[Resume] Comprehension Strategies for English Language Learners by Margaret Bouchard

Comprehension Strategies for English Language Learners

Introduction

According to researchers, reading strategies considered adequate for native speakers can also be beneficial for students reading in a new language (Fitzgerald & Noblit, 2000). This resource is designed to help you teach effective comprehension strategies to English Language Learners (ELLs). It includes metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective strategies.

1. Metacognitive Strategies Simply stated, "knowing what we know," or intentionally monitoring our own thinking (Baker & Brown, 1984). It is characterized by a) choosing thinking and problem-solving strategies to fit specific learning situations, and b) clarifying purposes for learning. c) monitoring personal comprehension through self-questioning, and d) taking corrective action when comprehension fails (Dermody & Speaker, 1995 as quoted in Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2000).
2. Cognitive Strategies Making inferences, visualizing, and predicting are all examples of cognitive strategies. With these strategies, a learner manipulates the material to be learned mentally (visualizing for example) or physically (such as note-taking or creating graphic organizers).
3. Socio-affective Strategies Cooperative learning and asking questions for clarification are examples of Socio-affective Strategies. These are strategies in which a learner interacts with one or two people in order to support learning.

Why Should Teachers Teach Comprehension Strategies in the Content Areas?

Comprehending and recalling expository material is a challenge for many students-both native and non-native English speakers. The careful, explicit teaching of comprehension strategies for understanding expository text will benefit all students, including ELLS. Research supports teaching these comprehension strategies during content lessons rather than in isolation.

How to Teach Strategies

Students learn best when their learning is scaffolded. What a learner can do today with support will be able to accomplish independently in the future. The following approach for teaching strategies to ELLs is based on research by Fielding & Pearson (1994) and Chamot & O'Malley (1994).

Teacher Modelling

1. Choose a specific academic task and a strategy that will help students achieve it.
2. While you work through the task, "think aloud," explicitly modeling the mental processes you use in applying the strategy.
3.  Refer to the strategy by name and use that name consistently.
4.  Explain to students how the strategy will help them understand the content and how, when, and for what kinds of tasks they can use the strategy. 

Guided Practice

1. After you have explicitly modeled the strategy, give students more responsibility for task completion.
2. Practice the strategy with students.
3. Support students' attempts by giving regular feedback.
4.  Have students share their thinking processes with other students in the whole group, small group, or pair discussions

Independent Practice

1. Encourage students to apply the strategy on their own.
2.  Provide students with regular feedback from both you and class peers.

Evaluation

1. Have students self-evaluate the outcome of using the strategy.
2. Prompt students to ask, "Did this work for me?" and "What strategies work for me?" (They can write this in a learning log).

Application of the Strategy

1. Give students the opportunity to apply the strategy to a new genre, assignment, task, or real-life situation.
2. Offer praise when students successfully apply the strategy to a more difficult task.

Things to Consider When Selecting and Teaching Strategies for ELLs

Teaching Strategies for ELLs: Consider Cultural Factors When Selecting and Teaching Strategies. Culture affects every part of a person's being, including learning. A student's level of cultural adaptation can affect his or her motivation, stress level, and success when executing a learning strategy. In some societies, males and females do not participate in certain types of mixed-group activities. In some cultures, formal harmony in the learning situation must be maintained.

Students whose first language is a Romance language (for example, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian) may have challenges with "chunking" or shortening language. English language development level is directly related to the linguistic tasks he or she is capable of performing.

Learning styles are a general predisposition, voluntary or not, toward processing information in a particular way. Some students learn best by hearing information; others learn visually; still, others learn best through concrete experiences. Assess a student's learning style by asking him or her to complete the Learning Styles Inventory.

Planning a Content Lesson for ELLs

1. Plan for instruction and materials for non-native speakers in your class.
2. Gather information on the levels at which students are functioning. Include strategies from the three categories metacognitive, cognitive and socio-affective.
3. Use follow-up activities to reinforce concepts that have been introduced.

Each student has his or her own preferred learning style and ELLs are no different. Knowing students' English Language Level will help you adapt strategies to coordinate with ELLA's ability to function in English. This level defines the linguistic skills students possess and the tasks they are capable of executing. Students from diverse cultures may bring very different experiences to the learning situation. Some students may have extensive knowledge of a specific area but not the language skills in English to express this expertise. Discovering a student's preferred learning style can help you choose the best strategies and activities.

Using Illustration to Interact with Text

Using Illustrations to Interact with Text enables students to access prior knowledge and ask questions regarding instructions or visuals. This strategy allows you to assign meaningful content area work to begin ELLs. It is important that even beginning language students have the sense that they are active members of the class.

Procedure

1. Give students a copy of the Illustration Activity Sheet (picture 1).
2. Show them where to write the chapter number and name on the sheet.
3. Show students where to write the page of the illustration or visual.
4.  Ask them to carefully study the picture.
5.  Ask students to draw a picture of the illustration (picture or graph).
6. Show students how to copy the caption under the picture.
7. Ask them to write what they see in the picture. They may label any items in the picture they can identify. (This can be done in English by using a bilingual dictionary)
8. Ask students to write what they already know about the subject. This can be done in It is helpful for ELLs to English or their native language it is possible to use a bilingual partner who speaks the same language.
9. Ask students to write or draw any questions that they have.

Picture 1

Frame Sentences

Using frame sentences can help ELLS understand the text and sentence structure while learning content information. They may also help determine students' prior knowledge about a specific topic. After each lesson covering the topic, students can write in new information that they learned using the sentence frame.

You can construct sentence frames that enable students to use nouns, adjectives, verbs, and prepositional phrases.

Example:

Nouns: Elephants eat leaves

Elephants eat grass

Verbs:   Elephants spray

Elephants run

 Adjectives:        Elephants are big

Elephants are loud

Prepositional Phrases:   Elephants live in the jungle

Elephants live in herds

Summary With Illustrations

Use this strategy to help students put information in sequential order and express themselves via two modalities: the visual and the written word. The activity can be adapted easily to be as short as one sentence. It provides an opportunity for beginning language learners to demonstrate knowledge about a specific topic.

Additional Suggestions for Teaching Beginning ELLs in a Content Classroom

Ask students to carry a "bilingual notebook" to class. This can aid in vocabulary development. They can write keywords in English and also in their native language, along with a definition. Concentrate on the visuals in the text: charts, graphs, illustrations, diagrams, and timelines. Give students a textbook and ask them to use the text to "fill in the blanks". Develop a collection of pictures that coordinates with the textbook illustrations. If possible, ask a person who speaks a student's first language to make an audio recording in that language of key concepts.