Virtual Learning Network

Hi everyone,

The Ministry of Education ESOL Update is out. Click here to access the online version. It covers details of

• the current ESOL AF funding round - numbers of students etc

• applying for TESSOL scholarships - time as we have a current question on this topic on our community

• The Spotlight on Schools cover Green Island School in Dunedin who have funded ELL for the first time and Hagley College’s NCEA night

Last week we

• discussed

  • systems for supporting ELLs also see these responses

    • Jennifer Olsen

    • Helen Lord

• shared resources on the Asia New Zealand website

• Lance asked about software for ELLs. No replies yet but why not check out our Google doc Tools for ELLs and their teachers - NB teachers can add to this doc.

• Heather has asked about TESSOL qualifications. Thank you to all those who have replied. The long ‘short answer’ is that it depends on what you intend to do. If you want to work overseas or in a language school, courses such as CELTA may be for you. To work in a New Zealand school you will need to be a registered teacher and could do no better than the TESSOL courses that the Ministry provides scholarships for. Click here for details. And why not read the Gazette article on these excellent scholarships.

• unit standards clarifications - thanks to Julie for providing further  guidance on what is and isn’t permissible. I have reproduced her post here as it is critical to all of us using the writing standards.

Thank you for your forum contributions on the amount of guidance which assessors can give students in summative English Language (EL) unit standard writing. As you say, shared understanding across schools, as well as tertiary providers, is important.

Although the clarification for English Language US 28068 EN 8 -  and other EL writing unit standards - does not specify the acceptability of identifying the types of errors students have made in a small section of text, as described in the Conditions of Assessment for English achievement standards,  this practice is accepted by EL moderators. The BPW moderator advice still stands. Sue’s guidelines for doing this for different levels and text lengths are appropriate. In retrospect, perhaps the clarification needs to be inclusive of this approach.

In the context of this discussion, it is noteworthy that there is no requirement for drafts to be submitted for English writing achievement standards.

Nga mihi nui

Julie

Events

AKTESOL event this Wednesday, 14th September

On other communities

English Online have discussed e-Learning amongst other things of course. A couple of links they shared are

• the use of podcasts for speech assessments - definitely has applications for ESOL

• Creative writing with OneNote

and the English Online eLeaning and English page

Have a great week everyone,
Breda