Literacy, Teens, Refugees, and Soccer

This study examined the literacy development of teenage refugee boys in a one-month intensive summer literacy camp. The study intervention sought to abate literacy regression among language minority students in a suburban southern US city by combining physical training and promotion of literacy culture. Students experienced an intensive schedule of athletics and reading/writing workshops. Data were collected regarding student writing, reading proficiency, and dispositions toward literacy practices. Outcomes included increased expressed student enjoyment expressed for both reading and writing, especially for the experience of older students reading to younger peers. In addition, data indicated that summer literacy regression was largely avoided. However, reading proficiency level assessments foreshadow obstacles for students in achieving timely high school graduation. Finally, means used by mainstream teachers of assessing the literacy of refugee students, especially compared to assessments of proficient English-speaking students, are critiqued.Cette étude examine le développement de la littératie de jeunes adolescents réfugiés lors d’un camp d’été intensif d’alphabétisation d’une durée d’un mois. L’intervention examinée visait à freiner la régression de la littératie chez les étudiants de minorités linguistiques d’une banlieue du sud des États-Unis, en combinant l’entraînement physique et la promotion de la culture écrite. Les étudiants ont suivi  un horaire intensif d’activités athlétiques et d’ateliers de lecture et d’écriture. Les données recueillies se rapportaient à l’écriture, les compétences de lectures, et à la disposition aux pratiques de la littératie des étudiants. Les résultats incluent l’augmentation du plaisir de la lecture et de l’écriture exprimé par les étudiants, en particulier au sujet de l’expérience qu’ont faite les étudiants plus vieux de lire aux plus jeunes. De plus, les données indiquent que la régression de littératie propre aux vacances estivales avait été évitée. Néanmoins, les évaluations des compétences de lecture laisser présager que les étudiants rencontreront des obstacles dans l’obtention de leur diplôme d’études secondaires dans les temps prévus. Enfin, on y fait la critique des moyens que les enseignants réguliers emploient pour évaluer la littératie des étudiants réfugiés, surtout en comparaison avec l’évaluation des étudiants de langue anglaise

Voices in literature

xiv, 256 p. ; 24 c

Visions : language, literature, content/ McCloskey

xi, 420p.ill.:25 cm

Developing english language curriculum for online delivery

The E-Language Learning (ELL) project is an ongoing collaborative effort between the US Department of Education and the Chinese (PRC) Ministry of Education. Its pur-pose is to develop a free, online language-learning opportunity for students in the two countries. Developers in the US are now in the process of creating a program to teach English to the Chinese, while the Chinese are simultaneously developing a program to teach Chinese to English speakers. The authors, who served as the English language development team for the US in the initial stage, describe the curriculum development process for the program, addressing issues in meeting the challenges of developing oral/ aural proficiency in language using an online platform. These include making limited use of voice recognition technology for assessment, integrating cultural elements for the targeted audience, developing a program with optimal learning potential, and making the best possible use of technology that is both technically and financially feasible. The authors also include descriptions of clarifying learning goals and curriculum and providing means to track both in order to provide direction for program development, making careful research-based decisions to inform development, and providing careful and ongoing collaboration between technicians, content developers, and language educators

Teaching English as a foreign language in primary school

vi,201 p.;26 c