ESOL in every minute of the school day.

Five kindergarten students, who speak Spanish and Haitian Creole, sit around a table during the daily 15-minute English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) session with an ESOL assistant. This is the only time during their day when they receive instruction geared toward their needs as ESOL students. The ESOL assistant reads out questions, such as, "What is this?," and the students respond in full sentences, "This is a book." The children, who can use only a little English when they interact with their English-speaking classmates are frustrated and bored.

Well-meaning teachers are often unprepared for the influx of ESOL students in their classrooms. Most often, the programs serving ESOL students in public schools include immersion, submersion, and sheltered instruction. Occasionally, bilingual education programs are an option. Consequently, general education teachers are responsible for teaching limited English proficient (LEP) students in their classrooms on a daily basis. This article describes teaching methods, strategies, and activities for facilitating the English language acquisition of nonor limited English proficient children in the early grades.

How 5- to 8-year-old Children Learn a Second Language

Consideration of theory, research, and best practices, in terms of where the areas of child development and second language learning intersect, results in the most effective teaching strategies for young limited English proficient (LEP) students. Children ages 5 to 8 demonstrate concrete-operational thinking, a preference for real, familiar objects and situations over abstract concepts (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969). Consequently, children demonstrate better problem-solving and reasoning skills when the problem is presented through concrete objects in authentic situations, and they retain more information when it is learned in a familiar context. Cummins (1981) proposes cognitively undemanding and context-embedded situations as starting points for children's second language learning. Furthermore, Vygotsky's (1987) concept of the zone of proximal development details how the performance of a challenging but not too difficult task with the guidance of a more experienced partner facilitates children's learning, including complex mental activities. Similarly, Krashen (1982) suggests that comprehensible language input that is slightly beyond the student's current linguistic competence promotes language learning.

Krashen's second language acquisition theory (1982) emphasizes the emotional factors of language learning. Children with high motivation, self-confidence, and low levels of anxiety are more successful second language learners. Furthermore, Collier and Thomas (1996) suggest that an active discovery approach to learning, based on children's previous experiences, enables children to construct new knowledge of language and the world around them.

This review of literature suggests that second language acquisition for 5- to 8-year-old children should take place in a non-threatening, joyful environment that promotes interaction. Hands-on activities relevant to children's interests and background knowledge help to create the appropriate child-centered environment. All children could benefit, as language learners, from the teaching strategies described here for ESOL children. In the following sections, strategies for teachers to use with ESOL students ages 5 to 8 are presented in increasingly linguistically demanding content area examples to demonstrate that all sections of the school day are appropriate for second language development. Furthermore, to highlight the integrated nature of teaching, some possibilities for language and literacy development within the same context are outlined.

Physical Education, Movement, and Music

When LEP children join the mainstream, physical education and movement with music can be used to introduce the new language in a less stressful and very enjoyable way. Through modeling in these authentic situations, LEP children can learn to comprehend the teacher's verbal instructions regarding gross motor activities, such as running, skipping, jumping, throwing, and catching a ball. Children can perform these activities without need for verbal response. Furthermore, Asher (1969) argues that movement and motion will activate memory and reinforce learning. Through constructing the meaning of sentences used in games like Simon Says, such as, "Hop on your left foot" and "Lift your left arm," children learn new vocabulary, including the names of body parts. In addition, they will be exposed to a great variety of verbs, such as "stretch," "bend," and "twist," and adjectives, including "faster," "higher," and "farther." Through the commands in the game, they also will learn the imperative grammatical form. Open-ended motor activities that dramatize imitative movements, such as "Crawl like a spider" and "Dance like a butterfly," can be instructional and can inform the teacher about the child's knowledge. Furthermore, through involvement in games such as dodge ball and flag Frisbee, ESOL children are exposed to authentic socialization with more competent English speakers and are encouraged to internalize demonstrated rules in the second language.

Movement and music, which are important pieces of a developmentally appropriate early childhood program (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997), can be beneficial for second language learners. Songs with movement, nursery rhymes, and fingerplay (e.g., "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"; "Shake, Shake Your Sillies Out"; "Reach the Ceiling"; and "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear") can help young children learn vocabulary and grammatical forms and structures. For example, the song of "Let's Go on a Bear Hunt" includes a vast array of prepositions, such as "around," "under," "through," "over," and "across." Along with movement, visuals can help children construct the meaning of prepositions. In line with this, Lozanov (1982) advocates that music enhances language learning and activates memory.

To help children learn intonation and pronunciation of the new language, jazz chants (Graham, 2001) can be accompanied with clapping, marching, and drumming. Because of the relatively easy vocabulary and repetitiveness, these chants can provide a basis for literacy activities, such as reading and writing words and sharing more rhyming words to make up new chants.

Art

Art activities are usually carried out in relaxed situations. Such informal activities are good times to promote second language learning. ESOL children involved in art activities learn the colors, shapes, names of tools (e.g., "scissors," "glue," "tape," "brushes," "paint"), and verbs (e.g., "draw," "paint," "cut," "match"). Through their drawings, children can express feelings and thoughts for which they do not yet have the vocabulary in the second language. During the silent period, when children absorb the new language but do not yet speak, the teacher can use art for assessing children's comprehension. For example, children can be asked to draw the settings or characters from a story or to sequence a series of pictures as a means of retelling the story.

During art activities, teachers model the language in authentic situations while explaining the task and introducing the new materials and techniques. Thus, the wide variety of art techniques and processes (e.g., collage, crayon drawings, easel painting, potato art, tile painting) initiate new vocabulary learning, especially when less traditional and more common materials are used, such as sand, peas, tinfoil pans, or paper plates. Teachers also model and encourage proper social language at the art table, such as, "May I use your glue?" and "Do you still need the crayon?"

Open-ended art activities create a natural situation for talking about artwork. These discussions can be adjusted to the students' level of language. For a child with emerging speech, yes/no questions could be asked; later, open-ended questions are more appropriate, encouraging use of longer sentences. These discussions can incorporate language to express opinions and reasoning, such as "I like Tom's picture because ..." and "I prefer ... to ...," and gradually children will learn the appropriate language to describe, analyze, and make judgments about works of art.

Math

In math instruction, abstract ideas can be made more concrete in various ways while simultaneously promoting language development. Concepts and terms, such as "addition" and "subtraction" and "add," "sum," and "how many," can be made more tangible and strategically emphasized by using manipulatives. Measurement concepts and comparing and contrasting are made more concrete with the use of water in a jug, while introducing and reinforcing language related to measuring (e.g., "pour," "ounces"), comparing (e.g., "more than," "less than," "same," "different," "equal"), and estimating ("I think this is about half a gallon"). For LEP students, such concrete examples can provide comprehensible input by reducing reliance on language. Furthermore, concrete objects make it easier to demonstrate understanding without the need for full language proficiency, making assessment more direct for both teacher and student.

Literacy can be incorporated with lessons using manipulatives through the use of trade books that illustrate the concepts being taught and writing the vocabulary on the board. Guided writing following the lesson also can illustrate the use of the targeted math language, such as "We had 2 beans. We added 3 beans. Then, we counted 5 beans. So, 2 + 3 = 5" or, "There is more water in the gallon jug than in the half gallon jug. A gallon is bigger than a half gallon."

Science

The Language Experience Approach (LEA; Hall, 1981) can be incorporated with science lessons to promote learning and language development. While LEA is often promoted for native English speakers (Gunning, 2003), it is also beneficial for LEP students (Moustafa & Penrose, 1985). Creating a common experience for children provides fodder for writing and reading, and experiences that build on children's background knowledge create context-embedded language learning situations. Such experiences could include a class walk outside to observe seasonal changes or a science experiment that involves watching larvae becoming butterflies. Upon completing the experience, the teacher chooses the type of writing that best fits the purpose (e.g., sequence, description, instructional) and the class can be guided through a teacher-led discussion and writing experience using chart paper.

This writing piece can be the impetus for further language and literacy work. The repeated use of relevant words (e.g., "leaves," "buds," "wings") can help develop students' vocabulary. Strategic use of verb tenses can improve students' verb conjugations. For example, deliberate and repeated use of statements such as, "The leaves change color in the fall," promotes correct use of present tense verbs; past tense can be used to discuss past activities, such as, "Then, we opened the window to set the butterflies free."

Literacy work based on the written piece naturally follows. Repeated readings gradually increase sight word recognition and fluency. LEP students benefit from opportunities to imitate phrasing and intonation used when reading sentences and questions. Smaller pieces of the written work are useful for promoting literacy development, such as teaching print concepts, sight words, phonics, and punctuation.

Language Arts/Drama

A socio-dramatic play area in the classroom, representing various community settings with ample authentic materials, provides a language-rich environment. Role-play can focus on a language form (e.g., "I would like," "I prefer") or the language used in a type of setting (e.g., post office, library) and could provide information about students' background knowledge. Additionally, students might be asked to script and perform a dramatic representation of a book, also called Reader's Theater (Fountas & Pinnell, 2001). In such situations, students assume a role and communicate in a meaningful context about a common experience. Thus, students are distanced from themselves as learners and speakers, possibly becoming less fearful and more willing to experiment with language and expression (Lozanov, 1982).

Depending on the role-play situation, the potential for language development varies, both in preparation and during play. In preparation for role-playing, language use is extensive in deciding who will move where, what each person will say, describing the situation and setting, and discussing prop use. The use of imperatives, both positive and negative, can be expected to be frequent throughout (e.g., "Go there," "Say this," "Put this on"). Using props increases opportunities for vocabulary use (e.g., "hat," "coat," "basket"). Scripted role-play provides a clear connection with literacy development. Writing the script involves transforming written text to dialogue, and writing, revising, and reading repeatedly. Unscripted role-play, such as a restaurant where a menu with symbols and simple words is used, can promote early literacy development.

Conclusion

While teaching methods, strategies, and activities were separated into distinct content areas for purposes of illustration in this article, it should be noted that each could be used easily within other content areas. Furthermore, these methods, strategies, and activities promote language and literacy development and so can be used to the benefit of not only LEP students, but all students in the classroom. Since, however, the suggestions within this article focus on authentic teaching materials, hands-on activities, and integration with previous knowledge and with language and literacy acquisition, LEP students will clearly benefit from such instruction.

References

Asher, J. (1969). The total physical response approach to second language learning. Modern Language Journal, 53, 3-18.

Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (1997). Developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Collier, V., & Thomas, W. (1996). Effectiveness in bilingual education. Orlando, FL: National Association of Bilingual Education.

Cummins, J. (1981). Four misconceptions about language proficiency in bilingual education. NABE Journal, 5(3), 31-45.

Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2001). Guiding readers and writers, grades 3-6: Teaching comprehension, genre, and content literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Graham, C. (2001). Jazz chants old and new. New York: Oxford.

Gunning, T. G. (2003). Building literacy in the content areas. New York: Allyn and Bacon.

Hall, M. (1981). Teaching reading as a language experience (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill / Prentice Hall.

Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. New York: Phoenix ELT.

Lozanov, G. (1982). Suggestology and suggestopedia. In R. W. Blair (Ed.), Innovative approaches to language teaching (pp. 37-53). Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers.

Moustafa, M., & Penrose, J. (1985). Comprehensible input PLUS the Language Experience Approach: Reading instruction for limited English speaking students. The Reading Teacher, 38, 640-647.

Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1969). The psychology of the child. New York: Basic.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). Thinking and speech. hi R. W. Rieber & A. S. Carton (Eds.), & N. Minick (Trans.), The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky: Vol. 1. Problems of general psychology (pp. 37-285). New York: Plenum.

Tunde Szecsi and Debra A. Giambo are Assistant Professors, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, Florida.