Problem:

Only a negligible percentage grows up using English as the first language and that
too only in the most affluent sections of the Indian Social segment. A large majority
of the students in India do not use English as their first language. How can we make
learning tasks more manageable for learners of the English language?
Within the context of our school, the question would be more like How can we
strengthen the communicative skills and the content knowledge of our students?
Possible Solution:
Sheltered instruction: Integrating language and content instruction.
The dual goals of sheltered instruction are:
1
2

To strengthen learners understanding of grade-level content.

To promote the development of English language proficiency.

Teachers are expected to use this approach by ensuring that

The classroom time is a balanced mix of subject content and carefully

structured language which is age appropriate.
LSRW are integrated in evaluating the progress of the learners.
Attention is paid to pacing, so that no student is left behind.

Sheltered approach discusses eight interrelated components:

1. Lesson preparation: Lessons have to be designed and developed so that they
progress from teacher-centred to peer-supported to student-centred. To
achieve that

Introduce activities so that students develop their own learning strategies.

Integrate LSRW into each lesson.
Create opportunities for students to interact in the target language.
Centre discussions around purposeful tasks that are meaningful to them.

2. Building background: Teachers should help students connect what they know
and experience to what they are learning because

To understand new things we make connections between things we

know and have experienced, and the new things we are learning.
Studies have proved that teachers explicit activation of students prior
knowledge helps students in a big way.

3. Comprehensible input: the input that students receive from teachers should
be comprehensible.

If the meaning intended by the teacher and the students

understanding of it are one and the same, then the intended process is
complete.
When the teacher has to introduce new concepts that go beyond the
current stage of knowledge of the student, the teacher will succeed in
doing so only if the input is made comprehensible to the student.

4. Strategies: The lesson plans and the techniques that we use in the language
classroom should be varied and for that the teacher has to be creative and
resourceful.

The teacher moves from easy to difficult in case of some children;

matching pictures to words.
Introduce clusters and groups when the students analytical skills are
high.
Content based lesson plans that actively involve the learners in
projects, quiz, group discussions, and cooperative learning activities in
pairs or small groups.

5. Interaction: This is a livewire exercise that effectively gets the students to

shed their inhibitions, if not in a day, gradually.

6.

The learners should be given ample space/time for role-play involving

pairs or small groups.
Students should be divided into small groups and one group quizzes
the other and asks questions and the other group answers. Then they
switch roles.
Teacher tells familiar stories/ folk tales/ fairy tales and makes it as
interactive as possible by involving them in the activity.

Practice/application: There is a big gap between knowing how something is

done and being able to do it. Studies have shown that knowledge and skill
become meaningful only if it is applied in our daily life.

Learners master concepts when they are given multiple opportunities

to practice and apply what they are learning.
Learners perform better when teachers model or demonstrate how a
problem is solved and then let students do it on their own, offering
support as needed.

7. Lesson delivery: Lesson plan is an essential component of teaching and

learning. Good lesson plan makes for effective time and classroom
management. Both the teacher and the students are in a win-win situation;
the teacher has control and students have direction.

Make learning activities interesting.

Be aware of individual differences and plan lessons meticulously.
Make sure that learners are not left behind because the lesson has to
be completed.
Design activities that systematically support learning and are of
appropriate difficulty.

8. Review/assessment: It is an ongoing process and not the final component of

SIOP.

Make informal on the spot reviews that need no grading.

Monitor responses and provide corrective feedback.
Use assessment to plan lessons
Teach, assess, review, reteach and do this over and over again.

When teachers connect their instructional strategies to each of these

components, they will be able to design and deliver lessons that address the
academic and linguistic needs of English learners.