Jenny Mckay EDRL 475 Summer 11 Hackett Case Study

Introduction:
Walking into the room on the first day of my observation, I felt a little out of my element. I was able to be in a study class at Slyvan learning center with ten students, ranging in age from six to ten. They were all ELL students working on improving their English. I noticed one young boy right away. His name was Oscar and he looked to be about eight years old. With floppy brown hair then fell into his face, he seemed shy and nervous. The teacher advised before the start of class that any student could be used for this case study and when I told her I had picked Oscar, she wasnt a bit surprised. He seems like a sweet boy. she smiled. During a point during the day, I pulled him aside and asked him questions to assess his level of language acquisition and to get to know him better. Oscar seemed embarrassed that he was being pulled aside, like he had done something wrong. I explained to him that I talking to him was a good thing, he lightened up and smiled. I found out that he lives with his parents, two brothers, and his one sister in an apartment on the west side of the valley in a decent neighborhood. He was born in Mexico and had moved to the United States just before he had started school when his family moved to Vegas to get a better life for themselves. Oscars dad works for one of the hotels as a gardener and his mother is a homemaker. Spanish is primarily spoken at home by his mother and siblings, while his dad prefers to speak English over Spanish, Oscar claim he likes it better. I told Oscar that its great that he knows Spanish and

English and that I wish I knew Spanish better. He was surprised when I said that, asking me why? I explained to him, that the more languages you know, the better your job opportunities are when you start working. Oscar will be attending 3rd grade soon, right in align with his classmates of the same age. He said he didnt really like school that much, but he likes playing at recess with his friends and hopes he has a nice teacher. This little boy does have some family in Las Vegas; his maternal grandparents, some cousins, and an uncle Sal that he idolizes. Oscar said he idolizes Sal because he works to take care of his family and plays soccer really good too. He said he hopes he can one day he can be like him. He said he plays soccer all the time and he likes to listen to music, both English and Spanish. On the playground at school Oscar said he used to get picked on sometimes by other boys, but he said he didnt care what they thought, he had friends that he liked to talk to. After talking to him the first day and observing him all day, I was ready to do an assessment with Oscar.

Assessment:
Assessment 1. Near the last part of the day, I gave Oscar the Concepts About Print (CAP) test about a book I grabbed off the school bookshelf, a chapter book with pictures. I read the book to him, while he followed along pointing to the words in another copy, then I orally gave him the test. He passed with flying colors, his only problem was he didnt know what the definition of an author was, but when I explained to him that it was someone who writes books, he pointed to the authors name. A few minutes later, I had him write in two sentences his favorite part of the book. This little quiz and the additions of him following along and then writing his favorite part gave me an insight on the kind of

student Oscar can be if given a little encouragement and help. Assessment 2. I then had Oscar talk to me about his favorite sport, soccer. I asked him why he liked it, who he played with, and why he didnt like football instead. After our few minutes of conversation I asked him to write about his best day playing soccer, whether it was with his friends or with his uncle. While he was writing, I found a small article for kids about the sport on a website. When Oscar was done writing, he gave me his paragraph to read. I read his paper to him while he nodded and smiled. We talked about it for a minute then had him read the article I had found on the computer. When the day was over, Oscar said Thank you as he hurried out the door. Reading his two papers over and over that night, I was saddened to think he might have thought I was there to hurt him in any way. I wondereddid someone try to befriend him then go away? The next time I saw Oscar was a week later, he asked me why I hadnt been there the rest of the time, like he was better when I was there. This surprised me, Oscar seemed like a positive, happy child and I felt bad that he felt reassured when I was present. Assessment 3. Another assessment I did with Oscar was to have him read by himself a book of the teachers choosing, a narrative about the Old West. As I watched him read, his expression was that of frustration, and then he soon put the book down as if he was done with reading. I asked him about the book, but he didnt want to answer. This action of his surprised me, he was so willing to read the article and the other book, and I hoped something in the book didnt upset him. After the students had left, I picked up the book and realized it had talked about a war in Mexico. It was just a brief note about it, and it

perplexed me. Had Oscars family escaped a part of Mexico that war had been happening? General Information After the second day of observation, I noted in my notebook that Oscar could either be at an emergent or intermediate level of Language Acquisition. After my educated guess, I reread the definitions we had been given and I felt like my guess was way more accurate than I had thought originally. I felt he was at an intermediate Language Acquisition level since Oscar did have excellent comprehension of spoken English, gave opinions, and I didnt feel he was translating from Spanish to English. However, his BICS was not completely fluent and his simple grammar wasnt accurate either.

Testing Behaviors:
The first day I had observed Oscar, I was surprised and ecstatic that he spoke some English. He answered my basic questions pretty easily, sometimes pausing however maybe to think of the best way to say what he was thinking. While testing him that day, I wondered if he was fluent in Spanish when he moved to the United States and if he had learned English by watching Sesame Street like my nieces husband. Oscar seemed eager to talk about his family, music and sports, but then mention of war in the Old West book that caused him to physically and emotionally shut down. I advised his teacher to let his parents know about the situation and hoped he would maybe even get some counseling to help him deal with that issue. Feeling so helpless in the situation, I felt it was the best thing I could do.

Results/ Interpretation:

Since I reconfirmed that Oscar fell between an emergent and intermediate Language Acquisition level, his speech was at a decent level. Obviously improvement was needed, but I knew he was determined to be like his dad and especially his uncle speaking English fluently. The use of the pictures in his stories and article were helpful to him, and he had also remarked making a text-to-self connection saying that day he described playing soccer was just like the day he had went the gym, lunch, and then to one of his uncles soccer games. I was proud I was able to watch him make that kind of realization. Reading pretty steadily, sounding out words, and trying to pronounce words he didnt understand gave me proof that Oscar had a caring teacher in the past working with him. His speaking and listening skills were pretty well overall since I understood him and he understood me, Oscars grammar in his two papers was understandable, but some of his words were misspelled. With baby steps, Oscar will be fully fluent in English and Spanish in no time at all, and he is excited to get to that point.

Classroom Recommendations:
Since Oscar is so eager to learn, I wouldnt want his momentum to be pushed down by a teacher who doesnt understand where he is coming from. My hope for him is that he gets a caring teacher that will take the next necessary steps to encourage his future. First, be kind to him. Second, encourage the use of reference materials such as dictionaries and thesaurus to assist him when he needs it. Next, continue using pictures and even more varied mediums to get him excited about learning. He would probably also benefit from Garners Multiple Intelligence theory approach as well, using tactiles, visual, and musical methods that would challenge him. He loved to talk and write about subjects that interested him, I would try to incorporate learning more about him to cater

some assignments to personal items so he could express himself freely. Oscar is one of those students I have learned so much and who will always be in my heart as the years will pass me by.