Education Case Study Field Assignment

ESOL Domains 1-5 with corresponding standards addressed in this assignment , focus on ESOL Standard 3.2

PEACE Project Case Study/ Field Experience

Your field assignment for this class will feature a case study of an English Language Learner. This case study will involve several steps listed below. You are required to cite at least two sources outside of your class text or our class website that you use in order to prepare your case study. These references should be included at the end of your study in APA style.

Your final paper should be saved in a word document that you will upload to Portfolio inside of Canvas as required. Failure to complete the case study or upload will result in failure in the course.

Please name your case study your last name.cs. SP23. For Example, mine would be: Perez-Prado.cs.SP24

NOTE: Grad students ONLY in TSL 5361C are also required to submit an annotated bibliography at the end of the case study with five peer reviewed sources. Two may be from the class website and text.

Steps (these should be clearly marked sections of your paper, please use template provided in How to Pass module):

1. Introduction: (minimum of 2 paragraphs)

Write an introduction to the case study by explaining the scope and purpose of the study as you understand it in the first paragraph. In other words, why are we asking you to do this? Hint: it is not just to help an ELL in his or her language acquisition process, it is also to help you as a teacher or counselor, explain how. What do you think we hope you will get out of this case study, what is the purpose for you as a future teacher to do this?

In the following paragraph give demographic information on your learner. You can find this out when you start to establish a relationship with your learner. Have conversations and conduct interviews with learner and as many important people in learner’s life as you can (parents, teachers, friends, siblings, counselors, etc.). Collect demographic data on your learner during this process and write up a short biography of your learner. Be sure to include native language and length of time learning English. This is the first row of your rubric.

Example:

This paper is a case study of an English Language Learner in a South Florida Elementary School. The purpose of this study was to..... (the purpose should explain what you are meant to get out of the experience as a learner and why)

The case study student is a third grader from Guatemala. She is ..... (language, cultural background, ESOL level, years learning English, family situation, any other interesting or important information you can obtain)

2. Observations/Interview:

Observe your learner in an English language environment the classroom or in a family situation, or wherever you can. Don’t observe more than 1 of the 10 hours you are required to spend with learner. Take notes on participation, issues in understanding, relationship with teacher and classmate, or other s and any other significant things you see.

If you are working with someone who you cannot observe in an English language environment, interview your learner and ask about what happens when they are in an English language environment. How do they feel? What do they struggle with etc. If possible, collect some of your learner’s class work or homework and analyze for potential areas of need in terms of learning English. Write up your observations and document by the date of observation (just one). You may also use the learner’s teacher here to help point you in the right direction or for examples from your learner. If you are working with someone in the family or a friend, you can ask other family members or friends what they think as well as long as that is okay with your learner. At this point you should identify something that your learner needs in order to be more successful in negotiating the second language environment. This might be help in reading comprehension, listening practice, additional vocabulary, tips on how to manage the culture, strategies for increasing interaction with native speakers, opportunities to practice speaking, listening, or other, etc.

Example:

After observing my learner in English speaking class for an hour, I noticed that my student, Ana Flavia, never participated during class discussions. I asked the teacher about this and she told me that she thought Ana Flavia understood the discussion but was shy about participating because of her accent, I asked Ana Flavia and she confirmed that this was the case. We have decided that she needs most practice with speaking in order to gain confidence.....

3. Action Plan

(IMPORTANT SECTION TO GET RIGHT AND THE MOST COMMON AREA TO NEED REVISION BECAUSE OF NOT FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS AND NOT ADEQUATELY EXPLAINING SLA THEORY AND/OR PROPERLY CITING SLA RESEARCH)

Make a plan for helping your learner with his or her English language most pressing need. The need could be in the area of reading, writing, listening, or speaking in English. If you are a school counselor, you may find that your learner needs to work on expressing ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc. in English. This should be a well thought out plan that is based on what you are learning in this class in terms of how languages are learned (SLA theory and practice) and with the input of your cooperating teacher or learner if you are working with an adult outside of a school setting. You will need to cite sources that support your plan that include the online course (see module two), the text (see chapter 2 of LAF text or entire L&S text), and journals/or in the field. Do not, for example, decide that your learner needs to pronounce better and therefore do pronunciation drills with your learner. That would be in direct opposition to what you are learning here (namely that the focus should be more on communication and meaning than perfection in grammar or pronunciation and that drill is not very helpful at all in terms of language acquisition– see learning module two). ALSO, PLEASE DO NOT USE TRANSLATION OFTEN WITH YOUR LEARNER, YOU ARE THERE TO HELP IMPROVE ENGLISH AND THE ONLY WAY TO DO THAT IS TO USE ENGLISH WITH YOUR LEARNER IN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION FRIENDLY (LAF) WAYS.

Write up your specific plan and be sure to reference the sources from the course, text, or other where you are getting your ideas for what works. Look at how the Plan is being graded in the rubric . Please do not make a plan that does not address ELLs but that is more focused on native language speakers. This plan should address a concern related to language/culture issues of non-native speakers so use experts in the field of TESOL to cite from and get ideas from. Also remember to cite SLA theory, explain the theory you are basing your plan on (any theory that is interactionist is a good idea), how it is related to your plan and what practice (don’t tell me all the activities you will do in the action plan, that is the implementation, just tell me how the activities relate to theory) you will implement based on this theory of second language acquisition – how you will put it in to practice. If you are using interactionist theory then you MUST INTERACT with the student. Note: doing crosswords, filling in blanks, memorizing vocabulary and learning sight words does not count as interaction. Please make an appointment to see me if you are having trouble with your case study. I am happy to help! Your LAF text chapter 2 and your online module 2 contain information on SLA theory – please use this information in this section.

Example:

I will base my action plan on the interactionist theory of second language acquisition (Long). This theory states,…. (explanation and citation – Long, Gass, ). I will also keep in mind Krashen’s ….. that states,…Since I am using this model and theory, I have decided to assist Ana Flavia in interacting in English by doing interactive LAF activities with her,..They are based on the research from....that states that ..... SLA theory tells us that ....according to research by ...... I will use these resources…..

HINT: behaviorist theory is not a good idea – go for interactionist or social interactionist! Also, although we love Vygotsky (and can certainly cite and infer from his work) he was not an SLA researcher so should not be the only researcher you cite here. Cite more than one (see Krashen, Long, Gass, Cummins, Brown, etc.) Also love Krashen but he is not an interactionist – see ch. 2 in book for details

4. Pre Test

Begin your implementation by giving your learner a short pre-test. There are examples of short tests in the How to Pass module. You can also use any activity from the LAF text as the pre-test as long as you create a scoring rubric for it. See the rubrics in the how to pass module. You will want to administer this very same test at the end of your case study so keep it, keep your notes on how the learner does and the score (a rubric for speaking, and writing is probably a good idea).

5. Implementation of Plan:

PLEASE USE THE LAF BOOK OF LAF ACTIVITIES FOR YOUR PRIMARY ACTIVITIES WITH THE LEARNER, OR CREATE YOUR OWN LAF ACTIVITIES ACCORDING TO THE LAF GUIDELINES. YOU MAY ADAPT THE BOOK ACTIVITIES FOR YOUR PARTICULAR LEARNER AND CONTENT AREA AS LONG AS YOU DON’T LOSE WHAT IS LAF ABOUT THEM.

Put your plan into action. Because of limited time in the semester, you will only be able to have a certain number of sessions ( make sure there are more than eight – eight is the minimum. If you cannot meet at least eight times and total of ten hours please drop the class and take it during a semester when you are able to complete the case study successfully as I cannot pass you with less than eight interactions) in which to put your plan into action but do the best you can. I recommend that you try to meet your learner twice a week for five weeks in a row to get ten meetings total if possible.

Take notes and write about what happens once you begin your implementation after your pre-test. Keep a journal of your times with the learner by date that you will include in this section of your paper. Provide some written evidence from your learner (these are artifacts that need to be included in your paper), or audio if that is more appropriate to ‘show’ how your plan is working. The artifacts should be within the implementation by date, not all at the end of your case study. For example if you are describing what you did on March 5th, name the activity, describe it, explain how it went and show the artifact right there before you move on to the next date of implementation. If you are using the activities from the LAF book you don’t need to describe them in detail, only any changes you made and how it went. If you have an audio clip embed it there. Please submit only one document, not a series of documents as your case study. Please do not put documentation of what you did with your learner in an appendix.

Remember you are using the LAF activities found in your text for the implementation or your own created LAF activities. You are free to modify text activities by integrating your own content area into the activity. For example, if you are a social studies major you may integrate something from your social studies curriculum as a springboard or content for the activity. See the strip stories activity as an example. The same goes with any other major. What you don’t want to do is change the basic structure and interactivity of the activity – that is what makes it LAF but changing the materials you use to integrate your own content area is perfectly acceptable and a good idea for many activities. If you need assistance or ideas please contact me for help.

REQUIRED Although you are free to integrate your own content area into any LAF activities, you are only REQUIRED to do that twice. Please make sure that you label the two activities that you integrate with your content area as CONTENT ADAPTED. This should be bold, highlighted, etc. It should be very very obvious which activities are integrated and adapted for your particular content area.

Example:

Feb 22, 2022 – CONTENT ADAPTED

Today I spend one hour observing Ana Flavia in her morning class. She never said a word until I had the chance to work with her one on one. We did an activity called,… from the LAF book. I integrated this activity for my content area by adapting it in this way,….Ana Flavia was able to,….

Here is an example of her written work [add pic here]

6. Post-Test

On the last day that you work with your student, administer the very same test again that you did as a pre-test and see how your student does. Analyze the difference or lack of difference in the pre and post-test in your critique (below) of the study and think about what you could have done differently. There are always ways that you could have improved with more time and thought. Think on those and imagine what you could have improved upon, be honest in your self-critique, this is a learning process.

7. Critique:

Critique your plan and its implementation in terms of how you met your learner’s needs. If you feel that nothing worked, write about that and explain why you think so. Include how you would change your plan on another occasion in order to make it work more effectively. If you feel that the plan did work or start to work, tell me why and justify it with examples from your actual interactions with the student as well as support from the literature in TESOL. You are critiquing yourself here, not your learner.

Example:

After reflecting on my case study student experience, I realize that my plan was ....and the implementation of my plan could have been....I might have done....or....instead of ....

6. Reflection & ESOL Standards:

Reflect on your entire case study experience. How did this assignment help you to grow as a professional in your field? What lessons will you take with you for your future interactions with English language learners? Were there any pleasant surprises or not so pleasant disappointments? Remember, we often learn more from what doesn’t work than from what does so don’t be afraid to say it was a flop, just try to figure out why and how you could modify things in the future to be more successful .

This section should also include a discussion of the ESOL domains, standards and performance indicators that you applied in the study. The only standard you are REQUIRED to meet is 3.2. Describe in detail how you met this standard by integrating your content area in at least two of the LAF activities you did with your learner. You should also mention how you included other domains and standards but you do not have to specifically address how you met them.

Example:

This experience was....for me as a teacher. I didn’t expect to...

The ESOL domains that I mainly addressed were... and ..... I touched on the standards under those domains by.....indicated by....

ESOL standard 3.2 states…..I was able to meet this by adapting the LAF activities X and Y in this way,….with my learner.

7. References:

Make sure that you include your sources at the end of the paper in a reference list that complies with APA guidelines. Use the library or the internet to figure out what those are if you are unsure.

Perez-Prado, A. (2021).  LAF with the Habits of Mind: Strategies and Activities for Diverse Language Learners. Westport, CT: Habits of Mind Institute.

Finally, add a signed consent at the end of your document. Here is an example below that you can use

Supervising Teacher/Parent/Learner Acknowledgment

Please have your supervising teacher (parent of ELL or actual adult learner) read and sign off on you doing this case study in his or her classroom and attach this to your case study as the last page.

Dear Supervising Teacher (parent or adult ELL),

Please fill in the form below after having discussed the case study assignment with the FIU student in your class and looked over their guidelines. Feel free to contact me, Aixa Perez-Prado (TESOL instructor) with any questions or concerns at this time or during the semester – [email protected], (305) 905-2273. It is my hope that our FIU student will be able to provide some assistance with the language acquisition journey of a language learner.

I, ______________________ have read (or discussed) the requirements of the case study to be performed by, ____________________in my _________grade class (or other location, please state) at ______________________school. I agree to allow the student to implement this case study with an English Language Learner (or with myself if this is an adult) needing some assistance in English language acquisition. The learner is neither an absolute beginner nor an advanced learner that does not need assistance.

Please add any additional information you would like to be noted at this time below:

Teacher (Parent or adult ELL) Signature:___________________________

Date:____________________________

Learner Signature:__________________