ELL/ESL Workshop Plan
March 16, 1-3pm, C205
CUNY classrooms frequently feature students with a variety of language backgrounds. This workshop explores the ways in which that diversity can be an asset to a classroom and will offer tools for highlighting these varied perspectives and experiences. We will also discuss specific strategies to encourage ELL students to participate in course discussions as well as tips for assessing ELL student work.

Loose Overview of Time:
I. 1:00-1:15 Introductions
II. 1:15-1:30 Background Info on ELL students at CUNY and what knowing multiple languages opens              up / What it does to your brain
III. 1:30-1:45 Activity I + discussion
IV. 1:45-2:10 Strategies for incorporating language diversity into the classroom
V. 2:10-2:40 Activity II + discussion
VI. 2:40-3:00 Tools for supporting ELL students
VII. 2:50-3:00 Questions and survey

I.Introductions
II.Background Info on ELL and non-ESL ELL students at CUNY
–statistics on language diversity at CUNY
–the brain and bilingualism/multilingualism/plurilingualism
–language acquisition
–language(s) in the classroom
–language/identity + language/student identity
III. Activity I: Language Footprint + Discussion
Consider your language footprint (ie if what’s left behind long after you’re gone is just this ‘language footprint’ (like a shoe print but w/ language), then what would you like it to look like: what language(s) is it in? What structural form does it take? Material form? How is it arranged?
–What do these footprints look like and what do they tell us, as teachers, about working with a variety of languages/language in general?
–In terms of our teaching practice, what kind of opportunities does this exercise open up (both the exercise itself and what we figured out from it) in terms of learning goals/complexities of the class
–How can we synthesize this discussion/these ideas into our own approach/discipline/classes?IV. Strategies for incorporating language diversity into the classroom
–translanguaging
–translation
–language background and structure/critical thinking
–close reading
–language and culture
V. Group Activity + Discussion
In small groups, think about ways you can incorporate multiple languages/language approaches into (1) class discussion and (2) an assignment
VI. Tools for Supporting ELL/ESL Students
–what can you do as a teacher
–instruction methods
–assignment
–assessment
–what’s available on campus
–what’s online, etc.
VII. Questions and survey

On Campus Resources
Many campuses have ELL/ESL centers or Writing Centers that offer support for both instructors and students.  Visit our Navigating CUNY page for a description of resources at each campus:

Projects that come out of CUNY:
CUNY WriteSite
The WriteSite is an Online Writing Lab, or OWL—a collection of writing resources and a way of interacting with other CUNY writers through the Internet. It complements face-to-face resources, like your campus Writing Center, and it’s always open. You could call it a “night OWL,” or a “weekend OWL,” because it’s always here, ready to help you!

Hunter College Writing Resource Center
ELL Resources for writing, speaking, reading and listening, etc. geared toward students and instructors.

Baruch
Tools for Clear Speech
Tools for Clear Speech (TfCS) is an academic support program dedicated to improving the oral communication skills of English language learners (ELLs) and nonnative English speakers at Baruch College. Our primary mission is to guide participants toward clearer, more effective communication by helping them to improve their pronunciation, intelligibility, and pragmatic abilities.

Online Resources from the Center for English Language Support
Resources for teachers, students and tutors

Bridges
The mission of Bridges to Academic Success is to provide educational services to newcomer students who enter US schools with limited academic skills and low levels of literacy in their home languages. While geared toward K-12 learning, some resource information may be helpful.

CUNY-Connected Projects
CUNY-NYS Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals
Primarily geared toward K-12, but the activities and resources are applicable to all levels of learning. The initiative is a collaboration between the Research Institute for the Study of Language in Urban Society (RISLUS) and the Ph.D. Program in Urban Education funded by the New York State Education Department.

References and Reading:
Ofelia García, Professor in the Ph.D. programs in Urban Education and Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Languages and is part of the CUNY-NYS Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals. Her ongoing work focuses on translanguaging and bilingualism. Among her publications:

Garcia, Ofelia and Li Wei. Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. London:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Garica, Ofelia, Tove Skutnabb-Kangas and Maria E. Torres-Guzman. Imagining Multilingual Schools: Language in Education and Globalization. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2006.

(adapted) Eli Hinkel (2010). “What Research on Second Language Writing Tells Us and What it Doesn’t” Research in Second Language Process and Development. (2010).
Adapted by Wake Forest’s Zak Lancaster for a workshop on “Responding Constructively to English Language Learners’ (ELL) Writing. Feb. 6, 2013.

Outside CUNY Resources
National Association for bilingual education
A non-profit organization that advocates for educational equity for multilingual students. The site offers a list of recent publications and features an updates list of conferences shaped around translanguaging and working with multilingual students.

CUNY-NYS Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals
The CUNY-NYS Initiative has compiled a list of several web-based resources for both teachers and students.

UC Berkeley’s Teaching and Learning Center’s Grading ESL Student Writing Guide
A guide that strategies ways to provide constructive and helpful feedback on ELL papers.

Purdue Center for Instructional Excellence
A series of videos for intercultural learning that includes sections on language and language acquisition.

Zak Lancaster, from Wake Forest University, offers additional strategies for responding effectively to ELL student writing