For this assignment, I chose a text in Spanish to read. I have just a smidgeon of understanding of the language, probably enough to understand the basics of written text. Speaking in it would be another matter altogether.
There were several strategies I had to use in order to make meaning from the text. The first strategy I used was to look for any familiar base/root words. If there were any similarities to words in English, it made it easier to understand the material. I also relied on picture clues whenever possible. I looked at punctuation marks such as commas to determine where emphasis on words fell. I noted any highlighted or italicized words or captions to also gather any potential meaning. If I had access to a foreign-language dictionary, I would have used it as well as the other strategies. Doing this assignment put me in the ELL position, so that now I have more of an understanding as to what ELL students must endure every day. Effective teachers need to be aware of the needs of their ELL students.
Interesting strategies!
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