It is interesting for me to see the disparity between my ELL partner's speaking level as compared to their writing level. Based on WIDA can-do descriptors, I would place B at the "Developing" stage in writing but at "Bridging" for speaking. This is partly because B is able to speak English very well, as mentioned in a previous post, but what I am curious about is when she begins to write a lab report for her biology class or an essay for English, there is a clear disconnect between the thoughts in her head and what she is able to write down on paper. When I ask B to explain to me what it is she would like to write about she is able to do so with detail but when it comes to typing it out she faces difficulties. For example, when writing a sentence with the word "I" she forgets to capitalize it. Similarly, when she is typing out an assignment she will ask me for a more sophisticated word, such as "marvelous" rather than simply "good". Spelling, grammar, and vocabulary development are a couple of her biggest challenges in writing which are invisible in speech. She is often very frustrated by these things.
I would speculate that the reason for the differences in WIDA checkpoints is a result of only having focused on written English for rare tasks in Ghana while spending the majority of time speaking and writing Twi, a tribal language known by about 40% of the population in Ghana. When I asked B what language she speaks at home she answered "Twi". Therefore, I asked myself, if she does not speak English at home, what are the chances she would write in English regularly?
In the future, I hope to continue working with B to improve upon her written English, and perhaps I will learn a few words in Twi or French, which she has agreed to teach me.
Abby, reading this reminds me of my partner, Maaya, although I don't directly tutor her I have experienced similar results just like you. Speaking, I believe, is the easiest for ELL learners to perform from my observations because of how easy it is for Maaya to speak versus when she writes. I think the biology reports may be a bit challenging because of the different language used and the subject itself can be challenging. However, I think the more you continue to work with her, the better she will get.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThis must be so very frustrating for B to know what she wants to say, but to struggle writing. I wonder if voice activated software would be helpful.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very interesting suggestion. I know that some students are given assistance from voice activated software as an accommodation in the classroom. Thank you, perhaps in the future this would be a helpful tool for writing lab reports and/or essays.
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