webapps.roanoke.eduwebapps.roanoke.edu/courses/educ/kaharrison/TESL-Case Study.docx · Web viewIn Mexico, her father taught at the University of Guadalajara and her mother was a

Teaching English as a Second Language 1

Kim HarrisonTeaching English as a Second Language

TESL 221


Introduction:

Name: Rosa Garcia Date of Birth: February 27, 1997

First Language: Spanish Country of Origin: Mexico

In this case study, I will be focusing on a student named Rosa Garcia. She is an

English language learner whose first language is Spanish. While she is familiar with the

language due to previous schooling, she still has problems with reading, writing and

speaking English. I chose this student because this is a situation I will possibly encounter

in my career as a secondary English teacher, and I want to be prepared. I would like to

have at least an idea of where to start in such a situation, and have some tips and

exercises on hand so as not to waste any learning time. Also, as a female teacher, I feel

like I will be able to relate to a female student more than a male.

This case study was designed to come from an aspect that might not necessarily

be taken into account very often. Not only does Rosa struggle with English and is behind

her classmates academically, but she is also a teenage girl who is caught in a new and

trying situation. She was taken from her friends and all that is familiar to her, and placed

in a new house, country, and school where she does not know anyone except her

immediate family. She is a shy young woman who is not the best at adapting to new

environments, which has a major impact on her life and education.

In this study, Rosa will be introduced and her educational career up to this point

will be discussed, based off of the opinions of some others who are interested in her well-

being. Later, the steps that will be taken to build upon this previous knowledge so that


she can reach her full potential will be included. Various outside factors that can have an

impact on her performance will also be included, making sure to look at the full picture

of the situation and what can be done to improve it. Using writing samples, examples of

her level and understanding will also be given. To start off the study, an in- depth look

into Rosa’s life and background will be provided. This will not just focus on her

education, but will mainly provide the outside factors that are necessary to know in order

to proceed with any accommodations.


Phase 1:

Rosa Garcia is a Hispanic girl who is a freshman at Chico High School in Chico,

California. She is 14 years old and lives with her parents and two younger siblings, but

has only lived in United States for about five months. The family moved here to Chico in

July in order to allow time for everyone to get used to the environment before starting the

new school year. She has a younger brother, Paco- age 10, and younger sister, Maria- age

6. The Garcia family moved here from Guadalajara, Mexico. They came to America

legally so the father, Alejandro, could teach at a local university. In Mexico, her father

taught at the University of Guadalajara and her mother was a stay-at-home mom. Since

coming to America, her father is now a professor at California State University, Chico,

and her mother, Abril, has a part time job cutting hair at a salon a few minutes from their

house.

Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico, so Rosa is used to the big city

atmosphere. However, she was born in the town of Ajijic, which is outside of

Guadalajara, so she has also had experience in a smaller city atmosphere. She lived there

until she was 8, and then her family made the move to the large city so her father did not

have to commute as far to the university. Because of this, her English knowledge is not as

strong as it could have been if she had been in The American School, the school she

attended in Guadalajara, for all of her education in Mexico. Her previous school did not

teach English, so she was behind her classmates when she was enrolled into The

American School. This school provides a Mexican and American accredited program,

part of which includes having to take English as a required class. While she was able to


partially catch up to her peers, she never managed to make the gap smaller than two

grade levels when it came to the English language.

While in Mexico, Rosa’s family spoke in mostly all Spanish in and around the

house. Her father knows and is fluent in English, so he was able to help her with

homework if necessary. Her mother only knows very basic English. It was not until about

a year before the move to California that her father began to encourage Rosa and her

siblings to practice their English more often. To do this, he had certain times during the

day, usually in the evening after dinner, where he would have conversations with them in

all English on various topics. He knew the importance of knowing the English language

in America, and he wanted his children to be prepared. Since Paco did not spend much

time in Ajijic, and Maria spent no time there, the two of them were placed into English

immersion classes sooner, which proved to be very beneficial to their education.

Knowing that her siblings are more comfortable in English than she is has a negative

effect on Rosa’s education. She is self- conscious about her amount of knowledge in

comparison to her siblings and peers.

Despite her shyness, Rosa is a very friendly girl. One benefit about entering a new

school as a freshman is that she is not the only student in a new environment. She is

surrounded by students who are new to the high school level, and has been given many

opportunities to be around and get to know them through activities and classes. About a

week into the semester, Rosa was introduced to other Latina girls her age by one of her

teachers. She was also assigned a mentor- a junior who also has a background with

Mexico. Due to the influence of her mentor and the girls she was introduced to, Rosa was

able to have a more smooth transition into the new environment. However, it was not


until after a few weeks had passed that she began to open up to these girls and a few of

her female teachers. It was also around this time that her teachers began to see a gradual

positive change in her classwork and assignments. A more detailed description, including

writing samples, will be provided in this next section.


Phase 2

Rosa’s situation varies from other English language learners in the fact that she is

familiar with English, but chooses not to use it due to the fact she is uncomfortable with

the language and her surroundings. This is the first school she has attended in America,

and she is still trying to get used to the environment. The school she attended before she

moved here taught the students English, a subject she did relatively well in despite being

a little behind her peers. Rosa was an average student in her classes at the American

School, doing particularly well in literature- her favorite subject. Math is her least

favorite subject. She is fluent in Spanish, and chooses to read in her spare time and even

keeps a journal. This knowledge she brought over with her, which is evident when

examining her homework and class assignments- see attachment entitled Sample 1.

At the beginning of the semester, Rosa did not willingly open up or participate in

classroom discussions. She did, however, do all of her work diligently and turned

everything in on time. Her vocabulary and grammar reflected her previous knowledge,

but was still not at the same level as her peers- she was more at a 7th grade level, which is

very impressive for a student who has just moved to America from Mexico. The few

times she did speak to her teachers or peers, they all noticed her accent and the impact it

had on her words. However, her sentence structure was mostly correct- except for several

instances where she mixed up the order of her nouns and adjectives, and other simple

little mistakes such as that.

Since coming to America, her father has continued to emphasize the importance

of practicing English within the home. He encourages the siblings to have conversations

in English, and has even challenged Rosa to write her journal entries in English. Several


times a week, usually once at the beginning and once towards the end of the week, the

family gets together and the children take turns reading a story aloud to the others. He

uses all of these as ways for the children to be able to expand their knowledge of the

language in all of the different areas- reading, writing, and having conversations.

Because of these measures that her father is taking at home, Rosa has gotten

stronger with her reading and comprehension skills. While before she would read a

passage and not necessarily understand all of what it was talking about, now she has more

of the skills necessary to extract the essential information. This skill is benefitting her in

all of her classes and she is doing much better on tests because of it.


Phase 3

Since Rosa had previous education in the English language before she came to

Chico, she has a very good foundation in the various sections of the language- grammar,

sentence structure, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc. There are, however, improvements

that need to be made. Primarily, Rosa’s main problem is her shyness, which gets in the

way of her interaction with others in and out of the classroom. Also, her parents have

indicated that she feels intimidated by the knowledge of her siblings and peers in

comparison to her own.

Rosa’s English vocabulary, while very good before, has grown significantly over

the past few months, as noted by her literature teacher later in this study. Her writing has

improved, as she is making fewer grammatical errors now than she was before. An

example of her writing now can be seen on the attachment entitled Sample 2. Her reading

comprehension is also growing stronger with time and practice- both at home and in the

classroom.

She is still having some issues with math, but she is slowly making

improvements. She originally made very simple mistakes, but after working with the

teacher, other students, and her parents, Rosa has learned how to check her work and

catch these mistakes on her own. Because of this, she has gained more confidence in her

mathematical skills, which comes in handy when dealing with more complicated

problems.

When Rosa first started at Chico High, she had difficulties taking notes based off

of the lessons. She was able to understand most of what was being taught, but had a hard

time identifying which parts of the material were important. Her teachers noticed this


early on and as a result, they began writing the more important terms on the board or

providing handouts with the essential material as a way of assisting her. After a few

weeks of their assistance, Rosa was able to figure out each teacher’s presentation styles

which has helped her be able to pick out the necessary information on her own. This

ability went hand- in- hand with her reading comprehension skills, so she was able to

build upon both of these important skills at the same time.


Phase 4:

Rosa is a student who is very smart, but also very shy. Through discussions and

by looking at her homework and class assignments, one can see that she prefers and tends

to perform better in the subject that she enjoys: literature. She seems to have a better

understanding of this subject than that of math. By looking at her past grades and

performances in these subjects, one can tell that this preference and understanding has

been a constant throughout her education. Through discussions with various members of

Rosa’s educational life, several conclusions were made in response to her problem. These

are a few of those observations, decisions, and suggestions.

Literature Teacher:

I really enjoy having Rosa in my class. While she did not want to participate at

first, after the first few weeks, I noticed her come out of her shell and interact with those

around her more. She truly has a passion for literature. As part of the class, I have the

students keep a journal to reflect on the selections we read. Rosa’s entries have always

been well- written and thought out. At first, there were some issues with her sentence

structure, but as a result of a few one- on- one sessions where I helped her find and

correct her mistakes, I have noticed a significant improvement. Also, her vocabulary,

while quite good to begin with, has grown. While she is still not yet at the same level as

her peers as far as vocabulary is concerned, she has definitely closed the gap and is still

improving daily.

Teacher (Math):

Math is a subject that Rosa is still slightly struggling with. I will admit,

throughout the course of the semester so far, she has raised her grade and understanding.


She does well with problems that are more algebraic in nature, but has difficulty with

word problems and those that deal with geometry.

Parent (Dad):

Rosa is a very bright young woman who has always been quite shy. She much

rather prefers to remain by herself and read and write than to socialize with others.

However, if she is placed in situations where she is forced to interact, she usually does

participate. I suggest more group activities where she is able to fellowship with her

classmates as a way to get her to open up some more. I will also encourage her to try to

socialize with her peers more to reinforce the matter.

Counselor:

Overall, Rosa has pretty good grades. I like the sound of doing more group

activities, and I feel like Rosa will benefit from that type of structure greatly. Also, I

appreciate and endorse the offer to encourage Rosa to interact with others more. High

school can be a difficult time for all students, and having at least one friend her age for

her to go to will be very good for her. Besides, she is a very sweet girl, and I do not see

her having a problem making friends now that she is more comfortable here.

Principal:

These are great suggestions and comments. I will pass what we have discussed to

her other teachers to ensure continuity, which will bring forth better results in the long

run. Thank you all for your commitment to making sure that every student has the best

educational experience possible- you are what make this school great.


Phase 5

As of the 2009-2010 school year, the student body of Chico High School was

comprised of about 17% Hispanic or Latino students, and about 7.4% of the student body

was classified as an English Learner. Because of this, the faculty and staff have had

experience with students like Rosa, and are ready and willing to accommodate her needs.

The school has an English Language Development (ELD) program comprised of three

different levels, and also has Sheltered Core classes available to any student who has

limited to no knowledge of the English language. Upon her admission into the school,

Rosa was placed in Limited English Proficient (LEP) classes to help her “develop

proficiency in speaking, understanding, reading, and writing English” (Chico High

School). However, as the semester progressed, the teachers realized that she had a good

enough grasp on the English language that she did not need to be in the specialized

classes, but that she would be able to keep up in a regular classroom. Because of this, the

decision was made to move her permanently to the mainstream classrooms at the

beginning of the next semester. This is possible because the LEP classes teach the same

exact material as the regular classes, so she will not be missing any necessary material. In

order to make this transition smoother, Rosa has been visiting the other classrooms

during the day to get accustomed to the teacher, students, and layout. She has also had

time to talk to the teachers and get some important information that she will need in order

to keep up with the projects and assignments that have already been presented.

As a result of the meeting between two of Rosa’s teachers, her father, a counselor

and the school principle, her teachers have noticed a slight difference in her academic

performance and in her social skills. The idea of working in groups has helped her


socialize with those around her, and has helped her in terms of understanding the class

material.


Annotated Bibliography

http://www.world-guides.com/images/mexico/mexico_country_map.jpg map of Mexico

http://pics2.city-data.com/city/maps/fr508.png map of California

Chico High School. (2011). http://chs.chicousd.org/

Using this website, I was able to gain information on the school at which this case

study takes place. I learned about their English Language Learner program, and included

some of this information to make the case study as real as possible.

Chico High School.(2011).http://www.chicousd.org/documents/Educational%

20Services/Report%20Cards%2010-11/10EnglishCHS.pdf

This site provided more information on Chico High School. The information I

found and included from here was mainly statistics, but also the school’s vision for

education, which was beneficial when focusing on ways that the school can and will help

Rosa and students like her.

Faltis, Christian J. and Coulter, Cathy A. (2008). Teaching English Learners and

Immigrant Students in Secondary Schools. Pearson Education: New Jersey.

From this book, I used the chapter on Newcomer Students as a guide in my case

study to identify ways to welcome Rosa and create a better learning environment for her.

O’Grady, William and Archibald, John. (2010) Contemporary Linguistics. Bedford/

St. Martin’s: Boston

This is a textbook for another one of my classes. I referred to various sections on

second language acquisition to be able to come up with my writing samples.



Summary Reflection

This was a very interesting assignment. I enjoyed being able to create my own

student and tell her story. In some ways, Rosa reminds me of myself. I found myself

modeling her after me and my childhood. For example, I was one of those students who

always had her nose in a book, and when I wasn’t reading, I was writing. And like Rosa,

when I was younger, I had problems with math and did not like it at all. I enjoyed doing

the extra background research that was needed to make her situation believable. And I

will admit- I really like the sound of the real Chico High School, and enjoyed pretending

I was a part of that school system. Parts like that were very easy and fun to write.

However, I had more of a difficult time knowing what to write in some of the other

sections. I found myself struggling to find and include information that would help in

Rosa’s situation. The way she was designed did not leave much room for improvement,

but at the same time, I wanted to make sure that outside elements, like a student’s

shyness, were incorporated, because that is something I will see in my classroom no

matter who the student is or where they are from.

Overall, I enjoyed being able to think from this type of perspective, and found this

to be an enriching experience. I look forward to being able to take what I have learned to

be able to include it in my own future classroom.

Documents

webapps.roanoke.eduwebapps.roanoke.edu/courses/educ/kaharrison/TESL-Case Study.docx · Web viewIn Mexico, her father taught at the University of Guadalajara and her mother was a