ELL Case Study Introduction

Graciela is a 13-year-old 7^th grader. She moved to this country about a year and a half ago from Carolina, Puerto Rico. Her father came to the United States first looking for better job opportunities. He had been here approximately 6 months when he sent for the rest of his family. At that time Graciela moved here with mother, her sister Kerys (age twelve) and one of her two brothers, Gensys (age eleven). Her 3-year-old brother Javier stayed in Puerto Rico with his paternal grandparents. Graciela is pudgy, with shoulder length brown hair that she wears in a ponytail, and big brown eyes that appear very dark behind her glasses. Though she is not very communicative in English, she nevertheless projects a determined personality.

Graciela’s father, who speaks some English, works in plumbing and her mother, who does not, is a babysitter. The family members speak Spanish when in the home. They live in a new 3-bedroom, 2 bath house with a medium size yard in the Ruskin area. One nearby neighbor is Puerto Rican, but most are Americans. Though Graciela would like to have a dog, right now the family has no pets. Graciela says her 11-year-old brother speaks English better than she does, but her 12-year-old sister not as well. The family regularly goes to a protestant church. Graciela’s grandmother and uncle live in Gibsonton. For fun Graciela likes to jump on a trampoline and play soccer. She doesn’t watch too much television, but she says her favorite shows are La fea mas bella, the Sweet Life of Zach and Cory, and Hannah Montana. She wants to be a lawyer when she grows up.

Graciela came to America for the last half of 6^th grade. She is now in 7^th grade. Her sister is in 6^th grade at the same school and her brother is in 4^th grade. Graciela says that she attended English classes for several years in Puerto Rico before coming to the U.S. The classes lasted 90 minutes a day. Graciela reports that her family does not have very many books at home. Her mother likes to read some, but her father not at all. Graciela reads books in both Spanish and English. Graciela reports that she makes A’s and B’s. She gets up at 7:30am during the week to go to school. She doesn’t always eat breakfast before she gets there. After school she plays with her brother and sister, does her homework and watches a little TV. She is typically in bed by 10pm.

Problems and Perspectives

Graciela is obviously smart and academically motivated. She takes pride in her grades. However, she is not practicing her English enough. This deficit will only become a greater obstacle as she progresses through middle school and then high school. She is liable to be frustrated by the contradiction between her intellectual abilities and the ability to express her thoughts in English. Since bilingual education is not a priority in her school district, it is quite likely that her poor command of English will prevent her from taking subjects in line with her academic goal of becoming a lawyer. Boredom may result, perhaps even followed by dropping out before finishing high school. Right now her favorite subject is math, but as progresses through the higher grades English will become more important in learning advanced mathematics, geometry and algebra.

At present there is little impetus for Graciela to speak English in her home. Her friends are mostly Spanish speakers like her who use English only when forced to. In her particular middle school she is surrounded by a majority of students from Spanish speaking backgrounds, which encourages her to rely on Spanish to express her thoughts. She watches some TV in English. Some of her favorite shows are in English, so we know she understands them well enough to enjoy them. What is missing is the motivation for Graciela to actively practice speaking in English to express her thoughts and feelings. Without that practice automaticity will be delayed and she will not feel comfortable in using English as her primary language.

Solutions

Graciela told us that there were very few books in her house. Her mother reads some, but her mother only speaks Spanish. Subscriptions to high interest magazines in English would provide reading material in the home. If the magazine included content that would interest both mother and daughter, it might spark the mother’s interest in learning English while encouraging Graciela to read and translate for her mother. As they discuss the magazine issues Graciela’s comprehension should improve. Graciela should also be given audiobooks that match assigned class readings so she can follow along and hear the passages which she will be reading.

Graciela’s language arts teacher might encourage her to keep a dialogue journal in which she could express her responses to the English TV shows she watches or she could explain the Spanish channel shows to her teacher in English. Having to explain the Spanish shows would motivate Graciela to find equivalent English words for content which obviously interests her. Graciela could also practice retelling recently watched episodes in a small group. Each group member could ask her a question based on her retelling to which she would have to respond until the answer was clear to all in her group. She would also ask the other group members questions about their TV show retellings.

Graciela needs to be encouraged to join heterogeneous groups of students in social settings where she will want to speak English. After school social clubs, athletics, or book discussion groups, in which she is supported by fluent English speakers might give her the encouragement to take the language risks that would lead to improvement.

Choral reading and reading aloud in a safe small group setting, like a heterogeneous literature circle of her peers, could help Graciela improve her pronunciation skills. She should also receive direct instruction in those English sounds that she confuses with Spanish sounds, along with opportunities for practice.

Guided reading, along with the teacher’s unpacking passages aloud, will improve comprehension of English texts as well as model English used in a context of interest.

It is important for Graciela to have access to stimulating grade level content despite her deficits in English. To that end, sheltered instruction should be employed so she does not fall behind in other content areas while she is receiving instruction in the English language.

Language Analysis

When reading she can generally decode English words at or near her grade level, but pronunciation is difficult for her. So much effort is spent in decoding the words that comprehension suffers. Negative transfer is apparent when she confuses Spanish and English sounds while reading. Pronouns and prepositions can be a problem for her and she often omits them. She is not always clear on how to express negation. Subject/verb agreement is sometimes a problem. Rules on capitalization are sometimes not followed, but many native English speakers have the same problem. She understands colloquial English, but has difficulty in responding in kind. She is apt to give one or two word answers and use nonverbal gestures.

Questions for Reflection/Discussion

How might Graciela’s parents contribute to her English language learning?

How would bilingual education benefit Graciela?

How can Graciela’s academic motivation and aspirations of becoming a lawyer be used to help her acquire proficiency in English?

6 Questions Based on Bloom's Taxonomy

Knowledge -- Where is Graciela from?

Comprehension -- Describe the use of English in Graciela’s home.

Application -- Give some examples of how Graciela’s first language affects her use of English.

Analysis -- Contrast Graciela’s academic aspirations with her readiness to achieve those aspirations.

Synthesis – Predict what will be the academic outcome for Graciela if she does not become fluent in English soon.

Evaluation – Assess the limitations of the English language instruction Graciela received in Puerto Rico.

Writing Sample

A sample of Graciela's writing is available as pdf, or as a jpg image for those who do not have the Adobe Reader software.

Reading Sample

A podcast of Graciela's reading is available at http://thomaskeene.podomatic.com . You may want to follow along in the written transcript as you listen to her reading from Lois Lowry's The Giver, a book commonly read in middle schools.

Student Oral Language Observation Matrix (SOLOM)

Informant’s native language: Spanish

Age: 13

Years studying/speaking English: 5

Grade level: 7

A. Comprehension

Understands normal conversation. Occasionally repetition for clarification is sometimes needed.

Score: 4

B. Fluency

Hesitant. Sometimes forced into silence by language limitations. Often responds with nonverbal gestures. Uses simple, one or two word answers whenever possible.

Score: 2

C. Vocabulary

Conversation limited because of inadequate vocabulary. I think she knows more vocabulary, but automaticity is lacking so she cannot use it at normal conversation speeds.

Score: 3

D. Pronunciation

Pronunciation problems mean that the listener must concentrate. Many words pronounced with sounds from Spanish, rather than English. Example: “Jes” instead of “Yes.” Not all words are understood by listener. Her accent is very heavy.

Score: 3

E. Grammar

Occasionally makes grammar or word order errors that obscure meaning. Uses simple sentence patterns. Sometimes speaks telegraphically, leaving out connecting words. Negation is sometimes a problem.

Score: 3

General observations: It is clear she understands much more than she is capable of speaking. She understands colloquial grammatical patterns. I think her lack of practice speaking English in her home is hurting her fluency in English. At school so many of the other students also speak Spanish as their first language it is easy for her not to practice her English there as well. It is just too easy for her not to exercise her English abilities, which are largely passive at this point.

Total score: 15

Interview with Case Study Subject

The case study subject was interviewed on April 17, 2007. This English language learner is a 13 year old female and is in 7^th grade. She was born in Puerto Rico and her native language is Spanish. She was interviewed in her school library. We will call her “Graciela” for the sake of this transcription. The interviewer was Thomas Keene, a graduate student in the University of South Florida College of Education. Transcript of Interview