RUNNING HEAD: Learning Scenario Analysis: ESL Program

Learning Scenario Analysis: ESL Program

Rogan Cheng (65835100)

Youngeun Do (85053684)

University of British Columbia

EPSE 301

Dr. Surita Jhangiani

March 24th, 2021

LEARNING SCENARIO ANALYSIS: ESL PROGRAM 2

In this learning scenario, we are analyzing an afternoon ESL program teaching children

of age 7 years old in a mid-sized classroom setting. This ESL program aims to provide ESL

learners with their development to become familiar and comfortable with English. The language

program aims to improve the students’ listening, talking, reading, and writing skills in English.

The length of this course will be roughly one month, with lessons being held five times a week,

being roughly 3-5 hours long. Throughout this English teaching program, there are numerous

learning activities, assessments, and objectives that will be thoroughly analyzed.

Prior to attending the program, students will be asked to take an English proficiency test

for teachers to evaluate their English language ability and skill. The proficiency test consists of

spelling quizzes, sentence framing assessment, and vocabulary assessment. The spelling quiz

will be conducted as a group, where the teacher will say a word and the students will have to

write the word down on a paper. The sentence framing assessment will be done individually,

where students will need to complete a sentence with a few given words (e.g “the apple is

smaller/bigger than a car”). Subsequently, the vocabulary assessment will be held individually,

where students are shown a visual photo of an item or a word, then asked to name what the photo

is or pronounce the word correctly. The process of learning a new language is a challenging,

lengthy and continuous progress. During this process, social interaction is a crucial aspect for

teachers to build a stable relationship with the learners in order to evaluate the learner's learning

progress. It is critical for teachers to implement teaching strategies and learning activities for

students to process the information given and retain it in their memory.

LEARNING SCENARIO ANALYSIS: ESL PROGRAM 3

Within this aspect, Vygotsky’s theory of Social Constructivism demonstrates how

learners should be encouraged to experience different materials through the help of their peers

and others (Jhangiani, 2021a). The English proficiency test grants teachers to understand their

students' current knowledge and framework strategies and learning activities to enhance their

comprehension, establishing a framework for the Zone of Proximal Development. An activity

that will demonstrate each student’s ZPD is to have a small mini-group session where students

will take turns reading out-loud short passages from a children’s storybook. The assistant teacher

will facilitate their reading for any mistakes, such as correcting their pronunciation. Dirksen

(2016) advises that students excel in their academics when studying together, being able to act as

resources for one another and help each other with problems. Consequently, in order to

implement a strategy to improve cooperation, it is the teachers' and assistant teachers' roles to

encourage and initiate questions to the group to enable them to critically think, such as “what

does this word mean? What will happen on the next page?” This provides a collaborative

learning environment, where children will discuss and learn from each other while the assistant

teachers take notes in which areas the students have difficulties with (Dirksen, 2016). With the

ongoing discussion, students will be in an environment where they can stay engaged and be

attentive. Another activity that teachers can implement is “Show & Tell.” Students will take

turns presenting an object in a circle to the class while explaining what it is. Teachers can

provide questions to assist the students to elaborate more about the object, such as “what colour

is this toy? Do you like this toy and why? What does this toy do?” This group activity requires

students their English conversation and listening skills, where teachers are giving guided support

to the learners while the guidance is slowly being removed as they learn, is a form of scaffolding,

(Jhangiani, 2021a). As they go around the circle, learners will slowly be able to explain their
LEARNING SCENARIO ANALYSIS: ESL PROGRAM 4

object in detail from listening to the past presentations from the students and the questions given

by the teachers. As the explanation becomes more detailed, teachers will have reduced their need

to initiate the conversation by asking assisting questions. As the students are young children,

teachers must take part in ZPD and attentively pay attention to the student’s progress and

understanding of the material. Hence, scaffolding, ZPD, and facilitation play an essential role in

guiding and evaluating the student’s activity and process throughout the class, assisting the

students with attentive guidance and autonomy.

In terms of learning a language, memorization of vocabulary, spelling, and grammar

points, they are all intertwined with each other. This raises a question: how will this learning

scenario be able to aid students in memorizing vocabulary terms? Becoming familiar with

English vocabulary is essential for students to be able to refer, recognize, and process English

text. Hence, based on the Information processing theory, it is aimed for students to be able to

store new learning material in their long-term memories (Dirksen, 2016). A student will be

introduced to a brand new word, where the sensory information will be stored in their sensory

memory long enough to be transferred to their working memory (Jhangiani, 2021b). With

constant repetition and rehearsal of the word, the information will be encoded into their long-

term memory where students can retrieve the new information (Jhangiani, 2021b).

Although repetition and memorization will work to encode information into long-term memory,

this is a limited strategy (Dirksen, 2016). The learning scenario aims to focus on a consistent

design containing numerous memory-based activities. When introducing a new vocabulary word,

associating the term with sounds, visuals, and motions will support the encoding process

(Dirksen, 2016). Teachers can provide visuals, or imitate sounds when introducing the term (e.g,

if the term is “studying”, the students will be shown a visual of a child studying, imitate the
LEARNING SCENARIO ANALYSIS: ESL PROGRAM 5

process of studying by pretending to hold a book, and then asked to verbally pronounce and spell

out the word). In order for students to become familiar with the introduced vocabulary, this

learning scenario proposes the activity of “storytelling”, where students are asked to read a short

story book containing key vocabulary terms. Shortly after, the students will be asked to retell the

story in their own words. As information provided in a “storytelling” format aids in retaining

information, this activity allows students to become familiar with their new vocabulary (Dirksen,

2016). Another recall of memory activity consists of vocabulary cards, where students are shown

visual photos (e.g photo of a cat), and ask to pronounce the word, and spell it out. In order to

encourage recall activities as opposed to recognition activities based on encoding for retrieval,

this learning scenario integrated the activity of “Sentence Framing”, which consists of a writing

activity of filling out blanks to complete a sentence (e.g “The apple is the _____ red”). This

activity grants students to avoid relying on recognition activities, having to evaluate and think

about the required vocabulary, and having to manually write it down as well. Subsequently, this

learning scenario aims to provide spelling quizzes and a sentence framing assessment, where

students will be asked to complete the end of a sentence according to words. Thus, applying the

information processing model to learning strategies for each process of encoding, retrieving, and

recalling, memory is crucial for students to memorize learning material efficiently.

Upon analyzing our learning scenario, it is critical to note that the learners are seven-

year-old students. This brings upon challenges in achieving and maintaining the student’s

attention and interest. As the learning environment is a mid-sized classroom of elementary-aged

students, it is crucial to maintain a focused and engaging environment. According to Haidt

(2006), Haidt refers to the visceral brain as an “elephant”, being attracted to pleasurable,
LEARNING SCENARIO ANALYSIS: ESL PROGRAM 6

comfortable, and ideal to “attract” this elephant during learning processes. Hence, this is why

this learning scenario integrates storytelling and story reading activities, as well as puzzles such

as the aforementioned, “Show and Tell” activity, as well as an activity of “Word Jar Charades.''

Students will take a card out of a jar and explain in front of the class the description of the word,

having to guess what the word is. Correspondingly, it is essential to encourage social interaction

and provide visual cues and multiple sources of media according to the multimedia principle,

such as providing educational storybooks, educational videos, and educational songs that include

learning material for students to maintain engagement and be entertained by the activities

(Dirksen, 2016). Comprehensively, in order to attract and maintain the learner’s attention, the

majority of the aforementioned learning activities are in a collaborative “game” format. The

learning activities encourage social interaction, collaboration, storytelling, and visual cues which

will attract and maintain the students’ attention and participation.

Upon analysis, it is evident that the proposed learning activities play a significant role in

guiding, encouraging, and engaging the student’s learning progress in learning English. There

were clear connections with how social constructivism can promote an enriched learning

environment with the use of social interactions. As learning a new language requires

memorization, self-directed learning, and active assistance, applying these educational

psychology theories will allow the teachers to implement a greater framework to assist in the

children’s learning. Conclusively, administering these educational psychology theories upon

learning activities assist and guide students in learning English, in terms of memorization,

engagement, attention, memory application and retrieval.

LEARNING SCENARIO ANALYSIS: ESL PROGRAM 7

References

Dirksen, J. (2016). Design for how people learn. New Riders.

Haidt, J. (2006). The happiness hypothesis: Finding modern truth in ancient wisdom. Basic
books.

Jhangiani, S. (2021a). Understanding constructivism and how this influences learning

[PowerPoint slides]. Canvas

Jhangiani, S. (2021b). Study Memory and Learning [PowerPoint slides]. Canvas