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MidTESOL Matters
Spring 2001 |
A Publication of Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
Recent Workshops
WITESOL Fall Workshop
By LuAnn Sorenson
How do you know if an ESL student
has a learning disability or whether the behavior you are witnessing
can better be explained by linguistic, cultural, or economic differences?
Learning disabilities are a sorely under-researched area of second language
acquisition, yet the “sold out” fall workshop sponsored by Wisconsin
TESOL (WITESOL) indicates that this is a significant concern of school
administrators and ESL, bilingual, and special education instructors.
The November 17th workshop held at the University of Wisconsin
at Madison was titled, "English Language Learners with Learning
Disabilities: Recommended Practices for Prevention, Pre-referral Intervention,
and Special Education Services." The presenter of the workshop,
Dr. Alba A. Ortiz, professor of Special Education and director of the
office of Bilingual Education at the University of Texas at Austin,
spoke knowledgeably to an audience of 100 on:
- an assessment and intervention model for serving language minority students in general and special education;
- using Teacher Assistance Teams for Pre-referral Intervention;
- recommended practices in assessment of students suspected of having learning disabilities;
- special considerations in the development of Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for English Language Learners with disabilities;
- instructional arrangements for English Language Learners with learning disabilities;
- and
effective instructional practices for oral language and literacy development
in the native language and in ESL
While Dr. Ortiz largely addressed the K-12 and native Spanish speaker settings, she did provide some important points for all to consider when suspecting a student may have learning disabilities. Ultimately, the workshop reinforced the idea that a constructive dialogue between language, special education, and general education instructors is critical for the appropriate and early diagnosis of learning disabilities in second language learners.
