What are reasonable expectations for speed and accomplishment for L2 learners of different ages?
As educators, we need to have realistic expectations about how quickly a student will learn a second language (L2). We also need to understand there are many factors that can determine this, some of which are: what language people are speaking around them; age of arrival in the new...
What are the characteristics of excellent or unsuccessful L2 (second language) teachers?
I guess this one could get personal because you are probably a teacher of language learners or work with teachers of language learners. But, the question is a good one. I'd like to know if I may have some of the characteristics of an excellent language educator and, although...
Growing Evidence of the Advantages of the Bilingual Brain: A New Study
A brand new study on comparing the auditory processing of bilingual (Spanish/English) teens compared to monolingual English teens found that the bilingual adolescents were more easily able to hear a sound ("da") with background noise than the monolingals. Study authors explain: "We found that adolescent bilinguals, listening to the...
What are the characteristics of excellent or unsuccessful L2 learners?
What are the characteristics of excellent or unsuccessful L2 learners? Dixon, Zhao, Shin, Wu, Su, Burgess-Brigham, Gezer, & Snow (2012) answer this question from four areas of research. Knowing these characteristics may be helpful in identifying students who may need extra support. Here are some of the characteristics...
What Are Optimal Conditions for Second Language Acquisition?
A new synthesis of research in the Review of Educational Research (Dixon, Zhao, Shin, Wu, Su, Burgess-Brigham, Gezer, & Snow, 2012) answers this question from four areas of research. Here are the basic findings: Optimal conditions include: higher family SES strong home literacy practices opportunities for informal L2 use...
Dive In and Learn about ESL
Even though the number of English learners is increasing, our preparation as teachers to help language learners lags behind where we need to be: "These demographic changes have led to an increased demand for teachers who are able to effectively address the needs of ELL students in classrooms (Hill...
A Majority of Latinos Believe They Need to Learn English to Be Successful But Should Speak Spanish as Well
The Pew Research Center 2011 National Survey of Latinos reports on the beliefs of Latinos about the English and Spanish language: Hispanics believe learning English is important. Nearly nine-in-ten (87%) Hispanics say adult Hispanic immigrants need to learn English to succeed in the U.S. Hispanics also want future U.S. Hispanic...
Linguistic Privilege
As we teach English Language learners, I think it is important to consider the privileges that native English speakers often have. I believe that unseen linguistic and cultural privileges are tucked away deep in the recesses of native standard English speakers’ consciousnesses. For example, utilizing McIntosh’s (1988) framework, some of...
Class Newscast
Tip: Show a few short newscasts from the web. Make a list of student news. Write a script. Perform a class newscast.
6 year old Bilinguals Multitask Better Than Monolinguals
The psychological, cultural, educational, and economic advantages of bilingualism are well-known. A recent study, published in Child Development, was conducted by Raluca Barac and Ellen Bialystok at York University in Toronto, Canada and adds to the advantages. In their NIH-funded study of 104 six year olds, the bilingual children were...