ERIX FLORES
Rance-Roney, Judith. “Jump-Starting Language and Schema for English-Language Learners: Teacher-Composed Digital Jumpstarts for Academic Reading.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, vol. 53, no. 5, 2010, pp. 386–395. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25614572.
SUMMARY:
In this article, the author states that in ESL there are many different ways that ESL students acquire the English language and it emphasizes that it is a very unrealistic expectation to expect students to acquire the English language quickly in a classroom. Moreover, ESL students consists of students who are recent immigrants to the country in The United States. Therefore, having students learn English in a classroom will be the least effective approach in order to acquire the English language. Moreover, what the author states is that it is all about the cultural immersion and that immersing students into the new culture is the most effective aspect to have students learn the English langue.
Therefore, the author states that the use of technology is the best outlet in having students learning the English language. Not only they are accustomed to the use of technology but they can learn not only the language but the culture in the use of technology with a little help of the teacher to guide them through the English language and new culture acquisition. Ultimately, the author develops an a activity of DJs in which it is an interactive reading learning where it addresses multi modal learning and students can replay and learn at their own pace.
RESPONSE:
This article is a great gateway to get to know digital literacy and identity is the best approach to maximize students learning. No matter where the ESL student is from unless they come from a country that is technological deprived the student will always be a familiarized with the use of technology and have some form of identity in there. So what best way but to take advantage of the digital era in order to have students maximize their learning especially when it comes to learning the English language. In the digital era there is plenty of exposure of cultural immersion in which students can resort to in order to get familiarized with a culture they are not familiarized with, and the only support that the student needs is to have a teacher to guide them through the critical cultural aspects that are needed to get assimilated in order to succeed in The United States.
The reason why I think this article is great is because there is an endless technological proliferation in The United States and many of the students, teachers, and administration depend on technology and have some form of digital identity within the digital world. Education is a place where students learn from the sociocultural aspect of the population, and the digital world is no different from the physical world. This article does not get into depth how technology has a deep impact on the education system and identity but it has hinted that this technology works in that manner.
Overall, this is a great gateway for teachers to use students' digital identity in order to personalize lesson plans in order to maximize learning, and this is not only limited to ESL or English language arts it can work for any core content or electives as well since the digital era and identity accommodates to all cultures and activities.
QUOTATIONS:
Once upon a time (and not so long ago), an English-language learner (ELL)
who was new to the language and culture of the United States would spend
the first months in my class acclimating to the new school environment and
focusing on the oral and aural language needed for acculturation and cultural
survival. Only months or a year later would he or she be expected to master
the academic literacies needed for content area study. However, those unhurried days have been replaced (for the good and the ill) by the push to immerse
ELLs in challenging academic prose from day one
A DJ begins with software that merges still images,
music, a narrator's voice, and sometimes video. It is
available as the already-loaded iMovie for Mac users
or the free, downloadable Photo Story (currently ver
sion 3) or Movie Maker for PC users. Other, more
complex programs are available for advanced users.
Ive, a middle school bilingual teacher (all teacher
names are pseudonyms), designed a DJ to prepare her
novice-proficiency ELLs for the reading of Cynthia
Kadohata's (2004) Kira-Kira, & short novel about a
young Japanese American girl who moves to a small
town in Georgia. In her unit, Ive wished to develop
the theme of diverse communities and the examina
tion of intolerance and social justice.
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Hi Erix, I am not sure if digital literacy would be the best outcome for everyone, coming from an ESL classroom, I can tell you first hand, that a lot of this children are not exposed to technology. Also, a lot of the pronunciation helps when they too can have teacher assistance. I am not entirely against the whole digital Identity idea, but, I still believe that we can bring some kind of balance. I don't think we are there yet. In my opinion, sometimes lesson plans are not maximized for learning. Overall, this was a great article that hit close to home.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I share your doubts on whether digital literacy will benefit ESL students, and let me just share this: In the school that I work at, we have a group of inclusion teachers that focus on ESL and bilingual students that struggle with learning. Their goal and focus is not only to help them, but to integrate helpful technological tools to these students' every day lives. I have witnessed how some of these online tools, programs, and resources have helped students improve their language communication, and pronunciation skills. And, you're right, Elizabeth, most ESL students are not exposed to technology at home, therefore, the school, I believe, does that job for them: exposes them to technology and teaches them how to use it to their advantage and to its potential.
DeleteElizabeth,
DeleteI agree with your response not all children are exposed to technology at home and I have seen that myself, but I believe that we are at a point that in the near future the majority of the population will depend on technology in order to fulfill their activities in the daily basis, and that includes education. But I do agree with you that some families do not have resources at home and I am a person who likes to look through the future rather than now which can a disadvantage for me.
Thank you for the insight Elizabeth, and thank you for your feedback and discussion! :)
This sounds intriguing, Erix. I don't feel like I really understand what Rance-Roney is arguing about because as yet, I'm not entirely sure what a DJ is. I would need a clear definition, then examples that show how it works. This sentence isn't enough: Ultimately, the author develops an a activity of DJs in which it is an interactive reading learning where it addresses multi modal learning and students can replay and learn at their own pace.
ReplyDeleteHello Dr. Noe!
DeleteFrom what I read on the article a DJ is a program in which ESL students access this software in which students interact with the software when it comes to English language acquisition. For instance, the student will hear a sentence or a word and will have to chose a picture that matches the terms, and also match sentences, and do a little of composition to assess language proficiency. Moreover, the student has the power to learn at their own pace, and if the student needs to do the lesson all over again they can do it again. Moreover, this is how this software addresses different learning styles because not all students learn at the same pace as everybody just like a regular lecture class, and this software offers a solution to it.
Thank you for much for your discussion and feedback Dr. Noe!
Hey Erix, I'm on both sides of the fence with this one. I agree with my fellow classmates that not many students, especially boarder students, have free access to computers. I do love James Paul Gee, and his articles are always great but we have to keep in mind the way students will respond to this type of learning. There are more than six different types of learning styles and not all students will do well with this one. For examples, I am a starting treacher at Idea Riverview in Brownsville, its an up an coming campus but unlike most school, the library is a single, large classroom, with 3 desktops and one BCIS lab with a few more. Hoping that a student will adjust to the English Language through the use of technology, without much familiarity with one, is almost setting them up to fail. It's scary for students to come into a classroom not knowing the language and then having them freak out even more when we sit them in front of a computer which they are not sure how to use. It feels like this is a great idea but wouldn't work with every environment.
ReplyDelete