BYU NewsNet - BYU hosts first ELL symposium

BYU’s first symposium on English language learners, “Utah’s Cultural and Linguistic Landscape: Opportunities and Challenges,” began on Thursday and continues today in the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center.

“There are two goals for the conference,” said Ray Graham, a member of the linguistics and English language faculty at BYU. “Thursday’s goal is to provide information and strategies to teachers for developing and enhancing the learning of ELLs (English language learners) in their class.”

“Friday’s sessions are aimed at everyone — faculty, policy makers, researchers, etc., who deal with English language learning.”

Thursday’s sessions of the symposium were aimed at teachers and parents. It was a celebration for teachers renewing their English Speakers of Other Languages certification and the work they do in their schools. This celebration was designed to provide opportunities to share new findings and learn from each other as well as from the experts.

Graham said Thursday’s sessions were aimed at practical methods that teachers can use in their classes.

The main symposium will take place today. Presenters will include representatives from government, public schools, business and community organizations, school board members and leaders of various faiths. Thursday’s session began with David Freeman, a professor of reading and ESL, and Yvonne Freeman, a professor of bilingual education, both from the University of Texas at Brownsville. The Freemans have co-authored a number of books, including “Teaching Reading and Writing in Spanish and English and Between Worlds.”

The Freeman’s workshop focused on teachers “knowing their students.” They talked about recognizing what type of learners students are and the importance of helping them develop academic English as well as conversational English.

“You have to teach the language as well as the content,” Yvonne Freeman said.

Kyle Reyes, the director of student retention and success at UVU, presented about successful K-16 partnerships. He talked about the importance of elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and universities working together to help English language learners. “If K-16 partnerships are going to be successful there has to be equality in involvement,” Reyes said. “Teachers have to have as much input as the university professors.”

He also talked about the cycle of blame in the process of learning English. When things go wrong the blame goes to the previous level — failures in high school place the blame on elementary schools and middle schools. Universities blame high schools and elementary schools blame universities for not producing more qualified teachers.

During his presentation on language acquisition, Ray Graham said, “The biggest thing a teacher does in helping English language learners is helping with vocabulary development.”

Graham also emphasized the importance of teaching English and content at the same time.

“We’ve got to be teaching math and teaching English at the same time,” Graham said. “We’ve got to have math teachers who teach English and English teachers who know how to teach math.”

During lunch attendees were treated to Latin entertainment — traditional dances and songs from Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia and Argentina.

The keynote speaker following lunch was Lily Wong-Fillmore, a Jerome A. Hutton Professor of Education at the University of California, Berkeley.

Wong-Fillmore’s topic was, “What Effective ESL Teachers Do to Help ELLs Develop Language Acquisition.”

“Your role as a language teacher is to be a gateway to a new language,” she said, “a new cultural world and new knowledge for your students.”

She also emphasized the importance of learning the language of the society and keeping the language of the home. English language learners do not have to give up their first language to learn English well, she said.

“The greatest cost is to the ELLs families,” Wong-Fillmore said. “The abandonment and loss of the first language by children results in communication problems at home and the loss of intimacy at home.”

Cindy Norton, a third-grade teacher at Salt Lake City’s Bonneville Elementary, was especially impressed with the Latinos in Action program, a peer tutor model program used in the Nebo School District, in which the older ESL students go back and mentor the younger ESL students.

She said the mentoring opportunity is especially valuable for the older students because whenever you teach something you end up learning even more from the experience.

“The things we are learning today are things that we need to go back and present to the district to help solve this issue,” she said.

Norton said she had learned more today than she had learned in all the other ESL courses she had taken. That sentiment was echoed by several other teachers who commented on the value of Thursday’s workshops.

Graham said Friday’s purpose is to share research findings and to put a face on the issue of English language learning in Utah. Graham said today’s presentation on the demographic changes in Utah is not to be missed.

Today’s symposium will take place at the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Registration will take place in the East Hallway of the Assembly Hall.

Among Friday’s presenters are Pam Perlich from the University of Utah’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research, the Rev. David Bittmenn of St. Francis of Assisi Parish and Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck.