A prekindergarten SEI teacher would like to promote the oral language and vocabulary development skills of several four-year-old English learners while they are engaged in active learning in the classroom. Which of the following strategies is likely to be most effective for accomplishing this goal?
  1. Inviting the children to dress up and play in a dramatic play area, while describing and asking simple questions in English about what the children are doing.
  2. Labeling common classroom objects in the children's first languages and in English, and encouraging the children to say both names.
  3. Posting a simple list of each day's activities in English, and reading the list to the children during circle time at the beginning of the day.
  4. Meeting the children at the classroom door, and narrating the class rules in English for putting away coats and other belongings and unpacking backpacks.
Explanation
Correct Response: A. Active learning refers to classroom activities in which students engage with content or practice skills in meaningful, and often interactive, contexts. In A, the children are taking the initiative in a high-interest activity, while the teacher encourages them to attend to and produce oral English by narrating and asking questions about the activity. Oral language and vocabulary development are integrated naturally into the activity because children are motivated to find ways of communicating with one another within the authentic context of dramatic play. B encourages the children to produce language and make meaningful connections to their first languages but remains on the surface level of labeling and memorization rather than engagement in communication for authentic purposes. Both C and D are incorrect because they place the English learners in relatively passive roles, which is likely to decrease their motivation for retaining the language to which they are exposed.
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