Note: Go to overheads for overheads and charts (at least some of the charts) that I have shown you in class. I'll put these overheads/charts online AFTER the class in which I've used them.

Issues in English as a Second/Foreign Language

I. Goals

1. To familiarize you with the variety of sociopolitical and institutional contexts for teaching ESL and EFL
2. To help you understand the debate over bilingual education in California and the U.S. and to familiarize you with current laws related to English Learners in California public schools
3. To acquaint you with current approaches to teaching English to speakers of other languages
4. To provide an opportunity for you to experience--as student and teacher--some ESL instructional techniques

II. Reading

• Brown, H. Douglas. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. White Plains, NY: Addison Wesley Longman, 2001. Abbrev.: TBP
• Packet of readings (available at HSU bookstore)

III. Requirements

1. Regular attendance. Absence makes the grade go lower. More than two unexcused absences will lower your grade significantly. If you have six absences, excused or unexcused, I will probably ask you to drop the course.
2. One or two quizzes
3. A report on an ESL unit (individual written report and group oral report)
4. Either Option 1 or Option 2 below:
   • Option 1: Write two papers (See list of topics included at end of syllabus).
     
   • Option 2: Act as a Conversation Partner for a student studying at the International English Language Institute. Tom Wallendy, Supervising Teacher at the I.E.L.I., will come to class and explain the Center's program. On a separate web page,"Acting as a Conversation Partner," I explain this option in detail, but briefly for this option you
   • Meet with your partner for six weeks, two hours/week;
   • Keep a log of your conversations/activities;
   • Observe a class of your partner's at the I.E.L.I. and write a class observation report.
5. Mid-term test
6. Final exam

IV. Grading

1. Attendance, class participation, exercises, quizzes: 15%
2. Report on an ESL unit: 15%
3. Option 1 or 2: 20%
4. Mid-term test: 20%
5. Final exam: 30%

V. Policy on Due Dates and Make-up Work

Papers turned in late will be automatically marked down one grade per every day late. For example, an A paper turned in a day late would be graded A-; a B paper two days late would be graded C+, etc.

VI. English 435 and the Internet

I have tried to find useful sites and insert links to them on this syllabus. For some class assignments you must consult an on-line web page or article, but many sites are included in the hope that you will explore them not because you have to but because you want to. Those of you who elect the paper-writing option may find some of these sites useful sources of information on your topic. Those of you who elect the conversation partner option will probably find the sites included in the online handout "Acting as a Conversation Partner" to be the most relevant, but sites included on this syllabus may be useful as well.

Here are some sites that make good entry points to use in investigating what's out there on the web for ESL students and teachers:

• LinguaCenter

  The LinguaCenter is the web page of DEIL (Division of English as an International Language) and IEI (Intensive English Institute of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. This center maintains this useful site with links to other useful sites.

• Dave's Cafe

  This famous ESL site has just about everything you could think of related to ESL.

• Rong Chang Li's Site

  Rong-Chang Li is a graduate of Suzhon Univesity in China and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research area is computer-assisted language learning.

• TESOL Online

  This is the site for an association called Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, the leading professional organization for ESL/EFL teachers.

• The British Council

  The British Council, a government agency of the United Kingdom, has been teaching English abroad for many years. Its web pages have a great deal of information for teachers and learners.

• Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)

  According to information provided on CAL's web pages, CAL is "a private, non-profit organization: a group of scholars and educators who use the findings of linguistics and related sciences in identifying and addressing language-related problems." Good site for information on bilingual education and the various program options for working with English language learners. One of the centers associated with CAL called CREDE (Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence) is a useful site for ESL teachers. See especially CREDE's publications page.

• California Department of Education's English Learners Website

  An excellent site to learn what is happening regarding English learners in California.

• The University of California's Linguistic Minority Research Institute (UC LMRI)

  According to its homepage, UC LMRI is "a multi-campus research unit of the University of California that was established in response to the California Legislature's request that the UC's Office of the President pursue 'knowledge applicable to educational policy and practice in the area of language minority students' academic achievement and knowledge.' This website provides information to researchers, students, practitioners, and policy makers interested in issues of language, education, and public policy."

• Dr. Mora's Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development CLAD Website

  Dr. Jill Kerper Mora is an Associate Professor of education at San Diego State University. She teaches courses similar to English 435 and provides a wealth of information on her website related to English Learners.

VII. Syllabus

Note these abbreviations:

• TBP: Teaching By Principles
• Packet: Packet of readings available at HSU Bookstore

Tues., Aug. 26: Introduction to Course. Explanation and (Your) Selection of Option 1 or Option 2

Thurs., Aug. 28: The Spread of English and English as a Native Language (ENL), English as a

Second Language (ESL), English as an Associate Language (EAL), and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

TBP, Chapter 8, pp. 115-120

David Crystal, "A World View" (Packet)

Sandra McKay, "Teaching English as an International Language" (Packet)

Tues., Sept. 2: The Spread of English and the Disappearance of Languages.

Explanation of Thursday's Assignment Relating to Demographic Data

Daniel Nettle and Suzanne Romaine, "Where Have All the Languages Gone?" (Packet)

Kenan Malik, "Linguists Should Let Dying Languages Rest in Peace" (Packet)

Should you wish to know more about vanishing languages, the SIL [Summer Institute of Linguistics] International provides more information on its website.

Thurs., Sept. 4: How Many Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students Are There in the U.S. and in

California? What Has Caused the Rapid Increase?

For overheads and charts relating to immigration, see immigration.

Your assignment for today is to find answers to the demographic questions handed out to you on Tues. The following sites will help you:

National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs (NCELA)

NCELA was formally called the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE). It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education. This is a good source for information on the number of LEP students in the entire U.S. and in each of the 50 states (see the Ask NCELA (FAQS) page. (Hint: Check out question one.) See these useful NCELA pages as well: State Resource Pages and the California pages.

Education Data Partnership

The Education Data Partnership is a cooperative effort of the Alameda County Office of Education, EdSource, and the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT). According to its homepage, Ed-Data's aim is "to provide easy access to consistent, reliable, objective information about our public school system. The goal is to enable better informed decisions for California's schools." This is a good source for useful charts and graphs related to English Language Learners. To find these charts and graphs, choose "State Student Trends in the pull-down menu. Then choose reports related to English Learners

Educational Demographics Office

This is the California Department of Education's entry site for demographic information related to California schools and students. Click on Dataquest which lets you create your own reports about API [Academic Performance Index], enrollment, graduates, dropouts, course enrollments, staffing, English Learners, and Stanford 9 test data. The reports are available for schools, districts, counties, or statewide.

Tues., Sept. 9: Teaching ELL's Before and After Proposition 227

For overheads relating to Prop 227 see Prop 227.

On January 21, 1974, the Supreme Court of the U.S. rendered a decision in the Lau v. Nichols case--the most important federal ruling influencing how English Learners will be instructed. In June, 1998, Californians passed Proposition 227, which renders bilingual programs illegal (unless waivers are obtained). The passage of Prop 227 was a key event in California's long and acrimonious debate over bilingual education. For this class read the following:

Excerpts from the Lau v. Nichols decision

The text of Prop 227

A packet of articles describing how California schools are adapting to Prop 227 that appeared last October (2001) in the California Educator, a journal published by the California Teachers Association. Although CTA campaigned against Prop 227 and challenged (unsuccessfully) its legality in federal court, these articles are informative and quite objective. They are in your packet.

Christine Rossell,"Summary" (Packet). Rossell is an opponent of bilingual education. This summary is the first ten pages of Dismantling Bilingual Education, Implementing English Immersion: The California Initiative, that is available on-line. Dismantling Bilingual Education describes how Prop 227 is being applied in California schools in 2002; it updates information presented in the readings from the California Educator.

In researching for a paper or simply to satisfy your own interest, you may wish to to read more about the debate over bilingual education in general and/or the more specific debate related to the effect of Proposition 227. For articles opposing bilingual education, see the READ Institute's publication page. For the anti-bilingual education view, you can also consult Ron Unz's homepage. Unz is the wealthy Silicon Valley software executive who led the campaign against bilingual education and for Proposition 227.

For articles favoring bilingual education, see James Crawford's Homepage. Crawford is a journalist and author who has written several books about bilingual education. Another good source for information supporting bilingual education is Dr. Mora's Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development CLAD Website, especially her Road Map to the Bilingual Education Controversy.

Other good sources of information on bilingual education are the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA), the Center for Applied Linguistics, CREDE's (Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence) publications page, and UC LMRI's (UC Linguistic Minority Research Institute) Research Dissemination web page.

Thurs., Sept. 11: Teaching ELL's Before and After Proposition 227(Cont.) Explanation of

Group Assignment Related to Program Alternatives

Fred Genesee, Editor, Program Alternatives for Linguistically Diverse Students, pp. 1-24

This excellent description of the different program models is on reserve but can also be read online if the computer you're using has the Acrobat Reader software, which is easily downloaded from the web. To find Genesee's report look under "Educational Practice Reports." You have to scroll down a ways before you get to it.

TBP, Chapter 8, pp. 120-126

Tues., Sept. 16: Program Alternatives I. Meeting of Expert Groups. VIDEO: Learning

Together: Two-Way Bilingual Immersion Programs

For overheads and charts relating to program alternatives see program alternatives.

Fred Genesee, Program Alternatives for Linguistically Diverse Students, pp. 25-end

(Remember, this document is online and on reserve.)

Finishing Genesee's Program Alternatives is the only assigned reading for today but here are some web sites that will help you understand the alternatives Genesee discusses. For brief lists of features of the different program models--transitional bilingual education, dual (two-way) immersion, etc., you can look at Prof. Mora's short summaries. For information on two-way immersion programs nationwide, see "Two-Way Immersion (TWI): Frequently Asked Questions", a site maintained by the Center for Applied Linguistics. See also Elizabeth R. Howard and Julie Sugarman's report "Two-Way Immersion Programs: Features and Statistics" ). For information on two-way immersion programs in California, see the California Department of Education's web page "California Two-Way Immersion Programs." Read the FAQ pages and look over the Directory of two-way programs in California.

Thurs., Sept. 18: Program Alternatives II: Meeting of Jigsaw Groups

No reading assignment for today, but look at Dataquest again to determine how many English Learners in California in the 2002-03 academic year received instruction in Structured English Immersion (also referred to as Sheltered English, or Shetered English Immersion) and how many students were in some other "instructional setting." To do this, on the Datquest page, choose "English Learners" from the "Subject" pull-down menu and "State" from the "Level" menu. Choose the 2002-03 year and then select this report: "English Learners, Instructional Settings and Services." To find the same information at the county level, select the report called "English Learners, Instructional Settings and Services (with County data)." Come to class with information for Humboldt County and Los Angeles County.

Conversation Partners turn in logs for my response and suggestions

Tues. Sept., 23: Exploring English Only Programs More Carefully: Pullout Model,

Inclusion Model, and Team-Teaching Model

Helene Becker, "ESL Program Models in Elementary Schools" (Packet)

Quiz on Program Alternatives: Sheltered, TBE, DBE, Foreign/Second Language Immersion, and TWI

Thurs., Sept. 25: ESL Program Models in Secondary Schools

Helene Becker, "ESL Program Models in Secondary Schools" (Packet)

Mauro Staiano, "Lost in the Madding Crowd: An Overview of the ESL Program at Eureka

High School" (Packet)

Tues., Sept. 30: Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition I: Behaviorist and Innatist. Instructional

Vignettes 1 and 2

For overheads and charts relating to perspectives on second language acquisition, see three perspectives.

Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada, "Theoretical Approaches to Explaining Second Language

Learning" (Packet)

Concentrate on these three approaches: Behaviorism, Innatism, and the Interactionist Position.

Krashen and Terrell, "Second Language Acquistion Theory," Chapter 2 of The Natural

Approach (Packet)

Thurs., Oct. 2: Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition II: Interactionist. Instructional Vignette 3

No additional reading for today

Tues., Oct. 7: Methodologies

For overheads and charts relating to the movement from method to post-method and definitions of methodology, method, etc., see methodologies.

TBP, Chapter 2

Rough Draft of Paper I due (for students doing Option 1)

Thurs., Oct. 9: Total Physical Response and the Natural Method. Excerpts from two VIDEOS

on These Methods

Patricia Richard-Amato, "The Total Physical Response and the Audio-Motor Unit" (Packet)

Investigate a site--part educational, part commercial--related to TBP that is maintained by Sky Oaks Productions, the corporation that owns the trademark "TPR." It includes general information on TPR, including some new articles by TPR founder James J. Asher.

Tues., Oct. 14: Review for Mid-Term Exam

Thurs., Oct. 16: Mid-Term Exam

Tues., Oct. 21: Techniques. VIDEO: Dialogue/Drill

For overheads and charts relating to techniques see techniques.

TBP, Chapter 9

Cynthia Brock, "The Effects of Referential Questions on ESL Classroom Discourse"

Final Draft of Paper I due (for students doing Option 1)

Thurs., Oct. 23: Interactive Language Teaching: Group Work. VIDEO: Information Gap

For overheads and charts relating to group work and exchange systems, see group work and speech exchange systems.

TBP, Chapters 11 and 12

Class observation report due for students in the top half of the (alphabetical) attendance list.

See "Observation of a Class at the I.E.L.I." (Only for students doing Option 2)

Tues., Oct. 28: Interactive Language Teaching: Group Work and the Negotiation of Meaning.

Demonstration of a Group Activity

Kate Kinsella, "Designing Group Work That Supports and Enhances Diverse

Classroom Work Styles" (Packet)

Thurs., Oct. 30: Content-Based Instruction, Theme-Based Instruction, and Task-Based Teaching.

VIDEO: Profile of Effective Teaching in a Multilingual Classroom

For overheads and charts relating to content-based (etc.) instruction, see content-based instruction.

TBP, Chapter 15

Tues., Nov. 4: Approaches to Syllabus Design I

For overheads and charts relating to syllabus design, see Approaches to Syllabus Design.

Penny Ur, "Module 7: Topics, Situations, Notions, Functions" (Packet)

Thurs., Nov. 6: Syllabus Design II

TBP, Chapters 6 and 7

Tues., Nov. 11: Syllabus Design III: Group Work to Prepare Oral Reports on ESL Unit

You will meet in groups in class to prepare for your oral report to the entire class on Thurs., Nov. 14, and Tues., Nov. 19.

TBP, Chapter 10

Thurs., Nov. 13: Syllabus Design IV: Group Oral Reports

Rough Draft of Paper II due (for those doing Option 1)

Tues., Nov. 18: Group Oral Reports (Continued)

Thurs., Nov. 20: Review and Quiz on Syllabus Design

Class observation report due for students in the bottom half of the (alphabetical) attendance list. See "Observation of a Class at the I.E.L.I." (Only for students doing Option 2)

Week of Nov. 24-28: Thanksgiving Vacation

Tues., Dec. 2: Form-Focused Instruction

For overheads and charts relating to form-focused instruction, see form-focused instruction.

TBP, Chapter 20

Thurs., Dec. 4: Teaching Writing

For overheads and charts relating to teaching writing, see see writing.

TBP, Chapter 19

Students doing option 1: Final draft of Paper II due Students doing option 2: Log due.

Note: Be sure you have done a final summarizing entry.

Tues., Dec. 9: Teaching Writing

Dana Ferris, "Teaching Students to Self-Edit" (Packet)

Thurs., Dec. 11: Review

********************************************

Thurs., Dec. 18, 10:20-12:10: Final Exam for

Section 1 (CRN #44132; section that meets Tues. and Thurs. from 11:00 to 11:20)

Thurs., Dec. 18, 3:00-4:50: Final Exam for

Section 2 (CRN #44133; section that meets Tues. and Thurs. from 2:00 to 3:20)

********************************************

Possible Paper Topics

Note: Remember that only students who elect Option 1 are required to write these two papers.

Sources

These papers will require that you use the library and probably internet sources to find information, so don't leave them until the last minute. Begin acquiring information early. I mention a place to start your investigation--a section of TBP or another book or article--but you should consult other sources as well. This is NOT an assignment that can be written based only on material from textbooks and class discussions. You should consult and cite at least FOUR different sources in all.

If you use internet sources, try to find trustworthy sites and consult a variety of sites to avoid learning only one side of an issue. For some topics, I've suggested a useful site or two as a place to begin.

You must, however, use at least two non-internet sources (for example two books, or one book and one article) in writing your paper.

Deadlines

See Policy on Due Dates and Make-up Work in Section V. It is very important to turn in not only your final draft but also your rough draft when it is due.

The Importance of a Clear Thesis and Organization

Your papers should be thesis-driven; in other words, you should state your thesis, or position, in your introduction and then support it in the body of your paper. Often a background section including necessary information on your topic intervenes between the introduction and body. A rough outline of your paper might look like this:

• Introduction (includes statement of your thesis)
• Background (includes information readers will need to understand your topic)
• Body (includes support for your thesis)
• Conclusion
• List of Works Cited (must include at least four different sources, including two non-internet sources; use Modern Language Association citation style)

Length

Your papers should be approximately five (5) pages, typed, double-spaced

I. Possible Topics for Paper I (rough draft due Tues., Oct. 7; final draft due Tues. Oct. 21)

A. The Role of English in _______(You choose the country).

Choose a country that interests you and explore the role of English in it. Is English taught as a second or foreign language? Is it ever used as the medium of instruction in schools? How is it taught? If you know someone who has taught or lived abroad in the country you are writing about, you might interview that person and use that information in your report (along with information from other sources). Before choosing this topic, try searching for some information first. It's not easy to find up-to-date information on English-teaching in some countries, particularly in those places where the language situation is in a state of flux--countries which were former members of the Soviet Union, for example. Some countries describe their foreign or second language programs in government web pages, usually under "Ministry of Education," but articles in periodicals or newspapers may be the best bet. Search them using on-line databases such as Lexis-Nexis or Academic Search.

B. The Spread of English and Ethical Questions for English Teachers

Is the spread of English around the globe a good thing--something responsible language teachers and educators should promote? Or is it something that should be opposed? What are the arguments for and against the spread of English? If you choose this topic, you can explore these questions and develop your own conclusions. This would be a particularly good topic for those of you contemplating teaching English abroad: writing about it will give you a chance to reflect on some important issues before you pack your bags and start teaching ESL or EFL in some distant (or not so distant) place.

For your paper you can read works by those who question the spread of English and develop your own position. The TESOL Quarterly, vol. 36 (autumn, 2002) is devoted to the issue of how English teaching relates or does not relate to development, so it would be a good place to begin. See especially the following article:

Bruthiaux, Paul. "Hold Your Courses: Language Education, Language Choice, and Economic

Development." TESOL Quarterly 36 (Autumn, 2002): 275-296.

Here are some other sources:

Crystal, David. English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Hall, J. K. and W.G. Eggington, eds. The Sociopolitics of English Language Teaching. Clevedon,

England: Multilingual Matters, 2000. (Electronic book available through HSU Library. Use catalyst.)

Pennycook, Alastair. "Development, Culture and Language: Ethical Concerns in a Postcolonial

World." Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Language and Development, October 13-15, 1999. Available online.

Phillipson, R. Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.

________ and Tove Skuttnabb-Kangas. "English Only Worldwide or Language Ecology." TESOL

Quarterly 30 (Autumn, 1996): 429-452.

C. The Debate over Bilingual Education in the U.S.

Read about the debate concerning bilingual education. In this debate one group argues for "structured English immersion" and the other for "two-way immersion" or "maintenance bilingual education." (See reading assigned for Sept. 9, 11, and 16 to review these program alternatives.) Explain what these programs are and summarize the debate about them (but be careful not to make your paper simply a summary of previous class discussions of these program alternatives). Give your views (in other words, state your position) of bilingual education and support them. For good places to begin your search for information, see the websites mentioned in the syllabus for Sept. 9. For an overview of bilingual education in California I particularly recommend Patricia de Cos' report "Educating California's Immigrant Children: An Overview of Bilingual Education" (June, 1999) accessible from NCELA's California page.

One possible way of limiting and focusing your paper would be to concentrate on the current debate over the effects of Prop 227 in California. You could summarize the debate between researchers for the Research in English Acquisition and Development (READ) Institute, who say Prop 227 is doing great, and scholars such as Stephen Krashen and Associate Professor of Education Jill Kerper Mora, who point out problems. See reading assignment for Sept. 9 for links to works by these researchers. (Crawford includes links to Krashen's works on his web page.)

D. Method or Methodology

Choose one of the methods or methodologies (see discussion of these terms in TBP, pp. 14-18) discussed by Brown in Chapter 2. Learn all you can about it and write a paper in which you describe the methodology carefully and state your view of it. You may wish to use Brown's headings to organize your description: the methodology's approach, its method, the kind of curriculum/syllabus usually followed, and the techniques used in the classroom. See TBP, Chapter 2. Two additional books to consult: (on reserve)

Blair, Robert W., ed. Innovative Approaches to Language Teaching. Boston: Heinle and Heinle, 1982.

Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching: A

Description and Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge U. Pr., 2001.

E. Beyond Methods

Clarke, M.A. "The Scope of Approach, the Importance of Method, and theNature of Techniques.

In J.E. Alatis, H. H. Stern, and P. Strevens, eds. Georgetown University Round Table on Language and Linguistics. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown U. Pr., 1983.

Kumaravadivelu, B. Beyond Methods. New Haven, CT: Yale U. Pr., 2003.

Kumaravadivelu, B. "The Postmethod Condition: Emerging Strategies for Second/Foreign

Language Teaching." TESOL Quarterly 28 (1994): 27-48.

Liu, Dilin. "Comments . . ." TESOL Quarterly 29 (1995): 174-177.

Kumaravadivelu, B. "The Author Responds . . ." TESOL Quarterly 29 (1995): 177-180.

Pennycook, A. "The Concept of Method, Interested Knowledge, and the Politics of Language

Teaching." TESOL Quarterly 23 (1989): 589-618.

Stern, H.H. "Review of J.W. Oller Jr. and P. Richard-Amato(eds.) Methods That Work: A

Smorgasbord of Ideas for Language Teachers." Studies in Second language Acquisition 7 (1985): 249-251.

F. Strategies

In recent years those interested in language teaching methodology have talked a great deal about how to get students to adopt successful strategies for learning a second or foreign language. Investigate and report on some approaches to "learner strategy training." See TBP, Chapter 14. A popular book on language learning strategies is Rebecca Oxford's Language Learning Strategies (on reserve), so it's a good work to look at. Chamot and O'Malley have advocated an approach called the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach or CALLA that includes strategy training. You could look at the following works by these authors, all of which are on reserve:

Chamot, Anna Uhl. The Learning Strategies Handbook. White Plains, NY: Longman, 1999.

Chamot, Anna Uhl and J. Michael O'Malley. Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition.

Cambridge: Cambridge U. Pr., 1990.

Chamot, Anna Uhl et al. Building Bridges: Content and Learning Strategies for ESL: Book 1.

Boston: Heinle and Heinle, 1992.

II. Possible topics for Paper II (rough draft due Thurs., Nov. 13; final draft

due Thurs., Dec. 4)

A. Local Programs

By "local" I mean in Humboldt County but you could also investigate a program in your home community, perhaps one at an elementary, junior high, or high school that you attended.

You could investigate and report on a local program designed to assist limited English proficient students. For example, about one-quarter of the students at Alice Birney School in Eureka are English Learners. You could visit this school and talk to teachers and perhaps visit a class.

If you're interested in foreign/second languge immersion programs you may wish to visit Morris Elementary School in the McKinleyville Union School District. This district began a Spanish immersion program several years ago.

Before you contact any school let me know and I'll first call the principal or superintendent to make sure it's ok for you to visit.

B. Standard-Based Reform in ESL

At both the national and state level the approach to reform of U.S. schools has been standards-based: set standards, examine schools and test students to see if the standards are being met, and then restructure or close down schools that continue to fall short. President Bush has championed this approach and has made it the cornerstone of his No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) Act of 2001 which he signed into law on January 8, 2002. This act, which defines the federal role in K-12 education, is a re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, an act first passed in 1965 which is re-authorized every five or six years. (Each administration gives the ESEA a catchy name; the Bush administration came up with the name "No Child Left Behind," abbreviated NCLB.) Title III of NCLB addresses English Learners. For commentary on Title III see two guides: James Crawford's "Comprehensive Guide to the New Title III" and an "ESEA Implementation Guide" (accessible from James Crawford's homepage (You'll have scroll down a bit.)

Individual states have their own standards-based plans, many of them in the works before NCLB was passed, and now they are trying to mesh their plans with the new federal requirements. California is in this situation. For California's approach to standards-based reform see the California Department of Education's web page on state tests. For English Learners the CDE has promulgated the English Language Development (ELD) Standards and to test students' progress in achieving these ELD Standards there is a new test called the California English Language Development Test (CELDT).

Possible paper topics:

1. The ELD Standards

Write a paper describing the new ELD Standards and how they are affecting the way English Learners are taught in California schools. To focus your paper you might wish to concentrate on a particular area--listening and speaking, reading, or writing. To obtain first-hand information, you could interview local teachers. Textbook series approved by the California Department of Education, like the one listed below (on reserve), have handbooks to assist teachers who have English Learners in their classroom. You could examine these handbooks and materials and show how they are designed to help students meet the ELD Standards.

Cooper, J. David and Pikulski, John. Reading California

Cooper, J. David and Pikulski, John. Reading California: Teacher's Edition (Includes

"Lesson Planner" CD-Rom, 3 pamphlets)

Cooper, J. David and Pikulski, John. Handbook for English Language Learners

Cooper, J. David and Pikulski, John. English Language Learners: Student Edition

The No Child Left Behind Act requires that schools help English Learners meet "the same challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards as all children are expected to meet," and California's ELD Standards are supposed to assist teachers in moving English Learners toward mastery of the English Language Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools--the standards native speakers of English are supposed to meet. When you interview teachers, you could ask them how the ELD Standards are designed to mesh with the general English language arts standards.

2. The California English Language Development Test (CELDT)

Write a paper describing this test and explaining its purposes. Some questions you could answer:

• Who must take the CELDT?
• What does the test cover? What kinds of questions does it contain?
• What is the purpose of this test?
• What score does an English Learner need to obtain to be reclassified Fluent English Proficient? Is score on the CELDT the only factor considered in re-classification?
• How does the CELDT relate to the ELD Standards?
• How will the CELDT help California schools meet federal guidelines laid down in No Child Left Behind, Title III?
• What do local teachers think about the CELDT? Any problems?
• In your opinion, is the CELDT useful in improving education for English Learners in California?

C. Syllabus Design

We will discuss syllabus design in class, but you could explore this topic more thoroughly, perhaps concentrating one or two designs, pointing out strengths and weaknesses.

Here are some sources that you could use to begin your search:

Dubin, F. and E. Olshtain. Course Design. Cambridge: Cambridge U. Pr., 1986.

Long, M. H. and G. Crookes. "Three Approaches to Task-Based Syllabus Design." TESOL Quarterly 26

(1992): 27-56.

Yalden, J. Principles of Course Design for Language Teaching. Cambridge U. Pr., 1987.

D. Teaching One of the Language Skills

Choose one of the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and write a paper about some aspect of teaching this skill. Use the "For Further Reading" lists that Brown provides at the end of chapters 16 (listening), 17 (speaking), 18 (reading), and 19 (writing) to find works to read about how to teach the skill you have chosen. Note: In a five-page paper you won't be able to do a complete report on the state of the art of teaching your chosen skill; you'll have to narrow your investigation to a particular aspect. Consult with me for some help in narrowing your topic.

E. The Internet and ESL

Computer Assisted Language Learning, or CALL, is a hot new topic in the field of ESL. See TBP, pp. 145-46 for a brief discussion. You might investigate CALL and report on what is available on the internet for both ESL learners and teachers. One possibility: Put together a web page, one that I could link to my English 435 web page, of interesting sites. You could focus on sites that are good to explore with an I.E.L.I. conversation partner, an elaboration of my brief suggestions in "Acting as a Conversation Partner." You could focus on sites for learners or sites for teachers. You could get very specific and focus on sites, say, that would help a Japanese (or French, or Russian) student improve his or her pronunciation.

Mark Warschauer, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, writes about language learning and technology, and so you might look at his Recent Papers (Many papers are available online). Prof. Warschauer is also one of the editors of a journal for second and foreign language educators called Language Learning and Technology. Full text versions of articles in this journal are available online. The HSU library also has these two books by Prof. Warschauer, which I've put on reserve:

Warschauer, Mark and Richard Kern, eds. Network-Based Language Teaching: Concepts

and Practice. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge, U. Pr., 2000.

Warschauer, Mark.

Electronic Literacies: Language, Culture, and Power in Online Education. Mahwah, NJ: L.

Erlbaum Associates, 1999.

Here are some other sites with information on modern technology and ESL:

• The LinguaCenter's ESL Teacher Resources on the Web.
  
  
• Douglas Mills' (of University of Ilinois) Approaches to Web Use for ESL
  
  
• ERIC/CLL's Internet Resources for Teachers of English as a Second Language
  
  
• The ESL Cafe's CALL guide
  
  
• Jim Duber's CALL guide
  
  
• CyberESL-Email and Beyond
  
  

F. TESL-L

TESL-L is a listserv for ESL teachers with more than 12, 000 subscribers. It focuses on classroom teachers. A teacher will write about a problem she is having and ask for help. Soon messages filled with suggestions pour in. There are also archives of discussions of various issues that you can request and they will be sent to your e-mail address. For how to subscribe, see Using TESL-L for Research and Teaching English.

For this paper you could subscribe to the list and follow the discussion for two weeks, then write a paper summarizing what you learned. Or you could pose a question that you're interested in and report on what you learned from fellow subscribers. Or you could access an archive of messages on a topic of interest and summarize and evaluate the information you find.

Course Packet for English 435: Seminar in the Teaching of Writing

Note: Articles are listed in order they appear on course syllabus.

David Crystal. "A World View." English as a Global Language.

Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997. 53-63. [ISBN: 052159247X]

Packet pages: 1-6

McKay, Sandra Lee. "Teaching English as an International Language: Implications for Cultural

Materials in the Classroom." TESOL Journal (Winter, 2000): 7-11.

Packet pages: 7-11

Nettle, David and Suzanne Romaine. "Where Have All the Languages Gone?" Vanishing Voices:

The Extinction of the World's Languages. New York: Oxford, 2000. 1-25. [ISBN: 0195136241]

Packet pages: 12-24

Malik, Kenan. "Linguists Should Let Dying Languages Rest in Peace." San Francisco Chronicle. 12

Nov. 2000.

Packet pages: 25

California Educator. "What's the Fallout of Dismantling Bilingual Education?" "With Waivers,

Bilingual Classes Are Staying Alive in Some Areas," "For Children's Sake, Teachers Make the Best of the Situation," and "CBET Classes Provide Recipe for Involving Parents." These four articles are from California Educator 6 (October, 2001): 6-17.

Packet pages: 26-38

Rossell, Christine. "Summary." Dismantling Bilingual Education, Implementing English

Immersion: The California Initiative. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California, 2002. i-viii. [Note: This research report is available online at http://lmri.ucsb.edu/resdiss/tocresdiss.htm. It has not, to my knowledge, been published.]

Packet pages: 39-49

Becker, Helene. "ESL Program Models in Elementary School." Teaching ESL K-12: Views

from the Classroom. Boston: Heinle and Heinle, 2001. 38-68. [ISBN: 0838479014]

Packet pages: 50-80

Becker, Helene. "ESL Program Models in Secondary Schools." Teaching ESL K-12: Views

from the Classroom. Boston: Heinle and Heinle, 2001. 69-98. [ISBN: 0838479014]

Packet pages: 81-110

Staiano, Mauro. "Lost in the Madding Crowd: An Overview of the ESL Program at Eureka

High School." Unpublished Paper.

Packet pages: 111-125

Lightbown, Patsy M. and Nina Spada. "Theoretical Approaches to Explaining Second

Language Learning." How Languages Are Learned. Rev. ed. Oxford: Oxford U. Pr., 1999. 31-48. [ISBN: 0194370003]

Packet pages: 126-135

Krashen, Stephen D. and Tracy D. Terrell. "Second Language Acquisition Theory." Chapter 2 of

The Natural Approach. Oxford: Pergamon, 1983. 23-51. [Note: The publisher/distributor for this book is now Pearson Education. ISBN (from Pearson catalogue): 0137100477]

Packet pages: 136-150

Richard-Amato, Patricia. "The Total Physical Response and the Audio-Motor Unit." Making it Happen.

White Plains, NY: Longman, 1996. 115-127.

Packet pages: 151-157

Brock, Cynthia A. "The Effects of Referential Questions on ESL Classroom Discourse." TESOL

Quarterly 20 (1986): 47-59.

Packet pages: 158-164

Kinsella, Kate. "Designing Group Work That Supports and Enhances Diverse Classroom Work

Styles." TESOL Journal (Autumn, 1996): 24-30.

Packet pages: 165-171

Ur, Penny. "Module 7: Topics, Situations, Notions, Functions." A Course in Language

Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge U. Pr., 1996. 90-102.

Packet pages: 172-178

Ferris, Dana. "Teaching Students to Self-Edit." TESOL Journal (Summer, 1995): 18-22.

Packet pages: 179-183