Amber Archdale Student ID: 110093159

EDUC 5199 Assessment 1

Introduction

In the last week of my Professional Experience practicum at Paralowie School, I

observed a series of three year ten English as an Additional Language or Dialect
(EALD) lessons. In 2014, 23% of students out of the 1337 students enrolled at
Paralowie had a language background other than English. This has increased
from 2011 when only 18% of students were from an EALD background (MySchool
2014). This statistic indicates that the language learning classrooms would
increasingly become some of the most educationally important in the school
after all the foundation of all Australian curriculum is an English Literacy
competency. This paper will provide the context of Paralowie School, a brief
description of the three lessons, and a critical analysis of three key aspects of the
lessons. These analysis criteria will be: the learning technologies utilised within
the classroom, learning and teaching, and the physical arrangement and dcor of
the classroom; these classroom aspects will all be critiqued in relation to current
knowledge and research in education as well as the Australian Curriculum.

School Context

Paralowie School is in the northern suburbs of Adelaide in an area of high

socioeconomic disadvantage. This is supported by the schools Index of
Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA), which is below the 1000
average at 922. In my experience at Paralowie, there was a prevalence of lower
than average literacy standards, also visible in the NAPLAN results available.
while the average of all students having done NAPLAN in 2012 as a year 7 and in
2014 as a year nine had a reading level in the centre of band 7 at year seven
and rose to the bottom third of band 8 in year nine, Paralowie students were a
whole band lower than the national average, starting in the middle of band 6 in
year seven and rising to the bottom third of band 7 in year nine(MySchool 2012-
2014).

Brief description of class content over three EALD lessons

In the first lesson observed, the students were engaged in a nominalisation

activity before continuing on with a previously introduced assessment: feature
writing. This lesson was a single lesson in the morning.

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The second lesson began with 20 minutes silent reading and students were
asked to write six sentences on what they had just read. After this students
continued with their feature writing.

In the third and final lesson observed, students have ten minutes of silent
reading before continuing with their feature writing. The drafts of the feature
writing have been marked and are given back. Teacher systematically goes
around the room to discuss the project with each student.

Learning Technologies

There were a wide variety of technologies being used in this EALD classroom,
both traditional and modern. They were used in a way which appeared to tread
the line of both worlds successfully for students. These technologies included the
Lexile framework for reading, books (notebooks and novels), student
computers and teacher computer paired with a projector.

One of the main technologies (other than computers) that I saw used both in the
EALD classroom and in the school at large was the Lexile reading framework. The
Lexile framework is a tool used to connect developing readers with appropriate
reading materials using a common measure called a Lexile; the framework
measures a students reading ability and the difficulty of a text(Lexile 2015a).
Each are assigned a Lexile number for example a year seven student may have
a Lexile level of 850(Lexile 2015b). This student would then be expected to read
books in the 750 to 900 range.

At Paralowie, I saw many students reading at various levels on the measure, but I
did not observe the framework utilised further than a tool for choosing a book to
read. In addition to reader/reading material match ups, Lexile can also be used to
measure the level of resources planning to be used by teachers tests,
worksheets, etc. through the Lexile Analyser (2015c). I feel that this could
potentially maximise the effect of work given to students in a whole school,
especially in the EALD context where it can be difficult to determine written
language proficiency without first implementing assessment for learning
strategies.

At Paralowie, all students are given school laptops at the beginning of the year to
assist in their studies, and they were utilised in this EALD classroom frequently.
Safitry, Mayumi, et al. (2015) believes that ICT (Information Communication

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Technology) can be seen as an important innovation tool to bridge the gap
between schooling and life after school. I believe this can be the case but there
needs to be limits to screen time both in school and after school, as this can
affect sleeping patterns of students (Hale and Guan 2015), subsequently
affecting their studies.

I also observed some students who had their laptops open constantly were more
likely to be off task playing games. On the other hand, quality of learning can be
greatly enhanced through the integration of ITC in teaching (Safitry, Mayumi et
al. 2015) The teacher in this particular EALD classroom used the teacher
computer and projector to display class activities as opposed to writing on the
whiteboard. This allowed the students to see the text and task without the
further challenges of the task being hidden behind other students heads, or not
being able to read the teachers handwriting.

In addition, the Australian Curriculum has included a capability with ITC in the
general capabilities to be addressed in each subject area. One of the reasons for
ITCs inclusion in the general capabilities is that to participate in a knowledge-
based economy and to be empowered within a technologically sophisticated
society now and into the future, students need the knowledge, skills and
confidence to make ICT work for them at school, at home, at work and in their
communities(AustralianCurriculum 2015).

Learning and Teaching

Language creation and consumption of students and behaviour management are

the main aspects of teaching and learning in an EALD classroom which will be
discussed in detail.

One of the main lesson features of a double lesson (95 minutes), was that the
first twenty minutes were taken up by silent reading. Literature in the form of
novel is considered authentic language input (Harmer 2007). Authentic language
input is vital for students to engage with as there are no concessions made for
non-native English speakers.

Khatib, Rezaei and Derakhshan (2011) discuss the benefits of authentic language
consumption in language learning, including promotion of cultural and
intercultural awareness, syntactic knowledge and vocabulary enrichment,
emotional intelligence fostering and critical thinking in their nine point list of

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advantages. This is correlated by a study which was conducted across various
age groups and nationalities, supporting the theory that after reading Harry
Potter, the reader is likely to have improved attitudes toward a stigmatized
group(Vezzali, Stathi et al. 2014).

Students at Paralowie were reading novels on the Lexile and thus being
appropriately matched to their reading level, unfortunately few of them high
enough to be reading Harry Potter at this point. Harmer (2007) says that if the
tasks that go with (authentic input) are well designed and help students
understand it better, students can use authentic material at a fairly low level. It
is my belief that this was done successfully, as the students wrote six complex
sentences about the part of the book they had just read. This language creation
activity was a good way for the teacher to ensure a students comprehension of
the book they were reading.

Another language creation activity the students were asked to do was a feature
writing assessment piece. Students were asked to write about something they
were interested in, which contributed to the students motivation to complete the
work1 I tested both the task sheet and the checklist which were handed out to
students using the Lexile analyser. The task sheet was a 930 Lexile level and the
checklist was a 730 level. This demonstrates the teachers ability to somewhat
differentiate with multiple task sheets, although some students reading levels
were below 700. The task sheet could have been further differentiated using the
Lexile analyser, indicating the under-utilisation of the Lexile program.

The teacher had a twofold behaviour management strategy. One aspect was a
combination of positive reinforcement and the second, negative reinforcement.
Negative reinforcement was used to enforce facts like not doing homework is
unacceptable, while positive reinforcement was used when students answered
questions in class, or successfully completed the tasks early. For example, a
particular student did not do his homework, so was reprimanded. At the
beginning of the class however, the teacher had a competition to see who could
answer her questions correctly first, the winner receiving a confectionary reward.
McGoey & DuPaul, (2000)and Sullivan & OLeary, (1990) (as cited in (Woolfolk
and Margetts 2013))believe that taking a purely positive reinforcement approach

1 The task sheet is attached as Appendix 1, the checklist is attached as Appendix

2

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can have negative effects in the classroom; disruptive behaviours will often
persist without a balanced positive/negative reinforcement approach.

In addition to this approach, the teacher also addressed disruptive behaviours on

one-on-one basis, preventing further disruption to the class and also to refrain
from embarrassing the student in question.

Physical Classroom

Walking into a classroom, I automatically assess what I think the teaching and
learning focus is, how distracted I will become by the surroundings, and how
students will arrange themselves in the room.

The classroom used for the year 10 EALD class is very obviously a language
learning classroom, as all the walls and the ceiling are covered with language
input everything from a verb cloud to inspirational phrases with punctuation
highlighted. When I settled myself in the room, I was distracted for several
minutes trying to look at all the visual stimulus adorning the interior of the room.

Middle school teachers in Florida believe that one of the most effective teaching
strategies for multicultural and multilingual students is the inclusion of visual
aids and pictures in the teaching and learning program (Allison and Rehm 2007).
If this is still true for students in a South Australian Northern suburbs school, then
this classroom is extremely effective; however Allison and Rehm (2007) included
more than the flash card style of input in their explanation of visual stimulus.
Unfortunately there are very little other styles of input on the walls except for
language. If the words were paired with an accompanying image of the meaning
of that word, this would be potentially more effective as there are more
opportunities to make meaning from words.

My other concern with this classroom is that students may be easily distracted,
as I was, by the walls and ceiling and become off task.

The desks in this classroom were arranged in rows, as a traditional classroom

would be. This didnt seem to inhibit student learning, however there is little
possibility for group work with the desks arranged in this manner. The teacher
often stood at the front of the class, utilising a chalk and talk method before
asking the students to continue with their work. The problem of restricted group
work possibilities aside, there is the potential for students to successfully mislead
the teacher in the activities they are actually doing. I observed up to three

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students in this class seemingly doing the task, but when I went to see them,
they quickly logged out of a computer game and the teacher cannot see this as
easily when students laptop screens are all facing away from her. In the other
classes at Paralowie that I observed/taught, the classroom was arranged into
small groups of tables, and it was easier to pick out the students who were
distinctly off task.

Conclusion

The integration of multiple learning technologies into the language learning

classroom need to be monitored to prevent students wandering off task, and the
full potential of technologies exploited before more meaningful learning using
them can occur. The Lexile framework in particular was not utilised fully, as I do
not believe any of the texts or task sheets given to the students were tested
using the Lexile Analyser, potentially missing the mark for some students who
are below the 730 level that the feature writing checklist was at. Behaviour
management within this classroom was often unnecessary as most students
were eager to continue learning English successfully. I believe that different
options for desk arrangement should be explored before reverting to a traditional
classroom setting, to maximise potential for group work and minimise the
potential for students going off task.

2067 Words

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Bibliography

Allison, B. N. and M. L. Rehm (2007). "Effective Teaching Strategies for Middle

School Learners in Multicultural, Multilingual Classrooms." Middle School Journal
39(2): 12-18.

AustralianCurriculum (2015). Information and communication technology (ICT)

capability, Australian Curriculum.

Hale, L. and S. Guan (2015). "Screen time and sleep among school-aged children
and adolescents: A systematic literature review." Sleep Medicine Reviews 21: 50-
58.

Harmer, J. (2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Essex, Pearson

Education Limited.

Khatib, M., S. Rezaei, et al. (2011). "Literature in EFL/ESL Classroom." English

Language Teaching 4(1): 201-208.

Lexile (2015). CASE STUDY: The Lexile Framework for Reading. Lexile Measures
Help High School Differentiate Instruction, Prepare Students for Success in Life,
MetaMetrics: 2.

Lexile (2015). "Lexile Analyzer." Retrieved 14/10, 2015, from

https://www.lexile.com/analyzer/.

Lexile (2015). "Typical Reader Measures by Grade." Retrieved 14/10, 2015, from
https://www.lexile.com/about-lexile/grade-equivalent/grade-equivalent-chart/.

McGoey, K. E. and J. G. DuPaul (2000). "Token Reinforcement and response cost

procedures: Reducing disruptive behavior of children with attention-
deficit/hyperactivity disorder." School Psychology Quarterly 15: 330-343.

MySchool (2012-2014). Student Gain in Reading: Years 7-9 2012-2014. Average

Achievement. NAPLAN.

MySchool (2014). School Profile: Students 2014. A. a. R. A. Australian Curriculum.

Safitry, T. S., I. Mayumi, et al. (2015). "Teachers' Perspectives and Practices in

Applying Technology to Enhance Learning in the Classroom." Journal of Emerging
Technologies in Learning 10(3): 10-14.

Sullivan, M. A. and S. G. O'Leary (1990). "Maintenance following reward and cost

token programs." Behavior Therapy 21: 139-149.

Vezzali, L., S. Stathi, et al. (2014). "The Greatest Magic of Harry Potter: Reducing
Prejudice." Journal of Applied Social Psychology 45(2): 105-121.

Woolfolk, A. and K. Margetts (2013). Educational Psychology. NSW, Pearson

Australia.

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Appendix 1

Year 10 English as a Second Language Investigative Study

Written

Task Description:

A. Students to write a feature article on a topic they find interest in.

B. They do research- note-taking skills, referencing - and document resources
used during this process.
C. Their work should demonstrate the focused aspect of the genre: structure,
technical and everyday vocabulary, nominalisation, direct quotes, descriptive
words.
D. The maximum length is 500 words.

Steps to take:

1. Get an article from the newspaper that grabs their attention.

2. Read the article through.
3. Ask at least 10 questions such as: What is the purpose of this article? In
what person was it written? What was/were the writers viewpoints? Were
there direct quotes used? How were the details structured in the article?
etc.
4. Try to give responses to the questions raised.
5. Class discusses the purpose of a Feature Article.
6. Class discusses the structure of a Feature Article Title and Headline;
Introduction; Details/Body; Conclusion.
7. Class discusses the language features of feature articles.
8. Students choose their own topic and purpose.
9. Research the topic chosen.
10.Give a title and headline.
11.Write the Introduction.
12.Structure the body of their article.
13.Write the conclusion.
14.Submit the good copy.
Criteria for marking

Knowledge and Understanding

Knowledge and understanding of the relationship between contexts and texts
Analysis
Analysis of the relationship between the purpose, structure, and language features
Application
Use of text-appropriate language features to make meaning
Communication
Consistently clear and coherent writing; appropriate use of language to convey meaning
Total: 50 marks

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Appendix 2
My Great Feature Article
Name __________________________
Checklist for Marking
Very Good No
Good Eviden
ce

Structure
INTRODUCTION Have you . . .

1. Created a relationship between you and your reader?

2. Invited your reader to take sides?
3. Provided any necessary background information?
4. Provoked the readers interest by making an unusual
statement?
5. Establish your tone as the writer?

BODY The Details Have you . . .

6. You expanded your main topic into subtopics?

7. Included facts and statistics to support your opinion?
8. Included your viewpoints?
9. Used anecdotes and stories, quotes, interviews, specific
names, places, dates?
10. Included photographs, tables, diagrams and graphs?

CONCLUSION Have you . . .

11. Left a lasting impression in your concluding paragraph?

12. Reminded the reader of the articles main idea?
13. Suggested an appropriate course of action?
14. Encouraged a change of attitude or opinion?

Language Features Have you . . .

15. Written in complete sentences?

16. Grouped ideas into paragraphs?
17. Included technical and everyday vocabulary?
18. Foregrounded your sentences in varied patterns?
19. Shown good control of primary and secondary tenses?
20. Spelt out words correctly?
21. Followed TEEL in structuring details?
22. Used nominalisation in your sentences confidently?
23. Provided details surrounding events e.g. place, time,
manner, cause, accompaniment?
24. Expanded noun groups in a variety of ways to provide fuller
descriptions?
25. Used the appropriate and accurate punctuation and capitals
confidently.

Comments:

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Final
Mark

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