SECTION 128.36. English Language Development and Acquisition (ELDA) (One Credit), Adopted 2017

(a) General requirements.

(1) Students shall be awarded one credit for successful completion of this course. This course must be taken concurrently with a corequisite language arts course as outlined in Chapter 110 of this title (relating to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading) or this chapter. Recommended corequisites: English I for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL I) and English II for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL II).

(2) Students may take this course with a different corequisite for a maximum of two credits.

(b) Introduction.

(1) English Language Development and Acquisition (ELDA) is designed to provide instructional opportunities for secondary recent immigrant students with little or no English proficiency. These students have scored at the negligible/very limited academic language level of the state-approved English oral language proficiency tests. This course enables students to become increasingly more proficient in English in all four language domains. It addresses cognitive, linguistic, and affective needs in compliance with federal requirements and the provisions of Chapter 89, Subchapter BB, of this title (relating to Commissioner's Rules Concerning State Plan for Educating English Language Learners) under the Texas Education Code, §§29.051-29.064.

(2) The English Language Development and Acquisition (ELDA) course will validate a student's native language and culture as a valuable resource and as a foundation to attain the English language. It will develop social language, survival vocabulary, and the basic building blocks of literacy for newly arrived and preliterate students.

(3) Through comprehensible input, students have access to curriculum that accelerates second language acquisition. Students are challenged to apply higher-order thinking skills in all four language domains.

(4) Current research stresses the importance of effectively integrating second language acquisition with quality content area education in order to ensure that English language learners acquire social and academic language proficiency in English, learn the knowledge and skills, and reach their full academic potential. Instruction must be linguistically accommodated in accordance with the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) and the student's English language proficiency levels to ensure the mastery of knowledge and skills in the required curriculum is accessible. For a further understanding of second language acquisition needs, refer to the ELPS and proficiency-level descriptors adopted in Chapter 74, Subchapter A, of this title (relating to Required Curriculum).

(5) The development of communicative competence occurs through targeted lessons based on students' needs, although academic language proficiency is the focus of instruction.

(6) Statements that contain the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.

(c) Knowledge and skills.

(1) Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, discussion, and thinking--oral language. Students develop oral language and word structure knowledge through phonological awareness, print concepts, phonics, and morphology to communicate, decode, and encode. Students apply knowledge and relationships found in the structures, origins, and contextual meanings of words. Based on the student's language proficiency level, and with appropriately provided English language development scaffolding, the student is expected to:

(A) distinguish and produce sounds and intonation patterns of English;

(B) recognize print directionality of the English language such as reading left to right or top to bottom;

(C) develop knowledge of relationships between sounds and letters of the English language to represent sounds when writing in English;

(D) process and use basic academic English language interdisciplinary vocabulary;

(E) understand the general meaning, main points, and important details of spoken language ranging from universally familiar to unfamiliar topics;

(F) identify people, places, objects, events, and basic concepts such as numbers, days of the week, food, occupations, clothing, colors, and time;

(G) learn relationships between sounds and letters of the English language and decode (sound out) words using a combination of skills such as recognizing sound-letter relationships and identifying cognates, affixes, roots, and base words;

(H) identify and use words that name actions, directions, positions, sequences, and locations;

(I) develop basic sight vocabulary, derive meaning from environmental print, and comprehend English vocabulary and language structures used routinely;

(J) use print or digital resources such as glossaries, English dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, thesauri, and available technology to determine meanings and usage;

(K) listen actively and ask relevant questions to clarify understanding; and

(L) share prior knowledge with peers and others to facilitate communication and foster respect for others.

(2) Comprehension skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. Students use metacognitive skills both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts. Based on the student's language proficiency level, and with appropriately provided English language development scaffolding, the student is expected to:

(A) summarize texts and retell in English or the native language (L1) as needed;

(B) self-monitor using pre-reading supports such as graphic organizers, illustrations, and pre-taught topic-related vocabulary to enhance comprehension of input from various sources;

(C) demonstrate comprehension of English by participating in shared reading, responding to questions, and taking notes that are commensurate with language acquisition;

(D) make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and the larger community;

(E) listen to and derive meaning from a variety of media such as video, DVD, CD, or other technology to build and reinforce concepts and language; and

(F) make inferences and use evidence to support understanding.

(3) Response skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. Students react and respond to a variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed. Based on the student's language proficiency level, and with appropriately provided English language development scaffolding, the student is expected to:

(A) formulate and provide effective verbal and non-verbal feedback;

(B) speak using a variety of increasingly complex grammatical structures, sentence lengths, sentence types, and connecting words with increasing accuracy and ease as more English is acquired;

(C) ask for and give information such as directions, address, name, age, and nationality;

(D) express ideas and feelings such as gratitude, needs, opinion, and greetings;

(E) communicate non-verbally to effectively and appropriately engage in formal and social interactions;

(F) express opinions, ideas, and feelings ranging from communicating single words and short phrases to participating in short discussions;

(G) respond orally to information presented in a wide variety of print, electronic, audio, and visual media to reinforce concept and language attainment; and

(H) organize information in a variety of ways such as graphics, conceptual maps, and learning logs.

(4) Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. Students recognize and analyze genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse multicultural texts. Based on the student's language proficiency level, and with appropriately provided English language development scaffolding, the student is expected to:

(A) compare characteristics of cultures represented in various linguistic and non-linguistic sources;

(B) read and listen to adapted or linguistically accommodated modified classical, traditional, contemporary, and multicultural works in English or native language (L1) in alignment with grade-level student expectations;

(C) use text features, including titles, headings, subheadings, paragraphs, fonts, styles, index, glossary, table of contents, and graphics to locate, explain, or use information; and

(D) compare and contrast how events are presented and information is communicated by visual images such as graphic art, illustrations, or photographs versus non-visual text.

(5) Author's purpose and craft: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. Students use critical inquiry to analyze the purpose of authors' choices and how they influence and communicate meaning within a text. Students will analyze and apply author's craft purposefully in order to develop their own products and performances. Based on the student's proficiency level, and with appropriately provided English language development scaffolding, the student is expected to:

(A) determine and interpret an author's or speaker's intended message;

(B) determine the target audience; and

(C) determine the purpose of the message.

(6) Composition: listening, speaking, reading writing, and thinking using multiple texts. Students use the modes of writing/discourse and the writing process recursively to compose multiple texts that are meaningful and legible and use appropriate conventions. Based on the student's proficiency level, and with appropriately provided English language development scaffolding, the student is expected to:

(A) produce legible work that demonstrates increasing accuracy in the use of the English alphabet, spelling, and the correct use of the conventions of punctuation and capitalization;

(B) spell familiar words with increasing accuracy and employ English spelling patterns and rules with increasing accuracy as more English is acquired;

(C) demonstrate increasing control over grammatical elements such as subject-verb agreement, pronoun agreement, and verb forms;

(D) use prewriting strategies to generate ideas, develop voice, and plan;

(E) write effectively in first person;

(F) apply oral and written conventions in English with increasing fluency during classroom presentations, compositions, and dialogue;

(G) arrange phrases, clauses, and sentences into correct and meaningful patterns;

(H) compile written ideas to form complete sentences and paragraphs;

(I) organize and convert information into different forms such as charts, graphs, and drawings;

(J) convey intended meaning while recognizing the meanings and uses of the other registers in English that are often expressed through colloquialisms, idioms, and other language forms;

(K) create, revise, edit, and publish using various technology applications;

(L) use study tools, including writing, labeling, and sketching, to clarify and remember information;

(M) evaluate writing for both mechanics and content; and

(N) use cohesive devices with increasing accuracy.

(7) Inquiry and research: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. Students engage in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for a variety of purposes. Based on the student's language proficiency level, and with appropriately provided English language development scaffolding, the student is expected to:

(A) locate appropriate print and non-print information using texts and technical resources, periodicals, and the internet;

(B) compile information using available technology;

(C) discover, organize, and support in writing what is known and what needs to be learned about a topic; and

(D) compare and contrast coverage of the same event in various media such as newspapers, television, documentaries, blogs, and the internet.

Source Note: The provisions of this §128.36 adopted to be effective November 12, 2017, 42 TexReg 6164