My chosen student is a refugee burmese child that has lived in the U.S. for 3 months.
Her native, and only language is Karen. She had never taken English classes before she arrived this country.
During these months, she has tried very hard to learn English. The first time I saw her I thought that she was a child full of energy and potential. Then, I realised that it was true; this student was a shy, innocent, honest, and respectful child. Also, she was willing to learn. After that first day, I observed her learning and progress, and I became aware of the fact that she wasn't learning English so fast. So, I thought about a way of helping her to acquire this second language, and I made a list with all her difficulties, and abilities:
Her native, and only language is Karen. She had never taken English classes before she arrived this country.
During these months, she has tried very hard to learn English. The first time I saw her I thought that she was a child full of energy and potential. Then, I realised that it was true; this student was a shy, innocent, honest, and respectful child. Also, she was willing to learn. After that first day, I observed her learning and progress, and I became aware of the fact that she wasn't learning English so fast. So, I thought about a way of helping her to acquire this second language, and I made a list with all her difficulties, and abilities:
- She only speaks a little of English, and she tries hard to communicate her ideas: She doesn't know how a sentence works in English, and she doesn't have even the basic vocabulary. Moreover, she only has studied English for 3 months.
- She doesn't know how to pronounce the words: I think that this happens since her native language has phonemes that don't exist in English. So, there is a big difference between these two languages.
- Her reading and writing skills are also weak: She doesn't have fluency when she reads aloud because she doesn't know how to pronounce the words. Furthermore, this child doesn't understand the books that she reads because she doesn't know the meaning of the majority of the words. So, she needs a lot of help to understand a text . Besides, she sometimes knows the meaning of the word but she doesn't know how to spell it. That is why she doesn't associate some sounds to the words in the books.
- Her listening comprehension is better than the other three skills: The child understands almost every instruction. However, the teacher has to use simple vocabulary.
Some helpful web sites:
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/
http://eslbears.homestead.com/Contact_Info.html
http://www.manythings.org/lulu/
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/
http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/menu.shtml
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids.htm
Suggestions:
I would suggest that this student should play on these web sites. Perhaps she would have practice after school in company of their classmates, teachers or parents in order to help her if she doesn't understand instructions.
I am sure that technology is a dynamic and entertaining way of learning. Besides, it can really help this child in order to acquire English as her second language.
For these reasons, I think that these websites would help her to improve her listening, and reading comprehension because children like playing. Besides, she would improve their writing skills if she plays spelling games. Moreover, she can realise what some words mean when she would associate pictures and words. Finally, she would practice her pronounciation, either singing or repeating words that are included on some of the web sites.
http://www.manythings.org/lulu/
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/
http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/menu.shtml
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids.htm
Suggestions:
I would suggest that this student should play on these web sites. Perhaps she would have practice after school in company of their classmates, teachers or parents in order to help her if she doesn't understand instructions.
I am sure that technology is a dynamic and entertaining way of learning. Besides, it can really help this child in order to acquire English as her second language.
For these reasons, I think that these websites would help her to improve her listening, and reading comprehension because children like playing. Besides, she would improve their writing skills if she plays spelling games. Moreover, she can realise what some words mean when she would associate pictures and words. Finally, she would practice her pronounciation, either singing or repeating words that are included on some of the web sites.
