Interview with an ESL teacher
Click Here to watch my entry 3 video!
For my third interview, I
spoke with Ms. Simms, who is a certified ESL teacher at Moreno Elementary. When I asked
her about the school program offered at her school, she mentioned Dual
language, which is one of the programs listed by Wright. Wright states that dual
language is a program in which students are taught in two languages to develop
bilingualism starting from kindergarten all throughout elementary, in contrast
Ms. Simms explains that at her school they only really practice it in
kindergarten (2015). This I found interesting, since it seems that it is better
to have students in a dual language program more than just in kindergarten so
that their transition from Spanish to English is smoother once they reach the
upper grade levels.
Ms. Simms also states her
strong opinion against state testing as a form of assessment to check ELLs
language proficiency. Wright mentions the NCLB Act as a reform that required schools
to assess students through benchmarks designed to identify their level of
proficiency in speaking, reading, listening, and writing (2015). With this I
can agree with Ms. Simmis’ opinion since these tests are to be taken throughout
the year to continue to assess students’ proficiency levels, and the fact is
that students are at different levels which should not be taken for granted
because of one standardized test.
In addition, Ms. Simmis
speaks about her approach towards instruction, which I find it can be
effective. Wright mentions a teaching strategy that involves students
interacting with the teacher and with their peers during class such as,
cooperative learning, think-pair-share, round table, etc., basically anything
that involves students to listen and to speak (2015). This reminded me of what
Ms. Simmis does as she has students sit in groups and do group work, which gets
them comfortable with each other to a point where higher English proficient
students help out ELLs.
References:
Wright, W. E. (2015).
Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy,
and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub.
Hello Nancy! I enjoyed watching your interview with Ms. Simms. What I found interesting in the response to one of the first questions you asked was that in Ms. Simms’s school, they do home surveys to get to know their ELL population. According to Wright (2015), home language surveys are given to see what primary language is used at home and to what extent the language is used in order to help determine the students level of language proficiency (p. 132). This is important information that will aid the school and the teachers to provide the student with the proper support. I agree with both you and Ms. Simms that high stakes testing, such as STAAR, is something that should be reconsidered/ removed. For many teachers, there is a time when they are simply teaching to the test instead of teaching for learning. Teaching should be our primary goal, not test results.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hi Eddy, thanks for your comment! Indeed, I don't believe it's fair for especially English language learners to have to take standardized tests since they already have so much to catch up with their new language. Even though tests can be useful to help identify the level ELL students are on their English proficiency, there still can be drawbacks from these because they are not personalized for each student. Wright also mentions high stakes testing as "backwash", which only focuses on a certain skills that perhaps not all ELLs are able to develop the same way (2015, p.132).
DeleteReferences:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub.
Hey Nancy Escobar!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your interview with Ms. Simmons, I would have to agree with Ms. Simms about her her opinion on state testing. Wright wrote about his experiences with state testing and how it didn’t represent the growth ELLs had made ( Wright, 2015). Wright was able to show the student’s portfolio and pick out writing samples and reading records that showed the student’s academic growth (Wright, 2015) Through this Wright explained the need for multiple measurements not just state test as they do not accurately measure the growth of an ELLs or what they really know. Other assessments Wright mentioned included, Performance assessment, self and peer assessment, portfolio, observations, and many more (Wright, 2015).
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching english language learners: Research, theory,
policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Carlson Inc.
Hi Alondra, thanks for your comment! I definitely agree that there should be other ways to assess English language learners' English proficiency, like the ones you mentioned. In addition, it is disappointing to see that the No Child Left Behind Act requires students to be tested for proficiency within a course of four different levels, when in reality it can take students more than four levels to reach their language proficiency (2015). In my opinion, students should be given the opportunity to be assessed within their own proficiency level and therefore have more personalized tests.
DeleteReferences:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub.
Hey Alondra. I like that you mentioned that their needs to be other measurements of assessments than just state tests. I think it is kind of hard to measure a students success initially with a duel language program but as the student gets older I think it will become evident that learning in both languages is benefical to the student. Now Wright (2015) mentions that "the two language prototypical dual language models are the 50/50 model and the 90/10 model..." (Wright, p. 100) I do not know if I actually agree with the 90/10 model because that is sort of counterproductive to the dual language aspect of it. With the 50/50 model this allows students to still grasp concepts in their L1 if they are unable to understand it in their L2. This makes for efficient comprehension of material, in my opinion.
DeleteWright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub
Hello Nancy,
ReplyDeleteI found it very interesting that at Ms. Simm's school the dual language program is only in kindergarten. According to Wright, "Dual language programs typically begin in Kindergarten (or pre-K) and continue through the elementary school grades, though a growing number of these programs can also be found in middle schools and high schools" (Wright, 2015, p. 100). The purpose of the dual language program is for the student to be fluent in both languages when it comes to reading, writing, and speaking. It seems like just having the program in Kindergarten would not be a significant enough amount of time to master both languages. Also, "the two language prototypical dual language models are the 50/50 model and the 90/10 model, referring to the percentage of time allocated to each language for instructional purposes" (Wright, 2015, p. 100). With the program in place for only 1 year the students would not have a chance to transition from 90% home language 10% English to 50% English 50% home language. Because if this information I found it very interesting just like you did that the program stops in Kindergarten at her school.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hi Tori, thanks for your comment! Indeed, it is a bit disappointing to know that Ms. Simms’ school does not follow through the dual language program in full. As a matter of fact I would even say that the school follows a “transitional bilingual education” program, which Wright describes as a program where students are first taught in their native language and as they move on to the next grade they are introduced to more instruction in English until instruction is all in English (2015, p.96). This is to say that as Ms. Simms’ mentions, there are bilingual teachers from 1st grade to 2nd grade and 3rd grade to 5th grade instruction is in English with the use of ESL teachers for the ones who need the additional help.
DeleteReferences:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub.
Hey Nancy. Great Interview. I found it interesting that Ms. Simms’ school offered a dual language program. I have not been able to actually witness one but I think they are the most beneficial to students. Wright (2015) describes dual language as a program in which students are taught in two languages to develop bilingualism starting from kindergarten all throughout elementary. I see this as the most beneficial program for students, especially considering that they have to have a second language in high school, what better way to become fluent in both than by doing a dual language program?
ReplyDeleteReference:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub
Hi Jerome, thanks or your comment! I also believe that the dual language program is highly beneficial in the long run and that all schools should go by this program. Nevertheless, since dual language does require instruction being "50/50", one part in Spanish and the other in English, it has come to my attention to consider other languages other than Spanish (Wright, 2015, p.101). Wright mentions that there are dual language programs for other languages as well, but what if a teacher is stuck when she/he only speaks Spanish and English (2015)? Perhaps, the only way to work is if there are more multilingual teachers.
DeleteReferences:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub
Hey Nancy. Yeah dual language is definetely the way to go. Wright (2015) states, "Dual language programs typically begin in Kindergarten (or pre-K) and continue through the elementary school grades, though a growing number of these programs can also be found in middle schools and high schools" (Wright, p. 100). This is reassuring to me because I have not seen this program so far but it is good to know that they are out there. Immersing students not only in their L2 but also perfecting and using their L1 throughout school just seems to be more beneficial to me.
DeleteWright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub
All of the dual language programs that I have observed while at UH have been successful. I've ad students who do not interact with the Spanish language at home, but are able to read, speak, and understand Spanish at near master level. Students who were in a dual language program to learn English were able to understand commands given in English, as well as follow along with instruction that was taught in English. Small group was encouraged in these classrooms, as well as technology use. I think dual language program success may come from the integration of sheltered English and the fact that sheltered English is used to teach content instruction (Wright 2015).
Delete