Promoting+SLA+Literacy+in+the+Classroom

Promoting SLA Literacy in the Classroom



Many teachers, because of a diagnosis of English Language Learner, may not seek to help or may not understand the difference between ELL and Learning Difficulties. A teacher must understand that there may be learning difficulties present in children who are considered ELL.

To understand possible learning difficulties in ELL students a teacher may wish to ask the following questions, proposed by Litt (2009), to begin the process of diagnosis on Learning Difficulties.

· Has the child's problem persisted over time? If the child has a language problem, errors in his/her oral language skills will improve over a period of time. If the child has a learning problem, his/her skills will not improve.

· Has the problem resisted normal classroom instruction? If the child has received explicit instruction in the problem area and still does not improve, it is probably a learning problem.

· Does the problem interfere with the child's academic progress?

· Does the child show a clear pattern of strengths and weaknesses? Does the child have good oral skills but poor written skills?

If you answer "yes" to four of the following questions you may need to begin the process of testing and diagnosis of Learning Difficulties:

See the following article by Litt to learn more about ELL vs. Learning Difficulties:[|Litt] Litt, S. (2009) // Learning Disability or Language Development Issue. // Retrieved from: []

__ The Importance of Literacy and Oral Language Development in the Second Language Acquisition Process: __

The Center on Instruction provides a website that contains 21 links to articles that provide materials and resources for English Language Learners and teachers. [|Center on Instruction]

The Indiana Department of Education provides an article specifically designed to give definitions and the importance of Literacy and Oral Language Development. []

__ A Lesson Plan: __

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools has mandated Comprehensive Literacy Instruction for all ELD classrooms. The following link is a Menu option that can be used in any ELD Reading Classroom for students to complete while learning about winter and how to describe it.

__ Comprehensive Literacy Model: __

Go to the following website to read more about the Comprehensive Literacy Model. []

__ An Article: __ The following article was written by Brian Morgan on “Tools of the Trade” for Second Language Literacy. Morgan, B. (2005). //Second Language Literacies: Trying Out the Tools of the Trade.// Retrieved from: [] [|Tools of the Trade]

__ Children’s Literature: __

The book “Brother’s In Arms” by Paul Langan and Ben Alirez is the perfect book to get 7th grade, 12-14 year olds interested in reading. This is a HIGH INTEREST novel about a young boy, Martin Luna, whose little brother is killed and is seeking revenge for his death. In the story Martin joins a gang as his mother desperately tries to save her only remaining son from the violence of the streets. “Brother’s In Arms” is rated at a 6-8th grade reading level. This novel is available to educators from Townsend Press at: []