March 21

ELL’s Writing Development

In this week’s readings Fu teaches us how important it is to have our ELL students read and write in their first language while learning English.  Research has shown that “literacy transfers across languages” (Cummins 1979, 1981; Eelsky 1982; Morage e Silva 1988.) As with any student, teaching ELLs how to enjoy writing and making it meaningful for them, will help them transfer writing from their first language to English.  More importantly, Fu reminds us that time should be given or our ELL students to write in their first language to engage in meaningful writing. I have seen this become successful in my own classroom.  I also believe it shows my students that I believe their language and culture is important and respected.

When I first had ELL students integrated into my classroom, I too, was stuck on the idea that if they wrote in their first language, I wouldn’t be able to tell if their writing was correct. The amount of time it took for my Emergent ELLs to transfer information from their first language to English was daunting for them.  My heart would go out to them.  I knew from my previous training in ELL that teaching the content was important, and “dumbing down” the curriculum was not acceptable.  So, I continued to teach the content and translated it to their native language.  Due to time restraints, I decided to let them write in their first language and although I couldn’t read it myself, the time they took to write it decreased immensely. Eventually, I would rely on Google translate on I-Pads where students had the ability to change the keyboard into their first language and eventually copy and paste their work into google translate so I could understand what they were writing.  Google Translate is NOT the best for translation, but it gave me bits and pieces of ideas and content that I could define.  I knew if I could pull out those pieces, I could assess my student’s understanding of the material.  

The current ELL teacher in my building did not want the students relying too much on a translator, so I would try to balance the lessons as best as I could.  Now, after reading about ELL’s writing development, I see that it was acceptable to do.  “Letting them continue to write in their first language gives them the opportunity to further develop these skills.  If we make them wait to engage in meaningful writing until they develop their English proficiency, the lack of practice in writing (in thinking) would result in the loss or decline not only of their native language but also of their newly gained skills as writers.” (Fu, Chapter 3, Pg. 29) Personally, I knew if I didn’t let them write in their native language, they would become bored, possibly depressed, or extremely aggravated.  It was important to me that my students knew I wanted their academic growth to be like that of their English speaking classmates.  In order to do that, I had to learn to teach where my ELL’s were, and what they were able to do.  

Conceptualizing Artifactual Literacies:  A Framework

When I think of using artifacts from a student’s life and how it can motivate students to write as well as give us a window into a child’s history, or life or culture, it is pretty interesting.  The reading outlines that artifacts cannot only be physical, but can be created, found, carried, hidden, evoked in language or even worn.  Artifacts can involve people’s lives, stories, thoughts, communities, identities, and experiences.  These experiences can help us to connect to the part of our students we don’t always know.

Although the reading goes into detail about the different type of literacies, it states the importance of using literacy as power.  Using literacy as power, teachers can use their critical theory lens to connect to students lives and everyday experiences.  They can learn to write for justice.  “Students can bring their own ways of being, doing, and feeling-their acquired dispositions-into writing.” (Rowsell & Pahl, 2007)