OREGON ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY STANDARDS

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to develop the Oregon English Language Proficiency Tests. ... The English Language Development Standards will provide teachers with information they.
OREGON DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OREGON ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY STANDARDS

June 2004

INTRODUCTION Achieving full proficiency in English includes far more than mere fluency in conversation. It means students know English well enough to be “fully competitive in academic uses of English with their age equivalent speaking peers.” (Hakuta, 2000)

A committee comprised of practitioners and experts in English language development (ELD) and assessment developed these English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards. The standards are designed to assist teachers in moving limited-English proficient (LEP) students—English language learners (LEP students) to fluency in English and proficiency on the Oregon English-Language Arts Content Standards. The ELP Standards will also be used to develop the Oregon English Language Proficiency Tests. The standards were reviewed by teachers throughout Oregon, the draft standards were posted on the ODE website for public comment. The standards were presented as an informational item to State Board of Education (SBE) during their October 2003 meeting with the understanding that the document will undergo some modifications and additions to better align these ELP Standards with developmental proficiency levels and with the Oregon English-Language Arts Content Standards that were adopted by the SBE in January 2002 and June 2002 as well as the language used in the content standards of mathematics, science and social studies. The revised document will be presented for SBE approval in June 2004. The SBE adopted English-Language Arts (ELA) Content Standards define what all Oregon students, including students who are speakers of a language other than English, are expected to know and be able to do. The ELP Standards are designed to supplement the ELA standards to ensure that LEP students develop proficiency in both the English language and the concepts and skills contained in the ELA standards. The English Language Arts Framework assumes that all students will attain proficiency on the ELA standards, but it also recognizes that not all learners will acquire skills and knowledge at the same rate. This is especially true for Oregon’s 54,000 English learners. More than 14% of Oregon's students have a primary language other than English and are not yet fluent in English. These students enter school with very different language abilities than English-speaking students who begin school having mastered basic-English sentence structures. LEP students enter Oregon public schools at all grades with limited or no knowledge of English vocabulary and sentence structure. Many of these children are unfamiliar with the Roman alphabet, and those who know the alphabet generally have to learn new sounds for many of the letters and in some cases new letters. LEP students need to "catch up" to the state's English speakers. The ELP Standards address skills LEP students must acquire in initial English learning to enable them to become proficient on the ELA standards. Students who speak a language other than English face a daunting task. They must learn both the language (phonology, vocabulary, syntax, forms, functions, and cultural context) and content matter, all the while competing with native-English speaking peers who are rapidly increasing their knowledge of both the English language and academic subject matter. For instance, they may learn grammatical structures that English speakers learn early in their language development, much later.

Regardless of the type of program in which LEP students are enrolled – mainstream English, Structured English Immersion, dual language, early transition-bilingual, late transitionbilingual, or native language literacy – each student must receive: • •

Instruction in English at his or her level of proficiency in English, and Meaningful access to grade-level academic content (Castañeda v Pickard, 1986; NCLB Sec. 1111)

This means we must provide English Language Development (ELD) as a discipline and as a means to make content area instruction meaningful. In other words, we must teach language for its own sake – for general and academic purposes – and for the purpose of making content learning possible (Dutro, 2002). This instruction must, of course, be provided within an inclusive, bias-free learning environment, which recognizes and builds upon the value of the language, culture and experiences of each child. Academic language is different from everyday speech and informal writing. It is the language of texts, of academic discussion and formal writing. Without academic language proficiency students will not achieve long-term success in school. LEP students at the intermediate and advanced levels of ELD who receive no formal language instruction, demonstrate oral fluency, but generally show critical gaps in language knowledge and vocabulary. Academic language must be continuously developed and explicitly taught across all subject areas. The English Language Development Standards will provide teachers with information they can use to ensure that English-language development is occurring appropriately for all LEP students. The ELP Standards were designed for students in grades K – CIM who are literate in their primary language. For LEP students who enter Oregon schools in these grades not literate in their primary language, a supplement to this document will outline those early and basic literacy skills that must be taught before presenting skills contained in this document. This supplement will be developed during the 2004-2005 school year. The ELP Standards encapsulate suggestions to teachers for ensuring that the needs of LEP students are addressed. These suggestions explicitly state what it is that all LEP students need to know and be able to do as they learn English and also move toward mastery of the Oregon ELA standards for their grades. The ELP Standards delineate the proficiency levels required to move through the levels of English-language development. They are designed to move all students, regardless of their instructional program, into the mainstream Englishlanguage arts curriculum. The levels of developing proficiency in a second language have been well documented through research, and the ELP Standards were designed around these levels to provide teachers in all types of programs clear benchmarks of progress. The standards provide different academic pathways that reflect critical developmental differences for students who enter school at various grade levels. The ELP Standards are written as pathways or benchmarks to the Oregon ELA standards. At the early proficiency levels, one ELD standard may simply be a pathway or an introduction to an ELA standard. At the more advanced proficiency levels, the skills in the ELP Standards more closely approximate those of the ELA standards and represent the standards at which LEP students have attained academic proficiency in English. The ELP Standards integrate listening, speaking, reading, and writing and create a distinct pathway to academic English. Page 3 of 19

The major benefit of adopting ELP Standards is to provide criteria that can be used to document LEP students’ progress or lack of progress in learning English. The ELP Standards provide criteria that can be used to develop assessments to monitor student progress in acquiring English. LEP students working at the advanced proficiency level of the ELP Standards are to demonstrate proficiency on the ELA standards for their grade level and all prior grade levels. This means that LEP students must acquire prerequisite skills at earlier proficiency levels. Teachers are to monitor LEP students' acquisition of English and to provide intervention so that kindergarten children working at the Advanced ELD proficiency level and students in all other grades working at the Early Advanced proficiency level will have internalized English language skills to such a degree that the teacher will often observe the students correcting their own grammar, usage, and word choices in speaking, reading, and writing. While there are many opportunities during the course of a day in a language-rich classroom environment for language learning, merely being exposed to, even engaged in, activities in English is not sufficient to assure the development of full academic language proficiency. LEP students must receive instruction on a daily basis during specific times, with differentiation based on their English proficiency level. Effective ELD actively develops competence in the functions, forms and vocabulary of English and provides many opportunities to develop oral and written fluency. This document, therefore, also includes English language development standards that must be taught to LEP students specifically and that are typically acquired by native-English speakers naturally and generally earlier in their language development. This section outlines specific English language functions and forms that by definition do not appear in the ELA standards document and are crucial in the English language development of LEP students. Therefore, they must be taught explicitly, intentionally and aggressively.

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English Language Proficiency Standards The following ELP Standards are designed to assist classroom teachers in assessing the progress their Limited English Proficient (LEP) students (English language learners - ELLs) are making toward attaining full fluency in English. Since the strategies used to help students attain proficiency in English differ with the age at which a student begins learning English, the standards include outcomes for students who begin learning English in kindergarten though CIM. These grade-by-grade standards were developed to help teachers move LEP students to full fluency in English and to proficiency on the Oregon English-Language Arts (ELA) Standards. LEP students working at the Advanced proficiency level on the ELP Standards are to demonstrate proficiency on all standards detailed in this document and all Oregon ELA standards for the grades in which they are enrolled. LEP students working at the Intermediate proficiency level of these ELP Standards should demonstrate proficiency on the ELA standards for all prior grades. These comprehensive standards also provide detailed proficiency levels. This refinement is needed so teachers can better assess the progress their students are making. The proficiency levels addressed are: 1. Beginning: Students demonstrate minimal comprehension of general meaning; gain familiarity with the sounds, rhythms and patterns of English. Early stages show no verbal responses while in later stages one or two word responses are expected. Students respond in single words and phrases, which may include subject or a predicate. (bear, brown) Comprehension Understands expressions and commands, follow basic instructions, understand the spoken word, demonstrate different sounds, and identify rhymes and rhythms. Progression of Student Competences: Physically/Nonverbally - listen, point, nod, gesture, act-out, show, manipulate objects/pictures (match, choose, categorize), summarize using objects, gestures, visuals. Verbally – Repeat, tell, say, list, identify people, object, place, answer yes/no, who, what, where. Reading (later stages) – Use sound/symbol relationships in known words and read high frequency words. Writing – Draw, circle, label, match, simple sentences with frames. 2. Early Intermediate: Students 3. Intermediate: Students demonstrate demonstrate increased comprehension of good comprehension of general meaning; general meaning and some specific increased comprehension of specific meaning. Use routine expressions meaning; respond in more complex independently and respond using phrases sentences, with more detail using newly and simple sentences, which include a acquired vocabulary to experiment and subject and predicate. (The bear is form messages. (The brown bear lived brown. He is eating.) with his family in the forest.) Comprehension may be demonstrated Comprehension is demonstrated by through participation using key words and responding orally and in written form familiar phrases, face-to-face interactions, (charts, graphs, diagrams). Students one or two word responses, and nondemonstrate good comprehension. verbal responses. Page 5 of 19

Progression of Student Competencies: Oral language – Recite familiar songs, poems, ask and answersimple questions, role-play, retell, summarize Reading – Read high frequency words, contextualized vocabulary and language structures in texts that are in familiar, patterned, predictable and/or language experience. Read decodable text with letter/sound patterns that have been explicitly taught. Writing – From own experience write using frames or simple vignettes and word banks. 4. Advanced Intermediate: Students demonstrate consistent comprehension of general meaning; good understanding of implied meaning; sustain conversation, respond with detail in compound and complex sentences; actively participates using more extensive vocabulary, use standard grammar with few random errors. (Can bears live in the forest if they find food there?). Comprehension is demonstrated by responding in oral and written form in both context embedded and context reduced situations, few grammar errors. Progression of Student Competencies: Oral and Written Language – Present, report, identify main idea, supporting details and concepts, solicit information, analyze, predict, hypothesize, identify antonyms, synonyms, use affixes with known vocabulary; infer word meaning from context. Reading – Read grade-level text with English language development (vocabulary & structure) support through pre-teaching. Writing – Compose with scaffolds (formats, vocabulary webs).

Progression of Student Competencies: Oral Language – Compare/contrast, identify main points of story, explain, describe, define using content-related vocabulary. Reading – Read most high frequency words, contextualized vocabulary and language structures in text that is familiar and may be predictable. Read more complex text from language experience. Writing – Write using frames or simple vignettes from experience (with content word banks and other supports). 5. Advanced: Students’ comprehension of general and implied meaning, including idiomatic and figurative language. Students initiate and negotiate using appropriate discourse, varied grammatical structures and vocabulary; use of conventions for formal and informal use. (Would you like me to bring pictures of the bear that I saw last summer?) Comprehension: Demonstrates comprehension in decontextualized situations, orally and in writing. Progression of Student Competencies: Oral and Written Language – Debate and support, point of view, evaluate, persuade, justify, explain common antonyms, synonyms; recognize multiple meanings in text of familiar topic, understand/ create jokes. Reading – Read grade-level text with English language development (vocabulary and structure) support through pre-teaching. Writing – Compose more complex writing using conventions.

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LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS LANGUAGE FORMS Language functions and target forms will be taught to all LEP students regardless of grade or proficiency level. Functions are the purposes and uses of language – make a statement, joke, inquire, compare – in formal and informal settings, and for social or academic purposes. Social Purposes: Expressing needs and wants, exchange greetings, personal conversation. Academic Purposes: Seek/relate information, compare/contrast, cause and effect, draw conclusions, summarize, conduct research, persuade. Functions are the building blocks for connecting thinking and language. Early use of academic language accelerates acquisition. Language functions are used on a continuum from simple to complex, orally (express opinion, participate in discussion) and in writing (description, persuasion). They are determined by the situation and by the content concept. The language function determines the form, or structure, needed. (Dutro, 2002). Forms: Refer to grammatical features and word usage. They are the building blocks for discourse, reading and writing, complex language, and cognitive processes. Forms are determined by the need (the language function), and students’ level of proficiency. They include: Parts of Speech: verb tenses, subject/verb agreement, use of pronouns, conjunctions. 1. Sentence Structure (syntax): complex and compound sentences, embedded/tag questions, word order. Academic language is different from everyday speech and informal writing. Simply accessing prior knowledge and assuring student motivation and interaction – while critical – are not enough to assure student learning. Academic language must be continuously developed and explicitly taught across all subject areas. Teachers must thoughtfully consider language, content and cognitive processes involved in the learning task. The following chart can be helpful. Cognitive Processes • Analyze • Draw Conclusions • Synthesize • Compare/Contrast • Provide evidence • Explain

Academic Language • Language of literacy books, texts and formal writing • Narrative & expository text structure • Language structure • Conjunctions • Parts of speech • Grammar • Sentence complexity • Academic vocabulary of two general types: Content Specific and Basic and general utility words.

Proficiency: Authentic and relevant practice and application in varied contexts leads to fluency, that is, ease with which one comprehends or produces language.

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Vocabulary Development One way to define vocabulary is all the words and 'lexical items' of a language AND THEIR MEANINGS. A lexical item could be one word, or it could be several words that combine to have one collective meaning. For example: 'put up with' is a 'lexical item' composed of three words, BUT it has one meaning: 'endure'. A rich and varied vocabulary is needed to be a fully proficient English speaker and writer. This includes multiple meaning words, idiomatic phrases and expressions. One way to look at vocabulary is to consider three types of words or phrases: • • •

High frequency general words Non-specialized academic words Specialized content area words

High frequency general words: are used regularly in everyday contexts and are defined as “basic words that communicate ideas, feelings, and actions (for example, commonly used adverbs and nouns); proper nouns used through printed matter; and connective words used to join and express complex relationships among sentences” (Daines, 1982, p. 120). Non-specialized academic words: are defined as the academic words used across multiple content areas. For example, in the question “What do the stars on the American flag represent?” represent is an example of a non-specialized academic word. Specialized content area words are defined as vocabulary unique to content areas. Academic words: are words specific to the content and concepts being taught and include words such as: government, symbols, arid, revolt, War of Independence, habit, paddle, predator, adaptations, climate, grams, right-angle, polarized, and germinate.

Language Fluency Language fluency refers to the ease of comprehension (listening and reading) and production (speaking and writing). In many cases where students have studied a language, but had little exposure to every day interactions in that language, students may not be able to understand speech as well as they can read and write it. However, in the case of most immigrant children they are exposed to English through the media and everyday interactions. For these students receptive language precedes (and generally exceeds) expressive language. Teachers must consciously model forms above the student’s current expressive level while maintaining comprehensibility. Students develop fluency through authentic and engaging uses of language – both oral and written – and opportunities to practice newly learned structures in different contexts. Fluency in many forms and functions is required for academic success – consider standardized testing, classroom participation, reading of literature and informational text, writing essays and presenting oral reports. Page 8 of 19

Listening and Speaking Instructional Framework Strategies and Applications The Listening and Speaking standards for Limited English Proficient students-LEP (Englishlanguage learners - ELLs) identify a student's competency to understand the English language and to produce the language orally. Students must be prepared to use English effectively in social and academic settings. Listening and speaking skills provide one of the most important building blocks for the foundation of an additional language acquisition. These skills are essential for developing reading and writing skills in English. LEP students achieving at the Advanced ELD proficiency level should demonstrate proficiency on the ELA standards for their current and prior grade levels. This means that all prerequisite skills needed to achieve the ELA standards must be learned by the Early Advanced ELD proficiency level. LEP students must develop both fluency in English and proficiency on the ELA standards. Teachers must ensure that LEP students receive instruction in listening and speaking that will enable them to demonstrate proficiency on the ELA Listening and Speaking Instructional Framework. The proficiency levels for Listening are described below. Beginning: Has limited or no understanding of English and is able to participate by listening, uses gestures to demonstrate understanding of simple adjusted rate of speech in daily routines. Early Intermediate: Identifies basic structures, employs active listening to timing and alliteration, becomes aware of speaker’s purpose, and responds by asking questions. Listens to simple stories, demonstrates comprehension through participation, demonstrates understanding of some social speech at adjusted rate of speed with speaker using frequent repetition.

Intermediate: Follows instructions, actively listens, identifies variation in sound/intonation, responds to speaker, identifies main idea of the story and the speaker’s message, participates in activities that demonstrate increasing comprehension such as group discussions, understands more complex speech, but still relies on some repetition and adjusted rate of speech.

Early Advanced: Listens attentively, follows oral directions, responds to verbal and nonverbal clues, listens to and restates a set of directions. Uses listening skills to participate in-group discussions in a variety of settings, writes sentences from dictation.

Advanced: Demonstrates understanding at a level of non-ELL peers with less reliance on contextual supports and understands most idioms, figures of speech, and words with multiple meanings, especially in academic settings.

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The proficiency levels for Speaking are described below. Beginning: Responds primarily non-verbally to simple commands, statements and questions (point, nod, choose). May begin to imitate the verbalizations of others by using single words or simple phrases. Produces some original language, uses expressions; acts out plays requiring very little dialogue; tells personal stories. Early Intermediate: Communicates effectively one-on-one and in small groups, uses a variety of words and simple sentences, retells stories and poems, uses subject/verb agreement, uses adverbs and adjectives, sequences events properly. Identifies items with short oral responses, makes appropriate oral responses to commands and questions, communicates meaning through facial expressions, gestures, pitch and tone, recites simple poems, songs and chants, answers who, what, where, when questions with one or two words, begins to use English spontaneously making attempts to communicate using single words, phrases or simple sentences that may have inconsistent use of standard English, grammatical forms and sounds.

Intermediate: Speaks clearly with appropriate vocabulary and pronunciation, sequences events, uses creative drama, engages in questions and answers, contributes to discussions, participates in panels and problem solving. Participates in every day conversations about familiar topics.

Early Advanced: Uses standard pronunciation, expresses ideas/feelings, relates personal experiences, uses words/phrases in context, presents readings with appropriate expression, recognizes the speaker’s point of view, dramatizes, analyses what is heard, tells jokes. Uses longer, more complex sentence patterns.

Advanced: Communicates effectively with all audiences on a wide range of familiar and new topics to meet social and academic needs using complex structures and abstract academic concepts. Demonstrates ease using frequently used idioms, figures of speech, and words with multiple meanings, especially in academic settings

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Reading Instructional Framework Strategies and Applications The foundation for developing English reading skills for all students is a solid initial understanding of the relationships between the spoken and written language. For the Limited English Proficient student (LEP) -English language learner (ELL) these concepts are first developed through the recognition and production of English sounds. Students need to first learn those sounds that exist in their first language and then those that do not exist in their first language. Students then are taught to transfer this knowledge to the printed language. As students develop knowledge of the correspondence between sounds and printed symbols, they also develop skills to deal with English morphemes (i.e., prefixes, suffixes, root words, etc.). These word analysis skills are some of the building blocks students need to develop fluency in English and to develop literacy skills. English speakers are expected to recognize and produce all of the English sounds no later than first grade. This knowledge is then used in phonics instruction when children learn to match the English sounds with printed letters and to use this knowledge to decode and encode words. LEP students in kindergarten through third grade are to demonstrate proficiency on the ELA phonemic awareness, concepts about print, and decoding and word recognition standards appropriate for their grade levels by the time they are at the Advanced ELD proficiency level. Care should be taken to ensure that students work with vocabulary and concepts that are meaningful to and understood by them. In the ELP Standards document, the ELA standards are in the column labeled Proficient. The specific sequence for teaching phonemic awareness, concepts about print, and decoding and word recognition skills is more specific within the ELD kindergarten through third grade, because the ELA standards for these grades focus primarily on developing literacy fluency. At grades four through CIM, students must greatly increase their content knowledge, in addition to learning English language literacy skills. Older students with properly sequenced instruction may achieve literacy more rapidly than very young children. The ELA standards for grades K – CIM have "linking" ELP Standards within each grade level that are designed to help students achieve proficiency on their grade level ELA standards by the time they reach the Advanced ELD proficiency level. It is expected that students at the Advanced ELD proficiency level will demonstrate proficiency on the ELA standards for their current and prior grades. In order for English language learners (LEP students) to improve their English proficiency and to reduce the likelihood that their English skills will level off before they reach fluency, it is important that they learn content along with language skills. Instruction grounded in academic areas such as literature, mathematics, social sciences and science not only familiarizes learners with the content of the discipline but more importantly, it teaches them how to use the language required to communicate in the discipline (Mohan, 1986). LEP students at all fluency levels are highly motivated by content-based instruction. They immediately see the value of learning to use English to meet their everyday needs and to help them succeed in school as they learn how to communicate in an academic area (Snow, Met, and Genesee, 1989). Students whose English is likely to plateau short of fluency can be motivated to work harder to develop English fluency so that they can communicate successfully in an academic area they think may be important in their future. Page 11 of 19

It is critical that LEP students learn the reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills necessary to achieve English fluency. Achieving fluency requires learning the basic structure of English (Gass and Selinker, 1994). Literature is a critical component for developing fluency in English. Through literature, LEP students are exposed to a broader range of English grammatical constructions and usage than they will generally experience in listening and speaking. Reading and responding to literature are also vehicles through which all students, including LEP students, develop rich vocabularies. Teachers will frequently give students writing assignments for which they use literature as a model to produce an independent piece of writing. As LEP students study literature, the opportunities for them to understand and use various literary features in their own writing increases. This in turn will enable them to move toward demonstrating proficiency on all of the Oregon Englishlanguage arts standards. At the lower ELD proficiency levels, reading materials should be at the student's developmental proficiency level. Grade-level reading materials should be used with students working at the Advanced level. Students working at the Advanced proficiency level of the ELP Standards should also demonstrate proficiency on the ELA Literary standards: Develop an Interpretation of literary texts; examine content and structure of literary text; demonstrate general understanding of literary text; develop and interpretation of literary texts; and, examine content and structure of literary texts. The descriptions of proficiency levels in reading follow. Beginning: Recognizes letters, shows phonics skills, distinguishes vowel and consonant sounds, and possesses small sight vocabulary. Observes story telling, chanting, singing, attaches meaning to some print, practices reader-like behavior, selects books to “read,” constructs meaning from text primarily from non-print features (illustrations, graphs, maps, tables). Early Intermediate: Predicts outcomes, recalls facts and details, identifies main idea and draws conclusions, understands the feelings of characters, follows simple written directions, uses the dictionary to determine meanings. “Reads” along with the group, recognizes and uses a variety of spatial and locational words, retells stories using pictures, objects, illustrations, memorizes simply rhymes, songs and chants, participates in shared reading.

Intermediate: Uses complex phonics and content for word identification, uses the dictionary, summarizes and sequences events, describes time and setting, understands themes and feelings, uses graphic resources for information.

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Early Advanced: Follows written directions, uses word clues to decode text, reads/responds to a variety of literature, locates information/resources, sequences story events, identifies main ideas/details, dramatizes characters/feelings, draws conclusions/predicts outcomes relates literature to personal experience, expresses opinion, interprets stories/poems/legends, evaluates materials, gathers information

Advanced: Reads competently to meet both social needs and academic demands for specific purposes and audiences. Reads with considerable fluency. Chooses and enjoy materials for personal reading with scope and difficulty comparable to that being read by nonELL peers.

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Writing Instructional Framework Strategies and Applications As Limited English Proficient students (LEP) - English language learners (LEP students) begin to develop language skills in listening, speaking, and reading, they also need to develop writing skills. Linguistic studies note that LEP students will transfer language skills from their primary language to English (Odlin, T., 1989), particularly if there are similarities between the languages and if students are substantially literate in their first language. Research also indicates that integrating the four language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) is crucial to developing effective writing for LEP students (Mangelsdo rf, 1989). Reading is particularly important, because it provides LEP students with opportunities to acquire grammar, expand vocabulary, gain increasing fluency with written texts, and improve speaking skills (Carrel, Devine, and Skey, 1988). Reading provides students with model sentence pat terns and linguistic structures. However, improved writing does not necessarily follow from reading. For LEP students to apply their knowledge of sentence patterns and linguistic structures, they must put into practice what they observe from reading by engaging in a variety of types of writing. If LEP students are to become successful users of English, their integrated/instructional program must include numerous opportunities to develop writing skills. The ELP Standards identify the stages through which English language learners (LEP students) must pass to use the conventions of English effectively in writing. Based on the degree to which their primary language differs from English in its written form, and the degree to which students are already proficient writers in their primary language, LEP students face unique challenges as they work to successfully use the conventions of written English. At all ELD proficiency levels, LEP students are to produce writing that includes correct English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling for words appropriate for the students' developing fluency in English. By the Advanced ELD proficiency level, LEP students are to demonstrate proficiency on both the ELD and the ELA standards for their current and all prior grade levels. The descriptions of proficiency levels for writing follow. Beginning: Responds to literature by drawing, demonstrates legible handwriting, demonstrates copying skills, performs basic spelling of simple words, illustrates ideas or events to convey meaning, copies (alphabet, numbers, words, sentences), retells stories by using appropriate gestures, expressions and illustrative objects. Early Intermediate: Uses a variety of preIntermediate: Applies writing activities, writes in complete sentences, punctuation/capitalization, writes legibly, uses punctuation/capitalization and systematic uses systematic methods to spell methods to spell. Uses scribbles, invented complex words, writes brief description of marks, rebus for illustration to convey an idea personal experiences, recognizes/writes or event, writes name, participates in language in complete sentences, writes for a experience activities, text may include a variety of purposes and audiences, significant amount of non-conventional writes in proper sequences, collects features such as invented spelling, some information from various sources, grammatical inaccuracies, pictorial narrows topic, does prewriting activities, representations, surface features, and gives reasons to persuade. rhetorical patterns of the native language that interfere with communication of meaning. Page 14 of 19

Early Advanced: Writes legibly in manuscript and cursive, uses conventions of writing, applies basic spelling, uses correct forms and patterns, writes for multiple purposes, elaborates ideas and details, does pre-writing and first draft writing, writes to inform and entertain, persuades, writes original poetry.

Advanced: Writes competently to meet both social needs and academic demands for specific purposes and audiences. Few grammatical errors do not interfere with meaning.

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Oregon English Language Proficiency Standards Glossary Academic Language

Academic words:

Includes language of literacy, books, texts and formal writing; Narrative and expository text structure; language structure; conjunctions; parts of speech; grammar; sentence complexity; academic vocabulary of two general types: content specific and basic and general utility words required to build sentences. Are words specific to the content and concepts being taught and includes words such as: government, symbols, arid, revolt, War of Independence, habit, paddle, predator, adaptations, climate, grams, right-angle, polarized, and germinate.

Affix

A word part that changes the meaning or function of a root or stem word to which it is attached.

Alliteration

The occurrence in a phrase, line of speech or writing of two or more words with the same initial sound.

BICS

Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills.

CALP

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency.

Cognates

Words in different languages related to the same root, e.g., education (English), educación (Spanish).

Cognitive Processes Descriptors

Include: analysis, drawing conclusions, synthesize, compare/contrast/ provide evidence, explain. Are broad categories of behaviors that students can demonstrate when they have met a standard.

False cognates

Words from different languages that sound alike and are similar in form but are unrelated in meaning.

Fluency

Fluency refers to the ease of comprehension (listening and reading) and production (speaking and writing.

Forms

Refers to grammatical features and word usage. They are the building blocks for discourse, reading and writing, complex language, and cognitive processes. Forms are determined by the need (the language function), and students’ level of proficiency. Are the purposes and uses of language – make statements, joke, inquire, compare – in formal and informal settings, and for social or academic purposes. Functions are the building blocks for connecting thinking and language.

Functions

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Goals

Are defined as overarching intentions for English language use; they are tied to social and academic language and appropriate use.

High Frequency Are used regularly in everyday contexts and are defined as basic words that communicate ideas, feelings, and actions (for example, commonly used general words adverbs and nouns); proper nouns used through printed matter; and connective words used to join and express complex relationships among sentences. Independent reading

The student reads text independently without the assistance of the teacher or other adult/tutor. The student also makes reading selections independently, e.g., from the classroom, school, or public library.

Morphemes

Refers to the smallest unit of meaningful sound in language (i.e., words or affixes). There are two classes of morphemes: bound or free. Bound morphemes are meaning units that can never be a word by themselves (e.g., prefixes such as “re” in redo or suffixes such as “ment” in establishment). Free morphemes are equivalent to words (e.g., table, school, pencil, etc.).

Non-specialized Are defined as the academic words used across multiple content areas. For example, in the question “What do the stars on the American flag academic represent?” represent is an example of a non-specialized academic word. words: Specialized content area words are defined as vocabulary unique to content areas. Phonics

A system of teaching initial reading and spelling that stresses basic sound— symbol relationships and their application in decoding words.

Phonemes

Smallest units of sound in language that are used to contrast words and the morphemes that make up words. Each language has a unique set of sounds and ELL students must master these sounds to a certain level of proficiency in order to understand English or orally communicate in English. Generally older children and adults do not achieve full mastery of the production of these sounds and as a consequence will speak English with an accent.

Progress Indicators

Are assessable, observable activities that students may perform to show progress toward meeting the standard; they are organized by grade level.

Proficiency

Ease with which one comprehends or produces language.

Standards

What students should know and be able to do as a result of instruction.

Transfer

The use of previous linguistic or prior skills to assist comprehension or production.

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