Approaches, Methods and Strategies in ESL

An Approach is the broadest category of instruction. It is a way of thinking, i.e., a philosophy, grounded in research and theory. "Approaches guide the choice of related methods that are consistent with the theory and research that ground the philosophy" (Herrera and Murry, 2016, P. 184).
1. CALLA is the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach. It is an instructional model "Deisgned to meet the academic needs of English Language learners in elementary and secondary schools" (Chamot, 2009, P. 1).
  1. The Language Experience Approach (LEA) is designed to support initial literacy experiences for English-speaking students, but has been used more with English learners as well (Chamot, 2009). The
    1. The LEA teaches: What is said can be written down, and what can be written down can be read.
    2. The LEA uses prior knowledge and experience to make connections to new ideas and concepts.
    3. Vocabulary and grammatical structures are experienced first within the language the students already know.
    4. Process writing teaches students that writing involves several steps: thinking, organizing, developing drafts, reflection, editing, etc.
      1. Teachers model the writing process aloud, working through the steps with the students and asking for their comments.
      2. Students learn how to write in an open, collaborative way as they learn strategies for writing, but also planning and composing and organizing ideas.
  2. Inquiry Approaches are aimed at extracting meaning from experience. They have been used in science education, but can be used in any content area. The Role of prior knowledge is seen as very important as the students actively co-construct new knowledge.
    1. Ask a question
    2. Develop a plan
    3. Analyze information and draw conclusions
    4. Reflect on the process
  3. CALLA is based on the cognitive -social model of learning - what's going on in students minds is most important
  4. The three main curricular components of CALLA are: topics from major content subjects, development of ac academic language, and explicit instruction in learning strategies
  5. The Balanced Reading Approach is based on the idea that children do not learn to read all in the same way, but there is individual variation. Instruction, then, should be individually tailored.
    1. A balanced reading approach includes: Phonics, reading authentic texts, stories and informational writing.
    2. The pro0portion of each kind of reading activity should depend on the individual learning preferences.
    3. Journal writing, silent writing, open discussions, literature, and interaction with language for communication are examples of a activities that can be used in a balanced reading approach.
  6. Cooperative Learning Approach is in practice much like the name suggests: students work in organized, structured groups on learning tasks that are designed to make students share responsibility.
    1. In Cooperative Learning, students must communicate and collaborate in order to successfully complete the task at hand.
    2. Students actively practice language and content within the group.
    3. Cooperative Learning is an important part of the Practice phase of the CALLA. sequence.
  7. Standards-Based Instruction (SBI) is based on national or state standards for each content area. The standards decide what students should know and be able to do.
    1. Teachers follow a predetermined guideline about what students should know in relation to the content.
    2. Both Academic language and content knowledge should be developed in Standards-Based lessons.
2. Literacy Across the Curriculum, also known as Integrated Instruction, focuses on the language demands of content subjects and seeks to integrate literacy and content instruction.
  1. Language teaching is infused into all areas of the curriculum.
  2. All content area teachers implement language-development activities related to their content area.
3. Grammatical approach: the predominant means of teaching a second language throughout history
  1. Focus is on language learning as a mental discipline
  2. Still prevalent in EFL contexts
  3. Teacher centered
  4. Emphasis on structure of the language, reading writing, and grammar.
Methods are a group of strategies philosophically consistent with the instructors approach. They are the application of the instruction. Methods are the umbrella for the strategies that the instructor applies (Herrera and Murry, 2016).
1. Sheltered Instruction is a method for combining philosophies, startegies, and techniques to recognize the challenges that CLD students face.
  1. Development of CAL proficiency in the L2
  2. Develop L2 content knowledge and skills
  3. Focus on CLD student needs
  4. Learn requisite terminology for content-area.
  5. Grade-level modified curriculum
  6. Natural Way
    1. Acceptance of Students' L1
    2. Minimal error correction
    3. Focus on comprehensible input
    4. Not always content-based
2. Integrated content-based is a communicative method incolving teaching of academic subject matter, and second language acquisition at the same time. It often employs thematic units and content and language objectives.
  1. ESL certified teacher delivers classroom instruction
  2. Content and ESL standards drive the curriculum
  3. Focus on core, grade-level curriculum
  4. Subject area material integrated into thematic units
  5. Silent Way
    1. Teacher models
    2. Reinforcement through repetition
    3. Signals
    4. Non content-based
Strategies are the implementation of instruction. They are consistent with the instructors methods, just as the methods are consistent with the instructors approach. Strategies are the umbrella for the techniques that are used in practice (Herrera and Murry, 2016).
1. metacognitive Strategies- Executive processed used in planning for learning, monitoring one's own comprehension and production, and evaluating how well one has achieved a learning objective (Chamot, 2009).
  1. Plan and Organize
  2. Evaluate
  3. Manage and Monitor your own learning
  4. Identify problems
2. Cognitive Strategies- Manipulating the material to be learned mentally or physically(Chamot, 2009).
  1. Group items to be learned
  2. Note taking
  3. Making images
  4. Elaborating
  5. Using prior knowledge
  6. KWL Charts
  7. Asking questions
3. Social/Affective Strategies - interacting with another person in order to assist learning, or using affective control to assist learning tasks or overcome anxiety (Chamot, 2009).
  1. Group and partner tasks
  2. Open class discussions
  3. Collaborative tasks
4. Strategies should be both integrated, and explicitly taught. They can help improve student proficiency on both academic language and content tasks.
5. Techniques are specific actions or consequences that have been designed to achieve a strategic objective. Individual techniques may be combined with other related techniques, all consistent with the strategy.
6. Task Based Strategies
  1. Use Cognates
  2. personalize the content
  3. Make predictions and inferences
  4. Use images and sounds to represent information

Next up

Approaches, Methods and Strategies in ESL

Description

Resource summary

Media attachments

Similar

	Created by Isaac Dismuke almost 3 years ago