Mei's+thoughts

After reading the material in the NLP Report, a couple of points caught my attention: the age at which children acquire literacy skills has an impact on the rate of English acquisition, and the importance of English oral proficiency. According to Catherine Snow, there is an information gap for teachers on how to best help older immigrant students acquire English. Some of these students may come from a poor or interrupted school environment, or children who have low first-language academic skills. These students will be entering middle school and beyond where they will encounter more difficult written information in which they will need to understand the content in order to perform in the class. I found that some older students have difficulties even though they from a good school environment. Learning a language takes time, and cannot happen overnight. Added to this process, the child must also perform academically. I think Snow is right in pointing out the lack of information in how to best help these students. Their needs are different from a kindergartener/1st grader who does not speak English. I have seen this scenario in which older immigrant children come to this country and encounter difficulties in school. The older students must tackle two tasks at once: learn the language and keep up with the curriculum. The curriculum for the older student includes more complex and abstract concepts than in the lower grades. When the teacher can speak to the student in their first language, the transition is easier, but this does not always happen. There are two sisters who are currently in 3rd and 6th grade. They came to the US from Taiwan towards the end of the last school year. They knew some English because they learned English in Taiwan. The younger student was more willing to converse in English, seemed to adapt to her new environment easier, and could do her homework with lesser difficulties. The older girl hesitated in responding in English even though she understood what was asked and knew the response. She seemed shy or embarrassed. She also experienced more difficulties with her homework, especially in reading the text from science and social science. She had difficulties with the language and understanding the concepts the book was trying to convey. I met the two girls when they were enrolled in an after-school program. This was very important for the older student because she could get homework support in her native language. There was a TA, a high school student who spoke Chinese, who helped her, and I oversaw her progress. There were days when homework went smoothly, and she understood her assignments. At other times, she struggled, and I felt inadequate because I could not speak Chinese to her. I had to rely on other means of communication, drawing, gesturing, simplifying or talking through the TA. During the few months I spent with her, I saw the routine of supporting her with her homework was beneficial. It allowed her to stay current with her classes so she would not fall behind. If a student falls behind, it is often difficult to catch up and can be discouraging for the student. Despite slow progress, she brought along a sense of discipline that allowed her to focus on her work. This was her strength. She did not give up despite difficulties, but just kept on trying. She had an electronic Chinese/English dictionary which she used to help her translate words she did not understand. There was a sense of independence and determination when she was working on her homework. There were times when she wanted to figure things out herself instead of asking for help. Even with someone who spoke Chinese, there were still occasions in which she had difficulties understanding the explanation. This was not a perfect system but it was a way of helping her adapt to a new learning environment. As the school year progressed, she was more inclined to speak. This is very important because it gives her an opportunity to use her English. I believe practice brings about improvements, and in this case, it will also give her confidence in her verbal abilities. According to a study by the University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute, it takes about 3-5 years for LEP students to develop oral proficiency and 4-7 years to attain academic English proficiency. For a kindergartener, he will reach academic proficiency at 3rd to 6th grade, just in time for more difficult curriculum. For the older girl in this scenario, she will be in 10th grade and beyond. How do we as teachers help her reach academic English proficiency as quickly as possible? || ||
 * **Subject:** Reflection NLP || Reply Quote Set Flag  ||