Cross-Linguistic

Competence
Moving Beyond Language Arts Remediation
It’s not about “best” practice; it’s
about the right practice and the
right instruction for each learner.
Next Steps

No Shared

Responsibility: Sole Responsibility: Responsibility:

Sink or ESL Will “Fix It” Everyone has

Swim A Part to Play

ELD Framework

English as a Second Language

Instruction

Cross-
English Language Linguistic English Language Arts
Development Instruction Competence Instruction and Remediation
Core Curriculum
Framework

Sheltered Instruction

English Language Content Area

Development Objectives Objectives
Requirements
• PHLOTE Assessment
• Parent Involvement
• 45 minutes/one class period a day to develop all 4
(+1) modalities
• Sheltered Instruction in the Content Areas
• Least Restrictive Environment
• Service Plans and Form A’s
• Program Evaluation
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis
• Language interference is real
• Rules and norms of the first language do not
necessarily transfer
• Skills must be relearned in the second
language
Interdependence Hypothesis
• Knowledge in one language supports
knowledge in a second language
• Rules and norms from languages might differ
but these are negotiated
• Most skills transfer naturally from one
language to another
Preparedness Hypothesis
• Academic skills are the key
• Language skills are secondary to background
and intelligence
• School readiness determines literacy and,
therefore, fluency regardless of the first or
second language
Get It Right From the Beginning
• Example(s): Grammar Translation, Audiolingual
Methods
• Avoid fossilization of errors
• Explicit and direct instruction methods
• Focus on linguistic competence and deep literacy
• Conversation is scripted then practiced
• Impromptu language production is slow to develop
Say What You Mean and Mean What
You Say
• Example(s): Conversation and Interactionist
Methods
• Comprehensible Input
• Negotiation of meaning
• Focus on consultative registers and discourse
• Emphasis on cooperative learning and
impromptu language production
Just Listen and Read
• Example(s): Immersion, Comprehension-based ESL
Models including The Natural Approach
• Acquisition is valued above learning
• Implicit instruction and teachable moments are key
• Strategies developed to prepare for both acquisition
and learning
• Receptive skills are primary; production comes later
What Is Teachable
• Example(s): Developmental Models (see
Pienemann 1985, 1988)
• Some things can be taught others cannot
• Language learning only occurs at developmentally
appropriate stages
• Explicit instruction and implicit instruction are
balanced within scaffolding
• Production takes time; error analysis is critical
Getting It Right in the End
• Example(s): Eclectic and Balanced Communicative
Models, including those focusing on academic
language
• Focus on meaning not form
• Assess student skills and readiness
• Scaffold
• Balance student background and academic
demands
• Data-driven instruction
Cross Linguistic Competence
“In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was made flesh. It
was so in the beginning and it is so today. The language, the Word,
carries within it the history, the culture, the traditions, the very life of
a people, the flesh. Language is people. We cannot even conceive
of a people without a language, or a language without a people.
The two are one and the same. To know one is to know the other.”
~Sabine Ulibarri

“Bilingual-bicultural education is like an impressionist painting---

very attractive from a distance, but unclear and confusing when one
gets very close to it.”
~Sabine Ulibarri
Empirical Findings
• Some empirical data is available but limited
• Most data is from small sample sizes, single
language students, or focused on narrow skill sets
(such as phonics)
• Little empirical data exists in the US and with our
demographics, studying students in language
transition
• We continue to study and make strategic decisions
References

Books:
• Developing Literacy in Second Language Learner: Report of
the National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children
and Youth, edited by Diane August and Timothy Shanahan
• How Languages are Learned, Revised Edition, by Patsy M.
Lightbrown and Nina Spada
• Myths and Realities: Best Practices for Language Minority
Students by Katharine Davies Samway and Denise McKeon
• Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL: A Resource Book for
K-12 Teachers, 4th ed., by Suzanne F. Peregoy and Owen F.
Boyle
• Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy, 2nd ed., by H. Douglas Brown
References

Organizations:
• The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)
www.cal.org
• The Center for Research on Education, Diversity,
and Excellence (CREDE)
http://crede.berkeley.edu
• Teachers of English to Speakers of Other
Languages (TESOL) www.tesol.org
• The National Association of Bilingual Education
(NABE) www.nabe.org
Summarizing Format
• GIST: Getting It Summarized Together
• Can be done first as a group or independently
• A 20 word summation of a concept, etc.
• Complete sentences are required as
developmentally appropriate.
• Find various other GIST formats online
Define Your Program
School Plans
• Goals • Considerations
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