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Linguistic background:
-Describe the nature of formal schooling of the child
in the home country
Nickolas attended a private upscale school in Athens where he was
an excellent student, with little or no problems academically or behaviorally.
Nikolas consistently scores in the upper 90 percentile on all Greek
nationwide standardized testing. He excels in math and science and
above average in this language arts classes although there is a marked
difference in his abilities in the two areas.
-What type of literacy education did he/she have.
Nikolas has had an excellent literacy education, but in Greek only.
His school is ranked in the top 5 schools in all of Europe. The school
has been recognized for their new and innovative teaching styles and
incorporating literacy into all other subjects including math and
science. He has not received any formal academic English instruction
in the school, but his parents have ensured he has been exposed to
the language.
-What is the priority given literacy / literacy development
in the home (are there books at home, do the parents read with the
child, are the parents literate themselves, etc?)
In Nikolas’ home literacy is stressed as a necessity for their
children, Nikolas’ parents have provided many books and spend
numerous hours reading to the children and have done so even before
they were in school. Nikolas’ father has his doctorate in education
and recognizes the value of literacy. Both of Nikolas’ parents
are not only literate but well versed in the Greek language.
-Describe the linguistic development of the 1st language
of the child prior to coming to the United States
Nikolas is fluent in Greek, he reads at a 5th grade reading level
and at many times in class is frequently bored even though it is an
“advanced” class. Nikolas has written many stories and
poems and understands many abstract concepts of language and how to
manipulate words to be appropriate in many situations. Nikolas enjoys
word games as well as puzzles that deal with words and reading.
-Describe the nature of English language learning the
child had prior to coming to the United States
Nikolas had learned some English with the help of his father and sisters
in the evenings as they prepared to come to America. Nikolas can hold
short conversations and understands simple phrases and questions when
asked slowly. If spoken to in English and the speech come too rapidly
Nikolas becomes confused and easily gives up. He will nod and smile
most times hoping this satisfies whoever is talking to him. His father
has read him several baby and children’s books in English and
Nikolas understands them very well. When it comes to speaking, however
he is very timid and will only speak one word English answers when
spoken to by his father.
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DOA
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2 months
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4 months
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6 months
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L1
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L2
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L1
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L2
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L1
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L2
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L1
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L2
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vocabulary
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L1
above average, rich descriptive vocabulary in both speaking and
writing
L2 approxi-mately 25 words, spoken only. His sight words are limited to logo
reinforced words (MacDonalds, Stop etc.)
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L1 stable, both speaking and
writing; student is writing email to
family an friends in Greek
L2 growing quickly, 150 words
verbally understood, and beginning to read some sight words.
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L1 stable, has some Greek friends
he speaks Greek with, and uses both Greek and English with family. Continues to email in Greek
L2 continuing to grow with
understanding of more words than he is yet using, though he is also growing
in his usage. He is adding sight words
daily and reading beginning readers.
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L1 stable. Continues to use Greek
and English with family and to email in Greek, though less often as he is now
more comfortable with American friends.
Still read Greek books for pleasure.
L2 growing and using more
words. Sometimes answers parents Greek
questions in English when with friends.
Reading
is improving to first grade level.
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Type and length of sentences
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L1 Full rich sentence structure, above average grade
level.
L2 Limited fragments
“Hello” “Thank you” “Please”, “Bathroom”
“Play?”
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L1
Continues above average
L2 Short basic sentences
“Take book?”
“Go bathroom please?”
“Here, you play.”
“Your turn.”
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L1
No loss in length and complexity
L2 Longer basic sentences
“Let’s play soccer!” “Can I have some?” “Whose turn?”
“We’re going to win!”
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L1
No loss in length and complexity
L2 Some adjectives, still basic
“Can I have a green one?”
“I want your team.” “You get new one?”
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Stages of:
1 negation
2 questions
3 past tense
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1“No want.”
“Please?”
No usage observed
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2“I don’t want book.”
“Take book?”
Event order used
“School? I get book.”
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“Why you don’t go?”
" Why you don’t go?”
Uses event order and some “ed”
“We walked”
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“You will not win!”
“Why you lose always?”
Overuse of “ed”
“We wined!”
“I runned
fast!”
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pronunciation
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Poor
Speaks very quietly with strong
accent
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Improving
Speaks up when asked, struggles to
imitate, but has a very strong accent.
Must be asked to repeat often.
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Ok
Understandable, but strongly
accented. Struggles with beginning word sounds. Still must repeat to be understood
sometimes.
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Good
Understandable, though with an
accent. Improving beginning word
sounds, but unable to start words with an “H” Rarely needs to repeat.
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cultural/pragmatic appropriateness
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Nothing inappropriate, but very
shy, stays near his mother, or teacher when children first approach. Will nod or smile despite not understanding
when spoken to.
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Appropriate
Will play when invited by a child
or encouraged by teacher. Will ‘act
silly’ in play for a laugh.
Will ‘act silly’ when not
understanding in a group of children at play, getting a laugh. Speaks English at school, but both English
and Greek with siblings and Greek friend at home.
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Appropriate
Follows instructions, copying
actions of other students when he doesn’t understand. Beginning to initiate
playing with others. Enjoys team games
and is encouraging, often giving teammates an affectionate pat on the back.
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Appropriate
Engaging in social situations
wells. Speaks in English, but will
speak in Greek when asked to by classmates.
Has taught the friends he plays with a few Greek phrases which the
team uses intermixed with English.
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BICS & CALP
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L1 Excellent BICS and CALP, above
average
L2 BICS-few phrases
CALP-knows alphabet
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L1 BICS and CALP remain above
average
L2BICS-gaining phrases, uses with
children
CALP-working on literacy and sight
words
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L1 BICS and CALP remain above
average
L2BICS-growing
CALP-learning sight words quickly,
reading beginning readers
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L1 BICS and CALP remain above
average
L2BICS-continuing to improve, good
with both children and teachers.
CALP-reading 1st grade
books
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prescriptive aspects of English:
grammar, punctuation
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No prescriptive aspects developed
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Marks punctuation when copying,
but not yet writing in English
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Reads punctuation correctly, and
uses correctly. Grammatical errors
with questions, negation and tense.
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Reads and uses punctuation
correctly. Continues to have question,
negation and tense errors, but improving.
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Writing Analysis
“I like soccer. I am good! I run. I run
fast. I kik. I kik ball! I score! Wen the gam!”
Nikolas has an excellent understanding of punctuation.
His spelling indicates his emerging attempts to sound out words in
English, rather than only using sight words. He is keeping his sentences
very short and simple in an attempt to use what he knows and is not
writing at the level his is now speaking. However, he is consistently
improving and will probably continue to develop more vocabulary and
increasingly complex sentence structure as he progresses, just as
he is doing with his spoken English.
Reading Analysis
Nikolas is progressing well with sight words
and beginning readers. He tends to look at the sentence and try to
figure it out before speaking, rather than reading one word at a time.
This is a reflection of his advanced reading skill in Greek. He struggles
with pronunciation and sounding out words in English, but is learning
sight words very quickly. He often picks up clues from the pictures
and inserts incorrect words as he tries to make sense of a passage
from context clues.
Nikolas is reading below his class in English, but still has strong
reading skills in Greek. His school has a “DEAR—Drop Everything
And Read” program for 15 minutes each day. His teacher is allowing
him to read in Greek during DEAR to help him continue his love of
reading. However, he is reading English the rest of the day, and is
also working with his parents each evening to improve his CALP.
General Observations
There are no Greek speaking students in Nikolas’s
class. He does have friends who speak Greek in his neighborhood, and
uses both Greek and English with them. At home he usually speaks Greek,
though his parents speak English with him in helping him with homework
and reading each evening. When out in public, his parents mix Greek
and English and encourage English usage. Nikolas is beginning to intermix
Greek and English himself when he is with his parents and English
speaking friends.
Because of the teacher’s support of Nikolas
and his Greek knowledge, the other students value Nikolas’s
first language skill. In particular the friends he plays soccer and
other games with have wanted him to teach them some Greek phrases.
He has quickly gone from shy to a popular playmate and leader on the
sports field.
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