Final

Essay 1

Final Essay

Laura Gillett

UCLA Extension – 371248: Assessment of English Learners EDUC X 426.2

March 1, 2020
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If you were to move to another country and were only able to communicate in your new
language on an interpersonal communication level, what problems do you think you might
have with academic content? What strategies could teachers use to help you better
understand the concepts they are trying to teach? How do you think your new peers might
help you?

As a student in a different country, taking classes in a different language, I would most certainly

experience challenges comprehending academic content and language and communicating with

teachers and peers on a deeper academic level. Living in a new country and struggling with

language, and most likely cultural differences, I imagine I would feel a sense of stress and

anxiety, even if not exposed to academic language. According to Díaz-Rico, anxiety can “cause

learners to feel defensive and can block effective learning,” and that everyday stress and anxiety

might cause me to already be at a disadvantage academically, as I would not be comfortable

(Díaz-Rico p. 14). As a student, I might also have trouble understanding more complex, content-

specific academic language. I might also have difficulty communicating with teachers and peers

using academic language, therefore, not fully feeling comfortable or getting adequate practice. I

would also have difficulty reading a new language and expressing myself through written

language. Although I would be at a disadvantage compared to my fellow students, it would be

helpful that I have taken classes in my home language of English and have a solid foundation of

strategies in my home language to draw from. There are also several strategies from Echevarría’s

text that the teacher could use that I would find supportive, including providing the opportunity

to preview or pre-read pertinent text, “identifying key vocabulary,” “monitoring and clarifying,”

“summarizing and synthesizing,” “drawing pictures and/or using gestures to communicate when

words do not come to mind,” “substituting a known word when unable to pronounce an

unfamiliar word,” “paraphrasing,” and “using verbal and nonverbal cues” (Echevarría, pp. 117-

118). For me, using simple language when necessary and using visuals would benefit my
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learning, as well as working with the teacher as the teacher scaffolded my learning. Lots of

opportunities to practice, especially with peers, would also be a source of support as I learned

content in a new language. Most importantly, I feel that providing a non-threatening, comfortable

learning environment is key.

Do you currently have English language learners in the classes you teach? If so, what
problems do they appear to have comprehending and learning the content? What strategies
do you use to make both language and content more accessible to them? How do you
encourage other students in your classes who are more proficient in English to play a role?

I currently have several English learners in my preschool special education classroom. My

students who are learning English come from diverse cultural backgrounds and several languages

are represented by the staff and students in my classroom. Most students in my moderate/severe

self-contained classroom are nonverbal, as well as English learners, and my students’ unique

needs add complex layers to learning language and content in English. My staff and I use several

strategies to promote learning in a language-rich environment. First and foremost, we work to

build rapport with the students to ensure that the students are comfortable and enjoy coming to

school. We also use elements of many strategies mentioned by Echevarría. We scaffold student

learning through language modeling and prompting, intentional student grouping and explicit

teaching of skills and content. We also use modeling and prompting to explicitly teach content

and we break down language and steps of tasks. We use visuals and objects to support

comprehension and we use a multimodal communication approach to reach each and every

student. I use activities, games and songs to deliver engaging instruction. We also use repetition

of instruction to ensure targeted skill practice and I use formal and informal assessment to guide

instruction and monitor language and content comprehension. I work closely with families to

ensure a home-school connection to support student learning. We encourage and support

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students who are more proficient in English to initiate and engage with students who are less

proficient. We also participate in many mainstreaming opportunities so all students are able to

interact with typically developing peers and peers who are more proficient in English. We

support these interactions through modeling and prompting, and through explicit social skill

instruction (Echevarría, pp. 122-123).

For what purposes do you think English language learners should be tested in your classes?
For each purpose you mention, what sorts of information would you want to collect?

In general, I believe that English learners should be tested to ensure educational success and

ensure each and every student has access to appropriate curriculum. Since my students are

preschool-aged and not yet in kindergarten, they do not take the ELPAC through the district,

even if the family has indicated that the student is an English learner. In my classroom and at my

preschool school site, we do not test for English proficiency. I do believe it is important to know

my students’ and families’ cultural and language backgrounds and abilities. All of my students

are eligible, most newly eligible, for special education; as part of the initial assessment and

report, families are interviewed and asked about language as part of the interview. This helps the

assessment team better understand the student and family and aids in assessment result analysis.

The initial assessment team inquires about the student’s home language, what languages are

spoken in the home, what languages the student is exposed to, and what language the student in

most comfortable with or proficient in. This information also helps the receiving teacher as the

teacher gets to know the family and the student. In the classroom, it is helpful to know a

student’s past and present language situation to best support the student in language acquisition. I

use the DRDP to track student English language development in receptive language, expressive

language, and in literacy through reading and writing skill development. With any formal or
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informal language assessment in my classroom, I always want to track student growth and track

and measure students developmentally. This data helps inform instruction and determine the

amount of language support needed for each student.

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References

Díaz-Rico, Lynne (2014). The crosscultural, language, and academic development handbook : a

complete K-12 reference guide. Pearson Education, Inc.

Echevarría, Jana (2000). Making content comprehensible for English language learners: the

SIOP model. Pearson Education, Inc.