Author: dmeshen

I really enjoyed the activities Graham took us through on Wednesday’s class, as I’ve always been interested in bringing drama into the classroom. One that I think would be very helpful to ELL’s is On the Line. The premise is that the teacher or leader of the game presents two opposing statements, and each is tied to an end of the line. Students then place themselves along the line depending on what their answer is. I had played this game before as an icebreaker activity, but seeing it in the context of last class made me aware of the potential benefits for ELL students. It may be easier for students to place themselves spatially than to explain in words or writing how they’re doing. It’s also more dynamic than sitting the entire class. In an English class, I can imagine using this with a question such as “do you find this character relatable” or something along those lines, have the students line up, and talk to people near them to prompt discussion. The only thing that may be an issue is asking about understanding, and having students, ELL or not, feel self conscious standing at the end of the line for not understanding, especially in front of their peers.

It could certainly be a daunting task to try and bring students up to a certain level of vocabulary. What caught my eye while reading “A Focus in Vocabulary” was the idea of the “Matthew Effects” (2), that good readers read more and improve their vocabulary, while poor readers read less and develop a less extensive vocabulary. By the time students reach secondary school, they may have either had poor reading skills since elementary school, or, if an ELL, had less experience with English overall than their peers. In terms of students who are not ELL’s but lack effective reading skills, while the article may supply many tools and strategies, I wonder if these are enough to combat a way of reading that’s been ingrained into them, possibly for most of their lives?

I had an English teacher in grade 11 who gave my class weekly vocabulary quizzes, but I’m not sure if my classmates who did less well in school ever cared enough to learn the words. Based on my conversations with those I knew, they were not interested, and not concerned with their quiz marks. The quizzes were multiple choice, and therefore they would simply circle their guesses, hand it in, and forget about it. I’m sure my teacher meant well and was genuinely trying to improve the vocabulary of our class, but after reading the article I would be more inclined to try a different method and diversify my teaching. Rather than giving a vocabulary quiz that was the exact same format every week as my teacher did, I would try to vary my approach, with the hopes that every student would find at least one method effective for them.

When I read the first three chapters from the text, I was a little taken aback by many of the things Zwiers brought up that I had not previously considered. As an individual who was born in Canada, grew up in an English-speaking household, and who has spent years immersed in an academic setting with the language that that entails, many of the issues presented, such as figurative expressions, have, as far as I can recall, always been a part of my life. After growing up hearing things like “on the same page” and knowing or quickly picking up on what they meant, reading about the problems and misunderstandings these sayings can create really opened my eyes. I found the first few chapters very helpful in outlining who diverse learners might be, the problems they could potentially face, and possible solutions to these problems, particularly relating to English the subject.

In the second chapter, in the section on clarity, Zwiers cautions that “[s]tudents can try and be overly academic at the expense of clarity,” (39) by writing overly long sentences and selecting too many words from a thesaurus in order to sound, in their minds, more academic. This really struck me as I, while in high school, had instances where I would do exactly what Zwiers described. For much of the opening chapters I was reading with someone in mind who did not speak English as his/her first language, and this section shook me out of that. While many of the points made in the text might, for example, relate to a diverse student learning English, it is important to keep an open mind when considering the issues discussed and the students they might involve, something I will strive to do as the course continues.