Accommodation or Invigoration?
ELL students should not be mistaken for low achievement or learning disabled students. Yet, they do face a significant obstacle in English speaking classes. Language comprehension is important in every aspect of their schooling. Whether in language classes or math and science classes, an ELL student isn't always capable of expressing his or her understanding of the material, but that does not mean they haven't grasped it.
How then can a teacher evaluate her students?
Technology as a Learning (& Teaching!) Aid
English speaking students with learning obstacles use technology all the time to help them demonstrate their academic competence despite a variety of barriers: Visual aids and voice recorders for Attention Deficit Disorder, audio & braille books for the blind, hearing aids for the hearing impaired, word processors for dyslexics, the list goes on. While language comprehension is an obstacle that ELL students and teachers are working to minimize, the reality of the situation is that students will have much difficulty excelling in other subjects when the comprehension and expression are hindered. As we saw in The Brain & Language Learning section, language acquisition is a cumulative process based on experience and social context as well as knowledge of grammar and phonics. In using learning aids, like technology to let students discover and manipulate words they haven't mastered, we expose them to the semantic and pragmatic aspects of English words and give them the social context to understand them. In this way, students can organize their growing vocabulary around relevant material and orient their understanding of English as it pertains to other academic subjects.
Essential Interaction: Interpersonal Discussions with Technology as a Medium
Technology is only a medium. The way that teachers put it to use is what determines how effective it is. As a learning aid, it can arm the ELL student with the appropriate spelling or pronunciation of a word or phrase, but it is the context in which it is used and the interactive discussion it inspires that can really make a lasting impression in the student's mind, creating associations that strengthen his or her learning and increase the likelihood that he or she will be able to retrieve the material. This in turn, makes the students feel like they are actually learning, raising both their motivation to continue learning and their self-esteem. Barbara Freeman conducted a study with ELL students in English speaking math classes and found that the use of technology not only had a direct increase on their math ability, but an indirect increase in students' self image, specifically, their perception of their own math abilities and a positive outlook on their future possibilities.
How then can a teacher evaluate her students?
Technology as a Learning (& Teaching!) Aid
English speaking students with learning obstacles use technology all the time to help them demonstrate their academic competence despite a variety of barriers: Visual aids and voice recorders for Attention Deficit Disorder, audio & braille books for the blind, hearing aids for the hearing impaired, word processors for dyslexics, the list goes on. While language comprehension is an obstacle that ELL students and teachers are working to minimize, the reality of the situation is that students will have much difficulty excelling in other subjects when the comprehension and expression are hindered. As we saw in The Brain & Language Learning section, language acquisition is a cumulative process based on experience and social context as well as knowledge of grammar and phonics. In using learning aids, like technology to let students discover and manipulate words they haven't mastered, we expose them to the semantic and pragmatic aspects of English words and give them the social context to understand them. In this way, students can organize their growing vocabulary around relevant material and orient their understanding of English as it pertains to other academic subjects.
Essential Interaction: Interpersonal Discussions with Technology as a Medium
Technology is only a medium. The way that teachers put it to use is what determines how effective it is. As a learning aid, it can arm the ELL student with the appropriate spelling or pronunciation of a word or phrase, but it is the context in which it is used and the interactive discussion it inspires that can really make a lasting impression in the student's mind, creating associations that strengthen his or her learning and increase the likelihood that he or she will be able to retrieve the material. This in turn, makes the students feel like they are actually learning, raising both their motivation to continue learning and their self-esteem. Barbara Freeman conducted a study with ELL students in English speaking math classes and found that the use of technology not only had a direct increase on their math ability, but an indirect increase in students' self image, specifically, their perception of their own math abilities and a positive outlook on their future possibilities.