Response+-+9+September+20+Andrew's+Language+Exploration

Paige Smith 9/20/12   ECI 430 Andrew’s Chapter 6 “When Some of Them Don’t Speak English"
 * 1) I chose this chapter because it is about how to teach students that do not know how to speak English well. There will be times when I students in my class that have trouble speaking English and I wanted to learn how I can help them without a struggle. According to Andrew’s, the number of students who cannot speak English proficiently is growing. So the chance of me getting a student like that cannot speak English well is high. He also says that because we do not communicate frequently with other language speakers, that we can be lazy to want to teach those who do not speak English. This should not be the way our schools should be. We should take into interest the knowledge our students should learn. These students want to be there in school and it is our job to make them feel welcome. So my question is what can we teach ELL students? He tells us that that ELL students need to be placed with English speaking students of the same age. They are a person just like anyone else and excluding them can cause them to be embarrassed or anxious. It is important that teach ELL students what they need to learn for the day and not for the future. We cannot assign them worksheets because this will waste their time. They are learning by hearing “chunks” of words. As teachers, we need to allow them to engage with other students and writing activities with people their age. I really loved this chapter and will use it as a resource as I teach.
 * 2) EXPLORATION: Saying What’s On Your Mind
 * 3) He is acting funny. – He is not acting right or different.
 * 4) It beats me. – I have no clue to what is being said.
 * 5) It costs and arm and a leg. – That is expensive or it costs a lot of money.
 * 6) Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. - Do not jump to conclusions.
 * 7) Go with the flow. – Take whatever you are doing easy.
 * 8) Time to hit the sack. – It is time to go to sleep.
 * 9) Don’t pull my leg. – Do not play jokes on me.
 * 10) Try not to jump the gun. – Do not start before you are told to.
 * 11) I believe expressions like these are harder for ELL because they were created by English speaking people and they are the ones who understand them. We created these expression based off of our language. If an ELL student were to hear this, they would not know the exact meaning.
 * 12) I am not sure why people do not say what the mean directly. Our language has evolved and still is and people will create expressions as they need to.
 * 13) These expressions are used so widely because they have become popular over time. I’m sure these expressions have been around for many years and the more people hear them, the more they will use them, even if they are not sure of the meanings.