ESL – English as a second language

Statistical Information

ESL StatisticsThe following slides detail the ESL statistical information gathered thus far (1997-2007). All detailed information has been gathered by the Department of Education & Early Childhood Development, Victoria.

In 2007, 110,383 or 20.5% of students in government schools were classified as ESL students. ESL students are defined as ‘having a language background other than English if either the student or one or both parents was born in a non English speaking country’ (ESL Report 2007, Eduweb).

ESL CLASSIFICATION

ESL FUNDING CRITERIAA student must fill the following criteria to be eligible for government ESL funding –

• English is not the main language spoken at home

• Students has been enrolled in an Australian school for less than five years

• Students were eligible for SRP funding

LANGUAGE BACKGROUNDSThe following shows the main language spoken at homes with non-English language backgrounds. Notice the large percentage of ‘other languages’ in the diagram.

PLACES OF BIRTH

The following outlines the specific areas of birth of all Victorian students. The graph indicates a strong influx of students from overseas. In particular, there is a immigration push from Asia – particularly China, India & Sudan.

NEWLY ARRIVING ESL STUDENTS

The following shows the countries of birth of newly arriving ESL students. These figures tend to vary yearly due to a number of variables - i.e. international events, changes in immigration policies. The highest number of students came from China, India, Afghanistan, Philippines and Sudan.

LANGUAGE BACKGROUNDS

The following outlines the language backgrounds of newly arrived ESL students. The graph shows a large majority are that of Asian and Middle Eastern based dialect. These reflects directly to the influx of immigrants from similar geographic areas.

AVAILABLE VICTORIAN SCHOOLING

There are currently 4 metropolitan language schools available. These schools provide assistance to students as well as information to parents and curriculum resources to schools –

• Blackburn English Language School• Collingwood English Language School• Noble Park English Language School• Western English Language School

FUNDING STATISTICS

‘ESL THEN’The following outlines the changes that have occurred over the last 10 years. Notice the significant changes in ESL figures.

1997 – STUDENT FIGURES

In 1997, there were 123,020 ESL students in government schools (23.7%). Of these, 3,207 were newly arrived in Australia. More than 70 languages were spoken in their homes.

• Approx 10,000 more students than in 2007• Approx 3 % increase in ESL students

1997 – LANGUAGE BACKGROUNDS

1997- COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN

1997- ESL QUALIFICATIONS

Challenges for teachers History of previous country; trauma, war, loss of family etc. Funding and support Communication Curriculum planning Parents of ESL students Racism/prejudice Engaging ESL students Co-Teaching Assessment and reporting

Challenges for students

Difficulties fitting into Australian student life Culturally distinctive learning styles Learning in a second (usually weaker) language Code-switching; using both languages in the same sentence Communication Learning new technologies Staying engaged in the classroom Making friendships

Working with ESL teachers collaboratively

For: (Co-teaching)- Students are not isolated from mainstream students.

They learn with their peers.- ESL students have the support of a second teacher- co-teaching lowers student to teacher ratio- Reduces pressure/stress having a colleague to plan

with

Against: (Isolating from mainstream)- If students are taken from the classroom they feel lost

when they come back and behind with work- The teacher needs to re-teach what they missed out

on

English language support• Victoria has state government owned and operated English Language Centres

which run specialised English Language Courses to prepare international students for mainstream classes.

 • Students will be enrolled in a 20 week (2 - term) intensive English language

program to prepare for mainstream classes. Tuition fees for English language tuition and school can all be paid together and cost the same as the mainstream classes.

• Victorian Government Schools' intensive English language programs are specifically designed for international students about to enter school. Teachers assess each student’s English ability and recommend whether they need further Intensive English or whether they can enter straight into classes.

• After students complete their intensive English language program they continue to receive tuition at school in English as a Second Language (ESL). ESL is available in all schools and students can study ESL in years 11 and 12 and receive credit towards their marks for university entrance.

• Students who want to study the Victorian Certificate of Education, VCE (Years 11&12), should enrol in a 6 month intensive English program before they commence Year 11.

Recommendations • Know your student- Recognise past and present educational experiences

Teachers need to consider the ESL students’ education experiences they have had in their home country as this plays an important role in determining their success at school now in the future.

Walker &Dalhouse, 2009According to parents interviewed, Sudanese children from their area of southern Sudan are not expected to speak when they are around elders unless they are addressed. Thus, this upbringing makes it unlikely that their children will volunteer to ask or answer questions in classes.

• Learning environment is safe supportive and inclusive- What ESL students may bring to the learning context

Here is a compilation of how you can cater of the ESL student in your classroom

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYDOCoPpQc

Cued articulation

• using hand signals to develop sound awareness

• each hand movement represents one sound

• gives clues as to how and where the sound is produced

• easy and fun to learn

Linking oral language and writing

• classroom talk can support writing• language development would be

very basic using writing alone• can pair ESL students with other

students to support their writing--> Activity: sequencing activity

Other suggestions

• speech corner• paragraph frames• diary entries• use technology

Out

back

ad

vent

ure,

to the center of Australia

My experience…

• Bulla: a remote Indigenous Community in the Northern Territory.

• Bulla School: One teacher school, Transition – Year 7, enrolment of 16, anywhere between 4 and 14 students in attendance any given day.

• Literacy Program used : NALP (National Accelerated Literacy Program)

• Bulla: a remote Indigenous Community in the Northern Territory.

• Bulla School: One teacher school, Transition – Year 7, enrolment of 16, anywhere between 4 and 14 students in attendance any given day.

• Literacy Program used : NALP (National Accelerated Literacy Program)

Presentation Focus

• Statistics

• Indigenous Literacy

• NALP and how it works

Indigenous PopulationStatistics

44% of the Northern

Territories population

(ABS, 2006)

Literacy of the land

Indigenous children come to school with literacy skills of

talking and listening and are able to read the land and symbols.

Family and the collective are important values and

shared learning, not working as

an individual, is the norm.

Indigenous literacy’s are heavily oral and visual (body language, observing nature).

“By the age of 15, more than one-third of Australia’s Indigenous students 'do not have the adequate skills and knowledge in reading literacy to meet real-life challenges and may well be disadvantaged in their lives beyond school.” (PISA cited in Bortoli and Cresswell, 2004, page 11)

“In the Northern Territory, only one in five children living in very remote Indigenous communities can read at the accepted minimum standard.” (NT DEET, 2006)“More than half of Indigenous families living in very remote communities speak an Indigenous language in the home.” (ABS, 2001)

Indigenous children are traditionally not expected to sit still and look in order to listen and learn.

So…N

AP

LA

N

(MCEECDYA, 2009)

The department says 14.5 per cent of students sat the NAPLAN test this year.

The department has attributed the

Territory's poor results compared with other jurisdictions to poor school

attendance, high teacher turnover and a large number of remote students for whom English is not a first language.

But chief executive Gary Barnes says the testing results were better in 17 out of the 20 categories this year.

(ABC News Online, 11 Sep 2009)

NT

Go

vern

men

t re

spo

nse

to

NA

PL

AN

re

sult

s

(Commonwealth of Australia, 2009)

• Taught for 60-90min every day• Set routine followed• A single text studied per term• Particular passages are focused upon

The teaching sequence : Literate Orientation

Low Order :• Metalanguage• Literate interpretation• Reading of passage fluently

High Order:• How language choices affect meaning• Text marking

The teaching sequence : Transformations

• Sentence/passage written up on strip cards• Word analysis• Leads into writing

The teaching sequence : Spelling

• Word identification• Strategy used flexible

The teaching sequence : Writing

Joint reconstructed writing :• Introduction• Re-write passage

Writing workshops:• Use author’s strategies• Build up to Free Writing workshops

Learn using same texts as mainstream peers

Highly Oral

CollaborativeACCELERA

TED LITERACY

Predictable routine

References

• ABC News online, Sep 11, 2009 http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories

2009/09/11/2683511.htm• ABS 2001/6 http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats• Bortoli and Cresswell, Australia’s Indigenous Students

in PISA 2000: Results from an International Study, Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), Research Monograph No. 59, August 2004, page 14.

• Commonwealth of Australia, 2009 http://www.nalp.edu.au/datareports2008.htm

• MCEECDYA 2009, http://www.naplan.edu.au/• NT DEET 2009 http:/www.teaching.nt.gov.au/