non-communicative studen

[clayton]

I have a student in Pre-K who refuses to talk or interact with their classmates or the staff, and refuses to do most of the classwork. The parents' English is very limited, but the older siblings are very proficient in English, and are good students. We have had the older siblings and cousins come into the class to gently remind the student to at least try a few of the tasks and try to speak just a few words, but with little luck. According to the family members, this child is very vocal at home and does interact with family members quite fine. Any advice would be appreciated!

[Sally Olsen]

My mother didn't talk until she went to school because her sister did all the talking for her. There was nothing wrong but if someone does it for you, you probably won't try yourself. Is he vocal in English at home or his native language?

Just wait and smile a lot. Try to make situations where he has to talk, like ask for something. Don't just automaticially give him things. But don't make a big deal out of it or it will become a modus operandi for the student to get attention. Wait him out and smile.

[1st.gr.teach]

All language learners progress through certain stages of comprehension, language usage ability, and comfort level using a language. The first stage is a silent period.

This link leads to research that has been done on the silent period of language aquisition. [color=indigo]http://journals.cambridge ... 32[/color]

This study focuses on children who go through a ‘silent’ period early in the course of second language development, during which they largely cease verbal communication with speakers of the second language (English). Video recordings with radio microphones under natural conditions revealed that most of these children engaged in extensive private speech, which they were found to use for a variety of intrapersonal learning strategies, including (1) repetition of others' utterances, (2) recall and practice, (3) creation of new linguistic forms, (4) paradigmatic substitution and syntagmatic expansion, and (5) rehearsal for overt social performance. Quantity and quality of private speech was related not only to the children's level of cognitive development and the difficulty of the learning task (confirming previous research), but also to the children's social orientation and learning style, and to the domain of knowledge (language) that was being acquired.

Quote from: Muriel Saville-Troike (1988). Private speech: evidence for second language learning strategies during the ‘silent’ period. Journal of Child Language, 15, pp 567-590 doi:10.1017/S0305000900012575

Be patient and enjoy your students!

[KRizzo]

I just completed my student teaching in an ESL classroom K-3 and in that classroom there was a student who went through a "silent period" for an entire year last year. The "silent period" had been introduced to me in my studies in TESOL but I never knew that it could last an entire year. The teacher I was working with told me that last year the student did not speak at all and she was afraid she was not learning but she remained kind, compassionate and supportive to this student who was placed in an environment that was entirely new. This year the student is very social, communicative and actually very creative. She speaks very well and is actually the top student in the ESL class. I think you need to just be very supportive and continue lessons and try to encourage the students that are in "silent periods" (as well as the other students obviously) at times. I hope this is helpful.

[lee115]

I, too, would suggest patience. Pre-K can be intimidating for native English speakers so I can only imagine what it is like for ELL.

Could you encourage the student to speak by responding only to the student's verbal requests? For example, use of the bathroom is granted after a student says, "Ms./Mr. Teacher, may I use the bathroom?" Asking that everyone in the class say this before he/she uses the bathroom keeps you from singling out this student and also provides a script that can be praticed daily.

In addition, try interacting at playtime. I remember playing with a non-communicative ELL during Center Time and found it to be productive. When the student would "cook" for me in the kitchen, for instance, I instructed him to name what he had prepared for me. So if he was serving me a hamburger and french fries he would have to tell me what the food was before I would eat it. If he didn't know the English word for the food, it allowed me to introduce a new word. I don't know if the excitment of playtime or the one-on-one instruction is why it worked, but it did.

[clayton]

great advice and guidance from everyone, thank you. recently, we brought in a few older siblings and cousins (who have always said this kid is a total motormouth at home) to speak with him and encourage him to participate either in his native lang. or in eng. that has helped somewhat, but he still is resistant to joining in. we will see what the rest of the year holds!