MTB-MLE

Training of Trainers

L2 and L3 Acquisition: Principles

and Strategies

What every MLE teacher needs

to know

Paraluman R. Giron, Ed.D.

The Big Pictures,

The Big Rocks

What are the big rocks in

your life?

-family- loved ones,

education, dreams, teaching,

worthy cause, doing things that

you love, health.

Reflection:

What are the big rocks of

language development?

Group Discussion

Abstraction & Implications

Language Development

How do children acquire their

first language (L1)?

L2?

L3?

Same or Different?

Language acquisition

and

Language learning

How is L1 developed?

How do babies learn

to talk?

How do parents and

family member help

babies talk?

The Language

Acquisition

Language Acquisition

Natural

way

____

____

____

Contrived

way

___

___

___

receptive

expressive

At Home In school

Moving from

Receptive: Semantic processing (listening to understand)

Expressive: Syntactic processing (formation of words & sentences to communicate)

Stages of Language

Development

1. The silent or preproduction

period

• Communicates with

gestures, actions and

formulaic speech

• Often still in silent period

• Building receptive

vocabulary

2. Early Production Characteristics

• Can say. ― I don't understand‖

• Can label and categorize

information

3. Speech Emergence Characteristics

• Use language purposely

• Can produce complete sentence

4. Intermediate Fluency

Characteristics

• Can produce connected

narrative

• Can use reading and writing

within the context of a lesson

• Can write answers to

higher – level questions

• Can resolve conflicts

verbally

Stage Characteristics Approximate

Time Frame

Teacher

Prompt

Preproduction The child •has minimal comprehension •does not verbalize •nods “yes” and “no” •draws and paints

0 – 6 mos. •show me…. •circle the… •where is…? •who has…? •what is …..?

Stage Characteristics Approximate

Time Frame

Teacher

Prompt Early Production

The child •has minimal comprehension •Produces one-or-two word response •Participates using key words and familiar phrase •Uses present-tense verbs

6 months to

1 year

• Yes/No • Either/Or •One-or-two word answer • Lists • Labels

Stage Characteristics Approximate

Time Frame

Teacher

Prompt

Speech Emergence

The child • has good comprehension • can produce simple sentences • makes grammar and pronunciation error • frequently misunderstands jokes

1 – 3 years •Why? •How? •Explain… •Phrase or short-sentence answer

Stage Characteristics Approximate

Time Frame

Teacher

Prompt

Intermediate Fluency

The child •has excellent comprehension •Makes few grammatical errors

3 – 5 years •What will happen if……? •Why do you think….?

Stage Characteristics Approximate

Time Frame

Teacher

Prompt

Advanced Fluency

The child • has a near- native level of speech

5 – 7 years • Decide if…. • Retell ……. • Make ……. • Hypothesis on ..........

Shifts in Classroom

Structures for English

Learners

We are moving from:

Focus on product

Teacher–controlled

classrooms

Pre-planned, rigid

curricula

Measuring only

performance

Praising correct answers

and shifting to:

Focus on process

Student–involved

classrooms

Flexible, open–ended

curriculum

Gauging competence and

potential

Building on

approximation

Why do we learn

language?

What are the purposes of

language?

Halliday’s Language Functions

Function Example Purpose

Instrumental ―I want‖ To communicate

desires & wishes

Regulatory ―Do as I

say‖

To control behavior

of others

Representation ―Me and

you‖

To manage the

social environment

Function Example Purpose

Personal ―Here I

come‖

To express self,

feelings

Heuristics ―Tell me

why‖

To ask about the

words

Imaginative ―Lets

pretend‖

To create new

words

Literacy functions that children

demonstrate

Function Example Purpose

Exploratory How does it work To experiment with

print

Instructional ―Between you

and me‖

To share information

Personal ―For me‖ To claim ownership

Authenticating ―To legitimate‖ To act grown up

Transactional “Between me and

Text”

To make meaning

Learning Trajectories

Print Knowledge

•explore books

•uses both language

• points to words; labels pictures

• helps tell stories, pretends to read

• recognize some familiar words

say letter

name

name familiar

letters

name more

letters

links letters with

words

links letters with

sounds Alphabet Letter

Knowledge

Estimated Root

Word Vocabulary

600

words

1200

words 1800

words

2400

words 3000

words Ages 3–5

Ages 1–5

Growth root words–consist of one meaning unit tall, fish, eat

rhyming

alliteration words in

sentences

syllables beginning

sounds

shows

interest

takes a turn

Contributes

, ask

questions

Retells,

keeps to

topic

takes turns

uses new

words

uses

complex

grammar

Oral Language

Comprehension

Ages 3–5 Ages 3–5

specialized

vocabulary

Phonological

awareness

What is language proficiency?

• The ability to hold a conversation in familiar face-

to-face situations. This is also called BICS – Basic

Interpersonal Communicative Skills

• Mostly developed in the Mother Tongue by age 5.

• Can be developed in school in a second language in

two years or so.

• The discrete forms of language – phonological

awareness, phonics, spelling, grammar,

punctuation etc. can be learned in school through

direct instruction or through a literacy-rich

environment, or both, but takes longer.

What is CALP – Cognitive

Academic Language Proficiency?

• This involves less frequent vocabulary,

academic terms, and ability to produce

increasingly complex written language.

• English language learners require 5 or

more years to attain grade level

expectations in academic language.

• Lots of reading strengthens academic

language acquisition since much of

these terms are found in books.

How do we begin to develop

second language oral proficiency?

• Developmental Interdependence

Hypothesis

• The level of development of the second

language competence is partly dependent

on the level of competence already

achieved in the first language. The more

developed the first language, the easier it

will be to develop the second language.

Thus, the MT subject is crucial to

developing the L2. Learning to use

language, to articulate one’s thoughts, ask

and answer questions, debate, explore etc.

in the L1 first will make it easier to develop

those skills in the L2 later.

Cognitively Undemanding

Easy thinking

Cognitively Demanding/

Difficult thinking

Context E

mb

edded/

Fam

ilia

r id

eas

Co

ntex

t R

ed

uc

ed

/

Un

fam

ilia

r o

r n

ew

id

eas

Greeting someone Talking about the weather today Making their own books based on their own spoken or written stories

Reciting nursery rhymes Listening to a story or poem on cassette Describing something seen or heard on TV

Giving instructions about making a painting Use simple measuring skills Role play Dramatic stories Solution seeking Explaining & justifying

Listening to the news Reading a book and discussing the contents Relate new information in a book to existing knowledge Discuss ways that language is written, styles and conventions Reflecting on feelings

Why focus on Oral L2 before

L2 Literacy?

• Researchers say…

…oral proficiency in the target

language (L2) [is] of critical

importance for the development

of second language reading

comprehension among 3rd

and 4th

grade students (Droop and Verhoeven,

2003)

Principles for planning for oral L2

• Very early stages: Emphasize

listening and responding with

action (―activity listening‖). Make

the activities fun and non-

threatening—build confidence!

• During oral L2 phase, focus on

vocabulary and grammar…but do

not stress the teaching of grammar

rules through lots of drills.

From the researchers…

• … children must hear the second

language spoken in a rich oral

language environment. And they

must have opportunities for talk,

and talk, and more talk in that

second language (Marie Clay,

1995).

For later oral L2

1) Encourage talking (―everyday‖

language first in the L1 during MT

subject, then in the L2)

2) Begin using the language for

activities that require higher order

thinking— application, analysis,

evaluation, synthesis

3) Begin using the language for regular

subjects (but provide plenty of help

from the L1 to ensure comprehension)

General principles

Learning a new language should be…

• meaningful

• relate to everyday activities

• use familiar everyday language

• be non-threatening, enjoyable, F u N !

―Total Physical Response

(TPR) CABLA—what & why?

TPR allows learners to acquire L2

vocabulary in a manner similar to

the way that they learned their first

language. All language is

immediately understandable,

involves actions and allows

learners to pass through a silent

period whereby they build a

comprehension base before being

asked to speak (like we did learning

our L1).

To plan for early CABLA

1) List the most productive/important

vocabulary items (naming words,

describing words, action words-roots

and affixes) that the students will

need to learn

2) Develop a plan for introducing these in

a gradual process that includes plenty

of review.

3) Put the plan into a clear, readable

format that is easy for teachers to

use.

4 basic kinds of CABLA

CABLA Body

CABLA Object

CABLA Picture

CABLA Story

CABLA (using the Body)

Learners listen, observe and then

follow the teachers’ commands

that involve general body

movement (Examples: stand up,

sit down, turn around, turn right,

turn left, lift up your arm, touch

your nose, etc.) At first, the

learners do not speak; later they

give commands to each other.

CABLA (using objects)

Learners listen, observe and then

follow commands relating to

objects (example: pick up the

mango; put down the mango; give

me the banana; take the orange

to Lee, show me the leaf, etc.)

Again, no oral response is

expected at first. Later, the

learners give the commands to

each other.

CABLA (using pictures)

Learners look at a picture of a

familiar scene while the teacher

describes some of the activities

taking place in the picture. Teacher

asks the learners questions.

Example: ―Here is a girl getting

water from the well. Here is a

woman carrying firewood. Show me

the girl getting water from the

well.‖ Learners are not expected to

respond orally at first.

• CABLA-Story picture

OR

Teacher tells learners to draw

objects— on chalkboard, in their

books, slates, etc. (Draw a tree;

draw a chicken under the tree;

draw a girl standing by the

chicken, etc.) Learners follow the

directions. Later, learners give

these same kinds of directions to

the teacher, to each other,

CABLA. Drawing a picture as

instructed by the teacher

CABLA (using stories)

Teacher introduces new vocabulary

that will be used in the story and

learners become familiar with it.

T. tells the story while doing

actions. Teacher tells the story a

second time and volunteers act

out the story (without words) as

the teacher talks.

Later, the learners tell the story to

each other and act it out.

CABLA Re-telling a story

CABLA—Acting out a story

More CABLA—Acting out another story

Other activities for more

advanced oral 2LA

Asking open-ended questions that

require learners to describe,

explain, critique...)

Assignments that build awareness of

and confidence in different types

of oral language use (examples:

describing things, explaining

things, arguing a point, critiquing,

etc.)

IMPORTANT REMINDER…

If the program is for children…..

Make sure their 2LA activities are…

F U N ! ! ! !

Introducing Reading L2

• Begin with a transition primer, reviewing

five letters a day from the L1 until that

orthography is all reviewed, then adding

letters in the L2 that do not occur in the

L1 in individual lessons.

• Use the primer format of the Two Track

Method. And encourage creative writing

as in the story track component.

Adapted from Dennis Malone, adapted from Hudelson, Sarah. (1994) Literacy

development of second language children. in F. Genesee (Ed.), Educating

Second Language Children, 126-158. Cambridge: CUP, and from others.

General strategies

• Create a print-rich environment

– Charts with terms relating to subject content

– Charts for attendance, classroom chores

– Words of favorite chants or songs

– Labels on objects around the classroom (door,

window, desk, etc.)

– Student-generated stories

- Word walls in each language. During lessons write

key words on the word wall for L1, L2 or L3.

Every day refer to some of those words by asking

students to find a word, define it, find the

equivalent in the L2 etc.

• Encourage collaborative learning

• Include lots of reading in all the learners languages.

Reading

• Read to the students daily; ask

questions to make sure they

understand the text.

• Write short, repetitious, familiar

songs on chart paper; point to the

words while singing the song with

the children.

• Provide a variety of short, simple

stories for the children to read.

Begin with words the children have

already learned orally

• Use a ―transfer primer‖ to teach the

L2 letters

Writing

• Encourage students to draw a picture

and label it; later encourage them to

write a short story about the picture.

• Encourage students to tell a short

story and then write it.

• Dictate short L2 sentences as

students practice writing, focusing on

correct grammar, spelling,

punctuation. Ask them to retell the

meaning in their L1.