Since the TESOL International conference was supposed to take place at the end of this month, I thought it would be timely to repost a piece about TESOL’s publication, The 6 Principles for Exemplary Teaching of English Learners. My longtime colleague, co-author and friend, Dr. Deborah Short, was lead writer on the book and is the current TESOL president so it seemed fitting to hear from her about TESOL’s 6 principles and how they align with the SIOP Model. I’m sure you’ll enjoy her informative guest blog – especially in times like these when we’re unable to hear from experts like Deborah in person!
Deborah: The 6 Principles for Exemplary Teaching of English Learners (TESOL, 2018) presents pedagogical foundations that every teacher of English learners should know, including research on second language development so teachers can make informed instructional and assessment decisions, strategies to promote bi/multilingualism, and methods for effective instruction and assessment. The 6 Principles represent an assets-based approach to language development and the book showcases a vision that language specialists are professionals with substantive expertise to share with colleagues.
TESOL developed the 6 Principles to advance the quality of English language teaching. Because English is the most popular new language to learn worldwide, it is important that all educators have a common understanding of second language learning theory and effective instructional and assessment design. When educators have a resource with contemporary research on pedagogy and second language acquisition, they can create beneficial conditions for learning in their classes. The 6 Principles are the core of exemplary teaching and apply to all educational settings where students are learning English as a new language or learning content through English.
The SIOP Model (Echevarria, Vogt & Short, 2000, 2017), which we developed to integrate academic language learning with content area instruction, is the perfect framework for actualizing the 6 Principles. The SIOP Model helps teachers plan and deliver effective instruction so students meet high academic standards and develop their English language skills. Let’s consider each of the 6 principles and show how implementing SIOP will help teachers meet them.
Principle 1: Know your learners
Knowing who your students are is at the center of effective instruction. Principle 1 encourages teachers to gain information about their learners, including their educational and linguistic backgrounds, their interests and talents, their cultures, and their families. With this knowledge, teachers can leverage assets the students have (e.g., first language literacy) and enrich their lessons with resources that learners bring to the classroom. Teachers also can anticipate gaps in knowledge that students might face.
How Does SIOP Help Teachers Know Their Learners?
- When SIOP teachers consider the features of the Lesson Preparation component as they write their plans, they look at student data regarding proficiency levels in order to target instruction appropriately. They can then set language objectives and adapt content according to student needs.
- The Building Background component calls on teachers to tap personal experiences and knowledge students have about their home country and cultures to build or activate knowledge needed for lessons. Suggested techniques include visuals, video clips, field trips, Quickwrites, KWL charts, structured turn and talks, anticipation guides, and concept maps.
- Teachers recognize student assets and see the value of native language use in the classroom. The Interaction component reminds teachers that using the L1 strategically is beneficial.
Principle 2: Create conditions for language learning
Teachers have control over the culture in their classroom. Principle 2 prompts them to create a safe space for the learners so they are comfortable taking risks with language and learning new academic routines as they develop their skills. Teachers can create a positive climate that motivates the learners and a physical setting that promotes language use, such as by grouping students at desks or tables.
How Does SIOP Help Teachers Create Conditions for Language Learning?
- To support literacy development, SIOP teachers pre-teach key vocabulary so students have greater access to texts—those they will read and those they will write. Key techniques shared in the Building Background component include 4 Corner charts, Frayer maps, contextualized word walls, foldables, and personal dictionaries.
- To promote collaborative discussions recommended in the Interaction component, teachers post anchor charts of signal words and academic language frames that are used to express functions (e.g., compare, persuade, evaluate). Teachers also configure learning groups deliberately as called for by the task and lesson objectives. Further, they teach students how to function in groups, both in terms of accomplishing their assigned roles and in utilizing discourse moves, such as turn-taking.
- SIOP teachers know that avid reading supports language acquisition so they build multilingual classroom libraries with books on curricular topics and books for pleasure reading. They look for books that reflect the students’ cultures and home countries, and ensure the selection includes texts at multiple reading levels.
Principle 3: Design high-quality lessons for language development
Principle 3 represents the core of instruction. The lessons, whether delivered in an English language class or a general education class, must have clear outcomes and use varied inputs to present information to the students. High-quality language lessons encourage the practice of authentic language coupled with relevant and meaningful content. Teachers help students think critically, use learning strategies, and regulate their learning. Teachers also differentiate instruction as needed.
How Does SIOP Help Teachers Design High-Quality Lessons for Language Development?
- In many ways, the SIOP Model epitomizes Principle 3. We believe that SIOP’s most significant contribution to instructional practice is the focus on having content and language objectives in every lesson. This hallmark of SIOP fits right in with the clear outcomes stressed in this principle.
- SIOP calls for meaningful activities in each lesson, the use of variety of techniques to make content comprehensible, attention to learning strategies and higher-order questioning, and extensive practice and application that uses language authentically in academic ways.
- SIOP teachers may differentiate the way content information is presented (e.g., using supplementary materials or native language resources, adding visuals or audio supports, building background knowledge with a small group of learners while others in class do a Graffiti write to activate knowledge they already have) or the task that is assigned (e.g., some students work in pairs, students choose from options of a final product, the length is adjusted by proficiency level). However they do not differentiate the content and language objectives.
Principle 4: Adapt lesson delivery as needed
Just ask any teacher–Not all lessons go as planned. Principle 4 shows teachers that making adjustments is part of the teaching and learning process. By checkingstudent comprehension frequently, teachers can find out if a lesson is going off-track or if some students have not understood the material. Instead of waiting until the unit test which could be a week or more away, teachers can start adjusting immediately. They might present the information in a different way, find additional materials to support the students’ comprehension, or work with a small group of students to review the content while the rest of the class completes another task.
How Does SIOP Help Teachers Adapt Lesson Delivery as Needed?
- The Lesson Preparation component encourages teachers to think in advance about adaptations of content and supplementary materials that might be required for some students. The Lesson Delivery component holds teachers accountable for meeting the objectives so they must be continually monitoring student learning as the lesson unfolds.
- The Strategies component suggests verbal, instructional, and procedural scaffolding to increase comprehension. SIOP teachers paraphrase text or student discourse. They incorporate graphic organizers into activities so students can capture important information in structured ways (as in how a Venn diagram frames the similarities and differences). They remind students of steps in a process, perhaps through illustrated directions.
- The Review and Assessment component encourages teachers to use group response techniques to check comprehension. If students are struggling, SIOP teachers may reteach or provide additional practice.
- Other ways that SIOP teachers adjust their lesson during instruction include modifying their speech, changing the pacing of activities, giving clear explanations of assignments with models of a finished product, and increasing wait time for student responses.
Principle 5: Monitor and assess student language development
The best lesson is worthless if students haven’t learned anything at the end of it. Thus it is important to monitor informally during a lesson and more formally with regular assessments. Principle 5 focuses on language development and calls on teachers to monitor student errors but provide feedback strategically. Teachers can take notes or use a rubric to record data on students’ language use. Teachers are also expected to let students demonstrate their growing knowledge base through various types of assessments—reports, recordings, tests, and so forth.
How Does SIOP Help Teachers Monitor and Assess Student Language Development?
- SIOP’s Review & Assessment component addresses this principle directly. SIOP teachers monitor student language and content knowledge throughout a lesson. When errors are noted, a teacher may make an explicit correction at the moment, recast what a student has said, prompt a student to self-repair a written or oral statement, or plan a mini-lesson for the class in a near-future lesson.
- SIOP teachers use a range of assessment techniques to ensure students are making progress towards learning objectives. These include quick responses like thumbs up/thumbs down, 3-2-1 fingers (show 1 if you got it [the concept]; 2, are getting it, or 3, don’t get it), and written answers on a whiteboard. Assessment activities built into lessons include Numbered Heads, Send a Problem, vocabulary games, and computer-based programs like Kahoot and Quizlet.
- SIOP teachers assess student work with language development in mind. Teachers learn to analyze the work in two ways: one, to determine if a student conveys an understanding of the content knowledge (even if grammatical or nonconsequential vocabulary errors are present), and two, to determine if the academic language is used appropriately and shows growth in linguistic knowledge.
Principle 6: Engage and collaborate within a community of practice
Principle 6 wraps around the other 5 principles and focuses on how teachers can become better professionals and thus improve the instruction they provide. To meet this principle, teachers continue their own personal professional learning, perhaps by joining a teacher association or attending conferences. Teachers also collaborate with colleagues–they co-plan lessons, enhancing language practice opportunities and/or co-teach, sharing responsibilities with all students in a classroom.
How Does SIOP Help Teachers Engage and Collaborate Within a Community of Practice?
- Just by reading this blog and following this website, you are engaging in a community of practice. And most SIOP teachers do. They are dedicated to their field and their learners and strive for new knowledge to improve their instruction.
- Some of you participate in book study groups and PLCs where you share your expertise with colleagues. You may help with lesson planning, with the selection of materials, or with explanations of language proficiency levels and interpretations of test results.
- Many of you act as mentors or coaches for other teachers and help them implement these 6 principles and features of SIOP in their classrooms.
- A growing number of you are co-teachers. In so doing you bring to life the SIOP Model every day and give students more access to language and content learning.
To sum up, remember that by implementing the SIOP Model you are giving students a leg up—helping them access the content they need in school and pushing their academic English development forward. You are also meeting the 6 Principles that TESOL has set out as universal guidelines for language teaching and learning.
References
Echevarria, J., Vogt, M.E. & Short, D. (2017). Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP® Model, Fifth edition. Boston: Pearson.
Echevarria, J., Vogt, M.E. & Short, D. (2000). Making Content Comprehensible for English Language Learners: The SIOP® Model. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
TESOL International (2018). The 6 Principles for the Exemplary Teaching of English Learners. Alexandria, VA: Author.