One Linguist’s Perspectives on Language & Literacy Acquisition

1. One Linguist’s PerspectivesonLanguage & Literacy Acquisition GO MAVS! David J. Silva, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Professor of Linguistics The University of Texas at Arlington http://ling.uta.edu/~david Crow Elementary School – AISD – 31 July 2008

2. What’s Behind Today’s Session • Desire to be Helpful • Review • Edify • Respond • My Professional Perspectives • Linguistics • Research Orientation • “Active Learning”

3. “Appeal likely in bilingual ruling”The Dallas Morning News ◊Tuesday, July 29, 2008 More help for limited English students still on the way, leaders say By Terrence Stutz and Katherine Leal Unmuth, Staff Writers • … U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice ruled Friday that the state has failed to properly educate [LEP] students. • … surprise decision… • … gives the state until January 31 [2009] to come up with a different plan.

4. “Appeal likely in bilingual ruling” 2The Dallas Morning News, Tuesday, July 29, 2008 • “While our elementary school students are doing very well, we recognize there are problems in our high schools that we want to address.”-Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), Senate Education Committee Chair • Many LEP students can speak conversational English without having mastered the vocabulary necessary to understand textbooks or to pass the graduation TAKS exams.

5. Dual-Language? Bilingual? ESL? • Defining “Bilingual” • Functional: Can operate in both languages (equally well) • Attitudinal: Is equally comfortable in both languages • If bilingualism is the goal, then Dual Language Program • Maintenance • Two-Way Immersion • One-Way Immersion • Heritage Language Program • If English Proficiency is the goal, then ESL • Transitional bilingual • Multi-language ESL classroom Q: Which two languages?

6. Hawai’ian Example Ke Kula Kaiāpuni‘O Ānuenue

7. Technology and Tradition

8. : Teaching : ? ? ? Key Distinction • Learning • conscious • explicit • assumes teaching • Acquisition • unconscious • implicit • often based on modeled behavior Stephen Krashen Learning ≠ Teaching

9. ? Task and Context

10. Four PrerequisitesforSuccessful Language Acquisition CognitiveCapacity Data Interaction Motivation

11. Games are Great Opportunities for Interaction Image Excluded from On-Line Slide Show

12. Highlights ofL1 Acquisition Research • Meaning and Function trump Form • Errors are Normal (and Important) • Morphological Overgeneralizations • Semantic Overgeneralizations • Evidence of a Developing Grammar • Scaffolding is Critical • Poverty of Stimulus Argument

13. Poverty of Stimulus Argument • Language input is: • imperfect • incomplete • inadequate for constructing a perfect grammar • Where the input fails, innate principles take over • Originally developed for first language acquisition • Later applied to SLA

14. Can We Enhance the Process? Structured Environments to Optimize… Data Interaction Motivation Keep these ideas in mind as we walk through the following strategies.

15. 1 PALS (grades 2-6)Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (Fuchs et al. 2001) • Adaptation of ClassWide Peer Tutoring • Structured • Opportunities for feedback • Reciprocity of roles • Activities • Partner Reading • Paragraph Shrinking • Prediction Relay • Upward / Downward Extensions

16. 2 Optimizing Read-Aloud Time (Santoro et al. 2008) • Key Attributes • Making students aware of text structure • Generating text-focused discussions • Explicitly teaching key vocabulary; reinforce • Exploiting text-to-text connections • Using student retelling as primary output

17. 2 Optimizing Read-Aloud Time (Santoro et al. 2008) Table 4: Comprehension Strategy Focus …

18. 2 Optimizing Read-Aloud Time (Santoro et al. 2008) Figure 1: … Story Retelling Prompt Sheet … (modified)

19. 3 Questioning the Author(Jonson’s strategy #39) • “… forces students to figure out what the author means, not just what the author writes.” • “… [helps] to construct meaning from what they read by bringing prior experience to the author’s words.” • Teacher Prep • Locate important ideas • Anticipate difficulties that will be encountered by the students • Choose appropriate stopping points for questions • Possible Questions • What is the author trying to say here? • What is the author’s message? • Does the author explain this clearly? • Why do you think the author tells us this now?

20. 3’ Questioning the Author – Revised(Jonson’s strategy #39, revised by Silva) • (A) Students engage with the text by engaging with the author • Imagine that the author will be visiting our class tomorrow. • What questions would you want to ask him/her? • Come up with 3 questions. • (B) Students engage with the text by assuming the role of the author • Pair the students. • One plays the role of the author. • The other asks the questions that s/he developed in (A).

21. 4 Pick-A-Pal(Jonson’s strategy #34) • “… choose a character… as a best friend and explore qualities of that character.” • Procedure • Ask student to brainstorm about names of characters in stories recently read by the class; list on board. • Students choose a character as best friend and draw a picture. • One by one, students hold up pictures as other members guess who it is. • Student describes why the character would be a good best friend. • Finally, students write about the character on back of the page • Assessment Potential • Save the result in the student’s portfolio • Repeat later in the school year and compare to gauge development

22. 5 Summary Hand(Jonson’s strategy #54) • “… help students process key events from stories or summarize finger facts from a nonfiction unit.” • Procedure: Model then Implement in Groups • On the board, draw a large outline of a hand. • On each figure, write • an element of the story (fiction) or • the most important facts from the text (exposition). • In the palm, draw a relevant illustration.

23. 5 Adapted from Jonson 2008, p. 190, after a contribution by S. Chin, M. Sullivan, and P. Caoile, San Francisco, CA, Summer 2004 Summary Hand(Jonson’s strategy #54) Runs fast – 40 mph Part of the allosaurid family Carnivore Small teeth but big bite Inhabited floodplains, meadows, and forests allosaurus

24. 5 Summary Hand(Jonson’s strategy #54) • “… help students process key events from stories or summarize finger facts from a nonfiction unit.” • Procedure: Model then Implement in Groups • On the board, draw a large outline of a hand. • On each figure, write • an element of the story (fiction) or • the most important facts from the text (exposition). • In the palm, draw a relevant illustration. • Extensions • Use as a pre-writing exercise before students craft a paragraph • Use as a mechanism for older students to develop consensus on the five most important points

25. Reprise: The Four Prerequisites for Successful Language Acquisition CognitiveCapacity Data Interaction Motivation How do the strategies presented today connect with each of these four prerequisites?

26. Reflection and Discussion • How might L2 acquisition be similar to L1 Acquisition? • How do L1 and L2 acquisition differ? • In the language acquisition process, what role(s) can be played by: • teachers? • parents / families? • peers? • administrators? • researchers / professors? • Why do some universities require one set of courses to train K-12 ESL teachers and a different set of courses to prepare others to teach adult ESL?

27. References • Fuchs, Fuchs, Thompson, Svenson, Yen, Al Otaiba, Yang, Mcmaster, Prentice, Kazdan and Saenz. 2001. “Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies in Reading: Extensions for Kindergarten, First grade, and High School.” Remedial and Special Education 22: 15-21. • Jonson, Kathleen Feeney. 2008. 60 Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension in Grades K – 8. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. • Santoro, Chard, Howard, and Baker. 2008. “Make the Very Most of Classroom Read-Alouds to Promote Comprehension and Vocabulary.” The Reading Teacher 61 (5): 396-408.