Developing+Literacy+in+the+Classroom+and+Home+Environments

= Developing Literacy in Both the Classroom and at Home =

**How to identify learning differences (NOT language difficulties): **
It is very important for teachers of English Language Learners to be able to differentiate between language learning difficulties and actual learning differences amongst their students. The following are "Normal Phenomena" of second language acquisition:
 * 1) Interference (or Transfer):
 * "ELL children may manifest interference or transfer from their first language to English" (Brice and Roseberry-McKibbin).
 * An error in English may be influenced by the structure of the native language.
 * 1) The silent period:
 * "When children are first exposed to a second language, frequently they focus on listening comprehension" (Brice and Roseberry-McKibbin).
 * The child will focus more on listening and comprehending at first, and will not speak much at all.
 * The silent period will last longer in younger children.
 * 1) Codeswitching:
 * "This involves changing languages over phrases or sentences" (Brice and Roseberry-McKibbin).
 * The child may switch between the native and new language while speaking.
 * 1) Language loss:
 * "As [the child] learn[s] English, they lose skills and fluency in L1 if their L1 is not reinforced and maintained" (Brice and Roseberry-McKibbin).

It is important for teachers to understand that the above phenomena do NOT indicate language difficulties. It is also important for teachers to understand that students learn in different ways, and that "individuals differ in their abilities to process information, construct meaning from it, or apply it to new situations" (Jonassen and Grabowski, 1993). So, teachers must be careful not to expect the exact same progression in every student they teach. Do not just to conclusions and automatically label a student as having language learning difficulties. They may just learn differently and at a slightly different pace.

Jonassen, D. H. and Grabowski, B. L. (1993). Part I: Individual Differences in Learning and Instruction. In the Handbook of Individual Differences, Learning, and Instruction (pp. 1-35). Hillside, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
 * Works Cited Above:**

**The Importance of Literacy Development and Oral Language Development in the SLA Process: **
The following three websites contain information about the importance of literacy development and oral language development in the SLA process as well as the importance of literacy rich environments.
 * 1) [|Fostering Literacy Development in English Language Learners]
 * 2) [|The Importance of Oral Language Development]
 * 3) [|Literacy Rich Environments and the Importance of Literacy]

Helpful Teaching Tools:



**Informational Article: **
The following link will take you to a very informative article concerning the educational support needed for ELL students whose formal education has been interrupted.
 * [|How to Support ELL Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFEs)]

**Suggested Children's Literature Book: **
** "Henry and Mudge in Puddle Trouble" by Cynthia Rylant and Sucie Stevenson ** is about a young boy and his 180 pound best friend, Mudge the dog. In this book it is Spring and the mischievous pair find out just how fun puddles can be.

This book is perfect for English language learners of moderate proficiency because it is an easy chapter book with lots of illustrations. It would work very well for English language learners in the middle grades (6-8). The vocabulary is not too difficult and there are not too many words on each page so the students will not feel overwhelmed. Also, the illustrations go very well with the text, so the students can use visual clues to figure out vocabulary that they may not be very familiar with yet. This book is one of a series, so any of the books in the series will work. However, in the section above entitled 'Helpful Teaching Tools' you can find a word document with comprehension questions for each chapter of this book.

Some VERY Helpful Websites for Teachers, Parents and Students:


 * 1) [|Colorin Colorado]
 * 2) [|Reading is Fundamental]
 * 3) [|Reading Rockets]

Ms. Cristina Hudgins cmh3j.mtsu@gmail.com

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