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Scaffolding as Structure and as Process in the Development of Oracy with English Learners Aída Walqui Director, Teacher Professional Development Program WestEd awalqui@wested.org www.wested.org/qtel The CULI 6th International Conference 2006 November 28, Bangkok, Thailand.

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  1. Scaffolding as Structure and as Process in the Development of Oracy with English LearnersAída WalquiDirector, Teacher Professional Development ProgramWestEdawalqui@wested.orgwww.wested.org/qtelThe CULI 6th International Conference 2006November 28, Bangkok, Thailand

  2. During this presentation I will briefly address: • How ESL work is different than EFL work • The theoretical basis of my work • The process of apprenticeship in teacher professional development I will expand a bit more on: • Scaffolding as structure and as process • An instantiation of these two aspects in the apprenticeship of a teacher

  3. Student does not need L2 to interact in country of residence Standards for proficiency are quite tolerant The L1 of the student is valued and unquestioned The FL does not displace the L1 Leads to “elite” (Fishman) or “elective” (Valdés) bilingualism The language is required for effective civil participation Standards for proficiency are very demanding Value of students’ L1 is not appreciated by many Over time L1 is displaced by L2 with severe consequences Leads to “folk” or “circumstantial” bilingualism A sociolinguistic look at L2s: Foreign Lg. Second Lg.

  4. Teaching English as a Second Language in the United States • An activity directed at minorities • Stigmatized • Increasing Educational Gaps in the system between majority and minority students • Three demographic facts to illustrate the point…

  5. Demographic changes: Population of ELs by state, 2003-2004

  6. The big surprise: More adolescent ELs are native than foreign born

  7. Average scores of 8th graders in reading by English language proficiency and state: 2003

  8. Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) is based on Sociocultural Theory • Development follows learning (therefore, instruction precedes development) • Participation in activity is central in the development of knowledge • Participation in activity progresses from apprenticeship to appropriation, from the social to the individual plane • Learning can be observed as changes in participation over time

  9. Quality Teaching with ELLs Is premised on apprenticeship notions of schooling. This means that students: • Are perceived and treated as capable, legitimate participants • Engage in rich, intellectually demanding interactions that have been deliberately crafted • Engage in high challenge, high support tasks that provide them with multiple points of entry to the academic community • Takeover responsibilities that are handed over to them

  10. Teachers going through QTEL professional development also learn by participating in activity

  11. During professional development, teachers work through tasks. This enables them to understand the language and pedagogy necessary to implement tasks, and builds the base for pedagogical reflection

  12. Other activities in QTEL’s teacher professional development portfolio • Coaching • Collaborative Lesson Planning • Video Clubs (adaptation of Lesson Study) • Intervisitations • Professional Conferences

  13. Domains of Teacher Expertise QTEL Professional Development Addresses

  14. Vision (beliefs) CONTEXT CONTEXT of teaching of students Knowledge Reflection Motivation subject matter (ELD) 1. anticipatory reasons pedagogical 2. active/interactive incentives pedagogical subject matter 3. recollective emotions students mindfulness self Practice CONTEXT CONTEXT enactment of learning contingent scaffolding ongoing assessment Walqui, 1997, adapted from Shulman, 1995

  15. Teacher expertise • ESL teachers: Specialists in taking students from zero level of proficiency in English to a “threshold level” of understanding and performance in the language • Disciplinary teachers: Take students from that threshold level and teach them at the same time the concepts and relationships studied by the discipline and the language needed to express, discuss, and create within that field

  16. The emphasis of scaffolding(from the students’ point of view) • Is on students’ learning potential • Is not on students’ current abilities • Consequently, we raise the expectations about what is possible: Vygotsky’s notion of prolepsis

  17. Scaffolding takes place within four types of relationships that need to be well constructed in classrooms

  18. Assistance from more capable peers or adults Inner Resources: knowledge, experience, memory investment SELF REGULATION Interaction with less capable peers Interaction with equal peers “If one member of a dyad undergoes developmental change, the other is also likely to do so” (Bronfenbrenner 1979:65) An Expanded ZPD Scaffolding: Modeling… Resourcefulness, Self-access “Docendo discimus” (We learn by teaching) van Lier, 2004

  19. Scaffolding: How does the teacher make it happen? Is a dynamic and situated act that is responsive to a particular set of circumstances in a particular classroom context. It manifests itself: • when teachers plan what to do in a classroom with specific students to ripen their potential (anticipatory reflection) • when they act contingently in a class to support the development of new skills or understandings (scaffolding as process)

  20. Two Elements of Scaffolding: • Conventionalized, ritual structure (constant and flexible): teachers scaffold as they prepare tasks for their students, know what they are good for, decide when they are appropriate, how they connect to each other • An interactional process, jointly constructed from moment to moment: teachers scaffold as they support students’ interactions The process is enabled by the scaffolding structure, and a constant evaluation of the process indicates when parts of the scaffolding structure can be dismantled or shifted elsewhere

  21. Principles of Quality Teaching with Second Language Learners • SustainAcademic Rigor in teaching English Learners • HoldHigh Expectations in teaching English Learners • Engage inQuality Interactionswith English Learners • Sustain aLanguage Focus in teaching English Learners • Develop Quality Curriculain teaching English Learners

  22. The Development of Academic Uses of English • Different disciplines use the same language differently for specific purposes • Academic uses of language, therefore, need to be taught within the disciplines, by subject matter teachers • Within disciplinary language we use the concept of genre

  23. Genre Staged, goal-oriented, purposeful communicative events that a community of practitioners share. • Purpose • Structure • Preferred linguistic instantiations (taking situation into account)

  24. A A A A A A A A B B B B B B B B C C C C C C C C D D D D D D D D Oral Development Jigsaw: From Description to Narrative BASE GROUP EXPERT GROUP A A A A B B B B C C C C D D D D BASE GROUP

  25. Teacher scaffolds the process:Guidelines for the apprenticeship of the genre: description Discusssion of purpose: why do people describe scenes to others? Structure: • Where does the scene take place? • Who is the central character(s) in the picture? • What does this person look like (approximate age, sex, height, face, hair, clothes)? • What is this person doing? • Any other relevant information?

  26. Preferred language: Teacher offers models of language that students may use: • This scene takes place in … • My picture shows … • The picture I have shows a … • The central character in my picture is • In my picture you can see a …

  27. A A A A B B B B C C C C D D D D Oral Development Jigsaw BASE GROUP EXPERT GROUP Genre:Description A A A A B B B B C C C C D D D D

  28. Apprenticing a Second Genre: Narratives… Short Stories Discussion of purpose: Why do people tell stories? Structure: • Setting, title • There is a central character (and other character/s) • Something happens to the character • Resolution • The event transforms the character

  29. A A A A A A A A B B B B B B B B C C C C C C C C D D D D D D D D Oral Development Jigsaw BASE GROUP EXPERT GROUP Description A A A A B B B B C C C C D D D D FromDescriptionTo Narrative BASE GROUP

  30. What would we see in a QTEL class? • Students apprenticing disciplinary English from the teacher and from each other • Students getting multiple opportunities to use the language in deliberate, purposeful ways • Students gradually appropriating language that initially they did not have

  31. The Apprenticeship of One Teacher • Teacher: Roza Ng • School: MS 131, Chinatown, New York City • Students: Range of recent arrivals in the U.S. between three years and three months • Issue that moved Roza to participate in QTEL professional development: traditional, teacher-fronted class

  32. Change is possible, but it requires • Systematic work • Long, sustained, coherent teacher professional development • Building communities of teachers who are supportive of each other in the same way that they need to be supportive of their students • Visions of the possible guiding the work

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