In my previous post, I shared a practical five-step model toward integrating culturally relevant texts into the curriculum developed by Sharma & Christ (2017). In this post, I enlist authentic, culturally relevant resources for teachers. Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are… Continue reading Finding Culturally Relevant Text
Author: Capstonecronin
I created this site as my capstone project for a Master of Arts in English as a Second Language from Hamline University. My goal is to aid EL teachers with resources in creating a learning culture that supports the social-emotional needs of adolescent English language learners. This site catalogs some of those resources under four main categories: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Social-Emotional Content, The Affective Filter, and Differentiation.
Q & A
What is Social-Emotional Learning? Social-emotional learning is the process through which children and young adults develop the skill to relate to others, manage their own emotions, and to make responsible choices. Essentially, students who have strong social-emotional skill sets tend to have better academic and behavioral outcomes. It is well-known that early childhood is a sensitive period… Continue reading Q & A
References
Atkinson, D. (2011). Alternative approaches to second language acquisition / edited by dwight atkinson (1st ed. ed.). London; New York: London; New York : Routledge. Norton, B. & Early, M. (2011). Researcher identity, narrative inquiry, and language teaching research. TESOL Quarterly, 45(3), 415-439. doi:10.5054/tq.2011.261161 Buhs, E. S., & Ladd, G. W. (2001). Peer rejection as an antecedent of young… Continue reading References
A Practical Five-Step Model for Selecting Culturally Relevant Literature
As a teacher, I am all for practical guidelines that are simple to follow. During my capstone research, I came across an easy-to-understand model toward integrating culturally relevant literature into the curriculum. The model was developed by Sharma & Christ (2017) and had the following practical five steps, shown in the figure below. A Practical… Continue reading A Practical Five-Step Model for Selecting Culturally Relevant Literature
Finding Text with Social-Emotional Content
In my previous post, I wrote about the benefits of reading text with social-emotional content. In this post, I provide some resources with social-emotional content to consider for instruction. Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say A Japanese man, and later his son both move to America as young men, but they both long to return to… Continue reading Finding Text with Social-Emotional Content
The Incremental Theory of Personality
Know thyself.Socrates In this post, I define what the incremental theory of personality is, explain how reading text with social-emotional content can alleviate stress and aid students in coping with challenging situations. Listening to stories is a great opportunity for self-reflection. When we read a fiction of some sort, we often relive the experiences of… Continue reading The Incremental Theory of Personality
What Can Teachers Do to Lower the Affective Filter? Part 2
In my previous post, I have defined what the affective filter is and explained the importance of keeping it low to enhance learning. In this post, I continue to offer different strategies to lower students' affective filters. Games One way to reduce students' affective filters in the second language classroom is to include game-based learning.… Continue reading What Can Teachers Do to Lower the Affective Filter? Part 2
What Can Teachers Do to Lower the Affective Filter? Part 1
"Good methods are based on interesting stories where you get so interested in the story you forget it's in another language.Krashen Previously, I have written about the importance of keeping students' affective filters low to support students' language acquisition. In this post, I explore what teachers can do to keep English language learners' affective filters… Continue reading What Can Teachers Do to Lower the Affective Filter? Part 1
What is the Affective Filter?
The affective filter is an imaginary screen that filters out the language input. In this post, I define what the affective filter is and distinguish between high vs. low affective filters. The affective filter hypothesis states that three variables affect language learning: the level of anxiety, motivation, and self-confidence of the second language learners (Krashen,… Continue reading What is the Affective Filter?
Asking the Right Kind of Questions
Previously, I have written about using visuals and technology as support in the EL classroom. In this post, I will be exploring how teachers can create questions to check for reading comprehension for various English proficiency levels. In an immersion classroom, ideally English language learners and native speakers of English should be working on the… Continue reading Asking the Right Kind of Questions
Social-Emotional Learning in the EL classroom 