major subjects. Hence, it is...
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...Qualitative Approaches to Classroom Research with English Language Learners Patricia A. Duff University of British Columbia Address: Department of Language & Literacy Education University of British Columbia 2125 Main Mall Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 Canada Courier: 2034 Lower Mall Road University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2 Canada Qualitative Approaches to Classroom Research 2 ABSTRACT This chapter provides an overview of recent qualitative research in classrooms examining English language learners (ELLs). I first present common features of qualitative research and review debates regarding research paradigms in the social sciences and humanities. I also discuss the role of triangulation and capturing participants’ insider or emic perspectives in qualitative research and highlight various data collection methods and ways of combining macro-level and micro-level analyses, particularly in ethnographic research. Ethical issues, difficulties obtaining informed consent in classroom research, and criteria for evaluating qualitative research are then considered. Three qualitative studies that have been deemed exemplary and meritorious by scholars in English language education are then presented and some common themes in current qualitative classroom research with ELLs are identified. The chapter concludes with directions for future qualitative research. Introduction Over the past 2 decades, research in language education, as in other academic disciplines...
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...CHALLENGES STUDENTS FACE IN LEARNING ESSAY WRITING SKILLS IN ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MANGA DISTRICT, NYAMIRA COUNTY, KENYA BY NYANG’AU BENARD NYASIMI E55/CE/14078/2009 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF EDUCATION IN THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION KENYATTA UNIVERSITY JULY 2013 * DECLARATION This thesis is my original work and has not been presented for degree in any other university. Signature: ______________________________ Date: ________________________ BY NYANG’AU BENARD NYASIMI E55/CE/14078/2009 We confirm that this thesis was carried out by the candidate under our supervision as university supervisors. Signature------------------------------------------------------ Date-------------------------- Dr .Sophia. Ndethiu. Department of Educational Communication and Technology. Kenyatta University. Signature------------------------------------------------------ Date------------------------- Dr. John. Kimemia. Department of Educational Communication and Technology. Kenyatta University. * DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my loving wife Zipporah Nyasimi and our sons Philemon Siko and Enock Ongeri . * ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to acknowledge the support of those individuals who made it possible for a successful completion of this work. Special thanks go to my supervisors Dr. Sophia Ndethiu and Dr. John. Kimemia for the support, guidance...
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...words, which interferes with their ability to comprehend what is read. There are a number of approaches to improve reading comprehension, including improving one's vocabulary and reading strategies (en. Wikipedia.org) It is defined as the level of understanding of a text/message. This understanding comes from the interaction between the words that are written and how they trigger knowledge outside the text/message. Comprehension is a "creative, multifaceted process" dependent upon four language skills: phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize words quickly and effortlessly. It is also determined by an individual's cognitive development, which is "the construction of thought processes". Some people learn through education or instruction and others through direct experiences. There are specific traits that determine how successful an individual will comprehend text, including prior knowledge about the subject, well developed language, and the ability to make inferences. Having the skill to monitor comprehension is a factor: "Why is this important?" and "Do I need to read the entire text?" are examples. Lastly, is the ability to be self-correcting to solve comprehension problems as they arise. Reading comprehension involves two levels of processing, shallow (low-level) processing and deep (high-level) processing. Deep processing involves semantic processing, which happens when we encode the meaning of a word and relate...
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...[pic] VISUAL LEARNERS 65% of learners belong to this group. Visual learners prefer written information, diagrams and pictures. They prefer to take down notes during a presentation, They will even make their own notes even when they are given printed hand-outs. They are better at written communication. These learners have the ability to think in pictures as well as see and create images complete with shapes colours and size. They tend to remember faces but not names. A LOOK AT VISUAL LEARNER A typical visual learner uses visualization techniques to remember things. They often have a good sense of direction because they visualize maps and directions in their mind. Many prefer to read information in a textbook or on the whiteboard rather than listen to the teacher lecture. They also enjoy doodling and drawing. Visual learners typically use sight words in their everyday terminology. For example, they might say "Let's take a look at this." or "Let's look at this from a different perspective." They remember details including colours and spatial arrangements. VISUAL LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS Visual learners are those who learn through seeing things. Look over the characteristics below to see if they sound familiar. A visual learner: • Is good at spelling but forgets names. • Needs quiet study time. • Has to think awhile before understanding lecture. • Is good at spelling. • Likes colours & fashion. • Dreams in colour. • Understands/likes charts. • Is good with...
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...students are having reading problems what affects them in the grades and scores. The root of the problem is that the students do not like to read or because they do not feel motivated by their teachers. Many times, the teachers do not use the proper techniques of reading. Also, the students have problems by reading in their own language. This occurs because they really do not like the type of literature used in the high school. On the other hand, learners must read in English, this is another problem because the students find English difficult because English has a different structure from Spanish. In this work, different theories will be cited in order to analyze the problem and what techniques can be useful for improving when reading. Some of those techniques that can help to improve reading in English in the classroom are scanning, skimming, previewing, predicting among others, which will be explained later. Another point is that the students do not read for lack of help of their parents at home. This thesis will encourage the connection of the three elements, teacher-student-parents. The idea is that parents and teachers help the student to read in English in the classroom and at home at the same time in order to get good scores. Teachers take care of the classroom and parents can help from the house through the techniques provided by the teacher. One of the main problems is that teachers, parents and the media do not motivate to students to read. Even so, teachers themselves...
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