OSAT ESL (OK177) cheat sheet

Krashen's five hypotheses: acquisition-learning, monitor, natural order, input (i+1), and affective filter; comprehensible input drives acquisition, not conscious rule study.

Cummins' BICS (conversational fluency) typically develops in about 2 years; CALP (academic language proficiency) typically takes 5-7 years and depends on literacy in L1 and prior schooling.

Stages of second-language development: pre-production (silent period), early production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, advanced fluency; expectations for output rise with each stage.

Interlanguage is the learner's rule-governed interim system; errors that reflect systematic rule application are developmental, while mistakes are performance slips the learner can self-correct.

Contrastive analysis predicts difficulty from L1-L2 differences; error analysis examines actual learner errors, and interference (transfer) explains only part of them.

Cognates transfer across languages: Spanish-English cognates such as 'familia/family' or 'biología/biology' support academic vocabulary when morphology is taught explicitly.

Semantic vs. syntactic features of language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics; pragmatics covers register and social rules of use, which vary by culture.

Affective filter variables include anxiety, motivation, and self-confidence; high anxiety or low motivation reduces the intake of comprehensible input even when exposure is adequate.

Key legal anchors: Lau v. Nichols (1974) requires meaningful access to instruction; Castañeda v. Pickard (1981) sets a three-prong test (sound educational theory, implemented effectively, results evaluated).

Plyler v. Doe (1982) bars denying K-12 enrollment based on immigration status; schools may not require Social Security numbers or immigration documents as a condition of enrollment.

Program models: transitional bilingual education exits to English-only; dual-language/two-way immersion serves ELs and fluent English speakers together and aims for bilingualism and biliteracy.

SEI (structured English immersion) uses English as the medium with sheltered content; ESL pull-out and push-in differ in whether services are delivered outside or inside the general classroom.

Title III of ESSA funds language instruction for ELs and requires annual English language proficiency assessment and reporting of progress toward exit criteria.

EL identification uses a home language survey followed by a valid English proficiency screener; exit decisions use proficiency assessment plus multiple criteria, not a single test score.

Parental notification of EL program placement and of the right to decline services is required; declining services does not remove the school's obligation to provide access to the curriculum.

Terminology: LEP is a federal funding term, ELL/EL is the current instructional term, and 'long-term English learner' describes students with 6+ years of service who have not reached exit criteria.

WIDA/ELP levels typically run 1 (Entering) to 6 (Reaching); content objectives and language objectives should be paired, with language objectives naming a function (describe, compare) and a form (past tense, comparative adjectives).

Formative assessment is ongoing and used to adjust instruction; summative assessment measures achievement at the end of a unit and should be aligned to the same objectives.

Sheltered instruction features (SIOP-style): content and language objectives, building background, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, practice/application, lesson delivery, review and assessment.

Accommodations for ELs on content tests include extended time, bilingual glossaries, read-aloud of directions, and simplified English; they must not change what the test measures.

Assessment bias: a test may be reliable (consistent) but not valid (measuring the intended construct); a language-loaded math word problem can be an invalid measure of math skill for an EL.

Performance-based and portfolio assessment capture CALP and content learning when standardized tests underrepresent what ELs can do; rubrics should be shared with students before the task.

Progress monitoring for ELs uses curriculum-based measures and language proficiency data; exit from EL services requires evidence of proficiency plus ability to succeed in mainstream classes without support.

Backward design: identify desired results, determine acceptable evidence, then plan learning experiences; language demands of the task should be analyzed before selecting scaffolds.

Comprehensible input techniques: visuals, gestures, realia, slower speech with clear articulation, paraphrasing, and checking comprehension rather than asking 'Do you understand?'.

Silent period is normal in pre-production; teachers should not force oral output but should provide low-anxiety opportunities such as choral response, yes/no, and pointing.

Interaction hypothesis: negotiation of meaning (clarification requests, confirmation checks, comprehension checks) promotes acquisition more than passive listening alone.

Oral language development sequence: listening comprehension precedes production; BICS develops through social interaction, so pair and small-group talk builds both language and content understanding.

Academic talk structures: think-pair-share, numbered heads together, and sentence frames ('I agree with ___ because ___') give ELs the linguistic entry point to discussion.

Pronunciation instruction targets functional intelligibility, not native-like accent; suprasegmentals (stress, rhythm, intonation) often matter more for intelligibility than individual phonemes.

Listening tasks should be scaffolded with pre-listening (vocabulary, prediction), during-listening (focused gist/detail tasks), and post-listening (discussion, summary) phases.

Total Physical Response pairs commands with physical movement, building receptive vocabulary and lowering anxiety before oral production is required.

Five components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension; ELs need all five plus oral language support and L1 literacy transfer.

Transfer of literacy: readers literate in L1 apply decoding and comprehension strategies to L2; lack of L1 literacy means foundational skills must be taught explicitly in English.

Running records and miscue analysis reveal whether errors are meaning-based (semantic), structural (syntactic), or visual (graphophonic); a high proportion of meaning-based miscues signals strategic reading.

Writing development stages: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing; ELs benefit from modeled writing, shared writing, and mentor texts before independent production.

Academic vocabulary tiers: Tier 1 basic words, Tier 2 cross-content academic words (analyze, contrast), Tier 3 domain-specific terms (photosynthesis); Tier 2 words yield the highest cross-curricular payoff.

Text structure instruction (compare-contrast, cause-effect, problem-solution, sequence) improves comprehension and is a scaffold for expository writing.

Error correction should target a limited, high-frequency set of errors tied to the lesson's language objective; correcting every error in every draft suppresses fluency and risk-taking.

Word study for ELs includes morphology (prefixes, roots, suffixes) and cognate awareness, which accelerates academic vocabulary growth for Spanish-speaking learners.

Sheltered content instruction teaches grade-level content while scaffolding language: grade-level standards stay constant, and language support is the variable that changes.

BICS/CALP distinction drives content planning: a student fluent socially may still lack the academic language (e.g., 'hypothesize', 'infer') needed for content tasks.

Culturally responsive teaching connects content to students' funds of knowledge, uses culturally relevant examples, and holds high expectations rather than lowering rigor.

Cooperative learning structures (jigsaw, numbered heads together) create peer interaction that supports both content mastery and language development.

Multicultural education levels (Banks): contributions, additive, transformation, social action; the transformation level changes the curriculum's perspective, not just adding heroes and holidays.

Culture affects classroom norms: eye contact, wait time, turn-taking, and directness vary; interpreting behavior through one cultural frame can mislabel students.

Family and community engagement should use accessible communication (translated materials, interpreters) and treat families as partners in literacy and school decisions.

Content-area reading requires discipline-specific literacy: science texts use nominalization and passive voice, math texts use dense symbols and multiple-meaning words ('table', 'product').