Assessment Task: Case Study of A Second Language Learner Essay

For the Purpose of this study EAL will be used to describe any child with English as an Additional Language. Information from the January 2012 schools census found that over one million children in the United Kingdom now speak another language in addition to English. It also found that there are over three hundred and sixty languages spoken in primary schools. These children can range from beginner speakers of English, such as refugees or asylum seekers, to those who are advanced speakers of English who have grown up at home with both English and another language being spoken (Webster, 2011)

Many of their learning needs are similar to those of other children and young people learning in our schools. However, these learners also have distinct and different needs from other learners by virtue of the fact that they are learning in and through another language, and that they come from cultural backgrounds and communities with different understandings and expectations of education, language and learning”. (NALDIC, 1999).

The English Language Learner (ELL) assessment process is different in each state. Each state must assess student’s performance in reading or language arts in order to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In addition NCLB requires that schools receiving Title III funds annually assess the English Proficiency of all Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students participating in Title III programs. Although the assessments may vary, the goals of the assessments are all the same, to assess where students are as they learn the English language. Is this assessment enough or should alternative assessments be required?

Presently there is a rising number of English Language Learners (ELLs) entering into classrooms all over the country. According to the three research studies that I utilized, there are several varied assessment approaches for teaching ELLs in reading (Davis-Lenski, Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, 2006; Dreher, & Letcher-Gray, 2009; Ebe, 2010). English Language Learners (ELLs) consistently struggle with some aspects of reading because, they lack background knowledge in terms of the generalized text selections, which they are often given (Davis-Lenski, Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, 2006; Dreher, & Letcher-Gray, 2009; Ebe, 2010). The data across all three journal documents agrees that there is an achievement gap where ELLs

I learned that once student start to learn English most of the time their primary language had not been fully developed. The second language develops continually. Valid progress monitoring is necessary in order to be valid. Assessments should have both reliability and validity. This is sometimes a problem with ELL students. It is important when data is collected that it is used for decision

The function of assessment in learning and development is to provide a measure for the learners progress.

As an educator I would be concern that a student speaks in simple langue given that

It will also serve to provide the beginning stage of a more comprehensive action research study to allow me to meet her needs as best I can, which I will discuss in the conclusion. METHODOLOGY The objective of this case study is to describe, in terms of second language acquisition theory, this student’s language proficiency, especially through the lens of whether she will achieve the expected ‘C grade’ required of her for passing and matriculation. The key research question for this case study is, “What are the specific language-based and affective patterns that identify this child, and can they be described in an inter-related fashion?” My hypothesis is that such “thick description” (Geertz 1994) can be reached through two different but complementary aspects of second language acquisition theory by integrating the discussion along these lines: • Learner language analysis. Features and patterns are identified through a close analysis of Katie’s output: written and oral. This is matched to SLA theory, and ‘gaps’ between the target and achieved language will be identified. • Affective factors as revealed from choices in responding to prompts and the content of discussion from three interviews held with Katie.

The learner I have chosen has a general level of education from her native country, having attended nursery, primary and secondary schools. In her period of education in secondary school, she managed studied the English language for approximately 5 years.

Acquiring and learning a second language do not refer only to handling oral communication skills. It is more than that; it takes the students´ abilities in enhancing their lexicon, their management in syntax, and their perspective about words´ influences in people. Thus, summing this up, it is indispensable that ESL students have a grand deal about linguistic knowledge. In other words, ESL learners not only require speaking, but also reading, writing and thinking in English when they complete whatever English career.

English is an international language which is used officially all around the world. Anybody who wants to make connections with the world we live in should learn English. I had English language classes in my secondary and high school years. I also took some private English learning courses throughout summers in my country, Turkey. However, I could not improve my English effectively as all Turkish students in Turkey. I fully agree that English will be learned most efficiently in the boundaries of an English-speaking country not in the home country because of some cases. Therefore, I came here, USA, to learn English better after graduation from my university.

ESL students are students that speak English as a second language. Presently, there is many different system to characterize this type of students (qtd in Shi, Steen 63). For example, they can be seen as “English Language Learners (ELL), English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), English Language Development (ELD), English Language Service (ELS), and

For the purpose of this assignment I chose Feruza, an Eritrean high school graduate. She was born and raised in Eritrea and came to live in Jeddah only five years ago. She studied English in an elementary school in Eritrea and continued studying it in an Eritrean International High School. She is not happy at all with what she has learnt during those years. She explained that during her elementary school years her teachers heavily focused on writing while neglecting speaking. When she continued her learning process here in Jeddah, her high school teachers focused only on speaking but not at the level she was expecting.

Teaching English as a second language can be a difficult task and the challenges that teachers face vary greatly from student to student and classroom to classroom. The internship working Professor Jesse Stewart and his students from his ESL 116 class was eye opening and great opportunity to work with students who had a range of English levels. Each student was unique in that they learned differently, had different language backgrounds and had different language abilities but one thing that seemed similar was the type of mistakes they were making in their papers for the class. The errors that the students made in fact reflected the common errors that many ESL students make everyday and though the reason for these errors is still debated in the field of linguistics the errors themselves still tend to be similar across language backgrounds and teaching environments. The theoretical side of this paper deals with the common errors that ESL learners make as well as the development of literacy and writing in ESL learners, language assessment, and the importance of ESL in Canada. Later in this paper, I will include a more practical comparison of my own experiences with students to the errors discussed previously, as well as give an insight into my view of the course and how it will help me in the future.

The continuous increase in the number of international students mostly from non-native English speaking countries such as China, Iran, Malaysia and India, travelling to study in New Zealand is alarming. There is a growing concern on which components of academic language skills English as an additional language (EAL) international students will require for studies, as the medium of teaching in New Zealand colleges and university is English. (Cameron and Meade, 2002, p.1-4). Phakiti and Li (2011, p. 229) claims that, “[a]cademic language competence is related to students ability to use English language to acquire specific knowledge.” Take for instance, an EAL student must have to be competent in one of the components of academic language skills such as, listening, to complete all academic task prescribed before the completion of studies. Thus, what specific role does academic listening plays? And how does it impact success on EAL students in New Zealand Colleges and Universities. (157 words)