Benefiting the Educator and Student Alike: Effective Strategies for Supporting the Academic Language Development of English Learner (EL) Teacher Candidates

Caddo Gap Press. 3145 Geary Boulevard PMB 275, San Francisco, CA 94118. Tel: 415-666-3012; Fax: 415-666-3552; e-mail: caddogap@aol.com; Web site: http://www.caddogap.com

Y

15

Feedback (Response); Academic Discourse; Student Teachers; Speech Communication; Second Language Learning; Language Skills; Educational Opportunities; English (Second Language); Preservice Teacher Education; Teacher Educators; Teaching Methods; Writing Skills; Models; Revision (Written Composition); Student Evaluation; English for Academic Purposes; Error Correction

1536-3031

While programs have been established to support secondary level English Learners (ELs) in their transition to institutions of higher education (IHEs), limited attention has been given to how to support adult ELs who struggle with the academic language demands of their college or university content-area courses. Research indicates that many EL students frequently struggle with academic language skills, including grammar, vocabulary, and writing throughout their postsecondary schooling. Nevertheless, IHE instructors often lack the knowledge and skills to provide appropriate assistance to these students, in part because there are so few professional development opportunities available that are designed to help instructors meet the academic needs of ELs in their content-area courses. The authors believe that it is imperative that teacher education faculty recognize and attend to the academic language struggles of EL student teachers, while also embracing the rich cultural and linguistic capital that these new teachers bring to the profession. While it is necessary to ensure that all teachers who enter the K-12 school system can support their students who are ELs by effectively modeling and teaching academic English, it is equally important that teacher candidates of diverse backgrounds are supported and encouraged throughout their teacher preparation coursework and experiences. This article details specific, research-based feedback strategies that the authors have found useful in working with and supporting the academic language development of EL preservice secondary teachers. The authors organize and discuss these feedback strategies in terms of the following four themes: (1) focused feedback on student writing; (2) focused feedback on oral communication; (3) explicit modeling; and (4) revision and assessment. (Contains 3 figures and 1 note.)

ERIC

16

2012

EJ954574