Stages of Second Language Acquisition

Stages of Second Language Acquisition

Stage One: Pre-Production

Stage Two: Early Production

Stage Three: Speech Emergence

Stage Four: Beginning Fluency

Stage Five: Intermediate Fluency

Stage Six: Advanced Fluency

(Most research does not include Stage Four above)

Next week, in Unit 7, we will be studying about sports. The keywords for the unit will mostly be about verbs (actions done in sports) and nouns (items used in sports). As I am an English Kindergarten teacher in Korea, the English levels of my students vary quite a bit. They are located on different stages of the second language acquisition path. Therefore, I must implement various strategies of differentiated instruction for my students. The following children are 5 and 6 year old Kindergarten students.

Students

Justin is in the pre-production stage, so he does not speak very much at all. He is a shy student who mostly nods. Therefore I ask him simple questions like, "Is this a ball?"
In class, I use lots of body language to indicate key vocabulary words (such as "walk"), I employ the Total Physical Response (TPR) Method.
http://educationnorthwest.org/sites/default/files/ell.pdf (pages 23-24)
I make sure to do activities that make students move around (YouTube songs and re-enactments of the keywords).
I also use large flashcards with the key vocabulary words written on them.

Kim is in the early production stage. She is a bit talkative, however, she speaks in broken English. For example, she says, "Teacher bathroom?" Instead of saying, "May I go to the bathroom?"
Therefore, when I ask her about the lessons, I ask her questions where she can answer in two or three words and yet still be a complete sentence. For example: "Kim, can you run?"  "Yes, I can/No, I can't."

I use body language to indicate the "you" and "run" words in the example above.
I also use large flashcards with the key vocabulary words written on them.

Park is in the speech emergence stage. His English is good, however, he still makes some very common mistakes.
I ask him questions that are a bit more advance, in order to have him try and have a small conversation with me. I know he has swimming lessons on Wednesdays, so I ask the following question: "Park, what did you do yesterday?"
He replies, "I go swimming."
Teacher: "You WENT swimming? Did you have fun?"
Park: "Yes, I did. I swam for one hour."
Use lots of flashcards with no words for him.
Ask him to try and answer in complete sentences.

Lily is in the intermediate fluency stage. She is a very curious student who always asks questions. "Teacher, are jog and run the same thing?"

I sometimes ask her to translate for me how to say a certain sport in Korean, in order to tap into her own experience with these vocabulary words.
"How do you say 'basketball' in Korean Lily?"
"Basketball in Korean is Nonggu (농구) teacher."
I ask her questions that are a bit more complex, too.

Summary of the Lesson
I start the lesson by telling the class what exactly we will study that day. I use actual sports balls to visually represent the lesson to the students. Then I show a video. I play the video at least twice (sometimes more if the students really like the video). While watching the videos, I will loudly say the key vocabulary words that get mentioned and act them out, asking the students to act them out with me.
Sports Balls Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZXI7l3eaOs

After watching the video, we get to the part where we practice the key vocabulary words. Students learn the vocabulary words by acting them out. Then, I go around asking questions to the students. I start by asking simple questions. I start by asking Lily and working my way down to Justin. This way, Justin has a chance to hear the answers/sentences multiple times. Depending on the book, either do the book pages next. Or, do the handouts I make for the assignment. Finish the lesson by watching another video. Once again, having the kids act out the vocabulary words they hear in the song.
I See a Ball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhT7Ic-gPwA

Key Vocabulary Words

walk jog run jump swim shoot hit kick

ball bat helmet basket

Special Education Referral Process

Online and Video Research

When I started the Teach Now program, I knew I would be learning a lot of new things: some completely new; and others that I should already know as a teacher, but for whatever reason I have not learned about yet. Which leads me to...

I have been teaching in South Korea for almost eight years now. One year in an elementary public school, two years in a private academy (a "hagwon") teaching mostly elementary students, and for the past five years as a Kindergarten teacher. Therefore, my entire teaching career consisted of teaching in South Korea. In this country/culture, the topic or issue of special education rarely, if ever, comes up. So when I was tasked to find out about the referral process of it, I literally had zero background knowledge of it to help me out.

Luckily for me, I live in the 21st Century! Thanks to today's technology, I was able to conduct some interviews half-way across the world. Plus, I was able to read dozens of websites that are dedicated specifically to this topic.

Before getting to my interviews, I did some research on my own. I wanted to be ready to be able to understand all the knowledge that my interviewees were about to drop on me! So first of all, I read from the require study list. I learned a great deal from the Project Ideal website (from my home state of Texas!). This page broke the referral process down step by step. Making it easier for me to understand it. It also prepared me for some of the new vocabulary I was about to hear a lot about from my interviews.

The (summarized) steps are:
1. Recognize that the student might have a problem that prevents him/her to at the level of his/her peers.
2. The Pre-Referral Stage is when alternative methods are applied before a student is referred to special education.
3. If the alternative strategies are not working, then the student may be referred for special education.
4. An evaluation is performed on the student comprised of a multidisciplinary team in order to get different perspectives and expertise. Ex: school psychologist, several educators (special and general), the parents/legal guardians, therapists, doctors, etc.
5. Is the child eligible for special education services? Or does the student just need a different way of learning?
6. If eligible, a team is formed to create an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Some of the members of this team are: parents/legal guardians, several educators (special and general), a principal or assistant principal, etc.
7. Implementation of the IEP. Meetings are held throughout the year to document the progress of the student in regards to the IEP.
8. At the end of the school year, a meeting is held to evaluate the implementation of the current IEP and to develop the following year's IEP. At this stage, a formal reevaluation of the student might also take place (usually done every three years) in order to determined if the student still needs special education services or not. If it is determined that the student no longer needs these services, then after some documentation, the IEP team may be disbanded for this student.

Other websites had similar steps. Some combined some steps (for example Steps 1 and 2 above are just one step), while others split some of the steps above into more steps (Step 6 becomes 6 and 7, thus adding to the overall number of steps).

I then watched some videos on Youtube about the referral process. Just like the different websites I looked at, different videos agreed for the most part about the process, but with some small differences of course (ex: "evaluation" is named "identification"). Although, one unique thing I learned was that the state of Washington was the first state do mandate that children with disabilities could attend public schools. They did this before the federal government made this into law with the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) of 1975. I later learned that this law is the law now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (renamed in 1990).


The Interviews

I conducted three interviews with teachers from different parts of the U.S., who teach different age groups. In order to streamline them, I have decided to summarize their answers per question. As oppose to a big summary of all three teachers' answers to the questions.

1.What is the earliest age that a student can be evaluated for the referral process? If a student is under that age, what is usually done if the teacher thinks the student needs special education?
All three teachers told me that usually the age to evaluate a child is 3 years old. However, if a parent sees signs of a disability in their child because of a birth complication, for example, then there are things that a parent can do before this age. This is called Early Intervention. Because children are so young at this age, instead of using an IEP, these students usually just come with specific goals they are to reach.
The most important thing I got out of this is that at this age (before 3 and at 3) the child is too young for teachers and/or parents to make a definite call. I personally am going through this right now with a fellow teacher at my school. Ever since I started this assignment, I have tried to see if any of my current students would fall under any of these categories (the 14 categories of disabilities under IDEA). One teacher and I have had some discussions about a student or two who he thinks he/they are probably ADHD, while I think they are just being young kids. So I definitely see, how hard this process can be at this age.

2. How do you identify a student for special education? 3. What are the signs of a struggling student?
(Combined Questions)
For the Pre-K teachers, these questions go back to the first question. Since these students are too young to get an accurate reading on them (besides some physical markings such as a medical condition from birth), the best they can do is go on oral language delay or behavioral issues. At this age they can not use measurements such as reading or math. However, there are still some goals that can be established for these young learners. Things such as learning letters, counting and shape recognition are some very important goals for children this young.
On the other hand, for the middle school teacher, she can use academic subjects such as reading and writing to see if there is delays to learning happening. In her case social and behavior issues are also signs, but she stated that by this age, these things are usually already noted by the students previous teachers at an earlier age.

4. Are there alternate methods of instruction tried out before referring the student for special education? If yes, what are they?
*Response to Intervention
*Learning Modifications
*Classroom Differentiation
These are just some of the terms I heard when discussing strategies used by teachers BEFORE referring a student for special education.The thing I found the most fascinating was how small and simple some of these strategies are! Some of these are: seating arrangement, using more visuals in class, adjusting the difficulty of lessons, etc.  Without knowing it, I have already been implementing some of these strategies into my own classrooms these past eight years.  I am not going to lie, I felt very proud of myself for having done these things already. I felt one step closer to being a better teacher for all of my students!

5. How do you involve parents in identifying special needs? 6. What is your role in the special education process, after it has started? In relation to the counselor/administrator, the parents the student. Who takes responsibility for the progress of the child before and after the referral?
(Combined Questions)
Communication! It is that simple. Of course the whole process is quite more difficult, however, with communication between the parents/legal guardians and the school/teachers, this process can move along much more smoothly.
Nobody knows a child more than that child's parents. That is what makes them so important. Therefore, it is the teacher's role to have a good relationship with them in order to help the student succeed. There can be agreements and disagreements, but at the end of the day, both sides should be trying their best for the child/student. One of the most important things, for the teacher, is to keep track of all of this. All year long, keep track of the DATA (as one teacher put it)! Keep copies of test, writing samples, etc. If the student is in the pre-referral stage, this information can help with the decision. It can show that the student just needs some extra help; or it can be used as more examples of why the student needs to go to special education. If the student already has an IEP, then this data can help to show if the plan is working or not.

This homework assignment has shown me a lot. Even things I already knew, such as the importance of a parent's role in a child's academic career, now feel so much bigger after hearing it from several different teachers and their experience with this whole process. While there is still much more for me to learn, I feel more confidant now than I did at the beginning of this assignment.

Access to Early Childhood Education

As a Kindergarten teacher, the way our national and international organizations handle early childhood education is very important to me. One of the most important aspects of this is the access of this education for all families with children. Luckily, there are many organizations out there that are fighting the good fight! These organizations include the National Education Association (NEA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and of course the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to name a few.

One way the NEA is helping improve early childhood education is by supporting the Strong Start for America's Children Act. As Mary Kusler says, in a letter that the NEA sent to their senators/representatives:

The first years of a child’s life—when the brain is still forming—are a vital window of                                         opportunity. Research shows that children who attend high-quality prekindergarten programs are less      likely to drop out of school, repeat grades, need special education, or get in trouble with the law later on. Such quality programs play a critical role in putting a child on the path to success—in school and in life— so every child should have access, not just children whose parents can afford to pay.  (Kusler, 2013)

Supporting our children is vital to all of our futures. As the old phrase goes, "Our children are our future." Therefore, we should do whatever is necessary to make sure that they start off with a very string foundation. The NEA is trying to do that by supporting this Act. (For more details on this Act, please click on the link provided in the references area.)

One new thing I learned while on the NEA website, was about the Head Start Program. Similar to the Act mentioned above, the Head Start Program is geared towards making sure that young children have a chance to enter elementary school well prepared. It makes me happy to see that there are multiple programs, Acts, etc. going on at the same time in order to help people with this very important time in their children's lives. (For more details about this program, please click on the link provided in the references area.)

The AFT are also strong supporters of the above ideas. The way they are trying to help early childhood education is by being supporters of the Every Student Succeeds Act (more commonly known as ESSA) that just recently got passed by the U.S. government. Just like the Act above that the NEA wants passed, this Act also is intended to help establish that early education is of high quality. Since ESSA covers up to secondary education, the AFT summarized the parts of the Act that are important for early childhood education advocates, such as myself, on their page. (For this summary, please click on the link provided in the references area.)

UNESCO is probably one of the most famous organizations in the world. Being a part of the United Nations (hence the UN in UNESCO), this organization has a lot of influence in the world. Throughout its over 70 years of existence, it has started many programs, established many goals, supported many movements, and has made many declarations. One that caught my attention is called the Incheon Declaration: Education 2030.

The reason this one in particular caught my attention is because it is named after the city of Incheon in South Korea, the country I currently live and work in. Even though this Declaration is meant for all UN member nations, it holds a special place in my heart since it bears the name of a city in the country I now call home. The Declaration itself is meant to set goals that UN member states are to try to fulfill by the year 2030. The part that spoke to me in particular was Article 6. In it, UNESCO encourages member states to try and have quality early childhood education for all children.

UNESCO also releases many reports in order for people to be able to see how the UN member states are doing in regards to reaching their goals in their programs or declarations. One such report is the 2013/4 EFA Global Monitoring Report. This report is full of of knowledge about education all over the world. The part that related to early childhood education, although brief, was very eye opening. One of the biggest takeaways was the fact that there are other organizations out there that one might not think about at first that are also helping children get quality education. Organizations such as the World Food Programme helped pre-school children in Uganda, and the World Bank helped in creating 400 Kindergartens in Jordan (UNESCO, 2014, p. 48). After reading things like this, it makes sense. However, before reading this, it never occurred to me that of course there are non-educational organizations helping out. As I stated above, education is very important for our futures, therefore, there must be many out there who want to help.

Overall, I was very happy to see how much work is being done all over the world in order for low income families to have access to a high quality early childhood education. Not just in the United States, but in many of the member states of the United Nations as well. 

American Federation of Teachers. (n.d.). Every Student Succeeds Act: A new day in public education. Retrieved February 3, 2017, from http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/essa_early-childhood.pdf

Kusler, M. (2013, November 18). Letter to Congress on the Strong Start for America's Children Act (S. 1697/H.R. 3461) [Letter to Senator/Representative]. Retrieved February 3, 2017, from http://www.nea.org/home/57367.htm

UNESCO (2014). Teaching and Learning: Achieving quality for all. Retrieved February 3, 2017, from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002256/225660e.pdf

UNESCO (2015). Incheon Declaration Education 2030: Towards inclusive and equitable education and lifelong learning for all. Retrieved Febuary 3, 2017, from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002338/233813m.pdf

United States Department of Health and Human Resources, Office of Head Start. (2017, January). About us. Retrieved February 3, 2017 from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/about

United States Library of Congress. (n.d.). S.1380: Strong start for America's children act of 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2017, from https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1380