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Cartoons and Comic Strips Shape Our Language

Richard Lederer is inspired by his hometown festival dedicated to cartoon characters

San Diego Comic-Con is the largest gathering of comics and pop culture enthusiasts in the world. Held a couple of weeks ago, the event has sold out the past decade, and more than 130,000 flocked to the fun as our city perked up to the joys and color of comic book characters in our collective consciousness. These creations are so woven into the warp and woof of our culture that some of them have transmogrified into images and words in our everyday speech and writing.

Thomas Nast, perhaps the most famous political cartoonist in our history, was responsible for the popularity of two party animals. During the election of 1828, opponents of President Andrew Jackson labeled him a “jackass” for his populist beliefs. Jackson was entertained by the notion and ended up using it to his advantage on his campaign posters. Nast is credited with making Jackson’s donkey the symbol of the Democratic Party through one of his cartoons that appeared in Harper’s Weekly in 1870.

Four years later, also in Harper’s Weekly, Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion’s skin, scaring away all the animals at the zoo. One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled “The Republican Vote.” That was all it took for the elephant to become associated with Republicans.

In 1928, Walt Disney gave the world Mickey—an all-American rodent who performed heroic deeds and squeaked his undying love for Minnie. Soon after World War II, international markets were flooded with wristwatches bearing Mickey’s likeness. Because these watches were generally cheap affairs subject to mechanical breakdowns, people started calling anything shoddy or trivial Mickey Mouse.

The name of H. T. Webster’s wimpy comic-strip character, Caspar Milquetoast, has become a synonym for a wimpy, unassertive man. In a similar vein, some scholars assert that the term sad sack to designate a pathetically inept man, especially a soldier, owes its origin to the cartoon character created by George Baker in 1942.

Speaking of wimpy, some linguists trace that adjective to Elzie Segar’s cartoon strip Thimble Theatre, which, when animated, became Popeye. Wimpy was a mild-mannered, soft-spoken, lazy, parsimonious, and utterly gluttonous hamburger-wolfing straight man to Popeye.

The opposite of a wimpy person is a Superman, the comic-book creation of writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster. Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Superman has become a superman, a person who exhibits extraordinary powers.

Siegel and Shuster purloined the name Superman from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s Übermensch, meaning “overman,” in Thus Spake Zarathustra and George Bernard Shaw’s translation of the term in his play Man and Superman. Only diehard trivia buffs know that Superman’s alter ego, the mild-mannered Clark Kent, derived his name from two 1930s movie stars—the iconic Clark Gable and the never-heard-of-him Kent Taylor.

On the fritz, meaning “not operating properly,” may have started with one of the earliest comic strips, The Katzenjammer Kids. Typically, the two hyperactive German boys Hans and Fritz caused all sorts of troubles for the Captain and other grownups in the story.
Two men of strikingly disparate height are dubbed Mutt and Jeff. The original mustachioed twosome, one tall, one short, inhabited a comic strip by Bud Fisher, the third created in the U.S.

For more than eight decades, Blondie’s husband has been creating culinary masterpieces in his kitchen, yet he does not appear to have gained an ounce (for which I envy him). Dagwood carries the cornucopia of ingredients from the refrigerator to the kitchen table on his arms and head, and the massive repasts he concocts are now known as Dagwood sandwiches.

The most famous and enduring of all quotations ever to emerge from a comic strip is the pronouncement declaimed by Walt Kelly’s immortal possum, Pogo: “We have met the enemy, and he is us!” Some grammar mavens would argue that the us in Pogo’s statement is cast in the wrong pronoun case. We is puristically the correct pronoun form for a predicate nominative, but it would be sacrificing poetry on the altar of grammatical purism to recast the sentence as “We have met the enemy, and he is we!”

Richard Lederer, MAT English and education, PhD linguistics, is the author of more than 50 books on language, history, and humor, available at his website, www.verbivore.com. Please send your questions and comments about language to [email protected].

L’Alliance Française

Kathy Stein-Smith salutes the resurgence of French in the U.S.

The enduring relationship between the Americans and the French—“Every man has two countries, his own and France.” (Sentiment attributed to Thomas Jefferson)

French Is in the Air  

Already the second most widely studied language around the world and in the U.S., French language and francophone culture are part of our daily lives, even if we never leave the U.S. From TV series like Marseille, Call My Agent, and even Dirty Money’s “Maple Sugar Heist” to movies like Midnight in Paris, and to exhibits like Public Parks, Private Gardens—Paris to Provence and Visitors to Versailles: 1682–1789 at NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, French film and fashion, as well as language and culture, are part of American life. More and more Americans are choosing to make French language and francophone culture part of their own intellectual and cultural identity. 

From the co-existence of French and British colonies in North America to the recent visits of French president Macron to the U.S.—to speak at the UN and to launch the dual-language education fund in September 2017, and his state visit to the U.S. in April 2018—the French have been our earliest allies, and French language and francophone culture have had a significant impact on the U.S. and on Americans.

While the significance of French language and culture for Americans is nothing new, it is not always part of the public conversation. While we know that the Marquis de Lafayette was our friend and ally during the American Revolution, we may not always realize the long and close relationship that France and French ideas have had with our own history.

Among the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams spoke French and visited France during the American Revolution to seek French support. Our Declaration of Independence was inspired by the values and ideas of the Enlightenment, and France was the earliest supporter and ally of our nation. Americans—enamored with French culture—flocked to Paris and were among the earliest visitors to the Louvre, and the connection  between France and the U.S. has never ceased.  

Famous artists and authors, including Josephine Baker, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway, made Paris their home and found creative inspiration there through the first half of the 20th century. Well-known writers, including Samuel Beckett and Julien Green, have opted to write in a second language, French, rather than in their mother tongue, English. Many of our favorite children’s stories are from France—think Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and more—and French movies and French-themed museum exhibits are always popular. As president of France, Charles De Gaulle was among the first heads of state to follow the casket of president John F. Kennedy at his state funeral.

This is an not simply a retelling of historical events, however, but a spotlight on just how important, and strong, the ties between America and France—and the American and French peoples—are today. The resurgence of French is not only about our shared history but is even more importantly about life today in cities large and small, all across the U.S., where heritage-language speakers live side by side with vibrant French and francophone communities. French companies employ over half a million Americans, France is one of the major trading partners of the U.S., and France is a major investor in the U.S. Famous Americans, including Bradley Cooper, Jodie Foster, Johnny Depp, and former secretary of state John Kerry, speak French. Famous French celebrities and public figures who speak English include—most notably—French president Emmanuel Macron.  

Millions of Americans visit France each year. In 2016, 4.2 million Americans visited, the largest number of visitors from any country beyond France’s closest neighbors. French tourism to the U.S. has also been increasing, with the U.S. one of the most popular long trip choices for the French. In 2015, more than 1.75 million French visited the U.S. Nearly 160,000 French are choosing to make their homes in the U.S., and it is estimated that more than 100,000 Americans live in France. France is among the most popular study abroad destinations for U.S. students, with over 17,000 U.S. students in the country. There are nearly 9,000 French students in the U.S., and the numbers on both sides are on the increase.

Our countries and peoples are linked through a shared history—past and present.

The French Language in the U.S. 

Nearly 12 million Americans claim French ancestry, and over 150,000 French live in the U.S.

French is spoken in the home by more than 2 million in the U.S., with French/French Creole the third-most widely spoken language in the nation, and “L’Etoile du Nord” is the motto of the state of Minnesota. French is the most widely spoken language after in English in four states—Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Louisiana—reflecting our historical relationship with both France and Québec. In an additional seven states—Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Mississippi, with French Creole the most widely spoken language after English and Spanish in Florida—French is the most widely spoken language after English and Spanish, making French a major language in twelve of the 50 states, or nearly a quarter of the U.S. states.

French is the second-most widely studied language in the U.S. Among public school K–12 students, 1.3 million are enrolled in French, and 176,000 are enrolled in French at the college and university level.

In addition to traditional foreign language learning, there are also French immersion programs and French schools in the U.S. The immersion programs generally teach a U.S. curriculum and are intended to develop second-language skills, while the French schools are actually accredited by the French Ministry of Education and teach a French curriculum. There are approximately 450 immersion programs in the U.S., of which over 20% are French-language immersion. There are also several models of immersion, with 27 programs listed as both dual language and French.

The Alliance Française is another important part of French language learning and cultural exchange around the world. There are more than 100 Alliance Française centers in the U.S., with more than 24,000 students.

But—Why French? 

The decision to embrace the French language and francophone culture is one made both with the head and with the heart—based on practical career and cultural considerations but also in response to the enduring appeal and attraction of the French language and francophone culture.

French language skills are an economic asset. French is the third-most useful language for international business. France and Canada are among the top trading partners of the U.S. Over 4,600 French companies operate in the U.S., providing over 650,000 jobs, and the over 1,000 U.S. firms operating in France provide approximately the same number of jobs. In terms of foreign direct investment, France and the U.S. are each among the top investors in the other’s economy.

While the decision to learn the French language and/or to learn about francophone culture is valid based on professional and career considerations, the importance of French in the U.S. extends far beyond. The very appeal of the French language and of French and francophone culture is yet another factor. French soft power ranks number one globally, with French influence and interest in all things French apparent around the world.

Both France and Canada are led today by charismatic, young, French-speaking leaders, Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau, prominent on the world stage and in the American press and media. French president Macron has been especially proactive in promoting the attractivité, or appeal, of French language and culture globally and in the U.S., where, in September 2017, he launched the French dual-language education fund at the CUNY Graduate Center during his visit to New York to address the UN General Assembly. French has been predicted to become the most widely spoken language in the world by 2050. In 2017, switching to French, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said that English is losing its influence in Europe, to the benefit of French. 

In encouraging the development of French language skills and knowledge of the francophone world, we will be reconnecting not only with our own heritage but also with a vibrant and growing global culture. The importance of French in the globalized world extends far beyond simply its economic benefits. The French are noted for their logical and critical thinking, which complements the U.S. approach to problem solving. Knowledge of another language has also been linked to creativity. Most importantly, at a time when complex global issues call for global solutions, the ability to see things from different perspectives is invaluable. 

Conclusions

As far as the global appeal of the French language and francophone culture, Albert Camus said it best—”Ma patrie, c’est la langue française.” The appeal, or attractivité, of French and francophone culture for the world is confirmed by the number of tourists who visit France, the world’s most popular tourist destination, each year and by the artists, writers, and thinkers who have drawn their inspiration from French ideas.  People from around the world flock to France due to the majesty of its culture and the power of its ideas, but also due to the attractivité, appeal, and fun associated with all things French.

References available at https://www.languagemagazine.com/references-for-lalliance-francaise/

Kathy Stein-Smith, PhD, is associate university librarian and adjunct faculty in foreign languages and related areas at Fairleigh Dickinson University–Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, New Jersey. She is chair of the AATF (American Association of Teachers of French) Commission on Advocacy. She is a member of the ATA (American Translators Association) Education and Pedagogy Committee, the CSCTFL (Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Advisory Council, and the NECTFL (Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Advisory Council. She also serves as French language facilitator at MLOW (Many Languages, One World). She is the author of three books and several articles about the foreign language deficit, has given a TEDx talk, “The U.S. Foreign Language Deficit—What It Is, Why It Matters, and What We Can Do about It,” and maintains a blog, Language Matters. 

Spain’s Student Ambassador Program

View of the city from Park Guell in Barcelona, Spain.

This program is part of the initiative “Study in Spain“ developed by the Trade Commission – Embassy of Spain in Miami, Florida. The goal of the program is to promote Spain as an educational destination for students in the U.S.

Student Ambassadors should have studied or have good knowledge about Spain and Spanish institutions to promote it via activities on campus or online (social media networks, blogs, etc.)

Who can become a Student Ambassador?

All students attending University or College in US are welcome to participate in the program1. It is necessary to have a good knowledge of Spain or have previously studied in Spain, and be committed to the program during Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 semesters.

What should I do as Student Ambassador?

Promoting “Study in Spain” implies planning on campus and online activities. You are free to come up with original ideas and do any activity which encourages other students to study in Spain.

The Program Coordinator will guide you along your journey as Student Ambassador. Each month, the Program Coordinator will propose a topic – related with studying in Spain or the country itself – and Student Ambassadors should plan an activity based on it. This is not mandatory but highly recommended.

All your activities should be shared on the SiS-Student Ambassador FB page, as well as any content that could be of interest to the community. Also, the Student Ambassador can create a specific profile for the purpose of this activity on the different social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) or use his/her own profile.

You will receive promotional material to distribute it freely in your campus. You could participate in orientation sessions, study abroad fairs or any other initiative that is related with Spain. More materials, allowance and expenses compensation are available upon request to the Program Coordinator.

What will I get for participating?

The program will help you to improve your skills and boost your resume, of course, but we have prepared some extra benefits for you:

Chance to win a one-week trip to Spain for the best Student Ambassador of the year

Chance to win other prices during the year

Chance to participate in the Student Ambassador award ceremony at NAFSA 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Free materials, allowance and expenses compensation for your activities

An official diploma from the Embassy of Spain

For more information or questions please visit www.spainedu.org or email [email protected]

Focus on Student-Centered Learning

In Future-Focused Learning: Ten Essential Shifts of Everyday Practice, published by Solution Tree, author Lee Watanabe-Crockett details how educators can shift instruction to focus on student-centered learning competencies to support critical thinking and digital skills.

Based on Watanabe-Crockett’s work with schools around the world, Future-Focused Learning details ten core shifts of practice—along with simple microshifts—educators can use immediately, regardless of their core curriculum or instructional pedagogy.
“This book is a culmination of ten years of work with schools around the world. That work has all been about moving to student-centered learning—building capacity in learners to be functional, independent learners,” explains Watanabe-Crockett, who goes on to explain the challenges many educators experience in doing this work.

“When we start to look at future-focus pedagogy, like STEM, PBL, etc., there’s a steep learning curve.”

In Future-Focused Learning, Watanabe-Crockett uses shifts and microshifts to offer a clear pathway for taking the great work educators are already doing and making it exceptional.
Teachers and educational leaders can use this book to improve student learning in the classroom and support authentic learning.

In this book, readers will:
Study over 50 specific examples of classroom microshifts that make the larger shifts in practice simple to achieve as a collective group.

Connect the six essential fluencies—solution fluency, information fluency, creative fluency, media fluency, collaboration fluency, and global digital citizenship—to the shifts of practice that develop students’ key 21st century skills and higher-order thinking.

Explore topics in student-centered learning competencies such as project-based learning, essential questions, STEM education, and digital skills.

Learn why fostering connections to learning—from improved emotional connections to personalized learning—improves student-centered learning outcomes.

Improve formative assessment practices to be more mindful and further student engagement by involving them in the assessment process.

Lee Watanabe-Crockett is an author, speaker, designer, and inspirational thinker. The author of Growing Global Digital Citizens and Mindful Assessment, he believes in creating balance in the reality of a digital present and future.He is the creative force behind the Solution Fluency Activity Planner, a social network that has created a culture of collaboration for educators around the world to share and source unit plans that align to the structure of a modern learning environment. https://www.solutiontree.com/products/future-focused-learning.html

Hong Kong Dismisses Mandarin Controversy

The busy streets of Hong Kong

In May, Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor dismissed a controversy over the use of Mandarin in public schools and whether Cantonese should be considered the city’s mother tongue as a “nonissue,” telling legislators her administration had no plan to change its policy on the language of public instruction.

The issues arose after a task force was set up last year to review elementary and high school curricula. “[The task force] has not yet formed any views, and people are already worried, doubtful, or even saying that there are influences from the ‘north,’” Lam said, referring to Beijing.

The controversy started after the online publication of an article by a former official of the central government’s State Language Commission stating that the city’s official language should be one commonly used by the Han people, which was Mandarin, instead of its “mother dialect,” Cantonese.

Hong Kong’s secretary for education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung also denied any plans to begin teaching the Chinese-language curriculum in Mandarin. “In fact, our primary education is mostly done in Cantonese… So you can see clearly the government’s stance on educational language,” he said.

Chao Zongqi, a linguist on a committee advising China’s State Language Commission, said the city should not be forced to teach in Mandarin instead of Cantonese. “Over the past two decades, since Hong Kong was returned to China, people there have different opinions, including those advocating independence, so the situation is really complicated and schools will not be forced [to teach in Mandarin],” Chao told the South China Morning Post.
More than 88% of Hongkongers aged between six and 65 identify Cantonese as their native language, according to official statistics from 2016.

Europe Celebrates Linguistic Diversity with European Day of Languages

The European Day of Languages (EDL) is an annual celebration day to encourage language learning across Europe. At the initiative of the Council of Europe, EDL has been celebrated every year, on 26 September, since the European Year of Languages in 2001.

The specific aims of the EDL are to:

  • raise awareness of the importance of language learning in order to increase plurilingualism and intercultural understanding;
  • promote the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe;
  • encourage lifelong language learning in and out of school.

The dedicated website for the EDL is available in 37 languages and hundreds of activities are registered in the events’ calendar. The EDL activities which take place in Europe and increasingly on other continents are organized mainly by schools, universities, language and cultural institutes, associations and also by the European Commission’s translation field offices. In 2017 over 1250 events involving tens of thousands of participants were recorded

To mark the day, Council of Europe Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, released the following statement, “Understanding each other is the key to benefitting from Europe’s rich cultural diversity. Language education helps us to do this and to embrace other cultures and ways of life.

The European Day of Languages, initiated by the Council of Europe, is held each year on 26 September. It provides an opportunity to celebrate Europe’s unique linguistic context and serves as an impetus for people of all ages and backgrounds to broaden their horizons and discover the added value of being able to communicate in other languages.

Languages and culture go hand in hand. This year, which is the EU-designated European Year of Cultural Heritage, hundreds of events are being organized around the continent by schools, universities, and cultural institutions and associations to mark the European Day of Languages and send a powerful message of openness to one another. My best wishes go to all of those taking part.”

 

Cultivating a Personal Style

Juliet Falce-Robinson insists on individual style in a skills-based approach to language teaching

The goal of a successful language program is to foment and foster the development of linguistic and cultural proficiency, and thus awareness, that will facilitate dialogue and contribution to a global society. Language teachers continually strive to provide educational opportunities that allow students to become multilingual, multicultural, and intellectual members of the community, while inspiring an appreciation of the language and culture that extends past the classroom. Managers of school districts, states, and college and university programs select pedagogical and instructional approaches and strive to offer courses at all levels which enrich the creative, intellectual, and productive talents of the students.

Pedagogy can be defined as “the art, science, or profession of teaching.” To teach is to educate. Educare, from Latin, means “to draw out,” and it is important to look at education (and teaching) in that way, with the presupposition and recognition that the students have it in them to learn and so the challenge for the instructor is to find the ways to draw that learning out. Language instructors recognize that excellent communication skills as well as cultural literacy are essential for students as they strive for success in the future. In addition, the study of language and culture is central to the development of the individual, whose familiarity with many forms of art, creativity, and self-expression will add balance and contribute not only to the overall success of the student but also to the personal achievement and happiness of a well-rounded individual.

A successful language teacher will see his or her role as a facilitator of learning. At all levels, classroom instruction must be student centered; in other words, students work together in groups to solve problems and complete tasks.

In the Language Program in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at UCLA, the instructional approach is student centered and proficiency oriented. Proficiency oriented refers to the measurement and assessment of projected student learning outcomes. The method is communicative, which by nature has as its goal communicative competence in the four skill areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Culture is consistently incorporated through both the use of authentic materials and the integration of sociolinguistic and sociocultural behaviors to enable students to carry out tasks and communicate in situations likely to be found in the target culture. Classrooms are active and dynamic—they support and elicit critical thinking and cooperative learning. Instructors strive to create a classroom environment that is low anxiety and high energy, offering all students an equitable opportunity to engage and learn. Instruction is presented in a format that allows for a balanced mix of whole-class/instructor interaction, group work, and pair work. In language classes, all four communicative skills are practiced in each class session. The relationship between language and culture is symbiotic; therefore, the integration of cultural images, representations, and values which promote acceptance, understanding, and cross-cultural communication are integrated in all class sessions and assignments.

The use of formative assessment and feedback provides a rich context for continued learning and acquisition. Summative assessment in all four skill areas is carried out at the end of the quarter to measure the proficiency of the students against the projected outcomes. The Language Program in Spanish and Portuguese at UCLA is relatively large, with approximately 50 sections per quarter, taught by 25–35 teaching assistants and lecturers. For that reason, the program is organized in such a way as to ensure consistency across all sections and levels. All of the language courses are single-syllabus courses. All instructors must use the same syllabus, textbook, rubrics for evaluation, and assessment instruments.

All instructors are required to teach communicatively and exclusively in the target language and to integrate the practice of all four skill areas in every class session.
What about individual teaching style? Can language instructors effectively tap into and utilize their own individual skills, talents, and techniques in such a structured and prescriptive instructional environment? The answer to this question is that not only can they, but rather they must. Personalization in language teaching is fundamental to both the teaching and the learning. We know when the input is personalized—in other words, it is personally relevant and of interest to the student—there is a greater likelihood that it will be acquired. We also know that instruction must be personalized from the point of view of the instructor.

“When instructors are able to create activities by
tapping into their own backgrounds, experiences, talents, and areas of
expertise, the instruction will inevitably be more
meaningful and engaging.”

Language instructors must have the confidence and freedom to teach not only what they know but also what is important and personally relevant to them. When instructors are able to create activities by tapping into their own backgrounds, experiences, talents, and areas of expertise, the instruction will inevitably be more meaningful and engaging. Classroom spaces that are active and dynamic depend on both students and teachers being engaged, involved, and enthusiastic about the materials and activities. Language instructors, almost without exception, love the language and the culture that they teach.

At one point or another, we all began in this career because of our passion for the language and our desire to share it with others. Often, instructors get so caught up in the quantitative nature of grading, classroom management, policies, and procedures that we lose sight of the reason we are in the classroom. I often ask novice instructors to reflect on what they truly love about the language they are teaching and ask them to find a meaningful way to transmit that to the students. This, fundamentally, is at the heart of the teaching of language.

The daily lesson plan, then, becomes a template in which the instructor finds a way, every day, to show the student why the language and the culture are so exciting, so beautiful, and so worth learning more about.

The following is a sample lesson-plan template for a skills-based, communicative language class. Although the template is standardized, the instructor can (and should) personalize each activity and present the content in a way that is most consistent with his or her own personality or teaching style. The instructor is following the curriculum and teaching method but personalizes with his or her own sense of fun/humor and enjoyment of pop culture. The instructor’s notes are in italics.

Thematic Objective: The family

Communicative Objective: Describe and discuss members of the family and relationships
Linguistic Objectives: Nouns, adjectives, adjective agreement, numbers
As students arrive, play one or two favorite music videos from a singer from this country. Remember to greet each student in the target language as she arrives and ask how she is.
Warm-up (three minutes). Two to three basic questions that students can discuss with ease, based on prior knowledge. The goal of the warm-up is to get the students speaking in the target language from the start. Ask basic questions that anyone can answer about families. Use visuals on slide of famous families students are familiar with (Trumps, Kardashians, etc.).

Presentation of input (seven to ten minutes). With the use of visuals, recycle previous vocabulary, introduce new vocabulary, expansion. Use photos that represent diverse families. Incorporate families from target culture as well as pictures of my own family.
Advance organizer (one to two minutes). Brief brainstorming activity to activate background knowledge of students. Pictures of the Simpsons—have students describe the relationships between them.

Listening activity (five to ten minutes). Use authentic materials. Active listening. Remind students of listening strategy. Students should have task/questions prior to listening. Students compare answers in pairs before listening to the selection again. Video of Shakira and her husband as they discuss what the family dynamic is like in their house. Have students listen for key words and take notes. After listening, I compare my family dynamics to Shakira’s and ask them to do so with a partner.

Speaking activity (five to ten minutes). Students interview each other (topic similar to listening) and share results. Transition to students speaking more meaningfully about their own families (nothing prescriptive here—students define what a family is, who is in it, what the roles are, etc.). Each student should describe one family member in detail.

Advance organizer (one to two minutes). Brief brainstorming activity to activate background knowledge of students. Have students work together to make a list of all the types of events they have shared with their families in the last year.

Reading activity (five to ten minutes). Use authentic text. Remind students of reading strategy. Students work in pairs or groups to answer questions or complete task. Students read invitations to baptism and wedding, identify different family members and specific information. Discuss cultural traditions, use of last names.

Writing activity (ten to 15 minutes). Students work in pairs to write for a purpose. Students plan a family reunion or event. Make list of invites, prepare invitation and seating chart (based on relationships).

Speaking activity (five minutes). Signature or other fun activity to wrap up. Students work with new partners to describe a member of the family. The partner draws what he/she hears, sees how close it comes to the real person.

Language instructors, whether following state or district curricular standards or teaching in a large, highly organized college or university program, can and should tap into their own individual skills and talents to personalize instruction and make classroom exchanges more engaging, dynamic, and authentic. Draw out, facilitate, and never forget to highlight the passion for the language that brought you to teaching.

Juliet Falce-Robinson, PhD, is director of the Language Program at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of California, Los Angeles.

States’ Commitment to English Learners Examined

Two reports have been submitted to the U.S. Department of Education which examine the extent to which states’ education plans are in step with guidance established by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) with regard to English learners (ELs). Advocacy groups UnidosUS and Achieve produced the briefs, entitled “How Have States Set Goals for English Leaners in ESSA Plans?” and “How Are States Including English Language Proficiency in ESSA Plans?,” to provide an analysis of the English Language Proficiency (ELP) indicators and academic achievement goals proposed in state ESSA plans. They examine whether states are taking meaningful steps to improve academic outcomes for EL students and provide recommendations to develop an accountability system that reflects that. “Since its passage, the national education law, ESSA, has significantly altered the accountability landscape to ensure the academic performance and progress of ELs is a priority, and not an afterthought. For the more than five million EL students in the K-12 school system, this has been a welcome shift – but our work is not over. We will continue to monitor statewide implementation of state’s EL goals and provide assistance where needed so that our most underserved students reach their full potential,” said Eric Rodriguez, VP of policy and advocacy at UnidosUS.

“We are pleased to see a sharper focus on English learner student achievement under ESSA,” said Michael Cohen, president of Achieve. “However, as these new reports show, there is still room for improvement with regard to goal-setting for EL students in states’ ESSA plans. We encourage states to set rigorous, meaningful academic achievement goals for English learners and to be transparent about how schools are helping – or not helping – students to progress.”

The briefs look at how states are defining and measuring ELP standards and including ELP indicators into their accountability systems. They also examine the varied approaches states are employing to create long-term goals for English learners.

Analysis of state plans revealed the following:
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have set the same long-term achievement goals in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics for all student subgroups, while 29 states have set lower targets for their EL subgroups. Setting different goals for different groups of students only perpetuates disparities for historically underserved students; instead, states ought to be setting one high standard and offering the necessary supports to individual subgroups so that all students can reach that goal.

States’ target years to reach their long-term goals range from two to 30 years. There is also significant variation in how long states believe students need to become proficient in English, ranging from five to eight years.

The weight that states assign to the ELP indicator, which provides a strong signal to schools and districts about how EL progress is valued by the state, varies from three percent to 22.5% for high schools and from 3.5% to 30% for elementary/middle schools.

Recommendations for states to consider as they begin to implement their ESSA plans include:
Goals should be the same for all students.
Measures of interim progress should ensure ELs are on track to meet the state’s long-term goal.
ELP goals should be rooted in performance data.
ELP goals should be differentiated by grade level.
States’ goals for ELs must be developed within a framework that factors in the diverse characteristics of ELs.
States should make sure that data will help identify and provide resources and supports to teachers and students when they most need it.
States must value both proficiency and growth as demonstrated on the ELP assessment in their ELP indicator.
Public reporting on the ELP indicator should include the full breadth of the state’s indicator.
States’ public reporting on the ELP indicator must be discrete and transparent.
States must set an evidence-based time-to-proficiency window for ELs.
States must consider the demographic composition of the state’s student body when setting the N-size.
States must ensure that the ELP indicator is weighted in a way that values EL performance in the overall state system.
The full reports are available at: www.achieve.org/essa-goals-for-english-learners and www.achieve.org/english-language-proficiency-in-essa.

Implementing a Strong Phonics Program

Lynn Hobratschk, Amy Jones, and Lisa Toole share their best practices for choosing curriculum, training educators, and maintaining focus

According to some recent research, phonics instruction is one of the most effective ways to teach children how to read, but a comprehensive phonics curriculum is hard to come by. Unless they develop foundational reading skills early, students will experience literacy deficits across all subjects. Here, three innovative curriculum leaders, Lynn Hobratschk, Dr. Amy Jones, and Lisa Toole, offer their insights into what makes a successful phonics program and how to implement it in schools.

Lynn Hobratschk: Long-Term Training and Timely RTI

Implementing the right phonics instruction is essential. Teachers who come straight out of college training programs, in my experience, don’t have the depth of phonological knowledge or training to be able to teach phonics in an explicit, systematic manner without some sort of support system. In a small district such as mine, which doesn’t have literacy coaches or curriculum specialists, we rely on our teachers to do the curriculum work.
We had a select group help us find the reading program that would power up our reading instruction in the areas we needed assistance. Training should be seen as a long-term strategy. The district needs to provide follow-up training and ongoing support to keep the fire burning. We also need to help our teachers “see” the results of their new instructional methods by providing reflection and feedback time. We have teacher trainers in our district now to help enculturate our newly hired teachers with the intention to maintain a common method of phonics training from grade to grade, class to class. When students have reading difficulties, our goal is always to identify quickly and intervene well. Through a well-defined RTI system, with high expectations for Tier 1 instruction and data collection, students who are struggling can be spotted quickly. Using specified, targeted instruction in a small group, the Tier 2 interventionist can be a critical resource for filling in gaps and bringing students to grade-level instruction before they lose hope.

Dr. Amy Jones: Start by Training Coaches

Some decision makers and teachers won’t see the importance of an explicit and systematic phonics program until someone presents the need. Whether the need is to help struggling readers or to help teachers better understand how to explicitly teach phonics, educators must show the need in order to create the initial motivation needed to kickstart a major literacy initiative. Before classroom teachers are trained, train reading coaches and interventionists. This way, coaches can act as teacher-leaders and develop capacity for implementation. The reading coaches and interventionists become in-house support for classroom teachers when the district is ready for full implementation across all classrooms.
Reading coaches and interventionists can model lessons for teachers and show them how to implement the initiative in their classrooms. They are also the biggest cheerleaders for the initiative when it is time for rollout because they have seen it work, and their peers trust their judgment. This helps with buy-in.

Develop classroom teachers’ buy-in by allowing them to have a voice in curriculum mapping and decision making when it is time for the initiative to impact the classroom. Create grade-level committees on which three or four grade-level classroom teachers serve. Include an interventionist and reading coach on each grade-level team, since they have had experience with the initiative and can provide valuable input.

Lisa Toole: Train Administrators and Follow Up with Everybody

Professional development creates awareness. After the initial training on our new phonics program, we were more aware of the gaps and the hodge-podge of phonics our teachers had been practicing that resulted in confusion for students. The research-based strategies of teaching systematic and explicit phonics allowed our K–3 teachers to communicate with a common approach. This benefited both the students and the professionals. Something we found instrumental was to train administrators. This way, they know what the messy, legitimate work of early literacy learning looks like for the student, but also for the teacher being observed and evaluated. Our principals have mentioned numerous times that training on our phonics program was beneficial and allowed them to gain new insight for their own understanding. They now know what effective phonics instruction should look like in the classroom.

I recommend routine follow-up to monitor the progress of teacher implementation and student learning. This is helpful because it emphasizes the importance of the instruction and specific strategies within the program. It also allows me to validate the commitment these teachers have made by visiting their classrooms and reciprocating feedback. I look for actual evidence of phonics instruction and ask how specific aspects of the program are working for them. This leadership technique has supported the scope of work and kept it exciting for teachers.

Lynn Hobratschk is the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction in Friendswood ISD in Texas.
Dr. Amy Jones is the director of pre-K–6 curriculum and instruction and the director of federal programs for the Lauderdale (AL) County Board of Education.
Lisa Toole is the K–6 curriculum coordinator of Ohio Valley School District in Ohio.

Effective English Language Teachers

Patricia Hanson shares practical tips for classroom success

I recently observed a colleague teaching ratios in a middle school math class with several English learners (ELs). He naturally weaved in a conversation teaching the meaning of the word per. He stated it, defined it, wrote it, gave examples with illustrations, and had the students chant “Per means one! Per means one!” while holding up their index fingers. He had students share their own examples with the whole group and then had small, specially designed groups work together to solve and illustrate a real-life problem about pet food using the skills they had learned. These powerful moments and experiences, in which students learn how language works in relation to the content they are learning in multiple modes, are purposeful and a regular part of the way this class operates.

Another colleague, a language arts teacher, integrates reading and discussion about a novel depicting the struggles and successes of an immigrant child who is about the same age as her students. She reads aloud to model fluency and provides opportunities for students to learn new vocabulary. She periodically stops to check her children’s comprehension and to make connections.

They are attentive and are excited to know what the character might discover next and how the other characters in the novel show empathy toward him. They eagerly share their personal connections to the story in speaking and writing.

Recognizing the adjustment many of her own immigrant students are making, she is tending to their social-emotional well-being by providing acknowledgment of their lived experiences while simultaneously creating a classroom environment that builds content skills and language skills, as well as empathy among the many diverse children within it.
How can all educators develop the level of understanding and skill needed to teach ELs in a way that addresses their need to learn English, develops content knowledge, and supports their social-emotional growth, all while maintaining a rigorous curriculum for all students?
Below, I highlight actions and examples that effective teachers use to support ELs’ language acquisition and academic success and promote their social-emotional growth

Effective Teachers of ELs:

  • Show a genuine interest in the individual children in their classrooms to find out about their lives outside of the classroom, and use that knowledge in in connecting with them and in their instruction
  • Ask a student about how she did at her out-of-school activity or how she performed in a sporting event and look for ways to relate to an instructional moment
  • Know about their students’ academic and language backgrounds and collaborate with other staff to optimize learning opportunities
  • Seek to understand an EL’s previous schooling experiences, including achievement in reading and math
  • Value use of a student’s first language (L1) in learning
  • Understand the progression of language acquisition and where each EL is in the progression
  • Integrate lessons on how the English language works in their content areas
  • Find appropriate moments to point out how to use a new vocabulary word in a sentence; explain what a cognate or false cognate is, etc.
  • Model academic talk and provide opportunities to practice
  • Scaffold learning experiences
  • Provide reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities that are appropriate for individual EL students’ levels of proficiency while supporting their movement to the next level
  • Have high expectations for their students
  • Provide ELs “wait time” to think so that they can participate in class discussions
  • Find ways for newcomers who are non-English speakers to show what they know
  • Do not wait for ELs to learn English, but instead expect and support rigorous content learning and English learning simultaneously using L1 as support
  • Design a learning environment with spaces that encourage both cooperative work and independent work
  • Have students work together at tables, sit alone in comfy spots, etc.
  • Recognize multiple intelligences as a way to provide opportunities for students to show their understandings in different ways reflective of their language levels and interests
    Focus on students’ strengths while increasing proficiency
  • Explicitly teach content vocabulary paying attention to different tiers of words that ELs may have missed due to interrupted schooling or EL proficiency levels
  • Provide multiple opportunities and ways for students to learn and use new content vocabulary
  • Provide opportunities for academic talk in small groups that are designed with consideration for an EL student’s proficiency level and content knowledge
  • Set them up for success by providing sentence starters and vocabulary lists with illustrations as supports for low-level ELs
  • Value parent input and ensure ways to communicate with parents
  • Work with parents to learn about what a child’s strengths are in order to facilitate learning
  • Develop a communication system between school and home

Along with the principal’s leadership stressing the importance of supporting both EL students’ academic growth and language growth, educator teams can establish and ensure that appropriate interventions are in place and available when children are not making the progress necessary or anticipated.

Patricia A. Hanson has taught in Wisconsin public schools for more than 20 years. She has worked as an administrator, a Spanish teacher, and an EL teacher. She currently teaches middle school Spanish and EL students.

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