Page 13 - ELG1802 Feb Issue 454

RESEARCH NEWS . NEWS

By Federica Tedeschi
Young Hispanic English students A TRIBUTE TO RESEARCH SHORTS
took an average 3.6 years to reach
English proficiency, an extensive TEACHERS GO NATIVE
longitudinal study of Texan pupils THE GODFATHER OF
in Grades 1 to 8 has found. The most common teachers’ technique for repairing
The report, covering more than DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR a breakdown in communication with students is to
71,000 students, confirms the switch back to the class’s native language, a small
findings of smaller studies, but it study in Vietnam has suggested.
also highlights the differences in By Melanie Butler by playing the jazz clarinet. Teachers were more likely to start speaking
the speed of progress of separate The last Gazette interview with the He was once asked his views on Vietnamese with their classes rather than use
subgroups of Hispanic pupils. descriptive grammarian Randolph the disappearance of the Manx visual aids or more effective English to improve
Pupils enrolled on a special Quirk, who died recently aged 97, language. comprehension, the study published by Vietnam
education programme, who took place in the House of Lords This native Manxman whose National University in 2017 found.
entered Grade 1 at age 7 or older tearoom. own father was one of the last The research, which involved the analysis of 113
or started school with a beginner’s We were discussing the native speakers of the language, teachers’ videotaped teaching sessions, found that
level of English, struggled to friendship between Quirk and said, ‘Completely useless language. the most common English mistakes teachers made
improve through the middle A.S. Hornby, founder of the I’m glad it’s gone.’ were pronunciation (32.8 mistakes per person)
grades, the study showed. Oxford Advanced Learners’ Yet this was a man who, when with a high incidence of misplacement or omission
The analysis also revealed how Dictionary. he was stationed in Wales during of word stress, followed by grammar (12.6), and
pupils’ progress to proficiency was Lord Quirk of Bloomsbury, to the war, learned Welsh so he could vocabulary (5.8). The research took place as
affected by how the state chose give him his full title, was in fine sing in a choir. Vietnam conducted its National Foreign Languages
to measure it – the proportion of Hispanic pupils ‘take almost fettle. A man who taught Anglo Saxon Project 2020, which aims for all English language
learners demonstrating at least ‘Remember, at this time and studied Ancient Norse. teachers to reach an English level 4 to work at
satisfactory performance state- transformational grammar was And he was someone who primary and lower secondary school and level 5 for
wide dropped substantially when four years’ to master English being taught in English language loved the Isle of Man, where he upper secondary and high-school tutors.
schools switched from the Texas classes,’ he complained. ‘Even was born on a farm his family had The suggestion that the use of L1 is not the
Assessment of Knowledge and Chomsky thought that was worked for 300 years, although he best strategic technique to adopt in the classroom
Skills (TAKS) to the harder State But performance dropped substantially under new testing b****s’ seldom visited it. remains contentious as no evidence is provided to
of Texas Assessments of Academic regime, researchers say Randolph, as he always insisted When he heard that a group of support the idea. The findings of the research differ
Readiness (STAAR), between on being called, was at least as Manx businessmen, including my from a larger 2014 study of 488 teachers who were
2012 and 2014. against an overall average of 97 Laboratory (REL) Southwest says. role to individual states in important to English language father, were campaigning to open asked to translate common classroom expressions
The new STAAR tests are per cent. Hispanic boys also lagged ‘The challenges that Hispanic determining which standards teaching as Hornby or even a language school, he flew home and structures from Vietnamese into English. This
more challenging and focus on behind their female counterparts English learners face are evident, schools will be judged against. The Chomsky. with me to lobby for it. Another study from the same university found that the
one whole school year’s worth of in all areas studied – for example, with the large and enduring REL team examined the cohort of If we know anything about front page for the Gazette. most common types of mistakes were lexical and
information whereas TAKS were 80.1 per cent of girls reached achievement and attainment gaps Hispanic EL students in Texas who spoken grammar, it is because I will always remember a speech grammatical. However, the study did not look at
cumulative tests. English proficiency by Grade 8 that have been documented in were at the end of Grade 1 (aged Randolph insisted it was in the David Crystal gave at the British pronunciation as it was a written questionnaire.
Overall, the data showed while only 73.1 per cent of boys research studies of these students 6–7) in 2005–6 and calculated the Survey of English Usage. Library in honour of Randolph
only 40.1 per cent of those who achieved the same. compared with other students,’ average time it took them to attain If we use modern terms for Quirk, his old boss at the Survey
participated in a special education Hispanic English learners, the the research adds. English language proficiency and parts of speech like determiners of English Usage. HEARING VOICES
programme reached English largest group served by Texas’s The report’s authors said the meet state standards in reading and quantifiers, it is because he ‘He is Obi-wan Kinobi,’ said Neurocientists studying stroke patients say they
language proficiency by Grade 8, English language programmes, findings are expected to ‘serve and maths. insisted on throwing out the old Crystal, ‘and we were just his Jedi.’ have detected which region in the brain allows us
against the overall average of 76.5 ‘can lag behind their English- as a blueprint’ for other states as Researchers looked at the Latin formulations. Rest in peace Randolph Quirk, to recognise someone’s voice.
per cent. learner peers from other racial and they decide when ELL students progress of 71,140 students in With Greenbaum, Leech grammarian, Vice Chancellor, life Researchers found that patients with damage
Over 95 per cent of students ethnic backgrounds in high school should be meeting key educational English language – 69,216 in and Svartvic, he produced the peer, jazz musician, Manxman. in certain areas of the right posterior temporal
who started school with a graduation and postsecondary milestones. This issue is currently reading and 69,014 in maths. In all Comprehensive Grammar of The force was with you. lobe find it harder to recognise someone simply by
beginner level of English showed attainment,’ the report from in the spotlight because recent cases, the percentage of children the English Language, the first hearing them speak.
a satisfactory reading performance the US’s Regional Educational ESSA regulations hand a greater attaining state standards in Grade complete descriptive grammar of The scientists, based at the Max Planck
3 and cumulatively by Grade 8 English. Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
We owe him so much. Always
The school system in America varied by student subgroup. a friend to the Gazette, ready in Leipzig, said that the posterior superior temporal
Most learners had met state
standards in reading (84 per to dispense wit and wisdom, he NHK Youtube gyrus is crucial for voice recognition.
n Under Federal law all ELLS must be tested in English when they enrol at school. Dr Claudia Roswandowitz, along with other
cent) and maths (80 per cent) by appeared on our front page a researchers, tested the ability of 58 patients with
the end of Grade 3 when tested dozen times.
n If the new arrivals’ English is not assessed as proficient, they must be offered an English Language in English or Spanish under The man was a headline brain injuries to learn and recognise voices, with a
Education programme, subject to parental approval. These programmes can be intensive English with focus on those who had suffered a stroke.
no school subjects, English language plus academic subjects or bilingual/dual language programmes. the state’s previous assessment walking. Take, for example, The scientists carried out high-resolution brain
system. A total of 88 per cent the time he complained that, scans of the participants. ‘In our studies, 9 per
n English language learners will not usually enter mainstream English medium classes until they are of the cohort obtained English following his campaign to improve cent of the participants reported suffering from
assessed as having an equal level of proficiency in English as their native speaker peers. proficiency by Grade 8. conditions in English schools, all difficulties in recognising voices, a problem that
The report’s authors stressed the government had done was is almost unheard of in the medical sector. Thus,
n The assessments used and the level set for proficiency is set by individual states. Children that their findings ‘serve as a send a visiting party of MPs to we have to raise awareness of this matter,’ said Dr
who test as proficient in Texas may not be the same level as those in Florida. blueprint for other states in how look at schools in New York. Roswandowitz.
to use data to model expectations ‘New York?’ he roared. ‘What She also highlighted that these
n Federal Government funding is available for ELLS in special programmes. It is not for EL students as required in the can we learn from New York? findings could help in the search for
normally available for support when they enter mainstream. ESSA’. They are worse than we are. They a treatment for those affected by
should just get on a train and go phonagnosia, the medical term for
to Scotland.’ the inability to recognise voices.
Or take the time he admitted,
in a two-page interview, that he Randolph Quirk
funded his undergraduate studies
12 February 2018 editorial@elgazette.com 13