Module Three
Instructional Strategies that Work

Continued from Beginning. . . . . this is Part 2

The Process of Language Acquisition or Language Learning

What ESOL Research Indicates

The following statements summarize general ESOL learning processes and language learning characteristics:

• The learning acquisition process is not simple.
  There are no simple solutions; however, there are multiple sub-processes, multiple routes, and multiple causes.
• The process is gradual.
  Acquisition is a gradual process involving the mapping of form, meaning, and use.
• The process is non-linear.
  Learners do not tackle structures one at a time, first mastering one and then turning to another.
• The process is dynamic.
  What works for learners at one level of proficiency may not work when learners are at a later stage of proficiency.
• Learners learn when they are ready to do so.
  Evidence suggests that learners will only acquire that for which they are developmentally ready.
• Learners rely on the knowledge and experience they have acquired.
  Second language learners rely on what they know to formulate hypotheses.
• There is tremendous individual variation among language learners.

Source: Larsen-Freeman, Diane. Second Language Acquisition Research: Staking Out the Territory, State of the Art TESOL Essays, Sandra Silberstein, editor.

Stages of Second Language Acquisition

There are four stages of second language acquisition:

• Pre-production
• Early Production
• Speech Emergence
• Intermediate Fluency

Pre-production

The pre-production phase applies to those who are totally new to English. Students at this level are "taking in" the new language and are trying to make sense out of it to meet their basic needs. Language skills are being developed at the receptive level, a so-called "silent period." Acquirers of a second language are able to comprehend more complex messages than they can produce.

Expected student behaviors at this level include: following simple commands; pointing and responding with movement, and perhaps simple utterances such as yes, no, thank you, or names. Teachers at this level must use strategies that include simplified speech, gestures, pointing, acting out, frequent repetition, props, visuals, modeling, and demonstrating.

Early Production

After students have a reasonable opportunity to receive meaningful and understandable messages in English, they will begin to respond with one or two-word answers or short utterances. In order for students to begin to speak, they must have a need to express themselves and be given a chance to produce language in a low anxiety environment. Teachers should keep in mind that students are experimenting and taking risks with the new language. Errors in grammar and pronunciation are to be expected. Direct error correction for students at these stages is inappropriate. Teachers need to model/demonstrate the correct responses in context.

Speech Emergence

Speech will emerge in the form of short phrases and sentences. Students will begin to use the new language to communicate more freely among themselves. Learners at this level are successful in subject matter classes when comprehensible instructional strategies are used. In order to provide understandable subject matter content, teachers should begin the presentation of new concepts by using advance organizers. Teachers should attempt to modify their delivery of subject matter by using real objects, modeling, demonstration, visuals and teacher-talk focused on key points. Teachers must provide an opportunity for students to work in small groups. Since students will be engaged in a variety of individual and small-group hands-on activities, evaluation should be performance-based, as opposed to solely traditional paper-and-pencil assessment.

Intermediate Fluency

Intermediate level students may demonstrate near-native-like or native-like fluency in social settings. However, they may experience difficulties in cognitively demanding abstract subjects at school, especially when a high level of literacy is required. Teachers of students at the intermediate fluency level need to keep two points in mind. First, they must assist students to continue to grow intellectually by making sure they attain and use new concepts. Second, they must provide support to foster a high level of reading and writing skills. This can be accomplished by providing relevant content-based literacy experiences (brainstorming, clustering, categorizing, charting, journal or log writing, reading and writing to acquire relevant information).

Typical student behavior and appropriate teacher behavior by student stage of language development are summarized in the following chart:

It is important to remember that the lack of language ability does not mean a lack of concept development or lack of ability to learn. Teachers should continue to ask inferential and higher order questions (questions that require reasoning ability, hypothesizing, analyzing, justifying, predicting) that challenge that student to think. The language used by the teacher need not be complex for thinking skills to be exercised as shown in the model developed by Jeanne Foote of Montebello Unified School district and replicated in the following chart.

Questioning Techniques

Source: Ventriglia, Linda. Empowering ESOL Teachers: Volume I, pages 93-95. Multifunctional Resource Center, Florida Department of Education, 1996.

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This web-based training program was developed through an Adult Education State Leadership Grant from the Florida Department of Education, Division of Community Colleges and Workforce Education.

Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this web-based training component, it is not an official publication of the Florida Department of Education.