ESL Learners: A Guide for the Classroom - Identification
Although it is frequently obvious which students require ESL services (and thus qualify as ESL for funding purposes), this is not always true. It is sometimes difficult to recognize that second language support is needed by students who speak English as a second dialect or students who already have acquired some communicative competence in English. With very young students too, the need for ESL support is not always evident, partly because rates and patterns of early development can vary significantly from one student to another, and partly because an accurate assessment of a student's English language proficiency needs to take account of all language modes (listening, speaking, reading, writing).
Some ESL students can display a reasonable command of oral English as they enter school, only to experience difficulties as reading and writing are introduced. With others, the frustration of being unable to cope with limitations that language difficulties can impose may manifest itself in the form of behavioural problems. The challenge for the teacher is to recognize that these difficulties may be indicative of a need for ESL support rather than of a real learning disability or behavioural disorder.
In the course of learning a new language, comprehension often precedes production. Beginner ESL students may initially be silent for a period, as they listen and internalize.
Indications that a student requires ESL support usually emerge from the kinds of formative assessment that classroom teachers are able to undertake. Teachers who use varied approaches to performance assessment will usually recognize when students are having difficulty with language-dependent activities. For more information on approaches that can be used to expand their repertoire of assessment strategies,3 teachers are advised to consult the following documents published by the Ministry of Education as part of the Assessment Handbooks Series:
- Performance Assessment (XX0246)
- Portfolio Assessment (XX0247)
- Student-Centred Conferencing (XX0248)
- Student Self-Assessment (XX0249)
The provincial reference sets for reading and writing can also help teachers identify student performance difficulties that may be attributable to the fact that English is a student's second language or that the student uses a dialect of English that differs significantly from the standard English used in the broader Canadian society and in school. These reference sets are:
- Evaluating Reading Across Curriculum (RB0034)
- Evaluating Writing Across Curriculum (RB0020 & RB0021)
Teachers who suspect, on the basis of a student's performance difficulties, that he or she requires ESL support may be able to confirm this by obtaining further information from parents, from guardians, or, indeed, from the student about:
- the student's educational background
- the cultural community of which the family is a part
- the extent to which the home language(s) and English are supported by the family
- the expectations of the student and the family regarding the school system and its culture (e.g., homework, disciplinary measures, core subjects, field trips).
If it seems that the student should be formally designated as needing ESL services, an ESL specialist should ideally be consulted to confirm this and conduct a formal needs assessment.
Megan
Megan is a happy six-year-old who lives in the apartments near the school. She is a First Nations student whose family has lived off the reservation for many generations. At school, she plays well with the other children and enjoys centres; she is, however, very reluctant to participate in any verbal activities in class. Recently, she experienced great frustration when attempting to tell her teacher that she'd received a walkman for Christmas. She also appears to be having difficulty with beginning reading and writing tasks and has lately begun acting up in class.
At the request of her teacher, Megan's language skills have been tested, and it has emerged that her command of oral English is comparable to that of most four-year-olds. Follow-up discussions with Megan's parents have enabled teachers to determine that the oral language used at home is different from the oral language Megan is expected to use at school. Megan is consequently feeling overwhelmed at school and has begun to believe she cannot learn to read or write. |
Formal Assessment and Placement
Any assessment used as a basis for making placement or planning decisions for ESL students should be carried out under the direction or with the assistance of trained ESL specialists.
The process for conducting the initial assessment of language proficiency should involve the use of informal techniques and criterion-referenced instruments (e.g., oral interviews, writing samples) rather than norm-referenced tests. Results obtained using commercially produced norm-referenced tests may be misleading since these are seldom designed to specifically assess ESL students, and tend to be written for, and normed on, English-speaking populations. The assessment instruments used will typically take account of all language modes. They will likely present the student with tasks that integrate these skill areas and include at least some pragmatic assessment (how well the student can do something with the language that is presented).
Provincial policy stipulates that a record of each student's initial assessment should be recorded. The assessment information included in the record should relate to the placement decisions that are made. The record should also identify the amount and type of ESL support service needed (e.g., pullout, in-class).
The initial assessment should subsequently be reviewed on a regular basis (at least once a year), and placement and programming adjustments made as necessary. Time constraints often limit the amount of data that can be obtained during an initial assessment. It is also not unusual for a student from another area or country, particularly if there are cultural differences, to "freeze" when faced with an initial formal assessment in English. Initial assessment results should consequently not be viewed as comprehensive or definitive.
With support, ESL students who have a developing grasp of English fare best if given an opportunity, for most purposes, to participate with appropriate support in mainstreamed classes with non-ESL peers. Given appropriate instructional practice (see "Classroom Planning with ESL in Mind"), their needs can be met without detriment to other students. Subsequent assessments may suggest alternate placements, but generally speaking, research suggests that holding students back until they have better mastery of language is seldom appropriate.4
Thi Hoang
Thi Hoang is a sixteen-year-old student who lived in rural southern Vietnam prior to coming to Canada. She and her family were sponsored by an elder brother, whom she has not seen for nine years. While growing up in Vietnam, she was unable to attend school regularly. Although her oral skills are strong, she is illiterate in her first language. Thi Hoang wants to attend school and learn. She also realizes that other students her age are now in Grade 11, one year away from graduation, and she knows her own time in a public school is limited. Her desire to learn frequently puts her into conflict with other family members who see a more traditional future role for her. |
3 see also O'Malley, J. Michael & Lorraine Valdez Pierce, Authentic Assessment for English Language Learners: Practical Approaches for Teachers, (Toronto: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1996)
4 Collier, Virginia. "How long: A synthesis of research on academic achievement in a second language." TESOL Quarterly, 23, 1989, 509-531.
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