Suburban News Publications

1/16/2008

By Rosemary Kubera

A little more than 255 students in the Canal Winchester and Groveport-Madison local school districts come from families where English typically isn’t spoken at home.

Most were born overseas but some, especially the younger ones, were born in the U.S.

Of the 3,620 students in the Canal Winchester schools, 102 are enrolled in the English Language Learners program. The same is true for 156 of the 6,832 students in the Groveport-Madison district.

Classes are taught in English even though every grade level, from K-12, in both districts has at least a few students who are learning to speak, listen, read and write in English, officials said.

“I admire all the students that are here to learn and are learning in English,” said Carolyn Seitz, coordinator of Canal Winchester’s English Language Learners program.

“It’s not the easiest language because of all of its irregularities,”

April Bray coordinates the program for Groveport-Madison. Both women also serve as testing coordinators for their districts.

Ohio’s school districts each provide the same, general English Language Learners program which is overseen by the Ohio Department of Education.

Each student is assigned to mainstream classrooms, but each also spends various lengths of time during the school day on English studies designed for them.

“The first thing is you have to figure out is where they are at,” said Kim Richardson, English Language Learners teacher at Groveport-Madison’s Sedalia Elementary School.

“Some are illiterate in their own language,” she said.

“Sometimes we have to start out with things as basic as the alphabet,” Richardson said.

“Sometimes they come with some English knowledge.

“They learn a lot from their peers in the regular classroom, too. And teachers are patient,” she said.

Teachers provide one-on-one attention to get students through the day. And English language learners often are paired with student coaches who speak English as a first language.

In the elementary grades, students learn vocabulary and sentence structure along with all of the children.

But unlike native English speakers, students also are learning “a new way to say things” using English’s particular sentence structures, Richardson said.

Spelling is difficult because many English words do not sound like they are spelled, she said.

Learning to read and write is a process, and it takes time to acquire skills, Seitz said.

“Many times students, after they are here for a short amount of time, they do fairly well in speaking and listening,” she said.

“They have a harder time reading and writing because these are skills that require a lot of vocabulary and that is more difficult to learn,” Seitz said.

“You start with little pieces and add items. You give them a little bit and build on that,” she said.

For example, a beginning English learner might be able to say, “Come my house tea,” Seitz said.

Eventually students learn to frame proper sentences such as, “Please come to my house for tea.”

All students must take state achievement tests.

Depending on their skill level, English language learners can use a dictionary and take extra time completing tests.

Those who qualify can take tests in their first language either with the aid of a computer program or an interpreter who is provided by the state, Seitz said.

“I admire all the students that are here to learn and are learning in English. It’s not the easiest language because of all of its irregularities,”

–Carolyn Seitz

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