Technology+for+EL+Students

This page is designed by students from UCI's Master of Arts in Teaching program. We are toc investigating effective methods for implementing the use of various technologies in aiding instruction of ELL students.

[[image:ell-picture.jpg align="left"]]
"Since 1992, limited-English-proficient (LEP) student enrollment has nearly doubled. Most recent data from the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs (NCELA) indicate that there are close to five million students identified as LEP (NCELA, 2002). The number, primarily of Latino students, has doubled in the last ten years. These skyrocketing numbers of LEP students underscore the importance of ensuring that student academic success becomes a reality and that teachers provide them with every opportunity to excel.

"The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002) clearly sets a goal for LEP students to meet the same challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic content standards expected of all students. The law also states that every student should be technologically literate by the eighth grade, regardless of student background or family socioeconomic status. LEP students, moreover, will be tested in English after they have attended school in this country for three years.

"The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) (2000) defines curriculum integration as follows:

"Curriculum integration with the use of technology involves the infusion of technology as a tool to enhance the learning in a content area or multidisciplinary setting. Technology enables students to learn in ways not previously possible. Effective integration of technology is achieved when students are able to select technology tools to help them obtain information i

n a timely manner, analyze and synthesize the information, and present it professionally. The technology should be come an integral part of how the classroom functions—as accessible as all other classroom tools." (p. 6)

It has already been clearly stated that EL instructors must offer students

[[image:classchild2.jpg align="right"]]
language development activities on a multi-faceted basis in order to best utilize their learning potential. Student in today’s schools, whether they are fluent in English or English Learners (EL’s), are pre-wired to outpace their parents and teachers in technology skills. To this day, the research on teaching with technology and its benefits on EL students is emerging as promising for future progress.

The most recent data from the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs (NCELA) indicate that there are close to five million students identified as LEP (NCELA, 2002). LEP students in California are primarily Latino.

“In a study conducted by Liaw (1997), computer books were used to investigate whether computers increase verbal interaction between students. These computer books are interactive stories that appear on the computer screen as an actual book with text and illustrations. There are also a variety of interactive choices students can use to read the story, including: real voices that read aloud, music, and sound effects. The story is also highlighted so readers can follow along with the text.

“This study was conducted by videotaping student interactions while using the computer books. Students were arranged in groups of three to read the stories. Their types of speech used with each other were analyzed. Even though the children had limited English language proficiency, they engaged in various modes of language functions to accomplish their reading of the computer books (Liaw, 1997). They made many commands to each other. They also shared opinions and made suggestions. They tended to ask a lot of questions of their partners and were given responses.

[[image:ell4_07.gif width="320" height="287" align="left"]]
“The quality of talk was also analyzed by Liaw (1997). The amount of computer related talk and story related talk was measured. Initially, there was a lot of computer related talk, but as the students became more familiar with the format of the stories and software, their talk became story related in subsequent sessions. Overall, the study concluded that verbal interaction and the use of a variety of language functions by English language learners can be facilitated by the use of the computer. The group's computer book reading environment fostered language development by providing an opportunity for verbal interaction. The use of the computer can be a useful supplement to the traditional curriculum of the ELL classroom by promoting verbal communication and the acquisition of English.”

 In 2005-06, 24.9% of California’s students were learning English, while an additional 17.8% were redesignated as fluent English proficient (FEP).

**Solutions Moving Forward: **
In order to move forward with using technology as a means of teaching English language learners, teachers must utilize the technology that is easily accessible to them. One simple and easy method to integrate technology into teaching EL students is to use the Internet as a prime resource. There are many different online websites that provide teachers with ideas, resources, and lesson plans to help with teach their English language learners. One effective way to use technology to teach EL students is to use podcasts. According to the //New York Times//, a podcast is "an mp3 file that can be downloaded onto a computer or another digital device and played at a later time." Podcasts can be downloaded or they can be made using the correct software. Podcasts typically come in episodes, which is an excellent way to introduce various concepts to EL students. Some examples of utilizing podcasts with teaching can be found at [].

 Teachers can also use listening quizzes from the Internet to incorporate technology into their teaching. It is vital for English language learners to practice speaking in the second language, but it is also important for those students to practice listening to the second language. Listening and speaking quizzes can be an effective way to teach EL students. The website, [] provides a large variety of listening and speaking quizzes that range from easy to difficult. These quizzes are typically short and can be done as a warm-up, as a formative assessment, or even as a summative assessment depending on the type of student that a teacher has in the classroom.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> **<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Resources for Educators: ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Cinnebar Elementary School in California utilizes a number of technology-based resources in their classrooms to assist English Language Learners in developing English fluency. One such program is Read Naturally ([]) which utilizes a “combination of teacher modeling, repeated reading, and self-monitoring of progress” to provide assistance for ELL and special needs students. According to the Read Naturally website, “since its launch in 1991, Read Naturally, Inc. continues to be the pioneer in improving fluency, garnering rave reviews and industry recognition from educators, parents, and students across the country.”

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The same school site utilizes the well-known language acquisition software, Rosetta Stone, which helps students to associate images with English words, building their vocabularies.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> In Laredo, Texas, the Laredo Independent School District has a large popular on Spanish speaking students and have found that technology greatly assists their educators in bolstering the skills of their ELD students. The Laredo Independent School District primarily uses “Scientific Learning's Reading Assistant, Kurzweil Educational Systems's Kurzweil 3000, Lexia Reading, and MindPlay's My Reading Coach” as a part of their curriculum. Although these programs are seen as great resources, they “cost from hundreds to thousands of dollars for a license that grants use to a limited number of users or computers.” <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">

===<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> **Additional Online Resources** === <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> http://schoolweb.dysart.org/EdTech/uploads/initiatives/ELD/Vol7_1.pdf <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> http://iteslj.org/Articles/Ybarra-Technology.html <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> http://eslcafe.com/search/Software/ <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te900.htm <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> http://www.edutopia.org/technology-software-english-language-learners <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> http://www.eschoolnews.com/2009/05/11/ipods-help-esl-students-achieve-success/ <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> http://edtechie.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/technology-the-ell-student/