Teachers Of Intermediate & Advanced ELLs Should Consider Radically Redesigning Their Classes
In the age of AI, and the increased ability of translators to produce accurate results, Ferlazzo recommends ESL high school and college teachers transition from an emphasis on reading and writing to listening and speaking. Of course, students should not use AI to translate or write for them, and reading and writing are essential.
Creating listening and speaking activities that are based on reading and writing assignments is a means for accomplishing this. Since students need to learn academic writing genres such as problem-solution, they should read models of these, and then produce their own short versions guided by writing frames. By then participating in “structured dialog”, they can refine what they have written.
Ferlazzo also writes that students should be allowed to use their home language for organizing their ideas and first drafts. Doing this promotes the value of students’ first languages. Prioritizing listening and speaking in English could also increase motivation to practice the language.
Below are helpful links in this blog to Ferlazzo’s previous blogs.
A Look Back: New Activity I’m Using With ELLs: “Critical Thinking Dialogues” provides samples of dialogs that can be modified for various classroom situations. This connects to the “simplified version of the ABC Paragraph” titled “Two ‘Writing Frames” For ELLs & Everybody Else'” which has students watch a video or read a passage and then state their opinion about the topic, give reasons from the source for their opinion, and then explain how the reasons support their opinion.
By 
