ESL and Critical Thinking Summary
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Engaging Beginning ESOL Learners in Critical Thinking
Full Thread: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Engaging_Beginning_Level_ESL_Learners_In_Critical_Thinking
Issue:
While ESL students can “get” a picture and describe what they see as a problem, articulating thoughts and ideas around these issues often requires a bit more language – using a bilingual approach helps of course but that’s not always an option. Yet, thousands of people with no or little English have jobs and families and get things done and certainly there is lots of critical thinking going on – and I’m looking for ways of bringing these experiences into the classroom to help teachers see that engaged learning does not have to wait till English proficiency is achieved.
Question:
What strategies and approaches have others used that engage beginning level ESL learners in critical thinking?
Summary
Strategies shared are examples that show us ways for students and teachers to hear alternative experiences and perspectives, thus it serves to remind ourselves that things can be different. This type of teaching also helps students and teachers recognize “agency – that we don’t have to just accept things the way they are. They start with the student's own expression or are rooted in an issue that concerns the student. These strategies invite critical thinking because they orient students towards each other rather than to the teacher, students notice expertise in each other and the strategies help to de-mystify the teacher. Related examples help students work through issues via interactive theatre and critically examining images based on students’ experiences. Other strategies include taking the opposite approach and not requiring students to speak for 2-3 months while listening to stories in English and translated into their language. Full thread contains a plethora of lesson ideas.
Resources:
http://bordercivics.org/Products/Lesson_Plans/Storyboard_Activity_Desc_Table.htm —From Socorro, TX classes, none of the young women from Mexico had ever made tortillas from scratch so they decided to learn, document the process (with story boards and then digital cameras) and share it with others. Link contains the lesson plan by Rosanne Loya and the pictures the students took.
http://bordercivics.org/Products/Lesson_Plans/How_to_Make_a_Craft/How_to_Make_a_Craft_Lesson_Plan.htm —For those of who interested in using craft projects, here’s another example from the Border Civics project by Susan Zander and her students
http://homepage3.nifty.com/park/silent.htm —"The Silent Period Hypothesis: A competing hypothesis describes that in the initial phase of language learning, students should not be required to respond in a target language but should concentrate on comprehension. Competes with other strategies shared
