English as a Second Language
Teacher's ESC Welcome Document

Acknowledgements

Purpose of this Document

Introduction

Meeting the language development needs of ESL students challenges many teachers. In some areas an ESL specialist may be available for consultation, but the major responsibility for educating ESL students lies with the classroom teacher. Although a course in ESL methods may help, most teachers have a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be used in ESL teaching. The purpose of this document is to provide some suggestions that will assist the classroom teacher in meeting the immediate needs of ESL students. It is intended to act as a supplement to the English Language Arts Curriculum Guide for the Elementary Level and, if possible, should be supported with further reading in ESL.

The Need for an ESL Program

The work of the ESL teacher is to facilitate English language development in reading, writing, speaking, and listening - the four aspects of language - thus enhancing the abilities of ESL students to perform at the same levels as their local peers.

Saskatchewan Education is committed to the use of a whole language approach in which all four language skills are included in each activity. An important consideration is that language is best learned in real situations - it is learned by doing.

Effective ESL programs encompass a variety of objectives. Some of the more salient may include the following:

• Integrate ESL students into regular school classes as quickly as possible.
• Assist in developing and maintaining a sense of self-worth in ESL students.
• Assist in developing communicative and academic competence in ESL students commensurate with their peers.
• Assist in providing an understanding and appreciation of the cultural and social environment of Canada, while preserving a pride in the individual's heritage.
• Assist in developing an understanding of and appreciation for cultural differences and similarities.

Reception of Students

In many cases an ESL specialist may not be available to assist a teacher who receives an ESL student. Therefore, the teacher needs to understand the linguistic, social, cultural, and psychological implications for students learning English as a second language. As well, knowledge of second language acquisition and the effects it can have on the personal and academic development of ESL students is essential.

Some ESL students have had to deal with adverse conditions and travel great distances before arriving in Canada. Teachers should consider this, while understanding that some students have to cope with many changes in family life, economic circumstances, and personal upheaval.

ESL students benefit greatly from classroom instruction, but school-based learning needs to extend to other aspects of their lives. Here are some ideas to help ESL students and their families settle into the school:

• Establish a positive, relaxed climate. Provide an information handout about the school and encourage parents to ask questions.
• Whenever possible, gather information about the student's personal and educational background. Knowing about brothers and sisters, likes/dislikes, health information, family literacy, and cultural background can help the school better understand and make the ESL student feel welcome. Remember that some parents and students may be sensitive about certain information.
• Understand that the parents of the ESL student may be going through various stages of adjustment themselves. Encourage them to take an active interest in their child's education and to participate in the various school activities.
• Orient the student to the school. Have a local student lead a tour, or assign a "buddy" to assist with conversations and questions. Besides helping to break the ice, this also is an excellent language learning tactic.
• Familiarize the ESL students and their families with the Saskatchewan education system. It is important for the students to know the expectations of behaviour in class, on the playground, at breaks, and during study times.

Cultural Adjustment/Awareness

Many cultures have intricate systems of attitudes, beliefs, practices, and values that often are very different from those of western society. The school should recognize this and provide an atmosphere of acceptance towards culture and first language. Not all the values of a particular culture are accepted in Canada. This may be a source of confusion for some students. Recognition of different cultural values will help the teacher to understand why some students may look down when talking to you, maintain silence as a sign of respect (even when you expect a reply), not participate in extra-curricular activities, and show some uneasiness with the Saskatchewan school system. Different ways to help understand the intricacies of a culture may include:

• studying the country of origin of the ESL students
• learning some common greetings in the ESL student's first language
• sampling food
• listening to music from another country
• inviting guest speakers
• holding a school wide mosaic
• meeting the parents or guardians of ESL students.

The Saskatchewan Association for Multicultural Education (SAME) has produced several information packages for the multicultural classroom. One of these, Crossing the Bridges: Saskatchewan Cultural Profiles describes the cultural practices of countries whose people immigrate to Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Education has provided a copy of these SAME publications for the resource centre of every school in the province. If you require additional copies or more information contact SAME, 144 Marsh Crescent, Regina Saskatchewan, S4S 5J7, telephone 780-9428.

Language Development

The four language skills are not seen as separate from one another. ESL students should learn them within the regular classroom subjects. Attention to learning through real communication ensures that learning occurs in a real-life situation rather than an artificial one where learning and living are unrelated. It is crucial to introduce print within meaningful contexts while working on oral skills.

Language Acquistion

• Silent/Listening Period

  This stage may last from a few hours to several months. ESL students tend to be concerned with gathering meaning from speech and their environment rather than speaking precisely. They need to be given many opportunities to hear the new language system. The use of taped stories, music, shared reading, patterned work, and exposure to good language models is beneficial during this stage.

• Early Production

  During this stage, ESL students begin to communicate using one or two words. They tend to understand more than they can speak. Students move beyond listening comprehension and start interacting more with the people in their environment. Teachers need to provide a supportive environment which encourages, but doesn't force, students to produce language. Instructions should be simple and demonstrated.

• Speech Emergence

  Here, ESL students begin to speak in simple sentences and short dialogues. They exhibit more confidence and a willingness to participate in a variety of activities. Teachers need to involve students in as many classroom activities as possible.

• Intermediate Fluency

  At this stage, ESL students engage in spontaneous dialogue and conversation. They begin to think in the second language, and their individual learning styles become more evident. Teachers should continue to focus on speech production and content as well as exposing the students to a language-rich environment.

How students progress through these stages depends on factors such as fluency in their first language, the desire to learn English, and the learning environment. Some ESL students may have limited language development in their first language due to interrupted schooling or lack of schooling in their culture. If teachers are aware of students' previous experiences they can adjust the academic expectations to help students develop the necessary second language skills. An environment that encourages students to take risks will be successful in assisting ESL students to acquire language as quickly as possible.

Instructional Approaches Which Facilitate Learning

• Involve the students in appropriate activities immediately: arts education, physical education, mathematics, classroom chores, and playground activities.
• Teach through the thematic approach by organizing instruction around a theme or group of interrelated ideas. Through the use of themes, students receive extensive exposure to meaningful language activities and acquire a greater knowledge of concepts related to the theme.
• Use the Language Experience Approach (LEA) - experience something together, discuss the event, write the story down, and then provide follow-up activities. Even though the ESL students may not understand what is being said, they will learn much from going through the LEA process and will be able to build upon it later.
• Adapt the one-on-one reading together situation by using the shared-book approach in the classroom. Cross-age tutoring can also be used.
• Emphasize to other students that just because ESL students do not speak or understand English they are not lacking in intelligence. Encourage positive peer interactions whenever possible.
• Encourage ESL students to retain their own language and culture and not to abandon it for English. A healthy self-image is important.
• Involve parents, relatives and other resource persons who can help with such things as:
  • assisting on field trips
  • reading aloud to students
  • reading with students
  • listening to the students read
  • labelling things with the students
  • writng down stories dictated by the students
  • assisting the students with daily assignments
  • playing vocabulary development games together
• Use specific teaching strategies that enhance language acquisition. Refer to the English Language Arts Curriculum Guide for the Elementary Level for a detailed description of the following strategies that particularly enhance literacy development in ESL students.
  • brainstorming
  • categorizing
  • choral speaking/reading
  • cloze procedure
  • contextual drama, pantomime
  • cooperative learning
  • framing
  • guided reading
  • illustrating stories
  • pattern writing
  • making books
  • story mapping
  • reading for meaning
  • sequencing
  • story grammar
  • webbing
• Enhance your own teacher professional development in ESL instruction. The Saskatchewan Council for Educators of Non-English Speakers provides current information about local and national ESL events as well as a subscription to the TESL Canada Journal.

Although language and concept development are closely related, some activities are more suited for specific skill learning. For assistance in adapting instructional practices to meet student needs, teachers may refer to:

• Diverse Voices: Selecting Equitable Resources for Indian and Métis Education. Saskatchewan Education, 1992.
• Instructional Approaches: A Framework for Professional Practice. Saskatchewan Education, 1991.
• The Adaptive Dimension in Core Curriculum. Saskatchewan Education, 1992.

Also, teachers may find the following documents helpful:

• English Language Arts Curriculum Guide for the Elementary Level
• the Arts Education Curriculum Guides for Grade 1 to Grade 5
• Early Literacy: A Resource for Teachers

Other things to consider when developing the four language skills include:

Listening:

• Provide a listening centre with taped stories, books, songs, rhymes, and chants.
• Enlist competent students to read daily to ESL students. It is important to provide background information to ESL students so that they can attach new vocabulary to familiar experiences.
• Make sure the ESL students are hearing proper English. Model language that is meaningful, natural, useful, and relevant to the students.

Speaking

• Employ drama, musical games, and songs as useful teaching strategies.
• Use a variety of pictorial, board, and card games to enhance learning. Oxford (1990), lists many games for language learners.
• Focus on conceptual understanding first and pronunciation second, when students speak in English.

Reading

• Provide a "print rich environment". Put label tags on items in the classroom, make and display charts connecting pictures with vocabulary, display lists, bring in environmental print, and provide beginning dictionaries and emergent reading books.
• Provide a variety of literature for student selection and independent reading. Wordless books and pattern books are an excellent start.
• Read to the class and provide time for silent reading. If possible bring in books in the ESL student's language.

Writing

• Display first language writings and their English translations.
• Have the students write journals in their first language and add English words as they become familiar with them.

Proficiency in Content Area

English Language Arts Curriculum Guide for the Elementary Level

• an experiential approach to literacy development
• a social context for language learning
• a process approach to writing
• a response-centred approach to literature
• an interrelationship between language and thinking.

The following guiding principles for language learning are included in this policy:

• Children are experienced language users.
• Language is learned from whole to part.
• Children learn language by using language.
• Language is a social process that develops and is fostered through social interaction (language is learned through communication).
• Children need an environment rich in opportunities to use language for a variety of purposes and audiences.
• A child's thinking and language ability develops in his/her own language or dialect. Teachers must accept and build upon this.
• Activities which require students to use language in meaningful situations are more useful than analyzing or manipulating the language of others.
• Excellent language models are essential.

The goals of the curriculum are to:

• develop students' English language abilities as a function of therir thinking abilities
• promote personal and social development by developing students' knowledge and use of the English language.
• develop proficiency as well as enjoyment in speaking, listening, writing, reading, representing, and viewing
• develop the ability to appreciate and respond to a range of texts, including literature.

ESL Support Networks

Saskatchewan Education also has a database of ESL teachers who are interested in networking. Because of a need to be aware of and sensitive to other countries and their cultures, some ESL teachers have joined The Saskatchewan Association for Multicultural Education.

In larger centres, help in the form of translators and other assistance may be available by contacting the Open Door Society, Immigrant Women of Saskatchewan, or the local multicultural council. The Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan is a provincial-wide organization with its own newsletter and contacts around the province. The address for MCoS is 369 Park Street, Regina, Saskatchewan, S4N 5B2.

Larger urban school divisions tend to have more qualified ESL teachers and coordinators. These specialists often make ESL presentations at various in-services and other professional development days.

Resources

Assessment and Evaluation

The purposes and methods of assessment and evaluation are similar for ESL and English speaking students. Evaluation is a difficult area when teachers first encounter ESL students. Few tests can accurately evaluate complex language abilities and the development of critical and creative thinking. Many of the available formal paper and pencil tests or oral tests are culturally and linguistically biased and do not always measure what the teacher wants to measure. Many school divisions do not have access to tests that could possibly be used, and do not have tests translated into the ESL student's first language. Yet, a teacher needs to find out what and how much the ESL student knows so that an appropriate program can be planned. For detailed information on evaluation refer to Student Evaluation: A Teacher Handbook, and the English Language Arts Curriculum Guide for the Elementary Level, both available from Curriculum Distribution Service.

Following are some guidelines for evaluation of students with English as a second language:

• Emphasize those things which will make new ESL students feel secure and less apprehensive about school.
• Find out as much information as possible about the students through informal conversation. Ask them questions about themselves such as "Where are you from? Where do you live now? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
• Use concrete materials and pictures to find out what English vocabulary the students know.
• Determine at what level the students can read in English by using teacher-prepared diagnostic measures based on meaningful and familiar material. The learning assistance teachers can provide help in this area.
• Assess ongoing student progress using checklists, rating scales, anecdotal records, or written and performance tasks constructed by the teacher to reflect the objectives of the program.
• Contact speech/language pathologists and ask them about language inventory instruments.
• Use close tests (teacher-prepared), which are useful in providing information on syntactic and semantic ability, and in assessing reading comprehension.
• Have students write something spontaneously. Keep initial writing samples to compare with later samples.
• Look at many areas such as class participation, artwork, mathematics ability, and social interaction when assessing learning.
• Keep ongoing anecdotal records about ESL students. It is important to monitor student growth so that program adjustments can be made.
• Use a variety of assessment techniques: matching, true-false, fill-in-the-blanks, charts, outlines, oral assignments, sentences, essays, and checklists.

Teachers need to be flexible; students need to be assessed on their own merit. Some students need a lot of time to adjust to their new situation, whereas others feel comfortable in a shorter period. Teachers should not expect too much too quickly. Students need to feel relaxed and secure before they are able to show exactly what they know. Placement needs to be based on student potential rather than performance. Current information indicates that ESL students acquire basic interpersonal communication skills in approximately one-to-two years, but need five-to-seven years to develop academic language proficiency. Students will be acquiring the English language over a long period of time.

Parents need to be informed of student progress and teachers are encouraged to develop reporting procedures which accurately reflect student strengths and weaknesses. The use of descriptive reports to communicate progress to students, parents, administrators, and others is positive and helpful. The report card should reflect what the students have achieved during instruction. Indicate the areas that are "not applicable at this time". ESL parents also are learning English and may need someone to interpret information to them.

Teachers should utilize a variety of evaluation techniques to monitor student language growth and development. Included in this document is a sample of an ESL progress report which may assist as a framework for formulating reporting procedures. See Appendix 2.

Summary

ESL students should not always be expected to be busy. Teachers need to observe the abilities and interests of the students, the things that give ideas about student learning styles and experiences, and build on these. The classroom teacher needs to use specific teaching strategies that enhance language acquisition. The ESL teacher, or resource teacher, needs to teach basic vocabulary and reinforce classroom/academic vocabulary and skills in partnership with the classroom teacher. "The ESL teachers can offer their expertise on language learning and second language methodologies, while classroom teachers can offer their knowledge of the content to be covered and skills to be learned." ( Law and Eckes 1990, p. 50).

ESL students offer a rewarding new dimension to classrooms and enrich the lives of everyone by helping us learn about and understand other cultures. They also offer the school community the challenging opportunity to prepare ESL students for living in a multilingual and multicultural country.

References

Atwell, N. (1987). In the middle: Writing, reading, and learning with adolescents. Upper Montclair, NJ: Boynton/Cook.

Calgary Catholic School Board. (1990). English as a second language. Calgary, AB: Instructional Services.

Curriculum Development Branch. (1992). English as a second language/dialect resource book for K-12. Victoria, BC: Ministry of Education.

Herald-Taylor, G. (1986). Whole language strategies for ESL primary students. Toronto, ON: OISE Press.

Law, B. & Eckes, M. (1990). The more-than-just surviving handbook: ESL for every classroom teacher. Winnipeg, MB: Peguis.

Language Services. (1987). ESL instruction in the elementary school: Curricular guidelines and suggestions. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Education.

Oxford, R. (1990). Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. New York, NY: Harper Collins (Newbury House).

Parkin, F. & Sidnell, F. (1992). ESL is everybody's business. Markham, ON: Pembroke Publisher.

Rigg, P. & Allen, V. (1989). When they don't all speak english: Integrating the ESL student into the regular classroom. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English.

Saskatchewan Association for Multicultural Education (SAME). (1992). Profiles of 24 nationalities in Saskatchewan. Regina, SK: SAME, 2454 Atkinson St.

Tiedt, P. & Tiedt, I. (1986). Multicultural teaching: A handbook of activities, information, and resources. Toronto, ON: Allyn & Bacon, Inc.

Ventriglia, L. (1982). Conversations of Miguel and Marcia: How children learn a second language (Implications for Classroom Teaching). Don Mills, ON: Addison-Wesley.

Appendix 1: Suggested Resources and Materials

• a listening centre - ESL students need to hear language often
• computer and appropriate software
• atlas, maps/globes of the world, Canada, Saskatchewan, local city/rural area
• books: wordless, pattern, emergent reading, and a variety of books spanning many reading abilities
• picture dictionaries at a variety of levels
• items and pictures from other cultures
• picture file
• games, puzzles
• magazines, calendars, pictures for cut and paste activities

Computer Software

ESL students will benefit from access to a good word processing program, a typing program, and anything else that will assist in building academic skills. Computer software exists that will not only help ESL students but can be used with other students as well, therefore cutting some cost. Examples follow.

• Carmen San Diego Series
• Dinosaur Discovery Kit
• Math Blaster
• WordPerfect
• WORKS

Story Books

• Cochrane, Orin. Reading Experiences in Science (grades 2-4). Winnipeg: Peguis.
• Explorations Social Studies Series. Scarborough: Nelson Canada.
• McCracken. R. & M. Tiger Cub Books. Winnipeg: Peguis.
• Storybox Series; Sunshine Series; Windmill Series; Sunshine Extensions for ESL Series. Scarborough: Ginn and Company.
• Early Bird Series. Scarborough: Nelson Canada.

Specific ESL Materials

• Addison-Wesley ESL Series. Don Mills: Addison-Wesley.
• Addison-Wesley Kids Series.
• The Addison-Wesley Big Book Programs for Early Childhood, ESL and Special Education.
• Multicultural Sing Along Big Book Program. Addison-Wesley.
• The Addison-Wesley Picture Dictionary and Skillsbook Set.
• Addison-Wesley Canadian Dictionary for English Learners.
• Games For All Reasons: Interacting in the Language Classroom. Addison-Wesley.
• Building Basic Skills In...Series (includes Science, Social Studies etc.). Markham: Fitzhenry and Whiteside.
• All Purpose Photo Library Sets 1 & 2. Scarborough: DLM.
• The New Oxford Picture Dictionary Series (comes in English/other language translations with workbooks). Don Mills: Oxford University Press.
• Photo Dictionary. White Plains: Longman ELT.
• Survival English: English Through Conversations, Books 1 & 2. Scarborough: Prentice-Hall.
• A Conversation Book - English in Everyday Life. Prentice-Hall.
• A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words: A Vocabulary Book. Prentice-Hall.

Appendix 2: Sample ESL Progress Report

Student's Name _______________________________
Reporting Period			Social and Personal Growth		Progress
1st	2nd	3rd	C	Consistently	1	Needs Improvement
			U	Usually	2	Is Improving
			O	Occasionally	3	Satisfactory
			S	Seldom	4	Very Good
					NA

Social and Personal Growth	Reporting Period			Comments
	1st	2nd	3rd
Accepts Responsibility
Pays Attention in Class
Demonstrates Independence
Follow directions
Completes assignments
Demonstrates ability to self-correct
Displays a positive attitude
Academic Achievement
Listening
Understands oral communication
Follows directions
Listens for enjoyment
Speaking
Participated in conversations
Pronounces correctly
Uses accurate sentence patterns
Is developing vocabulary
Writing
Copies correctly
Uses accurate sentence patterns
Spells appropriately
Reading
Understands what is read
Recognizes vocabulary
Applies word attack sills
Reads fluently

 

• Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
• Canadian Education Centres (CEC)