Design, Analyze, and Evaluate a teaching activity.

English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) learners have unique needs. In

Australian schools, learning, and achievement is accessed and demonstrated through English.

EAL/D learners are in need of specific support to improve their English language skills to access

the general curriculum and to allow them to learn vocabulary and area-specific language

structures. EAL/D students are those students whose first language is a dialect or a language

other than English (Gibbons, 2014). Mostly, they require support to enable them to develop

proficiency in English. These students come from diverse, multilingual backgrounds.

The group is comprised of 20 students. Each student is from differing cultural

backgrounds. They are all year 3 students but their knowledge of English is not fluent. Some of

the students are Australian-born or overseas students whose first language is not English. Some

of the students are Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginals whose first language is an indigenous

language, Aboriginal English, creoles and related types.

Instructional scaffolding

It involves temporary support structures that are put in place to help students in

accomplishing specific tasks. Once the students have been able to master or complete the task,

then the scaffolding is slowly removed or fades away. In this context, the responsibility of

learning shifts forms the teacher to the student. This is quite useful for EAL/D learners. The

teacher can be able to meet the needs of linguistically diverse students. This is through the

integration of teaching of English with the contents of the regular curriculum (Walqui, 2007)

(Burgin & Hughes, 2009) (Gibbons P. , 2013). The regular curriculum is the best as it provides

an excellent opportunity to learn English for young English as Second Language (ESL) students.
Even though this context would be essential in learning English, it is applicable in teaching

diverse subjects.

The teacher will first carry out the activity. Essentially, the teacher shows the students

how to do a particular task. It can involve teaching them how to use a graphic organizer. The

students can be asked to think aloud. This teaching and learning activity allows all students to

participate in class. Classroom talk is essential in encouraging the students to learn about

literacy. Explicit instruction provides a means to know how language works and how to use it.

Teaching about the features and purpose of a particular text allow students to acquire knowledge

and be an awareness that is necessary for the application of the skills when listening and talking.

The activities will occur for a total of ten minutes, and are quite beneficial (Cummins, 2000)

(Tuyet, 2013) (Warren, Harris, & Miller, 2014).

The second step requires that the entire class participate. The activities involve

cooperation and presentation. This involves teaching the students about the purpose of a text. For

instance, it can be either to gather information through interviews or entertain themselves

through anecdote. The teacher and students work together to do a particular task. For instance,

the students could suggest information to be updated to the graphics organizer. As the instructor

writes the new data, the students fill their copies of the organizer. These teaching strategy

include strategies for listening and talking in connection with other forms of language. The

teacher has to ensure that the student has the required subject-specific vocabulary needed to

participate in a task (Smala, 2013) (Al-Otaibi, 2004). Specific activities were formulated that

involves self-introduction and interactions.

The next step involves working as a group. This creates an opportunity for interactions.

The students collaborate with a partner in a small cooperative group. They work together
towards completing the graphics organizer. They can either use one that is partially completed or

a blank one (August & Shanahan, 2006) (Al-Otaibi, 2004). Content that is more complicated

would require more scaffolds provided at varying times to assist students to master the content.

Finally, the student works alone. The technique involves self-introduction. The students

are allowed to show their mastery of a particular task. For instance, it can entail successfully

completing a graphic organizer to show the appropriate relationships among the different forms

of information. They should also receive the appropriate practice to assist them to perform the

task quickly and automatically. It involves collecting the answers to a series of questions about a

student. The information can be their age, where they live, grade level, family members among

others (Miller, Windle, & Yazdanpanah, 2014) (Simeon, 2015). These variables are sequenced

into a self-introduction. The learners are provided with large visuals to influence the

development of each element of the self-introduction. The teacher will point to a picture while

establishing a selfintroduction. During the entire process, the students will be listening. The

teacher can then ask the learners to introduce themselves (speaking) to a few of their peers. The

visuals can then be changed, and the student will present themselves to a different class where

they have not interacted before. This new environment can reveal their strengths and weaknesses

when speaking (Wigglesworth & Simpson, 2008) (Hertzberg, 2012). This activity, which can

occur for ten minutes per student, can place in either daily or weekly manner. This will enable

learners to talk in the target language.

Issues

A whole school approach is essential in meeting the needs of different learners. Teachers

should have high expectations for the students and guarantee that listening and talking is equally

valued and visible across a varied range of purposes, subject areas and contexts. Students should
become effective speakers and listeners of English. However, issues can always arise during the

process. Every student has individual needs, and it is imperative that the teacher define their

requirements. It can be difficult to ascertain what a student wants, but this needs should consider

their cultural background and awareness of English. The students bring knowledge, skills and

understanding for negotiating around them and any of these processes have listened and learning

as the basis (Ovando & Combs, 2012) (Sandiford, 2014). The teacher should be aware that the

student already knows how to talk, and there are faced with different listening and talking

demands in the home and school.

It is important to consider the students different learning styles, varieties, forms, and

cultural practices of individual personalities and home language. Using listening and talking as a

tool for learning is vital for diverse learners. The students home language plays a role in in

literary development, particularly aboriginal learners, those from low socioeconomic

backgrounds, and those from language backgrounds other than English (Boyatzis, R.E., E.C., &

Taylor, 2002) (Allington, 2002) (Selmier Ii, Newenham-kahindi, & Oh, 2015).

An issue that would arise is home language. Students experiences in language are often

diverse and rich. The students come from varying linguistic and cultural (Cardinali,

2008)language. It includes languages other than English and Aboriginal English. Some students

home language can be a social dialect that is not English, with varying pronunciations and

distinct accents.

Gender issues can have an effect on students participation in the listening and talking

activities. This will also affect interactions. This is an element of differentiation. It will influence

how learners will learn and understand the language. The teaching and learning strategies can be

influenced by these differences. Gender differences, especially from the cultural background,
would affect how the learner will interact with each other and their participation rates. The

impact can often be seen among Aboriginal students where they members of different genders do

not often interact, thereby limiting the effectiveness of collaborative efforts in learning the

content of the classroom (Genesee, 2006) (Gibbons P. , Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding

Learning: Teaching English Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom, 2014).

The learning process is not a simple linear process. Instead, it involves an ongoing skill

development with a variety of purposes. It arises from the interactions and social contexts around

learners. Essentially, through consideration of ways teachers can scaffold learning and language

in the content areas, then it is possible to follow a holistic approach where the teacher can

acknowledge the struggles the students undergoes when learning a language, and in the same

case gaining awareness and skills on a particular subject. A challenge arises in how the teachers

can address these needs (Griffiths, 2003) (McCloud, Tilley-Lubbs, Chang, Popova, & Smart-

Smith, 2015).

EAL/D principles

A variety of principles characterizes EAL/D. For a start, the transition models often work

against the central principles of language learning. The main principles on EAL/D learning is

that individuals can only learn and communicate in a new language through interaction with

others. The transmission pedagogies have often been characterized as presenting a curriculum

that has been solely based on the needs of the dominant cultures. It does not provide any

opportunity for the minority students to express themselves especially in regards to

nonmainstream views and particular experiences. However, the transmission-based approaches

have been dominant in the context of educating so-called disadvantaged students (Gibbons P. ,
Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning: Teaching Second Language Learners in the

Mainstream , 2003) (Gitsaki, A. Robby, & Bourini, 2014).

The second principle is known as collaborative learning. The social view of learning and

teaching differs from the popularized debate about teacher-centric versus student-centric

learning. Essentially, collaborative learning is a more unified principle where both teachers and

students are seen as active participants in the learning process. Learning is a cooperative activity

among small parties. In the learning activity detailed above, the students will gain through

collaborative learning and is an essential ingredient for their success. The achievement of ESL is

not merely the outcome of background, appearance, or individual motivation. It relies on the

linguistic and social framework where learning takes place. Language learning is a socially

linked activity and is not driven by psychology. Essentially, the activities that teachers choose in

the classroom, and the type of support provided, are vital to the education success of the

students. It is to the characteristics of their support, or scaffolding, that leads to progress (Gurney

& Liyanage, 2015) (Hong-Nam & Leavell, 2006).

Pedagogical strategies

The pedagogy of language support and entitlement involves a teacher who will use and

select a variety of strategies that improve language skills and allow EAL/D students access to the

curriculum content.

Explicit teaching This involve teaching the students of English, how they are

pronounced and the purpose of upper case letters. It also means providing the structure

framework, working on tone and using classroom role plays (Piazzoli, 2015).
 Teaching in context This involves teaching words in a context that they are applicable.

The words within texts are linked to the social content and detail the goal of the whole

text.

Scaffolding and support strategies this involves the repetition and sequencing of

guided, controlled tasks to assist students in understanding the patterns, structure, and

language features (Kafri, 2013).

Practice, preparation, and revision these provides multiple opportunities for learning the

language, especially spoken language.

Modified task and assessment - It is possible to evaluate the students learning needs.

This is achieved with benchmarks. Teaching EAL/D students will allow them to begin

interacting and using complex tasks. It can be hard at first, especially when it comes to

discussions with peers and teachers. In this regard, it is imperative to teach the students

how to speak and listen effectively during the initial stage of education.

Communication strategies

The communication strategies involve the mode of communication. This is the channel of

communication, whether spoken or written. In this context, language occurs where both speakers

can see each other. Other aspects of communication such as gestures, visual cues, and facial

communication have to be put into consideration. What is being expressed though talking is

embedded with visual context. For instance, Put it there, are easily understandable to the

speakers if they can see what is being referred to (Hughes & Bruce, 2013). However, if the

speakers were communicating via the phone, then it would be difficult to understand what the

other speaker means.

Children do not provide enough information for you to understand what they are saying or want,

especially when you do to share the experiences they are referring to. When a child is using a

first language, then the utterance is something that the addressee is known to share. If a child

says, Red bus, then it would be in a context that you saw the red bus too. However, children

will begin to learn to share experiences that the other person does not already know.

In conclusion, EAL/D students are a unique group with differing learning needs. They

require the support of teachers to ensure the effectiveness of the learning and speaking activities.

In the context above, the activities involve the use of scaffolding techniques. This can be quite

effective in improving their speaking and learning skills. However, several issues related to

leaners inherent characteristics will arise during the process, but it is the responsibility of the

teacher to ensure the success of the activities. Several EAL/D principles and communication

strategies have to be applied. Mostly, the EAL/D students can gain from the strategies if

collaboration and participation are encouraged.

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