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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Phone: 268-6857?

jwarburt@sfu.ca

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is intended to provide you with the opportunity to consider how effective elementary

curriculum and instruction are organized when students come from a wide variety of linguistic and

cultural backgrounds. Participants will examine the following topics: language as meaning making

systems; pre-school language development, orality and learning, learning to write and learning to read,

classrooms as environments fostering language/literacy development, evaluation of language skills.

Recognizing that our learners come from diverse backgrounds and bring diverse talents to the

classroom, examining these topics should prepare teachers for operating effective instructional programs

in elementary classrooms.

EVALUATION

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REQUIREMENTS

This course will involve frequent large and small group discussions and students are expected to come to

each class prepared to participate actively and respond thoughtfully to all assigned readings. Evaluation

will be based on both individual and small group assignments.

PARTICIPATION AND IN-CLASS READING RESPONSES ?

30%

SMALL GROUP PRESENTATIONS ?

30%

TERM PAPER ?

40%

EXPECTATIONS

i.

active and interested participation

ii. final paper to be submitted to Turnitin

REQUIRED READINGS

Gibbons, P.

(1991). Learning to learn in a second language.

Heinemann. ISBN 0-435-08785-1

Helmer, S. & Eddy, C. (2003).

Look at Me When I Talk to You: ESL Learners in Non-ESL Classrooms.

Toronto: Pippin Publishing Corporation ISBN: 0-88751-108-2

Gibbons, P. (2002).

Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: Teaching second language learners in

the mainstream classroom.

Toronto: Pearson Education Canada. ISBN: 0-325-00366-1..