Guest Post by Dr. Eugenia Krimmel

Coming from an era in which English Language Learners (ELLs) were mainstreamed into regular education with the assumption they will linguistically “sink or swim,” researcher Stephen Krashen wrote why this theoretical practice was ineffective. He refuted the “sink or swim” ideology in his Comprehensible Input Hypothesis described in his book, Foreign Language Education the Easy Way:
 
“We acquire language in only one way, when we understand messages, that is when we obtain “comprehensible input.”  Thus, we acquire when we understand what people tell us or what we read, when we are absorbed in the message.” 

Krashen’s research and writing highlighted the need for teachers to create comprehensible input in their classrooms. To that end, comprehensible input practices can be categorized into three types: visual, graphic and linguistic. Use one, two or all three types per lesson, and your ELLs English acquisition will accelerate as well as their content knowledge learning.

Visual supports include meaningful, relevant pictures, icons, symbols, videos, skits, and realia. What is realia you ask? These visual supports represent real-life objects through miniature versions, pictures of the real object as opposed to a sketch, and/or the real thing itself. For example, in my ESL classes I brought in all ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. I brought a little extra of each ingredient to pass around the class and discuss the adjectives related to each item as they touched them. When we felt the butter, we came up with words like “greasy, slimy, and smooth”. Those new words were comprehensible input through visual and multisensory learning.

Graphic supports include all forms of graphic organizers. These include: Venn diagrams, T-charts, character maps, timelines, and story sequencing maps. Graphically organized information can deliver content knowledge and understanding of categories of items being taught. In a science lesson on polymers, for example, items can be sorted into man-made vs. natural polymers. In social studies, historical figures can be divided by which side of the war they supported (e.g. Allies or Axis in World War II).

Linguistic supports consist of not only the obvious use of bilingual dictionaries, first language translations, word banks, word walls, and even English dictionaries, but also interactive activities as well. Small group and pair work can be considered a linguistic support because it provides the ELL with a non-threatening situation to ask for clarification on a word or phrase he may not understand. This is especially beneficial because the English-speaking peer can often provide comprehensible input that will resonate better with the ELL than what the teacher presented in many instances. Peer-to-peer learning is well documented as an effective learning tool.

Review your lesson plans for these 3 types of supports for English Language Learners - no matter which content subject you teach. Keep it comprehensible. As you complete your lesson plans, be sure to include visual, graphic, and/or linguistic supports. This practice will make a difference for both your ELLs and English-speaking students.

Dr. Krimmel has taught ESL for over 23 years and has worked as a K-12 ESL consultant for the past 8 years.

Guest Post by Dr. Eugenia Krimmel

As is made clear when working with a struggling reader or English Langauge Learner - reading is a complex language skill. Each aspect of reading has its own skill set and only when all of these skill sets are linked together are students able to achieve the ultimate goal of reading: to read to learn. But too often, one of these essential skill sets goes missing from reading instruction.

Often educators teach reading skills to English Language Learners (ELL's) in a process paralleled to the process used for native English speakers (Robertson, 2009). The basis for this parallel is simple: ELL's and native English speaking children can learn from the same approach because they are all learning to read English for the first time. However, ELLs’ literacy assessments across the country show that as a group they are lagging behind their native English speaking peers despite being taught with the same approach (US Department of Education, 2011).

In order to know how to decrease the disparity between ELL's and native speakers literacy skills, it is important to understand what effective reading instruction includes. In 1997, congress funded the National Reading Panel (NRP) to identify the elements of successful elementary reading programs. As a result, reading specialists and educators alike have become familiar with the 5 elements of reading which formed the basis of the Reading First Program under No Child Left Behind of 2001. These 5 elements are:

1. Phonemic awareness
2. Phonics
3. Fluency
4. Vocabulary
5. Comprehension
   

Despite this research, I have discovered the following trends through my teaching experience over the years: ESL teachers have a cursory understanding, and even less training of teaching reading as a skill on any grade or age level. Elementary teachers are more equipped to teach reading with reading instruction being part of their undergraduate curriculum. Secondary teachers are less likely to have such literacy training, but the ESL certifications and endorsements throughout the country serve kindergarten through grade 12 students as well as adults.

Due to this training gap, ESL teachers rely on reading specialists to fill in what they do not know or do not know well. Reading specialists come from the perspective of teaching children whose native language is English. ESL teachers then develop programs, instructional goals and materials based on the native English speaker models.

I propose we approach ESL reading instruction from the springboard of the NRP’s elements, but add the necessary aspects our English Language Learners require to be successful readers and learners.

I recently came in touch with Reading Horizons at the TESOL conference in Philadelphia. I was drawn to their presentation because it included the aspect I believe is most lacking from ESL reading instruction: phonological awareness including word segmentation. Breaking words into syllables so that an ELL can decode unfamiliar words has been routinely lacking in the many ESL programs I have worked with as an ESL teacher of 23 years and as an ESL consultant in K-12 schools the past 8 years.

It is through the mastery of these skill sets that successful reading happens. I will not expand on each aspect, but allow me to focus on the aspect I just pointed out as being what I believe to be most lacking from ESL reading instruction: phonological and phonemic awareness. The distinction between phonological awareness and phonemic awareness remains undefined for many ESL teachers. A huge reason why the distinction is not clear to many teachers is because one is a part of the other. Phonemic awareness is part of phonological awareness.

So, what is phonemic awareness exactly? Researchers have defined it as:

• The part of phonological awareness addressing only the ability to recognize individual sounds in a word. (Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, 2003)
• The awareness of the sound system of a language in general. (Yopp and Yopp, 2009)
• Phonemic awareness involves segmenting words into phoneme or individual sounds, not units or sounds. (Walsh 2009)

When I teach secondary or adult ELLs, students who have not learned the syllable rules (the phonological aspect of reading) truly struggle. Without an understanding of syllable rules, students must resort to memorizing words which, in turn, slows them down. Reading becomes tiresome and they shut down. For many years I did not know how to teach reading properly. Not even in my TESOL master’s courses were we taught how to teach reading, and that was completed in 2001.

I was excited to find Reading Horizons program because I believe it can help fill in this gap that I have seen for years - teachers not understanding how to teach reading to ELL's. By following the program, teachers become better reading teachers as their ELL's become better readers. With phonoligical awareness linked to all the other essential skills of reading, ELL's can learn to master reading.

Learn Reading Horizons Methodology in 4-5 Hours with Reading Horizons Free 30-Day Online Training Course >

Here is an example of this concept from my experiences as a teacher:

While teaching 9th grade ESL, one of my students read aloud from our text about Lewis and Clark.  He came across the word “beaver” and pronounced it “b-short e, v-r”, not “bEE-vr”. Not one other student giggled at his mistake as they normally would when they heard something wrong. When I asked him to repeat the word, he continued to use the short “e” sound.  Again, no teasing from the others.  So, I told him the correct pronunciation and he said, “Now how would I know that?” What a powerful statement! A native speaking child would know that “b-short e, v-r” was not correct by the knowledge of English already in his or her head.  But there was a classroom full of 9th grade ELLs who had been in the country for at least 4 years, and not one knew how to pronounce an unfamiliar word. They knew what a beaver was when I said the word – so comprehension wasn’t the issue. How many other words do they skip over when reading?  ESL reading instruction is similar, but not parallel to regular education reading instruction.

Dr. Krimmel has taught ESL for over 23 years and has worked as a K-12 ESL consultant for the past 8 years.

References

August, D., & Shanahan, T. (2006). Developing literacy in second language learners: Report of the national literacy panel on language-minority children and youth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-110, § 115.

Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, “Reading First”. (2003). Retrieved from http://readingfirst.virginia.edu/pdfs/Phon_Spel_Handout.pdf

Robertson, K. (2009). Reading 101 for English Language Learners. Retrieved from  http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/33830/

U.S. Department of Education , (2011). FY 2010 annual performance report. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/2010report/apr.html

Walsh, R. (2009). Word games: The importance of defining phonemic awareness for professional discourse. Australian Journal of Language & Literacy, 32(2), 211-225.

Yopp, H. K., & Yopp, R. H. (2009). Phonological awareness is child's play . Young Children, 64(1), 12-18, 21.