The intent of this paper is to reflect on five key subjects which I have found to be profound and utile in the instruction of English Language Learner ( ELL ) pupils. These cardinal countries will be shown to be utile for learning ELL pupils every bit good as being utile for learning all pupils in my primary instructional assignment of in-between school set manager. Good instruction methods tend to be cosmopolitan and I will show how I intend to use these five constructs for the improvement of ELL pupils in my set every bit good as the general population in my set categories.
The five cardinal subjects I will turn to in this paper are utilizing primary linguistic communication cognition to heighten secondary linguistic communication acquisition, the four spheres of linguistic communication, the four phases of 2nd linguistic communication look, background edifice, and synergistic acquisition experiences. Each subject will be discussed for its importance to my teaching assignment. A 2nd subdivision of the paper will discourse the execution of three of these thoughts, every bit good as the short term and long term additions from utilizing these constructs.
Learners can greatly heighten their acquisition of a 2nd linguistic communication by utilizing cognition from their first linguistic communication. In our coursework this is referred to as ‘using L1 to heighten L2 ‘ . A common misconception of many instructors is that utilizing the primary linguistic communication to assist larning occur in a 2nd linguistic communication is a hinderance, and candidly I started the TESL courses with this frame of head, but my sentiment has changed. Now I see that the utilizing the primary linguistic communication is non merely good but it is indispensable in the procedure of geting a 2nd linguistic communication.
First, the primary linguistic communication uses a set of regulations which may use to the secondary linguistic communication. For illustration, the usage of articles, adjectival arrangement, and plural noun characters are all dealt with harmonizing to regulations in the primary linguistic communication ; these regulations might be the same between two linguistic communications or they could be different. The thought that languages follow regulations is learned from babyhood and this basic construct, one time learned, can assist us when we try to derive a new linguistic communication. As we compare and contrast these new regulations with our primary linguistic communication it helps us to utilize the regulations of the first linguistic communication to larn the regulations of the 2nd one.
I have personally felt this phenomenon when I learned French as a 2nd linguistic communication. In English we might state ‘the bike ‘ or ‘the bikes ‘ ; notice that the article does non alter. However, in Gallic we would hold to utilize a masculine remarkable article ‘le velo ‘ or a plural article ‘les velos ‘ . I had to larn a new regulation in the 2nd linguistic communication. Specifically, I had to larn that articles go plural in Gallic with plural nouns, but I did non hold to larn what an article was. That cognition transferred from my primary linguistic communication. Interestingly, the plural article ‘les ‘ in Gallic becomes ‘los ‘ in Spanish, so now as I am seeking to larn Spanish I am happening it easier because many of the regulations I learned from Gallic work in Spanish. Therefore, non merely does your first linguistic communication aid you learn your 2nd, but besides the 2nd linguistic communication can assist with the 3rd and so on.
The picture besides recommend utilizing blood relations between linguistic communications to construct vocabulary. Blood relations have similar spellings and significances in both linguistic communications and frequently follow regulations and forms every bit good. For illustration ‘-ous ‘ in the English word celebrated becomes ‘-oso ‘ in its Spanish tantamount famoso.
The thought of utilizing the primary linguistic communication to heighten acquisition in the secondary linguistic communication is of import to my learning assignment because the great bulk of my ELL pupils speak Spanish, and I can utilize their primary linguistic communication, Spanish, to assist them larn their 2nd linguistic communication. As a instructor I know that if I pull them in to what I ‘m making utilizing Spanish on occasion, so it will heighten their acquisition and comprehension regardless of the capable affair
Next, the four spheres of linguistic communication are of import because they address all of the maps of linguistic communication. Two of the spheres are expressive, speech production and authorship, so these spheres deal with the production of linguistic communication. The other two spheres, listening and reading, are receptive, intending the pupil is taking in information. The construct of four spheres truly resonated with me because I saw that to genuinely be comfy in a new linguistic communication a pupil must accomplish balance between taking in linguistic communication and bring forthing linguistic communication. Excessively frequently we focus on one sphere to the hurt of the others. As a instructor, I need to retrieve to entree and utilize all of these spheres.
The spheres of linguistic communication are of import to my learning assignment, set, because I have tonss of ELL pupils and understanding these spheres helps me to understand the aid they may necessitate every bit good as the verbal and written information I should anticipate them to bring forth. Furthermore, domains use to the acquisition of musical linguistic communication itself. Music is a linguistic communication and as a set instructor I tend to concentrate on ‘speaking ‘ which is the existent playing of the instrument and ‘reading ‘ which, in set, is the reading of music on the staff. In the hereafter, I need to retrieve to prosecute my set pupils in listening to music being played right and with good tone ; I besides need to make more ‘writing ‘ of music, which to a set member means composing music on the staff. Learning about the four dimensions of linguistic communication made me see that I need to work more on composing and hearing to good sets in public presentation.
Another of import subject, the four phases of linguistic communication look, are preproduction, early production, address outgrowth, and intermediate linguistic communication proficiency. The ground I found this portion of the class to be important is because it clearly defined many of the ELL pupils I teach and allowed me to see more clearly where they were in their lingual development. Knowing what phase an ELL pupil is in helps me to understand how he or she will show cognition, and it helps me to estimate appropriate responses to the ELL pupil. Additionally, believing about the four phases of look besides helped me to look at my set pupils in a whole new manner. If you think of music as a linguistic communication, which I believe it is, so you can see how pupils at different degrees of musical ability can be put into these four classs.
See the preproduction phase. Students are frequently soundless, and point to things they need. They are receptive in this phase ; the linguistic communication is ‘brewing ‘ in their heads. In larning a spoken linguistic communication the coursework says that this stage takes about six months. I see this phase in set category when childs are excessively diffident to play. They will frequently demo me the fingerings for a note, but they prefer to watch me play or hold me demo them clip and once more how to play a certain note. In set this does n’t last six months. Typically I see these sorts of interactions for a hebdomad or two. The 2nd phase, early production, uses individual words and yes or no types of responses. I compare this in my category to the first few choices in the beginning set book where each vocal uses one note. Speech outgrowth comes next, where pupils can utilize simple phrases and answer inquiries utilizing multiple words. What fascinates me is that at this stage in developing a musical ‘vocabulary ‘ set pupils are larning familiar vocals like ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat ‘ and ‘Mary Had a Llittle Lamb ‘ , while this phase of spoken linguistic communication involves really familiar inquiries like ‘Can I travel to the bathroom ‘ . There is a strong analogue here between music and linguistic communication development. The concluding phase of intermediate linguistic communication proficiency involves longer sentences and more complicated address maps. In set I compare this to the 2nd twelvemonth of musical survey where pupils begin to execute longer plants with multiple subdivisions that require a more advanced artistic production of the music.
The thought of edifice background is another thought I found really utile. It comes from the picture section with Dr. Gil Garcia. Background edifice is a comprehension scheme where fundamentally you have to give your pupils the background cognition they need in order for them to truly grok what they are reading. Any background, such as pictures, images, or Powerpoints, will assist. We have to understand that pupils from another portion of the universe may hold no thought what we are reading about and their ability to understand the words will be reduced because they have no contextual mentions.
This thought applies to my set categories in an interesting manner. Teaching novice set pupils is much like learning a new linguistic communication, and when we come upon a new manner of music, background cognition will decidedly assist them execute better. One illustration is march manner. I have old ages of experience with executing Marches and hence I know what a concert March entails. New instrumentalists, on the other manus, may hold no thought what a March is supposed to sound like, so some historical content every bit good as picture or recordings of good March public presentations will decidedly do it easier for them to understand how a March should sound.
The last picture section for our category was truly good because it was all about synergistic acquisition. The ground why I found this to be so powerful was that the presenter did a long section in Spanish and I was holding a really difficult clip groking what he was stating. However, the presenter used tonss of ocular cues both in his facial looks and vocal inflexions, every bit good as Powerpoint slides that made it much easier to follow his talk. I realized how critical it is to give the ELL pupil some ocular cues to utilize as ground tackles when seeking to understand a new linguistic communication. Besides synergistic activities that help the ELL pupil comprehend vocabulary are much more powerful than merely stating words to them. Manipulatives, images, and moving out things with props are good illustrations of ways to integrate synergistic things into lessons. The statistics given in the concluding picture talk turn out how powerful making activities is when compared to passive hearing. Harmonizing to the picture talk, we retain about 90 per centum of what we actively do, but merely 30 per centum of what we see, and merely 20 per centum of what we hear. So making activities related to larning a linguistic communication is an of import construct.
My current set pupils will profit from this because it reminds me to remain actively engaged in bring forthing music or interacting together on music related thoughts. I need to retrieve to speak less and make more. This simple regulation should increase the comprehension and acquisition of my pupils because they will be active participants instead than inactive hearers.
Execution of These Key Concepts
One thought I would wish to implement in my set room is the synergistic acquisition experience called the expectancy usher. A defeat I have had in my set categories is acquiring pupils focused on reading auxiliary stuffs related to our music. My novice method book has tonss of enrichment stuffs, but the pupils ever scoff at reading them or listening to me discourse the enrichment course of study. For illustration, song figure one hundred thirty-one in my get downing set book is Ode to Joy by Beethoven. A auxiliary activity included in the book discusses the life of Beethoven, his achievements, place of birth, and so forth. I intend to utilize an expectancy usher with this activity following twelvemonth so that I can acquire childs excited about happening the right replies. On the short term, I expect the Beethoven expectancy usher to concentrate the category on the undertaking and acquire the childs interested in happening the existent facts about Beethoven. On the long term, utilizing expectancy ushers for composer facts should better keeping of some of the facts related to composers and the history of their lives.
A 2nd thought I can visualize utilizing in set is more phrases in the ELL pupil ‘s primary linguistic communication. Since I have learned through the coursework that the primary linguistic communication, or L1, can assist better the acquisition of the secondary linguistic communication, or L2, I have seen the value of talking to the ELL pupils in their primary linguistic communication whenever possible or appropriate. I will implement this cardinal thought in two ways. First, if possible, I will happen another higher-functioning individual in the category that speaks the ELL pupil ‘s primary linguistic communication and I will hold this individual aid to interpret thoughts and aid. Second, I intend to larn more Spanish every bit shortly as I can since most of my ELL population is Spanish-speaking at place. On the short-run, I think I will see better success rates among my ELL set pupils and as a long-run benefit, I think many of my Spanish-speaking ELL pupils will appreciate that I respect their linguistic communication plenty to pick up some of it so I can assist them more expeditiously.
A concluding thought I will implement in my set classes relates to the four spheres of linguistic communication. As stated earlier in this paper, I already do tonss of reading and ‘speaking ‘ musically ( I refer to talking in the context of music as existent production of sound on an instrument ) . What has been missing in my categories is the authorship and listening spheres of the musical linguistic communication. Following twelvemonth, I intend to hold the pupils compose more music and maintain a portfolio of their little written extracts which I can rate as one-fourth undertakings. I will besides utilize more hearing to the ‘language ‘ of set music by holding great set public presentations on the two-channel each twenty-four hours as pupils come in my room. On the short-run I expect that my set pupils will develop a better construct of a good set sound and they will larn their notes and beat on the staff much quicker. Long term, I anticipate that comprehension and keeping of musical constructs will better by utilizing a more balanced attack to all four of the spheres of the ‘language ‘ of music.
In decision, I have listed cardinal thoughts from the coursework which I find utile and powerful. I have besides shown ways in which these lingual thoughts apply to my set categories. A powerful connexion between music and linguistic communication is apparent, and I will utilize this to the benefit of my pupils in the coming old ages.
