If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and

some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teachers job. Donald Quinn

Teaching multilingual students:

Methods and activities based on evidence From the Classroom to the Lab and Back: Visible Learning +Mind, Brain, and Education Meet Multilingualism
Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D. Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador Zurich International School September 2013

Background
BA and BS from Boston University in International Relations and Mass Communication (magna cum laude). Masters from Harvard University in International Education and Development and doctorate (Ph.D.) from Capella University (cross-disciplinary approach comparing findings in neuroscience, psychology, pedagogy, cultural anthropology and linguistics). Director of the Institute for Research and Educational Development, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador. Author of Raising Multilingual Children (2001), The Multilingual Mind (2003), and Living Languages (2008). New book on neuroscience and language 2014. Teacher (pre-kindergarten through university) with 24 years of comparative research based on family case studies (Japan, Ecuador, USA, Canada, France, Switzerland, Germany) and work in 24 different countries. Three children (raised in English, Spanish, German and French).

Today:
1. Part I: Framework: Backward Design and context 2. Part II: From the classroom to the lab and back:

Visible Learning (Hattie, 2009, 2012, 2013) +

Mind, Brain, and Education science

Part III:
The Teacher Teaching: Evidence-based activities School design

Premise: Do no harm

1.

2.

The first rule in education is to Do no harm The greatest goal in education:

Form critical thinkers Form life-long learners

Video: A Hole in the Wall

What is the role of schools in todays world? 1. Ian Jukes: Why Do I Need a Teacher When Ive got Google 2. Can the brain not learn?
How does it learn best? Under what conditions does it learn best? What levels of learning require a teacher to be successful?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_CkyPbigFU&feature=youtu.be

Do you need teachers if you have access to a computer with Internet?

1. Objective: If your objective is content knowledge, no. 2. Objective: If you desire is to form critical thinkers, yes.

Rip van Winkle

Transportation

Banks

Government

Supermarkets

Schools.

Education has to catch up with other aspects of society! But how?

Baby steps Bold measures

Teacher Education and 21st Century Skills http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eGHAuV5yLo

FRAMEWORK

Think of your favorite teacher

Characteristics of a good teacher

In groups: Put the characteristic in order of importance:

Caring Knowledgeable Experienced Intelligent Planner Good values Creative Professional Concerned Reflective

Organized Just Happy Dedicated Balanced Respectful Active Sure Didactic Dynamic

There are lots of ways to be a great teacher! There is no single recipe, but there are learnable traits in teaching.

Three steps to ensuring understanding (backward design)

Adopted from Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (1998), Understanding by Design.

PART I: VISIBLE LEARNING (HATTIE, 2009; 2012)

Visible Learning (Hattie, 2009; 2012) is a meta analysis of 900+ meta-analyses on what influences student learning outcomes.

Source: Based on John Hattie (2009; 2012)

Source: Based on John Hattie (2009; 2012)

Source: Based on John Hattie (2009; 2012)

Almost Everything Works: Of 150 influences, 145 have a positive influence on student learning
While good activities abound, however, great activities are far and few between.

General guide (50 Best Classroom Practices:

1. Plan Activities Grab Attention 2. Plan Activities That Stimulate Memory 3. Plan to Use Spaced Versus Massed Learning Moments 4. Plan to Incorporate Repetition 5. Take Advantage of Variation and Transdisciplinarity 6. Plan Authentic Lessons 7. Implement Formative Evaluation 8. Use Product, Process, and Progress Evaluations 9. Test to Improve Learning 10. Develop Shared, Explicit Learning Objectives

General guide:
11. Strive for Clarity and Immediacy 12. Provide Feedback for Mastery Learning 13. Nurture Teacher-Student Relationships 14. Believe in the Role of Plasticity and in Your Students 15. Foster Metacognition and Mindfulness 16. Employ Zemelman and Colleagues Best Practice Filter When Selecting Activities 17. Develop Students Ability to Identify Similarities and Differences 18. Develop Students Summarizing and Note Taking Ability 19. Reinforce Effort and Provide Recognition 20. Provide Purposeful Homework and Practice

General guide:
21. Prepare Students to Set Personal Objectives and Give Themselves Feedback 22. Teach Students to Generate and Test Hypotheses 23. Use Cues 24. Use the Socratic Method 25. Cultivate the Art of Questioning 26. Incorporate Problem-Based Learning 27. Incorporate Cooperative Learning 28. Incorporate Reciprocal Teaching 29. Incorporate Case Studies 30. Harness the Power of Analogies

General guide:
31. Implement the 5Es: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate 32. Improve Student Self-Efficacy 33. Maintain High Expectations 34. See Learning as Fluid 35. Appreciate the Role of Affect in Learning 36. Take the Lead in Social Contagion 37. Award Perseverance and Celebrate Error 38. Motivate 39. Never Work Harder Than Your Students 40. Be Passionate!

General guide:
41. Design Engaging Classrooms 42. Manage 43. Use Thinking Routines 44. Keep Abreast of Technology and Flip the Classroom 45. Pay Attention to Ages and Stages 46. Improve Nutrition 47. Get Students Out of Rows 48. Begin Year-Round Schooling 49. Change The School Day 50. Stop Using Multiple-choice Tests as Indicators of Higher Thinking

Mind, Brain, and Education scientist:

In some instances this label will mean teachers who are integrating cognitive neuroscience and psychological foundations into their practice. In other cases it will mean psychologists who seek to bridge the hard and soft sciences. In yet others it will mean neuroscientists who dare to bring laboratory findings into the classroom.

Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) Science is the new and improved brain-based learning. It is the scientifically substantiated art of teaching. It is the intersection of neuroscience, education, and psychology. And it is a paradigm shift in formal education

Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2010a, p.22).

Why change from Education to Mind, Brain, and Education?

Begin with the premise that solutions to problems in education today require the more sophisticated and complex approach offered by MBE science.

Findings: Comparison with existing literature.(bad info)

A large percentage of what teachers are exposed to in literature and on the Internet was based on neuromyths rather than well-established sources. Ex.: Teachers were told to sit in a circle and pass around a candle before class in order to get boys to focus needed because of their primitive instincts; boys arent meant to sit in our typical classrooms (Costa Rican teachers conference).

Delphi Participants
Daniel Ansari Michael Atherton Jane Bernstein Sarah Jayne Blakemore Renate Nummela-Caine Donna Coch David Daniel Stanislas Dehaene Marian Diamond Kurt Fischer John Geake Usha Goswami Christina Hinton Mary Helen Immordino-Yang Eric Jensen Jelle Jolles Michael Posner Marc Schwartz Rita Smilkstein David Sousa Judy Willis
Virginia Berninger John T. Bruer Howard Gardner Paul Howard-Jones Hideaki Koizumi

Neuroscientists Psychologists Educators

Topics Researched in Mind, Brain, and Science Education

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Neuroimaging Neurotransmitters and Chemicals Neurogenesis and Plasticity Theories of Consciousness Beliefs about Intelligence New Learning Theories Neuroethics Learning Differences Mind-Body Connection a. Sleep b. Physical Exercise c. Nutrition

Major Brain Functions in the Research

School Subjects Life Skills

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Art Creativity Language Reading Math Music Science

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Affect and Empathy Emotions Motivation Attention Executive Functions and/or Decision-Making 6. Facial Recognition and Interpretation 7. Memory 8. Social Cognition 9. Spatial Management 10.Time Management

Eleven Areas Discussed by the Experts

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Name of the emerging field; Academic roots; Definition of terms; The overarching research, practice and policy goals of the emerging field; History;

6.
7. 8. 9.

Thought leaders;
Steps to judging quality information; Organizations and societies qualified to judge the information; BELIEFS AND NEUROMYTHS (todays focus);

10. Enhanced communication between professionals in the parent disciplines;

11. Design of a new Masters program to meet the needs of new professionals in the emerging field.

For complete dissertation, email tracey.tokuhama@gmail.com

Categorization criteria
In Understanding the brain: The birth of a learning science, (OECD, 2002)* the authors propose a continuum of four categories of information quality.
*OECD= 30 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxemburg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

Criteria used to categorize concepts

Categories: A. What is well-established (i.e. plasticity, which now has hundreds of credible human studies behind it); B. What is probably so (i.e., sensitive periods, which has hundreds of studies behind it, though not all conducted on humans); C. What is intelligent speculation (i.e., gender differences, which has thousands of studies behind it, albeit of mixed quality and sometimes with contradictory findings); and D. What is popular misconception or a neuromyth (i.e., "right brain" and "left brain" discussion, which has been the target of thousands of books and articles, some of which promote the term, but most of which criticize the lack of factual accuracy of the claim).

Principles That Great Teachers Teach By:

1. 2. 3. 4. Great teachers know that each brain is unique and uniquely organized. Great teachers know that all brains are not equally good at everything. Great teachers know that the brain is a complex, dynamic system and is changed daily by experiences. Great teachers know that learning is a constructivist process, and the ability to learn continues through developmental stages as an individual matures. Great teachers know that the search for meaning is innate in human nature. Great teachers know that brains have a high degree of plasticity and develop throughout the lifespan. Great teachers know that MBE Science principles apply to all ages.

5. 6. 7.

Principles That Great Teachers Teach By:

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Great teachers know that learning is based in part on the brains ability to self-correct and learn from past experience. Great teachers know that the search for meaning occurs through pattern recognition. Great teachers know that brains seek novelty. Great teachers know that emotions are critical to detecting patterns, to decision-making, and to learning. Great teachers know that learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat. Great teachers know that human learning involves various attentional networks. Great teachers know that the brain conceptually processes parts and wholes simultaneously. Great teachers know that the brain depends on interactions with other people to make sense of social situations.

Principles That Great Teachers Teach By:

16. Great teachers know that feedback is important to learning. 17. Great teachers know that learning relies on memory and attention. 18. Great teachers know that memory systems differ in input and recall and are vital to learning. 19. Great teachers know that the brain remembers best when facts and skills are embedded in natural contexts. 20. Great teachers know that learning involves conscious and unconscious processes. 21. Great teachers know that learning engages the entire physiology (the body influences the brain, and the brain controls the body).

Tenets in MBE
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Motivation Stress Anxiety Depression Tones of voice Facial expressions Movement and exercise Humor (laughter) Nutrition Sleep Cognitive preferences Differentiation

Instructional Guidelines
1. 2. Good learning environments are made, not found. Good lessons take into account both sense (logical order) and meaning (personal relevance). 3. Teaching to different memory systems enhances recall. 4. Well-managed classes take advantage of natural human attention spans. 5. Good classroom activities take advantage of the social nature of learning. 6. Good teachers understand the mind-body connection (sleep, nutrition, exercise). 7. Good teachers understand how to manage different students (orchestrated immersion). 8. Skills are retained better when learned through active processes. 9. Explicit teaching of metacognitive skills aids higher-order thinking across subjects. 10. Learning can and does take place throughout the lifespan.

PART III: TEACHING: EVIDENCEBASED ACTIVITIES

Best Classroom Practice:

Improve Student Self-Efficacy

If a student thinks she can learn, she will. According to Hatties research (2009), a students selfreported grades are the greatest indicator of improved learning. In many ways, this is a self-fulfilling prophecy: If I think I can learn, I will; if I believe I am incapable of learning, I will fail. As Hattie points out, a childs willingness to invest in learning, openness to experiences, and the general reputation she can build as a learner are key s to success (2009), and this selfefficacy is prejudiced by the way the teacher makes the child feel.

 How can we promote this virtuous cycle in the classroom? One way is to create a climate in which students believe that its okay to make errors (I can always try again; I am not my failures but rather my successes).

Best Classroom Practice:

Maintain High Expectations

Learners respond to expectations. When teachers and parents let kids know they expect a lot from them, the kids react positively. Examples: Proctor (1984); Rosenthal and Jacobson in 1968, the Pygmalion effect the students performed to the level of their teachers expectations, high or low (Good, 1987; Good & Brophy, 1997; Rubie-Davies, 2010).

 Many teachers dont even realize how they are communicating low expectations to their students. For instance, a noteworthy finding of Hatties work is that failing a grade is a strong indicator for future failure, primarily because the student loses faith in her own ability to learn because her teachersthose in the knowhave deemed her unable to learn. On the other hand, the joy of learning is a great motivator, and people who love learning have often had at least one teacher in their lives who has given them confidence in their ability to learn and pushed them to achieve more than they believed they were capable of

 Teachers often unconsciously have different expectations for different students (related to race, gender, socio-economic status and even physical attractiveness [see Clifford & Walster, 1973]), contributing to the self-fulfilling prophecy of failure for many (Graham, 1991), or unintentional raising of IQs with exceptional ability (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968).

Best Classroom Practice:

See Learning As Fluid

It is actually impossible for the brain not to learn. Intelligence is fluid, not fixed. Teachers who believe that their students are locked into a level of intelligence that is fixed are less effective than teachers how believe that intelligence in fluid and everchanging (Geake, 2011). Teachers with the right mentality know that all students can learn, as it is the brains natural state.

 Expert teachers do not label their students. Remember: When something is repeated over and over, it becomes true in the mind (Schacter, 1997). In expert teacher classrooms, there are no smart kids or dumb kids, no free lunch kids or special needs kids. Calling someone learning disabled, ADD, or dyslexic isnt helpful, and only places impediments in the path of learning.

Best Classroom Practice:

Appreciate the Role of Affect in Learning

There is no decision without emotion, and there is no learning without decision-making; therefore, there is no learning without emotion. According to the editors of The Nature of Learning, emotions are the primary gatekeepers to learning (Dumont, Istance, & Benavides, 2010, p.4),

 How well do we recognize our own emotions and those of others? How well to we manage the emotional states of others and ourselves? Emotional abilities and social functioning are closely related (Brackett, Rivers, Shiffman, Lerner, & Salovey, 2006). Being able to manage ones own feelings and clearly understand their origins is important in decision-making, which is a decision in and of itself.

 A quote attributed to Aristotle (384322 B.C.) in tica a Nicmaco captures how difficult it is to control and direct emotions: Anyone can get angry, that is simple. But to get angry with the right person in the right degree and the right moment, with just reason and delivered in the right way, that, most certainly, is not easy.

 Establishment of relevant emotional connections to what is being learned is key to remembering that information. Teachers should be more conscious of actively managing the social and emotional climate of the classroom

Best Classroom Practice:

Take the Lead in Social Contagion

Teachers communicate to their students verbally and nonverbally, but they are often conscious only of the message sent and not the message received. The complex mirror neuron system in the brain appears to be triggered when the brain perceives, then acts on, an understanding of the Other (Pineda, 2008).

Best Classroom Practice:

Award Perseverance and Celebrate Error

Challenge, ok, threat, no. Every problem is an opportunity. People who have a great degree of openness to experiences learn faster than those who dont. Dare to err

 Why does openness flourish in some settings and not in others? Because being open to new ideas requires a mind frame that takes fear out of the equation. Students who fear they will be ridiculed for their ideas will not speak. The concept of brain plasticity (MBE principles 3 and 6) tells us that the brain adapts to what it does most: If the brain is in contact primarily with tolerance of error and openness, it remains open. However, if it has been punished for being openas in being told, Dont be ridiculous! or Why would you every think that?then it learns to retreat from such negative confrontation and learning is stunted.

Best Classroom Practice: Motivate

Dan Willingham, author of Why Dont Students Like School? (2010), looks at students lack of motivation from a cognitive scientists angle and makes the case that the way school is structured, and the way teachers teach, is not compatible with how the brain wants to learn. The Goldilocks's Rule: No one likes to do things that are too easy or too hard; we seek learning experiences that are just slightly beyond our reach.

 Motivation is a tenet of MBE because it influences all learners, but no one in exactly the same way. People spend time and energy doing things they think are important. When students think something is worth learning, they invest time in the process, and the more time they spend, the more likely they are to actually learn the new competency.

 Anderman, Andrzejewski, and Allen (2011) tried to determine how teachers can increase student motivation and learning in their classrooms and suggested a model that consists of three core themes: supporting understanding, building and maintaining rapport, and managing the classroom (p. 969).

Best Classroom Practice:

Never Work Harder than Your Students

The Law of Minimal Effort: Human beings usually choose to do the minimum to get by (Kingsley, 1949). The person who does the work is the person who does the learning.

 It takes energy to learn, and students parcel it out sparsely in order to survive. An observer might say that these students arent motivated, but they are actually conserving their energy and lying in wait for something that deserves their attention. Thus, instead of being discouraged, teachers should take control of the situation and spiral up the energy.

Best Classroom Practice:

Be Passionate!
The teaching profession cant afford apathy or fear. However, passion is not a tangible or easily structured concept, which is why it has evaded the core curricula in teacher colleges: Resorting to obedience to teach passion just isnt going to work, (Godin, 2012 , p. 48).

 The passion with which a teacher approaches the profession is more important than all other factors combined; passionate people are the reason teaching works (Hattie, 2009). Without passion, there is no motivation, and without motivation (positive or negative, intrinsic or extrinsic), there is no learning. People who love what they are doing are contagious and inspirational.

 Great teachers are passionate and instinctually so; others can try to cultivate a passion for their work, but not all do so successfully.

Best Classroom Practice:

Design Engaging Classrooms

As classes let out in todays schools, students are often heard ruminating about the value of what they just supposedly learned: When will I ever use that in real life? When students dont see how the new knowledge or skill will benefit them in the real world, they wont spend time on it and they are more likely to create distractions (Nelson, Lynn & Glenn, 1999).

5Es Example

 Your brain pays attention to different things at different times for different reasons. Your brain is drawn to elements that help sustain your focus. When the situation is not engaging, sustained focus is dropped. The difference between whats happening in class with whats important in real life is sometimes a formula for boredom. Authentic learning is connected to engagement.

 In The Highly Engaged Classroom (2010), Marzano and Pickering recommend a thoughtfully planned classroom with space to adjust for individual needs through tactics like initiating friendly controversy, presenting unusual information, connecting to students lives and ambitions, and using effective pacing to precisely stimulate memory and attention mechanisms.

Best Classroom Practice:

Manage
Great teachers know that, even if you have oodles of content knowledge and a firm handle on teaching methodologies, you wont succeed if you have poor class management skills. Effective classroom management often entails stifling negative disturbances. According to Hattie (2009), a teachers ability to perceive and take action on potential problems has a significant impact on learning. A single student can have a detrimental effect on the entire groups learning, so being able to contain negative behavior is a must.

 Class size has less of an impact on student learning than effective management of behavior (Hattie, 2009). What do expert teachers do to manage large classes? They apply the oldest war tactic in history: Divide and conquer. One way to divide is to move the furniture in your classroom around until youve structured seating for smaller groups, which are easier to handle.

 When we can see one anothers faces, were more likely to respond to someone elses comments (Winston, Strange, ODoherty, & Dolan, 2005). While lecture-style formats, with students in rows, are good at directing attention to the professor, circles or divisions in which people can see one another are helpful in stimulating student exchange and social engagement. When this energy is well focused, extended student learning occurs.

 Good classroom management doesnt result in silence; it results in learning. There are a variety of classroom management problems that can be handled by changing the types of activities that normally constitute course design. These activities usually focus on harnessing the energies of small groups of students to meet collaborative learning goals and include peer teaching, peer correction of homework, small-group discussion, collaborative writing of a script, debate, group mind maps, shared responses to essential questions, research projects (in jigsaw fashion), and one-minute paper discussions.

Best Classroom Practice:

Use Thinking Routines (Ritchhart, Church and

Morrison (2011)
n=21: Examples

See-Think-Wonder: This activity emphasizes the idea that observation is fundamental to thinking and interpreting. The ability of a student to pay attention to detail and the subtleties of a visual image allow her to posit why the author of the piece chose to interpret his image in the way he did. In studying literature, students are often asked to identify salient messages, and the same goes for visual imagery as well: What are the really important details in this drawing (photo, painting, advertisement)? (See Ritchhart et al., 2011, pp. 55 63.)

 Zoom In. This activity is a variation of See-Think-Wonder but challenges kids to consider only parts of an image. Students are given a small portion of an image and asked to relate their thoughts on it. What do the textures and colors mean? What about the location and order of elements? Students are then given a slightly larger image to use in the interpretation and asked to make growing inferences about the purpose of the image. This continues until the entire image is visible. Students are then asked to think about how they developed their understanding of the picture, determine which elements are more important than others, and imagine the authors process of devising the image. (See Ritchhart et al., 2011, pp. 6470.)

 Chalk-Talk. In this activity, the teacher places a controversial idea (e.g., Should uniforms be mandated? When is revenge justified? Is loyalty more important than respect for the law?) on a piece of butcher paper in the middle of a table shared by a small group of students and then asks them to write their reactions to the question. The students are then asked to read the reactions of other students are invited to react to those responses in writing. This activity provides sufficient thinking time and allows all students to participate in democratic fashion, without the controversy that oral debate sometimes invites and allows them to refine their own beliefs by reviewing others ideas on the same topic. (See Ritchhart et al., 2011, pp. 7885.)

 Compass Points. This activity solicits the groups ideas and reactions to a proposal, plan, or possible decision. The north, south, east, and west directions on a compass serve as a mnemonic for remembering steps to take when making a decision: E = excitements; W = worries; N = needs; and S = stance, steps, or suggestions. The idea is that students view the same decision from a variety of decision-making angles before embarking on them. Some people see change as exciting, while others find it worrisome. This activity forces students to develop the habit of mind of evaluating circumstances in a more balanced manner. The teacher labels four pieces of butcher paper with each of the compass points, places them in different corners of the room, and asks students to contribute to each page. The group then reviews each compass point and considers everyones comments in depth. Finally, a group consensus is sought and suggestions for moving forward are developed. Different types of groups can do this exercise (e.g., parents and students or teachers and administrators), and their answers can be compared. (See Ritchhart et al., 2011, pp. 93100.)

TEACHER INFLUENCES IN MULTILINGUAL CLASSROOMS

The Facts and Studies

Cenoz and Lindsay (1994) in their study, "Teaching English in Primary School: A Project To Introduce a Third Language to Eight Year Olds highlight the important role of the teacher.

Cenoz, J. and D. Lindsay (1994). Teaching English in Primary School: A Project To Introduce a third language to eight year olds." Language and Education 8(4): 201-210.

What motivates students?

According to Sass (1989), the eight most influential factors that motivate students and that are controlled by the teacher are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Teacher enthusiasm Relevance of the subject Organization of course Appropriate difficulty level Active participation by student Variety of activities and methodology Personal link between teacher and student Use of appropriate, concrete and clear examples.

Sass, E. J. (1989). Motivation in the college classroom: What students tell us. Teaching of Psychology, 16(2), 86-88.

What is needed in a teacher

What is essentially needed then is a teacher who understands, appreciates, and respects the cultural background of the child; who knows the phonic and grammatical differences between the childs native language and that of the second language being taught so that he can help the child with his linguistic needs; and who is knowledgeable concerning the various reading approaches so that he will be able to select and utilize those that best meet the particular needs of the bilingual child.
(Paraphrasing Doris Ching 1976).

Teacher Preparedness
High EFL teacher qualifications mean Being versed in appropriate teaching methods Understanding of students native language structure (or being able to speak it) Owning a good toolbox of motivational skills Appropriate use of evaluation and feedback mechanisms Respect for other cultures Knowledge of students home languages Student-centered learning practices

Aspects of a good teacher training program:

Train teachers in language instruction; Have regular meetings for discussing instructional issues and exchanging ideas; Develop an activity-based and thematic syllabus; Program coordinators observe classrooms several times a year; Apply a formative evaluation

Teaching practices-What not to do

Do most of the talking in classrooms (poor language teachers make about twice as many utterances as do students). Students produce language only when they are working directly with a teacher, and then only in response to teacher initiations. In over half of the interactions that teachers have with students, students do not produce any language as they are only listening or responding with non-verbal gestures or actions. When students do respond, typically they provide only simple information recall statements. Rather than being provided with the opportunity to generate original statements, students are asked to provide simple discrete close-ended or patterned (i.e., expected) responses.

Teaching practices-What to do
Teacher should make classes student-centered and try NOT speak most of the time, nor initiate the majority of the exchanges by asking display questions, but rather seek out student-initiated requests. As students prefer to verbally request help only in small group or oneto-one interactions with the teacher, teachers should call on students individually and approach them personally to offer support. Teachers should not only modify their own speech in response to students' requests (verbal or non-verbal), they should also request modifications of the students' speech. Sustained negotiation - in which teachers and students verbally resolve incomplete or inaccurate messages should occur frequently.

Classroom strategies: Methods for better language learning

Cooperative learning and other grouping strategies (allow for native language use) Task-based or experiential learning Whole language strategies Push for vocabulary development (grammar follows natural samples) Use of graphic organizers/portfolios to track development.

Teacher qualifications
Typically, teachers who have more graduate education and more specialized training for working with language minority children are more successful. Teachers with greater knowledge of the home language(s) of their students are more successful. Knowledge of evaluation methods that ensure instructurally embedded assessment.

Curriculum designs and school choices

Program design should include:

Ongoing assessment using multiple measure. Integrated schooling (all language learners together) High expectations by teachers Equal status of languages Healthy parent involvement Continuous staff development second language taught through academic content Critical thinking across language program Activation of students' prior knowledge Respect for students' home language and culture Cooperative learning Interactive and discovery learning Intense and meaningful cognitive/academic development
(Collier & Thomas, 2003).

What does a good multilingual school look like?

Guidelines for Assessing Bilingual and Trilingual Children

Bilingualism is a complex concept and includes individuals with a broad range of speaking, reading, writing, and comprehending abilities in each language. Furthermore, these abilities are constantly in flux. Assessment must be developmentally and culturally appropriate. The child's bilingual linguistic background must be taken into consideration in any authentic assessment of oral language proficiency.

Guidelines for Assessing Bilingual and Trilingual Children

The goal must be to assess the child's language or languages without standardizing performance, allowing children to demonstrate what they can do in their own unique ways. Assessment must be accompanied by a strong professional development component that focuses on the use of narrative reporting, observations of language development, and sampling the child's language abilities.

Guidelines for Assessing Bilingual and Trilingual Children

A fully contextual account of the child's language skills requires the involvement of parents and family members, the students themselves, teachers, and staff in providing a detailed picture of the context of language learning and the resources that are available to the child (Nissani, 1990). What is called for is a description of the child's language environment, of the extent to which significant others-adults or children-provide language assistance by modeling, expanding, restating, repeating, questioning, prompting, negotiating meaning, cueing, pausing, praising, and providing visual and other supports. Assessment of the child needs to take into account the entire context in which the child is learning and developing.

Implications
The Individual and his family (strategies and attitudes)
Frequency: Opportunities to use English Interest and Motivation

Parental encouragement
Pride in home language Use of home language Teaching of home language

The Institution (curriculum structure and teacher training) School structure

Teacher preparedness
Knowledge of students home languages Student-Centered Learning

Bilingual and multilingual curriculum design

Seven observations of good multilingual programs*

1. First, successful multilingual programs start foreign language instruction early, normally in elementary school. Second, successful multilingual programs teach through coherent, well-articulated frameworks, which are careful to scaffold their learning in a developmental style. Third, the successful multilingual schools typically enjoy strong leadership, and have enthusiastic backing from key stakeholders.

2.

3.

*Elizabeth Clayton, Center for Applied Linguistics, 1997

4.
5.

6.

7.

Fourth, successful multilingual programs teach languages as core subjects, (unlike the American tendency to make foreign languages electives). Fifth, successful multilingual school teachers receive rigorous preparation and are trained how to manage students from different language backgrounds. They also make language a priority, giving it equal status with prestigious courses like Math, Physics and Core Language. Sixth, good multilingual programs creatively use technology in the classroom to increase interaction with native language speakers. Seventh, successful multilingual schools offered support for heritage language, or the childs mother tongue

Ten additional characteristics of successful multilingual schools*

1. Successful multilingual schools ensure that language basics, including phonemic awareness, phonic fluency, age appropriate vocabulary, text comprehension and grammar are taught explicitly. 2. They emphasize good oral skills and encourage active, authentic language use by students. 3. Successful multilingual schools integrate the students family in a positive way.

Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2007

4. They use a variety of assessment tools and consider the product, the process and the progress of the student.

5. Some of the most successful schools use thematic syllabi and work within dual-immersion structures in which all students take pride in their home language while learning a second or third.
6. The most successful schools conduct linguistic and ethnic audits and know their clients (students) well. When possible, they hire staff that speak the home languages of the families they serve and make every effort to keep clear channels of communication.

7. Successful schools conduct regular teacher training to ensure that teachers keep an up to date toolbox of activities handy. 8. They also have high expectations of their students. 9. The best multilingual schools allow a portion of their budget to be invested in multilingual materials and media. 10. Successful multilingual schools do their best to create a significant learning experiences, which relate new information to prior knowledge, and give students a certain level of autonomy (control and choice).

Program design should include:

Ongoing assessment using multiple measure. Integrated schooling (all language learners together) High expectations by teachers Equal status of languages Healthy parent involvement Continuous staff development Second language taught through academic content Critical thinking across language program Activation of students' prior knowledge Respect for students' home language and culture Cooperative learning Interactive and discovery learning Intense and meaningful cognitive/academic development

An overview of the most effective language programs in multilingual schools

Thomas & Collier, 2007)

Full Immersion
(MOST effective)

Characteristics:
All instruction is in target second language. Target language is taught through the content areas (as well as a separate subject). High level of peer teaching.

Partial immersion
Characteristics:
There is some initial instruction in the childs primary language, thirty to sixty minutes a day, This is usually limited to the introduction of initial reading skills. All other instruction is in the second language.

Dual immersion
Characteristics:
Two languages are taught to the same group, normally divided by native vs. non-native speakers. Normally taught by two different team teachers. Can be conducted from 30-70 to 50-50 model (time in designated languages). Need for qualified teachers. High level of peer teaching.

Early English Immersion

Characteristics
All instruction is in English English is taught through the content areas (as well as a separate subject)

Early Exit Programs

Characteristics
There is some initial instruction in the childs primary language, thirty to sixty minutes a day, This is usually limited to the introduction of initial reading skills. All other instruction is in English.

Late exit programs

Characteristics
Receive a minimum of forty-percent of their total instructional time in country language. Students remain in this program through sixth grade, regardless of when they are reclassified as fluent-English proficient.

(E)SL Sheltered
Characteristic:
Students remain in class with the other students, but are given a tutor in the class.

(E)SL Pullout
(WORST results)

Characteristic:
Students are taken out of regular class time for support in the second language. LEAST effective (Thomas & Collier)

Results: Comparison
Children in immersion programs had comparable test scores regardless of the school they amended; the same was true for students in the early-exit programs (Ramirez et al., 1991, Vol. II, p. 96). In sum, after four years [K-3] in their respective programs, limited-English proficient students in immersion strategy and early-exit programs (as defined in this study) demonstrate comparable skills in mathematics, language, and reading when tested in English. (ES, p. 20)

Different growth curves between immersion strategy, early-exit, and late-exit students
While the growth curves for immersion strategy and early-exit students show growth for first to third grade in mathematics, English language, and reading skills, they also show a sawing down in the rate of growth in each of these content areas as grade level increases. This deceleration in growth is similar to that observed for students in the general population. In contrast, the growth curves for students in the late-exit program from first grade to third grade and from third grade to sixth grade suggest not only continued growth in these areas, but continued acceleration in the rate of growth, which is as fast or faster than the norming population. That is, late-exit students appear to be gaining on students in the general population.

Virginia Colliers Model

When first language instructional support cannot be provided, the following program characteristics can make a significant difference in academic achievement: Second language taught through academic content Conscious focus on teaching learning strategies needed to develop thinking skills and problem-solving abilities Continuous support for staff development emphasizing activation of students' prior knowledge, respect for students' home language and culture, cooperative learning, interactive and discovery learning, intense and meaningful cognitive/academic development, and ongoing assessment using multiple measures.

THIRD LANGUAGES

Does English as a third language help or hurt immigrants (in Holland)?

English as a high prestige language: Europes lingua franca in 2005. Bilinguals performed better learning English (as a third language) than monolinguals. The more languages you know, the easier it gets to learn an additional one. Third-language learners are highly successful; they learn more language faster than second language learners of the same target language; and (2) their behaviours are those of the self-directed learner.

English as a third language HELPS low income children (in Holland) when
School programs are accompanied by (1) Home stimulation and support for all three languages with special emphasis on native language fluency; (2) Parents' motivation for schooling is high and the give value to their childrens efforts; and (3) Children's self-esteem is integrated into the academic, social, cultural and cognitive goals of multilingualism.

Future challenges
The practical obstacles include
Continual increase in immigrant community growth. Shortage of teachers who can teach with knowledge of students native languages A complex set of legal, administrative and funding issues in urban school districts that balance the needs of schools

The political obstacles include

Wariness and lack of support among substantial portions of the population. Rights of new immigrants a priority? Threat to the status of home country language.

UNESCO recommendation
Mother tongue education and multilingualism are increasingly accepted around the world and speaking ones own language is more and more a right. International Mother Language Day, proclaimed in 1999 by UNESCO and marked on 21 February each year, is one example. Encouraging education in the mother tongue, alongside bilingual or multilingual education, is one of the principles set out by UNESCO in a new position paper. This includes: 1. Promoting education in the mother tongue to improve the quality of education. 2. Encouraging bilingual and/or multilingual education at all levels of schooling as a means of furthering social and gender equality and as a key part of linguistically diverse societies. 3. Pushing languages as a central part of inter-cultural education.

National Language Policy

Language is a sensitive political issue, as it is a profound symbol of national and personal identity. In the Netherlands, itself containing a high percentage of immigrants, research has begun into the common challenges facing both "old" and "new *language minorities+. Whether or not the EU is willing to include the thorny issue of immigration in a future language policy remains a point of debate

Questions?

Thank you for coming!

Summary
There are general practices that we should use on a daily basis.
Specific activities can spice up class structures Specific tools should be explicitly taught (good note taking, summary skills, questioning tactics, cooperative learning, clear objectives for every class, etc.).

In practice:
Choose one of the tools that you have not yet applied (successfully) in class to date and prepare a lesson for tomorrow.

References (in MyDropBox link)

3-2-1
1. Three things you learned. 2. Two things you will share. 3. One thing you will change.

For more information:

Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D. Universidad San Francisco de Quito Casa Corona, primer piso Campus Cumbay Diego de Robles y va Interocenica ECUADOR desarrolloprofesional@usfq.edu.ec Tel.: (593)-2-297-1700; (593)-2-297-1937 Fax: (593)-2-289-0070.

P.O.BOX 17-1200-841, Quito - Ecuador Telf: 297-1700 x1338 www.educacionparatodos.com