Chapter+6

== = = = Scenario = Ms. Campbell is a language specialist who works with students at both the elementary- and middle-school levels. She has several elementary-level students who have difficulty retrieving words when speaking. Often, these students will shift in their seats and say, “I know it” when trying to describe an event. In addition, these students have trouble participating in group discussions, sharing ideas on a topic, and developing ideas that follow previous learning. Interpreting critical parts of a story is a tremendous challenge for these students. Recently, many of these students have demonstrated immature social skills. They may misinterpret social cues, fail to think of others’ thoughts and feelings, and be unable to predict the consequences of their behavior. Ms. Campbell needs to remember that the student's first language is Spanish and that they may not understand everything as easily as the other students whose primary language is English. This student may struggle reading, comprehending, and writing in English and therefore Ms. Campbell may need to spend extra time working with the student to ensure they are able to understand and complete the assignment. There may be more steps needed when assigning something to this student and all this factors need to be considered before she assesses and grades the student.
 * 1. One of Ms. Campbell’s students is a bilingual student who speaks Spanish and has acquired English as a second language. What factors should Ms. Campbell consider when assessing this student? **

Two formal types of language assessment that Ms. Campbell can use to gain information on her students' language abilities would be screening and diagnostic tests. Screening tests allow teachers to gain only a general overview of each students' performance in a short amount of time. She can use information from a screening test and compare it among that of other students in the class. Diagnostic tests, on the other hand, measure one or more specific language components for a wide range of skills. These components include both receptive and expressive language. Either of these two tests would benefit Ms. Campbell to gain information regarding the students' language abilities.
 * 2. Describe two formal language assessment instruments that Ms. Campbell can use to gain information regarding her students’ language abilities. **

Ms. Campbell good test this student to see if they have phonological deficits by analyzing the student's production of phonemes. This can be done either informally or formally by using two types of tests. The "Test of Language Development" and the "Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation" both tests focus on the students' phonology skills and determine their ability to make phonemes.
 * 3. Ms. Campbell believes that one of her kindergarten students has phonological deficits that affect language development. How can she test this student’s phonological skills? **

Some strategies Ms. Campbell can use to increase language production in her students is to start having them speak randomly in incomplete sentences, she can comment and elaborate on students' ideas to demonstrate how more information can be expressed, or she could use semantic training to improve a student's word-retrieval skills like classifying words. All these strategies will help Ms. Campbell's students to express more language skills, however there are several more for her to try.
 * 4. Ms. Campbell wants to use strategies for increasing language production. Present three strategies that may improve the expressive skills of her students. **

Two instructional language games that Ms. Campbell can play in small groups with her students could be Prefix Bingo and Can You Answer with a Question? Both of these games will increase the students abilities to use better language skills and also to know how to use prefixes and properly ask and answer questions. With Prefix Bingo, Ms. Campbell will create Bingo cards with different root words on them and a spinner with prefixes(//in, re, un, and non)// sectioned off on it. The students will take turns spinning the spinner and announcing which prefix it lands on. They will then take a marker and place the marker on a root word that would use that prefix. For Can You Answer with a Question? game, it is a lot similar to Jeopardy. The teacher will create a game board with different categories and question cards that are worth different points. For example, one of the categories may be //Clothes// and the word on the card could be //shoes.// The student then needs to create a question about shoes, such as, "What do you wear on your feet?", The game continues until each card has been used and the person or team with the most points wins,
 * 5. Describe two instructional language games that can be played by Ms. Campbell’s students in small groups. **

Components of Language ==


 * Information Found From: Teaching Students with Learning Problems, 8th Edition, Cecil D. Mercer; Ann R. Mercer; Paige C. Pullen (2011) **