Foundations Newsletter

The Challenge of Teaching Content to English Language Learners.

Learning content in a second language is a challenge for many students around the world. Content teachers often, inadvertently, ignore the language needs of their students. The so called Sheltered Language Instruction and Observation Protocol (SIOP) was developed to meet the language needs of the second language learners that have to learn, simultaneously, content in a new language. Sheltered instruction is a means for making grade-level content more accessible to English language learners (ELL’s) while promoting English language development.

The SIOP originally developed as an observational and rating tool for researchers to use while observing teachers in the classroom. These observations were then used for the purpose of lesson planning as well as self-monitoring and reflection. This application, led to a growing awareness of how the target language can be integrated into the content, the understanding of the effectiveness of the teaching techniques, and whether the students were actually learning. Teachers then began to use the SIOP components to plan their classes.

However, the implementation of language objectives in the sheltered content lesson can be a challenge for most teachers. They usually concentrate on vocabulary development and lesson preparation can be time consuming. In order to make the content lesson more accessible to the students, teachers must also integrate language skills, such as reading comprehension strategies, process writing and, at the same time, increase the oral interaction that allows for functional purposes, such as negotiation of meaning and the making of hypotheses.

It is clear why many content teachers struggle since they are not aware of the language needs of their students and have to focus on both the language as well as the content. As a content teacher teaching ELL’s, you should ask yourself these questions:

• What makes instruction difficult for English language learners?
• What can you do to facilitate instruction for your language learners?
• What challenges do you face in working with your second language learners?

The SIOP embeds eight components and thirty critical features of high quality instruction that can benefit learners when learning both language and content. These are: 1. lesson planning; 2. building backgrounds; 3. comprehensible input; 4. Strategies; 5. Interaction; 6, practice and application; 7. Lesson delivery; and 8. Review and assessment. For details see:

• http://www.cal.org/twi/TWIOP.pdf
• http://www.paterson.k12.nj.us/11_departments/ESLdocs/ELL%20Resources/Sheltered%20Instruction%20Components.pdf
• http://www.c3schools.org/MHEC/WebCT/Wallace_S_framework_and_example_ISOP.pdf
• http://www.slcschools.org/departments/educational-equity/language-and-culture/documents/SIOPChecklist.pdf

Bibliography.

Adelita Campos Acosta and Alicia Parra. Effective Sheltered Instruction Strategies. The Texas Center for District and School Support. http://www.camposlanguageeducationnetwork.com/  info@CamposLanguageEducationNetwork.com

Deborah J. Short and Jana Echevarria The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol:A Tool for Teacher–Researcher Collaboration and Professional Development. California State University, Long Beach. Eric Digest. EDO-FL-99-09 DECEMBER 1999.

Eight Components of Sheltered Instruction. Adapted from Making Content Comprehensible for English Language Learners, The SIOP Model by Jana Echevarria, Mary Ellen Vogt and Deborah J. Short. Texas Comprehensive Center.

Kim Hyunsook Song. Applying an SIOP-Based Instructional Framework for Professional Development in Korea. The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language. May 2016 – Volume 20, Number 1.