use a hypothetical case of an English Language Learner you may encounter in your future teaching practice.
Choose one student of focus and investigate his/her culture.
Submit your completed assignment as a Word document only (doc or docx ). The required word minimum is 1500 words.
Important: Review the assignment rubric (see Module Resources) before you start working on this project.
Project Outline
Your project will include the following elements of the EL student’s culture:
I. Introduction paragraph (10 points):
Include the name of the country, geographical location, language spoken.
II. Educational System (15 points):
Identify aspects of the educational system in the parents’ native country. What are the parental expectations based on their native country’s educational system? Which of these expectations might cause conflict in the school system in the United States?
Duration of schooling in the native country: Is education free? How long are the students expected to attend school in their country? Is it mandatory to go to school?
Research attitude towards plagiarism in the student’s native country. Discuss how a teacher in the U.S. school can address this issue and help these ELLs succeed academically.
III. Home Life (15 points):
Identify culture of home life aspects which may lead to problems in school acculturation and success in the U.S. schools. In what particular areas does the teacher need to be sensitive and aware? Ex: Does the student have any specific dietary needs that the teacher should know about because it may affect the interaction of the student in the classroom? (i.e. no pork, student fasting, etc.)
Religious practices that may affect the student in school
Gender roles
Family views on education
IV. Student Behaviors (15 points):
Identify student behaviors which may be exhibited or demonstrated in the classroom. Which ones may lead to miscommunication or misunderstandings in the school system in the United States (gestures, eye contact, manner of dress that are appropriate in the student’s home culture, other)?
What strategies would be beneficial in working with these students in schools in the United States?
V. Annotated bibliography of children’s and adolescent literature (20 points):
Visit www.asiaforkids.com (Links to an external site.) This site has a lot of information on children’s literature. You may also find numerous resources at www.cultureforkids.com (Links to an external site.). and www.scholastic.com (Links to an external site.)
Identify at least 4 children’s/adolescent books representing this ethnic group.
1. a traditional bibliography (APA format) for the books, and
2. annotation –
a) a few sentences telling the viewer/reader what each book is about
(the story line), and
b) how you would use it in your classroom.
An example of an Annotated Bibliography of Children’s/Adolescents’ Literature is posted in Module 9 Resources. Note: This example is intellectual property of a UCF student who granted her permission to have her work displayed in tsl4080. No portion of this example is to be copied/used to obtain credit for this project. Academic Honesty Policy applies.
VI. Reflection on possible biases (10 points):
Using your knowledge from the “Hidden biases” workshop, reflect on the following prompt about the EL students at your service learning site:
What are the areas of difference between the students and yourself that could potentially trigger bias, either consciously or unconsciously, in your interactions?
VII. Works Cited, (15 points):
APA format
As you are researching EL student’s culture, check several reliable Internet resources (Wikipedia is not a reliable resource). Attention: Direct quotes are not allowed in this report. Make sure to paraphrase sources correctly. Per course syllabus, incorrect use of quotations (including inappropriate paraphrasing) will result in a 50% project grade deduction.
Important: When speaking of a culture’s attitudes, values, perceptions and behaviors it is important to use general terms (such as, “it appears many prefer,” “may,” “in most situations,” or other phrases) to prevent stereotyping the culture and to prevent ignoring individual differences that exist in all cultures.
Your Cultural project must be submitted as a Word document; it must be titled correctly (Cultural project), and it must follow the outline as described above. Use Times New Roman font 12. Please review the rubric for this assignment.
I. Introduction
II. Educational System
III. Home Life
IV. Student Behaviors
V. Annotated bibliography of children’s and adolescent literature
VI. Reflection on possible biases
VII. Works Cited (APA)
