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Many Roots, Many Voices - as part of Block 2

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"create environments that affirm the identities of English language learners, thereby increasing the confidence with which these students engage in language and literacy activities"

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2 test formats - Academic AND General Training

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IELTS Test Centre Find an IELTS test location

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Find an IELTS test centre from over 1,200 locations in 140 countries/territories around the world.

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- Test that measures use / understanding of English at the University level.
- Popular test with universities across Canada and the US.
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The TOEFL ibt test measures your ability to use and understand English at the university level. Learn more about what it is, who takes it, who accepts it, and where and when you can take it.

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Settlement.org - Language Requirements for Post- Secondary Institutions

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Settlement.org - Language Requirements for Post- Secondary Institutions

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Skip Breadcrumb Links

You may have to take an English language test to study at a college or university or enter a licensed profession or trade.

If you are planning to study at a college or university, or enter a licenced profession or trade, and your first language is not English, you might need to take a test to demonstrate your English ability.

Usually, you need to get a minimum score on an approved English test. Each institution sets the minimum score it will accept.

Here is a list of some tests that many colleges, universities and licensing and certification bodies accept. Check first with the institution to verify what test(s) and test scores they will accept. You usually have to pay a fee to write the test.

TOEFL

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Internet-Based Test (iBT) has 4 sections that test 4 language skills: reading, listening, speaking, and writing. It provides information about your ability to communicate and participate in an academic setting. Find out more about the TOEFL iBT.

The TOEFL Paper-Based Test (PBT) is still used in some places. The PBT uses multiple-choice questions. The test has 3 sections: listening comprehension, structure and written expression, and reading comprehension. You must also take a test of written English (TWE), which is a writing test. Find out more about the TOEFL PBT.

You can find information about both tests, including a list of test centres, test dates, registration and test preparation on the TOEFL website.

TOEIC

The Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) is used by people who want to demonstrate their ability to use English in the workplace. In Ontario, the TOEIC test is accepted by the College of Nurses of Ontario and the Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapists for licensing purposes. Many other licensing bodies across Canada also accept the TOEIC test. Find out more on the TOEIC website.

IELTS

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) covers all 4 language skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking. It is available in 2 formats: Academic and General Training. All candidates take the same listening and speaking modules. For reading and writing, you can choose Academic or General Training.

IELTS is recognized by universities and employers in many countries. It is also recognized by some professional bodies, immigration authorities and other government agencies. For information, contact your IELTS test centre.

MELAB

The Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB) is a paper-based English language proficiency test that is accepted by many universities, colleges and professional bodies across Canada and the USA. It tests the 4 basic language skills. Preparation workshops, study guides and tests for people with disabilities are available.

Other Tests

The institution you want to apply to might accept other tests, too. Check with each institution to find out which tests they accept and what score you need.

For More Information

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What are the language requirements for post-secondary education?

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Skip Breadcrumb Links You may have to take an English language test to study at a college or university or enter a licensed profession or trade. If you are planning to study at a college or university, or enter a licenced profession or trade, and your first language is not English, you might need to take a test to demonstrate your English ability.

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Beginning with the end in mind (Proficiency Tests), I will strive to use my research on creating a welcoming environment and the most helpful strategies in order to allow my students to achieve confidence in their abilities and therefore success on the proficiency test for post-secondary.

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tcdsb.org  Info Sheet on Welcoming Newcomer Students and Families

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tcdsb.org  Info Sheet on Welcoming Newcomer Students and Families

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This article also includes helpful information about signs of adjustment difficulty in newcomer students and how to help struggling ELLs.

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ASCD.org - Welcoming Environment  in School and Classroom

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ASCD.org - Welcoming Environment  in School and Classroom

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Importance of not only creating a welcoming physical space but also developing a relationship with the students and honouring their culture / identity.
Helpful tips / information in the article.

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A really interesting website - there are helpful ideas with a lot of links to different activities that can be used with ELL teachers. I will need to come back to this one as there is a lot of interesting stuff!

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Dave's ESL Cafe is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. Banner Advertising | Bookstore / Alta Books | FAQs | Articles | Interview with Dave Copyright ï¿½ 1995-2009 Dave's ESL Cafe | All Rights Reserved | Contact Dave's ESL Cafe | Site Map

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Capacity Building Series:  A World of Words

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Capacity Building Series:  A World of Words

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This article is about building the vocabulary of ELLs.  Again, there are some helpful strategies included in the article.
This article also connects to my third question about how a school can create an inclusive and welcoming environment.

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Capacity Building Series:  ELL Voices in the Classroom

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Capacity Building Series:  ELL Voices in the Classroom

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Helpful article about encouraging the development of oral communication skills - some strategies are mentioned.
Like a lot of other articles on ELL classrooms, there is an emphasis on the importance of groupings.

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Great resource with handouts - will help to promote discussion within the classroom.

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"providing ELLs with strategic types of scaffolding, such as graphic organizers, visual aids, peer help, or home language help, and removing these supports as students' skills develop"

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ELA.RI.7.2

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

RI: Reading Standards for Informational Text 6-12

7: 7th Grade

2:
Determine two or more central ideas in a text
and analyze their development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the
text.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

|

ELA.RI.7.4

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

RI: Reading Standards for Informational Text 6-12

7: 7th Grade

4:
Determine the meaning of words and phrases
as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the
impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

|

ELA.RI.8.2

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

RI: Reading Standards for Informational Text 6-\x80\x9312

8: 8th Grade

2:
Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its
development over the course of the text, including its
relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective
summary of the text.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

Thought starters

1. Ms. Park-Friend frames the reading by using focus questions. Why is this important for ELLs?

2. Students are interacting with the text in a variety of ways. How do all of these interactions support students to write their own persuasive speeches?

School Details

Bruce Randolph School
3955 Steele Street
Denver CO 80205

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Interacting with Complex Texts: Scaffolding Reading

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Students in Emily Park-Friend's class read about Barbara Jordan and then listen with a focus to Barbara Jordan's speech. Students begin by reading about Barbara Jordan and answering focus questions. They then move into listening to the speech "All Together Now" and analyzing the parts of the speech.

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This post by Rebecca Greene provides an overview of helpful strategies for ELL instruction. There are links to helpful videos that provide further information about the strategies, as well as links to additional resources.

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English Language Learners (ELLs) face the double challenge of learning academic content as well as the language in which it is presented. Teachers have traditionally treated language learning as a process of imparting words and structures or rules to students, separate from the process of teaching content knowledge. This approach has left ELLs especially unprepared to work with the complex texts and the academic types of language that are required to engage in content area practices, such as solving word problems in Mathematics, or deconstructing an author's reasoning and evidence in English Language Arts. ELLs need to be given frequent, extended opportunities to speak about content material and work through complex texts in English with small groups of classmates.

The new, widely-adopted Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards also call for all students, including ELLs, to master an array of academic language practices that are critical to achievement in content areas. Examples of these academic language practices include: argument from evidence, analysis of complex texts, and developing and using models. At Stanford's Understanding Language, we have found that ELLs benefit from instructional approaches that treat language and content in an integrated way that is designed to help them build the language skills that they need to succeed in content classrooms, college and careers.

Working closely with Denver Public Schools teachers Ms. Emily Park-Friend (Bruce Randolph School) and Ms. Katie Langlois (Morey Middle School), we're glad we can show through this video series ways that these 7th grade ELA teachers prepare their learners by activating prior knowledge, scaffolding meaning making with complex texts, and developing ELLs' discipline and academic language practices in ELA classrooms.

The set of six video clipsbegin with this short overview by Understanding Language ELA work group members George Bunch (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Aída Walqui (WestEd). This overview video discusses the key shifts found in the Common Core for ELLs and the opportunities for ELLs to grow their disciplinary knowledge and English language skills in heterogeneous classrooms. Through the classroom videos, we see several key strategies for encouraging English Language Development:

Scaffolding Understanding

The classroom video series highlight how ELA teachers can take account of the language demands that ELLs face in content classrooms andhelp ELLs meet these demands with increasing autonomyover time. As discussed in this video, this means providing ELLs with strategic types of scaffolding, such as graphic organizers, visual aids, peer help, or home language help, and removing these supports as students' skills develop. This way, ELLs can be given the opportunity and the necessary support to meet rigorous academic standards.

Purposeful Grouping

Also, as this videoexplains, ELLs learn best when they are in heterogeneous classrooms. ELLs need to be given ample opportunities to have extended interaction (such as doing 'jigsaw'-type activities) with peers of varying English proficiency levels, who can provide ELLs with a range of models for how to use English words or structures appropriately, as well as abundant, personalized feedback on ELLs' own developing English use. It is best for ELLs if, within their classrooms, teachers sometimes group students heterogeneously according to English proficiency, and sometimes homogeneously, depending on the purpose of the task at hand.

Background Knowledge

Another teaching technique (demonstrated here) that is beneficial for ELLs, is to provide them with relevant background knowledge about a topic to be discussed in class, or activate their existing knowledge of a topic. Besides increasing student interest, this allows students to focus more fully on the instructional goals, rather than being overwhelmed with too much new information at once. It also allows ELLs to bridge new knowledge to old knowledge, increasing understanding, and it helps some ELLs fill in contextual information (such as American political history or cultural details) that they may not have due to coming from different cultural backgrounds.

Extended Discussion

Though teachers have generally attempted to teach ELLs difficult vocabulary before having them read texts, ELLs learn new vocabulary best through extended discussionwith their classmates afterreading or betweenmultiple readings, as this video explains.

Valuing Linguistic Differences

Schools and teachers can help ELLs greatly by learning about ELLs' home cultures and languages, treating cultural and linguistic differences as resources rather than obstacles, and reaching out to students' homes and communities to build learning opportunities together.

Here are more resources for teachers and administrators who are seeking to better support ELLs:

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English Language Learners (ELLs) face the double challenge of learning academic content as well as the language in which it is presented. Teachers have traditionally treated language learning as a process of imparting words and structures or rules to students, separate from the process of teaching content knowledge.

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There is a sample test on the CAEL website that can be used by educators as well!

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This page contains a printable PDF version of the CAEL CE Sample Test, along with corresponding audio. Note that this version of the test is provided only as an instructional alternative for classroom use. The official CAEL CE Test does not have a paper option.

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This page contains a printable PDF version of the CAEL CE Sample Test, along with corresponding audio. Note that this version of the test is provided only as an instructional alternative for classroom use. The official CAEL CE Test does not have a paper option.

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Canadian Academic English Language Test - used by post-secondary institutions to evaluate prospective students.
"Test takers read articles, listen to a lecture, answer questions, and write a short essay, as they would be expected to do in a first-year Canadian university or college classroom."
There is a skills workbook that students can complete in order to prepare them to write the test.

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Save on your test and prep with the Academic Success Bundle! Use discount code CAEL25 and save! Offer expires December 1st, 2024 CAEL Tests now Available Online and In Centre in the Philippines! Register today for your CAEL Test. CAEL now accepted for Student Direct Stream (SDS) Scores from CAEL at a test centre accepted …

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1)  What do the proficiency tests for post-secondary institutions look like?
2)  What strategies can I implement in the classroom to encourage a high level of achievement?
3)  What can my school community do to create a more inclusive, welcoming environment for ELLs?

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How do I enable ELL students to reach their full potential and prepare them for the self-sufficiency required of post-secondary institutions?