English Language Proficiency Standards

Organization of the ELP Standards

Organization Model 1

The ELP Standards are organized according to a schema that represents each standard's importance to English language learners' participation in the practices called for by college- and career-ready language art and literacy, mathematics, and science standards (G. Bunch, personal communication, August 15, 2013; Bunch, Kimbler, & Pimentel, 2013).

1. Organization of the ELP Standards in relation to participation in content area practices:

2. Construct meaning from oral presentations and literary and information text through grade-appropriate listening, reading and viewing.

3. Participate in grade-appropriate oral and written exchanges of information, ideas and analyses, and responding to peer, audience or reader comments and questions.

4. Speak and write about grade-appropriate complex literary and information texts and topics.

5. Construct grade-appropriate oral and written claims and support them with reasoning and evidence.

6. Conduct research, evaluate and communicate findings to answer questions or solve problems.

7. Analyze and critique the arguments of others orally and in writing.

8. Adapt language choices to purpose, task and audience when speaking and writing.

9. Determine the meaning of words and phrases in oral presentations and literary and informative text.

10. Create clear and coherent grade-appropriate speech and text.

11. Make accurate use of Standard English to communicate in grade-appropriate speech and writing.

Standards 1 through 7 involve the language necessary for English language learners to engage in the central content-specific practices associated with English language arts and literacy, mathematics, and science. They begin with a focus on extraction of meaning and then progress to engagement in these practices.

Standards 8 through 10 hone in on some of the more micro-level linguistic features that are undoubtedly important to focus on, but only in the services of the other seven standards.

Organization Model 2

The ELP Standards might also be framed in relation to narrower domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing and also in relation to broader receptive, productive, and interactive modalities. The interactive modalities category allows for emphasis on the need for English langauge learners to meaningfully engage with their peers during content area instruction. Standards 9 and 10 address the linguistic structures of English and are framed in relation to Ohio's standards for the English language arts Language domain.

Receptive Modalities - Listening & Reading Domains - Standards 1 and 8

This mode refers to the learner as a reader or listener/viewer working with 'text' whose author or deliverer is not present or accessible. It presumes that the interaction is with authentic written or oral documents where language input is meaningful and content laden. The learner brings background knowledge, experience, and appropriate interpretive strategies to the task to promote understanding of language in content in order to develop a personal reaction.

Productive Modalities - Speaking & Writing Domains - Standards 3, 4, and 7

The mode places the learner as speaker and writer for a 'distant' audience, on with whom interaction is not possible or limited. The communication is set for a specified audeince, has purpose, and generally abides by rules fo genre or style. It is a planned or formalized speech act or written document, and the learner has an opportunity to draft, get feedback, and revise, before publication or broadcast.

Interactive Modalities - Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing Domains - Standards 2, 5, and 6

Collaborative use of receptive and productive modalities. This mode refers to the learner as a speaker/listener [and] reader/writer. It requires two-way communication where negotiation of meaning may be observed. The exchange will provide evidence of awareness of the socio-cultural aspects of communication as language proficiency develops.