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Title: ESL Teachers in Common-Core Era Need Different Prep, Paper Argues
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From http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2014/04/esl_teachers_in_common-core_er.html
ESL Teachers in Common-Core Era Need Different Prep, Paper Argues
By Lesli A. Maxwell
April 7, 2014
As public schools move headlong into teaching new, more rigorous standards in reading, math, and science, English-as-a-second-language teachers must become more involved in the central enterprise of teaching and supporting academic content for ELL students than has traditionally been the case, a new paper argues.
Making that work for ESL professionals will require some major shifts in how these teachers are prepared before they ever enter the classroom, contend authors Guadalupe Valdés, Amanda Kibler, and Aída Walqui. (Valdés is an education professor at Stanford University, Kibler is an assistant professor of education at the University of Virginia, and Walqui directs teacher professional development for WestEd, a San Francisco-based education research, development, and services agency.)
Coursework in applied linguistics, second-language acquisition, and methods for teaching second-language learners in the areas of reading, writing, listening, and speaking will no longer be enough, they say. For example, ESL teachers need to understand the language and language practices that are specific to different subject areas and disciplines.
Read the full article and access the paper at http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2014/04/esl_teachers_in_common-core_er.html
Source: Education Week
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Title: Article: Creating The Conditions For Self-Motivated Students
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Creating The Conditions For Self-Motivated Students
by Larry Ferlazzo
April 7, 2014
I was a community organizer for nineteen years prior to becoming a high school teacher, and one of the tenets of effective organizing is recognizing the difference between irritation and agitation. We irritate people when we challenge them to act on our interests while we agitate people when we challenge them to do something about their own interests, concerns and dreams. Given the fact that our students are not in our classes the vast majority of their time, we must make the latter a priority. …
There are many strategies ESL teachers can use to create those kinds of conditions by fostering students' sense of intrinsic motivation, which comes from within themselves, as opposed to extrinsic motivation, which comes from outside factors (such as grades).
Read the full article at https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/larry-ferlazzo/larry-ferlazzo-creating-conditions-self-motivated-students
Source: British Council
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Content Type: 1
Title: Light Bulb Languages: Resources for Language Teachers
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From http://www.lightbulblanguages.co.uk/about.htm
Light Bulb Languages is a website full of resources for language teachers. Geared primarily toward teachers in England, the main languages covered are Spanish, French, German, and Italian, but the site also contains general resources. Browse what’s available at http://www.lightbulblanguages.co.uk
Source: Light Bulb Languages
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Title: Authentic Listening Ideas
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From http://bryankandeltprs.com
How does teacher Bryan Kandel use authentic media clips in his class to practice listening? Find out in this recent blog post: http://bryankandeltprs.com/2014/04/07/authentic-listening-ideas
Source: Bryan Kandel TPRS Blog
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Title: 3 Fun Ways To Use QR Codes For Language Learning
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From http://www.edudemic.com/qr-codes-for-language-learning
3 Fun Ways To Use QR Codes For Language Learning
By Colleen Lee
April 3, 2014
[T]he fact that [QR codes] are a visual, and don’t come with any ‘words’ attached also means that we can use them to reward the curious. This year I am trying an ‘experiment’ in my room – just to see who is curious enough, or aware enough to want to know more. I won’t be giving out extra marks for this, but I will wait to see if any students comment on what I have done.
Read the full article for some ideas at http://www.edudemic.com/qr-codes-for-language-learning
Source: Edudemic
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Title: Cloze Quiz Builder
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Here is an online tool for making cloze (fill-in-the-blank) exercises: http://www.learnclick.com
Source: Learnclick
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Content Type: 3
Title: Giving Feedback in the Service of Meaning
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by Julie Sykes, CASLS Director
Feedback is an element of classroom practice that has received a great deal of attention and discussion. Despite widely varying views of how, when, and if corrective feedback should be given in the classroom, second language development theories all agree on the critical role of guidance in the process of learning.
From a functional, task-based approach to language learning, structure is intimately tied to meaning and the successful realization of the primary function (e.g., apologizing to a friend). Accuracy is not ignored, but rather framed in light of the crucial forms necessary for successfully fulfilling the target function. Here we consider two ideas for building accuracy while maintaining a primary focus on function.
(1) Intentionally focus on the specific forms required for the target function, and nothing more.
Key to effective feedback is drawing learners' attention to the elements under consideration and not distracting them from the primary task. From this perspective, immediate feedback should be given to ensure accuracy in the structures needed to complete a task. Take, for example, the case of apologizing to a friend. Emphasis would be placed on the forms needed. For example, in English, one would need:
- The primary apology: I'm sorry.
- Internal modifiers: I'm so sorry. I'm very sorry.
- External mitigators: an explanation of what happened (It just slipped out of my hand.) or preview the apology (I need to tell you something.)
Correction then focuses on ensuring these functions were performed with accuracy, and not other grammatical forms that might occur inaccurately when completing the task.
(2) Carefully select when, what, and how to correct form.
Explicit and implicit correction play a key role in building accuracy, no matter what approach one takes. By carefully selecting when to use each, the instructor can encourage fluency and accuracy. In interpersonal communication tasks, explicit feedback is especially useful at the pre-task phase, when learners are beginning to work with new structures, and at the post-task phase, when they are reflecting on their own task performance. Allowing for authentic task completion without correction during the task phase enables communication and lowers anxiety. The combination of both is key to building accuracy in the service of meaning. In writing, however, additional attention is paid to accuracy throughout the writing process to ensure successful writing functions, which often require additional levels of correctness than oral speech.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Title: CASLS Associate Director Wins Award
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Congratulations Mandy!
Please join us in congratulating Mandy Gettler, CASLS Associate Director, on receiving the 2014 Officer of Administration Recognition Award at the University of Oregon. She was presented with the award by UO President Michael Gottfredson at a ceremony on April 8. Mandy started working at CASLS in 2003 and is now part of the leadership team as the Associate Director. In his nomination letter, Vice Provost Dennis Galvan noted, "Mandy is a truly remarkable colleague, who stands out as an extraordinary community builder, leader in her unit and among her peers, and champion of the mission of the UO. I could not be more pleased or more enthusiastic about supporting her nomination." Mandy is a vital part of the CASLS team. Her favorite aspect of working at CASLS is "the camaraderie. Everyone's input, from the director to student employees, is valued and respected. Working with people you respect and trust makes the last-minute crunch of submitting a grant application or meeting a tight deadline enjoyable rather than draining. There's no one else I'd rather roll up my sleeves with to get work done than with this group!" We are delighted Mandy's hard work and dedication to CASLS have been recognized by leaders at the University of Oregon.
Source: CASLS Spotlight
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Content Type: 4
Title: Apologizing
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This activity is designed to facilitate learners' functional capacity to make an apology.
Outcome: Learners will be able to use critical structures (i.e., a primary apology, an internal modifier, and an external mitigator) to make an apology. This is intended as an output activity. It would be preceded by a series of input tasks in which they begin to work with the structures necessary to complete the target function.
Resources: Apologizing Output Sheet
Procedure:
- Begin by having learners brainstorm the structures they need to make an apology in each of three different scenarios.
- Have learners apologize to one another using the structures they know in each of the different scenarios. While they are working on the task, walk around the room collecting critical errors to be used during the reflection phase.
- Reflection: Have learners work together to correct errors the instructor has heard as the task was being completed. Primary focus should be placed on correcting only those errors relevant to the function and could be grammatical, lexical or pragmatic.
Source: CASLS Activity of the Week
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Content Type: 3
Title: Tips to Maximize L2 and Heritage Learners' Language Development in the Classroom
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Melissa A. Bowles is an Associate Professor of Spanish, Linguistics, Educational Psychology and Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education and Director of the Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education (SLATE) PhD Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests include classroom second language acquisition, heritage language acquisition, and language testing and assessment.
Increasingly, language teachers have not just second language (L2) learners in their classrooms, but another type of learner as well. This second kind of learner, called a heritage learner (HL), comes to the classroom with some proficiency in the language from family and/or community exposure.
The research on accuracy with adult L2 learners is clear; even with years of intensive contact with the L2 and large amounts of input, even in immersion settings, L2 learners have difficulty acquiring certain contrasts between their first language and their second language. For such contrasts, L2 learners need information about what is not possible in the L2. This information can come in a variety of forms, but is probably most commonly seen in the form of explicit grammar rules or oral or written feedback/correction of errors.
But what about heritage learners? Not as large a base of research has been conducted on the efficacy of pedagogical interventions for HL learners, but several recent studies have shown that HL learners seem to benefit less from systematic grammar explanations than their L2 counterparts. HL learners have also been shown to be more accurate on tests that involve speaking and listening than L2 learners, whereas L2 learners have been shown to be more accurate on tests that involve reading or writing. This probably has to do with the fact that L2 learners tend to receive a lot of written input in the L2 classroom whereas HL learners have received most of their input in their heritage language in a naturalistic setting, through speaking and listening.
What does this all mean for language teachers? To complicate matters, many times both L2 and HL learners are enrolled together in the same classes. In cases like these, the best advice to maximize the learning outcomes for both groups of learners is
- To provide a mix of both oral and written input in the classroom.
- To give students a variety of tasks that focus on all four skills.
- To create assessments that also reflect the four skills.
- When students work in small groups or pairs, mix them up so that they work with different classmates.
- If you sometimes have pairs made up of one L2 learner and one HL learner, research suggests that their strengths and weaknesses can complement each other so that both benefit! Just make sure to give them both oral and written tasks. L2 learners can share their knowledge with HL learners on written tasks and HL learners can provide assistance to L2 learners on oral tasks.
For more information, resources, and free online workshops on heritage language teaching, please visit UCLA's National Heritage Language Resource Center (http://startalk.nhlrc.ucla.edu/default_startalk.aspx).
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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