Page 70 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9-12: Health and Physical Education, 2015 - revised

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9–12 | Health and Physical Education
In planning programs for students with linguistic backgrounds other than English, teachers need to recognize the importance of the orientation process, understanding that every learner needs to adjust to the new social environment and language in a unique way and
at an individual pace. For example, students who are in an early stage of English-language acquisition may go through a “silent period” during which they closely observe the interactions and physical surroundings of their new learning environment. They may
use body language rather than speech or they may use their first language until they have gained enough proficiency in English to feel confident of their interpretations and responses. Students thrive in a safe, supportive, and welcoming environment
that nurtures their self-confidence while they are receiving focused literacy instruction. When they are ready to participate, in paired, small-group, or whole-class activities, some students will begin by using a single word or phrase to communicate a thought, while others will speak quite fluently.
In a supportive learning environment, most students will develop oral language proficiency quite quickly. Teachers can sometimes be misled by the high degree of oral proficiency demonstrated by many English language learners in their use of everyday English and may mistakenly conclude that these students are equally proficient in their use of academic English. Most English language learners who have developed oral proficiency in everyday English will nevertheless require instructional scaffolding to meet curriculum expectations. Research has shown that it takes five to seven years for most English language learners to catch up to their English-speaking peers in their ability to use English for academic purposes.
Responsibility for students’ English-language development is shared by the classroom teacher, the ESL/ELD teacher (where available), and other school staff. Volunteers and peers may also be helpful in supporting English language learners in the classroom. Teachers must adapt the instructional program in order to facilitate the success of these students in their classrooms. Appropriate adaptations include:
• modification of some or all of the subject expectations so that they are challenging but attainable for the learner at his or her present level of English proficiency, given the necessary support from the teacher;
• use of a variety of instructional strategies (e.g., modelling; use of music, movement, and gestures; open-ended activities; extensive use of visual cues, images, diagrams; visual representations of key ideas; graphic organizers; scaffolding; pre-teaching of key vocabulary; peer tutoring; strategic use of students’ first languages);
• use of a variety of learning resources (e.g., simplified text, illustrated guides or
diagrams that show how to use equipment or perform skills, food guides and other health resources available in languages that students speak at home, bilingual dictionaries, visual material, displays; music, dances, games, and materials and activities that reflect cultural diversity);
• use of assessment accommodations (e.g., provision of extra time; use of interviews and oral presentations; use of portfolios, demonstrations, visual representations or models, or tasks requiring completion of graphic organizers or cloze sentences instead of essay questions and other assessment tasks that depend heavily on proficiency in English).
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