PROF.
XAVIER
SCHOOL BOARD
Volume 1 / Issue 1
SCHOOL PROFILE
The Xavier School for gifted
youngsters works with special
education students who have
a variety of needs and
supports.
WELCOME FACULTY AND FAMILIES
To provide some information about current issues in the school we have
printed some of the most common questions and answers from recent Q&A
sessions with both staff and families.
Read below to find out more
Question: Hi, Im a first year teacher here at the school and I
know that over 25% of Ontario students are identified as English
Language Learners (ELL).Since I havent learned a second
language myself can you tell me about the best learning
environment for learning a second language?
Answer: First off, hello and welcome to the school. You are correct
there are a lot of students in Ontario who face the challenge of
learning English as well as the topics covered in their school subjects.
To help these students it is our job as teachers to do everything we
can to encourage the students to learn and use English. To address
the main point of your question research tells us that the ideal
environment for students to learn a second language is to recreate the
conditions under which they learned their first language. There are
several ways that we can try to establish these conditions. Lets start
with some of the more debated areas of language learning - only
speaking English. The simple answer is that it is perfectly fine for
students to use their first language and in fact, as much as possible,
we want the students to continue to develop their first language as
this helps them with develop their own thought process. We should
also let the parents know this as well so that they will assists us with
this. That said we also want to expose students to a vast array of
English. That means both academic and informal English. We can do
this by creating a language rich environment, label everything in the
classroom, provide libraries and easy access to a variety of different
texts, encourage the students to watch English movies, TV and web
videos, and introducing students to a wide array of literature. In the
beginning some students may be fairly quiet in the classroom, that is
fine as they are able to learn through listening and then they may
participate later when they are more comfortable using English. ELL
students will also benefit greatly by speaking with more proficient English users. To help accomplish this
provide many opportunities for students to work in small groups as well as working with you so that you can
help them individually. If the option is available allow students to work peers who speak the same first
language as they can discuss topics together and then share their responses in English. Another area that we
must be cognisant of is correcting mistakes. Just as your parent werent always correcting you when you were
learning English we must not be constantly correcting speech or pointing out errors. What we can do instead is
rephrase what the students are saying to help model correct speech without correcting. We can also modify
our own speech so that it is within the students zone of proximal development, which is to say just a little bit
more difficult than what they are capable of. With that in mind we also want to connect speech to context as
much as possible. We can do this for example by creating a word rich environment and using actions as much
as possible to create contextual support in the classroom. As always student engagement is a crucial element
in learning by asking students to engage in a meaningfu activity or interaction we can help students want to
learn English. If we remember that we must do our best to recreate an environment that is similar to when a
child first learns a language we will be on the right path to helping students achieve success as an ELL
student.

Question: My son/daughter is a student at your school and even though they were born in this country
after we moved here the school is telling us that they need help with English. How can that be? I hear
my son/daughter speaking English with their friends all the time. It doesnt make sense.

Answer: You may be surprised to learn that research is now telling us that Canadian born English language
learners (ELL), which is to say students who were born in Canada but their parents, such as yourself, come
from another country, have more difficulty in school than domestic students AND students who were born in
another country and then moved to Canada. The first thing I want to say is that it is perfectly normal for your
son/daughter to be struggling with English and there are many other students in the same situation. There are
many Canadian born ELL students who come from different backgrounds. For example there may be First
Nations, Metis , and Inuit students whose first language is not English, other children may live in a distinct
cultural area where they speak another language or students may go home and speak another language with
their family. So as I said, it is perfectly normal for your Canadian born son/daughter to be struggling with
English at school. I would like to emphasize that last point, at school. The main reason that your son/daughter
may be having difficulty at school is that school English can be very different than the type of English that they
would use to chat with their friends. The fancy name for these two different types of English is Basic
Interpersonal Communication skills (BCS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). The names
arent too important but what is important is that you understand that the type of English that your child uses
with their friends for conversations, games, and entertainment is different than the type of English that is used
in school textbooks, assignments and the way the teacher may speak sometimes. Generally speaking it takes
about two years to become proficient at using conversational English (BICS) whereas it can take five to seven
years to become proficient at using academic, or school English (CALP). This explains why it seems like your
child can speak English fluently when they are with their friends but have trouble at school. Now that we have
identified the problem we need to figure out what steps we can take to help your child. To help your child
achieve success there are things that both the teacher, and you as a parent, can do to help your child succeed.
First, let me say that if you speak a first language at home please let your son or daughter continue to use that
language and develop it as much as possible. There is no need to insist on having your child use English all
the time, in fact research tells us that getting better in their first language will help students in their second
language so please encourage them to continue reading, writing and speaking in their first language. That
said, being exposed to English through many different methods will also help your son or daughter at school as
well so reading English stories, watching tv or movies in English, or watching online videos in English will help
them develop their English as well.

Of course, as the teacher it is our job to do everything that we can to help support your child as they
progress through school so let me tell you about some of the things that we will be doing at school to support
your child. The first is that we need to know where your son/daughter is currently so we will use something
called the STEP (Steps To English Proficiency) framework to find out the current level of English development.
In the classroom I will be modifying my speech to help students make connections with new vocabulary. For
example I will repeat instructions more than one way to help expose students to a variety of meanings. I will
avoid slang and idiomatic expressions, or when I do use them I will be sure to explain the meaning. When
necessary I will simplify my sentence structure to help ELL students. When we look at new words I will help
students become word detectives by having them search for meaning by learning common prefixes and
suffixes as well as looking for root words that may help them understand.Students will also have many
opportunities to work in small groups so that they can explore new topics with their classmates without the
anxiety of speaking in front of the entire class. As I touched on earlier, we respect all cultures in the classroom
so we will encourage different cultural perspectives and will invite your child to share elements of their culture
and first language with the class. As the teacher I will also use assessment, what we used to think of as
grading, to help provide feedback for your child. To do this I will involve all students in the grading criteria,
students will work to help each other revise and assess their own work and a variety of assignments will be
provided to help your child express themselves in many different types of work not just writing.

I hope this has answered your question and put some of your fears to rest. With the proper support and
patience your child will be able to make great leaps and bounds in their academic career.

The main reason that your son/daughter may be having difficulty at school is that school
English can be very different than the type of English that they would use to chat with their
friends.

Question: (through translator) Hello, we have just arrived in Canada from Syria. My child started school
when they were 5 but stopped at the age of 7 and now they are 10. I am very worried that he/she will be
left behind in Canadian schools. How can you help my son/daughter considering that they havent had
much schooling.

Answer: Hello, first, I am sorry to hear about your struggles but I am glad that you are safe now. To begin with,
yes, your son/daughter will face many challenges. Research tells us that it may take up to 10 years for your
child to reach the level of English that their classmates may have but that doesnt mean they cant be
successful in their current schooling with the proper support and understanding. One of our main goals with
students who have not had much previous schooling is getting to know them, both academically, and
personally. On the academic side we will achieve this by first understanding where your son/daughters English
level is by using something called the STEP (Steps To English Proficiency) framework to find out the current
level of English development. We will use this framework to understand where your child is and what steps to
take to help them with their English development. The next step of getting to know your son/daughter is to
create a student profile that will look at their personal, cultural, and educational interests and ways that we can
use that information to help them in the classroom. Our teachers will be using different methods of helping your
son/daughter called accommodations, which just means that the teacher will design instruction in a way that
will help your child achieve success at their current level of English. Some of these may include creating an
identity text where your son/daughter creates a picture book of their life to share with others. Small group work
will also be a priority to help reduce anxiety and let students work with students at varying levels of English
development. There is also something called the English Development Program at our school. The ELD
program is designed to help students in your son/daughters case, this will be small group work that s offered
during the school day to help your child better acclimate to the academic challenges presented during the
school year. During the school year the teacher will work closely with your son/daughter keeping running
records, which is just a teacher way to say that they will work closely to find out how well your son/daughter is
reading and then offer feedback to help them improve in this area. This also helps the student reflect on their
own skills and helps them become better readers. With these types of support in place for your son/daughter
we are optimistic that your child will become successful at this school despite not being at school during the
past few years.