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PRACTICAL STRATEGIES AND MATERIALS FOR MULTICULTURAL STUDENTS WITH LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENTS. I . INCREASING FAMILY INVOLVEMENT IN STUDENTS’ LEARNING. Some educators tell parents to “speak only English at home”**.
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PRACTICAL STRATEGIES AND MATERIALS FOR MULTICULTURAL STUDENTS WITH LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENTS
Some educators tell parents to “speak only English at home”** Because they believe that an ELL child with a LI will be confused by a dual language environment. However, research has shown that this is not true. Children with LI can and do learn 2 languages effectively; being bilingual is not a disadvantage If a child is cut off from one of his languages, it can have a negative impact in many areas as we said before.
I tell parents…** That being bilingual is a great advantage in today’s world That if their child can grow up bilingual, she will be quite valuable in the job market
: • Parents of children who speak a minority language should be encouraged to use this language at home**
Here in the U.S., we as professionals routinely expect families to be involved in their children’s learning
In these cases, utilize services of cultural mediators ** They help families realize that in the U.S., they are expected to be an integral part of the educational team.
Remember that in some cultures** Older siblings take responsibility for younger ones. Thus, SLPs may have better success engaging the support of older siblings for things like carryover of homework assignments. Also, parents and grandparents may speak little-no English. Older siblings usually do speak English, and can be most helpful in assisting with homework assignments and other carryover activities.
We can help families become more involved in their children’s learning and schooling…** Through the use of the services of cultural mediators as mentioned. We can also meet with parents at the school site or conduct home visits. During these visits, it is helpful to show samples of their children’s work as well as pictures of their children involved in school activities.
We can help parents understand what U.S. schools expect of them and their children** Parents need to understand the academic/curricular standards of their children’s schools. For example, here in California, students begin learning multiplication at the end of second grade. I was raised in the Philippines, where we did not begin learning this information until third grade. If parents can volunteer in their children’s classrooms, they will understand the demands of the curriculum much better. Parents who speak little English can still help with tasks such as xeroxing, collating, and stapling assignments.
Parents and students need to understand basic school routines** For example, many parents don’t know that they need to send a lunch to school with their child or send money so their child can buy a lunch. Immigrant students may not realize that if they get a hall pass to go to the bathroom, they need to come right back to class. It is not acceptable to stop and spend ½ hour on the playground!
I started a literacy program called LoveTalkRead** • lovetalkread.com • We have collected over 59,000 books to give to low-income and diverse families We encourage them to daily love, talk to, and read with their children
Encourage students to read to their parents in English** This helps develop students’ literacy skills. Many parents want to learn English, and they are helped by hearing their children read to them in English.
Youtube video on CARE** • Youtube channel Celeste Roseberry • Intervention for ELLs: Increasing Preliteracy Skills Through CARE and Wordless Books • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNPWL-WCp98
Help parents find out** About local adult literacy services and English classes. For example, English classes are often offered at night through local educational agencies.
Many families are surviving…** Keep assignments short and simple. When we do give homework, it needs to only take a few minutes to do, and it needs to be understandable to families. I often tell the student what needs to be done, make sure she has a parent sign the assignment, and offer a sticker or small prize for returning it.
Invite parents to the school** To share recipes, talk about their countries, or even teach a language lesson. If this happens, parents feel more involved and they and their children often feel greater pride in their rich cultural and linguistic heritage. Some schools in my area have had World Languages Day, or World Feast Day where parents brought food and cultural activities to a festival-like atmosphere for all children (both ELL and English only) to enjoy. This benefits everyone!
Help parents understand the relevance of talking to infants and small children**
In many cultures, infants and young children are not considered conversational partners** • Many cultures value quietness in children • Thus, they may receive a great deal of love and affection, but language stimulation may not be occurring at a level expected by mainstream society. • Johnston and Wong (2002) recommend that when a currently-recommended Western practice (e.g., reading to or talking with children) is not found in a particular culture, we can recommend “functional equivalents.”
Lastly, emphasize children’s good qualities….** When I work with parents (or other caretakers), I discuss the child’s good, polite behavior (if this indeed the case!). Families from many cultures highly value courtesy, obedience, and cooperativeness in children If I can emphasize the positive, families are often more willing to cooperate in carrying out their children’s treatment plans.
Components of the Holistic Strategies Approach • This is on the exam
III. STRAEGIES FOR MODIFYING THE PHYSICAL AND LINGUISTIC ENVIRONMENT FOR ELL STUDENTS WITH LI
1. Limit clutter and distractions in the environment** Classrooms today have multiple auditory and visual stimuli. The phone rings, people come in and out, and the walls and ceilings are often covered with art projects—very distracting
2. Do not give important information when the room is noisy.** Students often have difficulty with figure-ground ability, or the ability to “pick out” the professional’s voice from other auditory stimuli. Even typically-developing ELL students may have extra difficulty if there is a poor signal-to-noise ratio and the teacher is speaking rapidly using decontextualized language that is so typical of classrooms.
Listening conditions in the classroom need to be favorable.** Processing information in L2 under less-than-ideal conditions is a risk factor for second language learners. Research shows that it is even more of a risk factor for those who have LI In some places, teachers are using FM units that make them 20-30 decibels louder; research shows that children perform better when the teacher’s voice is amplified. This is especially true of ELL students with LI.
Kelly R. (Iowa)** Califone brand Voice saver Personal amplification system--$100.00 Radio Shack also has inexpensive units
3. Make good seating arrangements in classroom settings:** Seat speakers of the same language together. In this way, they can provide assistance to each other, using L1 for support in learning academic content. ELL students with LI need to sit close to the front of the classroom. Many times, these students sit in the back. This makes it more difficult for them to pay attention. If they sit close to the front, this will help them focus better; they will also hear the teacher better.
4. Use Preparatory Sets** Always begin an activity or therapy session with a preparatory set Make sure the students know what is ahead For example: “We will do the calendar, math, and then clean up and go to recess. So—calendar, math, and recess.” In this way, students know the “layout” and are prepared for what will follow.
5. Slow down your rate of speech.** Students benefit if we pause frequently to give them processing time. Research shows that LI students process more slowly than typically-developing students. LI students—especially those who are ELLs—profit when professionals slow down and pause more often.
6. Do a great deal of review—repeat information and rephrase it.** It is estimated that the average, monolingual English-speaking adult forgets 95% of what he heard within 72 hours of hearing it. ELL students with LI benefit from hearing information repeated and reviewed often. Rephrasing is helpful. For example: “There are 8 planets in the solar system. The earth is one of the planets closest to the sun. – The earth, one of 8 planets in the solar system, is close to the sun.”
7. Emphasize content words through increased volume and stress.** Research has shown that LI students lack the ability to identify the “big” words, or content words and separate them out from the smaller words (function words). Increasing the auditory salience of content words through increased volume and stress can support low-SES ELL students with LI. For example: “The ocean is a source of life for our planet. The ocean provides food, water, and other things that are important.”
9. Use a multimodal approach to instruction and intervention—Universal Design of Learning
MOVEMENT BREAK!** • Cross crawls from Brain Gym—designed to increase communication between the right and left hemisphere • Wake up the brain!
How did you like this cute PPt background?** • Turn to the people next to you and describe how you felt having to take notes from these slides
IV. PRACTICAL STRATEGIES FOR A VARIETY OF SETTINGS** These can be used in therapy rooms (e.g., pull-out), learning centers, and general education classrooms
Have students journal** About their experiences Or about pre-planned subjects
Have the students…** Engage in drama and role-playing activities in order to encourage expressive language and social interaction skills. Costumes and puppets help if they are shy! So do karaoke machines and microphones
Students can also be taught to:** Write down information and instructions in a notebook. Many students do not know how to take notes. As they become older, lack of notetaking skill has an increasingly negative impact on academics.
