Which was the 7th and final of the Epic Language Acquisition Theories?

• Krashen and the Monitor Model

• Schumann and The Acculturation Model

• Plato and Innate Knowledge

• Chomsky and Universal Grammar

Answer explanation

Krashen and the Monitor Model was the final one and the theory of language acquisition that we more closely looked at. It is also referred to as Input Hyposthesis.

Which of the following is NOT a factor of language acquisition that Krashen mentioned?

• low anxiety

• previous exposure

• motivation

• self esteem

Answer explanation

Stephen Krashen mentioned these factors contribute to how a student does in their language acquisition. How motivated the students, their self-esteem, and low anxiety.

What is Input Theory?

• We acquire language best when exposed to comprehensible, meaningful, and contextually relevant input.

• That we have an innate knowledge of languages

• Output must be the same as the input.

• Language learning should build on a student’s previous educational and personal experiences.

Answer explanation

The monitor Model means that we acquire language from the input. The output doesn’t matter. 

There is an optimal input. It must be:

-comprehensible

-interesting/compelling

-rich in language.  

-abundant

What is the first stage of language acquisition?

Answer explanation

In this first stage, student may be going through a silent period. They may answer yes and no. As well as draw and point to answer questions.

Should ELLs be encouraged to use their own language in class? Explain your answer.

Answer explanation

Using their own languages has many benefits. It can help students with their planning and thinking for writing. It creates a welcoming space in the class and having them access their first language will also help them activate and access their schema. Becoming bi-literal and using translanguaging will promote their overall learning.

Which of the following is NOT a good strategy to use with ELLs in the Early Production Stage?

• Yes-and-no questions

• Either-or questions

• Questions requiring short sentence answers

• Who, what and how many questions

Answer explanation

During this stage, learners have limited comprehension, produce 1 or 2-word answers, participate using keywords and familiar phrases, and use -ing verbs.

Which of these are Dos and Don'ts from Engaging Your Beginners by Jane Hill?

• Do use tiered questions.

• Do engage Preproduction students at the same level of thinking as other students.

• Don’t assess language when you want to assess content knowledge.

• Do try to replace the student's native language with English.

Answer explanation

1. "Do not attemp to replace first language. Contine to develop first language along with English." is from Principles of Effective Additional Language Learning.

Jane Hill's article mentioned all the awesome stuff about having high expectations for ELLs.

How can we use our knowledge of stages in language acquisition and Bloom's Taxonomy of learning?

• The lowest level of thinking is "Knowledge" is what we should expect from preproduction students.

• There is no connection and should not be used together.

• Blooms Taxonomy can be used to help planning work at the higher level thinking.

• "Evaluation" level of thinking is only for students at Advanced Fluency stage.

Answer explanation

Aligning the stages and levels in Bloom's Taxonomy causes teachers to lower expectations for ELLs and creates misconceptions about their abilities. Putting the stages and levels in a matrix allows teachers to encourage more rigorous approaches to instructions and offer opportunities to think and interact at higher levels.

For ELLs at the Intermediate Stage, what are some appropriate tired questions?

• Questions requiring short sentence answer.

• Retell...

• What would happen if....

• Why, how and explain questions.

Answer explanation

These students have excellent comprehension. They need questions that require more than one-sentence answers. Retelling is good for Advanced Fluency students. Why, how and explain questions are good for the Speech Emergence stage ad although this student could answer it, the expectation should be that they answer is full multiple detailed sentence.

How do the ELL standards compare to or differ from the BC performance standards?

• ELL standards have multiple grades lumped together.

• The ELL Standards are based on language proficiency descriptors, while the BC Performance Standards are based on provincial learning standards from the modernized curriculum.

• ELL Standards use 5 levels: Beginning, developing, expanding, consolidating and bridging.

• BC performance standards have individual documents for writing and reading as well as use 4 level scale of expectations.