Transcript Document

ESOL in the Classroom.
Where have we come from? Where are we heading?
A keynote presentation to the
NZPF ESOL in Classroom
Conference, Waipuna
Conference Centre, June 3,
2010
JOHN MCCAFFERY
Senior Lecturer, School of Arts, Languages &
Literacies.
Faculty of Education
University of Auckland
“Washing ones’ hands of the
conflict between the powerful
and the powerless means to
side with the powerful, not to
be neutral.”
(Paulo Freire)
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Greetings in this 2010 Samoan Language Week
“Problems cannot be solved at the same level of
awareness that created them.”
- Albert Einstein
Implied but not stated- we need to step up our Professional Content
Knowledge( PCK); thinking, research discussion and debate about
learning English / all languages for ELL/ bilinguals in NZ
Revision (Things we already know)
What we do in the classroom today becomes a microcosm of
society tomorrow (Carol White).
Diversity is the face of the nation.It is the new norm. What we
do not achieve today, society inherits. The one thing we have
to do to succeed is to work cooperatively together for the
common good-and - effective communication among us is the
key. Better Practice is not anybody’s territory to defend.
There are many things I do not know about- you will be able to
fill in many gaps- There are no one person solutions- research
is only one important factor to be considered. Our decisions
need to be research informed not research driven by people
outside the profession. We are the professionals and we need
to make informed decisions everyday.
These daily and longer term strategic decisions need to be
based on our Professional Content Knowledge ( PCK) This
as Shulman(1986, 1987) says, is applied research, applied
knowledge (Eg: Medical profession). We cannot wait for
research or the Ministry or ERO or the party politics of
Governments to solve our challenges for us.
Only by cooperative partnerships to build and use our
collective PCK can we explore the implications of and agree
on what is best for our students and their families.
I know this conference seeks to do that - and I welcome the
opportunity to contribute and engage in jointly constructing
such a future rather than just waiting for it to happen from
someone else's actions.
Kia kaha tatou.
Today’s presentation
Develop greater knowledge & understandings
from research and professional practice about:
The current state of ESOL NZ in education
Aotearoa/NZ and where we have come from?
Ask where we are going with ESOL in the classroom
in Aotearoa/NZ ?
Ask questions and propose possible future directions
and actions we will need to take if (ESOL)
programmes are to met the needs of our rapidly
growing, diverse school age student population
Meanings in this presentation:
HL = heritage language/s of ones family and
ancestors- whether speak them or not .Can be
L1, L2 or neither.
L1 = Mother tongue, vernacular, first languageacquired in infancy
L2= second language/s English or regional
language/s-acquired after infancy
Can have two first languages
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Who are ESOL learners?
Once they were ESL learners;
Then they became ESOL;(AUS)
Then LEP(USA), Then NESB,( AUS)
Then EAL, then ELL (USA/ NZ current)
Along the way Bilingual Learners (England), and
Emerging Bilinguals (Garcia, 2008; Hispanic chn USA)
All bilingual work in the USA has to be reported under ELL now
because of No Child Left Behind ( Standing?) laws 2001
Bilingual Learners is the UK term- are bilingual, need to be
bilingual or want to be bilingual.
ESOL is the programme- TESOL is the teaching
Teachers definitions of ESOL & students and programmes
has been retreating annually as MoE funding is restricted to
overseas born. Is the ESOL programme now just the
programme for students in MoE funded programmes?
What is happening to all the other learners in the new MoE
definitions?
ESOL funded students from migrant, refugee or NZ born
backgrounds
Previously funded students
Students from homes where a language other than
English is spoken
Students transitioning from Kura to English mediumlearning environments
Students from bilingual education settings
Students with specific identified language learning
needs
International fee paying students
ppt source :Learning Media. Meeting the Needs of ELL (2010)
What then is ESOL and what is its expanding field?
Bilingual students are…
‘Blessed with
Bilingual Brains’
McCaffery & Tuafuti, 1999
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The purpose of education is to
help children become “someone
more”, to add to who they are; to be a
full member of their own family and
culture and a citizen of the world.
We should not be trying to make them
into “someone different” by taking
away from them, their identity, culture
and language, and their ability to pass
it on to the next generation.
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Either
The Languages and cultures students bring with
them to school are a valuable resource
or
Students languages & cultures are framed in
discourse as a problem.
It is decision time- We claim one thing but the discourse
says another and it is the discourse that carries the day.
NZ educators appear to hold deeply held deficit views
about diverse students- You mission should you accept it
is to abolish the discourse of deficit.
Examples
The facts [Funded Students]
•There are over 27,000/ 32,000? ESOL funded students in
primary and intermediate schools in NZ. They come from
163 ethnic groups and speak 115 different languages
•1,022 primary or intermediate schools have funded
students.
•Samoan students account for 12.31% of funded students,
Tongan 12.30%, Chinese 7.9%
•2 schools have 300+ funded students BUT
•195 schools have 10-19 students
•593 schools have 1-9 students or 47.6% of funded schools
Other ESOL Students [ my heading]
It is estimated that 22% of our school students come from a
language background other than English
[What does this mean?- family uses? student understands speaks
to some people, is bilingual? needs to be or wants to be? ]
Data Source: Ministry of Education 2009 ESOL database .ppt source :Learning Media. Meeting the
Needs of ELL (2010)
Where have we come from?
Pennycook, (2001)
• Colonial expansion of England- English and the Missionaries,
settlers, expatriates, and schooling. EFL & ESL- two related
but different professional fields and knowledge systems which
are often confused.Carried the discourse of deficit and second
class status.
EFL= English as a Foreign Language (in society) L2. No or
limited English speech community( except expats). Learned &
used only at school. Main focus on grammar then
vocabulary; reading and writing supreme. e.g.: Pacific &
Asia. China/ Hong Kong,Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Samoa,
Tonga.. Originally an optional extra. L2 does not replace L1.
Parents bring their experiences with EFL here to NZ
mistakenly.We need to engage with them.
ESL= English as a Second Language (in society). A large
and accessible English speaking/ using community including
the learners who need to use English in school and in society
to survive and be full participants (Eg: India). Very different to
EFL settings Prime focus on speaking. Vocabulary as the
main task Grammar less important. Literacy essential.
In English French and Spanish dominant countries, L2
usually replaces L1 over 2-3 generations. Eg: NZ AUS
England, USA. Shifts of concern- Cook Is, Niue,
Hawaii,Tahiti(French) Rapanui (Spanish) and recently Singapore, Malaysia - experimenting with abandoning L1s
rapidly in education.
ESOL a non issue in NZ until associated with new immigrants
in the 1970s. Pacific then refugee Asian then wealthy migrants
Dip TESOL VUW, 1975/6: Dip TESOL NSTC/ ATC / ACE
1977.
-Māori students historically excluded- since 1990 in
particular with closure of Maori and Pacific
Language(English) Advisors Teams- Jim Leabourne, Lional
Mickel, Sonny Taare, Mi’i Pamatatau, Tupae Pepe…. Remains
very problematic issue. ESOL- An educationally unacceptable
title for the field for Māori to date.
- Language Education & Diversity( LED) is acceptable. SO
…???
[ see 2011 UoA Conference www.led.auckland.ac.nz ]
.
For far too long we have worked in silos of ESOL, Literacy,
Bilingual Education/ Maori Medium, International
students,Reading Recovery & recently set up another one
we call Learning Languages-
We need to resist the tension be a silo oriented profession
as each discourse gathers its followers, heroes and
defenders now dominated by a growing obsession with
relatively narrow definitions of Literacy as a remedial
programme.
Defending our territory and current practices needs to be
replaced by engaging in shared dialogue that searches for
Better Evidence and Better Practice (BEBP)
A good example of the silo approach we have taken is the
importance and pedagogy of vocabulary in comprehension
& writing- Strangely TESOL has been exploring this for at
least the last 30 years and apparently Literacy has recently
found vocabulary may be significant in reading
comprehension and writing !!!
We have also just opened two listserves- One Literacy one
ESOL-ESOL is literacy and Literacy needs to be ESOL
ESOL community objections to a merger are based on the
AUS experience where ESOL was rapidly lost- swallowed
by Literacy. We can do both together - Literacy MUST
learn about ESOL- Cannot be literacy led. We can make
ESOL part of literacy and literacy part of ESOL- What
about a Venn diagram? Some together some separate?
Education and politics then have both developed a
centralist tendency to look for short term answers. We need
to build relationships and communication and therefore
capacity to trustingly jointly explore long term solutions
beyond the term of each 3 yr government. Consultation
should not mean - short term quick fix contracts and
meetings where -Tell me now, tell me quickly, keep the
complex simple, what is the magic bullet, and- thank
you, we will now decide for you seems to be rapidly
becoming the norm.
Consultation needs to be replaced with genuine Capacity
building including vigorous discussion and transparent
debate.The best solutions are those that stand the test of
debate with classroom teachers- You make the
difference- Your opinions matter.
Current Approach One -Withdrawal
While numbers of ESOL migrants were small- we
imported withdrawal from England and funded TA and
unqualified staff.
Those most in need taught by the least qualified and
experienced ! (TA used in 27% of NZ programmes in
2003)
Withdrawal has remained main pedagogy (60%) until
today( Franken & McComish, 2003)- Very problematic in
many ways.
Where withdrawal focuses on partnership with class
teachers to develop language & literacy support for
current curriculum work it can be very usefulHowever few egs found- 5%
-Auditor General/ Treasury- Paying twice as qualified teachers
have increased-budget blow out predicted, Withdrawal not
sustainable; two teachers for same child. MoE cuts back
funding criteria reducing those eligible- and lengthens time(research BICS in 18 mths but CALP takes 5-6 yrs)
-Can be useful for new arrivals for orientation settling in.
- Research showing it as the least effective methodology of all.
- Withdrawal is Illegal in the UK- must be in-room support
-Classroom teachers see student as someone else’s problem
-Low level of training and qualification of teachers involved
-Focus often not on the language demands of the current
curriculum work but elsewhere- speaking properly or
decontextualised skills…
-Some students report feeing stigmatised
-Many Chinese & Korean parents opposed as students miss
curriculum work
- Strong vested interests in the status quo
- Not consistent with new NZ Curriculum - page16
- Alternative BEBP approaches now available
- Could one teacher well trained, meet the needs? MoE begins
funding Dip TESSOL scholarships for all teachers in Univ
Teacher Education.
-• Third alternative org is the ESOL class (Sheltered
English USA)
Consists of all ESOL and or international fee paying
students learners.
- Has advantages and disadvantages.
Can be useful as an entry model for limited period of time
Expectations held? Wide diversity still. No native speaker
models for co-construction more skilled -less skilled
scaffolding. Not a Long term option.
We should not call this English Immersion. Immersion
is a means/pedagogy to bilingualism and biliteracy and
involves a significant use of students L1 at various
stages.
Fourth- Trained Teacher Aids for In-class Support-
Prof Jill Bourne,1988-on; England. Advocates Bilingual
Support Assistants(TA) called Partnership Teaching. Best Int
models. Requires whole school support and genuine
partnerships as full members of teaching teams supervised &
supported by qualified ESOL teacher.
• Includes FT job of fostering Mother tongue/ L1 awareness
and all teachers & school support ( community languages
and dialects of English children bring to school)
• Community language teaching in some limited settings and
mostly out of school time.
• Bilingual support for curriculum learning (ESOL)
Policy ( DSE, 1975) “No child should be expected to cast off
the language and culture of the home as [s/]he crosses the
school threshold and the curriculum should reflect these
aspects of his[ their] life.”
NZ ( TA :Few trained but only 5% in-class support)
Jannie van Hees: NZ TA pilot training for English very
successful- Continuing ?
Rae Siilata: NZ Pasifika bilingual pilot TA training for English
- Handbook and research review- on tki. Very successful.Continuing ?
England’s model is more comprehensive. Has large
research base and is judged to be successful. Why reinvent
the wheel?
Other approaches in use• Bilingual Support - Usually TA in class- Handful only in 140
schools in 2003
• Peer Support -More common in secondary- very powerful
• Reading Recovery- Not adequate on its own
•
•
Where are we going?
Does it depend which waka you are on ?
The fleet may have been dispersed- Can we get it back
together?
NZC p.16 - ESOL when you don’t mention ESOL
Each learning area has its own language or languages
…For each area students need…
• specialist vocabulary associated with that area
• how to read and understand its texts
• how to communicate knowledge and ideas in appropriate
ways
• how to listen and read critically, assessing the value ..
Students who are new learners of English need explicit and
extensive teaching of English vocabulary, word forms,
sentence and text structures and language uses (functions &
purposes) Literacy in English is essential as it is the medium
for most curriculum learning learning (p.18 also)
Where are we going ? Recommendations for review: have
come from:
Franken & McComish, 2003
MoE/ Franken & McComish, 2003
Franken, 2005
Franken , 2006
TESSOLANZ 2006/7
Current Issues and Questions?
•Students- some? - funded? international? all? Diversity is the
new norm(al). Māori students are actually the most in need of
inclusion.
• Definitions- Inclusive or exclusive? Traditional- withdrawal;
New- classroom intergration; NZ Curriculum- all teachers.
Relationship with Literacy problematic- a silo approach- why ?ESOL is scaffolded literacy- The best literacy for diverse
students is ESOL.Scaffolding is the prime ESOL pedagogy
• ESOL Knowledge and skills (PCK) specialist, some % or all
teachers? Teachers Council requirements? What about
Literacy Leaders, Advisors,Senior Management- generally the
non attenders atESOL PD and Qualifications- but who make
the decisions on funding, organisation, staffing, policy …?
•
• Supporting students bilingualism- What does a language
background other than English mean? What possibilities can we
find?
• Classroom teachers can only do what school policy
organisation and support allows and supports. The first job
is to get the MOE and school policies aligned with BEBP
( Corson, 1990,1999, 2001; Franken & McComish, 2003, 2003; Franken,
2006; 2005)
• Best evidence, better practice? All teachers need to be
teachers of language, with in class support, bilingual if
possible…
• Very diverse students- can not be lumped together• National Standards- The tension between NS reporting and
what we know about BPBE
•Classroom Pedagogy- Theorised Practice
1) How to scaffold learning in;
1.1) Learning language (English+L1)
Learn BICS ( Informal oral/ spoken and playground language) and
CALP( Formal School English; oral written and visual, for academic
learning)
1.2) Learning about language & literacy (English+ L1)
How English works (Functional Grammar) especially, the meta-language
to explore & discuss in the context of curriculum work
1.3) Learning to use language & literacy (English +L1)
for learning in all curriculum areas. A Purposes & Functional approach
implemented through -Task based curriculum work covering -oral written
and visual .
1.4) What do teachers have to be able to do?
Scaffold learning- all learning.
Scaffolding is appropriate socially and culturally coconstructed learning through more skilled support for less
skilled learners- It is the dominant current learning theory for
all learning not just language & literacy ( www. my read.org).
Diagrams and explanation follow-
Effective Scaffolding means:
• explicit teaching of everything needed by the learner to
master a school task as well as opportunity to follow up self
learn and independently master. Not one or the other- BOTH
• providing more time to master tasks than we currently
give between- Don’t know and cant do by themselves and
able to do by themselves Failure for ELL is currently built into
the way we organise and structure learning in NZ ie: is it
absolutely predictable and yet also avoidable e.g.: Maths,
Reading- GSR, Writing, Inquiry….
• proving more activities than we currently providein teacher led and student learning in each phase of the
scaffolding process.
Three Scaffolding models here:
BEPB From Research and Practice
Four factors needed for success in school-
• Value & support students L1 Language and culture.
Add to it rather than seek to take it away.
• Build partnerships with parents to be centrally
involved in chns education
• Use pedagogies that are interactive & engaging not
transmission styles. ( ESOL is here)
• Use assessment that empowers learners with what they
can do have done and finds ways forward- rather than
conforms failure, sees deficits and problems and blames
family culture and language.
•Inclusive school practices- Language & Culture as
resources for learning- bilingualism valued
•ESOL/ ELL goals , resources & practices are aligned with
other curriculum and school activities
•ELL experience age appropriate objectives-ESOL
alongside curriculum goals-
•Students previous experiences knowledge and learning
experiences are built on as the base for future
development- schema..
•Sufficient exposure to language input and opportunities to
use- small groups
• Opportunities for significant repetitions and expansion of
use- scaffolding
•Explicit focused instruction in all aspects of lang & Literacy especially listening speaking , functions & vocabulary
•ESOL teaching is based on what we know about student
needs for form & function , L1 and socially co-constructed
contexts
•Academic CALP for curriculum areas - Vocabulary, and how
Genres work- Achieving function and purpose- (text types in
integration in language and curriculum eg( SELIPS)
•
2.0 Know more about students bilingualism
and ways of providing bilingual support for
English language learning
The advantages of bilingualism
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The Problems of NOT being Bilingual
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I heard crying in the infants’ school as though a child had
fallen and the voice came nearer and fell flat upon the air
as a small girl came through the door and walked a couple
of steps towards us.., About her neck a piece of new cord,
and from that cord a board hung down, for she was small,
and the cord rasped the flesh on her neck, and there
were marks upon her shin where the edge of the board
had cut… Chalked on the board, in the fist of Mr Elijah
Jonas-Sessions, “I must not speak Welsh at school” …
Llewellyn( 1968, p.267)
Why is a child who arrives in Aotearoa/NZ
from Europe and speaks another
language, talented and gifted; but a Maori
child or a child from the Pacific who
speaks another language is a problem ? Is
it bilingualism that is the problem or is it
our failure to deal adequately and
professionally with this bilingualism ?
Bilingualism: Bilingual Support
To be able to Understand- Passive bilingual
To speak read and Write -Active bilingual;
Biliterate - To be literate in both languages
to any degree.
Franken says-Research is unanimous in
advocating the use of students first
language to access curriculum learning.
Many schools and teachers still believe that preventing
students speaking their own home languages (L1) at
school is necessary to be a fast efficient learner of English.
This is a widely and deeply held BUT INCORRECT
assumption in NZ schools and society. It is identified in the
international BPBE as the biggest barrier to ELL success at
school- Yet is continues. What does the evidence show?
Cummins 1986, 2001 Supported by; May Hill & Tiakiwai,(
(MoE) 2004; Franken May & McComish( MoE), 2008
Franken & McComish,/ MoE) 2003, 2005, Franken 2005;
Thomas and Collier (1997 2002; Crandall,1997; Corson ,
1999, 2000; Baker, 2006; Garcia, 2009;…
The least effective programmes… are to be cut off from
educational development in their L1 in order to give them
maximun exposure to the L2(English). The more the
instructional setting accommodates to the student (L1 &
culture) .. The better the outcomes are reported to be.
Franken / MoE 2003
Thomas and Collier diagram here
Most forms of subtractive bilingualism lead
to educational failure ie: Teaching L2 standard English, as a
replacement for L1 or an expectation that it will.
L2 - L1 = failure
Most types of additive bilingualism lead to
educational success ie: Adding standard school English to an
L1 minority language L1/ HL which is used as a medium of instruction in school.
L1 + L2 = success
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A leai se gagana , ua leai se aganuu, a leai se
aganuu ona po lea o le nuu
When you lose your language , you lose your
culture and when there is no longer a living
culture, darkness descends on the village
( Fanaafi, 1996:1)
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Kia ora rawa atu koutou
no Aotearoa.
Thank you for being here.
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Fakaaue lahi, Meitaki ma’ata, Malo aupito, Vinaka
vakalevu, Fa’afetai tele. Thank you for being here.
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