Moving right along…Gibbons explains the challenges teachers have in making language explicit. She gives the analogy of us teachers being the fish, and language being the ocean, and presents the idea that fish don’t recognize the water they’re swimming in. This means when we are teaching in a content area, we are not aware of making the language (the water) explicit. This usually happens in an actual language class, not in the teaching of a subject area.
Another metaphor useful in looking at language seeing language as a window. For an English language speaker, language is transparent during instruction. For an ELL, if language is not made explicit, the window is frosted, foggy, and hazy and not easy to see through. We as teachers need to hold up our windows to the light and understand that it’s not transparent for every student. We need to remember, no matter what subject we teach, to think of ourselves as a teacher of language.
It is important to recognize the differences between spoken and written language because language varies according to the context (situational or cultural) in which it is used. The way we use language in these contexts is determined by contextual factors. Halliday and Hasan (1985) refer to these contextual factors as field, the topic of the text, tenor, the relationship between the speaker and listener, and mode, the channel of communication. Together, these constitute the “register” of the text. When children developmentally learn their first language, they are able to vary the context or register of their language depending on what situation they are in. At first children learn language from things happening in their immediate environment. As they grow older, they gradually learn the more abstract way to refer to things around them and are able to control an increasing range of registers. The registers of everyday language differ from the more difficult academic registers of the school.
The registers related to academic learning take between five and seven years for the learner to develop at a level equal to a competent native speaker of the same age. This would mean a second language learner could be well spoken in conversational language, but develop the register associated with academic learning at a much slower rate. Referring to second language learners, Gibbons (2002) states “…they are expected not only to learn a second language but to learn in it as well, it is hardly surprising that without focused English language support they may start to fall behind their peers who are operating in a language they have been familiar with since birth.” (p. 5) This information not only solidifies the situation I see with my ESL students in the classroom, but also makes me more aware of the struggle ELLs face as they acquire vocabulary. It also reinforces the point that ,“…the less shared knowledge there is between speaker and listener (or writer and reader), the more explicit language must become.” (Gibbons, p. 48) When there is a lot of shared information, the speaker and listener share visual contact. When there are no cues for visual context, more and more information must be given through language.
Hopefully this information will help us in our teaching of ESL students!
I agree that it's important to look at what we're doing through our student's eyes, especially for ESL learners. We can't take anything for granted.
ReplyDeleteTo add to the fact that ESLs are given more than they can usually accomplish, their content tends to be dumbed down as opposed to giving them the necessary tools and time to succeed. I loved the window analogy, if more teachers understood that concept I think instruction would look differently. Thanks for your posts.
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