Communication Tools For ELLs

Evans Communication Plan

Jessica Allen
St. Bonaventure University

Communication Tools For ELLs

Introduction
In January 2016, I worked in a 6th-8th grade Autism program at a public middle in the
suburbs of Rochester, NY. There, I interacted with a student with ASD who was nonverbal. This
student had also recently moved to the states from Puerto Rico in the beginning of the school
year and knows very little English. The school decided to place this student in all integrated coteaching classes. This is a major challenge for the student and teachers. Many supports are
needed in order to help this student succeed in these classroom settings. Differentiation is key to
helping this student succeed. This students entire day is focused around learning the English
language while also learning content knowledge. Although nonverbal, Evan needs to be able to
communicate with his family, friends, teachers, and peers.
Evan is a 6th grade student with Autism who is nonverbal. He and his mother just moved
to the U.S. in the beginning of the school year. His mother knows English and is able to
communicate well with Evans teachers and others. Evan, however, knows very little English.
Our main goal this year is to differentiate instruction so that Evan is working on communication
skills as well as learning English and other content knowledge. He is in the 6th-8th grade Autism
program, but attends all integrated co-teaching classes. All of Evans teachers express that they
feel like this is an inappropriate placement for him. Evan needs more one-on-one attention in a
highly structured environment that he does not always receive in his ICT classes.
Evan has a one-on-one aide that keeps him on a highly structured schedule. Both Evan
and his aide wear lanyards with basic phrases. Evans phrases include, bathroom, drink,
hungry, etc. These allow him to express needs to his teachers or aide. If Evan just shows the
card, we encourage him to say the word before we react to his request. This has him practice
communication skills. His aide has cards that say, not in mouth (he likes to put things in his
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mouth), speak, etc. Evan can read these demands and her silent signal to the card reinforces
Evan to act appropriately without distracting others. Evan uses a token board to communicate.
The three demands he was working on when I was with him were, sit down, do work,
hands to self. These are the skills we wanted him to focus on at the time. Evans mother works
very well with all of his teachers and has helped us determine what rewards we can provide Evan
that will provide motivation. Some of these rewards include chocolate, toys, playdough,
coloring, iPad, and many more. When Evan earns his award, his aide sets a timer and has Evan
stop when his time is up. The process begins again.
Evan was also working on discrete trials while I was there. He was working on numbers
1-4, letters A-G, and was just beginning to work on emotions as well (happy, sad, tired, mad,
scared). Evan practices with discrete trials in order to reinforce basic skills necessary to be
successful in his other classes.
Evan makes hamster noises and often confuses his peers. However, his peers are
understanding and kind and treat Evan with respect. They will sit with him at lunch and specials,
help him in classes and the hallway, and invite him to play during special recess time at lunch.
Evans mother has expressed that she wants to get Evan more involved in activities outside of
school.
Literature Review
Since Evan is nonverbal and his primary language is Spanish, it is difficult for him to
effectively communicate with his teachers and peers in English. To provide support for his
language and communication barrier, Evans teachers have collectively decided to implement a

Communication Tools For ELLs

PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) intervention to help Evan communicate his
wants and needs appropriately with others.
What to Assess Prior to the Intervention?
Before being able to provide an appropriate and effective intervention to support Evan, it
is crucial to decide what skills to assess to begin the process. When assessing communication,
the two most important skills to evaluate are receptive and expressive communication skills
(Downing, 2005). Receptive communication refers to the skills that the student possesses in
order to understand what is being said to them. Expressive communication refers to the skills in
which the child uses to express their needs and wants (Duke, 1973). Evan is evaluated every day
on these skills, mostly informally through the use of a tally sheet or direct observation, recorded
by his one-on-one aide and classroom teachers. When Evan first arrived to the school in the
beginning of the year, his English was very poor. He was barely communicating with anyone. As
Evan adapted to his new environment, he also started to pick up on basic English phrases
overheard by his teachers and peers. This demonstrated that his receptive language skills were
building and growing in the English language.
What to Teach?
Students who are nonverbal are seeking to communicate, it just may be in a unique way.
When working with a nonverbal student, it is crucial to build and enhance personal abilities
relating to both receptive and expressive language skills. By doing so, the students
communication skills will blossom and help them effectively communicate their wants and needs
to others (Charles, n.d.). In addition to teaching receptive and expressive language skills, the
teacher also needs to monitor the students behavior (Howard, n.d.). Often, Evan will get

Communication Tools For ELLs

frustrated during class and blurt out hamster noises when he has difficulty communicating his
wants or needs with his aide or classroom teachers. This distracts his peers and usually ends in
him having a tantrum. To correct this behavior, Evans teacher has created a token board to
motivate Evan to complete his work and act appropriately in the classroom setting.
How Can We Teach Communication Skills?
In order to teach communication skills, you need to teach students specific functions of
communication (Downing, 2005). In other words, you need to help the student understand why
they are communicating whether it be to express a need or want, to react or respond to someone
or something, etc. Once the student can identify the reason they wish to communicate, it will be
less of a challenge for them to formulate appropriate receptive or expressive communication
skills (Stacks, 2011). This identification process of discovering the function of the
communication is a skill that Evan is still developing. Downing (2005) offers numerous
examples of strategies, techniques, tools, and resources teachers can utilize when working with
nonverbal students building communicative skills. I plan to use some of these resources and
strategies during my instruction time with Evan.
After observing and assessing Evan for almost half of the school year, his one-on-one
aide and classroom teachers conclude that Evans learning is reinforced best through the use of
visuals. Visuals are used throughout Evans entire school day including his schedule, classroom
assignments, and homework assignments. Using this information, Evans teachers have decided
to implement a PECS intervention.
What is PECS?

Communication Tools For ELLs

According to research, PECS, or a Picture Exchange Communication System, is a highly

effective intervention for students with Autism who need to build and improve communication
skills (Van der Meer, 2012). A PECS board allows nonverbal students to show a picture or a
visual to communicate their needs and wants. In order for the student to receive the most benefits
from this type of intervention, it is also important to have the student do more than just show the
picture, for example, say the word as you show the picture (Van der Meer, 2012). The
reinforcement of the visual and the speaking (expressive language) will create the most
meaningful learning experience for students, especially those with communication barriers.
Multisensory Teaching
Multisensory teaching could be another strategy for us to use with Evan. It is particularly
beneficial for students with language barriers. Multisensory teaching refers to the use of specific
strategies involving learners to participate in activities that include the use of two or more
sensory modalities in order to take in or express information (Birsh, 2011). Multisensory
instruction is used to guide students to ultimately link reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Instruction focused specifically on language structure is taught using a carefully sequenced and
organized curriculum. The use of visuals, songs, poems, and hands-on activities will effectively
support this type of instruction (Birsh, 2011). We can further enhance Evans learning by creating
multisensory learning activities so that he is not only practicing with the visuals through the use
of the PECS board, but he is also practicing his English vocabulary and communicative skills.
Long-term Success
Brigman (1999) conducted a study in which it was determined that if students are taught
social, academic, and communicative skills through the use of a rigorous and structured

Communication Tools For ELLs

curriculum, then long-term success is likely to be achieved compared to students not instructed
in this manner. Evans long-term success as a student and productive member of society is my
ultimate goal as his teacher, and the case study researched by Brigman supports my belief that
Evan will succeed best and be able to generalize his knowledge and understanding if taught these
skills in a structured environment, repetitively.
Intervention
In the beginning of the school year, Evan was barely communicating in English with his
teachers or peers. During classes, he was making frequent hamster imitations and running around
the classroom distracting his classmates. When I began working with Evan in January, he had
already made enormous progress from the beginning of the year. He was using a token board to
motivate him to complete his work, learning commands in English that would help him meet his
teachers expectations (for example: hands to self or do work). Evan often echoed his aide or
teachers when they would say things. This type of behavior helps Evan with both his receptive
and expressive language skills. Data on Evans receptive and expressive skills prior to the
intervention can be found in the appendix.
Together, Evans teachers, one-on-one aide, and mother collaborated to create a PECS
system personalized to support Evans specific needs. As research states, PECS is a highly
effective intervention for students with Autism who need to build and improve communication
skills (Van der Meer, 2012). Evan learns well through visuals, so with the evidence to support
the research, we decided to give this intervention a try with Evan.
As a team, we chose to include items such as, bathroom, drink, nurse, and many
more. We created a set of PECS in which we put a visual of the items along with the word on
each card. They were then laminated, hole punched, and strung around a lanyard that Evan
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Communication Tools For ELLs

would wear every day. Evans aide wore a set of PECS on a lanyard around her neck, except her
cards read phrases with a visual, for example, not in mouth, stand up, sit down, etc. Evan
and his aide would use this PECS system to communicate throughout the entire day. Evan would
express his needs when needed and his aide would keep Evan safe in a structured environment
by communicating with him through her set of PECS.
I assessed Evans expressive language skills by tallying when he would show a picture
and say the word on the card. If he didnt say anything, I would re-direct him by pointing to the
word. Usually, Evan would say the word when re-directed. If not, I would continue scaffolding
appropriately.
I assessed Evans receptive language skills by recording Evans reactions to his aides
directions using her PECS cards. I also tallied when Evan responded appropriately and followed
directions as this demonstrated his understanding of the directions being given to him by his aide
using both the PECS cards and her words. Intervention data for both his expressive and receptive
language skills can be found in the appendix.
Findings
Evans expressive and receptive language skills have improved immensely. Evan was
using more expressive language on his own. He continues to repeat his teachers and aide and
continues to follow directions well. The PECS system was working very well for Evan and his
aide. We were seeing Evan communicate more than ever before.
One of the biggest Evan milestones happened one day when we were walking in the
hallway. Usually, Evan leaves his classes a few minutes early to beat the rush in the hallway
during the switch between classes. He does this because he feels overwhelmed in the hallway,

Communication Tools For ELLs

but also because he is not aware of others in the hallway and will often bump into others and
continue walking. We wanted Evan to practice walking in the hallway and maneuvering around
people, but we did not want to completely overwhelm him. So, Evans aide and I started
practicing this when we would walk with him on his daily job to retrieve Mrs. Ms (the school
psychologist) mail and deliver it to her. We would demonstrate for Evan how to politely say
excuse me and walk around if someone is in your way. We would then practice this with Evan.
For weeks we practiced with Evan, and although he caught on, it would take several attempts for
Evan to say it. One day, we were walking to the office and the principal comes up to us. He says,
Hi Evan. Evan looks up, says, excuse me and continues walking to the office. At the exact
same moment Evans aide, myself, and the principal burst into excitement. We were all so proud
to hear him say it all by himself! And not to mention in a pretty humorous way. This was another
example of Evans improvement and progress with expressive and receptive language skills.
On top of all of that, the improvement of his language skills was also supporting Evans
social and emotional needs. As his language skills improved, the more interaction and
socialization we saw among Evan and his classmates. With all of this improvement, it was
decided that Evan would continue to use this PECS system, updating and scaffolding as
necessary along the way.
Discussion
Overall, I am impressed with the results of the intervention and I know Evans teachers
and mother are as well. Evan began the school year speaking barely any English. Now he is
communicating with his teachers, classmates, and mother more than he has before.
I am grateful that we learned about multisensory learning during class as we believe this
is also another major reason along with the PECS system that Evans language skills have
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improved so greatly. I was so amazed to see how much his skills improved in the short time I
spent with him. What made me even happier was that Evan was beginning to use English words
and phrases on his own. He enjoyed using his PECS cards, always shuffling through them, and
reacted positively to the PECS system used by myself and his aide. It was also incredible to
witness him say excuse me to the principal as it demonstrated he was understanding our
receptive language and initiating his own expressive language.
I am happy that Evan will continue to use his PECS system as I think this has benefited
his language skills immensely. As Evan gains confidence and understanding of words or
concepts, he becomes more social and interactive with his peers. This is a tremendous way to
continue supporting Evans social and emotional needs.
Conclusion
When Evan started the school year, he was barely communicating and his expressive
language was minimal. Evan knew very little English which made it challenging for him to
understand his teachers and classmates making his receptive language skills very poor as well. A
number of supports have been implemented in order to help Evan succeed in his 6th grade
integrated co-teaching classes. To build his expressive and receptive language skills, we used
research-based theories supported by the literature presented in this paper. As a team, we created
a PECS system to suit Evans needs and provide him with an effective communication system.
By using the PECS system, Evan was able to build and strengthen his language and
communication skills. Over time, Evan began to interact and socialize more appropriately with
his classmates as well. As a team, we agree that this intervention is benefiting Evan based on the
progress he is making and we would all like to continue with this intervention to see what future

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results may bring. I keep in touch with Evans teachers to monitor his progress while Im away
and they say he continues to show growth.

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Communication Tools For ELLs

Appendix
Pre-intervention Data:
Post-intervention Data:

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Communication Tools For ELLs

Lesson Plan

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Communication Tools For ELLs

References
Birsh, J. R., (2011) Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills (3rd). Baltimore: Paul H.
Brookes Publishing Co.
Brigman, G., Lane, D., Switzer, D., Lane, Donna, & Lawrence, R. (1999). Teaching children
school success skills. The Journal of Educational Research, 92(6), 323-329.
Charles R., D. (n.d). Nonverbal behavior and the communication process. EBSCOhost, 25(5),
397-404.
Downing, J. (2005) Teaching Communication Skills to Students with Severe Disabilities (2nd ed.)
Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.
Duke, C. R. (1973). Nonverbal Behavior and the Communication Process.
Howard A., S. (n.d). Nonverbal communication in teaching. EBSCOhost, 49(4), 631-672.
Stacks, D. W., Hickson, M. I., Deyo, J., & Walt, P. (2011). Nonverbal communication. In R. L.
Miller, E. Balcetis, S. R. Burns, D. B. Daniel, B. K. Saville, W. D. Woody, ... W. D.
Woody (Eds.) , Promoting student engagement: Activities exercises and demonstrations
for psychology courses (Vol. 2) (pp. 230-236). Washington, DC, US: Society for the
Teaching of Psychology.
Van der Meer, L. J. (2012). PECS and SGD equally effective for teaching requesting skills to
children with autism utilizing an adapted PECS training protocol. Evidence-Based
Communication Assessment & Intervention, 6(4), 201-205.

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