Individual Report on a Student Observed

A successful intervention plan to aid Second Language Learners in acquiring the

necessary skills to master the standard form of English is imperative. The needs of Second

Language Learners are tumultuous due to the constant and consistent use of the learners' first

language. In St.Vincent and the Grenadines, the local Vincentian Creole is the first language. It

is used widely and can be heard by anyone except for a small minority who have resolved to

speak only the Standard English. For this reason, educators of English must first recognize the

needs of their Second Language Learners then implement appropriate strategies so that their

students can master the language. This report highlights the need for fluency in Standard English,

mastery in the understanding of Grammar and interest in the learning environment of a Second

Language Learner and provides corresponding teaching strategies to effectively assist the learner

in acquiring the Standard English.

The student under review is a twelve year old boy in Grade 8. He resides on the outskirts

of the capital in a known affluent area. He was neatly dressed and sat quietly at the front of the

classroom close to the window. His book bag revealed that he either possessed few books or they

were left at home. He wrote and drew on his arm until it was time to copy the notes from the

board. He spoke only once during the entire lesson. He simply asked the teacher to reposition

herself because she was preventing him from seeing on the board. This was done using the

Creole. James' unwillingness to participate and his fixed attention to the creative art form on his

arm resulted in his inability to define and give an example of an Independent Clause. This was

evident when asked to do so during the interview. Although he made a fair attempt to respond

using the Standard Form, there were times when the Creole showed its ugly head. This resulted

in incorrect Grammar in the area of Subject and Verb agreement and his inability to maintain a
conversation using the Standard English. Some of his responses were: “She want to make sure

we can know the difference between the two clause” and “ She cudda make the class more

interesting by putting in some jokes”. Although he made those errors in speaking, he was able to

correctly construct a sentence using the Standard English. He said, “The information is useful

because we will need it in the future”. Hence, his needs are fluency in speaking the Standard

English, mastery in the understanding of Grammar and interest in the teaching - learning

environment.

The combination of two Language Acquisition approaches can be used to assist James,

namely: The Communicative Approach and Teaching Grammar in Context. Oral language must

first be developed before reading and writing. Hence, it is important that James learn to speak

fluently. The ability to do this will improve his ability to read and most importantly, write

correctly. These two approaches help learners develop fluency and acceptable language. They

give students an opportunity to interact with others; provides translation when and where

necessary and help teachers to motivate students during the teaching and learning process. Also

an inductive approach may have been a more effective tool in teaching the lesson. This style of

teaching within the framework of the two approaches would have allowed James to understand

grammatical structures in the natural order of language acquisition. In addition, James would

have been intrinsically motivated because the aspects of language learning that are considered

tedious and boring would have been minimized. Furthermore, the inductive style of teaching

would have allowed James to discover for himself the rules that govern Grammar which would

lead to a better understanding and longer retention of the rules.

Before venturing on this topic, the teacher should have considered the cognitive ability of

her students. According to Piaget's developmental theory, James should be at the formal
operational stage. However, he is unable to grasp abstract concepts. As a result, his low

proficiency level showed that he would less likely be able to use intricate grammatical structures.

Most importantly, James needed more practice in the lesson taught because there is a wide

distance between the Creole and the Standard English in the area of Clauses. A dialogue with

short exercises or a short story or passage could have been used to present the information. This

would have developed his ability to speak, participate and increase his level of motivation in the

lesson. Also, pair and or group work could have been given. Again, this would have solicited his

participation and would have assisted him in learning. According to Vygotsky's theory,

cooperative learning aids in the learning process because peers are often working within each

other's zone of proximal development (Slavin, 2006). Lin (2013) further adds that activities that

involve peer interaction help English Language Learners (ELL) to absorb new concepts. When

ELL communicate with the teacher and their peers, this communication provides both input and

output which helps them to use Grammar and syntax correctly. For this reason, instead of using

the traditional way of underlining clauses in sentences, the teacher could have requested reports

of pair or group work. In using the approaches she would have been able to combine listening,

speaking, writing and reading in the Grammar lesson. This would have helped James to

recognize that Independent and Dependent Clause is involved in everything that he writes, reads

and speaks. In other words, the conventions of Grammar would not have been taught in

isolation.

In conclusion, the teaching and learning process for ELL is too often "organised around a

set of decontextualized skills" ( Freeman and Freeman, 2000, p. 4). As such, exercises given to

practice push the need to learn rules until the Language becomes automatic. This method does

not involve learners in real problem solving and create boredom for the students. In contrast, the
approaches of Teaching Grammar in Context and providing situations where authentic language

use can be made help to foster academic proficiency and English proficiency simultaneously.

Hence, teachers of Second Language Learners must employ approaches that will aid the

acquisition of the language in all four modes and create situations that will require the use of the

language for authentic purposes.

 References

Freeman, D., & Freeman, Y. (2000). Meeting the needs of English language learners. National
Council of Teachers of English, 12(1), 2-6.
Li, N. (2013). Seeking best practices and meeting the needs of English language learners: Using
second language theories and integrating technology in teaching. Journal of International
Education Research, 9(3), 217-222
Slavin, R. E. (2006). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Boston, MA: Pearson
Education, Inc
 DIVISION OF TEACHER EDUCATION

COURSE: JBTE/ENG 201:Teaching Language in the Caribbean Context

NAME OF ASSIGNMENT: Individual Report on a Student Observed

STUDENT ID:1907037

DATE: November 25th, 2019

LECTURER: Dr. Karen Thomas