4) SLA in the Elementary Levels

Question 0

Explain the term “associative memory.”

Answer 0

memory that relies on association of objects or concepts that are linked together in the mind

ie: green traffic light means ‘go’

Question 1

Explain the “Critical Period Hypothesis” in regards to age and SLA.

Answer 1

Lenneberg (1970s): neuropsychological functioning of the brain in the early childhood years may facilitate first- or second- language acquisition up until the time of puberty or even earlier

• *brain of younger learner more malleable / shaped by own activity
• *associative memory stronger
• *if begin in childhood, achieve more native-like accent

Question 2

Explain the “Window of Opportunity” hypothesis.

Answer 2

Schacter (1990s): biological properties become available to individuals at particular points in their linguistic development

1) COMPETENCY IN SYNTAX/GRAMMAR: kids tend to acquire a higher level of syntax, morphology and grammar than older learners
2) LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: kids may reach higher levels of functional proficiency than those who begin at a later age
3) RATE OF SLA: adult learners may have a greater advantage, but it is short-lived and does not indicate they’re better in long run

Question 3

Explain Newport’s “Less is More Hypothesis” as it relates to children versus adults in SLA.

Answer 3

children may be better equipped to analyze what they hear because the store less information than their adult counterparts, who must try to attend to multiple chunks of input simultaneously and often unsuccessfully

Question 4

What are the social / psychological factors that interact with maturation and language learning?

Answer 4

• up to age 6/7, all attain native speaker level if provided w/sufficient input and they don’t experience deficient learning environment
• older learners require more motivation, effective L2 input/instruction, and language aptitude to reach the same levels that are automatically attained by younger learners

Question 5

What are benefits of effective SLA instruction in young children (10 to 60 min/day, 3 to 5 days per week)?

Answer 5

• heightened level of oral proficiency
• more complex cognitive processing
• higher performance on standardized tests of basic skills
• greater openness to other cultures

Question 6

What is the difference between “sheltered instruction (SI)” and “dual language” programs?

Answer 6

SI: making academic content comprehensible to ELL while simultaneously promoting their SLA of English
dual language: bilingual education in which students are taught literacy and content in two languages (partner language is used for at lest half of the school day in elementary years)

Question 7

Under the umbrella of Dual Language programs, explain:

1) developmental/maintenance programs
2) two-way bilingual immersion programs
3) one-way immersion programs
4) heritage language programs

Answer 7

1) enroll primarily native speakers of the partner language
2) balance of native English speakers and native speakers of TL
3) enroll primarily native English speakers
4) students dominant in English but whose (grand)parents speak TL

Question 8

Why should elementary levels use thematic planning?

Answer 8

1) meaningful context = more comprehensible
2) moves focus from TL to use of TL to achieve meaningful goal
3) rich context for standards-based instruction
4) narrative structure and task-based organization of context
5) involves kids in real TL use in variety of situations/modes/texts
6) activities/tasks engage learners in complex thinking / lang
7) avoids isolated decontextualized grammatical exercises
8) connects content/lang/culture goals to a ‘big idea’

Question 9

What is a “thematic center” of a unit of instruction?

Answer 9

center of the framework of curriculum development
-includes theme, targeted standards, broad unit outcomes, enduring understanding and essential questions, and a culminating performance assessment

Question 10

When creating/using communicative activities, teachers should keep in mind:
-degree of contextualized involvement
-degree of contextualized support
Explain what this means and how it impacts teachers

Answer 10

DCI: amt of info processed simultaneously to complete a task
DCS: context-embedded lang: clues/support (gestures, realia, pics)
context-reduced lang: little extra support; rely on lang itself
IMPLICATIONS:
-new concepts less lang depended w/clues (hands-on, meaningful context, vivid examples, background knowledge…).
-make task more cognitively engaging by integrating lang to school curriculum, higher order thinking even when lang is simple, and put learners into problem-solving situations (rather than imitation/rote)

Question 11

CBI “content” represents material that is cognitively engaging and demanding for the learner, and it is material that extends beyond the TL and culture.

What are steps when planning for CBI at the elementary level?

Answer 11

1) identify possible concepts from subject-content curriculum
2) select ones that lend themselves to concrete, hands-on learning
3) identify the lang needed (content vocab and TL needed)
4) locate/adapt/create instructional materials to be used in lesson
5) create integrated/contextualized/hands-on activities
6) provide multiple opportunities for assessing student progress (such as Integrated Performance Assessment)

Question 12

Explain the difference between:
“content-obligatory language” and
“content-compatible language.”

Answer 12

obligatory: language (concept vocab, grammar, lang functions) that must be taught in order to teach the subject-content concept
compatible: lang that may be integrated logically into curriculum concept, although not required for comprehension/mastery of the subject-content concept

Question 13

To be a successful CBI teacher, what do you need to remember?

Answer 13

1) include explicit lang objective in curriculum
2) develop ability to leave convo’s in IRF rather than IRE form
3) encourage elaboration using open-ended ?’s, topic devel. etc
4) limit use of English; translation ONLY for specific purposes
5) integrate focus on grammatical form; engage in co-constructing form so Ss actively word to understand and internalize it
6) avoid explicit error correction / unnecessary grammar lecture

Question 14

One type of graphic organizer is a “semantic map.” Explain this.

Answer 14

depicts words or concepts in categories and shows how they relate to each other. Key word or question is placed at the center or top of the map, and Ss and teacher create the map together
-way for Ss to organize what they’re learning and see how it fits w/the TL and info previously learned

Question 15

Explain the “comprehension before production” stage.

Answer 15

Ss listen to input w/out being forced to respond in the TL, through strategies such as TPR.

• allows Ss to mentally associate input w/meaning and instills the self-confidence necessary for productive language
• NOTE: young learners need to move quickly beyond this stage and begin to produce output w/in meaningful tasks and contexts

Question 16

Explain why “narrative” or “story” structure is such an effective teaching strategy.

Answer 16

• human brain is wired for narratives; emotions aid memory
• storytelling can develop interpretive abilities, esp when the story:
  1) is highly predictable / familiar to kids from their native lang
  2) is repetitive
  3) lends itself to dramatization and pantomime
  4) lends itself to visuals / realia to illustrate meaning
• tell story number of times over period of time, gradually making more complex tasks for Ss to complete (tpr, story mapping, etc).

Question 17

Explain the “Language Experience Approach.”

Answer 17

1) provide TL input describing shared experience in top-down form
2) check comprehension thru TPR and ?s w/short responses
3) Ss retell story w/help as teacher writes on large paper/screen
4) Ss copy this version into notebooks
5) this copy is used for a variety of reading and writing tasks
* *exemplifies ZPD since expert guides novices through their own learning objectives**

Question 18

Curtain and Dahlberg suggest what 4 roles when using cooperative groups?

Answer 18

1) Encourager/Praiser: ensures group performs well / stays on task
2) Manager/Timekeeper/Supervisor/Checker: organizes the group, keeps the group on task, makes sure everyone contributes
3) Recorder/Secretary: records group answers
4) Spokesperson/Speaker/Reporter: reports back to whole class

Question 19

When planning for cooperative learning, what should teachers keep in mind?

Answer 19

1) source of the message(s) to be exchanged (is there an info gap or reason for Ss to want to know the information?)
2) appropriate TL vocab/grammar required to complete activity
3) product that results from activity and how will be shared/eval’ed
4) how lang will be guided/controlled/scaffolded
5) how partners or group members will take turns
6) how Ss will find out if they have been successful
7) how teacher will follow up on activity in a communicative way
8) how activity can be extended for groups that finish early
9) plan for student who does not have a partner

Question 20

What are examples of effective presentational speaking avenues at the elementary level?

Answer 20

performance of skits/dramatic songs as culminating activity in unit
ex: plays; performance of authentic songs accompanied by culturally appropriate instruments; small-group presentations of scenes from an authentic story; puppet shows; PPT presentations; short skits; and videotaped productions of “how-to” shows.

Question 21

What are some effective avenues for Ss to explore cultural perspectives at the elementary level?

Answer 21

1) cultural products such as traditional stories and legends, folk arts, visual arts/artists/composers, realia (currency, coins, stamps..)
2) cultural practices such as forms of greeting, use of gestures, recreational activities, home/school life, types of pets and attitudes towards pets, how kids/families move from place to place

Question 22

What are four suggestions Wiggins (1990s) suggests concerning the design of performance assessment tasks?

Answer 22

1) contextualize the task. Provide rich contextual detail.
2) aim to design “meaningful” tasks: interesting, relevant, practical
3) design performances, not drills. Performance is not about desired bits of knowledge, but about “putting it together.”
4) refine the tasks you design by building them backwards from the models and scoring criteria. Ss should know the target and standard in advance.

Question 23

When developing formative assessments for elementary students, what should you keep in mind?

Answer 23

1) suit the characteristics of young learners
2) assess the abilities that Ss need to be successful in their SLA
3) give Ss the opportunity to show their best performance
4) engage Ss intellectually

Question 24

What are some examples of effective Interpretive Listening and Reading assessments for elementary students?

Answer 24

• respond to TPR commands
• respond to “listen (read) and do” tasks, such as drawing / building
• select visual/object to match oral/written description
• listen to/read narrative then number pics or put in order
• complete T/F, matching, fill-in-blank, or short response to demonstrate comprehension of an oral/printed text
• read/listen and retell what they have read/heard
• create short oral/written summaries of stories heard / texts read

Question 25

What are some examples of effective Interpersonal Speaking assessments for elementary learners?

Answer 25

• enact spontaneous role plays in pairs
• converse w/teacher or respond to questions on familiar topics
• discuss familiar topic or a cultural/subject-content concept w/teacher and/or w/one another
• ask classmates questions about familiar topics and respond to their classmates’ questions, taking multiple turns to do so in order for negotiation of meaning to be possible

Question 26

What are some examples of effective Presentational Speaking/Writing assessments for elementary students?

Answer 26

• create/present skits, plays, or puppet shows for audience
• describe picture, object, realia… in oral/written form or write story
• give oral/written monologue or narration
• tell story w/use of visuals or a story book
• fill in speech bubbles in a cartoon story
• write short compositions, friendly letters, or notes on familiar topic