Listening and Speaking Domain

English Language Proficiency (ELP) Requirement

to understand spoken English audibly in both social and school settings

to communicate in English in both a social and a school context

Goal of Learning

Students should be able to demonstrate active listening by examining information, ideas, and opinions to evaluate relevance by the end of the task.

Experiential Learning:

Two students read a two-paragraph text in front of the class while the rest of the students listen.

Allow the pupils to be silent and concentrate on their classmates who will be reading the sections in turn.

Ask the learners to explain the difference in tones used by the readers and analyze how the meaning of the information in the passage is affected by the difference in intonation.

Ask the learners to paraphrase the information given in the paragraphs read in their own words and understanding.

Later on ask the students to form groups of three and practice speaking skills such as turn taking, listening to other students’ opinions agreeing or disagreeing constructively.

Reading Domain

Level

Level 5 (Full English Proficiency)

English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standard

To read texts for recreational and academic purposes.

Learning Objective

By the end of the exercise, students should be able to acquire and apply reading strategies before, during, and after reading

Learning Experience:

The reading activities include every student reading a complicated paragraph within the grade level and later on making sense of the content.

The reading strategy to be applied is re-reading the paragraphs to get the correct meaning of challenging sections of the passage.

Have them read different paragraphs and ask them to use context to construct the meaning of phrases, sections or paragraphs that prove hard to understand.

Writing Domain

Level

5

English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standard

To write for personal and academic purposes

Learning Objective

By the end of the exercise, the learner should be able to demonstrate the ability to write in a variety of forms for different audiences and purposes.

Learning Experience:

Ask each student to write an end of the unit research essay on the eating disorders among teenagers in the American Society.

Ask them first to gather, select and organize information necessary to the topic.

Ask them to choose a central theme in the topic and use the details gathered to write the personal narrative.

Ask them also to include a work cited page

Rationale

In the listening and speaking domain, the learners can read fluently in sentences using Standard English. However, they may have challenges in understanding the meaning of the less commonly used words and phrases. Asking some students to read and others to listen and later paraphrase the content then read to them helps gauge whether they have understood the different vocabularies used (Haynes & Zacarian2010). It will also help them learn how to speak with the right intonation to bring out the intended meaning. For students in the preproduction stage, provide listening experiences with limited expectation of them speaking English. Ask the students to speak out phrases and words to help them build vocabulary. The activity helps strengthen the self-confidence language acquisition principle in the learner.

For learners in the reading domain, they can read more complex texts within a comprehension. However, they may have difficulty understanding the content-area materials where a high degree of literacy is required (Carmichael et al. 2010). The exercise of reading complex documents will help them capture the deeper meanings of a passage or paragraph by putting the vocabularies in context. Continually provide texts and ask the students to contextualize the content. It is an easy way of introducing the English language with ease for the student, which is a principle to be considered by the teachers.

In the writing domain, students at this level have a better understanding of academic writing within the content area and are even able to use technical vocabulary. They show the ability to write for different audiences and purposes. The writing activity will help them know how to use complicated corresponding structures accurately and even edit their work correctly. The design will help learners build vocabulary and develop an interest in the learning process and language itself which are essential in the acquisition process.

The strategies for teaching level 5 students are different from those at preproduction and early production stages. For preproduction students and initial production stages, provide multiple writing assignments that will help in developing comprehensive listening skills, give out English language development lessons tailored towards the students’ needs.

References

Haynes, J., & Zacarian, D. (2010). Teaching English language learners across the content areas. ASCD.

Carmichael, S. B., Martino, G., Porter-Magee, K., & Wilson, W. S. (2010). The State of State Standards--and the Common Core--in 2010. Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Porter, A., McMaken, J., Hwang, J., & Yang, R. (2011). Common core standards: The new US intended curriculum. Educational Researcher, 40(3), 103-116.