Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

Course Description

This course focuses on effective strategies for English language instruction. Whether you are considering a career move to ELL instruction or you are seeking strategies to support ELL student’s language skills within your classroom, you will find many valuable frameworks and practical advice. Teachers will go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to explore and implement innovative ways of teaching vocabulary and grammar, listening and speaking, reading and writing, and designing fair and accurate assessments. Learn more about ELL students and their needs and how to choose the most appropriate materials for the classroom. Explore how teachers can choose the principles that exactly fit their teaching situation. Participants will rethink the traditional native vs. non-native distinction, see why teaching English is so different from teaching other subjects, and explore innovative approaches like Communicative Language.

Objectives

• Learn how to participate in a brave learning space
• Describe the English Language learning continuum across the world
• Analyze experiences of multicultural ELLs as expressed in their own voices
• Describe the CR-SE Framework
• Plan affirming classroom environments for diverse ELLs
• Compare various types of language learning programs
• Explain the difference between ELL, ESL, and EFL
• Analyze the effects of age on language acquisition
• Describe research-based programming for English Language Learners
• Describe the traditional methods of grammar-translation, direct, and audio-lingual language instruction.
• Analyze the change to humanistic methods including The Silent Method, TPR, TPR-S, and Community Language Learning
• Determine the methods of language instruction that will benefit ELLs in your classroom.
• Analyze how Communicative Language Teaching supports the language and academic goals of ELLs.
• Analyze the importance of academic vocabulary for ELLs
• Evaluate best practices in vocabulary instruction for ELLs
• Help students develop word learning strategies
• Understand the specific aspects of English grammar that are difficult for most ELLs
• Evaluate the importance of grammar patterns to language acquisition
• Analyze instructional strategies that support ELLs in listening, speaking, and pronunciation
• Analyze instructional strategies to support ELLs in reading and writing
• Revise and plan lessons that incorporate teaching practices specifically designed to support ELLs.
• Consider barriers caused by bias, incorrect assumptions, or improper pedagogy for English language learners
• Analyze how different types of testing impact ELLs
• Compare the purpose of various assessments
• Determine how language barriers can cause improper placements
• Use effective authentic assessment practices
• Evaluate effective accommodation strategies