Reading Between the Lines

What to expect this week:

5 min read

English is known for being tough to learn, especially for our young students. But it's more than just words on a page. This week, we're exploring a classroom app that helps our ELL students communicate in new ways. In Brainy Bits, we'll see WHY this matters, especially for our littlest learners. 📚

• The social side of language is closer than you think

• Little learners, big worlds

• School boards v. Meta - the legal battle has begun

Tech Talk

Social development + cognitive skills = essential ELL teaching

English is more than just a subject—it's a global necessity. With over 1.5 billion English language learners worldwide and only 527 million native speakers (according to the United Language Group), it's crucial for academia, science, and beyond. Teaching English to our youngest learners comes with unique challenges. They're not just learning grammar and spelling; they're also tackling every other subject in a foreign language while developing social skills and cognitive abilities along the way.

Enter Voki - a tool that integrates social development into language learning. Voki allows students and teachers to create animated characters that speak using their own voices or text-to-speech. Teachers can use Voki to make literacy activities more interactive, giving students struggling with English a tool to present their learning emotionally and effectively. For example, combining a written assessment with a Voki character helps students hear their words, see (basic) mouth movements, and express emotions— all of which are essential for language development.

We know you’re here for the real world examples. Here are some rapid fire ways to use Voki in your ELL lessons:

• Language Practice: Have students create Voki avatars to practice speaking English, improving pronunciation and fluency. This can be done independently or in small groups. 🗣️

• Storytelling: Use Voki for interactive storytelling. ELLs can create avatars to narrate stories or retell a story in their own words, enhancing comprehension and speaking skills. Bonus engagement points by encouraging students to use childhood stories from their own culture. 📚

• Vocabulary Practice: Introduce new words with Voki. Create avatars that not only pronounce the word but also provide definitions, example sentences, and audio pronunciations. This multi-sensory approach helps ELLs understand and remember the words more effectively. 📖

• Cultural Exchange: Use Voki to create avatars that represent different cultures visually. This can help foster inclusivity and diversity in the classroom, as students learn about and share their own culture through their avatars. 🌍

• Assessment: Use Voki for student presentations. ELLs can create avatars to explain concepts or demonstrate their understanding of a topic. This allows teachers to assess their language proficiency and understanding of the material in a creative way. 📊

Pricing for Voki includes a (very, very) basic tier, but paid full featured subscriptions start at about $50 USD per year for up to 30 students and over 250 characters, with no ads. While Voki isn't a substitute for human interaction, it's a valuable tool for ELL students. Whether you're teaching ELL exclusively or have a mixed classroom, Voki can enhance your lessons and engage your students in new ways. There are more expensive options above this, but this is where our recommendation would fall, especially when ELLs may not make up the entirety of your class. And in case you’re wondering, no, we are not in any way sponsored by Voki - in fact, we’d place a very large wager they don’t even know we exist (oh well). We’re just huge fans who’ve used this in our own environments and read enough of the research (erhm, see below) to vouch for its benefits. 

Brainy Bits

200,000 kindergarteners have spoken - sort of

This week’s Brainy Bit dives into the world of English Language Learners (ELLs) at the youngest level - kindergarten. A recent study by Perrigo, J. et al. (2024) takes a closer look at how our youngest learners adapt to a new language. Spoiler alert: it takes more than just vocabulary worksheets, and even more than a single tool like Voki. Researchers examined data from 154 school districts across 11 states, comparing Early Development Instrument (EDI) results with the Neighbourhood Equity Index (NNEI). The results showed that while ELL kindergartners excelled in social skills and emotional maturity, they struggled more with communication skills and general knowledge compared to their native English-speaking peers. 📚

This study is significant as ELLs are increasingly common in the U.S., with over 23% of young children speaking more than one language at home. ELLs now make up about 10% of the national student population, with most identified in the younger grades. These young learners develop differently academically, socially, and emotionally than those surrounded by only English. Being identified as an ELL early on often leads to lower literacy and numeracy scores, which can affect their future success. The more we understand and support our youngest ELLs, the better prepared they'll be for life beyond school. Peek the article reference at the end of this issue to dive into these aspects more as the authors do an amazing job utilizing these stats. 🧠

The study looked at data from nearly 200,000 kindergartners (i.e. the population of Salt Lake City or Vancouver), examining and comparing their EDI and NNEI data. Both of which are complicated tools that require more than a newsletter to explain, but for those looking for the quick scoop, these tools looked at each learner’s physical health, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, as well as communication skills and general knowledge. The good news? Nearly 80% of all ELL kindergartners were on track in most of these categories, showing strengths in physical health, social competence, and emotional maturity comparable to their non-ELL peers. However, there were disparities in language and cognitive development, as well as communication and general knowledge, where ELLs lagged behind. 📊

Interestingly, ELLs from Mandarin or Korean backgrounds showed the highest percentage of being on track across all categories. Neighbourhood data also revealed surprises: ELLs in less challenged neighbourhoods were actually less likely to be on track compared to those in high-need neighbourhoods. The paper proposes that this may be because these neighbourhoods tend to receive more government funding and therefore have access to more resources to help these classrooms more than others. 🏘️

So! What does this mean for your classroom? This means playing to your ELLs' strengths! Use multi-sensory learning to support skills that don’t require language, like physical well-being and emotional development, to bolster those that do. For example, using storytelling - which involves a high emotional development level - to aid more structured language lessons. While EdTech, like this week’s Tech Talk tool Voki, can be helpful, remember that context matters more than the tool for these young ELLs. Embrace their strengths and watch them thrive!

Surplus Scoop

• Canadian school boards are officially suing social media giants including Facebook/Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat

• LeBron James’ second children’s book, I Am More Than, drops this week

• This U.S. state just mandated personalized reading plans for struggling students

Tell your friends about us!

Like what you’ve seen? Forward us to your friends and colleagues so y’all have something to talk about next week. 😎

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References

This week’s issue adapts information from the following sources:

Tech Talk:

United Language Group. (n.d.). What Makes English Such a Difficult Language to Learn? ULG’s Language Solutions Blog. https://www.unitedlanguagegroup.com/learn/english-difficult-language-to-learn

Oddcast Inc. (2024). Voki Overview. Retrieved from https://www.voki.com/site/pricing

Brainy Bits:

Perrigo, J.L., Stanle, L., Mixson, L.S., Espinosa, L., Morales, J., Beck, C., & Halfon, N. (2024). Examining holistic developmental strengths and needs of multilingual kindergartners using the Early Development Instrument. International Journal of Educational Research Open,6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2023.100315