Students learning a second language move through five predictable stages: Preproduction, Early

Production, Speech Emergence, Intermediate Fluency, and Advanced Fluency (Krashen &
Terrell, 1983). How quickly students progress through the stages depends on many factors,
including level of formal education, family background, and length of time spent in the country.

It is important that you tie instruction for each student to his or her particular stage of language
acquisition. Knowing this information about each student allows you to work within his or her
zone of proximal development—that gap between what students can do on their own and what
they can do with the help of more knowledgeable individuals (Vygotsky, 1978).

Another reason for all teachers to gain insights into their students' stages of second
language acquisition is to meet the requirements of the 2001 No Child Left Behind
Act, which requires ELLs to progress in their content knowledge and in their English
language proficiency. How are we going to accomplish this if we are not all
responsible for content and language?

Tiered Questions
Research shows that high levels of student engagement are "a robust predictor of student
achievement and behavior in school" (Klem & Connell, 2004, p. 262). At the same time, one
way for mainstream teachers to engage their ELLs more is by asking tiered questions. We
recommend that teachers ask frequent questions throughout their lessons, as doing so lets ELLs
practice their new language and helps teachers assess how much of the content the ELLs
understand. Of course, questions should be tailored to each ELL's level of second language
acquisition.

Blooms taxonomy and stages of reading cross cross/ straight straight

Stage 1: Pre-Production
This is what is known as a silent time. Those learning a new language may have a
vocabulary of up to 500 words, but they cannot yet communicate with others. Some
may just repeat everything they have heard somewhere. They don’t actually create their
own sentences, they just retell them, as it usually happens with children in the first
language acquisition stages.

At this level, students will need plenty of repetition and trainings. They will benefit from having a
“buddy” who is fluent in the language they are learning. 
Researchers define language acquisition into two categories: first-language acquisition
and second-language acquisition. First-language acquisition is a universal process
regardless of home language. Babies listen to the sounds around them, begin to imitate
them, and eventually start producing words. Second-language acquisition assumes
knowledge in a first language and encompasses the process an individual goes through
as he or she learns the elements of a new language, such as vocabulary, phonological
components, grammatical structures, and writing systems.

 Emphasize listening
comprehension by using read-
alouds and music.
 Use visuals and have students
point to pictures or act out
vocabulary.
 Speak slowly and use shorter
words, but use correct English
phrasing.
 Model "survival" language by
saying and showing the
meaning. For example, say,
Pre- "Open your book," and then
production open a book while the student
observes.
 Gesture, point and show as
much as possible.
 More advanced classmates
who speak the same language
can support new learning
through interpretation.
 Avoid excessive error
correction. Reinforce learning
by modeling correct language
usage when students make
mistakes.

We ask questions that allow the child to respond with nods of “yes” or “no”.These
prompts include guesses of what the child is drawing or about the marks they are making
on the page (i.e., “Is that your mother?” ; “Is this writing in Russian? ” “In English?”).
We accept as response facial expressions like smiles. Nonverbal cues from children in
conferences include establishing eye contact, flipping through pages of writing for us,
pointing to specific pictures or letters, or grabbing our hands to touch the page or help the
child draw a letter.
We share a word or two in the child’s language. This might be the Spanish word for
“butterfly” if we are studying butterflies in science, or the Russian word for “mother” if
we think the child has drawn a picture of their mother. Because there are so many
different first languages in our classroom, we rely on bi-lingual dictionaries and
suggestions from native language speakers. If the alphabet is the same as the English
alphabet, simple web translators can be helpful – “Babblefish” (www.babblefish.com)
and “Free Translation” (www.freetranslation.com). These are only useful for basic literal
translations, but children appreciate the attempt. (These websites will also translate
several sentences into another written language such as Vietnamese, Russian or Chinese,
which can be helpful for brief notes to parents.)
We ask the child to teach us words in their language. They usually know the word
“Chinese” or “Spanish” when you ask how to say something like “pencil” or “book” in
their language.
Many children draw pictures of their family, and we ask for details. We point to each
figure and ask if this is the mother, or sister, or brother, and if they nod, we ask the name
of the family member. The first words of children in the silent period are often related to
family.
We watch the child on the playground. If there is no verbal communication in the
classroom, there are often early words around play.
We ask children to mime the action of what they are trying to convey using their bodies
to communicate.
We ask the child to draw a picture of what they are trying to tell us.
The silent period at any age can last many months-even children who understand a
tremendous number of words and concepts are overwhelmed at the thought of trying to
speak in the language. But if we convey through our verbal and nonverbal cues that we
want to communicate and trust the communication will come, children will eventually
speak. Classrooms that are engaging, nonthreatening, and honor a child’s native language
and culture can help each student’s motivation, risk-taking, and ability to learn.

 What can you do? Use gestures, hand movements, and visuals when speaking to students
in this stage. Make sure to pair students with a buddy for peer learning opportunities.  

Teachers and peers should not force the student to

Teaching and developing the student's BICS is key at