Journal 10

Article: “A Project for Everyone, English Language Learners and Technology in Content-Area Classrooms”
From: ISTE “Learning and Leading with Technology”

This article is about teaching classes in which some of the students are not fluent in English which is a very interesting subject to me, since I would like to teach in Escondido and there are a high percentage of primarily Spanish speaking children compared to the rest of the country.

Question 1: What activities support English Language learners in learning English and the subject content?
An important part of the answer is to interact with fluent English speakers in a meaningful way on an interesting project. This particular example involves researching the Vietnam War, and some of the kids are speaking English as their second language and below grade level. The best way to encourage them to improve their English is to have small groups that include English language learners (ELLs) and native speakers. So if 4 of them are working on the PowerPoint presentation then 1 or 2 of them could be English language learners. There are also ways to expose the ELLs to English in meaningful ways but with some help, such as showing them web sites that have visuals along with the text. Graphs, maps, spread sheets, and other data that support the content being researched are examples of graphic helpers. The Find feature in the browser can save a slow reader a lot of time.

Question 2: Can technology be used for ELLs to practice and improve their spoken language?
There are audio e-mail software packages such as Talksend, with which ELLs can practice what they want to say and record over until they are pleased with the e-mail they send. Speech recognition software might be a good help for correct pronunciation. ELLs can also use the recording feature of PowerPoint to add explanations for slides so they can work on it ahead of time instead of during the presentation.