AIOU Course Code 1655-1 Solved Assignment Autumn 2021
Course: Teaching of English (1655) Semester: Autumn, 2021
Level: ADE/BEd. (4-Years)
ASSIGNMENT No.1
Q.1 Discuss the nature and scope of learning English. Also highlight the role of teachers and students in acquisition of English language.
Ans
Learning to read, to ride a bicycle, to act,
to use a computer, to play the guitar etc. Each one of us learns something or the
other intentionally or accidentally. Learning situations are most natural and common
in our life. Every moment you learn something or the other because of the varied
experience you have in life. In the educational process, the central idea is learning.
A child learns right from his birth
and goes on learning throughout his lifetime. An infant is quite helpless at birth,
but slowly he learns to adopt himself to the environment around him.
e.g. A child approaches a burning
matchstick; the child burns his hand and withdraws. Another time when he comes to
a burning matchstick, he takes no time to withdraw himself away. He learns to avoid
not only the burning matchstick but also all burning things. When this happens,
the child has learnt that if one touches a flame, one gets burnt. In this way, the
change in the behavior of an individual occurs through direct or indirect experiences.
This change in behavior brought about by experience is called as learning. This
is a very simple explanation of the term learning. Now let us understand the meaning
and definitions of learning.
CONCEPT OF LEARNING
Meaning and Definitions of learning
Learning, in psychology, the process
by which a relatively lasting change in potential behaviour occurs because of practice
or experience. Learning is also a process of acquiring modifications in existing knowledge, skills, habits,
or tendencies through experience, practice,
or exercise.
Gates and others ―Learning
is the modification of behavior through experience‖
Henry, P Smith ―Learning is
the acquisition of new behavior or strengthening or weakening of old behavior
as a result of experience‖.
Crow and Crow ―Learning is
the acquisition of habits, knowledge and attitudes. It involves new ways of doing
things, and it operates in an individual‘s attempt to overcome obstacles or to adjust
to new situations.‖
Skinner ―Learning is the process
of progressive behavior adaptation.‖
Munn ―To learn is to modify
behavior and experience.‖
- L. Bigge ―Learning may be
considered as change in insights, behavior, perception, motivation or a combination
of these.‖
The above definitions emphasize
four attributes of learning…
- As Process: the first is that learning
is permanent change in behavior. - It does not include change due to
illness, fatigue, maturation and use of intoxicant. - The learning is not directly observable
but manifests in the activities of the individual. - Learning depends on practice and experience.
Nature of Learning:
Learning is adaptation or adjustment: All
persons continuously interact with their environment. We often make adjustment and
adapt to our social environment. Through a process of continuous learning, the individual
prepares himself for necessary adjustment or adaptation. That is why learning is
also described as a process of progressive adjustment to ever changing conditions,
which one encounters.
Learning is improvement: Learning is often
considered as a process of improvement with practice or training. We learn many
things, which help us to improve our performance.
Learning is organizing experience: Learning
is not mere addition of knowledge. It is the reorganization of experience.- Learning
brings behavioral changes: Whatever the direction of the changes may be, learning
brings progressive changes in the behaviour of
an individual. That is why he is able to adjust to changing situations. - Learning
is active: Learning does not take place without a purpose and self-activity.
In any teaching learning process, the activity of the learner counts more than the
activity of a teacher. - Learning
is goal directed: When the aim and purpose of learning is clear, an individual
learns immediately. It is the purpose or goal, which determines what, the learner
sees in the learning situations and how he acts. If there is no purpose or goal,
learning can hardly be seen. - Learning
is universal and continuous: All living creatures learn. Every moment the individual
engages himself to learn more and more. Right from the birth of a child till the
death, learning continues.
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING
Yoakum & Simpson have stated
the following general characteristics of learning: Learning is growth, adjustment,
organisation of experience, purposeful, both individual and social product of
the environment.
According to W.R McLaw learning has the following characteristics.
- Learning is a continuous modification of behaviour
which continues throughout life - Learning
is pervasive. It reaches into all aspects of human life. - Learning
involves the whole person, socially, emotionally & intellectually. - Learning
is often a change in the organisation of behaviour. - Learning
is development. Time is one of its dimensions. - Learning
is responsive to incentives. In most cases
positive incentives such as rewards are most effective than negative incentives
such as punishments. - Learning
is always concerned with goals. These goals can be expressed in terms of
observable behaviour. - Interest
& learning are positively related. The individual learns best those things,
which he is interested in learning. Most boys find learning to play football easier
than learning to add fractions. - Learning
depends on maturation and motivation.
These studies proposed that L2 teachers play one of the most influential roles to help students engage and persist in the long process of second language acquisition. Among the role that teachers play in L2 classes are initiator, facilitator, motivator, ideal model of the target language speaker, mentor, consultant, and mental supporter.
TEACHER AS A LEARNER
Teaching and Learning is a continuous process and wherein strategies may differ with the moving generations.
Though we find many changes in the education system, but the role of a teacher will remain the same but with slight
changes. The teacher’s job is to convince the student that education fulfills the need and learning in the classroom. A
Teacher has to think from the learners’ perspective before she plans to interact with the students. When a teacher plans with
the learners’ perspective and starts teaching, students can receive the information without any hesitation in grasping the
things.
TEACHER AS A LEARNER
Teaching and Learning is a continuous process and wherein strategies may differ with the moving generations.
Though we find many changes in the education system, but the role of a teacher will remain the same but with slight
changes. The teacher’s job is to convince the student that education fulfills the need and learning in the classroom. A
Teacher has to think from the learners’ perspective before she plans to interact with the students. When a teacher plans with
the learners’ perspective and starts teaching, students can receive the information without any hesitation in grasping the
things.
TEACHER AS A LEARNER
Teaching and Learning is a continuous process and wherein strategies may differ with the moving generations.
Though we find many changes in the education system, but the role of a teacher will remain the same but with slight
changes. The teacher’s job is to convince the student that education fulfills the need and learning in the classroom. A
Teacher has to think from the learners’ perspective before she plans to interact with the students. When a teacher plans with
the learners’ perspective and starts teaching, students can receive the information without any hesitation in grasping the
things.
TEACHER AS A LEARNER
Teaching and Learning is a continuous process and wherein strategies may differ with the moving generations.
Though we find many changes in the education system, but the role of a teacher will remain the same but with slight
changes. The teacher’s job is to convince the student that education fulfills the need and learning in the classroom. A
Teacher has to think from the learners’ perspective before she plans to interact with the students. When a teacher plans with
the learners’ perspective and starts teaching, students can receive the information without any hesitation in grasping the
things.
TEACHER AS A LEARNER
Teaching and Learning is a continuous process and wherein strategies may differ with the moving generations.
Though we find many changes in the education system, but the role of a teacher will remain the same but with slight
changes. The teacher’s job is to convince the student that education fulfills the need and learning in the classroom. A
Teacher has to think from the learners’ perspective before she plans to interact with the students. When a teacher plans with
the learners’ perspective and starts teaching, students can receive the information without any hesitation in grasping the
things.
TEACHER AS A LEARNER
Teaching and Learning is a continuous process and wherein strategies may differ with the moving generations.
Though we find many changes in the education system, but the role of a teacher will remain the same but with slight
changes. The teacher’s job is to convince the student that education fulfills the need and learning in the classroom. A
Teacher has to think from the learners’ perspective before she plans to interact with the students. When a teacher plans with
the learners’ perspective and starts teaching, students can receive the information without any hesitation in grasping the
things.
TEACHER AS A LEARNER
Teaching and Learning is a continuous process and wherein strategies may differ with the moving generations.
Though we find many changes in the education system, but the role of a teacher will remain the same but with slight
changes. The teacher’s job is to convince the student that education fulfills the need and learning in the classroom. A
Teacher has to think from the learners’ perspective before she plans to interact with the students. When a teacher plans with
the learners’ perspective and starts teaching, students can receive the information without any hesitation in grasping the
things.
Motivation plays a significant role in the rate and success of second and foreign language learning in general, and in classroom language learning in particular
. Motivation “provides the
Primary impetus to initiate learning the second language and later the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process
117). Motivation, however, is “complex” and “multifaceted construct” (Gardner, 1985; Williams
& Burden, 1997). It consists of such factors as the attached value of a task, the rate of success expected by learners, whether learners believe they are competent enough to succeed, and what they think to be the reason for their success or failure at the task (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011).Motivating learners to develop in the target language is acknowledged to be a complex process. In many instances, students face many obstacles in learning English and are often demotivated to learn. However, certain motivational strategies, identified by research on motivation, can help learners adopt more positive attitudes towards language learning. This paper synthesizes major theories on motivation, discusses the role of teachers in motivating students, and presents a comprehensive review of motivational strategies that can be used by teachers in their classrooms. This paper concludes with a call for teachers to focus more on
Learners’
Motivation and try to employ appropriate motivational strategies so that they can achieve their ultimate purpose of helping students make the most of their language learning experience.
Overview of Theories on Motivation
Research into second language motivation dates back to the late 1950s and flourished inthe 1970s with the pioneering work of Lambert and Gardner. Gardner (1985) proposed three key
components of L2 motivation: (a) “motivational intensity or effort
(c) “Attitudes towards learning the language”, (
Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011, p. 41).Gardner distinguishes between motivation and what he called orientation, where orientation stands for a goal. Orientation is an incentive that gives rise to motivation and steers it towards a
Set of goals. Strictly speaking, orientations are not part of motivation but function as
“Motivational antecedents” (
Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011, p. 41). Gardner identified two main orientations through his research: an integrative orientation, which is an interest in interacting with the L2 language group; and an instrumental orientation, an interest in the more materialistic and practical advantages of learning a new language, such as aspiration for a better career. The
integrative component in Gardner’s work is consistently cited in empirical studies as “explaining significant portion in the variance in language learners’ motivational disposition and motivated learning behavior” (
Dörnyei, 2003, p. 5). Gardner described the difference between these orientations and actual motivation. For example, an integrative orientation was a class of reasons suggesting why a person might undertake language study, including a desire to integrate with a particular language community. By itself, this reflected a goal that might or might not lack motivational power. In contrast, an integrative motive included this orientation, plus the motivation, which included desire, motivational intensity, and a number of other attitudes involving the target language community.
Q.2 Describe different methods of Teaching English. Also highlight merits and demerits of these methods.
Ans
The method of teaching English focused on translating the texts in Latin to the native language and then gaining it, in line with the grammatical rules and vocabulary of Latin. The rote learning method is the most used method to learn vocabulary. Later on, this method was used to learn other languages that were considered a second language.
Today, English is the worlds most widely studied foreign language. Five hundred years ago, Latin was the most dominant language to be studied because it was the language of business, commerce and education in the western world. In the sixteenth century, however, French, Italian and English gain in importance as a result of political change in Europe and Latin gradually became displaced as a language of spoken and written communication (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
Latin became a dead language. It was being started to read in the books as classic language. Children started to enter in the ‘grammar school’ in sixteenth and eighteenth centuries to learn grammar rules of Latin. To learn Latin language became a “mental gymnastic”. In the eighteenth century, when modern languages began to enter in the curriculum of the European countries, these languages were taught by the same methods as Latin language was taught. Grammatical rules were memorized. Written practices were done. The passages were translated from the second language to the first language and vice versa (ibid).
By the nineteenth century, this method was considered as a standard method of teaching language. The textbooks were divided into chapters. Each chapter contained a certain grammatical rule and rule was practices with a lot of written exercises (ibid).
Methods and Approaches of English Language Teaching
According to Asher and James (1982), Methods are the combination of techniques that are used and plasticized by the teachers in the classrooms in order to teach their students and approaches are the philosophies of teachers about language teaching that can be applied in the classrooms by using different techniques of language teaching. For example, if a teacher has an approach that language is the communication and learning a language is in fact learning the meanings, functions and uses of language. So the techniques will be based on the communicative language teaching and task based methods.
According to Freeman (2000), Methods which are taught to the teachers make a base and give them thinking about the applicable techniques and principles according to the situation where they stand. They are clear about their attraction towards certain methods and also think that why have they repelled certain method. The knowledge of method is very necessary because their knowledge is base of teaching.
Grammar Translation Method
Grammar translation method was the most popular and widely used method for language teaching between the ages of 1840 to 1940. But this method was first used for teaching and learning Latin language which was not the language of common use at that time. Latin was considered as a classic language. The learners were made able to study the literature of Latin language through learning the grammatical rules of language and learning the vocabulary so that learners may translate the language in their first language and in the second language. Grammar translation method was criticized intensively in the nineteenth century because it was considered that this method cannot fulfill the demands of language learning in nineteenth century.
Direct Method
The direct method was the outcome of the reaction against the grammar translation method. It was based on the assumption that the learners of foreign and second language should directly think in English. This method is against the translation of written and oral text and focuses on telling the meanings of the words through action, demonstration or real objects. This method focuses on directly thinking, doing discussion and conversation in second language (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
Purwarno (2006) described the aims of the direct method. He described that direct method is an attempt and effort to form a link between thought and expression and between experience and language.
Direct method was criticized due to the following reasons:
- Direct method is successful in private language schools because this method can be applied only in small classes where all the learners can get individual attention.
- In Direct method, the teachers extravagantly excel in keeping the mother tongue of the learners away from them.
- Direct method demands the learners to do oral communication in the second language and it also demands the pronunciation and accent to be just like the native speakers so there is need for the language school to hire the native speakers which actually can be very expensive.
- The success of the direct method depends on the teacher’s skills and personality more than on the methodology (Richards and Rodgers, 1986).
Structural Approach
The structural approach mainly employs the techniques of the direct method but the reading and writing skills are not wholly neglected. The structural approach is based on the sound principles of language learning. The structural approach says that the arrangement of the words in such a way as to form a suitable pattern and that pattern may make the meanings of the language clear to us. Any language has its own structure and skeleton which gives this language a decent appearance. A structure is a pattern and a particular arrangement of words which to indicate grammatical meanings. It may be a word, a phrase or a sentence (Gauridushi, 2011).
Structural approach was criticized because it was only suitable for lower grades. Continuous teaching of structures and their repetition make the atmosphere dull and boring. It also neglected the reading and writing abilities and there was also a lack of skilled teachers (Sharma, 2011).
Oral Approach / Situational Language Teaching
The oral approach is a method in which children to use whatever hearing they get from their surroundings. They also take help from the context to understand and use language. The target is to develop the skills in the individual so that he can communicate and function independently. This approach helps in the development of reading and writing skills (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
The oral approach was developed from 1930s to the 1960s by British applied linguistics such as Harold Palmer and A.S. Hornsby. The main difference between oral approach and the direct method was that the methods which were developed under this approach had theoretical principles about the selection, grading and presentation of the content and material. This sequencing of the content would lead to better learning with a good knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical patterns. In this approach all the points of language were to be presented in “situations” which led to the second name of the approach i.e. situational language teaching. Although, the teachers are not aware of this approach today but it had long lasting impact on language learning. However, its focus on oral practice, grammar and sentence patterns is still supported by the teachers (ibid).
Q.3 What are the factors affecting learning pronunciation? Also discuss the causes of defective pronunciation in Pakistan.
Ans
there are some important factors that one person must notice in the way of learning pronunciation which are accent, stress, intonation, and rhythm in the comprehensibility of the speech of nonnative speakers; the effects of motivation and exposure on the development of native-like pronunciation; and the intelligibility of speech among speakers of different English varieties.
Language is an important element of our lives and as it is an important piece in our everyday life, by itself, is a debatable topic which have the specialists in language area arguing about the form of how is acquired by human beings, as a first, second or third language, the first reflection that is made about treat it as social phenomenon, where literates say that is a very complex exercise in the socioliguistic relationships among humans, because since the first years, we must remember that human being is a social animal, children understand that is the path that we follow to establish social relations with others and it is, too, comprehended what if we do not use language we are condemned to live isolated. We are able to learn since our first years variations in the intonation and intentionality in our messages sent or received, which give us the flexibility to have an effective communication, having a natural impulse to search social relations.
In the 70s, Roger Brown (Brown, 1973) investigated some of the characteristics of first language acquisition (FLA), were he says that “despite individual differences in rate of language learning, all first language learners seem to progress through different stages of acquisition”, where we notice that human beings have the same abilities to acquire and develop the use of language. In this point, we can speak about the influence that receives a child, by the social environment where he or she grows, because is going to learn the language which is exposed to, and not the language that his or her biological parents speak. B. F. Skinner (Skinner as cited by Mcleod, 1938) made and adaptation to Pavlov’s model which was called operant conditioning where he says that children learned to apply different kinds of language to different situations, and he or she notices the convenience to use language in the stages of life.
Chomsky (1966) was other of literates who spoke about language acquisition, he established a theory named transformation-generative (TG) where he says grammar rules are innate to human being, and they lay inside the deep structure of all languages and he calls that universal grammar (UG), he considers the mind of the new born as a tabula rasa, that means it is a clean field where all child’s experience was written and there lies a preprogrammed linguistic competence.
Lev Vygotsky (Vygotsky as cited by Kozulin, 2003) spoke about the zone of proximal development where he says that “the relation between thought and word is a living person”. He does not rejects the behavioral idea which speaks about the influence that has environment in the learning process, here is establishes that children attempt to communicate and, in their attempts, learn language.
After that, the area of sociolinguistics, where we can speak about how social differences affects language and, here we can look different models that affect language acquisition, like Acculturation Model, Gile’s Speech Accommodation Model, Hermann’s Resultative Hypothesis. In the Acculturation Model which speaks about socioeconomic differences, provoke that acculturation could be stopped because differentiation is too high, and each one of the cultures involved in the relationship believe is not important to learn others language. Gile’s Speech Accommodation, this speaks about how some people, many times, believe he feels that is superior and think is treating with uneducated people, and by this assumption provokes a separation between interlocutors. Hermann’s Resultative Hypothesis says that says that SLA success can affect social attitudes in a direct and positive manner.
In the group of skills, which must be developed by the learner, we find reading, writing, listening and speaking these skills are the core of the learning process, but only recently speaking has gained importance. In this skill one of the most important issues which must be mastered by students, and one of the biggest headaches are produced by pronunciation, around the world pronunciation is hard or easy for different cultures, that is depending of the linguistic system of the local language.
As defined by Seidlhofer (1995) pronunciation is:
“The production and perception of the significant sounds of a particular language in order to achieve meaning in contexts of language use. This comprises the production and perception of segmental sounds, of stressed and unstressed syllables, and of the ‘speech melody’, or intonation. Also, the way we sound is influenced greatly by factors such as voice quality, speech rate and overall loudness. Whenever we say something, all these aspects are present simultaneously from the very start, even in a two-syllable utterance such as Hello!”.
Celce-murcia (1997) mentions what the approaches developed to teach pronunciation are two: An intuitive-imitative approach and an analytic-linguistic approach.
The intuitive-imitative approach is based in the ability of the student to listen and imitate the rhythms and sounds of the studied language without any explicit information about the forms of pronunciation. In this approach the problem is the model to be imitated, because here the learner must have a good model to avoid the acquisition of mispronunciation, if the teacher is the model he or she must have a good performance in the area to be an appropriate precedent for the future English speaker, if the model are recordings of other people, is the same case, this model must be suitable for the student.
The analytic-linguistic approach uses information and tools to support the pronunciation development. With this model the teacher must have the abilities to handle the resources in a correct form, and the materials must have enough quality to be convenient.
Then, the learner has a lot of issues which must be overtaken to advance in the process of language learning, and these factors are going to challenge to the student to achieve the goal and acquire a new language. As stated by Schaetzel (2009) there are some important factors that one person must notice in the way of learning pronunciation which are accent, stress, intonation, and rhythm in the comprehensibility of the speech of nonnative speakers; the effects of motivation and exposure on the development of native-like pronunciation; and the intelligibility of speech among speakers of different English varieties.
The accent is defined by Schaetzel as “the cumulative auditory effect of those features of pronunciation that identify where a person is from, regionally or socially” then one of the goals of a learner is to sound as native. The Critical Period Hypothesis is supported by some linguistics, and that says that a learner must start to learn the language before seven years old to acquire a pronunciation native-like.
Q.4 Discuss the difficulties faced by students in learning vocabulary? Also discuss different types of vocabulary.
Ans
inds of difficulties faced by the students were (1) almost all of the students have difficulties in pronouncing the words, (2) how to write and spell, (3) the different grammatical form of a word known as inflections was one of causes of students difficulties in learning vocabulary. In addition, (4) the students found difficulties in choosing the appropriate meaning of the words and (5) also still confuse in using the word based on the context.
A Study on Students’ Difficulties in Learning Vocabulary” were to find out kinds and factors of students’ difficulties in learning vocabulary. The subject of this study was the students of the first semester of English Education Department at IAIN who took vocabulary class. This study employed a qualitative research design, implementing characteristics of a case study. For gaining the data, the researcher used interview and questionnaire. All the data were analyzed descriptively. The findings showed that the students still faced the problems or difficulties in vocabulary learning. Kinds of difficulties faced by students in vocabulary learning were various. Kinds of difficulties faced by the students were (1) almost all of the students have difficulties in pronouncing the words, (2) how to write and spell, (3) the different grammatical form of a word known as inflections was one of causes of students difficulties in learning vocabulary. In addition, (4) the students found difficulties in choosing the appropriate meaning of the words and (5) also still confuse in using the word based on the context. The last, (6) the students were also still confuse when they found words or expression that were idiomatic. There were some factors that caused students’ difficulties in learning vocabulary (1) the written form is different from the spoken form in English, (2) The number of words that students need to learn is exceedingly large, (3) the limitations of sources of information about words, (4) The complexity of word knowledge. Knowing a words involves much more than knowing its dictionary definition, (5) causes of lack of understanding of grammatical of the words, (6) the incorrect pronunciation is often caused by the lack of sound similarity between English and the students’ native language.
There are four main types of vocabulary. These are reading, writing, listening and speaking vocabularies. A vocabulary means both a list of words and the range of words known by any one person. A person’s vocabulary develops with age and learning.
The word vocabulary entered the English lexicon in the 1530s and is derived from the Latin word ‘vocabularium,’ meaning ‘a list of words.’ It gained its modern meaning, the sum of all words known by a person, in the 1700s. Eminent writers such as William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens are known for their large vocabularies.
If the term is used to mean a list of words, there are several types of vocabulary. These can be divided, as with grammatical classes, into adjectives, nouns and verbs. They could also be divided, as with the different fields of semantics, into categories as diverse as emotions, colors, animals and human body parts. When dealing with the types of vocabulary, the four types, including reading and writing, are the most commonly used.
A person’s knowledge of words is divided into two broad types of vocabulary: the active and the passive. An active piece of vocabulary is a word a person uses and a passive word is one that a person understands, but does not use. There are several degrees of knowledge ranging from no understanding of a word to the full knowledge of the word’s meaning, forms and how to use it.
A read vocabulary is a passive one. This means it is the words understood by the reader when he or she is reading a piece of written text. The person is able to recognize the form of the letters and how they correspond to one another, and how their sum is understood. This also includes understanding a word’s spelling, meaning and the exact meaning in its context.
Listening is also a passive type of vocabulary. The listener is able to link the words being spoken to their meaning. This level of understanding is aided by word context, intonation and, if there is visual contact with the speaker, by gestures and facial expressions. Listening is, like reading, an interpretational form of vocabulary.
Writing is the active vocabulary equivalent to reading. With reading, it forms the core skills needed for someone to be literate. The writer demonstrates his or her knowledge of a word in terms of its meaning and how to spell it and use it correctly.
Speaking is one of the types of vocabulary that demonstrates a person’s knowledge of words. It is an active demonstration that can also rely on other elements such as facial expressions, intonation, pitch and gestures to help others understand its meaning. Knowledge of a word is demonstrated by its good usage and pronunciation.
Q.5 Discuss the vocabulary learning stages as second language acquisition for learners. Share your own learning experiences regarding vocabulary.
Ans
Acquiring a second language is a whole other process in itself. With second language acquisition, the learner possesses knowledge in their first language, and then begins to learn elements in the new language, such as vocabulary or grammar. There are five stages in second language acquisition. However, every individual moves at their own pace throughout the process. As teachers, it is important to be aware of where your English Language Learners (ELLs) are within the stages in order to provide adequate accommodations.
Stage I : Pre-Production
- This stage is also referred to as the “silent period”, because students tend to be non-verbal. These new ELLs listen attentively and can copy words off the board. However, they may become frustrated or overwhelmed by hearing a foreign language all day.
- Length of stage: Zero to six months
- What can you do? Use gestures, hand movements, and visuals when speaking to students in this stage. Make sure to pair students with a buddy for peer learning opportunities.
Stage II: Early Production
- During this stage, language and comprehension are limited. ELLs produce one- to two-word phrases and may repeat commonly used social language.
- Length of stage: Six months to a year
- What can you do? Ask students yes or no questions and accept one or two word responses. Continue to build vocabulary with the use of pictures.
Stage III: Speech Emergence
- Students demonstrate increased language development as they communicate in simple sentences, sound out stories phonetically, and understand easy picture books. At this stage, ELLs can complete tasks such as using a graphic organizer with a word bank and matching vocabulary words with their definitions.
- Length of stage: One to three years
- What can you do? Introduce academic vocabulary and model how to use it in a sentence. Provide fill-in the blank options for assignments. Share a dialogue
- journal with students to communicate regularly and offer written word practice.
Stage IV: Intermediate Fluency
- ELLs use more complex language in oral and written form. Nonetheless, they may use incorrect grammar or verb tense. Students begin to think in the new language, rather than translating from their native language.
- Length of stage: Three to five years
- What can you do? Introduce students to idioms and colloquialisms. Give students a larger role in cooperative learning activities.
Stage V: Advanced Fluency
- At this performance level, most students exit their ELL program. Students reach near-native proficiency and produce highly accurate language. They also exhibit high levels of comprehension, but may not understand all academic language.
- Length of stage: It takes four to ten years to achieve cognitive academic language proficiency in a second language.
- What can you do? Continue using visuals to assist with content-specific language. Offer challenging activities, such as identifying synonyms and antonyms, in order to expand vocabulary knowledge.