Return-Path: <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id hB4EoTm03276; Thu, 4 Dec 2003 09:50:29 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 09:50:29 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <8231F1C5ECC2854A8438AD48753B3F0CD2815C@mailboxsvr06.mail.fcps.edu> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Ohanian, Michelle M" <Michelle.Ohanian@fcps.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:9692] Re: TABE and Adult LAS for ESL X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 3253 Lines: 94 Is there an assumption of what their real world is and can be? If my family were taught "what they needed" no one would have gone to college but remained illiterate farm hands in upstate New York speaking Lebanese. We have moved beyond only basic survival language skills and added on a cognitively challenging curriculum. Elsa Auerbach has a great article "The Power of Writing, the Writing of Power" (from Focus on Basics vol 3 issue D, Dec 99) on the approaches to adult ESOL writing instruction. It is an informative summary on the approaches through the years with a great bibliography for further reading. Michelle Ohanian ESOL MS and HS Instructional Support Teacher Lacey Instructional Center tel. 703-846-8775 fax 703-846-8604 -----Original Message----- From: nifl-esl@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-esl@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of james phillips Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 12:12 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-ESL:9679] Re: TABE and Adult LAS for ESL Isn't what students need in the real world is oral language development. Book learning is important. But, shouldn't language learning start with speaking and understanding. Here in an area where 90% of the population is Spanish speaking or bilingual at different levels it seems like, in public schools, the emphasis starts with book learning. And, there's lots of language interference. Folks with college degrees are still saying 'these ones' and 'those ones' and 'get down from a auto' and they don't hear words that have a 's' sound at the end of a word, like 'cats' or a 'z' sound as in 'dogs'. In conversations about the subject folks will state that no one ever told them the difference. Does this seem to be a common problem? jp Sylvan Rainwater wrote: > So, what's the point of assessment? And how do we decide what to teach in > our classes? What's driving what? It seems to me that unless we look at the > outcomes we want to see for our students (or what they tell us they want to > see for themselves) we are working in an artificial environment. > > Outcomes-based education looks at desired outcomes first (what do they need > to know how to do out there in the "real world" that we are responsible for > teaching them "in here"?), and then figures out what students can do to > prove that they've learned how to do those things. Those performance tasks > are real assessments. > > Of course, sometimes the performance task is that they can pass a test so > they can move to another level <sigh>, but it's important for us all to keep > in mind what the students really need in order to function out there in the > real world, and to structure our classroom activities accordingly. > > ------- > Sylvan Rainwater mailto:sylvan@cccchs.org > Program Managaer Family Literacy > Clackamas Co. Children's Commission / Head Start > Oregon City, OR USA > > > -----Original Message----- > From: nifl-esl@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-esl@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Kroeger, > Miriam > Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 8:20 AM > > <SNIP> > In addition to validity and reliability, we also have to look at > manageability, training and cost factors. <SNIP> > We are certainly on the look out for assessments that better reflect what we > are teaching in our classes.
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