Learning and Leading - December 2012/January 2013

Grounded Technology Integration: ESOL Teaching Strategies

Teachers working with English language learners can and should help both ELLs and monolingual students meet the same curriculum-based learning goals. To do this, instruction for ELLs—not learning objectives— should be modified using specific teaching strategies that provide needed, developmentally appropriate language support. To do this, choose the ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) instructional strategies after identifying curriculum-based learning objectives and the types of learning activities that will best help both ELL and non-ELL students to meet those objectives. Then select the technologies that best support each and all in service of student learning. That is the key to effective instructional planning and technology integration in any curriculum that seeks to promote ELLs’ academic development.

Tech Integration via Learning Activity Types

One way to help teachers integrate technology effectively is to focus on instructional planning. Research tells us that teachers plan instruction primarily according to students’ curriculum-based learning needs in the form of content-based learning activities. To assist teachers with content-based technology integration, we have developed a comprehensive set of learning activity types in 10 curriculum areas, with suggestions for specific educational technologies that can best support each type of learning activity listed. We have organized these activities into subcategories within each curriculum area, so that each content-based collection of learning activity types forms an informal taxonomy. Taxonomies in 10 curriculum areas are available on the Learning Activity Types wiki ( activitytypes.wmwikis.net).

Once teachers have determined the learning goals for a lesson, project, or unit, they review the activity types in the taxonomy for that content area and select, combine, and sequence the learning activities that will best help students meet those learning goals. In this way, teachers choose technologies in practical, and usable ways. We think of this as “grounded” technology integration, because it is based on content, pedagogy, and how teachers plan instruction.

Social studies, mathematics, world languages, secondary
English language arts, science, K– 6 literacy, physical edu-
cation, and music learning activity types were described in
the September/October 2009 through May 2010, plus
September/October and November 2012 issues of L&L.
Here is information about ESOL teaching strategies that
you can use with the learning activity types in each of
those curriculum areas:

ESOL Teaching Strategies

You can adapt curriculum-based instruction for ELLs by
using specific ESOL teaching strategies—supported by
educational technologies—that correspond with students’
language proficiency levels. Given that language
acquisition is a developmental process and that
planning for adapted instruction should be
designed according to students’ develop-
mental needs, the ESOL teaching strate-
gies taxonomy described below is orga-
nized according to four sequential stages
of language development: preproduction,
early production, speech emergence, and
intermediate fluency. This helps teachers
choose developmentally appropriate strate-
gies that complement the curriculum-based
learning activity types used to plan a particular
lesson, project, or unit.

The taxonomy overviewed on page 38 organizes 67 specific ESOL teaching strategies into eight general recommendations for working with ELLs:

• Communicate clearly

• Make content understandable

• Check students’ understanding

• Elicit students’ responses

• Demonstrate and model

• Encourage interpersonal communication

• Group students to assist their learning

• Promote cross-cultural awareness
Once teachers select the learning activity types and ac-
companying ESOL strategies to incorporate within a spe-
cific lesson, unit, or project, they consider the suggested
technologies associated with each.