5 EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES

FOR EAL LEARNERSKAMIL TRZEBIATOWSKI

24 FEBRUARY 2014

WORKSHOP FOR TEACHERS

TWICKENHAM ACADEMY, RICHMOND BOROUGH OF LONDON

BICS AND CALPBICS

• BASIC INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS

• SURVIVAL ENGLISH DEVELOPED WITHIN 1 YEAR;

• COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS (BICS) WITHIN 2-3 YEARS

CALP

• COGNITIVE AND ACADEMIC LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

• 5-7 YEARS TO OPERATE ON THE SAME LEVEL WITH THEIR MONOLINGUAL PEERS

• DEVELOPING FULL ACADEMIC PROFICIENCY (CALP) MAY TAKE LONGER

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT NEEDS ARE OFTEN MASKED BY ORAL COMPETENCE!!

CUMMINS FRAMEWORK QUADRANT

AbstractContext reduced (pupils have little knowledge and can’t relate)

Cognitively undemanding workActivities that can be

completed without much thought

Cognitively demanding workActivities requiring deep

thinking

ConcreteContext embedded

BDAC

For CALP, Quadrant B is required; for lessons in C: linguistic and contextual support is required; D is tempting (copying is one example), but should be avoided!

CUMMINS FRAMEWORK QUADRANT

AbstractContext reduced (pupils have little knowledge and can’t relate)

Cognitively undemanding workActivities that can be

completed without much thought

Cognitively demanding workActivities requiring deep

thinking

ConcreteContext embedded

B

DA

C

For CALP, Quadrant B is required; for lessons in C: linguistic and contextual support is required; D is tempting (copying is one example), but should be avoided!

GeneralisesCompares and contrastsSummarisesPlansClassifies by known criteriaTransforms and personalises Recalls and reviews information Seeks solutions to problems

Reading to find specificinformation:Identifies, names, matches, retellsTransfers information from onemedium to another:Applies known proceduresDescribes observationsSequencesNarrates with sense ofbeginning, middle, and end

Argues a case using evidence Identifies criteria persuasivelyDevelops and sustains ideasJustifies opinion or judgmentEvaluates criticallyInterprets evidence & makes deductionsForms hypotheses, asks further questions Predicts resultsApplies principles to new situationAnalyses, suggests solution and tests

Parrots: repeats utterances of adult or peers

Copies: reproduces information from board or texts

STRATEGY ONE: USE IMAGESDevelop cognitively demanding tasks that are non-verbal and kinaesthetic in nature:

Sort photographs based on a set of criteria

Use collages for comparing and contrasting ideas

Match images together

Develop a visual narrative from a set of images to explain a sequence of events

Choose historical visual sources to support a point of view

Predict details in obscured parts of an image (continue a trend in a graph or draw missing organisms in a food web)

STRATEGY TWO: DARTsUse active reading strategies: Directed Activities Related to Text (DART):

Learners need to look carefully for key words or connectives to complete to create a text from scratch

Get them to punctuate one long paragraph with no full stops

For non-fiction, ask them to break a text with topic sentences and headings/ subheadings

Get them to mark important words to prepare for further tasks (e.g. mark weak verbs to show where to use more powerful ones)

In writing an argument, learners can mark all the connectives

DARTs are:

• Gap fill exercises• Sentence halves• Jumbled sentences

and paragraphs

STRATEGY THREE: QUESTIONING TECHNIQUES

Encourage your EAL learners to participate in oral discussions:

Establish a culture that encourages all learners to take a risk without the worry of being wrong

Use mini-whiteboards that enable unwilling talkers to participate visually first

“No hands up” rule = you control who talks / answers your questions

Avoid closed questions that ask for yes/no answers only (unless dealing with a complete beginner)

Avoid using idioms

Encourage students to discuss the question in pairs (rehearsing their answers first); group EAL learners appropriately

STRATEGY FOUR: GRAPHIC ORGANIZERSBreak information and language down to manageable chunks with graphic organizers:

Purpose Type

Sorting Charts, tree diagrams

Sequencing Storyboards, timelines, flow-charts, branching diagrams, cycles

Logical connections

Cause-and-effect diagrams, mind maps, Venn diagrams

Ordering / ranking

Ladders and pyramids

STRATEGY FIVE: WRITING FRAMESHelp beginners with their writing or extend writing skills or learners at higher EAL stages:

Simple frames for beginner learners who find it difficult to write more than just a few words – provide starter words and phrases to help scaffold the writing

Use more advanced frames with more advanced learners to help them organize their writing & use more complex vocabulary / connectives

TAKE CARE: Learners who are still developing their speaking/listening skills are unlikely to benefit

from writing frames (leave this for later, then)

Using writing frames with more able writers could potentially confine the final product

To start with…Then…Next…After that…Finally… Your view

I think that / My view is…

Your reasonsThe main reason is… because…Also…Moreover / additionally…Finally…

Concluding the letterTo sum up / To conclude, I would like…An acceptable solution / compromise would / might / could be…

MOST USEFUL DOCUMENTS• EAL PORTAL

• EAL REGISTER

• EAL STAGES GRIDS

• CROSS CURRICULAR EAL PARENTAL INTERVIEW FORMS (FOR NEW- AND MID-PHASE ARRIVALS)

• IEPS (FOR STUDENTS AT LEVELS 2 AND LOWER)

• SUCCESS CRITERIA

• SCAFFOLDING RESOURCES (AT EAL PORTAL)

• CROSS-CURRICULAR TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR NEW ARRIVALS