Significant Language Development and Academic Growth of the English Learner
Significant language development and academic growth of the English Learner
Kathy Gallivan
ELL 497, Capstone Class
Prof. Louise Framan
November 5, 2012
The ultimate goal of teaching content and language to English language learners involves many theories of pedagogy and language acquisition. One language development theory is discussed within an introduction of Stephen Krashen at a language seminar, Mr. Shoebottom summarized his theory of language acquisition as having “no fundamental difference between the way we acquire our first language and our subsequent languages. He claims that humans have an innate ability that guides the language learning process. Infants learn their mother tongue simply by listening attentively to spoken language that is (made) meaningful to them; foreign languages are acquired in the same way” (Shoebottom, 1996-2012). Mr. Krashen first presented his five part English structure hypotheses, the Monitor Model in 1977 which is now the most widely established theory used in English language acquisition. On the other hand, in an interview for Discovery magazine, Noam Chomsky argues that there is a universal grammar that encompasses all languages, and rather than absorbing language from the environment and learning to communicate by imitation, children are born with the innate capacity to master language, a power imbued in our species. He summed up our ability to communicate as one of two things, either it’s a miracle or we have some internal system of rules that dertermines the structures and the interpretations (Chomsky, 2011). Either way, this conclusion that humans have a unique internal ability to communicate must be a cornerstone in the foundation for ELL teachers lesson planning. As educators choose strategies, they must focus on creating meaningful events for students to acquire language. These strategies are based upon a grade level within the lower primary grades. Preparing standards-based practices
Kathy Gallivan
ELL 497, Capstone Class
Prof. Louise Framan
November 5, 2012
The ultimate goal of teaching content and language to English language learners involves many theories of pedagogy and language acquisition. One language development theory is discussed within an introduction of Stephen Krashen at a language seminar, Mr. Shoebottom summarized his theory of language acquisition as having “no fundamental difference between the way we acquire our first language and our subsequent languages. He claims that humans have an innate ability that guides the language learning process. Infants learn their mother tongue simply by listening attentively to spoken language that is (made) meaningful to them; foreign languages are acquired in the same way” (Shoebottom, 1996-2012). Mr. Krashen first presented his five part English structure hypotheses, the Monitor Model in 1977 which is now the most widely established theory used in English language acquisition. On the other hand, in an interview for Discovery magazine, Noam Chomsky argues that there is a universal grammar that encompasses all languages, and rather than absorbing language from the environment and learning to communicate by imitation, children are born with the innate capacity to master language, a power imbued in our species. He summed up our ability to communicate as one of two things, either it’s a miracle or we have some internal system of rules that dertermines the structures and the interpretations (Chomsky, 2011). Either way, this conclusion that humans have a unique internal ability to communicate must be a cornerstone in the foundation for ELL teachers lesson planning. As educators choose strategies, they must focus on creating meaningful events for students to acquire language. These strategies are based upon a grade level within the lower primary grades. Preparing standards-based practices
References: Balderrama, M. V., & Diaz-Rico, L. T. (2006). Teaching performance expectations. Boston: Pearson Education Inc. Chomsky, N. (2011, 11). Noam Chomsky, The Radical Linguist. (M. Long, Interviewer) Herrell, A Kemmer, S. (2003). Words in English: Structure. Retrieved Oct 31, 2012, from Words in English: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/structure/index.html Larson, Y. W., Hume, J., Dronenburg, K., Joseph, M., Kephart, M., Malkasian, S., et al. (1998). English- language arts content standards for California public schools Peregoy, S. F., & Boyle, O. F. (2008). Reading, writing and learning in ESL. Boston: Pearson. Roja, C. (2008). International children 's digital library. Retrieved 03 06, 2012, from http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ Shoebottom, P. (1996-2012). An Introduction to the work of Stephen Krashen. Retrieved 02 21, 2012, from Frankfurt International School: http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/krashen.htm