This research project was conducted with social studies and English teachers
and ESL students in mainstream classes at a secondary school in Richmond, B.C. over a
seven-month period from September 1998 to March 1999. As an action researcher, I
solved problems through team work and through following a cyclical process of
1. strategic planning, 2. action, 3. observation, evaluation and self-evaluation, and
4. critical and self-critical reflection on the cycle (McNiff, Lomax, & Whitehead,
1996).
The findings included in this study are a definition of the ESL support role,
effectiveness of the ESL support program, teacher collaboration, application of the
ILC approach and the Knowledge Framework (Mohan, 1986), challenges and issues
for content teachers and ESL students, and the dual role as support teacher and
researcher. First, with regard to a definition of the ESL support role, ESL support
teachers were viewed by myself and the administration as language development
specialists who act as consultants, with a focus on co-teaching and individual
instruction. Colleagues perceived the ESL support team as ESL trained teachers who
must prove their effectiveness through action, rather than words, in content
teachers' classrooms. ESL students viewed the ESL support teachers as a welcome
support or unwelcome intruders. Second, with regard to the effectiveness of the ESL
support program, the administration and I felt that the program provided exceptional
support services to content teachers and ESL students. ESL students also felt that the
ESL support program was very helpful. Colleagues, however, were initially skeptical
of the program, but eventually valued the support.
Third, collaboration increased over time as ESL support specialists worked in
cooperative relationships with content teachers. Fourth, the ILC approach was
selectively, and at times superficially, implemented in content courses. Also, the
Knowledge Framework was the most successful teaching method for ESL support of
content teachers and ESL students. Fifth, there were many challenges for content
teachers, ESL learners, and ESL support specialists. One challenge was the lack of
English spoken by our student population. Another concern was the appearance of
passivity of ESL students. Also, assessment and evaluation of ESL students was very
difficult for content teachers. Thus, content instructors needed to learn alternate
assessment and evaluation strategies for their ESL learners. In addition, teachers
wondered about their ESL students' comprehension and exam preparation. Lastly,
tensions inevitably arose from the dual role as teacher and researcher.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/11329 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Konnert, Michele Rand |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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