Challenges Faced by EAL Students
Discuss about the Addressing Learning Theories Through Professional.
Morteza, a quiet and shy boy of 13 is struggling with his ability to read and write in English, which is his additional language chosen in the secondary level. Morteza is from a different cultural and linguistic background who is finding it difficult to the Australian culture. Although he had English as an Additional Language in his first school for two years, he struggles to speak fluently.
All the students who move to a new country to pursue education face the common problem of adjusting to that country’s culture and the school curriculum. The theorist Stephen Krashen (2013) in his theory of Second language acquisition has suggested that in countries where English is the first language, it becomes difficult for students to fit into the environment easily. In terms of linguistic, students with English as their second language tend to struggle while communicating in either written form or verbally. The reason for this is their association with their first language and the environment where they grow up where English is rarely spoken. In academic field, the students with EAL/D find it difficult to complete class projects that are in English (Alford & Jetnikoff, 2016). Learning English further becomes difficult for foreign students due to the cultural constraints they face. The students might not be able to get along with other students easily as their culture does not permit to open up easily.
English is learnt either through listening or by reading, as some experts believe. Students who are born in Australia but belong to a family that does not have any roots in English might also encounter problems while learning ht language (McDevitt et al. 2013). A great example can be given of the Indigenous students who are born and brought up in Australia but who have little acquaintance with the mainstream language. They might come across similar problems as that of Morteza who was born in Australia but hails from the Aboriginal community where English is not the first language (Tharp & O’Donnell, 2016). However, those students who have good listening skills and grow up in an environment where majority speaks in English would have little difficulty in speaking the language.
Morteza’s teacher realized her student’s shy and reserved nature and hence she refrained from asking him direct questions. She decided to allow him sufficient space and time to get along with the classroom environment. Further, the teacher placed Morteza with students who were good in English speaking in order to allow him learn with peers. He was often found to be daydreaming in the class, which his teacher chose to ignore because she realized that he is exhausted from the attempts to learn the language. These strategies employed by the teacher are crucial to let foreign language students learn English naturally and competently. In addition, the strategy to place English language competent students with Morteza reduced the burden on the teacher in the class as those students’ also modeled appropriate language and behavior. However, as teachers it is important to understand that all students do not react or respond in the same way as Morteza did. Allowing him to daydream and stay quiet in the classroom for long might develop a sense of neglect in him and he might not respond at all.
Strategies for Coping with Challenges
In order to be more proficient, the teacher can make use of Information and Communication Technologies in the classroom that could assist her convey the messages more profoundly. Use of ICTs in the classroom especially for EAL students have proved highly effective in the recent years because of the ease with which teachers could communicate with students like Morteza. ICT could encourage students to produce error-free assignments with the help of auto correct option (Uluyol & ?ahin, 2016). Teachers could use visual timetables to familiarize students with the curriculum with the help of simulated games; teachers could develop the language learning skills of students in a fun way.
Apart from that, the teacher could learn more about the learning desires of Morteza and get to know the things he likes or has interest in. this would allow the teacher to enable him learn the language in his own way. Use of genuine learning texts of English further enhances the chances for Morteza to learn quickly. Authentic texts with pictures allow beginners to incorporate any novel information easily.
As the first step, teachers should give time for students like Morteza to open up and interact with others the strategy used by Morteza’s teacher is really effective because she did not force him to answer anything or adjust with the classroom atmosphere. She allowed enough time for Morteza to develop. In the Australian Curriculum, students with EAL/D are provided definite support to acquire English language skills needed for efficient communication and admittance to the Curriculum (Australiancurriculum.edu.au, 2018). The Curriculum enables teachers to provide personalized instructions to EAL/D students. Teachers need to identify the level of language proficiency of the student with the use of the Learning Progression. In addition to ACARA, the Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA) also provides abundant resources to the teachers to assist EAL/D students. The resources like Lest We Forget, PETAA Book Extras, Project 40: Video Essays and many more are given to teachers for teaching effectively (Petaa.edu.au, 2018).
The Year 4 students, Jake, Eliza, Remy and Molly had a task on Math to solve which they took from a Math website. The problem required the four students to make a pyramid – square based – with the help of 140 oranges.
The group was able to form the pyramid when the teacher presented them with concrete materials. When the teacher demonstrated the process of finding the solution by using pyramid blocks, the students easily understood the steps. This strategy used by the teacher refers to the theory of cognitive development introduced by Piaget. According to Piaget, children pass through four stages of cognitive development – the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, concrete operations and formal operations stage. The sensorimotor stage involves children from birth to two years, preoperational stage is for children of two to seven years, concrete operational for seven to eleven years and formal operational for adolescence and adulthood. The group of students who were involved in solving the Math problem belonged to the third stage that is concrete operational. At this stage, children develop the ability to de-center their thoughts and take into account each perceptible characteristic of things around them. They also develop the capability to arrange things in a systematic manner by classifying the nature of the object. The four students also demonstrated these capabilities. While Remy was able to observe the pattern of the square-based pyramid blocks shown by the teacher, Eliza noted the differences in numbers in each square. Light (2017) argued that Piaget’s theory is apt for teachers to use in the classroom because children especially at the age of seven to eleven years “learn best from concrete activity”. The students learned about squares with the help of a concrete activity of putting oranges in square-based pyramid.
Use of ICTs in the Classroom
The teacher played a crucial role in solving the Math problem assigned to the group. When the students were struggling to find the way to start making the block, the teacher helped them by asking questions as the number of oranges that should be at the top of the pyramid and in the next layers. In another instance, when molly was noting down the number of blocks that covered each square, the teacher asked her to observe if there are any patterns being formed by the numbers. This prompted the students to observe the pattern and found that they had made a pattern of squares. The teacher also assisted the students in analyzing the pyramid towards the end by asking them to remember the problem they have to solve from the beginning.
This strategy of asking questions and demonstrating with concrete materials at different stages of the problem-solving task by the teacher refers to the process known as scaffolding. Jerome Bruner was the first to use the term in the context of education in the 1960s (Bruner, 2018). Scaffolding has since become an effective way for teachers to ensure efficient teaching. Within the Australian education system, the method became increasingly popular with more and more educators employing it in areas involving early childhood education and educational psychology amongst others (Edutopia.org, 2018).
The four students of Year 4 had the task of solving a Math problem that they achieved with some assistance from their teacher. The students, belonging to the age group of 10 to 11 years, were competent enough to identify the patterns and ultimately solved the problem. The use of concrete material like the square-based pyramid box of solid shapes by the teacher greatly helped the students visualize their problem clearly (Education.vic.gov.au, 2018). The teacher made use of his knowledge of the ability of children at this age. He made good use of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
In the given case, another interesting fact about children’s learning ability comes out – group work. It has been observed on multiple occasions that children learn better, when they collaborate in a group. Understanding Vygotsky’s theory on learning and development would provide a better explanation. According to Vygotsky, children learn through “socially organized instruction”. Collaborative learning and reciprocal teaching are key elements of learning as stated by the theorist. Here also, one can observe the students collaborate with each other and divide their roles according to their strengths and interests that helped them achieve the desired result. Vygotsky also talked about each student’s zone of proximal development (ZPD). According to the theorist, each child goes through the stages of proximal development that includes assistance, growing independence, automation of response and de-automatisation. The ZPD is the phase between actual level of development and potential level (Wass & Golding, 2014). Children within this zone have the potential to solve any task with some assistance and encouragement from the teachers. In this case, the ZPD applies to the students, as they were able to accomplish their objective with some help from their teacher.
Importance of Authentic Texts in Language Learning
Jo is a teacher at an Australian school who aimed to develop certain values and morals for the students after some problems occurring in the playground. Jo along with other teachers felt that the students must be able to identify and realize the values of morality. in the academic setting, it is important to ensure that students are not only developed in educational but entirely.
The students went through certain stages of moral development where they went from showing animosity against their peers to collaborating with them to raise funds. Moral development has different stages through which individuals pass at different stages in life (Lind, 2017). Lawrence Kohlberg was the first theorist to develop a concrete model of moral development. According to Kohlberg, three levels of moral development are there that include pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional. The preconventional level of morality hosts two complex stages – obedience-punishment and instrumental-orientation. The second level has two stages as well – good-boy nice-girl orientation and law and order orientation. Finally, the third level of postconventional includes stages of social contract orientation and universal ethical principles orientation.
In case of Jo’s students, they initially were in the first stage of the preconventional level where their moral judgment was limited to direct consequences of the action. Children mostly fall under this stage because they do not possess the ability to think beyond direct consequences. After the interventions by Jo and other teachers, the students developed certain moral values and practiced the values by organizing a fundraising program for a humanitarian organization. During this process, the students attained the sixth stage of the third level that is postconventional morality. At this stage, students developed the capacity to understand that moral reasoning is abstract and is depended on the application of universal ethical principles.
The students demonstrated moral development quite rapidly once they were intervened to by the teachers after the trouble at playground. They possessed qualities that first put them in the first stage of the conventional level of Kohlberg’s moral development model. In order to pass this stage, the students needed to be competent emotionally to control their anger. Further, the age at which the students are in, is characterized by certain factors that compels them to indulge in anti-moral activities. It is important for teachers to understand their psychology. Erik Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development would be a great ground for educators to understand children’s psychology.
Effective Teaching Strategies for Solving a Math Problem
Jo’s students mostly belong to the age group of 12 to 14 years and hence they fall in the fourth and fifth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development (Knight, 2017). In the fourth stage, the child faces the challenges of being superior and competent. In the fifth stage, the child is in his teens and hence value peer relationships and struggles with identity. When the students engaged in fight at the playground, they were trying hard to fit into the challenges of the stage – acquire superior role, be competent and so on. After the initial stages passed and their attention was diverted to the fundraising program, the students tried hard to make friends with those other than their group. It must also be noted from the case that forming gangs and being a part of the gang is very crucial for students at this age.
Addressing the moral values and development of students in the primary level is a daunting task for educators (Howard, 2016). The reason is that the children at this stage are the most sensitive and vulnerable. Jo and the other teachers employed a good strategy to make the students realize the moral values and help them develop morally. Bronfenbrenner devised a theory that views child’s development as having complicated layers that forms the child’s environment. The theory known now as the bioecological systems theory maintains that a child develops within his or her primary environment that involves a system of relationships. The microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem form a child’s biological environment that comprises his or her relationships. Any disturbance in one layer causes other layers to change. Therefore, it is important for an educator to understand this and apply the teaching methods accordingly. The school and the teachers form the mesosystem and thus, it is crucial that the educators teach positive behaviors to the children. In this way, they can n=ensure that there is no disturbance in the children’s environment. Further, moral values could be incorporated in the general curriculum along with practical teaching so that children learn these values clearly and apply in their own life.
References:
Alford, J., & Jetnikoff, A. (2016). Orientations to Critical Literacy for English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) learners: A case study of four teachers of senior English. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, The, 39(2), 111.
Australiancurriculum.edu.au. (2018). Students for whom EAL/D. Retrieved from https://australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/student-diversity/students-for-whom-eald/
Bruner, J. (2018). Jerome Bruner and Constructivism. Learning Theories for Early Years Practice, 70.
Education.vic.gov.au. (2018). Languages Teaching Resources. Retrieved from https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/languages/Pages/support.aspx
Edutopia.org. (2018). 6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students | Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/scaffolding-lessons-six-strategies-rebecca-alber
Howard, C. (2016). Addressing learning theories through professional development. Musicworks: Journal of the Australian Council of Orff Schulwerk, 21, 25.
Knight, Z. G. (2017). A proposed model of psychodynamic psychotherapy linked to Erik Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development. Clinical psychology & psychotherapy, 24(5), 1047-1058.
Krashen, S., 2013. Reading and Vocabulary Acquisition: Supporting Evidence and Some Objections. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 1(1), pp.27-43.
Light, P. (2017). Social interaction and cognitive development: a review of post-Piagetian research. In Developing thinking(pp. 67-88). Routledge.
Lind, G. (2017). The Theory of Moral-Cognitive Development A Socio-Psychological Assessment. In Moral Judgments and Social Education (pp. 25-48). Routledge.
McDevitt, T. M., Ormrod, J. E., Cupit, G., Chandler, M., & Aloa, V. (2013). Child development and education. Pearson Higher Education AU.
Payir, A., Liang, Y., Merçon-Vargas, E. A., & Tudge, J. R. (2017). The Importance of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory for Early Childhood Education. In Theories of Early Childhood Education (pp. 45-57). Routledge.
Petaa.edu.au. (2018). Teaching Resources. Retrieved from https://www.petaa.edu.au/imis_prod/w/Teaching_Resources/w/Teaching_Resources/Teaching_Resources.aspx?hkey=8368cb41-25f4-4df3-9e1e-63c4036d983e
Tharp, R. G., & O’Donnell, C. R. (2016). Cultural-Historical Activity Theory and Cultural Community Psychology: The Potential for Greater Commonality. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 23(1), 5-14.
Uluyol, Ç., & ?ahin, S. (2016). Elementary school teachers’ ICT use in the classroom and their motivators for using ICT. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47(1), 65-75.
Wass, R., & Golding, C. (2014). Sharpening a tool for teaching: the zone of proximal development. Teaching in Higher Education, 19(6), 671-684.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
