Babette Doutt-Nesmith
FLE 5431-ESOL II
October 28, 2007
ELLCase Study
Case Study Participant- Maria Gonzalez
Phase I
Societal Linguistic Background
Maria Gonzalez is seven years old and is in first grade. Her birthday is September 21 2000. Maria is Hispanic and moved here two years ago (when she was 5) from Mexico. Maria is of average size and height with dark brown eyes and shoulder length black hair. Maria’s bright smile reveals her two missing top teeth.
Maria lives at home with her parents and her two sisters. Maria’s older sister is 11 and her younger sister is 5. Maria’s father is a painter and her mother stays at home with her younger sister. Spanish is the language spoken at home and both parents do not speak any English.
Maria’s older sister is in 6th grade and even though last school year (5th grade) was her first year in the American school system she speaks English very well. She was a school safety patrol and did very well in school. Maria states that if she needs any help with her home work, her older sister helps her. Any communication that is sent home in English is translated to the parents by the older sister. Both Maria and her sister only speak English at school and at home when doing their school work. However, at home they only speak Spanish with their parents.
Maria’s family moved to Tampa, Florida for her father to find work and provide for his family. Although Spanish is the only language spoken at home her parents value a good education in the American school system. The parents support their daughter’s acquisition of the English and support the girls’ education, even though they are not involved within the school. They do not come in to speak with the classroom teacher and only communicate through the ESOL teacher in Spanish, on rare occasions.
The area that Maria lives in is rural and lower socioeconomic. Her immediate neighborhood consists of mostly Caucasian English speaking families. Some of Maria’s extended family came to Florida (an aunt, uncle and their children) and live on the same street as Maria.
Most of Maria’s extended family still lives in Mexico. Maria’s grandmother (in Mexico) owns a small store in their home town. On top of the store is an apartment where the grandmother lives. Much of Maria’s family in Mexico lives near the grandmother’s store. Maria talks about visiting her grandmother’s store and picking out “free” snacks. She misses her grandmother and cousins who are still in Mexico.
Maria described a big yellow house that her father had built, with 2 stairs, in Mexico. Across the street from her house there was a park for her to play at and her cousins lived down the road. She says that she loved the house and she misses living there.
Maria is very verbal and socially outgoing. At home Maria enjoys playing outside (riding bikes) with her friends and cousins. Maria is liked at school and has many friends. She says that the best thing about being here in the United States is that she can go to school and learn. She loves school. Her enthusiasm shows and contributes to her success.
Phase 2
Linguistic Background
Maria was raised speaking Spanish. An important factor in Maria’s literacy development is the fact that she was read to in Spanish as small child. Maria talks about her mother reading to her and her sisters (Spanish children’s books) from a very young age. Last year, in kindergarten, Maria’s older sister would frequently read her books in English.
Before coming to the United States, Maria stayed at home with her mother. She did not go to pre-school in Mexico. She did not have any formal education in English or Spanish in her home country. Maria talks about spending time reading (in Spanish) with her mother, her grandmother and her aunt before she moved to Florida. Maria states that her parents buy her many books in English and in Spanish.
Linguistic developmental history.
Vocabulary,
Type and length of sentences
Morphemes syntax, phonology
Cultural / pragmatic appropriateness
BICS & CALP
Reading and writing in class, aspects of English grammar, punctuation
DOA
L1-Maria has a rich vocabulary. She speaks well for a five year old. She has a good imagination and loves to tell stories.
L2-(stage 1) Her language is not developed in English due to her lack in understanding the L2 language; she nods yes or no to simple questions and smiles.
L1-Maria has a phonological awareness in Spanish (which will help her in learning the English alphabet.)
She also has a concept of print and concept of word formation (phonology) and word order
(syntax).
L2- Maria knows her letters and that they make sounds but she needs to learn the English sounds. Maria does not know English word formations or word order.
L1- Maria speaks Spanish at home and is still flourishing within her culture at home.
L2- Maria is still in stage one and can not communicate in English. She smiles and carefully observes.
L1- Maria is has good BICS however her CALP is weak due to her lack of pre-school in her native language.
L2-Maria’s BICS and CALP are not developed in English.
L1-Maria had concept of print in home language. She was familiar pattern books in her home language.
L2-
Maria can not read or write in English. However, she is interested in reading in English and is excited to learn how to read and write English.
1 year -
end of kindergarten
L1- Maria has decided not to speak Spanish at school, only English. She still speaks Spanish at home with her Family.
L2- Due to the fact that, Maria only speaking English at school and that she is extremely intelligent her vocabulary is excellent she knows many of the pre-primer sight words and her vocabulary is growing. She is speaking well socially and academically in complete sentences. Through one year, she has progressed through Stage 1,2, and 3. She is between stage 3 and 4.
L1- Maria is only speaking Spanish at home.
L2-Maria is reading and writing at a level 3. She can sound out words and Is beginning to remember the correct word order of sentences.
L1- Maria can still understand Spanish at school and will listen to her friends who may speak in Spanish once in a while at school however she will respond in English to them.
L2- Maria has learned rapidly and can communicate and understand most situations in English.
L1- Maria’s BICS and CALP are increasing (due to the fact that her parents read to her in Spanish still).
L2-Maria has developed her BICS and CALP. She is on grade level academically for ending kindergarten and can socially understand and communicate with her English speaking classmates.
L1- Maria speaks Spanish at home only.
L2-Maria is on grade level for writing and reading; she learned very rapidly and her teachers are amazed at her rapid growth.
Current (almost 2 years in the United States)
L1-Maria speaks Spanish only at home with her parents.
L2-Maria is a level 4. She has a vibrant imagination and can use her rich vocabulary to tell her stories. Her sentence structure is good and only occasionally does she make errors in negation. “She no go with me.” But often she will say the sentence again correctly.
L1- Maria speaks Spanish only at home. L2- Maria is near the end of the ESOL program and her reading and writing are better than many of her English speaking classmates.
L1- Maria can still understand Spanish at school and will listen to her friends who may speak in Spanish once in a while at school however she will respond in English to them.
L2- Maria has learned rapidly and can communicate and understand
English in al situations.
L1- Maria’s BICS and CALP are increasing (due to the fact that her parents read to her in Spanish still).
L2-Maria has developed her BICS and CALP. She is slightly above grade level academically for first grade and can socially understand and communicate with her English speaking classmates. Her ESOL teacher predicts that she will be out of the program by the end of the year.
L1- Maria speaks Spanish at home only.
L2-Maria is above grade level for writing and reading; she is rapidly progressing and her teachers are amazed at her growth.
Phase 3
Language Data
see Interview Link
seeReading Sample Link
Transcription of Reading Sample
Me-“Go Ahead”
Maria-“The Wobbly Tooth. Emma had a wobbly tooth. Dad looked at it. I’ll pull it out he said. No, said Emma. It will hurt. Mom looked at Emma’s tooth. I’ll pull it out she said. No said Emma. It will hurt. Emma’s brother looked at the tooth. I’ll pull it out he said. No said Emma, and she ran away. At lunch (missed lunchtime) Emma had a red apple. She took a big bite.
Me- I wonder what’s going to happen. What do you think is going to happen?
Maria-(giggles)
Me- What’s that a picture of? (Referring to the picture with Emma’s tooth in an apple)
Maria- Her tooth.
Me- Where is it?
Maria- Right over there.(pointing to the apple)
Me- In the apple! Okay go, ahead.
Maria- She looked at the apple. There wa hers tooth.
Emma showed Mom (missed “ and”) Mom laughed. The apple pulled your tooth out she said. Emma laughed too. It didn’t hurt a bit she said. To the tooth fairy. ( She read the sign in the book that the character left out for the tooth fairy)
Me- What’s that? (referring to the sign)
Maria- She wrote her a note yeah.
Me-What do you think is inside there?
Maria-A note.
Me- A note. And what do you think is inside the envelope? A note too?
Maria- Yeah.
Me- Where do you think her tooth is?
Maria- Under hers pillow.
Me- Under her pillow. Have you lost teeth?
Maria- Yeah.
Me- Have you left them for the tooth fairy?
Maria- (nods)
Me-Did you get anything?
Maria-(nods)
Me- What did you get?
Maria- Ten dollars
Me- Oh my word, ten dollars, that’s a lot of money. What do you think is back here; what happened at the beginning can you tell me?
Maria- Yeah, Emma had a wobbly tooth.
Me- Really and what happened?
Maria- Ah like ah she showed hers mom and dad and brother they pull, they tell her I’ll pull it out.
Me- Did she let them?
Maria- No.
Me- No. Why didn’t she let them pull the tooth out?
Maria- Because, she didn’t want to, because she thought it would hurt.
Me- Cause she thought it would hurt. And then what happened?
Maria- At lunch she grabbed a big red apple and she took a bite and then the tooth came out because it was so wobbly and thats why it came out because she took a bite but the apple was to strong so it pulled her tooth out.
Me- Yes that’s exactly what happen.
Maria- And it didn’t, it didn’t hurt she said at the end she wrote a note, a letter.
Me-Who’d she write the letter to?
Maria- To the tooth fairy.
Me- To the tooth fairy, that was the end of the book awesome!
Do you like this book?
Maria- Yeah.
Me- Why do you like this book?
Maria- Because… I could read it.
Me-Because you could read it! And you read it very well to. What other books do you like to read?
Maria- Roll over.
Me- What?
Maria- Roll over.
Me- Roll over that’s a good one.
Maria- And Clifford.
Me –I remember you like Clifford books, and what books, did you get that book at the book fair?
Maria- yeah.
Me-What book is that?
Maria- Oh, that’s not my book, my book is Junie B Jones.
Me- Junie B Jones.
Maria- And that’s my favorite one.
Me- Is you teacher reading Junie B Jones to you guys?
Maria- Yeah.
Me- That’s funny isn’t it?
Maria-yeah.
Me- And what grade is Junie B Jones in?
Maria- um Kindergarten.
Me- Is she in kindergarten in that book?
(she nods) There’s books where she’s in first grade too.
Maria- I have that book.
Me- You have the first grade book? (she nods) Yeah. So, that’s it, thank you so for coming over and reading for me, you’re a very good reader.
Maria- Thank you.
Me- Your welcome, are you ready to go back to class?
Maria- Yeah.
Phase 4
The Problem
Maria’s language development is amazing. Her reading is slightly above average and her writing is above grade level. Social and academic English is, also, excellent. It is obvious that Maria is above average in intelligence it is amazing that she is so far advanced in only two years of living in the United States. When speaking to the ESOL teacher she spoke highly of Maria and said that her sister, also, picked up English very quickly. The ESOL teacher said that she anticipates that Maria will be out of the ESOL program before the end of the year.
The problem in this case is parent involvement. The only person who has any communication with the parents is the ESOL teacher; and this is because she speaks Spanish to them. Considering Maria’s progression through the ESOL program and mastery of the Academics, how much better would she have done with her parental support working with the school? I would hypothesize that if Maria had the parent support actively involved with her schooling maybe she would have been out of the ESOL program in kindergarten and possibly in the gifted program this year.
The classroom teacher explains that parent involvement is low at the school for all students and is not surprised that she has not even met Maria’s parents. She stated that in just the first 2 months of school Maria has moved up 2 levels in reading (which is faster than any student in her class regular or ELL). Her writing is one of the best in the class. And, that she is liked and communicates well with all her classmates. The classroom teacher could think of absolutely no problems that Maria has socially or academically.
The ESOL teacher is not surprised that the parents are not involved. She stated that Maria’s parents are nice people and support their daughter’s education at home. She did not see the lack of parent involvement at school hindering Maria’s progress.
When Maria was asked if her parents ever met her teacher, she said no. When asked: Why don’t you think mommy or daddy ever comes to your school? She just shrugged her shoulders. It appears that she doesn’t see any problem with their lack of involvement at school.
Phase 5
Solve the Problem
First, the teachers included need to assess if it is a cultural barrier. Some cultures believe that the Education of their child is solely up to the school and that the parents should have limited to no involvement. If there is an insecurity of the parents not knowing English, the teacher needs to have a translator involved for communication.
Second, the classroom teacher needs to be explicit about the want for parent involvement in the school and specific involvement needs to be outlined and communicated.
Extend the homework assignments to the parents. Example: Have the student interview the parent and talk about a fun game they played as a child. Have parents read a book to the child in their native tongue and the student is to write a report on the book. Give cultural assignments that allow the parent to work with their student to complete. Have the student ask the parents for help with math. This may be one content area that they can work on together since our number systems are the same.
There are many opportunities for the parent to bring their culture into the class. Example: Have the parent come in and help you label some items in the class in Spanish to build the Spanish vocabulary of the English students. Have a cultural day where parents can bring in a food from there culture and the student can share the food with the class and learn some thing interesting about a new culture. Have an activity in a joint book reading of a book that is written in both Spanish and English.(include the parent reading the book in Spanish).
Always have a translator present for the parents for conferences and their involvement in school activities. Send home the communication in Spanish to always ensure communication remains open. Provide the opportunities throughout the year for the to be involved do not give up.
Web sites used for problem solution:
http://www.doe.state.in.us/lmmp/parentinvolvement.html
http://www.languagemagazine.com/
Reflective Questions
1. What are some of the factors that led to the success of Maria acquiring the English language so quickly?
2. Why do you think Maria refused to speak any Spanish at school as early as 8 months after starting kindergarten?
3. What are some ways to get Maria’s parents more involved at school?
Bloom’s Taxonomy Questions
Knowledge
Was Maria read to at home? If so, who read to her?
Comprehension
Describe Maria’s language situation prior to moving the United States.
Application
Why did Maria learn how to read English so quickly?
Analysis
Hoe does Maria’s rapid language development compare to other ELL students?
Synthesis
How would parental involvement influence Maria’s progress?
Evaluation
How do you think Maria feels about her education and her rapid acquisition of English?
FLE 5431-ESOL II
October 28, 2007
ELLCase Study
Case Study Participant- Maria Gonzalez
Phase I
Societal Linguistic Background
Maria Gonzalez is seven years old and is in first grade. Her birthday is September 21 2000. Maria is Hispanic and moved here two years ago (when she was 5) from Mexico. Maria is of average size and height with dark brown eyes and shoulder length black hair. Maria’s bright smile reveals her two missing top teeth.
Maria lives at home with her parents and her two sisters. Maria’s older sister is 11 and her younger sister is 5. Maria’s father is a painter and her mother stays at home with her younger sister. Spanish is the language spoken at home and both parents do not speak any English.
Maria’s older sister is in 6th grade and even though last school year (5th grade) was her first year in the American school system she speaks English very well. She was a school safety patrol and did very well in school. Maria states that if she needs any help with her home work, her older sister helps her. Any communication that is sent home in English is translated to the parents by the older sister. Both Maria and her sister only speak English at school and at home when doing their school work. However, at home they only speak Spanish with their parents.
Maria’s family moved to Tampa, Florida for her father to find work and provide for his family. Although Spanish is the only language spoken at home her parents value a good education in the American school system. The parents support their daughter’s acquisition of the English and support the girls’ education, even though they are not involved within the school. They do not come in to speak with the classroom teacher and only communicate through the ESOL teacher in Spanish, on rare occasions.
The area that Maria lives in is rural and lower socioeconomic. Her immediate neighborhood consists of mostly Caucasian English speaking families. Some of Maria’s extended family came to Florida (an aunt, uncle and their children) and live on the same street as Maria.
Most of Maria’s extended family still lives in Mexico. Maria’s grandmother (in Mexico) owns a small store in their home town. On top of the store is an apartment where the grandmother lives. Much of Maria’s family in Mexico lives near the grandmother’s store. Maria talks about visiting her grandmother’s store and picking out “free” snacks. She misses her grandmother and cousins who are still in Mexico.
Maria described a big yellow house that her father had built, with 2 stairs, in Mexico. Across the street from her house there was a park for her to play at and her cousins lived down the road. She says that she loved the house and she misses living there.
Maria is very verbal and socially outgoing. At home Maria enjoys playing outside (riding bikes) with her friends and cousins. Maria is liked at school and has many friends. She says that the best thing about being here in the United States is that she can go to school and learn. She loves school. Her enthusiasm shows and contributes to her success.
Phase 2
Linguistic Background
Maria was raised speaking Spanish. An important factor in Maria’s literacy development is the fact that she was read to in Spanish as small child. Maria talks about her mother reading to her and her sisters (Spanish children’s books) from a very young age. Last year, in kindergarten, Maria’s older sister would frequently read her books in English.
Before coming to the United States, Maria stayed at home with her mother. She did not go to pre-school in Mexico. She did not have any formal education in English or Spanish in her home country. Maria talks about spending time reading (in Spanish) with her mother, her grandmother and her aunt before she moved to Florida. Maria states that her parents buy her many books in English and in Spanish.
Linguistic developmental history.
Vocabulary,
Type and length of sentences
Morphemes syntax, phonology
Cultural / pragmatic appropriateness
BICS & CALP
Reading and writing in class, aspects of English grammar, punctuation
DOA
L1-Maria has a rich vocabulary. She speaks well for a five year old. She has a good imagination and loves to tell stories.
L2-(stage 1) Her language is not developed in English due to her lack in understanding the L2 language; she nods yes or no to simple questions and smiles.
L1-Maria has a phonological awareness in Spanish (which will help her in learning the English alphabet.)
She also has a concept of print and concept of word formation (phonology) and word order
(syntax).
L2- Maria knows her letters and that they make sounds but she needs to learn the English sounds. Maria does not know English word formations or word order.
L1- Maria speaks Spanish at home and is still flourishing within her culture at home.
L2- Maria is still in stage one and can not communicate in English. She smiles and carefully observes.
L1- Maria is has good BICS however her CALP is weak due to her lack of pre-school in her native language.
L2-Maria’s BICS and CALP are not developed in English.
L1-Maria had concept of print in home language. She was familiar pattern books in her home language.
L2-
Maria can not read or write in English. However, she is interested in reading in English and is excited to learn how to read and write English.
1 year -
end of kindergarten
L1- Maria has decided not to speak Spanish at school, only English. She still speaks Spanish at home with her Family.
L2- Due to the fact that, Maria only speaking English at school and that she is extremely intelligent her vocabulary is excellent she knows many of the pre-primer sight words and her vocabulary is growing. She is speaking well socially and academically in complete sentences. Through one year, she has progressed through Stage 1,2, and 3. She is between stage 3 and 4.
L1- Maria is only speaking Spanish at home.
L2-Maria is reading and writing at a level 3. She can sound out words and Is beginning to remember the correct word order of sentences.
L1- Maria can still understand Spanish at school and will listen to her friends who may speak in Spanish once in a while at school however she will respond in English to them.
L2- Maria has learned rapidly and can communicate and understand most situations in English.
L1- Maria’s BICS and CALP are increasing (due to the fact that her parents read to her in Spanish still).
L2-Maria has developed her BICS and CALP. She is on grade level academically for ending kindergarten and can socially understand and communicate with her English speaking classmates.
L1- Maria speaks Spanish at home only.
L2-Maria is on grade level for writing and reading; she learned very rapidly and her teachers are amazed at her rapid growth.
Current (almost 2 years in the United States)
L1-Maria speaks Spanish only at home with her parents.
L2-Maria is a level 4. She has a vibrant imagination and can use her rich vocabulary to tell her stories. Her sentence structure is good and only occasionally does she make errors in negation. “She no go with me.” But often she will say the sentence again correctly.
L1- Maria speaks Spanish only at home. L2- Maria is near the end of the ESOL program and her reading and writing are better than many of her English speaking classmates.
L1- Maria can still understand Spanish at school and will listen to her friends who may speak in Spanish once in a while at school however she will respond in English to them.
L2- Maria has learned rapidly and can communicate and understand
English in al situations.
L1- Maria’s BICS and CALP are increasing (due to the fact that her parents read to her in Spanish still).
L2-Maria has developed her BICS and CALP. She is slightly above grade level academically for first grade and can socially understand and communicate with her English speaking classmates. Her ESOL teacher predicts that she will be out of the program by the end of the year.
L1- Maria speaks Spanish at home only.
L2-Maria is above grade level for writing and reading; she is rapidly progressing and her teachers are amazed at her growth.
Phase 3
Language Data
see Interview Link
seeReading Sample Link
Transcription of Reading Sample
Me-“Go Ahead”
Maria-“The Wobbly Tooth. Emma had a wobbly tooth. Dad looked at it. I’ll pull it out he said. No, said Emma. It will hurt. Mom looked at Emma’s tooth. I’ll pull it out she said. No said Emma. It will hurt. Emma’s brother looked at the tooth. I’ll pull it out he said. No said Emma, and she ran away. At lunch (missed lunchtime) Emma had a red apple. She took a big bite.
Me- I wonder what’s going to happen. What do you think is going to happen?
Maria-(giggles)
Me- What’s that a picture of? (Referring to the picture with Emma’s tooth in an apple)
Maria- Her tooth.
Me- Where is it?
Maria- Right over there.(pointing to the apple)
Me- In the apple! Okay go, ahead.
Maria- She looked at the apple. There wa hers tooth.
Emma showed Mom (missed “ and”) Mom laughed. The apple pulled your tooth out she said. Emma laughed too. It didn’t hurt a bit she said. To the tooth fairy. ( She read the sign in the book that the character left out for the tooth fairy)
Me- What’s that? (referring to the sign)
Maria- She wrote her a note yeah.
Me-What do you think is inside there?
Maria-A note.
Me- A note. And what do you think is inside the envelope? A note too?
Maria- Yeah.
Me- Where do you think her tooth is?
Maria- Under hers pillow.
Me- Under her pillow. Have you lost teeth?
Maria- Yeah.
Me- Have you left them for the tooth fairy?
Maria- (nods)
Me-Did you get anything?
Maria-(nods)
Me- What did you get?
Maria- Ten dollars
Me- Oh my word, ten dollars, that’s a lot of money. What do you think is back here; what happened at the beginning can you tell me?
Maria- Yeah, Emma had a wobbly tooth.
Me- Really and what happened?
Maria- Ah like ah she showed hers mom and dad and brother they pull, they tell her I’ll pull it out.
Me- Did she let them?
Maria- No.
Me- No. Why didn’t she let them pull the tooth out?
Maria- Because, she didn’t want to, because she thought it would hurt.
Me- Cause she thought it would hurt. And then what happened?
Maria- At lunch she grabbed a big red apple and she took a bite and then the tooth came out because it was so wobbly and thats why it came out because she took a bite but the apple was to strong so it pulled her tooth out.
Me- Yes that’s exactly what happen.
Maria- And it didn’t, it didn’t hurt she said at the end she wrote a note, a letter.
Me-Who’d she write the letter to?
Maria- To the tooth fairy.
Me- To the tooth fairy, that was the end of the book awesome!
Do you like this book?
Maria- Yeah.
Me- Why do you like this book?
Maria- Because… I could read it.
Me-Because you could read it! And you read it very well to. What other books do you like to read?
Maria- Roll over.
Me- What?
Maria- Roll over.
Me- Roll over that’s a good one.
Maria- And Clifford.
Me –I remember you like Clifford books, and what books, did you get that book at the book fair?
Maria- yeah.
Me-What book is that?
Maria- Oh, that’s not my book, my book is Junie B Jones.
Me- Junie B Jones.
Maria- And that’s my favorite one.
Me- Is you teacher reading Junie B Jones to you guys?
Maria- Yeah.
Me- That’s funny isn’t it?
Maria-yeah.
Me- And what grade is Junie B Jones in?
Maria- um Kindergarten.
Me- Is she in kindergarten in that book?
(she nods) There’s books where she’s in first grade too.
Maria- I have that book.
Me- You have the first grade book? (she nods) Yeah. So, that’s it, thank you so for coming over and reading for me, you’re a very good reader.
Maria- Thank you.
Me- Your welcome, are you ready to go back to class?
Maria- Yeah.
Phase 4
The Problem
Maria’s language development is amazing. Her reading is slightly above average and her writing is above grade level. Social and academic English is, also, excellent. It is obvious that Maria is above average in intelligence it is amazing that she is so far advanced in only two years of living in the United States. When speaking to the ESOL teacher she spoke highly of Maria and said that her sister, also, picked up English very quickly. The ESOL teacher said that she anticipates that Maria will be out of the ESOL program before the end of the year.
The problem in this case is parent involvement. The only person who has any communication with the parents is the ESOL teacher; and this is because she speaks Spanish to them. Considering Maria’s progression through the ESOL program and mastery of the Academics, how much better would she have done with her parental support working with the school? I would hypothesize that if Maria had the parent support actively involved with her schooling maybe she would have been out of the ESOL program in kindergarten and possibly in the gifted program this year.
The classroom teacher explains that parent involvement is low at the school for all students and is not surprised that she has not even met Maria’s parents. She stated that in just the first 2 months of school Maria has moved up 2 levels in reading (which is faster than any student in her class regular or ELL). Her writing is one of the best in the class. And, that she is liked and communicates well with all her classmates. The classroom teacher could think of absolutely no problems that Maria has socially or academically.
The ESOL teacher is not surprised that the parents are not involved. She stated that Maria’s parents are nice people and support their daughter’s education at home. She did not see the lack of parent involvement at school hindering Maria’s progress.
When Maria was asked if her parents ever met her teacher, she said no. When asked: Why don’t you think mommy or daddy ever comes to your school? She just shrugged her shoulders. It appears that she doesn’t see any problem with their lack of involvement at school.
Phase 5
Solve the Problem
First, the teachers included need to assess if it is a cultural barrier. Some cultures believe that the Education of their child is solely up to the school and that the parents should have limited to no involvement. If there is an insecurity of the parents not knowing English, the teacher needs to have a translator involved for communication.
Second, the classroom teacher needs to be explicit about the want for parent involvement in the school and specific involvement needs to be outlined and communicated.
Extend the homework assignments to the parents. Example: Have the student interview the parent and talk about a fun game they played as a child. Have parents read a book to the child in their native tongue and the student is to write a report on the book. Give cultural assignments that allow the parent to work with their student to complete. Have the student ask the parents for help with math. This may be one content area that they can work on together since our number systems are the same.
There are many opportunities for the parent to bring their culture into the class. Example: Have the parent come in and help you label some items in the class in Spanish to build the Spanish vocabulary of the English students. Have a cultural day where parents can bring in a food from there culture and the student can share the food with the class and learn some thing interesting about a new culture. Have an activity in a joint book reading of a book that is written in both Spanish and English.(include the parent reading the book in Spanish).
Always have a translator present for the parents for conferences and their involvement in school activities. Send home the communication in Spanish to always ensure communication remains open. Provide the opportunities throughout the year for the to be involved do not give up.
Web sites used for problem solution:
http://www.doe.state.in.us/lmmp/parentinvolvement.html
http://www.languagemagazine.com/
Reflective Questions
1. What are some of the factors that led to the success of Maria acquiring the English language so quickly?
2. Why do you think Maria refused to speak any Spanish at school as early as 8 months after starting kindergarten?
3. What are some ways to get Maria’s parents more involved at school?
Bloom’s Taxonomy Questions
Knowledge
Was Maria read to at home? If so, who read to her?
Comprehension
Describe Maria’s language situation prior to moving the United States.
Application
Why did Maria learn how to read English so quickly?
Analysis
Hoe does Maria’s rapid language development compare to other ELL students?
Synthesis
How would parental involvement influence Maria’s progress?
Evaluation
How do you think Maria feels about her education and her rapid acquisition of English?
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