Problem #3

Linguistic Profile of Your Placement

(Courtesy of Professor George Bunch, UCSC, with minor adaptations)

The assignment provides an opportunity for you to investigate the language background of students you are working with, their linguistic strengths and needs, the language demands of the classes they are taking, and the efforts being made by the school to meet their needs. Choosing one class to focus on, talk with your cooperating teacher, the students, and at least one other official at the school (ESL teacher, administrator, counselor) to help you gather the following information. 

PART I: THE PROFILE (in a few pages)

• Using the following guidelines, create a profile of your placement. Feel free to be creative in terms of how you present the information (using charts, diagrams, maps, or other visual presentation of the information), or write a more traditional “paper,” or combine elements of both. What is important is that you have breadth (you have covered each of the areas listed above) and that you have depth (you have enough detail so that the information is meaningful and helpful to you).
• Whom did you speak with at the school?
• What is the class you are focusing on? What is the purpose of the class? What students is it designed for (grade level, mainstream, AP, sheltered, etc.) ?
• What is the linguistic background of the students in this class? How many students are officially designated “English learner (EL)” or “Limited English Proficient (LEP)”? How many were classified EL or LEP previously and are now “reclassified Fluent English Proficient (FEP or RFEP)”?
• In what ways is CELDT (California English Language Development Test) used in your school?
• What is the linguistic background of the students in school in general? What percentage of the school’s population is made up of English learners? What kinds of courses do these students take? Are they enrolled in an English Language Development (ELD) course? Do they take mainstream, bilingual, or sheltered content area courses?
• What are the countries of origin of students in your class and/or in the school, and what languages do they speak? If they are from Mexico, can you find out what region they are from, and if they speak any indigenous languages such as Mixteco or Mayan?
• Labels aside, are there students in the class, regardless of place of origin or languages spoken, who seem to struggle with the language demands of the classroom? Elaborate.
• What are the language demands of the classroom? What kinds of things are students called upon to read and write? Under what circumstances (individual response, small groups, whole group, oral presentations) are they called upon to process and understand oral language? What kinds of things are they expected to say out loud? Do all students participate in discussions equally?
• Of these demands, which ones seem to be challenging for the class as a whole?. For specific students? For students from particular language backgrounds?
• What other information seems to be relevant, either to you or your cooperating teacher, regarding the language backgrounds and skills of the students in your placement?

PART II: YOUR REFLECTIONS (in several developed paragraphs):

Reflect on the process of gathering the above information. Was it harder or easier than you expected it to gather the information? Consider why this might have been.

Make some explicit links between what you have learned about your placements and what you know about English Learners and the challenges facing us as educators. What would you like to find out more about to help you address these challenges?

EVALUATION CRITERIA