Academic Language for English Language Learners and Struggling Readers: How to Help Students Succeed Across Content Areas by Dr Robert J Marzano (Foreword), Yvonne S Freeman (31-Oct-2008) Paperback

by Yvonne S. Freeman

"This comprehensive and readable text by Yvonne and David Freeman (authors of Essential Linguistics) synthesizes recent demographic data on the kinds of English language learners and struggling readers who attend middle and high schools in increasing numbers. They flesh out the statistics with stories of students from different backgrounds. Then the Freemans examine academic language at different the text level, the paragraph level, the sentence level, and the word level. For each, they provide examples of academic language and specific strategies teachers can use as they teach language arts, science, math, and social studies. They also analyze content-area textbooks, pointing out the difficulties they pose for students and suggesting ways to make texts more accessible to ELLs and struggling readers." Providing classroom examples, the Freemans explain how teachers can motivate and engage their students. They describe how teachers can teach language and content simultaneously by developing both language and content objectives. Academic Language for English Language Learners and Struggling Readers gives teachers the information and strategies they need to help all their students develop academic language.

Genres: Teaching

Paperback

First published November 1, 2008

Reviews

[Dana Duchaney]

Ch.1
Chapter 1 is an introduction to the different types of ELLs and struggling readers. ELLS can be recent arrivals with adequate schooling, newly arrived students with limited or interrupted schooling, or long-term English learners. In order to succeed in course work and pass standardized tests, ELLs need to be able to read academic texts, discuss them, and write academic papers. It is important for us, as teachers, to realize that more first-language knowledge equals more English. There is no one answer to understanding why and adolescent struggles with reading. For there to be one answer, there would have to be only one cause, and for there to be one cause, all students would have to be alike, learn alike, and had the same experiences. Almost all ELLs develop conversational English in school. The older the students are, the more daunting this task is for both the students and the teachers. When teacher understand academic language, they are better prepared to meet the needs of the diverse struggling students in the classrooms.
Newly arrived students with limited/interrupted schooling:
• Significantly below grade level in reading and writing in their native language
• Lack concepts in different subject areads
• Do not have academic English/background
• Lack understanding how schools are organized
• Lack understanding of students behavior at school
• May be labeled
• Often remain in newcomer or ESL programs
• if there was school, it was often traditional with an emphasis on rote learning
• read and write below grade level
• decoding does not lead to comprehension as they do not understand much english
Long-term English learners:
• Struggling readers who speak English as their native language
• Can be involuntary minorities
• Could have student all in English, bilingual, or ESL programs
• Often labeled as learning disabled or lazy
• Often placed in lower track or remedial classes with rote learning and little active engagement
• Read and write below grade level in English
• May decode well but real with little comprehension
• Often speak a non-standard dialect of English
• Avoid writing in English
• Usually have some background for references that are specific to U.S. culture and history
• Have studied content in schools but may not have understood early schooling in English or retained basic information
Immigrant minorities:
• Measure success by standards of their homeland
• Alternating behavior between home and school is not something immigrant minorities find difficult
Involuntary minorities:
• Influences by majority-group attitudes and values
• Measure success by mainstream standards
• Do not alternate school and home behavior
• Higher rate of school failure compared to immigrant minorities
Ch.2
• Chapter 2 explains Cummin’s framework of distinguishing between BICS (conversational language) and CALP (academic language). He points out those students who have developed BICS but not CALP do not lack higher-order thinking ability. They simply lack the language needed to succeed in school.
• This is supported by a linguistic study that divides English vocabulary into two types, words with Anglo-Saxon origins used in everyday conversation and words from Latin and Greek sources that occur frequently in academic texts.
• Spoken texts are more interactive, situated, and immediate so they are developed more quickly. Written texts are more edited, abstract, and reported so that skill needs to be developed. ELLs often include elements common to spoken language in their academic writing
• Cummin’s Quadrant Model
o Context-embedded
 ELLs do not need to rely so much on language and can interpret message with clues
 External context
• Gestures
• Tone of voice
• Visuals
 Internal context
• Background knowledge
• Previous experiences
 Example: face-to-face conversation
 Makes it easier to communicate
o Context-reduced
 Rely more heavily on the language itself
 Example: phone conversation
o What seems easy to us may be very difficult to our students. The same task may place very different amounts of cognitive demand on two people, not because of the nature of the task itself, but because of differences in the experience and knowledge that two people bring to the task.
o Quadrant A
 Context embedded and cognitively undemanding
 Examples: discussing the weather, interviewing a classmate
o Quadrant C
 Context reduced and cognitively undemanding
 Examples: phone conversation, reading an email
o Quadrant D
 Context reduced and cognitively demanding
 Examples: read a chapter and answer questions, standardized tests
o Quadrant B
 Context embedded and cognitively demanding
 Should be our goal!
 Target for teaching all students, especially ELLS
 Examples: work in groups to make a timeline, role play from a novel
• BICS are developed in about two years while CALP take from 5-7 years to perform at grade level tasks in different academic subject areas. Many early-exit programs transition ELLs into all-English instruction after about two years, at the point the students have developed conversational fluency in English. Conversational fluency is not adequate for school success.
• First language academic knowledge supports academic success in a second language. Students with a strong academic background can apply the knowledge they have in their first languages to what they are studying in English. If all instruction is in English, they won’t understand the teacher and will fall behind.

[Sarah]

CH 1

BICS- Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills
CALP- Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

BICS is an important concept to understand right away because a student's BICS can be misleading. The chapter starts out posing the question: who is an ELL? Students usually acquire strong BICS because they are usually immersed in the English Language at their schools. Immersion works in strengthening BICS but that does not mean that a student's CALP is as strong. Misleading BICS can lead to a student being placed outside of ELL support systems. "They are 'equipped with the social skills in English' and 'appear in conversation to be native English speakers'; 'however, they are usually less skilled in the academic language associated with school success" p. 7.

"More first-language knowledge equals more English."

LEP- Limited English Proficient
Long-term English Learners are students who have been in schools in the United States for seven or more years and speak English quite well. Many are not designated as LEP but should be according to NCLB. Many of these students are strong in BICS but lack necessary CALP.

Limited Formal Schooling (LFS) students come with limited academic knowledge and limited English proficiency. "Because they do not have academic English or the academic background to draw upon in their native languages, they often struggle with course work in English and receive low scores on standardized tests." p. 9

Standard English Learners (SELS) understand Standard English but do not speak it. "They 'are those students for whom Standard English is not native and whose home language differs in structure and form from standard academic English'" p. 10

57% of LEPs are US born
27% of all LEPs are second generation
30% are third generation

CH 2

CUP- Common Underlying Proficiency
CUP is an important concept to understand as well because it highlights the important (and often neglected) idea that a student's first language serves as the best avenue for learning academic information. They may actually understand a topic in class but be unable to articulate it in English speaking or writing. This happens when their CUP is embedded in their first language.

Appropriate Program Placement comes from a good understanding of a student's CUP. "In late-exit programs, students develop academic language and concepts in their first languages that then transfer to English. Bilingual students in late-exit programs develop academic language in both their first languages and English." p. 41 In other words, if a student is learning algebra in English while they are still learning English they will miss out on important instructional data as well as CALP. If a student learns algebra in their home language they are not missing out on instruction while learning English, especially in dual language programs where they learn subjects in both languages.

[Tracey]

Ch.1
This chapter is focusing on what different kinds of students we consider to be ELLs and on the different types of instruction those students need.
- one shocking demographic trend: Dropouts caused by accountablility system with high stakes tests, and those most affected are the most vulnerable youth (the poor, the ELLs, African American and Latino children)
- Even some students whose first language IS English struggle because the dialect they learn at home are very different than the standard dialect. These students may also require special support.
- The administrators realized that to be successful the ELLs needed to be able to read academic texts, discuss them, and write academic papers.
- they decided there were two types of ELL to focus on; Long-term English learners and English learners who arrive in our schools with limited formal schooling.
-Long-term English Learner:students who have been in schools in the U.S. for more then 7 yrs and speak english well. students whose difficulty speaking, reading , writing, or understanding English may may be enough to deny that student the ability to be successful in an english speaking classroom
-Limited formal schooling student: recent arrivals with limited or interupted formal schooling. THese students will struggle with reading and writing in English. Probably significantly below grade level. These students struggle because they lack both academic english and academic knowledge to draw upon fromtheir native language.
-Immigrant minorities: generally not influenced by attitudes and values of society bc they measure success by the standards of their homeland.
-Involuntary Minorities: These stduents ahve lived in the U.S. for mult. generations. Any minority that is not a relatively new arrival.
- Standard English learner: someone whose first language is english but mayeb a different dialect of English

[Traci · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an English/reading teacher, I feel like a lot of the ideas mentioned in this book are typical things English/reading teachers do. I think this book would best be suited for those who are unsure of how to teach reading/writing in their own content area.

[Angela Harger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not expect to like this book. I assumed it would be dry and voiceless. I was delighted to find out I was wrong. Freeman and Freeman explain things wonderfully and thoroughly, with a positive tone.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read on the subject - clear, easy to follow, and incredibly informative and practical.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been said in at least one other review that this feels like a rehashing of ideas. I would agree for the most part. It has some unique claims and perspectives, but it was more of a summary than learning experience.