ESOL Case Study Joselyne

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	Arrival	1 year	3 years
Vocabulary	Very little use of vocab. Uses gestures to communicate	Less than 100 words. Still uses some gestures.	More developed vocabulary but still not well defined. Fluency still needs to be developed more. Less gestures
Morphemes	Does not use the possessive form. Uses first person singular	Adds morphemes to words; uses them incorrectly	Uses morphemes correctly but has problems with irregular verbs
Syntax	No understanding of word order	Frequent errors in grammar and word order.	Well defined word order
Phonology	Cannot understand her verbal communication	Poor understanding of verbal communication. Frequent misuse of phonemes and phonics	Speaks softly with a definite accent. Verbal communication is clearer. Has some phonics errors and misuses phonemes.
Cultural Pragmatics	Little communication in English; hard to determine	Conversation is limited; frequently uses an incorrect word or phrase.	Occasionally uses inappropriate terms. Occasionally needs to rephrase ideas.
BICS and CALP	Speech is fragmented. Conversation is virtually impossible.	Speaks hesitantly. Often forced into silence by language limitations.	BICS well developed CALP – vocab. not big enough to be well defined.
English/ Grammar	Didn’t understand when or why to use punctuation. Fragmented sentences.	Starting to form complete simple sentences, but incorrect use of articles and verbs. Limited use of punctuation	Greatly improved. Almost to grade level, but sometimes uses incorrect words and punctuation.
Writing	Very little writing. Difficulty forming letters.	Write very simple sentences. Difficulty in readability and legibility. Spelling difficulties	Just about on grade level. Readable and legible. Articulates well. Uses complete sentences.
Reading	Not able to read.	Very little reading. Able to read simple sentences and words.	Reading much better; almost at grade level. Reading full sentences and paragraphs. Fluency still needs to be improved.

Most formal schooling in Haiti is provided by private and religious-based schools. These schools are not regulated and are too expensive for most people too afford. Although by law primary education is free and mandatory for children between the ages of six and twelve, there is a lack of proper teaching facilities because of limited government funding. For every teacher in the countryside there are 550 school-aged children.

Joselyne attended school for one year on her home country. She had a basic foundation for reading and writing when she came to the United States. Education is a tip priority in the home. Since the mother and father are illiterate, they rely on the oldest sibling to read to the younger children. They encourage her to read to her siblings regularly. She also helps them with their homework. The family owns a very small amount of books. The reading material found in the home is mostly from public sources such as the school and the public library.
Prior to coming to the United States, Joselyne was in the emergent stages of reading and writing. Despite the poor quality of education offered to Haitian children, Joselyne was able to pick up the basic linguistic skills needed. In Haiti, Joselyne had no exposure to English in either the written or spoken form.

Joselyne’s BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) at the time of arriving in the United States was well developed. These skills were learned at home, around her family and within social settings. However, her CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) was beginning to be developed, although it was at the early stages. Since these skills were not fully developed in the first language, it has taken her longer to develop them in the second language.

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