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What we know about second language acquisition |
Mediation Techniques |
Supportive Discourse |
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Patience. Allow the ESL child more time.Signal continued involvement while the child processes and produces.
Monitor your own speech for consistency and comprehensibility.
Model and encourage the use of English hesitation strategies. |
Maintain eye contact.
Use backchanneling:Yeah, uh-huh, oh, so, well, right...
Avoid idioms and complex constructions. Simplify through paraphrase and example.
Um. Ah. Well. I-ah. |
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Parse topics and anticipate
vocabulary issues.
Write new words on the board. Direct child to do the same in a vocabulary notebook.
Encourage child to draw on first language knowledge of known concepts, then apply English terms. |
Highlight new words through
intonation. Pronounce them clearly.
Repeat and ask children to repeat difficult items out loud. T:
Do you know about this in Spanish? Take a minute and think about it, then we'll try English. |
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Continually ascertain what the child
knows and through cues and prompts, assist accordingly. |
S: He want...he want...T: He wants to help?
[During book time]T: Carlos, you live with your grandmother, right? Do you agree
with {character}? |
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Continually check for meaning as part of the conversation. Encourage others to do the same.Engage student in meaningful, extended exchanges.
Pose challenging, but linguistically manageable questions.
Plan and orchestrate groupwork to ensure involvement. |
Check facial features/posture.Make eye contact, seek nod/smile.
T: Okay, Carlos? Can someone tell Carlos what ___means?
T: Tell me more about ___. Do you have any more ideas?
T: How do you think she feels? Joyful? Angry? Tired?
T: Carlos, you're in charge of:
-organizing the materials
-collecting and tabulating findings
-time management |
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Use facial and body gestures to reinforce the message.
Use physical objects as illustrations. |
Encouraging facial expressions.
T: Have a look in that book.[Point to book, gesture toward it, nod encouragement.]
T: Can somebody hold up a binder for Carlos to see? |
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Actively encourage the use of good language learning strategies through task assignment and orchestration. Remind student of the strategies s/he knows how to use at appropriate times.
Encourage students (and their parents) to use language learning strategies outside the classroom. |
Draw attention to the kinds of language - specific words and phrases - that are useful for a task
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T: Here. Let's look at your word list before we start our groupwork.
T: Try saying these words out loud. Do you hear the ___ sound?
T: Don't forget to work with your friend Tommy on the short i sound.
T: I want to hear about ___ [child's favorite TV show] tomorrow.
T: Here. Try reading this book at home. |
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Involved communication.
Provide opportunities for success.
Praise success. |
Demonstrate interest, enthusiasm and engagement.
[When orchestrating groupwork]T: Carlos is really good at measuring. He'll give you the dimensions
you need.
Very good! I like the way you ___.Your English is improving! |
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Acknowledge and respond to message.Integrate corrections into the communication.
Cue students to self correct.
Choose to focus on one or two recurring problems at one time. |
T: So, he doesn't like to take the bus. That's a shame. Can you say he doesn't...Right.
You do, but he doesn't.
S: She wan have it.T: She [gesture to expand word 'want']
[In response to child reading aloud]T: Great! Now go back and underline the 'j' 'r' sounds. Then
read it again to yourself and really try to say 'j' 'r' [model]. |
