Running Head: ELL Case Study: Final Report

Kristen Houlihan
ELL Case Study
TSL4081.799S15
March 22, 2015
Yunhyun Lee

ELL Case Study

Case Study 3: Final Report

Phase I: Societal Linguistic Background

Background Information
Javier is a ten year old male. He was born on March 2nd, 2005 in Havana, Cuba.
Havana is the largest city in Cuba, and is home to more than two million people. Havana is also
the capital of Cuba. Spanish is the official language of Cuba, and it is what Javier and his family
speaks at home. Javier and his entire family moved from Cuba to America two and a half years
ago, after Javier spent first grade in Cuba. Even though the language skills were limited, he was
placed in third grade with the rest of the students his age.

Family Information
Javier now lives with his two parents, his grandmother, and his little sister, who is one
year younger than him. Javiers father is a construction worker and works whenever there are
opportunities. Javiers mother drives a school bus, and drives Javier to school as well as middle
and high school students. Javiers grandmother does not work but cooks for the family and
makes sure that the house is clean, along with his mother. Javiers parents seem to be very
involved in Javiers schooling, even though many things get lost in translation. The main
language spoken at home is Spanish, because of Javiers grandmother, who does not speak any
English. Javiers parents speak some, but are not fluent. The teacher says that Javiers mom has
been to every parent-teacher conference that she has set up, and it seems that they are checking
his homework every night. But the teacher also states that there are still the same amount of
mistakes that are present in his homework than if he were to just do it himself without help. It

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seems that the parents check to make sure it is complete but they do not check for correctness,
maybe due to the language barrier that is present. Javier and his family live in a low-income
apartment complex with a mix of individuals present in the community. There are many types of
people in this apartment complex including families such as Javiers, and also college students.
With the hectic schedule that both of Javiers parents possess, I was not able to speak to them
about their attitudes about the United States and why they came to America in the first place. I
do know that statistically, many families move from Cuba to escape political turmoil and to
receive more job opportunities.

Personality and Interests

Javier is in the third grade at Bellamy Elementary School. He does exceptionally well in
math, and he says that it is his favorite subject in school. His favorite part about math is doing
multiplication. In his free time, when he is home, he enjoys playing video games. He says that
he does this the whole day, after he is done with his homework. He does not mention hanging
out with friends outside of the classroom. He is very social during lunch and breaks with the
other kids in his classroom, though. He is not really participate in classroom discussions, except
when the teacher calls on him. Once Javier is alone, however, he is very talkative and social
with anyone that he is in contact with.

Participation in Class and ESOL Program within School

There is an ESOL program put into place at the Elementary School. There is one ESOL
teacher that meets with Javier one day a week and another Speech teacher that meets with him
another day. Javier, on top of being ELL, also have some speech difficulties. Other than these

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two days a week, Javier is in the general education classroom with the other fourth grade
students. As stated before, he does not participate much in classroom discussions unless he is
called on. He also does not raise his hand to participate in reading aloud activities. During math
lessons, on the other hand, he is always the first to raise his hand and participate and loves to
answer questions about the math problems that the teacher places on the board.

Phase II: Linguistic Development

Linguistic Background
Javier spent two years in formal schooling in Havana, Cuba before moving to the United
States. The education system in Havana is different than that of the United States. All students
in primary schooling, regardless of age or sex, are required to wear uniforms. Primary school in
Havana lasts for six years, then the child moves on to secondary education. Secondary education
is split between normal secondary education and pre-university education, depending on what
the child wants to do with his or her life. Javier had learned a little bit of English before coming
to the United States, but it was mostly speaking and not much reading comprehension. Most of
the English learning that has taken place for Javier has been in the United States school system.
He has been in both ESOL and ESE programs since he came to the United States. His 1st
language competence is hard to determine, but he does not like to use Spanish in the school
system, whether it be writing or speaking. He is however, the translator between his parents and
the teacher when parent-teacher conferences are taking place (when appropriate). His English
comprehension has grown immensely since coming to America. He is very fluent when it comes
to speaking English, but still struggles greatly with reading and writing in the language. In

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Javiers home life, there are other things placed before linguistic development. His parents do
not read to him in English, only in Spanish and English is not spoken in the home at all.

UponArrival(2nd
Grade)
SilentPeriod,
speaksL1mostly
andL2slightly.
Hasgood
vocabularyinL1
andlittlevocabin
L2.

6Months

Morphemes

Hasnoknowledge
ofEnglish
morphemes.Can
useSpanish
morphemeswell.

Islearningsmall
wordsinEnglish
thatonlycontain
onemorpheme.

Typetoken
ratio

Cannotbe
determineinL2
becausechildcan
onlywritesome
words.Childdoes
nothavehigh
repetitionofwords
inspeakinginL1.

Sincechildisonly
writingvery
simplesentences
inEnglish,type
tokenratiocan
stillnotbe
determinedinL2.

Syntax

Doesnotspeak
Englishfluentlyso
doesnothave
correctEnglish
syntax.Childhas
goodsyntaxfor
agelevelinL1.

Childcanform
appropriatesyntax
istwoorthree
wordsentences
butgetssubject
nounordermixed
up.

Vocabulary
Expansion

1Year(Third
Grade)
VocabularyinL2 Childdoesnot
expandingbutstill speakoutinclass,
verylimited.
butvocabularyis
gettingbetter.

Usesmorphemes
butincorrectly,
suchasaddinged
topresenttense
verbs.Canuseall
verbtenses
correctlyin
Spanishbutgets
confusedonthis
inEnglish.
Childhasvery
highfrequencyin
repetitionof
wordsinwriting
andspeakingdue
tohisabilityto
makeonlysimple
sentencesinL1.

2Years(4th
Grade)
Greatlyexpanded
vocabulary.One
gradelevelin
speakingbutnot
inwritingor
reading.Stillhas
goodvocabulary
inL1.
Stillhastrouble
withimproper
additionor
neglectionof"s"
onsingularand
pluralnounsbut
stillhascomplete
knowledgein
Spanish.

Childhasfrequent
repetitionof
wordswithin
writingsample.
Whenspeaking,
theratioismuch
less.Childstill
doesnothavea
highrepetitionof
wordsinL1.
Studentcanform Usesproper
simplesentences syntaxforthe
correctlyand
mostpartwhen
willingmakes
speaking,but
mistakesonlarger strugglesgreatly
sentencestotryto withsyntaxin
gethispoint
reading.Canstill
acrossmorefully. useappropriate
syntaxinL1.

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Phonology

Mostsoundsare
basedonL1.

Startingto
understand
English
phonology,
learningthe
soundsofthe
lettersinthe
alphabet.Uses
soundsofL1to
guesssoundsthat
thechildcannot
remember.
Cultural/
Noculturalor
Childdoesspeak
pragmatic
pragmatic
butdoesnot
appropriateness appropriateness
understand
becausechilddoes cultural
notspeakin
appropriateness
English.Child's
suchassubject
speakingand
nounorder
understandingis
differences
culturaland
betweenEnglish
pragmatically
andSpanish.Does
appropriateinL1. nothave
pragmatic
appropriateness.
BICS&CALP Notabletospeak Beginningtouse
toteacherorpeers BICStoexpress
inL2,nouseof
simpleideasto
BICSorCALPin adults,doesnot
English.Canuse
conversemuch
BICScorrectlyin withpeers.Uses
L1buthaslimited BICScorrectlyin
knowledgeof
L1.
CALPinL1.

Understandsthe
soundstomost
basicwordsmake,
hastrouble
soundingout
wordswhile
reading.Child
tendstouseL1
pronunciation,
whichgetshim
confusedon
Englishwords.
Childcanform
sentencesin
culturally
appropriateways.
Understandssome
pragmatics.

Stillhasproblems
withpronouncing
unknownsounds
andwords
correctlydueto
speechproblems.

Startingtoanswer
questionsusing
CALP,doesnot
havemuch
understandingof
CALPinL1.

Doeswellwith
BICSwhile
talkingto
students,buthas
problemswith
contentarea
vocabularywords
thanlimits
proficiencyin
CALP.

Goodculturaland
pragmaticuse,
understandsmost
gradelevel
appropriatejokes
andsomeidioms.
Stillunderstands
culturaland
pragmatic
appropriatenessin
L1.

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Prescriptive
Aspectsof
English
(grammar,
punctuation)

Reading
Ability

Childdoesnot
speakinEnglish
buthisspeaking
grammarin
Spanishisgood.
Childdoesnot
writeinEnglish
buthiswritingin
Spanishreflects
common
grammaticalerrors
infirstgrade
children.

Childdoesnot
havegood
grammarbutis
workingon
expanding
sentences.Can
properlywrite
shortsentences
withinsmall
paragraphs.

Childhasgood
speakinggrammar
andpunctuation.
Struggleswith
grammarIn
writing.Child
doesnotspeak
Spanishinschool
withtheexception
oftheESOL
teacher.

Childcanstill
readongrade
levelinSpanish
Childcanreadon andisstartingto
gradelevelin
improveon
Spanishandalittle readingin
bitinEnglish.
English.

Childisgreatly
workingon
readinginEnglish
butisnotongrade
level.Doesnot
readinSpanish
withinschool.

Childisstillnot
ongradelevelin
Englishanddoes
notreadin
Spanish

Childcanwrite
manywordsin
Spanishandafew
inEnglish.

Childcanform
sentencesin
English,though
usually
grammatical
incorrect.Does
notwritein
Spanish.

WritingAbility

Childcanform
properbasic
sentenceswith
minimalamounts
ofwords.The
childcanwrite
shortsentences
properly.Child
stillusesproper
grammarin
speakingSpanish.

Childcanwrite
additionalwords
inEnglish

Phase III: Language Data

Reading Sample
(You might have to zoom in on these pictures, I do not have a scanner)

.
Notongradelevel
inwritingin
English.Doesnot
writeinSpanish

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Miscue Analysis
Out of the 302 words that were in this reading sample, Javier missed 22 of them. This
puts him ay 92%, which is above the 90% needed for reading comprehension. He had 17
repetitions, one omission, four partial omissions, three insertions, three corrections, one
miscorrection, ten substitutions, and four substitutions with words that are not real. The 22
words that Javier missed put him at 92% accuracy, when 90% is needed for understanding. This
means that even though Javier misread some of the words throughout the text, he was able to
comprehend the story as a whole. In the example of Javier replacing Mt. Zorn with Matt
Zern, this was a graphophonic substitution because these words look and sound similar, but it
also shows poor semantic acceptability and syntactical weakness because these words change the
meaning of the sentence and they do not make sense in this context. Other misreads that were
present in Javiers reading sample do not change the meaning of the sentence as a whole, in the
examples of changing brightening to brightened or when he changes the word has to
had. These examples show high semantic acceptability, but these are not the correct ways in
which to form these sentences. It is clear that Javier experiences problems with tenses of words,
as seen in the omissions of the endings. There were many examples of this, such as when he
omitted the ing in fluttering and when he left the s off of many of the words in the story.
There were many repetitions throughout the reading which might mean that the text was too hard
for him to read, but Javier also has problems with speech in general.

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Reading Analysis
The book Happy Birthday to You by Dr. Suess is placed at a K-2nd grade book. This book
was picked by the teacher after she personally performed an analysis of Javier. Within this
reading sample, it can be seen that this book is at the childs instructional level, but more practice
may be needed at this level. As stated before, Javier attends the speech teacher in order to work
on his pronunciation. He particularly has problems with the th sounds. This was shown with
the multiple repetitions of the word birthday. It is very hard to tell if the mispronunciations are
due to the fact that he has these speech problems or because he is ELL. Javier is very good at
sounding out the words that he is not sure on. Sometimes he pronounces words in a slower
manner, but he possesses the tools to help him come up with the correct pronunciation. Most of
the time when he uses these tools, his answers are semantically and syntactically correct.
Javier is not on grade level with his reading levels. This book was a first grade level read
and there was much repetition. As stated above in the miscue analysis, the repetition could be
due to the fact that the book was too hard for the level. Javier is two years behind at least in his
reading. He seems to be on level with recognizing sight words, but there is a lot of repetition
throughout the tougher sentences.

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Writing Sample

13

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Writing Transcript
Since the sample is very hard to read, I have decided to provide a transcript so it is easier to see.

Cell phones can be allowed in school because kids need it to stay in touch with their parents.
They can be used in an emergency so they will call the police in case of terrorists kidnapping the
kids. Kids can be responsibol with cell phones in class to do their work in class because their are
so many education apps which can help kids with their learning.
In emergencies kids need to contact their parents in case the schoolbus breaks down.
In a survey one out of three teens who had cell phones cheated in a tests so kids are more
responsibol. All of this info came from Sscholastick news and weekly reader edition. So kids
can have phones at school. So my opinyen is that kids can have cell phones at school.

Writing Analysis
As can be seen in the transcript, the student has problems with spelling. He spells words
the way that they sound, in the examples of the word responsible written as responsibol and
the word opinion written as opinyen. This makes sense in most contexts, but there are some
words in the English language are spelled differently than the way that they sound out-loud. He
also has some problems with grammar and syntax. This can be seen in the word there written
as their. Javier also does not use commas correctly, but in fourth grade, they are just learning
commas and sentence structure. He also has problems with proper paragraph placement, but that
is also being taught in the fourth grade. There were also many corrections made throughout this
story, which speaks a lot to his ambition and shows effort in correcting the mistakes that he made
throughout the writing sample.

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Javier also has problems with correct paragraph structure, meaning that he is having
trouble placing sentences in a systematic order to make the most sense. There just seems to be
all of the thoughts that he has thrown in any order, which makes it hard for the reader to
understand his writing. I had to darken the pictures greatly to be able to see is writing, because
his handwriting is so light. This could be because Javier might feel insecure with his writing,
because students that struggle with writing tend to have lighter handwriting.
The main idea is clear throughout the writing sample, but there is poor execution in
getting the ideas across. It is easy to see that the prompt was whether or not cell phones should
be allowed in schools, and that his opinion was that they should be allowed during the school
day. There was a misuse of statements written in the articles that the student read. He had
trouble selecting the correct quote to use to support his argument, because saying that one in
three students cheated on a test is not the correct quote to use to support his opinion. Fourth
graders are just now learning how to pull quotes from articles to support their stance on an
argument, so his misuse is most likely because he is just learning this along with the rest of his
classmates.

Speech Transcript
Me: Okay, so were going to have to lean in a little bit. Alright so, lets just start off with what
grade are you in; how old are you?
Student: I am ten years old and I am in the fourth grade
So, what is your favorite thing about school?
Uhm, my favorite thing about school is math
You like math a lot?

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-nodsWhats your favorite part of math?

My favorite part is multiplication
Thats what you like the best?
-nodsWhat do you like to do in your free time, when youre not at school?
When Im not at school, I normally just play video games
Whats your favorite video game?
Uhm, well I have two, I mean three favorites, Pokemon Diamond for the Nintendo DS,
SuperMarioBros 3D
Is that for the DS too?
Yes
And theres also Star Wars the Complete, I mean Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga
Ohh, that sounds fun
And all those game, well two of them, whenever, instead of making the sound as their talking it
writes it out so it like, you gotta read it
It helps you?
Yeah!
Oh thats cool, its like youre reading a book
Yeah, and but one of them isnt reading, that one just talks
So that ones just for fun
Yeah

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Uhm, okay, so when youre learning English, what is the way the teacher helps you out the most,
like what does she do that helps you out
Mrs. (ESOL Teacher?)
Any of them
Well Mrs. (ESOL Teacher) she helps me, you know, speak fluently, and what helped the most is
having my mouth like this with a pencil to make it so I dont have to struggle
To get the O?
To make the words so when I try to talk it will be just like the pencil but different
Oh thats cool, so thats the strategy that helped you out the most?
-nodsWhat was the thing that didnt help you out so much?
Uhm, trying to just read a paragraph right away without knowing what Im actually reading
Oh, so that didnt really help you out too much because you werent really
Understanding
Understanding any of it
Okay I think we are good thank you so much!

Speech Analysis
Javier speaks very fluently is sounds like any other fourth grader when he is speaking.
There is little to no sense of an accent when he is speaking. Javier would be at a 5 in SOLOM.
He understands everyday conversation and normal classroom discussions, he has limited but
appropriate vocabulary that imitates that of a native speaker. Also his grammar imitates that of a
native speaker as well. He also has very good listening comprehension, that similar to a native

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speaker. He does not need to have questions repeated and is very good at following along with
normal everyday conversation.
As stated previously throughout this case study, Javier is receiving speech training once a
week with the speech teacher at the school. He has problems with th sounds and has a lisp
when he speaks. He also has this same lisp when he speaks in Spanish, so the speech problems
are not caused by him being an ELL student.

Phase IV
Problem
While Javier is very good at math, he struggles with reading and writing. He is currently
reading at least two grade levels behind in his reading. While he does not experience problems
with understanding reading at this level, it is still way below what he should be reading in the
fourth grade. His speech problems also give him great trouble when he reads aloud. He seems
to be social in the classroom, but he does not hang out with anyone his age outside of school. All
of his English interactions take place within the school context, and he is not exposed to English
speakers outside of the school environment. Javier is shy when it comes to participating in
classroom discussions, however. He will only answer when prompted by the teacher.
Another part of the problem is that Javiers homework is not correctly being looked over because
his parents have very limited English speaking capabilities. His parents look over his homework
to make sure that he has answers written down, but they are not capable of making corrections.
Javier also does not receive adequate help from the school staff. One day a week with the
ESOL teacher and one day a week with the speech teacher is not enough to get Javier on track
with the rest of the students in the classroom.

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Parents
The parents try to help Javier as much as they can and are involved in every parent-teacher
conference that comes up, but they feel helpless because they do not speak English and cannot
understand much of what Javier is learning in school.
Classroom Teacher
The classroom teacher greatly enjoys having Javier in her classroom. She is concerned with his
low reading levels and the lack of English that he is being exposed to at home.
ESOL Teacher
The ESOL teacher has been working very hard with Javier and providing him with extra help in
learning the English language. The times that he goes to the ESOL teacher also fall within
instructional time that is detrimental to Javiers overall academic success.
Childs Perspective
Javier says that he would like to learn how to read better. He does not like to read or write
because he does not understand it as well as the other students in his classroom. He is very
interested in seeing his classroom friends outside of school but there is conflict with his parents
schedules.
Phase V
Solution
One of the main aspects in Javiers situation is the communication gap between the
teacher and Javiers parents. All homework should be sent home in Spanish so that Javiers
parents will be able to do more than just look over and see that he has completed it, they will be
able to help him complete his homework correctly. The parents should be more involved in
reading to Javier, even if it is in Spanish. The teacher could speak to the childs parents about

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receiving a library card, and recommending books that are in Spanish and also at the reading
level that Javier is currently at. I also think that the ESOL teacher should find more time to work
with the child on reading and writing. This could be done at the after-school program that is
offered at the school. Javier is currently being taken home directly after school gets out by his
mother, but she in turn doesnt get home until about 5 o clock at night. Javier could spend this
extra time after school working with the ESOL teacher working on reading and writing and
completing his homework before his mother comes to pick him up. The after-school program
would also give Javier time to interact with his English-speaking peers outside of the education
setting and give him key social interactions that are needed for a child his age. This would allow
Javier to build real friendships.
Reflexive Questions
1.) What would you recommend to the parents of Javier to better improve their English?
2.) How else would you find a way for Javier to receive the one-on-one interactions that he
needs?
3.) Do you think that Javier will be able to be on-grade-level in reading by the end of the
school year if these solutions are implemented?
Blooms Taxonomy Questions

Knowledge: How much of the English language was taught to Javier before coming to
the United States? Which aspects of the English language was he more exposed to during
this time?

Comprehension: How well is Javiers speaking as compared to his reading or writing?

Application: How would you get Javiers parents more involved in Javiers schooling?

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Analysis: Is Javiers lack of participation in the classroom due to his personality or his
lack of confidence in speaking English?

Synthesis: What reading strategies would you promote to help Javier with his reading
comprehension?

Evaluation: Do you think that there is more that the teacher could be doing in the
classroom to help Javier?

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