Module 2 Teaching ESL students in mainstream classrooms

Module 2

Teaching ESL students in mainstream classrooms

In this module, we:• introduce the theories of language, learning and

teaching that underpin the course• develop our understanding of the relationship between

text and context and the implications for our classrooms

• examine a teaching and learning cycle that allows for language to be a focus in an integrated and scaffolded approach.

Teaching ESL students in mainstream classrooms Module 2

2

Module 2 overview

Context

Text


3

Text in context

Similarly, we can make predictions about the context from the text. The aim of this session is to explore the relationship between a text and its context. We can represent this in the following way.

Whenever we interact with someone, whether through spoken or written language, we have certain expectations about what we will hear or read. This is because the context in which language is used helps us to predict the text that will result.


4

Introducing the functional model of language

Context

Text

Context of culture

Context of situation

Language

Context can be seen at two levels: the broader context of culture and the more specific context of situation.

A text can be seen as one set of choices from the language system.

We have seen that there is a relationship between any text and its context. We will now move into a more nuanced understanding of both context and text through the functional model of language.


5

Using the functional model of language

Context of culture


Language

Genre What is the cultural activity here? What name do we give it? When we name these patterned cultural activities, we are considering genre.

Let’s consider a text and ask a series of questions dealing with context and language.

Sample text for Scenario 1D: Good morning, Mr Jones.P: Morning, Doctor.D: How can I help?P: Well, I just got back from a

school camp and I’ve been feeling pretty terrible since.

D: Tell me more about that.P: I’ve been feverish and I’ve been

vomiting and I’m a bit worried because several students who went to the camp have been diagnosed with hepatitis.

D: Oh, I see. And have you had any other symptoms?

P: Well, I’ve had diarrhoea. D: Okay, it could be hepatitis, so we’d

better do some tests to be sure. Hop up on the bed and we’ll have a closer look at you.

GenreDoctor–patient consultation

Scenario 1D: Good morning, Mr Jones.P: Morning, Doctor.D: How can I help?P: Well, I just got back from a








6


Context of culture


Language

Genre If we ask—What is this specific doctor–patient consultation about?—we are identifying its field.

FieldA doctor and her patient establishing the problem, the symptoms and possible action.


Field









7


Context of culture


Language

Genre If we ask—Whatroles are beingtaken up by the people involved and the nature oftheir relationship?—we areidentifying its tenor.



TenorOne is taking on the role of doctor, asking questions and giving commands, and the other a patient, responding. The relationship is professional with some social distance reflecting status and infrequent contact.

Field

Tenor









8


Context of culture


Language

Genre If we ask—How is the message being conveyed and how spoken or written is it?—we are identifying its mode.

Field



Tenor


Mode

ModeIt is face-to-face, and is very spoken with some accompanying action.









9


Context of culture


Language

Genre Any set of these three variables—field, tenor, and mode—is called the register.

Field



Tenor


Mode

ModeIt is face-to-face, and is very spoken with some accompanying action.

Register

Sample text for Scenario 3<school address><school phone number><school email address>Dear Parents and CaregiversI write to inform you that a number of students and one of the teachers, Ms Kahma, who attended the recent Grade 3 camp, have contracted hepatitis.Attached to this letter is a fact sheet fromthe Health Department regarding hepatitis. As it is a highly contagious virus, you are strongly advised to consult your family doctor if you or anyone in your family has been in contact with anybody who attended the camp.Ms Kahma will be absent from school for at least two months and Mr Bruno will be replacing her as class teacher of Class 3P. If you have any questions regarding any of the above, please don’t hesitate to contact me at the above number or email address.With kind regards<school principal>

The people involved in the incident (‘a number of [Grade 3] students’, ‘one of the teachers, Ms Kahma’) and those reacting to it (‘principal’, ‘parents’, ‘Health Department’, ‘family doctor’, ‘Ms Kahma’, ‘Mr Bruno’), the incident (‘attended the recent Grade 3 camp’, ‘have contracted hepatitis’), actions taken (‘I write … this letter’, ‘a fact sheet’, ‘absent from school for at least two months …’), an offer to be contacted (‘don’t hesitate …’).

School–home communication following an incident: begins with address then salutations, then the incident, details about the health effects, implications for the school, and offer to clarify …

One has the role of principal, of being in charge, informing and advising; the others of recipients who could take action (‘I write to inform you’, ‘consult your doctor’). The relationship is professional (‘with kind regards’) with significant social distance reflecting authority and the grave situation (‘strongly advised’).

What is the genre? How does it unfold?

What is the field of the text? What language choices show this?

What is the tenor of the text? What language choices show this?

What is the mode of the text? What language choices show this?


10

It is written on a letterhead as a stand-alone text (‘I write’, ‘this letter’, ‘any of the above’, ‘contact me …’).

Field

Tenor

Mode

everydayconcrete

technicalabstract

formalimpersonal

informed

informal personalnovice

most writtengeneralised

language constitutes the text

most spoken‘here-and-now’language accompanying action

We can see in the field continuum that we move from everyday and concrete fields to highly technical and abstract fields.

In the tenor continuum, we move from contexts which are marked by informality to contexts which are marked by formality.

In terms of mode, at one end we have texts that are highly spoken and accompanying action and, at the other end, we have texts that are highly written, where language constitutes the text.


11

Understanding the register continuum

We have seen that the register is made up of three variables: the field, tenor and mode. In educational contexts, it is very helpful for us to see each of these variables along a continuum.

doctor–patient consultation

email to friend

principal’s letter

insurance claim covering letter


12

Plotting texts on the register continuum

everydayconcrete

technical abstract

formalimpersonal

informed





doctor–patient consultation

email to friend

principal’s letter

insurance claim covering letter


13


We will now use the register continuum to plan what we teach and the order we teach it.


14

everydayconcrete

technical abstract

formalimpersonal

informed






The teaching and learning cycle allows us to provide a scaffolding framework for students as they work through these activities to develop control of any given genre and its register. We can represent this diagrammatically in the following way.


15

technical/abstractformal/informedinformal/novice

Field

TenorMode

everyday

Register continuum

writtenspoken

Activities planned in a unit of work

Setting the context

Developing control

class talk

talking about ‘arguments’

reporting to the class

researching their arguments

modelling and text deconstruction

joint construction

writing a discussion

preparing to report to the class

talking about texts


16


Field

TenorMode

everyday

Register continuum

writtenspoken

As we move through the teaching and learning cycle, we engage in a range of activities, each with its own set of registers.

If these activities are to scaffold the students, then we need to ensure that the shift in register from one activity to the next is not too great. This shift will involve moving backwards and forwards, or ‘shunting’, across the register continuum.


Setting the context

Developing control

class talk

talking about ‘arguments’

reporting to the class

researching their arguments

modelling and text deconstruction

joint construction

writing a discussion

preparing to report to the class

talking about texts


17


Field

TenorMode

everyday

Register continuum

writtenspoken


Setting the context

Developing control

Effective classrooms have been shown to have two broad levels of scaffolding: macro-scaffolding and micro-scaffolding. macro-scaffold

micro-scaffold

At the macro-level, we scaffold students through our choice of activities in a unit of work and through the careful sequencing of these activities.

Macro-scaffolding requires that teachers:• have clearly established goals• identify the knowledge, skills and language demands of

these goals• know their students’ current level of understanding and what

they may be able to contribute to the learning situation• plan and carefully sequence tasks designed to develop the

knowledge, skills and language required to achieve the goal.


18


Field

TenorMode

everyday

Register continuum

writtenspoken


Setting the context

Developing control

macro-scaffold At the micro-level, we scaffold students through our interactions with them at each step along the sequence.

micro-scaffold

The potential of these interactions to move students to new levels is optimised when they occur within a broader macro-scaffold, where the teacher has a clear goal in mind and an understanding of the language demands of that goal. This enables the teacher to recognise and seize opportunities within their interactions with students.

While both levels of scaffolding are important and cannot be omitted, the main role of the macro-scaffold is to create opportunities for micro-level interactions. In this way we are scaffolding language and scaffolding learning.

Documents

Module 2 Teaching ESL students in mainstream classrooms