The Road to English

NABE 2006Phoenix, Arizona

Norm GoldSacramento, California

norm@normgoldassociates.com

Silence is the enemy of education.

Talk with your children!

Goal:

Improve the learning and acquisition of English

ObjectivesParticipants will:

• Increase understanding of what is a language.• Understand the dimensions of the English

language.• Be motivated to use daily activities that

promote full proficiency in English.• Become familiar with resources they can use

to help with the education of their children.

Agenda

• LEP Students or English Learners (ELs)– Alumnos aprendices de inglés

• Language: What is it? exercise

• Acquisition of a language• Activities that promote acquisition• Questions• Evaluation

Exercise What is language?

• Think - Write • Discuss in pairs• Share

Who are LEP Students* in the USA?

• 5 million LEP in US, 1.6 million in California, and 144,000 in Arizona, for example.

• They lack full proficiency in English.• 84% of LEP in California speak Spanish.• They are 25 percent of all enrollment in

California schools.

- - - - - - - - -* English learners (ELs)

English is needed for:

• Jobs• Technical training• University education• Complete participation in this

democracy

Why study?

• Personal advantages• Social advantages• An enormous increase in wealth:

– Lifetime income increases one million dollars

with a university degree.– Many good non-university careers require

higher education: contractor, supervisor of construction workers, etc.

There are resources for study:

• In 2003 there was a total of $7.345 billion per year available in grants and loans.

• Just in California:– $ 662 million were available– Contact: California Student Aid

Commission

– Grants up to $9,700 per year

Language

• What is language? What does it mean: – to KNOW a language?

• What is ELD? (ELD = English language development)

• Learn vs. acquire a language• Standards for ELD ELA • How to ensure that there are optimal

conditions to promote acquisition of English.

Dimensions of a language

• BICS– Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills

• Examples

• CALP – Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

• Examples

Complete proficiency in English requires much

effort:• Student must master BICS and CALP.

• Upon enrollment in school (at the age of 5), an English speaker understands about 13,000 words and uses between 6,000 and 10,000 words.

… this is similar to the vocabulary of speakers of other languages.

...English requires much...• Normal growth in language includes

acquisition of between 2,000 and 3,000 words per year.

• A High School graduate controls about 40,000 words.

• Teachers can directly provide between 300 – 400 words per year. – And the rest, where does it come from? – Direct teaching/learning provides only about 13 % of the total needed

(400 X 13 years = 5,200).

What we don’t learn is school we acquire from:

• Interactions with others– speaking

• Interactions with text – reading

But a language is much more than just the words!

• 5 components: – comprehension, vocabularyvocabulary, fluency,

pronunciation, grammar

• 4 aspects: – listen, speak, read, write

It also includes…

• Linguistic competencies: – grammatical, sociolinguistic,

conversational, strategic

• Abilities to use:– Notions and functions: authentic use

of the language

For language development you need both:

•Acquisition– By means of conversation and

reading

•And Learning– Through formal study

ELD Standards

• Precursor or on-ramp to reach the ELA (English language arts) standards.

• Form the base for the CELDT– California English Language

Development Test

CELDT, combined with tests of the use of English should guide

strategies for:• ELD instruction

• Content instruction (language and literature, mathematics, sciences, etc.), using:

• SDAIE - Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English• Native language • Mainstream instruction

Beginner {EL}

Intermediate {EL}

Advanced

Early Advanced

______________________________________________________________________________

Reclassified FEP}

Early Intermediate{EL}

Advanced _________________________________________________________________________________

Proficient

Basic

Below Basic

Far Below Basic

ELD and ELA English Language and

literature

Parents can:

•Talk with our children•Tell them stories•Relate family history•Sing•Read stories

– Our child can read to us...

...we can also:

• Share– poems, rhymes– riddles– jokes

• Ask about what they are doing in school

• Ask open-ended questions-- examples

...also:• Give chores at home and talk with them

about details of the work:– Teach how to wash clothes, how to fix a toy,

beat an egg, prepare the batter for tortillas, how to toast bread, etc..

• Play board games and SPEAK about what we are doing, how, and why…– Examples: checkers, dice games,

dominoes etc. – Do you have other examples?

• Ask that our children teach us at least ONE new word in English every day.

• TALK about a program on television, examining details of time, plot, characters, and reasons for action or conflict.

When we talk with our children:

• We communicate love and affection.• We develop their intellectual and

linguistic capacities.• We guide them toward a productive

life.• We fulfill our responsibility to be our

children’s first teacher.

Schools should ensure an optimal environment for

language acquisition • Clearly understandable course designs.

• Rigorous courses that are monitored and implemented with consistency.

• Programs where language proficiency and academic needs of the students guide instruction.

• Frequent use of data and results of tests.

• A total commitment of the school district and all school staff to language development.

Talk with your children!

Silence is the enemy of education.

The road to English is long and difficult

•We must make an effort. • It requires much time. •The time passes better,

when we talk.•There are many benefits.

Summary

• Questions

• Evaluation

Resources• NCELA

– National Clearnighouse for English Language Acquistiion and Language Instructionhttp://www.ncela.gwu.edu/resfor/parents/espanol.htm

• Brochures of the Parent Institute (Fairfax Station, VA): [English and Spanish]– Lo que los padres pueden hacer en el hogar para ayudar a los

estudiantes con…• El vocabulario, La escritura, La lectura

• FAFSA en español – Financial aide for higher education

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/scomplete013.htm

• META – Multicultural Education Training and Advocacy– Office (415) 546 – 6382, FAX: (415) 546 – 6363

• PIQUE – Parent Institute for Quality Education– http://www.piqe.org/– Office (858) 483-4499, FAX (858) 483-4646

For more informationNorm Gold Associates Sacramento, CA 95819 Many thanks to:

Parents, teachers and administrators in: Desert Sands USD, Hayward USD, Newport-Mesa USD,

Parlier USD, Sacramento City USD, Santa Ana USD, West Contra Costa USD.

California Department of Education, English Learner Accountability Unit

__________________________________________________________Norm Gold • www.normgoldassociates.com norm@normgoldassociates.com

• (916) 731-4734

The kids will persevere and they will succeed!

Many thanks !