As you view the following video, Deeper learning for English language Learners, create a list of ALL the particular strategies used to make these classes a successful experience. Choose one of these strategies and summarize how it enhances learning for English language learners. Explain how you would implement this strategy into your instructional practice.
Deeper Learning Competencies
In the video, teachers and students described how OnEnglish Online, 2021) competences can be built up in a diverse classroom:
Master core academic content
Pre-teaching vocabulary is a key strategy in academic language acquisition. However, it is possible to start familiarising students with terms by translating them into the student's native language, using online dictionaries, so that the meaning of the term becomes absolutely clear, so that it can continue to be used in speech. This is how students develop bilingual literacy. Next, academic texts should be adapted to the student's level to retain the complexity of the language but not overload it with jargon that may hinder understanding of the meaning.
Think critically and solve complex problems
The importance of critical thinking has especially increased in the digital age, when people are exposed to a huge amount of information and are confronted with a variety of beliefs. The ability to critically evaluate this information, analyse and interpret it helps to draw the right conclusions and make rational decisions - both in personal life, social and professional life.
In the video, students can answer the essential question of the unit by making a scale model of the school building outside. Language in the classroom becomes a vehicle for describing what's going on in the classroom. So at the beginning of the year the student doesn't speak any English, but during the year the child writes and speaks with classmates and by the end of the year he/she acquires fluency and can have a two-minute conversation. You will also find students who understand how to navigate the global world and speak multiple languages - a huge advantage for critical thinkers who can communicate well, can provide evidence for their views and work with diverse groups of people. Analysing literary texts provides very deep learning.
When the pupil has developed Critical Thinking: the pupil analyses information, proposes hypotheses and solutions, argues, evaluates.
Work collaboratively
Group work is key to inclusive learning. Students work in small groups because kids may be doing some thinking or even accessing online materials in their native language but they're accessing rigorous content but allowing them to learn.
When a student has developed Co-operation: the student asks for help, listens to others' arguments and agrees with suggestions, integrates his/her actions into the group's work, identifies his/her contribution to the overall work, invites classmates to respond or speak.
Communicate effectively
They learn a new language through hands-on projects, using English to work together. Together, and they use English to present. Through this project environment, English language learners get the necessary repetition of topics and concepts in language and vocabulary.
When a student has developed Communication: the student asks questions and answers questions from classmates, asks for clarification of what he/she does not understand in another person's reasoning, clarifies his/her ideas, avoids or eliminates conflict situations.
Learn how to learn
The teacher always go to each group and ask a question, like whether students understood some question or not, if students didn't understand and he can just explain individually. If students don't speak English well, they don't have to think about it, they can use different ideas from different people and it makes them think and makes them organised. As time goes on, language barriers start to become less and less, and then students can easily join groups talking in English.
Develop academic mindsets
Creativity is a type of thinking that includes the ability to come up with ideas, unexpected ways of doing things, and so on. Creativity also includes some personal characteristics such as self-confidence and openness to new things (Skornyakova, 2022). Project-oriented learning promotes the development of such qualities as:
- curiosity - interest in the surrounding world and the desire to learn more about it, independent search for information and answers to one's own questions;
- imagination - the ability to produce a variety of ideas, originality of ideas;
- development of ideas - evaluation of ideas from different positions, search for their strengths and weaknesses, ability to quickly reorganise their activities in changed conditions and with the appearance of new information.
When a pupil has developed Creativity: the pupil proposes ideas, appreciates ideas proposed by others, applies basic skills in non-standard situations, finds original solutions, continues searching for new ideas and solutions even after the task is completed.
Tasks can be designed to develop these skills (Skornyakova, 2022):
- a task involving more than one or many solution options (problem situation or case);
- a task involving work on a mini-project or the construction of a product using non-standard means;
- a task involving group work and also including subtasks for independent or paired work, so that each pupil can show his/her individual abilities;
- a task for which it is necessary to independently search for the necessary information in open sources;
- a task that involves searching for and using knowledge from other subject disciplines.
References
Natalia Skornyakova. (2022). How to develop critical thinking and other 4K competences in schoolchildren. Skillbox.ru. https://skillbox.ru/media/education/kak-razvivat-kriticheskoe-myshlenie-i-prochie-4kkompetentsii-u-shkolnikov/
OnEnglish Online. (2021, March 28). Deeper Learning for English Language Learners. Www.youtube.com. https://youtu.be/tiYg1UB4LKo