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Equipping the ESL Coach
In TALGS Keynote, Jodi Crandall Describes New Roles for ESL/EFL Teachers
This is a report from TALGS 2009, in
Greenville, North Carolina. Two reports
are included in the spring edition of
the ESL MiniConference Online, and
two more reports will be included in
the summer edition.
This year's plenary speaker at TALGS
was Dr. JoAnn Crandall, Professor of ESOL/Bilingual
Education and Director of the interdisciplinary Ph.D.
Program in Language, Literacy and Culture at the
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).
Crandall's 11:35 plenary, "Sharing our
expertise: Working with mainstream teachers,"
was presented to a completely filled lecture
hall with a 100-person seating capacity.
The dilemma, according to Crandall,
is that you don't want the ESL teacher teaching
math and science; yet ESL expertise is needed.
"We cannot adapt instruction for ELLs without
ESL," she explained, "and only the content area
teacher has the knowledge and skills to teach
that content."
She used her presentation to share models
of collaboration that she has observed in
her research, both for K-12 and adult
learning. The first model is content-based
ESL, in which there is an ESL curriculum
with language, content, and critical
thinking skills or, alternatively, in
the context of a longer thematic unit.
The second model is sheltered instruction,
in which content is adapted for ELLs. Crandall
described sheltered chemistry and a sheltered
math course taught by a math teacher trained
to adapt instruction. A student's first
English composition course in high school
or college can also have a section for those
who have exited ESL programs, according to
Crandall, who suggests that such courses
be taught by ESL-friendly and/or ESL-trained
teachers. "Sheltered instruction makes a
concrete basis, a real basis," she explained,
for successful transition into the regular
curriculum.
The next model is team teaching and
paired classes. In elementary school,
team teaching is one way to get around
NCLB's over-emphasis on reading and
still teach science, according to Crandall.
Elementary ESL teachers need to be assigned
to specific grades in this model, meeting
in small groups with students by proficiency
level in the morning, for example, and in
the afternoon co-teaching with content
teachers.
Paired classes are generally in community
colleges, said Crandall, but could be applied
in a high school context as well. These
paired classes might be a history class
with ELLs and English-speaking students
paired with an ESL class focused on
reading, for example, or a psychology
class paired with an ESL class focused
on writing. Crandall also has seen
special vocational ESL classes for
auto mechanics or landscape maintenance
for ELLs, but warns that the content
needs to be previewed or reviewed
carefully. "If you are going to have
someone teaching ELLs in a transitional
class," she advised, "Make sure the
person has ESL expertise."
As an example of an ongoing and
successful paired class program,
Crandall referenced College of
Lake County, Illinois, where students
rotate through ESL support classes
with bilingual tutoring for entry-level,
short-term certificate programs. ESL
support classes meet for an hour before
and after the career class, which is
taught by an ESL teacher with a
vocational ESL curriculum. Students
receive certificates for automobile
technology, landscape maintenance,
general office skills, etc..., and
"a very successful student from the
previous term becomes a tutor for
the next semester," she explained.
Programs like College of Lake County
benefit their communities and American
society in a number of ways, according
to Crandall. "All new
growth in the U.S. workforce will be from
immigrants," she explained, so it is
vital that these adults experience
academic success in a program that
gives them job readiness "with a
path to advancement." Additionally,
companies that employ these workers
are getting someone who is trained
and bilingual.
The next model that Dr. Crandall
presented was the integrated thematic
curriculum, for secondary schools
and community colleges. In this
model, teams of teachers choose
a theme to develop curriculum
across different subject areas
(See Barnhill for an
example of this at the primary
school level). According to
Crandall, the ESL teacher and
the English language learners
are assigned to one team, where
thematic content is integrated.
"From day one that team preaches
going to high school, going to
college, and getting a decent
job," she explained. Curriculum
is adapted with the help of a
student intern, and former ELLs
assist with orientation to high
school. "Middle school students
are paired with high school
mentors," said Crandall.
She also gave an example of
integrated content at Yakima
Valley Community College, in
Washington State, where the
intensive English program
begins integrating content
from the lower levels of
English proficiency. At level
three (of five) ESL math is
taught by an ESL instructor,
while at level four students
take math and reading for
college credit, and, at
levels four and five,
computer basics in the
regular college curriculum.
Expanding the Instructional Skill Set
Another key aspect of adapting
curricula for English language
learners, according to Dr. Crandall,
is professional development for
teachers who interact with these
students. "Only 12 percent of U.S.
teachers have any training or professional
development to teach ELLs," she explained,
citing a 2002 study by the National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Further complicating the modification
of content instruction for ELLS, she suggested,
is a newly relevant distinction
that researcher Joy Reid has described
between "ear learners" and "eye
learners," as some second generation
students manage to survive K-12
by depending on their learning
strengths but developing
traditional academic skills in neither
their first nor second language.
A PD (professional development training)
does not have to involve paying a
outside consultant;
Crandall described a homegrown course
co-taught by undergraduate and high
school ESL and content faculty. Such
courses have addressed a range of
topics:
She explained in detail one such
program, called STEP-T for ELLs,
reported by Shin, of UMBC.
Crandall believes that all teachers
need to become aware of the distinction
between BICS (social language) and
CALP (academic language) skills, as
well as learning how to adapt instruction
for the dual goals of content and
language learning. There are three
ways to adapt instruction for this
purpose, she explained: 1) increase
sources of information beyone a text;
2) decrease complexity of concepts,
text, or tasks; and 3) increase interaction.
"Increasing the sources of information
reduces reliance on academic text,"
according to Crandall, who suggests:
She suggests the following ways
of reducing the complexity of concepts,
text, or tasks:
"I don't see enough of this," said Jodi
Crandall, referring to the use of comprehension
checks and clarification questions, reminding
TALGS participants that "Does everybody
understand this?" is not a reliable way
to check comprehension. "It is important
to have students repeat directions," she
suggested, to be sure they understand what
is expected.
Crandall gave the following as ways to
increase opportunities for interaction
among students:
In adapting texts for ELLs, according to
Jodi Crandall, it is important to reduce
the amount of text. "Less is more," she
explained. Teachers should select the most
important information and use graphic
organizers. Structure should also be
simplified, by putting topic sentences
first and reducing the number of complex
sentences. In addition, teachers should
strive to "build redundancy" within text
by repeating key ideas, words, and phrases.
Further ideas suggested by Crandall for
adapting texts are to simplify vocabulary
by avoiding non-essential vocabulary,
pre-teaching difficult words, and avoiding
synonyms. "Synonyms can really be confusing,"
she explained, citing recent research by
Keith Folse suggesting that presenting
vocabulary in lists of semantic sets
can cause problems in vocabulary acquisition.
Other ways to adapt text for English
language learners, according to Crandall,
is by providing visual support and relating
the content to students' experiences
Dr. Crandall also advocates the use
of the Academic Word List, a resource
based on a 3.5 million word academic
corpus of 570 "headwords" and 3,000
related words. "These are the most
frequently used academic words across
arts, humanities, and sciences," she
explained, adding that the third edition
of her American Ways textbook
highlights headwords.
New Diversity Within the ELL Population
Jodi Crandall devoted a significant
portion of her keynote presentation
to the teaching of "special populations"
of English language learners, including
students with interrupted or limited
formal schooling, literacy and English
proficiency (SIFE); speakers of "World
English"; high achieving ELLs; Generation
1.5 students, who, Crandall said, are
mostly "ear learners"; and foreign-trained
professionals.
For SIFE students, ages 17 or older, she described an "Integrated
ESL/Career Program," or alternate route to
the high school diploma, called "Students
Engaged in Pathways to Achievement" (SEPA),
from a new report by Becker (Montgomery
City Public Schools, 2009). These students
receive ESOL instruction for personal
and career development at low or high
beginning levels, aligned with Maryland
standards, according to Crandall. They
also receive instruction to build and
improve their Spanish language literacy,
she said, and training in construction,
restaurant management, or nail technology.
This integrated program "prevents these
students from slipping through the cracks,"
said Crandall.
World English speakers constitute "a
growing number of students with limited
formal schooling from English-speaking
countries," explained Jodi Crandall,
who described professional development
trainings to help teachers understand
these students; semester-long tutoring;
analysis of students' language; and
visits by community leaders and students.
Another important way to enhance
educational outcomes for English
language learners is through programs
that encourage, stimulate, and reward
high-achieving ELLs, such as an
"International Honors Council,"
which Crandall described as "a series
of activities to help students foresee
that they could go to college, and
be successful in college." Honors
Council activities have included
college field trips, college and
FAFSA applications, keyboarding skills
for college essays, mentoring by
previous Honors Council members,
test-taking strategies, and a
"bilingual career day."
In addressing the needs of Generation 1.5
students, Crandall noted that these
individuals are neither first nor
second generation immigrants, and
they speak a language other than
English at home. "Most came after
elementary school," she explained,
"but still have problems with academic
English, especially writing." She
again cited Joy Reid's research
findings that most of these students
are "ear learners," not "eye learners."
Crandall believes there is a need
today for special sections of ESL
and general courses which incorporate
a focus on academic register.
As a good model for accommodating
the needs of foreign-trained professionals
who migrate to the United States,
Jodi Crandall highlighted the
success of the "Welcome Back Initiative,"
an International Health Worker Assistance
Center" based in San Francisco, Los
Angeles, San Diego, Providence, and
other American cities. "The goal of
this program is to help foreign-trained
health care professionals to access
comparable or more appropriate positions
in the U.S.," she explained.
Jodi Crandall also praised "Carreras en
Salud" (Healthcare Career Pathways), which,
she said, "articulate a bilingual pathway
for adult ELLs seeking positions in health
care at entry levels or higher." Among
participating programs are Chicago
Healthcare Bridge Partnership-Instituto
del Progreso Latino, Humboldt Park Vocational
Center of Wright College, the National
Council de la Raza, and about 300 hospitals
and nursing homes.
Principles for Effective Collaboration
Dr. Crandall concluded her keynote
session with her suggested guiding
principles to help ESL professionals
in working with content colleagues.
Her first guiding principle is
ESL teacher leadership, by which
she means providing academic and career-rich
ESL instruction, assisting counselors with
scheduling, and advocating for
there being an ESL counselor. "It is
good for the ESL teacher to help
in scheduling," said Crandall, "and
to steer students away from toxic
folks," those teachers with
attitudes like "I don't know why
they don't speak English" or
"bring them to me after they
speak English."
Jodi Crandall's second guiding
principle is increased instructional
time, including after-school
tutoring, Saturday classes, summer
school, block scheduling, and
lunchtime tutoring.
Her third principle is involve
more people in education, using
some of the following ideas:
Peer- and cross-age tutoring for service learning credits
The fourth guiding principle for ESL
teachers collaborating with content
teachers is link to parents and community,
through monthly meetings for parents on topics
important to them, using community members as "funds
of knowledge" in the curriculum, involving parents
in educational activities such as field trips
or Saturday classes, and encouraging parents
to see high school graduation and college
as viable options for their children.
Crandall's fifth principle is develop
leadership through such events as
a "weekend cross-cultural leadership
institute" with Outward Bound activities,
resolution writing, etc.; morning announcements
on the PA system, and bilingual career days.
Finally, Jodi Crandall asks schools and
teachers to "stop telling families of kids
to forget L1," and instead to help families
and students see being bilingual as a key
piece of their job-skill set for the
careers of the future. "All new growth in
the U.S. workforce will come from immigrants,"
predicted Crandall.
Advocating for ELL Students
ESL teachers play a crucial role in
the lives of their students, reiterated
Dr. Crandall in closing her keynote
address, "We need to remember that
learning English takes a long time."
It is also important to recognize
that "students can't afford to wait
to pursue their goals," she added,
"so we have to address these in our
ESL classes and help our colleagues
to see how they can help ELLs meet
their academic and career goals."
Her final suggestion was that "we
may also have to help ELLs see that
they can have those aspirations."
A quarter century ago, Jo Ann Crandall
was instrumental in making content-based
instruction so straightforward and integral
to ESL/EFL teaching that it is now implicit
in nearly every textbook and technique
used anywhere English is taught. Her
new focus, on sheltered English and
collaborative teaching relationships
between ESL and content faculty,
addresses the most challenging
skill domain for today's ESL
teachers, whether in K-12, higher
education, or vocational adult
programs.
TALGS participants came away from
Dr. Crandall's keynote with practical
knowledge and awareness to inform
their new roles as coaches and
advocates for culturally and linguistically
diverse learners.
By Robb Scott
2009 ESL MiniConference Online
PDF conversion by PDF Online
Understanding cross-cultural differences
in interaction and education
Understanding social and academic language
Understanding how to adapt insturction,
materials, and assessments
-from Dr. Crandall's Powerpoint
Use demonstrations, gestures
Involve students in discovery and experiential learning
Use multiple media and opportunities to learn
-from Dr. Crandall's Powerpoint
Focus on vocabulary
Adapt texts; chunk information
Provide graphic organizers and outlines
Paraphrase, repeat, and summarize
Use comprehension checks and clarification questions
Use variety of texts and assignments
-from Dr. Crandall's Powerpoint
Encourage peer-, cross-age, and cross-proficiency tutoring
Increase interactive writing with journals, response logs, and discussion boards
Involve students in projects and literature circles
-from Dr. Crandall's Powerpoint
University interns to help
Orientation to high school by successful high-schoolers who are former ELLs
Graduates of Honors Council as mentors to new college students
-from Dr. Crandall's Powerpoint
Editor, ESL MiniConference Online
Robb@eslminiconf.net
