Results of a school's intake English language proficiency (ELP) assessment indicate that a newly arrived English language learner is at the entering level of oral language proficiency in English. According to reports from the student's parents as well as the student's previous school records from the home country, the student exhibits above-average oral language proficiency in the first language. Given this information, which of the following approaches by the ESL teacher would best promote this student's oral language development in English?
  1. Providing extensive opportunities for the student to develop first-language skills to strengthen the foundation for English development.
  2. Fostering the student's interlanguage development by encouraging the student to translate from the first language into English.
  3. Facilitating transfer of skills and strategies from the student's first language to English by building on existing first-language skills.
  4. Preventing interference from the student's first language by asking the student to try to think and speak only in English.
Explanation
Correct Response: C. Language-acquisition research indicates that language-learning strategies are transferable from the first language to a new language. Since the student has above-average oral language proficiency in the first language, the teacher should take advantage of this strength to promote the student's English language development. A is incorrect because the student already has a strong foundation in the first language. B is incorrect because developing translation skills is different than developing oral language skills in a new language. Also, encouraging interlanguage development is not considered an effective strategy for promoting second-language development. D is incorrect because asking an entering-level student to think and speak only in English is not realistic. In addition, it undervalues the role of the first language in acquiring English.
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