ESL Students Engaging in Class

 “One way to help students acquiring English is to teach gambits that support the prosocial skills being emphasized. Gambits are formulas used in conversation to convey certain communicative purposes. Special gambits might be introduced or reviewed before students begin working with a particular cooperative learning task; they could be integrated into student worksheets as reminders of ways to ask for information and could be emphasized with “process sheets.” Teaching ELLs to utilize “gambits” will provide them with language structures they can use to both obtain information and learn colloquial uses of English.” The Help! Kit: A Resource Guide for Secondary Teachers of Migrant English Language Learners

 What follows are lists of gambits for social interactions in class discussions and in cooperative learning tasks. You could create a student-generated list of gambits or discuss the levels of appropriateness of these gambits in various situations. For our purposes today let’s shout out whether we think these gambits are more appropriate for teacher student interactions or peer interactions.

       I’d like to know… I’m interested in… Would you tell me…?

Do you know…?

Could you find out…?

What is…?

Could I ask (May I ask)…?

      Help!

I don’t understand… Sorry, I didn’t get the last part.

You’ve lost me.

I don’t follow you.

What was that?

      Can you explain why…?

Please explain… Do you mean to say…?

I don’t understand why… Why is it that…?

How come…?

    Would you expand on that?

Tell me more about… Build up that idea more.

I need to hear more about…

      So what you’re saying is… What you’re really saying is… In other words… If I understand you correctly… So you mean that… Does this mean…?

    Please say that again.

Please restate that.

Come again?

What?

  I’m afraid… I don’t see how

       But the problem is… Yes, but… But don’t forget… That’s good, but… I doubt… Possibly, but… What bothers me is…

   Would you mind repeating that?

Would you spell that, please?

What did you say?

    Excuse me.

Well...

Can I ask a question?

I’d like to add…

    Anyway,… In any case,… As you were saying,… Where was I?

      I’d say… Could it be…?

Perhaps it’s…?

I think it’s… It looks like… It’s hard to say, but I think…

 The following gambits are “language structures that are meant to build confidence when an ESL student needs to contribute to a conversation.

    Another way to say that is… Or, in other words,… Using this graph,… From another perspective,…

       For example… For instance… Take for example… For one thing… To give you an idea… Look at the way… Consider that…

            As a rule,… Generally,… In general,… By and large,… In most cases,… Usually,… Most of the time,… Again and again,… Time and again,… Every so often,… From time to time,… Every now and then,…

   One exception is… But what about…?

Don’t forget…

         I’m convinced that… Without a doubt,… I’m positive… I’m certain… In my opinion,… I personally feel… I personally believe… In my experience,… From what I’ve read,…

      What don’t you…?

Why not…?

Perhaps you could… Have you thought about…?

Here’s an idea… Let’s…

      To start with… And another thing… What’s more,… Just a small point… Maybe I should mention… Oh, I almost forgot…

         And besides,… In addition,… What’s more,… Another thing is that… Plus the fact that… Because of that,… That’s why… That’s the reason why… For this reason,…

    Bearing in mind… Considering… If you recall… When you consider that…

       If… When… Whenever… After… As soon as… By the time… Unless…

      What I mean is… What I meant was… Let me put it another way… What I’m saying is… Don’t misunderstand me… If I said that, I didn’t mean to…

       To cut it short… To make a long story short… So,… To sum up,… In sum,… All in all,… In a nutshell,…

      Are you with me?

Do you understand?

Got that?

Have you got that?

Is that clear?

Okay so far?

   That’s right.

Correct.

Right.

 What it is…

Just as students need to understand how to gain access to the class, they need to understand what teachers are asking of them in tests.

Bloom's Taxonomy

refers to a classification of the different objectives that educators set for students (learning objectives). The following slides will illustrate the categories you may see.

   Count, Define, Describe, Draw, Enumerate, Find, Identify, Label, List, Match, Name, Read , Recall, Recite, Record , Reproduce, Select, Sequence, State, Tell, View, Write, Quote.

  Classify, Cite, Conclude, Convert, Describe, Discuss, Estimate, Explain , Generalize, Give examples , illustrate, Interpret, Locate, Make sense of, Paraphrase, Predict, Report, Restate, Review, Summarize , Trace.

  Act, Administer, Articulate, Assess, Change, Chart, Choose, Collect, Compute, Construct, Contribute, Control, Demonstrate, Determine, Develop , Discover, Dramatize, Draw, Establish, Extend, Imitate, Implement, Interview, Include, Inform, Instruct, Paint, Participate, Predict, Prepare, Produce, Provide, Relate, Report, Select, Show, Solve, Transfer, Use , Utilize.

  Break down, Characterize, Classify, Compare, Contrast, Correlate, Debate, Deduce, Diagram, Differentiate, Discriminate, Distinguish, Examine, Focus, Illustrate, Relate

Infer

, Limit, Outline, Point out, Prioritize, Recognize, Research, , Separate, Subdivide.

  Adapt, Anticipate, Categorize, Collaborate, Combine, Communicate, Compare, Compile, Compose, Construct, Contrast, Create, Design, Develop, Devise, Express , Facilitate, Formulate, Generate, Incorporate ,Individualize, Initiate, Integrate, Intervene, Invent, Make up , Model, Modify, Negotiate, Organize , Perform, Plan, Pretend, Produce, Progress, Propose, Rearrange, Reconstruct, Reinforce, Reorganize, Revise, Rewrite, Structure, Substitute, Validate.

  Appraise, Argue, Assess, Choose, Compare & Contrast, Conclude, Criticize, Critique, Decide , Defend, Evaluate, Interpret, Judge, Justify, Predict, Prioritize, Prove, Rank, Rate, Reframe, Select , Support .

 http://www.eqao.com/Students/Secondary/1 0/10.aspx?Lang=E&gr=10  Go to the “Getting Ready Guide, 2009” available online. You will find the following instructions:

  There are two Answer Sheet. The following instructions will appear on the

Test Booklets

and one Student OSSLT. Make sure that you understand these instructions before you write the test.

    The test has multiple-choice and open response questions that focus on the reading skills required in school and daily life: • understanding explicitly (directly) stated ideas and information; • understanding implicitly (indirectly) stated ideas and information and • making connections between information and ideas in a reading selection and personal knowledge and experience.

 The reading selections include the following: information paragraph, news report, dialogue, real-life narrative and graphic text (e.g., schedule). They vary in length from a single paragraph to two pages.

    • Manage your time so that you complete all sections of the test.

• Read the questions first. This will help you predict what the reading selection is going to be about.

• Skim the selection and then read it closely.

• Underline or highlight important information and ideas as you read.

   • As you read, think about what you are reading and ask yourself questions about it.

• Try to “see” what you are reading; some readers say this is like running a video or movie in their heads.

• Look for links between what you are reading and experiences you have had.

   • If you read a word you don’t understand, look for a root word that you know inside the larger word; look for prefixes and suffixes.

• If you still don’t understand the word, read to the end of the sentence and look for clues to its meaning. Try reading the sentences before and after the sentence to see if you can find the meaning from the context.

  • If a long sentence has you confused, reread it and try to put it into your own words.

• If you are having trouble understanding an idea, either read on until the meaning becomes clearer, or stop and reread.

  • Read and reread the question carefully.

• Read the four answers and rule out any answers that are obviously incorrect.

 • If necessary, reread the relevant parts of the selection to choose the best or most correct answer.

   • Read and reread the question carefully.

• Keep your answer within the six lines provided.

• Answer the question using specific and relevant details and information from the reading selection.

  • Make connections between the ideas and information in the reading selection and your own experience.

• Reread your response and correct any errors you notice.

    The test has short- and long-writing tasks, and multiple choice questions that focus on three writing skills required in school and daily life: • developing a main idea with sufficient supporting details; • organizing information and ideas in a coherent manner and • using conventions (spelling, grammar, punctuation) in a manner that does not distract from clear communication.

 It is important that you follow the instructions and write in the required form. Read the assigned topic for each task carefully before you begin to write. Make sure your work is on-topic and is in the required form. For the long- and short-writing tasks, use full and correctly written sentences.

 One of the tasks is writing a news report based on a picture and headline provided. Make up facts and information to answer the questions Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? and write a one-page report on the event. Your audience is an adult reader of a newspaper.

 • Look closely at the headline and picture. Think of an event that relates to them.

 • Make up the information and facts as you answer some or all of the following questions: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

 The other long-writing task is a series of paragraphs expressing an opinion on a given topic. Develop your main idea with supporting details (proof, facts, examples, etc.) and write a minimum of three paragraphs on the two pages provided for your response. Your audience is an adult who is interested in your opinion.

     • Read the topic question and decide what position you will take in your response.

• Clearly state your opinion at the beginning or end of your response.

• Write at least three paragraphs. Include an introduction, a development and a conclusion.

• Support your opinion with reasons and relevant examples or facts.

• Make sure the divisions between paragraphs are clear.

 These tasks give you the opportunity to use your knowledge and personal experience while demonstrating your writing skills.

   • Read and reread the question carefully.

 • Think of links between the topic and your knowledge and personal experiences.

• Answer the question using specific details and relevant information.

• Reread your response and correct any errors you notice.

 These multiple-choice questions give you the opportunity to demonstrate the three writing skills.

    • Read and reread the question carefully.

Read the four answers and rule out any that are obviously incorrect.

• If necessary, reread the question to choose the best or most correct answer.

• Record the answer on the Student Answer Sheet as described in the test instructions.