Interdisciplinary Approach

Looking at the Efficacy of Implementing the Interdisciplinary Approach during Instruction for ESL Students :

Looking at the Efficacy of Implementing the Interdisciplinary Approach during Instruction for ESL Students Robert Semplicio

Introduction :

Introduction English as a second language (ESL) students have been the center of attention for some time My research will look at an exciting innovative technique that has been used by educators to help ESL students at early stages in their learning

Slide 3:

In 2008, research conducted by professor Lee Gunderson at the University of B.C. language and literacy found that 40% of all immigrant students attending Vancouver high schools drop out before they graduate After following the progress of 5000 immigrant students in Vancouver high schools between 1991 and 2001 the dropout rate was highest when students left ESL classes, as a result of experiencing significant loss of marks after controlling a variety of variables: such as ethnic considerations, socio-economic backgrounds, and other social influences Introduction

Some more statistics….:

Some more statistics…. Last year alone, 57, 991 B.C. students (roughly 10% percent of the entire student population) were ESL students School districts received an extra $1,100 from the B.C. Ministry of Education for each ESL student enrolled in their districts In addition, immigration Canada projects that Ontario will be home to more 200,000 new immigrants in the next five years, 24% of those will be children and youth According to Statistics Canada, students who fail to complete high school earn an average of $21, 230 a year, compared to $25, 477 who graduate high school and $48, 648 for university graduates.

Recent Research Involving ESL students:

Recent Research Involving ESL students Focus on helping these students achieve a better understanding of concepts when teachers use thematic units, in order to ensure greater achievement in this group of students This approach involves the presentation of interdisciplinary units that allows educators to expose ESL students to a wide range of concepts For example, a science unit on apples in elementary school can be used to present a wide range of concepts relating to spelling, reading, writing and math concepts By providing this kind of instruction, ESL students are provided with an opportunity to spend more time on learning one concept at a time, which it turn is said to improve both their linguistic and academic performance

My Research :

My Research This study will with the synthesis of previous research that looks at the efficacy of certain intervention techniques that have been used with ESL students in the past Shedding some light on the some of the issues that surround ESL students, as well as provide an identification and proof for a valid and reliable intervention technique that can be used in the classroom that is effective with this group of students The efficacy of this intervention technique will be determined by ruling out extraneous variables that may effect my conclusion Provide further insight into new research in the field, which focuses on increasing the efficacy of certain intervention techniques applied to ESL students.

Literature Review:

Literature Review Vakerie L. Akerson and Julie Flangian (2008) examined the use of an interdisciplinary approach to science and language arts instruction with a class of ESL students Found that compared to those ESL students who were not exposed to this approach, the students who have been exposed to the innovative approach experienced greater academic achievement and a quicker rate of adjustment to English based instruction In addition, the ESL students that were exposed to this interdisciplinary approach to instruction experienced at 23.4% increase on verbal comprehension and written expression scores on an administered linguistic test compared to the 8% increase the control group experienced

Literature Review Continued….:

Literature Review Continued…. Katharine Davies Samway and Denise McKeaon (1999) in their book entitled Myths and Realities: Best Practices for Language Minority Students stress the importance of educators focusing on instruction that involves an interdisciplinary approach These authors found that this approach not only focuses on developing a variety of beneficial skills in ESL students, but also improves academic performance by presenting a more “ wholistic approach” It also provides more opportunities for ESL students to practice skills related to linguistics, mathematics, and comprehension, which in turn produces greater achievement in this group of students.

Literature Review Continued….:

Literature Review Continued…. Research conducted by Loretta F. Kasper and Saundra Tara Weiss (2005) in building ESL students’ linguistic and academic literacy found that ESL students exposed to instruction that encompasses an interdisciplinary approach that involves the development of a variety of skills, not only showed drastic improvements in their ability to interpret and create texts, but also the ability to think critically and creatively as they conceptualize and analyze This enabled students to explore topics more deeply and engage in higher order learning by allowing them to integrate outside concepts and experiences in the classroom

Research Question:

Research Question Can interdisciplinary instruction improve linguistic ability, conceptual understanding, and academic performance in ESL students?

Research Design:

Research Design Gather 4 25 student classes of 9 to 10 year old ESL students from different socioeconomic upbringings—two of the classes will consist of students that possess a low socioeconomic status and two will consist of students from the middle class Each class will be taken from a different school district—therefore there will be no two classes that originate from the same district Ensure that there is a roughly equal representation of males and females in each class, with a demographic representation indicative of the demographic these students are sampled from Randomly select which class from each socioeconomic status will act as the control group and the experimental groups in the study

Research Design Continued….:

Research Design Continued…. Control Group Consists of 50 ESL students that belong to 2 25 student classes Each student will be “rated” on three dimensions Presented with normal everyday instruction for 2 months by the educator under the supervision of the researcher Conceptual Understanding Academic Performance Linguistic Ability Students average grades in certain courses Aviation Language Test Results compared to the experimental group Statistical Test

Research Design Continued….:

Research Design Continued…. Experimental Group Consists of 50 ESL students that belong to 2 25 student classes Each student will be “rated” on three dimensions Presented with 2 months of interdisciplinary instruction Conceptual Understanding Academic Performance Linguistic Ability Students average grades in certain courses Aviation Language Test Results compared to the experimental group Statistical Test

Ethical Considerations:

Ethical Considerations Issue of exposing certain students to a beneficial technique, while not exposing others Confidentiality Consent Participants, Parents, and Educators need to be informed

Other considerations…..:

Other considerations….. Limitations of the Study: Possible Educator Bias Limited Sample Population Study only examines a particular intervention technique

Discussion:

Discussion The findings of my study will hopefully validate that interdisciplinary instruction is an effective intervention technique that can be used with ESL students at an early age Since this is a validation study, this research advances our knowledge by reassuring educators and administrators the importance of implementing an interdisciplinary approach to education in ESL classrooms This research, unlike many others, will hopefully increase confidence in theoretical research by providing additional proof and validation for the use of interdisciplinary instruction. Also, the research identifies inherent weaknesses in the study that provides an opportunity for further research

Resources:

Resources Works Cited Flanigan , V. L. (2008). Preparing Preservice Teachers to Use an Interdisciplinary Approach to Science and Language Arts Instruction. Journal of Science Education , 345-362. McKeon, K. D. (1999). Myths and Realities: Best Practices for Language Minority Students. Portsmouth: Heinemann. Weiss, L. F. (2005). Building ESL Students' Linguistic and Academic Literacy through Content-Based Interclass Collaboration. Urbana , 282-296. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=36af16c1-ff5b-4399-97af-7413169b64d Intervention Techniques for ESL Teachers | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8043512_intervention-techniques-esl-teachers.html#ixzz1Hdd0ckiT

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