Peer Assisted Learning Strategies and Reading Comprehension for English Language Learners

1. Peer Assisted Learning Strategies and Reading Comprehension for English Language Learners Jose Luis Alvarado San Diego State University Anne McCarty San Diego City Schools

2. La Populacion Cambia La populacion de estudiantes que esta creciendo mas rapido en los Estados Unidos, son estudiantes que no son proficientes en el Ingles. Un quinto de los estudiantes hablan un lenguage differente que el Ingles en sus hogares En el a�o 2010, treinta porciento de los estudiantes seran aquellos que necesitan aprender Ingles. En Nueva York, se hablan mas de cien lenguages en las escuelas publicas. Lo mismo ocurre en muchas partes de la Nacion.

3. Changing Student Population Language minority students are the fastest growing school-age population in the U.S. One in five students speak a language other than English at home. By the year 2010, over thirty percent of all school-age children will come from homes in which the primary language is not English. In New York City alone, there are more than one hundred languages represented in public school classrooms. The same phenomenon is the norm in many areas of the country.

4. English Language Learners Throughout the history of education many different terms have been used to describe or characterize children whose second language is English. Students with Limited English Proficiency (LEPs) Students for whom English is a Second Language (ESLs) Second Language Learners (SLLs). Currently educators refer to these children as English Language Learners (ELLs). This shift in language represents a more accurate reflection of the process of language acquisition.

5. LD or Language Difference? Although assessment measures may indicate that some ELL students are one or two years behind, this must be perceived as an indication of the need for extra instructional support, and not as a learning disability.

6. Teaching Techniques for ELLs Explicit instruction on paraphrasing with a lot of practice in pairs Practice in synthesizing what is clear and explicit (e.g. a sentence with two distinct student responses) Clear linkages to comprehension strategies from NRP Report Bongolan (2005)

7. Instructional Guidelines General principles of effective vocabulary instruction hold true for ELL students (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002; Carlo, McLaughlin, Snow, & August, 2003 Reading Research Quarterly). Multiple exposures Multiple modalities Different media presentations Systematic and cumulative review Contextualized approach (e.g., Read Alouds are promising) Semantic connections Gersten (2006)

8. Study 1 Investigated effects of two supplemental reading programs on reading fluency of LD & ELL/LD students Read Naturally -focus on peer tutoring Rewards - focus on explicit instruction