McKinney early education programs focus on second-language learning

By Ann J. Mena and Rafael Mena, PhD, from McKiney, Texas

Published: Thursday, November 29, 2012 10:59 AM CST

Special to the Courier-Gazette

An ever increasing mountain of evidence suggests that learning a second language at an early age has a positive effect on intellectual growth.

Language learning is a cognitive problem-solving activity, not just a linguistic activity. It's this cognitive challenge while learning a second language that enriches and enhances a child's mental development.

A recent study at Cornell University found that children who begin learning a second language early are able to better focus on tasks and dismiss distractions compared with children exposed only to their native language.

The benefits progress into their later years, as shown by an independent study of third- and fifth-graders in Louisiana public schools. This study of 13,200 students revealed that, regardless of race, gender or academic level, children enrolled in foreign language classes did better on the Louisiana Basic Skills Test than those not enrolled.

Studies have shown that early language acquisition is best achieved when the child is immersed in the second language. Such programs enable the child to naturally acquire the second language by enabling them to participate in daily interactive and educational activities. 

An additional benefit of learning a second language at an early age comes in the form of children having a better understanding of their native language. According to Dr. Bialystok who led a study from Canada's York University, "The knowledge of two languages is greater than the sum of its parts." In other words, learning a second language also aids in learning one's native language.

The advantages provided by learning a second language at an early age, such as a better understanding of their native language, intellectual growth and enhanced mental development, create a sustainable advantage for children.

http://www.scntx.com/articles/2012/11/29/mckinney_courier-gazette/news/8876.txt

Sam: Join the 4-Languages Diploma Program, all in immersion with top native teachers.

This Scandinavian Model is by far the most effective language acquisition program in the world.

Find out more in the Briefing Session on coming Saturday at 

10:30 a.m. in TST, 2376 1808. or

12 noon in CWB, 2881 7810 

Participants enjoy 5% discount on first payment.

Responsiveness shapes the brain

Five things to know about early childhood brain development

By Jennifer Guerra

Enlarge image

Credit Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University / http://developingchild.harvard.edu

A baby forms 700 neural connections per second in the first years of life

 There has been an explosion of research over the past decade that shows how important the first few years of a child’s life are in terms of brain development. To help us make sense of how those early experience can shape a child’s brain, we called up Dr. Jack Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
1. And you thought you were busy...
"I think what’s most important for people to understand is that a newborn at birth has most of the brain cells that we will have for our entire life, but relatively little of the connections, the circuits among the different cells," explains Shonkoff.
"What happens very, very rapidly is that the brain is building connections, it’s building synapses," says Shonkoff. How many connections? Glad you asked. A baby forms 700 new neural connections per second in the first years of life. "This process of building the architecture of the brain," says Shonkoff "is dramatically influence by life experiences. It is not genetically hardwired. Literally our environment shapes the architecture of our brain in the first year of life."
2. Serve and return interactions
Shonkoff says an infant's brain is dependent on responsiveness from adults. So all those adorable things that babies do right from the beginning -- coos, gurgles, sounds and smiles -- how an adult responds to those coos and gurgles help shape the brain circuitry. Shonkoff calls these moments "Serve and Return interactions." The baby does something, the adult responds back. Vice versa. "And it's the back and forth, the responsiveness, that shapes the brain circuits."
http://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/five-things-know-about-early-childhood-brain-development

Language Acquisition

The Linguistic Society of America
How do children acquire language? Do parents teach their children to talk?

No. Children acquire language quickly, easily, and without effort or formal teaching. It happens automatically, whether their parents try to teach them or not.

Although parents or other caretakers don't teach their children to speak, they do perform an important role
by talking to their children. Children who are never spoken to will not acquire language. And the language
must be used for interaction with the child; for example, a child who regularly hears language on the TV or
radio but nowhere else will not learn to talk.

Children acquire language through interaction — not only with their parents and other adults, but also with
other children. All normal children who grow up in normal households, surrounded by conversation, will
acquire the language that is being used around them.

And it is just as easy for a child to acquire two or more languages at the same time, as long as they are regularly interacting with speakers of those languages.


It's far easier for a child to acquire language as an infant and toddler than it will be for the same child to
learn, say, French in a college classroom 18 years later.

http://www.linguisticsociety.org/files/Language_Acquisition.pdf

Language environment in learning English

According to the most recent research, English Language Learners need ample opportunities to interact with those beyond their own level of proficiency, as well as to hear and participate in language and cognitive activities within (context).
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2012/10/04/20121004states-education-english-inadequate.html?nclick_check=1

死偏心

Good start

The School Foundation fundraises for and helps support Florence 1, and director Debbie Hyler said early childhood education is one of the organization’s top priorities because there is such a need in the community and it yields better results for students down the road.

“When they start off behind, they stay behind and require remediation later,” Hyler said. “It is critical when you hear that children of poverty have heard 30 million fewer words by the time they’re 4 and that’s difficult to compensate for later on because that’s the time when brains develop and neurons are connecting.”

http://www2.scnow.com/news/pee-dee/2012/oct/03/early-childhood-education-under-microscope-florenc-ar-4680382/

Exposure to loving chatter = explosion of language skills

Brain connections that begin to form in the first months of life are critical. Young children who are exposed to lots of loving chatter will experience an explosion of language skills as toddlers. Without early stimulation, the architecture of the young brain won’t develop in the same way and will provide a much poorer foundation for the future ability to learn.

Dr. Jack P. Shonkoff, director of Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child, met with Colorado policy makers on Thursday and spoke to children’s advocates at the annual luncheon for the Colorado Children’s Campaign.

His message was clear: intervene early; intervene now; and pool your resources.

http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2012/10/05/49206-early-experiences-smoking-gun-for-school-success

Early childhood development

Early childhood development is a fragmented system in Australia and in need of an integrated approach, warns a Canadian academic.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-25/australia-urged-to-boost-child-development-efforts/4278874?section=sa

THEORY ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN

In the half-century since Chomsky's theory was first proposed, debate about the origins of language has shifted away from an emphasis on innate capabilities and toward a greater awareness of the role of learning. Language acquisition is now perceived as a process more complex than binary choices that requires more cognition, or thinking.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/224250-chomskys-theory-on-language-development-in-children/

Early experience affects brain development

By Simon J Makin | October 1, 2012 |  

Humans are born to a longer period of total dependence than any other animal we know of, and we also know that mistreatment or neglect during this time often leads to social, emotional, cognitive and mental health problems in later life. It’s not hard to imagine how a lack of proper stimulation in our earliest years – everything from rich sensory experiences and language exposure to love and care – might adversely affect our development, but scientists have only recently started to pull back the curtain on the genetic, molecular and cellular mechanisms (which is strongly affected by early experience) that might explain how these effects arise in the brain.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/10/01/the-story-of-a-lonely-brain/

Two articles on extensive reading

What is Extensive Reading?
http://erfoundation.org/wordpress/

Self-assessment tool in extensive reading programmes

http://blog.matbury.com/2012/09/24/using-the-c-test-generator-for-self-assessment-in-extensive-reading-programmes/

For young learners, join the highly interactive English program in Le Beaumont Language Centre, once or twice a week. Le Beaumont English program uses impromptu dialogue with participants to familiarize learners with important sentence patterns. The one hour conversation covers so many varieties of sentence patterns that it is like the spoken version of the extensive reading program. Children from English speaking families will benefit enormously from the focus drill in sentence patterns and usage.

Le Beaumont English program helps deepening knowledge of given forms in English

By Professor Richard Day, Chair and Co-founder of the Extensive Reading Foundation
SEPT 25, 2012

Our course books concentrate on introducing new language items each appearing in new chapters, with new topics all the time. For example learners may been copula be and jobs in Unit 1, and in Unit2 the present simple tense and simple actions, in Unit 3 frequency adverbs and hobbies and are taught and so on. Each chapter has something new – new grammar, new vocabulary, new reading skills, new pronunciation points, and so on. Thus the structure of course books shows us that they are not concerned with deepening knowledge of a given form, only introducing it or giving minimal practice in it beyond a token review unit, or test. They do not concentrate on the amount of revisiting and revising necessary for acquisition. The assumption underlying most courses and course books is that our learners have ‘met’ or ‘done that now’ and we don’t need to go back to it, so we can move on. Adopting this view of language teaching (that ‘teaching equals learning’ implicit in these materials) is a massive mistake if that is all we do. We have seen we need to meet the language features a lot in order to learn them. We also must meet them under the right conditions.

Very often in language programs I see teachers using native materials with the intention of exposing the learner to ‘authentic’ texts. This is fine if, and this is a huge if, if the learner can deal with it. If not, then the text is noise and frustrational (for the teacher and learner) and not instructional but interfering with instruction.

Learners also must meet these items in real contexts to see how they work together, to see how they fit together. In other words learners must get a ‘sense’ or ‘feeling’ for how the language works. This can only be done by meeting the language items very often and by seeing them work together in actual language use (i.e. from their reading or listening). This depth of knowledge gives learners the depth of language awareness and confidence to feel comfortable with the language that will enable them to speak or write. Thus any program that does not allow learners to develop their comfort zone of language is denying them the chance to progress to productive language use.

This depth of knowledge of language must, and can only, be acquired through constant massive exposure. 

[For older children, this massive task requires massive amounts of reading and listening. For younger children, or for slow starters, the best way is to join Le Beaumont's English program once or twice a week. We build up this depth of knowledge through focus use around topics of interest to children.]

Even after several years of English education, Japanese learners cannot make even simple sentences. Simply put, they did not meet enough language to make sense of what they were been taught in school. The endless drudgery emphasizing only abstract knowledge for tests, at the expense of language use, compounds this problem.
http://erfoundation.org/wordpress/














































s.

Learning English, vocabulary

English is made up of a very few extremely common words that make up the bulk of the language we meet. In written text, we know that about 2000 word families (words including the inflections e.g. helped, helping, and common derivations e.g. helpless unhelpful) cover about 85-90% of general texts (Nation, 2001). However, vocabulary learning is more than just learning words. There are the shades of meaning, the nuances, the pronunciation to learn as well. 

http://erfoundation.org/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyte/play.png

http://erfoundation.org/wordpress/

Gestures are paramount

BY TOM RAGAN
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires public schools to monitor limited English speaking students and show them making progress. It's a mammoth task in the Clark County School District, where roughly one-third of more than 300,000 students are identified as English language learners. Among district students, 157 languages from 147 countries are spoken.

Both schools and students struggle to meet the federal mandate requiring evidence of annual improvement.

It's the same diversity visible in the local workforce, said Norberta Anderson, director of the district's English Language Learner Program, or ELL. Almost 40 million visitors flock to Las Vegas annually, and their needs are met by an army of service industry workers bulked up by new immigrants who send their children to public schools.

One of the strategies passed on to regular teachers is that gestures are paramount in working with English language learners. Instruction often can morph into a game of charades, said Laurie Daly, an ELL teacher at Spring Valley High School.

"Think back when you took your first foreign language class," she says. "It's much of the same thing. We use flash cards, and we play all sorts of games. It's like starting from scratch."

http://www.lvrj.com/news/valley-schools-help-thailand-student-other-second-language-learners-171979001.html

Early Isolation Impairs Brain Connections

13 September 2012

After the mice were weaned from their mothers at 21 days old, the researchers reared them in three different environments for 1 month. One group was raised alone, with one mouse per cage. In the second, "normal" group, four mice occupied a cage. The third group grew up in an "enriched" environment: A large cage contained eight mice as well as an assortment of toys.

After 4 weeks, the team introduced the mice in each group to one another and observed how they interacted—including how interested the mice were in exploring each other versus checking out objects in the cages. The difference was clear: Mice raised with four or more companions spent roughly 80% of their time mingling. Mice raised in isolation, however, were indifferent to the other mice; they were just as content to inspect inanimate objects.

A Weekly Chat on the Hottest Topics in Science Thursdays 3 p.m. EDT

The team also gave the mice a cognitive test, in which the rodents had to remember whether to turn right or left when swimming in a pool of water. With training, mice raised under "normal" conditions and enriched conditions learned to swim in the right direction in about 5 days. But the mice raised in isolation paddled confusedly around the pool, even after 7 days. "It was the same as if they had not been trained," Corfas says.

There was also a striking difference in the rodents' brain tissue, highlighted by the glowing green glial cells. Compared to the complex branched cells of the mice raised in "normal" or enriched conditions, oligodendrocytes in the isolated mice looked oddly stunted: They had fewer and shorter branches, with thinner myelin sheaths around the neuronal axons.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/09/early-isolation-impairs-brain-co.html

The 5 “Rs” of Early Brain Development

Posted on September 13, 2012

As a pediatrician and a mother of three, I know that children thrive when they have lots of people around them to love. Safe, stable, and nurturing relationships build both healthy self-esteem and healthy brains. Early Brain and Child Development (EBCD) is a strategic priority of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the nationwide advocacy organization for pediatricians to promote the health and development of all children.

The “5 Rs” of early literacy helps build the critical social-emotional and language skills that support healthy brain development and pre-literacy skills that are essential to school success.   Parents and caregivers can play with children and teach them at the same time by following a few simple rules:

Read together every day with your child.

Rhyme, play and cuddle with your child several times per day.

Practice Routines, particularly around meals, sleep, and daily activities.

Reward your child with praise for successes to build self-esteem and promote positive behavior.

Develop a strong and nurturing Relationship with your child as the foundation for their healthy development.

Finally by practicing the 5 Rs, you will remember all of the fun you have had with your children and likewise they will have remarkable memories of their early childhoods.

http://askdrterry.me/2012/09/13/the-5-rs-of-early-brain-development/

Social Interaction in Early Life Affects Wiring to the Frontal Lobes

A study published in tomorrow's issue of the journalScience shows that social interaction during a critical period of early life has irreversible effects on maturation of connections to the frontal lobes of the brain, disrupting social interactions and cognitive ability into adulthood. Children suffering severe neglect are known to have cognitive dysfunctions and impairments in social interaction as adults, but the mechanisms were not understood.

The researchers found that reintroducing mice into a normal social environment after the two-week period of isolation did not restore normal myelination or improve performance on tests of memory and social behavior as adults. Moreover, social isolation later in life did not have the same effects as social isolation immediately after weaning. This shows that there is a sensitive period in early life when social interactions are necessary for normal myelination of axons to the prefrontal cortex.

Heidi Johansen-Berg, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, who uses human brain imaging to study how environmental experience changes the structure of the brain, says, "This research adds to a growing body of evidence showing that experience can alter brain wiring. The link between social experience and brain wiring is important... [It] raises hope for potential drug interventions to help to reverse effects of adverse social experiences."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-douglas-fields/social-interaction-early-life-frontal-lobes_b_1864234.html

Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition

Cook’s Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition (hereafter LASLA) is a welcome addition to the recent spate of second language acquisition (SLA) texts which have flooded the market. It is unique in its focus on linguistics and SLA, and represents the tremendous growth in SLA research within a UG framework that has occurred in recent years. To my knowledge (as with Goodluck (1991) for first language acquisition), LASLA represents the first such text.
http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume1/ej03/ej03r16/

Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference

26-28 April 2013, Reitz Union

The Departments of Linguistics and Spanish and Portuguese Studies are proud to host the 12th semi-annual installment of GASLA, the premier conference in generative approaches to all instances of bilingual and multilingual acquisition. Plenary speakers include Theodoros Marinis (University of Reading), Bonnie Schwartz (Radboud University/University of Hawaii), and Ianthi Maria Tsimpli (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki/University of Reading). Invited speakers include Joyce Bruhn de Garavito (Western Ontario University), Kook-hee Gil (University of Sheffield), Heather Marsden (University of York), Roumyana Slabakova (University of Iowa), David Stringer (Indiana University), Lydia White (McGill University), and Melinda Whong (University of Leeds).

Sponsored by the UF Department of Linguistics, the UF Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, the  John Benjamins Pubilishing Company, and UF Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere.

• This event is free and open to the public.
• Registration information will be available here: http://www.gasla12.com/registration.html.
  
  
  http://www.humanities.ufl.edu/calendar/20130426-GASLA.html

Every word matters: Communication and language from the very beginning Friday 30 November, London BOOK NOW using code 20TTYB50 for a 20% discount* Speakers include: Professor John Oates from the Open University Centre for Childhood, Development and Learning Naomi Eistenstadt CB from Oxford University Dr Elizabeth Kirk, Hertfordshire University About the event This November’s Talk To Your Baby conference looks at pre-birth to the end of the foundation years, with a particular focus on the way in which attachment, communication and language promote positive futures for two-year-olds. Delegates from across the early years will hear in-depth and engaging reviews of policy, research and practice.  http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/events/76

Early childhood provides a window of opportunity

Early childhood provides a window of opportunity to dramatically shape a child’s brain when it is rapidly developing, and quality early childhood programs help children develop the linguistic, cognitive, social and emotional building blocks that help them succeed in school.
http://www.lakeconews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26908:early-childhood-educators-head-back-to-school&catid=43:education&Itemid=324

Early learning a key investment

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Winner of a 2012 Pulitzer Prize

Editorials / 

Early learning a key investment

Investment in early-learning programs is key to lowering the state's school dropout rate and getting kids ready for kindergarten, ensuring they keep up and are ready for college and careers.

Two objectives are critical to the future of education: lowering the high-school dropout rate and preparing more students for college and careers. Key to success in both is educating children earlier.

The path beginswith 3- and 4-year-olds. Neuroscience research leaves no doubt about the wisdom of investing in early-childhood education. Much of brain development occurs before children turn 5.

Students who have participated in high-quality early-learning programs do better in math and reading, have higher graduation rates and enter the workforce with higher skill levels and higher potential earnings.

http://seattletimes.com/html/editorials/2019095720_edit3to23earlylearningeducationxml.html

http://seattletimes.com/html/editorials/2019095720_edit3to23earlylearningeducationxml.html

Review: Cognitive Science; Language Acquisition; Neuroling.: Piattelli-Palmarini et al. (eds., 2009)

“Of Minds and Language” is a collection of papers in biolinguistics presented at a
conference held at the University of the Basque Country in San Sebastián, June
19th-22nd, 2006. The central speaker of the conference was Noam Chomsky, with
whom researchers from different fields discussed ideas on language as a
biological system. The result is a book remarkably rich in ideas and yet
thematically focused. The book consists of an Introduction, prepared by the
editors, and four parts: (1) “Overtures,” (2) “On language, (3) “On
acquisition,” and (4) “Open talks on open inquiries.”
http://www.bu.edu/applied-linguistics/2012/09/04/review-cognitive-science-language-acquisition-neuroling-piattelli-palmarini-et-al-eds-2009/

Learning through engagement

DIRFloortime in Schools Complimentary Webinars

We need a transformational change. It's our job to create educational environments that truly engage children and adolescents and inspire them to learn, offering them a meaningful curriculum that is respectful to their individual differences and interests. We invite you to learn from 5 complimentary webinarsoffered and recorded this year.

We also invite you to attend the next live webinar:

DIR^® Schools in Action

Strengthening Capacities All Day Every Day

Featuring

The Community School and The Rebecca School

September 27th, 4pm EDT

Virtual Auditorium

(link to join will be posted at www.icdl.com the day of the webinar)

All children have within them the potential to be great kids. It's our job to create a great world where this potential can flourish

Stanley Greenspan, MD - Great Kids, 2007

Learn more languages

The representative offices of Germany and France in Taiwan joined efforts to promote the teaching and learning of a second foreign language in the country by planning various events to highlight the importance of being multilingual.

The command of foreign languages has become increasingly important in an era of globalization, while English has become an international language, they said.

“However, an even more significant trend is the rapid rise in the importance of regional languages, as they better reflect regional ways of thinking,” the declaration said.

For an export-oriented country like Taiwan, determined to make full use of connecting its democratic and diverse society with the world, the knowledge of foreign languages is therefore of tremendous importance, the declaration said.

The declaration enumerated the advantages of foreign-language study, saying that “languages are a key to fully understand other countries’ structures” and they underlined that “for promoting brands, creative ideas and innovative cooperation, foreign languages are a key component to success.”

It stressed that “young students at an early stage can significantly broaden their horizons through the learning of languages.”

“The choice of different languages will increase diversity and flexible thinking among students,” it said, adding that the representatives have also “witnessed that the learning of languages enables young students to strengthen their personal development in connecting to the world.”

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/09/06/2003542095

Language Acquisition

 

by Henna Lemetyinen  published 2012

Language is a cognition that truly makes us human. Whereas other species do communicate with an innate ability to produce a limited number of meaningful vocalisations (e.g. bonobos), or even with partially learned systems (e.g. bird songs), there is no other species known to date that can express infinite ideas (sentences) with a limited set of symbols (speech sounds and words).

This ability is remarkable in itself. What makes it even more remarkable is that researchers are finding evidence for mastery of this complex skill in increasingly younger children.

http://www.simplypsychology.org/language.html

Vitamin D linked to brain development

Aug 28, 2012
"Vitamin D is important for the development of memory and cognitive function. There's enough evidence to say that those who have a vitamin D deficiency have higher incidents of impaired memory, which can often be a precursor to Alzheimer's disease. There is enough proof to suggest that vitamin D plays an important role in brain development and helps in protecting nerve cells. People who have lower levels of vitamin D often do badly on tests to measure their cognitive function," say Dr PP Ashok, Head - Division of Neurology at Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai.

Other studies have also shown a direct link between vitamin D and cognitive function. TheUniversity of Cambridge conducted a study of people over the age of 65. It involved testing the vitamin D levels of participants and then testing their cognitive functions. The study showed a distinct difference between people who had low levels of vitamin D and those who had normal levels of vitamin D. The cognitive functions of the former were markedly worse than the latter.

Another study conducted by the University of Manchester across eight European countries established a similar link. It was conducted among a group of 3100 men between the ages of 40 and 79. According to the study, men with lower levels of vitamin D took much longer to process information than those with normal levels of the vitamin. And this difference in processing information was much more marked in men above the age of 60.

These studies have also been cited as evidence for establishing a link between low levels of vitamin D and diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, since cognitive impairment are the first signs of such diseases.

"It has also been observed that children born to mothers deficient in vitamin D during pregnancy tend to see impaired brain development and in extreme cases can even suffer from autism," says Dr Ashok.

A study conducted by the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, shows that vitamin D plays an active role in combating amyloid-beta protein that is directly responsible for causing Alzheimer's. People with a constantly normal level of vitamin D throughout their lives are therefore less likely to be afflicted by the disease than those with low levels. Researchers are currently working on understanding this mechanism in greater detail in order to enhance treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's.

So how do I raise my vitamin D levels? 

So if you think you are vitamin D deficient, it's time to go get yourself medically examined and address the situation. The best way to shore up your vitamin D levels is through exposure to sunlight for at least 15 to 20 minutes before 10 am, for four to five times a week. You may, however, need more or less time under the sun depending on your skin tone, which affects absorption levels. It is, therefore, ideal to check your vitamin D levels at regular intervals and adjust your routine accordingly. It is also advisable to add foods rich in vitamin D to your diet.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/Vitamin-D-linked-to-brain-development/articleshow/15885019.cms

Common Core State Standards for English Language Learners

Application of Common Core State Standards for English Language Learners
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School
Officers strongly believe that all students should be held to the same high expectations outlined in the
Common Core State Standards. This includes students who are English language learners (ELLs).
However, these students may require additional time, appropriate instructional support, and aligned
assessments as they acquire both English language proficiency and content area knowledge.
ELLs are a heterogeneous group with differences in ethnic background, first language,
socioeconomic status, quality of prior schooling, and levels of English language proficiency.
Effectively educating these students requires diagnosing each student instructionally, adjusting
instruction accordingly, and closely monitoring student progress. For example, ELLs who are literate
in a first language that shares cognates with English can apply first-language vocabulary knowledge
when reading in English; likewise ELLs with high levels of schooling can often bring to bear
conceptual knowledge developed in their first language when reading in English. However, ELLs
with limited or interrupted schooling will need to acquire background knowledge prerequisite to
educational tasks at hand. Additionally, the development of native like proficiency in English takes
many years and will not be achieved by all ELLs especially if they start schooling in the US in the
later grades. Teachers should recognize that it is possible to achieve the standards for reading and
literature, writing & research, language development and speaking & listening without manifesting
native-like control of conventions and vocabulary.

English Language Arts
The Common Core State Standards for English language arts (ELA) articulate rigorous grade-level
expectations in the areas of speaking, listening, reading, and writing to prepare all students to be
college and career ready, including English language learners. Second-language learners also will
benefit from instruction about how to negotiate situations outside of those settings so they are able to
participate on equal footing with native speakers in all aspects of social, economic, and civic
endeavors.
ELLs bring with them many resources that enhance their education and can serve as resources for
schools and society. Many ELLs have first language and literacy knowledge and skills that boost
their acquisition of language and literacy in a second language; additionally, they bring an array of
talents and cultural practices and perspectives that enrich our schools and society. Teachers must
build on this enormous reservoir of talent and provide those students who need it with additional time
and appropriate instructional support. This includes language proficiency standards that teachers can
use in conjunction with the ELA standards to assist ELLs in becoming proficient and literate in
English. To help ELLs meet high academic standards in language arts it is essential that they have
access to:
• Teachers and personnel at the school and district levels who are well prepared and qualified
to support ELLs while taking advantage of the many strengths and skills they bring to the
classroom;
• Literacy-rich school environments where students are immersed in a variety of language
experiences;
• Instruction that develops foundational skills in English and enables ELLs to participate fully
in grade-level coursework;
• Coursework that prepares ELLs for postsecondary education or the workplace, yet is made
comprehensible for students learning content in a second language (through specific
pedagogical techniques and additional resources);
• Opportunities for classroom discourse and interaction that are well-designed to enable ELLs
to develop communicative strengths in language arts;
• Ongoing assessment and feedback to guide learning; and
• Speakers of English who know the language well enough to provide ELLs with models and
support.

Mathematics
ELLs are capable of participating in mathematical discussions as they learn English. Mathematics
instruction for ELL students should draw on multiple resources and modes available in classrooms—
such as objects, drawings, inscriptions, and gestures—as well as home languages and mathematical
experiences outside of school. Mathematics instruction for ELLs should address mathematical
discourse and academic language. This instruction involves much more than vocabulary lessons.
Language is a resource for learning mathematics; it is not only a tool for communicating, but also a
tool for thinking and reasoning mathematically. All languages and language varieties (e.g., different
dialects, home or everyday ways of talking, vernacular, slang) provide resources for mathematical
thinking, reasoning, and communicating.
Regular and active participation in the classroom—not only reading and listening but also discussing,
explaining, writing, representing, and presenting—is critical to the success of ELLs in mathematics.
Research has shown that ELLs can produce explanations, presentations, etc. and participate in
classroom discussions as they are learning English.
ELLs, like English-speaking students, require regular access to teaching practices that are most
effective for improving student achievement. Mathematical tasks should be kept at high cognitive
demand; teachers and students should attend explicitly to concepts; and students should wrestle with
important mathematics.

Overall, research suggests that:
• Language switching can be swift, highly automatic, and facilitate rather than inhibit solving
word problems in the second language, as long as the student’s language proficiency is
sufficient for understanding the text of the word problem;
• Instruction should ensure that students understand the text of word problems before they
attempt to solve them;
• Instruction should include a focus on “mathematical discourse” and “academic language”
because these are important for ELLs. Although it is critical that
• students who are learning English have opportunities to communicate mathematically, this is
not primarily a matter of learning vocabulary. Students learn to participate in mathematical
reasoning, not by learning vocabulary, but by making conjectures, presenting explanations,
and/or constructing arguments; and
• While vocabulary instruction is important, it is not sufficient for supporting mathematical
communication. Furthermore, vocabulary drill and practice are not the most effective
instructional practices for learning vocabulary.

Research has demonstrated that vocabulary learning occurs most successfully through instructional environments that are language-rich, actively involve students in using language, require that students both understand spoken or written words and also express that understanding orally and in writing, and require students to use words in multiple ways over extended periods of time. To develop written and oral
communication skills, students need to participate in negotiating meaning for mathematical situations and in mathematical practices that require output from students.
http://www.corestandards.org/assets/application-for-english-learners.pdf