Small Group Inquiry Bibliography

Small Group Inquiry ELL and International Education Works Cited PRIMARY SOURCES Addley, Sean. Personal interview. 20 October 2008. Sean Addley is a current intern at the Universal American School in Dubai. He is doing his coursework for Michigan State University’s graduate classes online, and his mentor teacher is in contact with the College of Education. He plans on continuing to teach abroad after his one-year internship, and he is interested in doing so for the next five years before returning to the United States. In Sean’s interview, he provides personal experience with not only the internship year, but also with teaching abroad, adjusting to a new school, adapting to a new culture, and the climate of an international school. The information from the interview provides answers to our questions about interning. Sean’s knowledge and experience will be something useful to everybody. Merritt, Kelly. Personal interview. 24 October 2008. Kelly Merritt taught at the American School in Switzerland for two years. There, she held the position of Director of Community Life and was involved directly with the living arrangements of the students, while also taking on the roles of an athletic coach and personal mentor. In this interview, she spoke of her personal experiences abroad and provided an abundance of information regarding different types of international education and the process one goes through to become an international educator. She also spoke of the International Baccalaureate program, which is present abroad and within The United States, proving to be extremely valuable information for those interested in teaching in multicultural curriculum. The information gathered from this interview will be incorporated in the “International Education” portion of our presentation to give our audience accessible resources and provide insight into what is “out there” for teaching experiences around the globe. Polanco, Severino. Personal interview. 23 October 2008. Severino is a multi-lingual tourist specialist in the Dominican Republic. He is also the coordinator of the Michigan State University summer study abroad and the executive director of Centro Cultural Guanin, a non-profit organization consisting of 20 clubs across the Dominican Republic. Their mission is to provide a safe, caring environment for youth, students, and adults to gain social development and leadership. In his interview, Severino goes in depth about volunteers from the United States participating in internship programs, summer escapes, and teaching English to the youth of his home country. He is a great resource for ESL teaching internationally, as his work is centered on the learning opportunities of English in both the Dominican Republic and the United States. He is also a parent of a student learning and studying English in both an English and Spanish-speaking country.

Small Group Inquiry ELL and International Education Texter, Lynne A. Business Communication Quarterly. New York: Sep 2007. Vol. 70, Iss. 3; p. 352 This article by Lynne Texter is a narrative that gives her personal experience with teaching in Prague. Originally, she was resistant to teaching abroad, but after a visit to the city and meeting with students, she began to see the value of this exchange. She asks the common questions and provides hints and tips to those who feel this is a field of interest. She provides commentary on lesson plans and what she learned during her time in Prague. Lynne gives candid and useable information for anyone who is considering this as a field. This article is useful because it is written about an experience she has completed. It gives a hindsight viewpoint that will be useful to people interested in the experience. VanAlstine, Carmen. Personal interview. 28 October 2008. Carmen VanAlstine is an Okemos Public School teacher. Currently she teaches French and ESL students at Chippewa Middle School. Her wide range of experience teaching ESL students has made her very aware of the pressures that can result from the process of English immersion. In order to help her students with such a process she has developed a unique grading system and various forms of assessment. Mrs. VanAlstine has not only found many unique ways to educate her students about the English language, but she has also found many ways to incorporate American culture into her classroom. She is a great ESL teacher with functional ideas and committed dedication. We are looking to use her as a resource in order to give our audience a glance at what ESL teachers do and how they work with mainstream teachers within a district. We also hope to use her experience with assessing ELLs and present some of her ideas for how to accommodate ELLs in mainstream schools. SECONDARY SOURCES Freeman, Yvonne S. Closing the Achievement Gap: How to Reach Limited-Formal-Schooling and Long-Term English Learners. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2002. This book distinguishes between different types of English learners and the strategies that teachers can use to reach out to both Limited-Formal-Schooling (LFS) and Long-Term English Learners (LTEL). It focuses on myths associated with ESL classrooms and provides case studies that address the academic needs of both LFS and LTEL students. This book is relevant for TESOL teaching because it offers research-based methods and examples of teachers having success in applying these methods to ESL students in their own classrooms. It also provides many facts about the changing ESL demographic in the United States and what teachers can do to make sure their students are not left behind.

Small Group Inquiry ELL and International Education Reed, Bracken. Strategies and Resources for Mainstream Teachers of English Language Learners. May 2003. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. 23 October 2008 This booklet offers insight on general principles for teaching ELL students as well as mainstream students under one roof. One of these principles includes the importance of sharpening study skills and how to go about teaching all students how to study appropriately in the content area while still promoting English Language Learning. Another principle is that teachers should not rule out other language use in their classroom if it can be used to further a student’s learning in the subject matter. Some strategies for successful teaching are listed within this article too. One that could easily be incorporated in a mainstream classroom is “dialog journals”, which are a written conversation between teacher and student which can serve as an opportunity for questions over content material as well as practice in writing in the target language. A list of “10 things a mainstream teacher can do to improve instruction for ELL” is also included in the article and will be presented on the web site or resource worksheet. Tinajero, Dr. Josefina V. Strategies to Support ELLs in Mainstream Classrooms. 2006. The University of Texas at El Paso. 10 October 2008. This article offers insight for mainstream teachers for how to teach English Language Learners in their classroom. While these are not absolute solutions to accommodating any and all English Language Learners, the strategies listed are important for any teacher to keep in mind. Some of the most helpful tips include, but are not limited to, how to include parents of ELL students in the learning process, how to keep ELL students engaged in oral language activities in daily classes, and how to establish a “safe”, nourishing environment for all students within the classroom. While each of these strategies does target ELLs, they are important to keep in mind for every student in any classroom. Using this resource, we will be able present “tried and true” approaches that can help teachers be successful if presented with a multilingual classroom.