Janet L. Pierce, Ph.D.
ESL Teacher, ELL Coordinator
Franklin Regional School District
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Origin of Chosen Strategies
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Research from seminars, workshops, readingsTESOL, 1997; PDE 2002-2008; Indiana
University of PA 2004-2008
McREL workshop with Jan Hill, March 5, 2008
Workshop for FRSD staff 2006
20 years personal experience as an ESL teacher
Things to Consider:
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You need to know the ELL’s English proficiency
level.
You need to know how to align Stages of Second
Language Acquisition to Bloom’s Taxonomy.
You need to understand how to break down a
lesson to teach language of your content area.
English Proficiency levels
Terminology- pre-emergent, emergent,
basic, developing, expanding, bridging
 Expectations for each level
 How to consider language functions
 How to provide activities for each level
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Beginning English language
learners:
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The Pre-emergent ELLs have no English and can make
few or no responses. This is the pre-production stage of
language acquisition.
The Emergent ELLs have just begun to be aware of letters
of the alphabet and sounds and may recognize a few
isolated words, universal symbols, gestures. This is the
early production stage.
The Basic ELLs understand simple speech spoken slowly,
with repetition, formal patterns, sight words and common
phrases. This is the speech emergence stage.
Beginning level ELLs:
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Pre-emergent is the very first level.
There is a silent period, followed by imitation
speech.
They construct meaning from: non-print items,
such as pictures, graphs, maps and tables.
Teacher prompts: Show me, circle the, Where is,
Who has.
Student response: yes, no, and pointing.
Beginning level ELLs:
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The second level is the Early production or
Emergent level.
Students recognize simple words and sounds.
Students use one to two word responses to
concrete information that is visual and for which
the student has context.
Teacher prompts include yes/no, either/or
questions; Who/what and how many questions.
Beginning level ELLs
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The third part of the Beginning level is the
Speech Emergent or Basic level.
Students need concrete information with visuals
and formulistic patterned speech
Imitation and repetition continues.
They expanding vocabulary with labeling.
Teacher prompts include Show me…, what is this,
where are …, asking students to explain to
specific prompts for one word or phrase answers.
Intermediate level ELLs
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The next proficiency level is Intermediate or
Developing.
Students understand more complex speech, with
some repetition.
They have a vocabulary of basic words and
phrases for daily situations (social English-BICS).
They can generate some English, but have
restrictions in vocabulary and grammar.
Intermediate level ELLs
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Students can create simple sentences with grammatical
errors.
Students have difficulty with Academic language (CALPS)
and more complex syntax/wording of texts.
They can generate more complex texts than beginners but
still have unconventional features in language patterns.
Teacher prompts include Why do you think . . . Based on
what you heard/saw/read and some visual/contextual
references.
Advanced level ELLs
The fourth level is the Advanced or Expanding
level.
 Students read with some fluency and can locate
and identify specific facts within a text.
 They still have some difficulty understanding texts
with material presented in a de-contextualized
manner, with complex sentence structures and /or
abstract vocabulary.
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Advanced level ELLs
Students can read independently, but with some
comprehension problems.
 Students can produce texts on their own for both
personal and academic purposes but errors persist
in structure, vocabulary and overall organization
of the material (TESOL, 1997).
 Teacher prompts include Summarize the story. . .,
Tell me what this means when . . .
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ELLs can do higher level thinking
Teachers need to consider Bloom’s
Taxonomy and the stages of second
language acquisition across the board.
 Consider language function as the way to
consider tasks to move ELL from concrete
to abstract learning.
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Break down tasks according to
language functions that can be done
at each proficiency level from
concrete to abstract
Beginning level ELLs can:
 Show knowledge by arranging, ordering, labeling,
reproducing- visual, simple words, simple phrases.
 Show comprehension by pointing to visuals that answer
questions, use simple words to tell something, give simple
phrase explanations or reasons.
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Beginning ELLs move to application
reasoning
Students can show application by making
choices of visuals, dramatizing what would
happen if . . . using visuals as prompts;
illustrating, writing, telling, in one word or
simple phrases what would happen next, or
what they interpret as happening in a
specific situation.
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Beginning ELLs move to analysis
reasoning
ELLs can show ability to analyze, calculate,
categorize, compare and contrast, criticize,
differentiate, examine, and experiment by
pointing to visuals to answer questions;
naming things, using phrases, adjectives to
show differences, results to experiments in
specific situations.
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Beginning ELLs can synthesize
ELLs can arrange visuals in order, put things
together (puzzles, pictures, items) collect
(pictures, items) create, design, develop, organize
and plan visuals, say words of things, ideas that
are associated, have relationships, as well as short
phrases to show how they would set up, organize
something so it can do something else.
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Beginning ELLs can evaluate
ELLs can argue, assess, attach, choose,
compare, defend, estimate, predict, rate,
select, support, and evaluate visuals by
matching; answering questions with visuals
and one word phrases and examining
situations to give phrase answers.
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Intermediate ELLs can do the same
with longer and more complex
sentences
At the knowledge level they can give the
definitions.
 At the comprehension level they can explain in a
few sentences how to do something.
 At the application level they can explain how to
do something and apply it to something else.
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Intermediate ELLs
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At the analysis level they can explain how something is
done for something else and in what way or manner.
At the synthesis level they can take information and add to
it with their own thoughts and information from other
sources.
At the evaluation level they can tell about consequences,
argue different points of view, predict, rate, support their
viewpoints with sentences (remember there will still be
grammatical and structural problems).
Advanced ELLs can do all levels of
thinking with near-native fluency
and a few grammatical, structural
problems
They can offer more detailed information at
all levels, but still may need more time,
have some grammatical problems and may
need some context provided.
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What’s next?
Apply language functions to real life
situations-BICs first, then CALP.
 Set language objectives-determine the
language functions and language structures
the student will need to participate in the
lesson.
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Some functions of language (adapted
from J. Hill workshop, 3-5-08, MCREL)
Agreeing/disagreeing
 Asking questions for help, directions, how to do
something, for permission
 Classifying, comparing
 Explaining, hypothesizing
 Inferring
 Refusing, sequencing, warning
 Describing, identifying, planning,
reporting,suggesting, wishing and hoping
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Recognize ELLs need specific
organizers, sentence structures
Teach signal words such as chronological
sequence words- after, finally, initially, now, then,
first, last, later, third, second, preceding, next,
soon, until, when, not long after.
 Teach language structures such as sentence
starters-cloze frames; key words for vocabulary;
real life mini lessons- teach grammatical usage for
authentic context- what they might really
encounter-role play, script, re-enact.
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Provide feedback
Make it corrective
 Make it timely
 Be specific to a criterion (rubrics) so ELLs
know what to expect
 Let ELLs provide some of their own
feedback
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One type of Feedback: WORD-MES
Word-MES (taken from J. Hill, McREL
workshop 3-5-08)
 Provide vocabulary WORDS
 Model correct usage
 Expand by using adjectives, adverbs, new
vocabulary
 Help students “Sound like a book” (use
academic language)
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Applying Word-MES
Pre-production/Pre-emergent- introduces new
vocabulary through pictures and labels-rain drops,
sky.
 Early production/emergent- two word
combinations, yes/no responses- Sky rains. “Yes,
the sky rains and rains.
 Speech Emergent/basic- simple phrases- It rains
all the time. “Yes, it can rain all the time.”
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Applying Word-MES
Intermediate/developing- sentence combinations
with some adjectives and adverbs- The blue sky
darkened and clouds formed. “Yes, the blue sky
darkened quickly and large heavy clouds formed.
It will soon rain.”
 Advance-Retell, provide information with
additional words they have heard/read/seen
elsewhere.
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Finally,
Enhance ELLs ability to understand, learn, and
communicate what they have learned using mental
images that are produced in multiple ways.
 The more ways an ELL can remember information
the easier it will be for them to recall and use the
information.
 Use Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences as
one way of helping you think of multiple ways to
help ELLs learn and remember.
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Recommendations for Classroom
Practice include:
Provide nonlinguistic representations.
 Use graphic organizers to represent
knowledge(teach how to use them too).
 Have students generate physical models of
the knowledge (materials and bodily).
 Have students generate mental pictures of
the knowledge they are learning.
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Recommendations continued
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Use pictures or pictographs to represent knowledge.
Have students engage in kinesthetic, musical, visual, and
other multiple intelligence activities representing
knowledge.
Teach students how to summarize, and to use reciprocal
teaching as another strategy.
Teach students our text structures and what they mean.
Provide lots of response time, plenty of practice in small
groups of peers more than in whole class situations.
Summary
Teachers should:
 Consider English Proficiency levels,
 Incorporate Higher level thinking activities/skills,
 Consider language functions,
 Language structures,
 Set language and content objectives,
 Provide multiple ways to learn and practice of
material geared to their level, AND
 Allow lots of time and provide plenty of
VISUALS.
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