Case Study

Group 1
Faris, Josephine
Gozo, Emmanuel
Martinez, Carlos
ESOL II
May 28, 2018
Phase 1,2, & 3

Juan Chavez Case Study

Summary:​ Juan is an immigrant from Cuba. He came to the U.S when he was 37 years old with
no knowledge of English. In the ten years that Juan has lived in America, he has been unable to
learn enough English to pass the Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Test (CALP), and
he still has difficulty understanding English Juan works for a company that repairs medical
equipment, and he must improve his English skills in order to move up in his career. His boss is
requiring him to learn better English before he will promote him. Juan has a son and a wife that
both depend on him, and Juan has been taking English classes as an ESOL student, but his
progress has been slow. Based on the level of his English proficiency, Juan can be classified as a
beginner in the preproduction stage of English. Juan is not currently receiving L2 support
tailored to his specific situation, and he has not be assessed to determine if there are any skills
that he does well in.

Critique​: This case study is based on the real problems that Juan is facing in the English
language. It is clear that he has problems with some grammar, English vocabulary, and his
pronunciation of words, which is normal for a student in the preproduction stage. This case study
was written clearly, but there is a lot of information missing that would help Juan learn English
successfully. This case study fails to talk about Juan’s academic level and background in Cuba.
There is also no mention of his academic level when entering this country. The study does not
mention specific problems that Juan may have had when coming to America, and we are
unaware if there are other factors influencing his need to learn English other than his job
promotion. As a teacher, understanding student’s academic level in their native language and
how they progressed learning their first language can help be a strong indicator of how
successful a student will be learning the new language they are learning. All of this information
can give the teacher knowledge about how to help Juan learn English. The case study also does
not mention how to integrate Juan’s cuban culture and background into his learning in America.
Helping a student learn a new language through familiar situations, such as through stories and
customs from their own culture, can not only help a student feel more comfortable, but it can
help the student understand new information. This case study should also include ways to help
integrate Juan’s background into lesson plans. There is also no mention to the way his culture
can be integrated into his learning. There should be a bridge between his present stage and more
advanced knowledge. For this is also necessary to understand Juan’s skills and strengths in his
own language that can be transferred to the new one. Although there is enough information for

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Analysis, it will be hard to see major progress with Juan without background information on
assessments, skills in other areas, and information on how these ESOL lessons fit in with his
personal life with family and work.
This case study was well organized with the Google Sites page. It had a clean and organized
look, and it was easy to navigate due to the sequential presentation of the essential elements,
including the background, reading/writing Analysis, and the action plan.

Why Do They Bring Apples? Case Study

Summary:​ Tomoko is a Japanese girl recently immigrated to the U.S. She is 9 years old. She
lives in New York with her two parents and two grandparents on her mother’s side. Tomoko can
not adapt to the new school system, as it is very different from her old school system in Japan.
There are some cultural differences as well. Tomoko does not want to integrate and stays apart of
every children, except her Japanese neighbor, a child like her.
In her former country, children need to memorize vocabulary and they are taught to learn
passively, reflecting on any new information carefully. Tomoko was grown in a culture that
respects adult people and the elderly, and that follows some rules of behavior and
communication. Her teacher does not understand why she does not want to socialize in class and
work in groups. It seems the teacher has not received any training in diversity and varied
cultures, nor has she tried to find out how is the background Tomoko brings to class. She has not
been able to adapt her curriculum to students like Tomoko. The ESOL teacher and the principal
in the school are trying to find a solution to the problem.

Critique:​ This case study did provide some information about Tomoko, Tomoko and her parents
feelings towards how school is going, and information on the problems Tomoko is having at
school. Tomoko’s school has an ESOL teacher, but it does not seem like the school is fully
prepared to be accepting ESOL students at this time. An ESOL student requires their teachers
and school staff to understand their situation, and the school should be able to integrate the
student successfully into all situations and subjects. Tomoko’s teacher does not seem to be aware
of the mental adjustments that a student goes through when moving countries into unfamiliar
situations. Tomoko seems to want to fit in with other students, but the teacher’s lack of
understanding and miscommunication with Tomoko and her family seems to be holding Tomoko
back. Since Tomoko’s parents can speak English, there should be more initiative on the teacher’s
part to initiate frequent meetings to get to know them personally and their culture. The parents of
Tomoko could serve as a cultural bridge for Tomoko because of their English speaking ability.
Though they don’t understand the culture of America they could explain to the teacher what
Japanese schools are like. Meanwhile, the teacher could explain the classroom and social culture
of American classrooms and identify possible areas of incongruence between the two cultures, so
that she can be mindful of them.
It would benefit Tomoko’s English teacher to look into Japanese culture and
backgrounds. Tomoko’s ESOL teacher could also benefit from a survey sent home, or a meeting
with both Tomoko and her parents to help facilitate more effective communication between all
parties involved. Tomoko’s teacher could prepare for this with a class on cultural awareness. It
could also be beneficial for Tomoko to be assigned a buddy to help her integrate into the class

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environment. However, more could be done by both parties - the teacher and Tomoko. The
teacher could also work on creating a more welcoming environment by all students. Tomoko is
shy, however, her shyness is only magnified by a new environment. If the new environment is
welcoming and comfortable, that could remove some of the anxiety.
Since Tomoko’s parents can speak English, it may be useful on the teacher’s part to
initiate frequent meetings to get to know them personally and their culture. The parents of
Tomoko could serve as a cultural bridge for Tomoko because of their English speaking ability.
Though they don’t understand the culture of America they could explain to the teacher what
Japanese schools are like. Meanwhile, the teacher could explain the classroom and social culture
of American classrooms and identify possible areas of incongruence between the two cultures, so
that she can be mindful of them.
There is also a mismatch between the teacher,other teachers and other levels of
management in the school. The case should provide more information about how Tomoko does
in other subjects and the results of other assessments, even if the same happens with the other
teachers. For example, if she was better at reading than writing. It would also help to know if the
school has tools available that would help facilitate the transition from the Japanese alphabet to
the English alphabet.
When it comes to solutions, Tomoko’s action plan is well drawn out. However, there
isn’t much follow up in regards to how the participant faired after the action plan was
implemented. For example, the principal and ESOL teacher produced action plans, but the fruits
of those action plans were not seen. As a student-teacher, I think the most essential part of
education is reflection and implementation, however, one cannot reflect fully if what they have
set forth to do has not crystallized in the form of observable results. This case study presented the
information in a well organized manner that was easy to follow. The bold header for each person
who was involved/speaking was helpful for the reader’s comprehension. The quotations that
were used from Tomoko, her teacher, her parents, the principal, and the ESOL teacher helped
make this study more personable and comprehensible to readers.

Reflection: ​The general opinion of the case studies that we chose - “Why Do They Bring
Apples?” and the case study of Juan Chavez, is that both were soundly written. Both of these
case studies incorporated the ideas, concerns, and opinions of multiple people, although we
would need more information to develop a proper response. They were not myopic in any sense,
nor were they biased. They were both clearly and objectively written. These qualities are
important because while we evaluate these as distant and unfamiliar case studies, they are people
whose educational careers/lives rest on these evaluations of data and the implementation of
action plans. Furthermore, we will come across varied situations like these and will need to have
some sort of schema to build off of to level the playing field for these ELL students. Lastly, each
case study serves an individual student who has different needs. We felt that each respective case
study accomplished that goal effectively, although they also present some weaknesses. They
identified the language and social needs of the student and created a roadmap to addressing those
needs, although a deeper study of the situation of each student and a deeper background analysis
could give a better picture of both cases.

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 Case Study Group 1
Faris, Josephine
Gozo, Emmanuel
Martinez, Carlos
ESOL II
June 06, 2018
Phase 2. Analysis of the ELL Samples

Pre- Production Stage

Vocabulary The student knew basic vocabulary words that involved

school, animals, and school. The student knew the words
for elephant, dog, locker, teacher, cafeteria, studying, and
family.

Type and This student spoke mostly in “yes” or “no” answers. The
length of student was able to respond to some questions with “I don’t
sentences know”, but most sentences were limited to a single word

Stages of: The student is able to negate correctly; she understands the
negation general meaning of the sentence (some semantics
questions knowledge), but can not understand questions in past tense
past tense or present perfect. She is in the beginning stages.

Pronunciation “​ ​I from Mexico (pronounced: Meh - hee - coo)” She then

self-corrects and says Mexico (pronounced: Mex - eh - co).
She pronounces the phrase “I don’t know” in a shy manner,

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 but she pronounces it correctly. She pronounces the word
“locker” with a longer O sound, like that in Spanish.

Cultural/pragm In student-to-student interaction she is very quiet. The

atic other student does a majority of the talking. He is
appropriatenes explaining turn-by-turn what she is to do. She laughs at
s herself and when he says something funny. She is able to
count her steps out loud. They briefly speak in Spanish to
each other. At the end, she counts her money in Spanish
and speaks to the other student in Spanish. He is unable to
understand the numerical value in Spanish. She is able to
laugh and smile at the outcome of the game.

BICS & CALP The student seems to have some skills in BICS (although
not well developed in English) and still quite poor in
CALP. She is still able to communicate using basic words
and expressions, which could be good for class group work.
She has some level of literacy in his home language, which
could be transferred to the new language.

Error types Interlingual, communication-based, maybe some induced

errors, as in eyos instead of they (the student uses y in both
cases).

Prescriptive The student is still using her L1 to write, but includes words
aspects of of her L2 (general Spanish syntax). The student has some
English: semantic knowledge of her L2 (understands the meaning of
grammar, basic words like baby and mother). Punctuation and other
punctuation prescriptive aspects are used following Spanish grammar
rules.

Writing ability The student is still unable to write complete sentences in

English, but include English language words in her writing in
Spanish. She can recognize the meaning and includes these
words in English in the sentence in Spanish: Tengo otra sister
(I have another sister). The student have rudimentary

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 knowledge of syntax rules, but is still unable to use them.
There is a lot of interlanguage with Spanish: Father y My
Mother nos tratan for igual eyos disen que anque tengamos
30 anos bamos a seguir siendo sus BABy. The student is
mixing vocabulary of both languages. The sentence is well
structured this way, but the student does not write some
words in Spanish correctly (bamos instead of vamos). This
level of literacy in the L1 of the student is still poor
concerning vocabulary, so we think the student had some
exposure to his L1 language, but not too much. She is still
able to communicate in her L1 language general ideas. The
student is in the process of transferring her L1 skills to her
L2. Good methods to use would be comparing words in the
two languages so the student notices the similarities. More
instruction with syntax and morphology would be advisable.

Reading ability She read the title incorrectly, however, after correction by the
teacher she read it correctly. She reads with her finger on the
page to keep her spot. Her pace of reading is slow because
she is having trouble discerning how to pronounce letter
combinations. She reads with understanding of what she is
reading. She does struggle with remember who Susan Black
is. She does know how to refer back to the text for the
answers. She can locate where she read the answers.

SOLOM to Comprehension
Analyze the
speaking sample The student comprehended most of the questions, but failed
to understand some with a more complex structure. He could
not understand questions using the present perfect: have
done or have been. But he understood the simpler form ing as
in doing. He is at the first stages. The student is being able to
interact with the environment. He could Analyze the
questions and offer an answer. Pictures were a good aide for
him.

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 Overall Overall, this student is primarily in the “silent period” or
assessment pre-production period. This is clear because she can
(interlanguage understand questions that are posed to her, but she is unable
use) to respond to questions in English. She is also not very
confident in initiating or carrying on a conversation beyond
one word responses. She is able to read and comprehend what
she is reading. She has reading skills like using context and
referring back to a pertinent text for answers. She can
understand a question in English but respond to it in Spanish.
She will need more time to get comfortable with English
while learning phrases and key vocabulary words.

Phase 3 Case Study

Name of ELLin the ESOL program: Ana (pseudonym). Country of birth: Cuba Age: 15 years
old.
Time in the U.S: 2 years English language level: Intermediate
Societal and Linguistic Background
Ana is a fifteen year old high school student who was born in Cuba. She goes to high

school and is in an ELL program.She​ is an Afro-Cuban, rather tall and thin. Her personality is

still not completely defined but presents some traits of a more mature girl. She seems to be

responsible and cares about her studies. She seems to have good social development, rather in

her own culture. ​She lives with her mother and father, and her sister came to America with

them, as well. She moved to America in the 8th grade (13 years old), and, after 2 months, she

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was enrolled in school. Her mother and father are middle age, around 50 years old. Her mother

works in a hotel, and her father is a handyman. Together, they have a lower middle class family,

so she access to any resources that she would need for school. Her older sister entered the

military, and she no longer lives in the house with them. They consider themselves a Hispanic

family, and he house has maintained the cultural atmosphere they had in Cuba. There home very

much represents their heritage through their style of furniture, the foods they eat, the TV they

watch, the clothes they are wearing and the music they listen to. The continue to stay connected

to Cuba through internet and phone calls. They have gone back to visit their home country since

they have moved here.

Back in Cuba, Ana’s family spoke standard Spanish, with only some variation from

Castellano Spanish (area in Spain where this official dialect comes from). Both of Ana’s parents

were literate and fluent in Spanish before coming to the US. Ana’s mother finished her 3rd year

of university in Cuba, and her father was a technician in animals (a veterinary technician). Both

of her parents speak Spanish at home, and Ana has a lot of exposure to this language in both

speaking, reading, and writing. Both Ana and her family speak positively about their experiences

in America, and they all said that they feel welcome living here. Ana says she feels especially

welcomed at school and her school’s ELL program has really helped her adjust to the culture.

Ana did mention that there was a huge culture shock for her when she moved, and it took her

awhile to adjust to it. Ana says that most of her friends in America speak Spanish like her, but

they are from all different backgrounds and cultures. Her friends in school are also from different

backgrounds and cultures, but most of them speak Spanish, as well. ​The social community where

she lives is rather supportive. Close neighbors have good relations with the family, although they

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do not belong to their culture. They are mostly Afro-Americans with some white American

population. The area in general has the influence of the Hispanic community with deep

influences of the Cuban culture.

Linguistic Development
Ana seems to be in the process of acculturation. She seems to have adjusted well, and

she has a lot of support from her family. Even so, she is quiet and speaks English with some fear

and hesitation. While she says she feels very comfortable writing in English, she says she is only

“so so” with reading and speaking. This is normal for this period and it may affect her

understanding or performance in class. As she gains more confidence in herself she will be able

to overcome some of these problems, and she will gain fluency in her new language. Before she

came to America, she was able to read, write and speak fluently in Spanish. Both her BICS and

CALP where somehow well-developed in Spanish for someone her age (although she presents

some problems with reading in her L1). She completed schooling all the way through middle

school in Cuba, and she had good grades in both Cuba and America. When she moved to

America, it was only two months before she was in school in an ELL program.

When Ana moved here, she did not know any English. She credits her success in

speaking to her ELL program and she says that it has really helped her gain confidence in

speaking and writing. During her interview with us, she seemed the most sure of her answerings

when saying that she feels comfortable writing in English because of this program. While Ana

understands everything she hears and reads, she does struggles with phonology sometimes where

she pronounces things how they would be pronounced in Spanish and not English. She also

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struggles to put pauses into sentences while reading. While she does need help with morphology,

it is not to the point where words lose meaning.

Upon registering for the ESOL program, she presented the diploma of elementary
education and the school subjects she took with all the scores for the 8th and the 7th high school
levels in Cuba and she had all vaccines less 2 that she received here.

Prior to the student’s arrival in the U.S the student had had good social development in her
school and in the neighborhood. She was able to interact in Spanish fluently, following all
the rules for this language (good pragmatics) and she was rather influenced positively by her
environment. Her BICS was well developed for a girl her age (she arrived in the new country
when she was 15 years old). Her academic abilities were not so bad in the sense that she
finished the 8th level of education (second year of high school for Cuba). Her grades were
good and generally she could develop academically for the level required in her school.
Nevertheless, there were some problems that many schools in her home country face (lack of
resources, sometimes bad performance of teachers, and classrooms’ contexts where many
students did not pay attention and the environment was too distracting) that influenced
negatively with part of her literacy or CALP abilities in Spanish. These problems limited her
skills in reading. Although she can read rather well, she presents some problems that need
attention. She is somehow transferring these problems to her L2.

We think that her linguistic skills in Spanish did not change too much. She can
communicate fluently in Spanish and she can generally demonstrate her CALP abilities for the
last level she took in Cuba. We think that she has not been able to expand remarkably her
vocabulary in Spanish as she is not in direct contact with her culture as in Cuba. On the other
side, she has been learning vocabulary in the new L2 which she is expanding notably. She knows
many words in English according to her level in the ESOL program she attends. She can form
words and she understands the basic rules of morpheme building. She has some problems with
word-endings, like simple past (especially when she reads) and she tends to mix some Spanish
grammar with English. She has some problems with phonology (she does not pronounce
correctly some words and she is not very fluent in her L2). As she maintains her cultural roots,
she tries to accommodate to the new culture. She uses her L1 mainly at home and at the school
she uses mainly her L2. She does not seem to suffer contradictions with this assimilation. Her
BICS and part of her CALP were well developed in Cuba. In the U.S she has developed her
BICS to the level that allows her normal communication in her L2. She is still developing her
CALP in English, and she has developed some abilities and skills in her L2. But she requires
more tailored instruction, so she can overcome some problems with part of her CALP in Spanish
(reading) and continue advancing. Her writing in English is fine for her level (it has good
semantics and syntax). We think that her writing is good enough for content area and linguistics.

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She can understand the lessons and use her CALP enough good. Her teachers do not tailor
instruction enough to the different cultures, so the topics and themes used in class for reading or
writing are based on general themes or mainstream themes (mainly based on the U.S). Her
teachers use content area topics that are generally suited to the student’s level but not tailored
more specifically to her culture; topics about Cuban nature or other aspects if the island, for
example. With the English instruction happens something similar.

Data Collection
Transcription of Interview
Interviewer: What is your name?
Ana (pseudonym): My name is Ana.
Interviewer: Your age?
Ana: Uh, 15 years old.
Interviewer: Which country do you come from?
Ana: Um, I’m from Cuba.
Interviewer: And how long have you been in the US?
Ana: mmm, 2 years
Interviewer: Ok, do you have some educational experience, how has it been in the US? What are
you studying?
Ana: I’m in the high school.
Interviewer: In the high school? In the ESOL program?
Ana: Yeah
Interviewer: Okay, so you are, what kind of lesson are you receiving? What classes?
Ana: (pause)
Interviewer: Of course, do you study Geography, History..?
Ana: Yeah
Interviewer: Mathematics?
Ana: Yes
Interviewer: Okay, so do you feel welcome in the school?
Ana: Yes
Interviewer: Okay, How was your educational experience in Cuba?
Ana: Good.
Interviewer: Okay, um, in Cuba did you live in a city, town, village?
Ana: In a city.

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Interviewer: Okay, What do you do for a living? Do you live with your parents?
Ana: Yes
Interviewer: Okay, what level of education did you complete in Cuba? Before coming?
Ana: Um, 8th grade, this would be in the United States, middle school.
Interviewer: Okay, middle school in the US. Okay, in Cuba, were you good at reading,
writing..um, where did you have problems in Cuba?
Ana: Um, in the reading.
Interviewer: In the reading?
Ana: Yeah
Interviewer: So, you were good at writing?
Ana: Yes
Interviewer: Okay, and listening, of course, you can understand.
Ana: yeah, yeah
Interviewer: Okay, Did you have good grades in Cuba?
Ana: Yes,
Interviewer: Who are the members of your family here? For example, you live with your parents.
Ana: My mother, my father, and my sister
Interviewer: How long were you in the US before you enrolled in school?
Ana: Two months
Interviewer: Two months? Okay, what language do you speak in your household?
Ana: Spanish
Interviewer: For you, what was the most difficult thing about moving to another country?
Ana: The culture
Interviewer: The culture, why?
Ana: Because, It’s so different. Its so.. Its, special.
Interviewer: Do you have instances where you do not understand what someone is saying or
communicating to you? In English?
Ana: Some words, but I understand very good
Interviewer: Yes, you understand very good, more or less. You said some words.
Ana: Yeah
Interviewer: What is the level of English you think you are at right now?
Ana: Intermediate
Interviewer: Intermediate, okay, so how well do you think you can write in English?

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Ana: Oh, very well.
Interviewer: Read?
Ana: More or less
Interviewer: Speak?
Ana: mmmm.. More or less
Interviewer: Listen?
Ana: Good
Interviewer: Okay, are most of your friends from the same nationality as you? Cuba for
example? Your friends?
Ana: Some.
Interviewer: Not all?
Ana: No
Interviewer: Do most of your friends speak your first language?
Ana: Yes
Interviewer: Do you work in groups in class?
Ana: Yes
Interviewer: So, in class they form groups? Do they speak Spanish like you? Or they are
different?
Ana: They’re different
Interviewer: Okay, so do you practice English with them outside of the class?
Ana: Yes
Interviewer: Is there anything you would like to share with me here about being an ESOL student
in a new country? How do you feel being a student and learning English now in the US?
Ana: Oh, very good, because its program helped me to understand more English. I feel more
comfortable with this program.
Interviewer: Thank you very much for this interview.
Ana: Thank you
The ELL answered positively to most questions with only short hesitations. Questions were
rather general about her experiences, education, background, and feelings. Some questions were
more specific and she could answer with enough detail.
Writing Sample

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Writing Sample Ana
What Level- Intermediate ESOL
Syntax​- Ana does well with syntax here. Her sentences are in the correct order and structure for
English. Her sintax is understandable, but she has grammar problems, like omitting the The in
the The U.S.. This is a point that should be emphasized in her instruction. She also builds parts of
sentences as if writing in Spanish (in the first time). She needs more emphasis in connecting
adequately the two languages. Her punctuation is fine, although she ommitts some marks, as the
comma in (for example). In other parts, commas are fine. She has more problems in her reading
than in her writing. Overall, the way she builds sentences have good syntax.
Morphology​ - She has some problems with the correct construction of words, but they
are not very serious. She has problems with the plural (omits s) and changes the past for present

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(make good friends). She also has some problems with other constructions of the plural (country
for countries). This is because she is mixing her L1 with her L2. She is still in the beginning
stages of language development. She would need to work more in some grammar.
Phonology​-Based on the taped reading, she presented some of the same problems,
although in her writing she used correctly the past tense in some parts (moved from Cuba). She
includes punctuation and other elements quite well and the sentences seems organized around the
topic or meaning. She writes better than she reads.
Semantics​- The whole writing seems to have meaning and it rotates around the chosen
topic (her experiences in Cuba and the U.S). Most words respect basic semantic rules, except for
some which are product of her mixing the two languages. She had some mistakes, but they do
not change the meaning of sentences.
Pragmatic​s​-She does have the support of her family and friends and seems to enjoy
school. At home she feel secure and part of the neighborhood. Her new environment does affect
her in some ways. Sometimes she feels insecure and afraid of the context. She develops well
socially; she has friends and does not seem to reject the new society. It will take her some time to
overcome the stage she is in the acculturation process.
BICS and CALP​- Ana can communicate with everyday language in English well (as
well as in her L1) and she understands everything that is being said to her. Her BICS is
well-developed, and she could successfully speak in class, with friends, and on the phone with
ease. In her writing sample, Ana was able to clearly deliver her message without any loss of
information. Ana could use more time to develop CALP skills in school. In her writing sample,
we can see that the word choice used is somehow simplistic and lacking some academic
language. Ana was able to answer the question completely, and she used academic transitions for
English nicely. She can work on expanding her academic vocabulary and strengthening sentence
structures.

Reading Sample
Text Used:
It is not made of silicon; and it is not a river valley; but forgetting that, Silicon Valley is probably
the most famous valley in the world. Although it is not the place where the first computer was
built (that was Manchester, England), Silicon Valley, near San Francisco, was the ​birthplace​ of
the modern computer industry.
For this, we can say thank you to scientists at the universities in California, and to the
Hippies of the 1960's.

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 It was in the nineteen-sixties that American ​"youth​ culture" really began. California, of
course, already existed; but the Sixties Generation rediscovered it.
At the time there were really two different forms of ​youth​ culture; the "Beach Boy"
culture ​on the one hand​, and the ​anti-establishment​ hippies and ​radical​ students on the other
hand; and they all dreamed of California.
For the Beach Boys, that meant southern California, where they could sing about surfing
and cars; for the Hippies and radicals, it meant San Francisco, "flower power" and revolutionary
new ideas. The campuses at Berkeley and Stanford, near San Francisco, were hot-beds of new
ideas, new technology, new culture, and new ways of living.
When they finished university, many of the best students did not look for jobs with big
companies like Ford or Exxon. Instead they wanted to be free and ​run​ their own operations....
and stay in California, not far from San Francisco. Silicon Valley is thus a group of small towns,
including Palo Alto and San José, a few miles south of San Francisco.
The high-technology industry was already present around San Francisco. Intel had been
founded in 1968, and in the same year the first computer mouse was built at Stamford
University. In 1970, Xerox opened a research center in Palo Alto. There were also other
electronics companies, like Hewlett Packard, and Fairchild, the world's first "semiconductor"
company.
Then, in 1976, an electronics student called Steve Jobs started a small computer ​company​ in
his garage; he gave it the same name as the Beatles' record company: ​Apple​.
Very soon, more companies, like Seagate and Google appeared. "Silicon Valley" had
arrived. There was even a sort of primitive Internet connecting many addresses in Silicon Valley,
called the Arpanet.
Today, Silicon Valley is still the home of the computer industry; it is still full of high
technology, but it is not the only center for high-tech in the USA. Today here are computer firms
all over the USA.... and all over the world; but Silicon Valley still has the largest concentration
of high-tech companies and research centers.
Microsoft, the world's biggest high-tech company, is not based in Silicon Valley. It is further
north, near Seattle in the state of Washington

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 Miscue of Reading Sample

Script Miscue Grapho/Phonic Semantic Syntax Non-resp Correction​s

Visual Auditory onse

Ot In ✓
Not No ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Valley Vayey ✓ ✓
Industry Industrial ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Universities University ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
The
Youth Yov ✓ ✓
But Bot ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
On In ✓ ✓ Dreamt
Dreamed Dream ✓ ✓ Souster
Southern Souster ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Meant Means ✓
Compuses Composs ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Finished Finish ✓ ✓
Instead Isteed ✓ ✓
Miles Millevs ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Built Build ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Opened Open ✓ ✓ ✓
A
Then The ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Started Star ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
gave give ✓ ✓ gave

No. of repetitions____7______ No. of insertions_____________

No. of omissions_____2_____ No. of corrections______4______
● Reads word for word ​ ​ yes​/no
● Reads in a jerky way with little intonation yes​/​no
● Reads missing out lines or losing the place in the text ​ yes​/no
● Reads without regard for punctuation ​yes​/no
● Reads stressing every syllable ​yes​/no
● Reads fluently with hesitation only before difficult words ​yes​/no
● Reads pausing after phrases and whole sentences at punctuation points yes/​no
● Understands the overall meaning of the text ​yes​/no

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 Strengths and Weaknesses:

Ana is able to read at a pretty quick speed, and she can read a majority of the words with little issue.
Ana’s weaknesses were in her pronunciation of words. Ana also struggled with bundling words
together with little consistency in pauses. Ana did not always pause at the end of sentences and/or
phrases. She had some problems with word-endings; seems to fail to recognize the simple past tense.

Reading Sample Analysis

This ESOL seems to be in an intermediate level of the language. She presents some
problems that have to do with her literacy in Spanish. These problems still affect the student,
although they are not very serious. Reading seems to be one of her weak points. Her syntax is
standard and simplistic, rather than according to her level. She can read the sentences, and her
mistakes do not modify substantially the syntax or structure of the sentence. She has some
difficulty with morphology. She has problems to add the ending of the past tense, as in “star” for
“started”. This is common, as she has not mastered more advanced levels or stages to learn the
language. She needs more time to overcome the more advanced stages. She also has some
problems with phonology, but they are caused by the influence of her L1, Spanish. Some words
do not exist in Spanish, and she tends to mix the pronunciation of these words with the way it
should be in Spanish (bot for but). She understands generally the semantics of words, and her
mistakes are caused by other problems with phonology or morphology. She tends to speak too
fast and tends to overlook correct pronunciation. She corrected herself several times and she was
correct when she did it. In Spanish, words are pronounced rapidly, and the connection between
words is different than in English. We saw this in her oral reading, as she often rushed or put
words together with small pauses. About pragmatics, we think she is still under the acculturation
process, and she does not have complete confidence in her skills. This context influences her
behavior and assimilation of her L2. At home, where we did the interview, the ambiance was
calm and familiar to her. We suppose that she produces more mistakes when in school.
Sometimes she looked nervous and spoke quickly. She still needs more adaptation to the new
environment and gain more confidence.
SOLOM Score
Comprehension- 5
This student understands everyday conversation and normal classroom activities
Fluency- 4
Speech in everyday conversations and classrooms discussions are generally
fluent, with occasional lapses as the student searches for the correct word.
Vocabulary-4
Student occasional uses inappropriate terms and/or must rephrase ideas because of
lexical inadequacies

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 Pronunciation-3
Pronunciation problems necessitate concentration on the part of the listener and
occasionally led to misunderstanding.
Grammar-4
Occasionally makes grammar and/or word order errors that do not obscure
meaning.

Problem Scenario
Case Outline
Ana comes from another culture and language. She comes from Cuba and she has been in
the U.S for about 2 years. She began with the ESOL program about two months after arriving in
the new country. She lives with her parents and an older sister, who is not living at her house for
the moment. In her former country she assisted to school until the 8th grade (midterm in the U.S)
based on the Cuban educational system. She seems to have had good literacy levels when she
started the ESOL program in the U.S. In Cuba, she had some difficulty with reading in her
language.
Problem
The school she attended in Cuba did not have adequate resources and the quality of
teachers sometimes was not the best. Besides this, the environment in the classrooms where she
was was sometimes very distracting to her and she could not concentrate enough in part of the
lessons. Due to this, her reading has some problems that still persist. As she needs to adapt to the
new general culture, she seems to be in the second or beginning third stage of acculturation. This
influences her capacity to assimilate the new instruction. In addition, this ESOL program may
not be emphasizing her culture in the lesson she receives. We think all this is influencing
negatively in her mastering of English reading, which she needs so she can be included in
mainstream education and keep going to superior education.
Stakeholders
There are some stakeholders in this situation, like her close family. Her parents explained
that it was normal in Cuba that some students made noises and did not pay attention to some
lessons. Many students in Cuba have the same problems as the culture in Cuba is different. Her
parents are providing her with all the support she needs, although they do not speak English quite
well.
The school where she goes has a sheltered program and the staff has some experience
with ELL. Ana’s teachers know how to prepare the curriculum in a way that she can do the
transition to her L2. But these teachers do not understand very well some particularities of Ana’s
problem with reading, or how in her culture reading problems should be handled. Besides this,
Ana’s teachers have not deepened too much into the Hispanic cultures represented in class and
especially the Cuban culture and how this culture influences learning in Cuba or the U.S.
This ELL parents think that the ESOL program is excellent and that she has advanced.
The student states that she is in a normal class with mainstream students since she entered school

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in the U.S but she knows she is receiving sheltered education. The father thinks it is the best way
to educate her if she is placed since the beginning with mainstream students, so she has more
access to English. He does not think that a separation with mainstream students is good. He
thinks she learns better and advances faster this way. Her parents do not understand very well
about the educational system in the U.S or about sheltered education. They know the kind of
problems she faced in the school in her former country and they hope she can overcome
them.The ELL states that her school may have an ESOL specialist, but she has not met him or
her. She says that the principal thinks the program is fine and she has seen the teacher conversing
with the principal about it in good terms. The only accommodation that she has received is ​being
given more time to complete tests. In her class there is no special education students.
Her immediate neighbors know that she is in the ESOL program and they encourage her
to learn more. Sometimes she speaks with them and they correct her with some mistakes in
English. They have good opinions about her culture. They think that the school she is attending
has a good program. They have offered her to help with the language if she needs.
The ELL thinks that she is receiving a good education and that this kind of sheltered
instruction in a mainstream class is the best choice for her and is helping her to become
proficient in the language. She knows that she has problem with her reading, but she thinks she
will overcome the problem with more instruction in English. She is happy with the instructors
and the quality of her education. She would accept any help that can improve her reading and she
understands the relation between being literate in Spanish and in English. She would participate
in the proposed plan to improve her skills.

Solutions
This solution depends on part on Ana’s stakeholders. Ana’s teachers should be more
careful with the way they prepare lessons, so Ana’s culture is represented. As Ana has some
problems with literacy in her L1, the teacher should do the transition between the part of L1 Ana
knowns and the L2. There are some ways to do this. Cognitives can be used so she sees the
similarities and the differences. The same can be done with short sentences so she can perceive
the way both languages build grammar structure. With the part in her literacy that she is weak
she needs more vocabulary and more reading. Short texts where Cuban characters are involved
are good for her. Computer games where she can improve her reading is another option. Ana’s
parents will be encouraged to increase their literacy in English. They will be provided with some
resources in the community where adult immigrants can improve their English. Besides this, they
will be encouraged to participate more in school activities, so Ana feels supported and motivated.

​ Literacy Activities. Stakeholders involvement (parents, teachers, principal, etc).

Ana will develop some reading activities in class and at home. As her culture will be
represented in class, she will feel included and respected by peers. This will be good so she will
feel encouraged and motivated, as her acculturation process can always limit her potential. The

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teacher will include stories with Hispanic or Cuban characters. Ana will contrast both L1 and L2
in grammar structures and syntax. This can also be done in small class groups. The teacher will
learn more about the Cuban culture and how it manifests. This can serve to develop some other
activities in class. The teacher will present Ana with some readings in Spanish where the
cognates are underlined so she can perceive these new words. The teacher will use some
strategies adapted to Ana’s situation, like journals and mapping, and Ana will work with a
portfolio. The teacher will teach Ana some useful strategies to help her learn, like metacognitive
strategies. As homework, Ana will look in internet for short stories in Spanish and she will write
a short summary in her L1. Later she will do the same in English. Ana will ask her parents about
memories from Cuba and she will write short paragraphs about these experiences to be presented
in class.
Parents are important stakeholders to be involved in the case. They will assist the ELL in
finding topics or themes relating to her culture. They will recount past experiences in their
country, so the ELL can take notes to be included in some presentations and group discussions in
class. They will answer to the notes from the teacher in Spanish about their daughter’s
improvement. They will also use some of the community resources and improve their literacy in
English. Teachers will include some topics about Cuba in their curriculum and they will
emphasize reading strategies and skills in a more tailored instruction. Teachers will work with
parents in advancing this plan.

1. Which is the main issue with this ELL?

This ELL is in a sheltered educational ESOL program in the U.S and she has some
problems with one aspect of English literacy, reading. Problems with her literacy in her L1,
Spanish, is the reason of the problem.
2. How has the context and her closest environment influenced in the issue?
In her former country the school had some problems with resources and the quality of
teachers. Besides this, the class environment in Cuba was too distracting. In the U.S she does not
have the support of her parents relating to English language, as both parents are not literate in
English. In her new school she is placed in a classroom with mainstream students and the teacher
does not tailor instruction adequately based on her situation.
3. How will the proposed solutions help her improve her reading?
She will be able to practice her reading in a variety of ways and in relation with her
culture so she feels more familiar with the topics. Her parents will know how to support her
better with reading and the school.
Bloom’s Taxonomy Analysis:​ Ana is at the intermediate level in the ESOL program.
She is developing her CALP skills (she had good BICS skills in her L1 and now in her L2).
Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy Cognitive Levels there is some part of her academic CALP that
she has not mastered. This will be only possible with more time of academic learning. She was

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good at her knowledge cognitive domain. She understood and answered all questions that were
asked at this level. She usually uses some aspects of the other domains in assignments in class
like some comprehension and some applications, but these still at a basic level. She will need
more tailored instruction in the other domains but this will take her more time. As she improves
her knowledge and overcome some literacy problems in her L1, she will be able to advance into
more complex cognitive levels like analysis and synthesis. In her proposed activities she can be
encouraged to develop and demonstrate critical thinking in different ways.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Questions

How would you describe the quality of education and the CALP of this ELL in Cuba?
How would you compare her skills in Spanish with those of English?
What can you say about her BICS and CALP right now?
How would you use some topics or themes about her culture to improve this ELL reading skills?
What is the relationship between her CALP in her former country and her present level of CALP
in the U.S school?
How would you accommodate an assessment for this ELL so that the assessment is still valid and
reliable?

This ELL has some literacy problems that she is carrying from Cuba. She has problems in
her reading and she needs some more fluency in English. For this, it is necessary that she
expands her vocabulary and increases her understanding of some grammar rules that affect
reading. The content area that needs to be improved is Language Arts.
There are some learning objectives to be completed for Ana:
1- She needs to improve her reading. This includes pronunciation, rhythm, correct spelling of
some words, and the correct pronunciation of word endings.
2- She needs to improve her vocabulary.
3- She needs to improve some aspects of her grammar, like understanding how the simple past
is formed and how this modifies morphemes in words.
4- She needs to improve her speaking.
For these objectives the grade level is intermediate ESOL and her level of proficiency is
intermediate too. She is in the beginning stages of language development and presents some
problems related to this level that are connected with the literacy problems. She has problems

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with the past tense and she has problems reading correctly the words in simple past. This ELL is
actually studying the 8​th​ level in content area for high school and she is taking all courses in
English, in a mainstream class.
The teacher will tailor her instruction to her culture. She needs to recuperate her literacy
in Spanish and improve her reading in her L1, so she can transfer those skills to the new
language in a continuous process. In class, the teacher will provide students with readings that
include the Hispanic culture. Twice per week she will be provided a reading with the translation
in Spanish. Bilingual students will compare the two readings. Cognates will be underlined, so
students can compare better the two languages. These readings will increase in complexity with
time. Those two days, as homework, she will look for texts in Spanish (directed by the teacher)
with the same level of complexity, and she will read them. Her parents will collaborate with her
on this, and they will check on how well she reads in their language. They will write a note after
the lectures where they describe her performance. The parents will send the note to the teacher
with the student. One day in class (Wednesdays) the teacher will present the class with a video
about one Hispanic country in English. Later students will write about the video. At the end
students will complete a test where they will use the words they hear in the video.
In order to expand her vocabulary, the teacher will instruct her to play some games at
home. In these games there is a situation that is described in English. The most important words
and some new ones will appear translated in the game. Later she will complete fictional
situations where she needs to include these words in the two languages. The game will also show
situations in the past with words in present and past (simple past)
The teacher will also provide her with metacognition strategies so that she learns how to
memorize or remember new words. She will be taught how to relate words in the two languages.
For example, the word ​habitar ​in Spanish relates to the English words habitude, habituating, and
the past habituated. This way she can remember these English words and especially the one in
the simple past.
The teacher will emphasize some grammar points like past tenses. She will present once
or twice per week a video where something happens in present and then the same thing happens
in the past. The situation will be described with sentences. After that students will have a test
about using the past tense. Besides this, the student will be encouraged to ask her parents about
experiences and themes about Cuba so she can prepare a presentation to be shared in class. This
will be in her English class and she should present atleast twice in the semester.
The ELL will work in groups of 4 in class. Once per week the members of the group will
practice reading. They will be provided texts that depict the history of countries like Cuba.
Students will read silently, and then they will do some activities like underlining sentences in the
past tense. After this, one member of each group will read to the class. The teacher will select the
group that read the best, and that group will be the winner.

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 Another activity encouraged by the teacher will be to maintain a dialogue journal with
Ana. One or two of the content area teachers will initiate a dialogue with Ana related to the
content being taught, but in relation with her former country. For example, the natural sciences
teacher will initiate a dialogue about the weather in Florida and in Cuba. Ana can write about
semi tropical climate, hurricanes, bird migration, etc. Ana can look for more information by
herself. The teacher will answer her and explain something that Ana did not know. This way Ana
can improve her English and vocabulary. Learning across content areas will help Ana stay
motivated to write in her journal. This is important for her. Ana could use the internet to create a
blog in class for this. Her journals will be included in her portfolio, among other information, so
the teacher can assess Ana’s progress in different aspects.

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