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I interviewed Mrs. Orr and discussed how inadequate staffing, high stakes testing, and English language features impact ELL students. In the interview Mrs. Orr described how the school she works at was understaffed and underprepared for the influx of immigrant students. The classroom was comprised of a very diverse population students who traveled from Iraq, Mexico, Thailand, Nigeria and Kenya. Obviously having so many ELL students all in the same classroom with varying levels of English proficiency presented many challenges for staff as well of students. Because of the unexpected influx pf students and lack staff, students were forced into a newcomer/submersion hybrid program with pull out ESL style teaching when high stakes assessments were coming up. Mrs. Orr's classroom utilized a lot of Google translator and reliance on students who were more proficient than others in English. I didn't want to classify the classroom completely as submersion, because the staff did try to accommodate the students with very little resources they have. However, in order for me to have been able to completely classify this classroom as a newcomer program the school would have had to make a commitment to have "the best teachers, adequate resources, a clear curriculum, and small class sizes", none of which Mrs. Orr's school could provide for the students (Wright 2015).
However the staff that was placed in the classroom, including Mrs. Orr did try their best to do what they could. For high stakes testing they translated for the students using Other staff who had some familiarity with the language, and used a lot of Google translator. For other students who could not be helped in that way they were not penalized to harshly because of the fact they there weren't enough resources for the students.
Mrs. Orr did find that one of the best ways to teach ELL students in the type of environment she was not prepared for was to try to make connections between English and their first language. Orr said that if students needed to understand cultural references or idioms, they were able to find similar statements in their native language. Because so many native languages are rich with descriptive languages and phrasings, students could create a meaningful connection between what they know and what was taught. For students who were at the developing proficiency level, other students who shared their native language would explain how the idioms or English references are related to something in their native language. A lot of learning in Mrs. Orr's classroom was dependent on peer teaching and cooperation between students. Although students were placed in a ineffective environment, they were able to utilize cooperative learning when they were focused figuring to a specific task and navigating the classroom in general. Cooperative learning focuses heavily on specificity and scaffolding, which allows students of all levels of proficiency to benefit (Wright 2015).
Reference:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Caslon.
Hi Lola! I really loved your interview and it really put things into perspective. That is the reality in a lot of places and it is important to do as much as you can to combat the effects that those environments can have both on the teachers and students. It sounds like Mrs. Orr does a great job of doing so. I think her talking about high stakes testing is really interesting. I really am not a fan of high stakes testing, especially for ELLs. Wright says that translation takes much longer for ELL students, so they require a lot more time than fluent English speaking students (2015). This is so hard because they are not often accommodated for this. I really loved your interview and will hang on to a lot of the things that Mrs. Orr said!!
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Accommodations for ELL students is vital and so often they are left without the proper accommodations to succeed (Wright 2015). Translations do take a lot longer for ELLs, especially in a classroom like Mrs. Orr where there are various students who speak different home languages and all are out different proficiency levels. I think Mrs.Orr's classroom gives us a realistic approach as to what ELL classrooms can be like and why teacher and school preparedness is crucial.
DeleteYour interview with Mrs. Orr is really eye opening to some of the situations that are occurring with mass immigration of young children into the United States. It is unfortunate that all of our schools are not always equipped with the necessary staff and tools needed to properly provide English instruction to our ELLs. The program model that was mentioned in Mrs. Orr’s school was appropriately identified as a submersion program, meaning that ELLs were placed “in a mainstream classroom where there is no ESL instruction” for students (2015, p.111). While this situation is unfavorable to ELL students, there are many advantageous educators that are willing to put in the extra effort to try and meet the needs of these students despite the situation. Mrs. Orr is a great example of a teacher that is taking the time to work with these students in order to understand them and make a difference in their language learning experiences.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
This interview was extremely sobering because it gave me a preview of what I could face as as ESL educator in a Title I school. The environment for the ELL students was very much so "sink or swim", and the students had to rely a lot on each other in order to comprehend the work given to them. I think the school could have at least offered Pull Out ESL more consistently instead of just around testing time, but I suppose the lack of educators on site who were fluent in the home languages of the students played a role in that (Wright 2015).
DeleteI really enjoyed your interview with Mrs. Orr. I believe that we should follow her example. She obviously had a lot on her plate, and I am glad that she used cooperative learning in her classroom. Wright states that cooperative learning is a great tool for our ELL students because they are near students who speak the language that they are trying to learn. They may also be able to pick up on certain things, like how to respond in social settings as well (Wright, 2015). It's really sad that there weren't enough resources to help these students. I feel like classes like this one are great because we open our eyes to what is going on in our schools regarding ELLs so that we are better prepared when we are teachers. I also like that she encourages the students to also integrate their culture and language into the discussions, like with figurative language. Wright states that we should encourage our ELLs to continue to speak their home language, and not try to make them forget it (Wright, 2015).
ReplyDeleteCooperative learning is awesome for students and I think the collaborative aspect of this situation and the willingness of educators such as Mrs. Orr to want to help them no matter the lack of resources. However, the positive impact of cooperative learning could have been bolstered had there been an efficient ELL language program in place, such as the SIOP model (Wright 2015).
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