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HAITIAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS.
Term Paper ID:29646
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Essay Subject:
Language skill deficits.... More...
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10 Pages / 2250 Words
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Paper Abstract:
Language skill deficits. Proposes a study to determine the most effective tools, instruments, strategies and/or procedures for assessing the English language skill deficits and bilingual educational needs of Middle School Haitians in the U.S. Range of issues that impact educational achievement of immigrant children.
Paper Introduction:
Development of an Assessment Tool for Identifying
Language Skill Deficits of Haitian Middle School Students
Introduction
The language skill deficits of Haitian-American elementary, middle and secondary school students have been thoroughly documented in the literature (Callahan, 1994). Haitian and Hispanic students alike comprise one of the largest and, in selected areas, fastest-growing ethnic and linguistic minority student populations in the United States. Though both Haitian and Hispanic students often arrive, regardless of their age, at public schools with moderate to severe English language skill deficits, both public law and policy require that students be given a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive setting and that their special needs be met within
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The proposed study is thereforerelevant to any course focusing on education, minority studies, or remedialand support services for a disadvantaged population. The study will also allow fora direct comparison of existing assessment methodologies and thedevelopment of improved assessment techniques. Ballenger, C. Ballenger, C. The French Review, 7 (3), 395-4 7. The social value of French for bilingual Haitianimmigrants. V. Haitian and Hispanic students alike compriseone of the largest and, in selected areas, fastest-growing ethnic andlinguistic minority student populations in the United States. However, assessing thespecific needs of this minority ethnic group is often overlooked. (1992). (1993). Mathematics Teacher, 87(2), 122-127. is changing. Rifkin (1998) also notes that many of these same adults areincreasingly calling for instruction in Haitian Creole rather than fullimmersion in English for Speakers for Other Languages (ESOL) programming.Fitzgerald (2 ), in an analysis of bilingual programming in the future,makes the point that with more and more non-English speaking studentsarriving in the United States, both transitional bilingual and Englishimmersion programs along with two-way bilingual and biliterate programswill be required. (2 1). (1996). Zephir (1997), for example, has noted that the Haitianimmigrant community in the United States is large and diverse, with manyspeaking Haitian Creole and a small percentage also speaking French.English is less commonly spoken by Haitian immigrants, and Rifkin (1998)points out that many Haitian immigrants and their adult guardians,caretakers, or parents are extremely reluctant to allow their dependentchildren to "lose" their fluency in either Haitian Creole or French. (1999). (1999). Though bothHaitian and Hispanic students often arrive, regardless of their age, atpublic schools with moderate to severe English language skill deficits,both public law and policy require that students be given a free andappropriate public education in the least restrictive setting and thattheir special needs be met within that setting (Callahan, 1994). The need for such an assessment has beenidentified by Abella (1992) as critical because many standardizedassessment instruments commonly used with Limited English ProficiencySpeakers (LEPSs) are not sensitive to the language of Haitian students.Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study is to develop an assessment instrument to beused in determining the English skill deficits and abilities of Haitianstudents at the middle school level. (2 ). Callahan(1994), for example, commented that teachers must be ready to identify thespecial needs of Haitian students as a prerequisite to developingappropriate linguistic and other programmatic interventions.Nature of the Problem The problem to be addressed in the proposed research is that as theUnited States moves into an increasingly diverse and multicultural socialmilieu, bilingual education itself must change to meet the needs of a newassortment of immigrants, including Haitians, for whom English is not aprimary language and may well not be spoken in the home (Rifkin, 1998).The problem addressed herein therefore, centers upon the development of aneffective needs assessment strategy which would specifically target Haitianstudents whose primary language is Creole. Existing educational assessment strategies for minority populations ingeneral and Haitian students in particular have been found inadequate andalso have been criticized for bias (Rifkin, 1998). How will bilingual/ESL programs in literacychange in the next millennium? Importance of Benefits for Institutions and Education Results of the proposed study will directly benefit middle schoolsand the educational process by providing for a more comprehensive,sensitive, and effective mode of assessment. Fourth-gradeculturally and linguistically diverse exceptional students' concepts ofnumber line. Catanese (1998) described census data indicating that the demographiccomposition of the Haitian population in the U.S. The Haitian population of the United States, identified by Catanese(1998) as comprising approximately 3 , individuals as of the 199 census, tends to be concentrated in the north and south Atlantic states(i.e., New York, Florida, Massachusetts, and New Jersey). Understanding the Haitian student: Resourcesfor the French instructor. ED362 15. (1996). The impact of economic sanctionson health and human rights in Haiti. Procedures The procedures involved in the proposed study consist of an in-depthreview of relevant literature, with a specific focus on such issues as:the educational needs of Haitian students in the United States; programsdesigned to provide bilingual education for members of this particularpopulation; instruments, tools, and other assessment strategies that arecurrently employed in identifying the educational needs of this population. This will lead to the development of a more nuancedand specific (as well as culturally sensitive) assessment protocol, whichwill include both theoretical and practical elements and will be presentedas a recommended assessment, including instrumentation.Assumptions The validity of the study is supported by Fitzgerald(2 ), who has noted that as the American population itself becomes moreculturally diverse and as student populations also increase in this regard,new strategies in bilingual/bicultural education will be mandatory.Included in these strategies are more effective methods of assessingeducational needs in such disciplines as language, mathematics, reading,and problem-solving skills. Haitian-Americans are defined as immigrants to the United States andtheir offspring who maintain close cultural and linguistic ties to Haitiand/or Haitian culture (Catanese, 1998). American Journal of Public Health,89(1 ), 14 99-15 4. Placement of children with special needs, regardless of thenature of those needs is also critical. (1994). Teaching Other People's Children: Literacyand Learning in a Bilingual Classroom. Significance to the Institution or OrganizationThe study is significant in that Haitian immigration to the United Statesconstitutes an increasingly significant shift in domestic immigrationpatterns (Gibbons & Garfield, 1999). Most Haitian-Americans arrive in the United States with Creole (or Kreyol) as theirprimary language and experience difficulties in academic work because ofEnglish language deficiencies (Catanese, 1998). However, itshould be noted that much of the literature relevant to this population isdated (i.e., prior to 1996), as was revealed in preparing this proposal. Phonemics within the transitional bilingualprogram: From Haitian Creole to English. The proposed study will consist of a meta-analysis of existing assessmentand evaluation instruments or procedures and a classification of theviability and efficacy of those procedures or tools with respect todetermining how well the language skills and deficits of the targetpopulation are currently being evaluated. (1997). Some 53 percentof all Haitians speak Creole at home, with the most recent wave of Haitianimmigrants likely to arrive with fewer years of schooling than otherimmigrant groups. R. Garrott, C. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(4), 52 -524. (1993). It is expected that the final report will present a meta-analyticdepiction of the reported efficacy of existing assessment instruments,tools and strategies. Results of the meta-analysis, therefore, will be limited to thesedata sources. It is further limitedin that Creole, the language spoken by most Haitian students in theirhomes, is not as widely researched in the context of bilingual education asis Spanish. ED364 9 . ED392248. Catanese, A. Practicum NovaUniversity. Many have special educational needs, including learningdisabilities (Rodriguez, et al, 2 1).More effective assessments are associated with more effectiveinterventions. References Abella, R. Many of these students are not only economically and linguisticallydisadvantaged. Garrott (1993) hassuggested that such assessments must be culturally sensitive and mustrecognize critical differences between Haitian Creole and standard spokenFrench as well as attitudes held about Creole culture, European Frenchculture, Haitian culture, and racial bias reflected in many standardizedlanguage skills assessments. Catanese (1998) also noted that while most Haitians arein the 3 to 4 year-old age group, a substantial number of school-agechildren needing special language instruction and other remedialeducational services are found among this population.Relationship to Course Ballenger (1996) has commented that developing a curriculum that isappropriate to Haitians which also encompasses language arts, culture, andbasic academic skills can be complicated because many teachers do notunderstand the nuances of Haitian culture. Strategies to increase the languageproficiency of third grade Haitian and Hispanic limited English proficientstudents through a second language program. Rifkin, J. Additionally, Haitian immigrants tendto be among the most poor and educationally disadvantaged of all new ethnicminority groups and, consequently, to require special education serviceswith a particular emphasis upon bilingual education (Ballenger, 1999). Additionally, Fitzgerald (2 ) claims that for studentslearning to read, write, and speak in a new language, certain additionaldevelopmental complexities related to age, reading ability in nativelanguage, and rhetorical/ linguistic comparability between native languageand English also directly impact upon the success of bilingual education. EdD. L. English only differences cited on East andWest coasts. M. Exceptional Children, 67(2), 199-2 9. Because of thesefactors, it is vitally important to develop new and more sensitive as wellas accurate assessments of minority student needs.Limitations The proposed study is limited in that the publishedLiterature on Haitian-American students and their linguistic and othereducational needs is itself somewhat limited. (1998). Given the importanceof targeting bilingual education efforts to meet the needs of anincreasingly diverse American population (Fitzgerald, 2 ), the proposedstudy is both relevant and significant.Research Question The research question addressed by the proposed study is: what arethe most effective tools, instruments, strategies, and/or procedures forassessing the English language skill deficits and corresponding bilingualeducational needs of middle school Haitians?Definition of Terms English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is understood asencompassing a range of bilingual programs designed to facilitate Englishlanguage mastery by students whose first or native language is not English(Rifkin, 1998). C. Bien-Aime, J. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 14(2), 169-174. Rodriguez, D., Parmar, R. Keyword search protocols will beemployed to acquire information on each of the key items described above.Given that much of the literature relevant to the educational needs ofHaitian and other minority students is contained in the ERIC database, itis anticipated that this database will be of great value in collectingstudies which address each of the components listed above. Included in such an assessment, Bien-Aime (1993) recommends that oralas well as written pretests should be provided. To develop an appropriate, sensitive andeffective assessment protocol, existing instrumentation and strategies willbe compared and contrasted to provide for a selection of elements from suchinstruments and strategies that, compiled as a new strategy of assessment,will have the potential to be more nuanced and accurate than existinginstruments and processes and lead to better educational intervention andinstruction. S., & Signer, B. Achievement tests and elementary ESOL exitcriteria. Zephir, F. The methodology to be employed willconsist of identifying the critical language skills that are appropriatefor students at the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade levels and assessingHaitian students' proficiency with respect to these skills by means of areview of relevant literature. Though this population isgrowing, it is nevertheless relatively small, particularly when it iscompared to the substantial number of Spanish-speaking bilingual studentsin the United States (Catanese, 1998; Rifkin, 1998). New York: Teachers College Press. ExpectationsAnticipated Benefits The development of a more effective and culturally sensitiveassessment protocol for use with Haitian-American students has thepotential not only to improve the accuracy of language skill assessment, italso has the potential to lead to more effective educational interventionsand instructional strategies. Learning the ABCs in a Haitian preschool.Language Arts, 73(5), 317-324. Finally, the study is limited in that it depends upon anassessment of published literature and does not generate any new empiricaldata. Teaching middle school students with diversecultural backgrounds. L. It isexpected that via a review of literature, the most appropriate needsassessment strategies and instruments will be identified and that this inturn will facilitate the development of a more effective methodology forassessing language needs of Haitian students.Review of the Literature Much of the literature on Haitian students' needs is somewhat datedand was published in the early to mid-199 s; limited evidence of recentstudies with respect to this population supports the importance of theproposed research. Callahan, W. To collect this data, an extensive library-based and Internet-basedliterature search will be conducted. Fitzgerald, J. & Garfield, R. Development of an Assessment Tool for Identifying Language Skill Deficits of Haitian Middle School Students Introduction The language skill deficits of Haitian-American elementary, middleand secondary school students have been thoroughly documented in theliterature (Callahan, 1994). (1998). Gibbons, E. Hispanic Times Magazine, 19(4), 42-45. As Garrott (1996) has pointed out, Haitian students who speak Creoleencounter any number of intrinsic and contextual difficulties in learningEnglish and in mastering English grammar, syntax, and spelling. Haitian-Americans. However,most Haitian-Americans continue to be found in the lower end of theearnings distribution with the largest number in the bottom range; many, ifnot most, Haitians work in the low-paying service sector. Migration WorldMagazine, 26(5), 19-24. Garrott, C. The needs of this minority population are ofspecial significance in a small handful of public school systemsgeographically concentrated on the Eastern seaboard of the United States.Schools in these areas are being challenged to produce effective responsesto the needs of these students and required to address a complex range ofacademic, social, economic, and other issues which directly impact upon theeducational achievement of immigrant children (Rodriguez, Parmar, & Signer,2 1).
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