English Language Development (ELD) Research—Scavenger Hunt

1. Introduction to EL Students and the ELD Standards

a. Describe the three educational settings for ELD instruction

The first of three educational settings for ELD is the Dual-Language Immersion Program. In
this program, both native English speakers and those that speak another language are provided
with language learning and academic instruction. High academic achievement is expected first,
followed by language proficiency and cross-cultural understanding.
The second is the Transitional or Developmental Program. In this program, English learners are
instructed in their native language for literacy and academic instruction. For English learners to
meet the state-adopted academic content standards, English learners are enabled to achieve
English proficiency and academic mastery of subject content and higher-order skills which also
include critical thinking. Structured English Immersion is the third one. Here all classroom
instruction is provided in English. The curriculum and presentation are designed for students
who are learning English.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sd/cb/cefelfacts.asp

b. Discuss one or two facts about EL students.

One fact is that a total of 2,555,951 students in California speak a language other than English at
home which is almost half or 41.5 percent of the state’s public-school enrollment. Another
interesting fact is, most English learners, or 68.6 percent, are enrolled in elementary grades. The
remaining English learner students are in the secondary grades.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sd/cb/cefelfacts.asp

c. Describe and summarize the new California ELD Standards

The California ELD standards describe the key knowledge, skills, and abilities that English
learners need to access, engage with, and achieve grade-level academic content. The CA ELD
standards are not intended to replace the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy, nor repeat them. They
also do not represent ELA content at lower levels of achievement or rigor. They are designed to
provide challenging content in English language development for ESLs and gain proficiency in
rigorous academic English language skills. They also aligned with key knowledge, skills, and
abilities for achieving college and career readiness that are described in the Common Core State
Standards in the areas of English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies,
Science, and Technical Subjects. Explain their purpose and describe how they are organized
(CDE. 2012; SFUSD, n.d. para 1)

https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/documents/eldstndspublication14.pdf
https://archive.sfusd.edu/en/assets/sfusd-staff/programs/files/english-learners/New%20ELD
%20Standards%20At%20a%20Glance.pdf

d. Define the 3 levels of proficiency in the new ELD standards

The three levels of proficiency are, Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging. They represent the
stages of ELD, describing the expectations for how well students can understand and use the
English language at each level. First, Emerging is a stage where students progress very quickly.
They use English for immediate needs and begin to understand and use academic vocabulary as
well as other features of academic language. In Expanding, students are challenged to increase
their English skills and learn more vocabulary and linguistic structures. They apply these
growing language skills in more sophisticated ways. In Bridging, this is the transition to full
engagement I grade-level academic tasks and activities without the need for specialized ELD
instruction. Students continue to learn and apply English language skills in a variety of contexts,
comprehension, and production of highly technical texts. At all levels, EL students fully
participate in grade-level tasks in all content areas with varying degrees of scaffolding to develop
content knowledge and English.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/documents/eldstndspublication14.pdf

e. According to Jennifer F. Samson and Brian A. Collins of the Center for American Progress, a
consensus has been coalesced on what is needed to teach ELLs. It has been agreed that teachers
need to emphasize the development of oral language skills as well as focusing on academic
language and culturally inclusive practices. Also, all teachers working with ELL must have the
knowledge and a strong understanding, “of language as a system and the role of the components
of language and speech, specifically sounds, grammar, meaning, coherence, communicative
strategies, and social conventions.“ (CAP, 2012 pg.9).

Samson, J.F., Collins, B.A. (April 2012). Preparing all teachers to meet the needs of English
Language Learners. www.files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED535 608.pdf

2. Applications of ELD Standards to Your Grade Level/Content-Area (15 points)

a. Explain how the ELD standards align and connect with the California Common Core State
Standards

Both the ELD and California Common Core State Standards have similar domains which are in
reading, writing, listening and speaking, and language development. Language Development is
the cornerstone of literacy and learning which both share. As students read, write, listen, and
interact with others they enrich their learning of the English language. Both include the use of an
effective expression in each strand of their standards. Students learn to become more effective
writers, become better at discussions, and presentations. This enables students to gain a better
command of written and spoken English. Both stress content knowledge which helps them in the
comprehension of text. This helps them in language development and understanding how the
English language works. They both help build foundational skills that help students to read
independently and make use of written language for multiple purposes. When students become
good at decoding, they are best able to make great strides in the key terms of language
development, meaning-making, content knowledge, and effective expression (Fenner, D.S., n.d.)

Fenner, D.F. (N.D.) California’s ELA/ELD Framework: Bringing it all together.

b. Describe how you might apply at LEAST TWO of the ELD standards to your own
content/area and curriculum.

As a future middle school Social Science teacher, I was looking at grade 7th ELD standards.
Number 1 in the Collaborative section is appealing because one thing any student wants is to
gather information and ideas and to grow in knowledge. This part talks about oral collaborative
discussions dealing with a wide range of social and academic topics. I would assign EL students
with a group of intermediate and one advanced student to work together and assigned group
work where they would have to not only gather information about a topic but each one adds
relevant information, write answers to simple questions, have them discuss their answers, and
present it. This would enable EL students to listen actively to how English is spoken in a range
of social and academic contexts.
The Productive section number 11 is a good one too. I believe students in seventh grade need to
start learning to be persuasive in what they write about. In an assignment on the differences in
the three forms of governments, capitalism, socialism, and communism, I would ask students to
pick which one is better and to justify their arguments. New EL students coming from a country
where socialism or communism is practice can give actual accounts of why that form of
government is good or bad. By listening to other students’ arguments, they can learn how others
express their opinions or arguments and would help them to become better at this.

https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/documents/eldstndspublication14.pdf

c. The snapshot is 6.10 which is an analysis of primary texts by Frederick Douglass designated
ELD connected to History/Social Science in Grade Eight. The speech by Frederick Douglass to
the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society in 1855 contains challenging vocabulary, complicated
organization, and abstract ideas that are challenging to understand for students in the middle
grades. As hard it might be to understand some of the writing then, it is harder for EL students to
comprehend the complex language. To help all students, the teachers designed ELD lessons in
strategic attention to language analysis.
Working in pairs, students identify words or phrases that are unfamiliar, abstract, or confusing.
After identification of the words or phrases, the teacher offers brief explanations as students
write them on their papers. Because many of the students are Spanish-English bilinguals and
some of the words are cognates in Spanish, the teacher focuses on those words and provides the
Spanish cognate. The teacher works on sentence deconstruction with them, that is, how code
words and phrases, according to how they function, make meaning in the sentences. Students are
then asked to identify words that serve as reference devices, substitutes, and pronouns that refer
to people, concepts, and events in other parts of the excerpt of Douglass’s speech at Rochester.
Students might have a hard time finding the meanings or interpretations of words but once
students decide what the meaning is, they must provide evidence to support their claims.
Since a lot of Social Science deals with studying past events, people, and culture, many words
and meanings are sometimes not easy to comprehend. This is a great exercise that I would use to
have my students understand what point someone was trying to get across and what is the
meaning of the words. I would use this in other speeches or writings such as the Preamble to the
constitution, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, or Elizabeth 1st speech to the troops in 1588. Would
put them in groups of two or three and I would have them write the text on the right side of the
paper and the meaning or analysis on the right side. This is a great exercise to get EL students to
learn to analyze words or phrases and understand the meaning that was being conveyed.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/cf/documents/elaeldsnapshotscollect.pdf