Language barriers. How my summer trip to Japan gave me perspective.

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It's not my first time out of the country but last month I was lucky enough to visit Japan. I was so excited as it's always been on my bucket list but communication was difficult to say the least.

"Speak English?" 

I'd smile and ask the (taxi driver, clerk, hotel employee....) Sometimes they spoke some basic words but many times they just shrugged or just "No English."...to which I'd comment foolishly to myself something like: 

"Oh. Never mind. No biggie. Thank you though. I'll figure it out." ((sigh))

I talked to myself a lot in Japan. I was that crazy American tourist--walking into men's restrooms (yes. really), smiling to the air or pantomiming to small children, or buying sour cream when I thought it was yogurt. Oops. When I was looking for laundry detergent, I stared at rows of identical looking soaps. I couldn't read the labels and I worried that I'd pick one with bleach in it or get the fabric softener. Everything on a day to day basis was hard. 

English Language Learners Assessment: 

One of the biggest issues schools have is finding a way to accurately identify ELL students who also need special education services. Schools have to figure it out now more than ever. Recent court rulings and studies have shown that ELL students are under identified in public schools. Schools have been found out of compliance for identifying ELL students in a timely manner & providing appropriate services. 


Here are some tips for assessment: 


1) BEFORE YOU TEST: prior to an evaluation, the school team has to know if the student has been coming to school (attendance records), what their current vision and hearing is (health records), and gather information on prior interventions or family dynamics (early intervention, recent divorce/death in the family, if they recently moved to Hawaii and how their adjustment has been etc). 
2) USE VALID RELIABLE ASSESSMENT MEASURES:  most tests are geared toward monolingual students (specifically English speaking) and are not normed for students who have English as a second language. Assessors should use measures that are appropriate measures (i.e. a test that is nonverbal or is less language loaded). 
3) INTERPRETER OR NOT: Assessors should include a statement in their report stating if an interpreter was used or not used and why. 
4) ALL CHILDREN WILL ACQUIRE LANGUAGE AT THEIR OWN PACE: based on their experience with the culture, their exposure, practice, or resources for English, and how they've adjusted will all impact the rate they learn. This is especially true for Pre-K dual language learners who may even go through a 'quiet stage' where they show stronger receptive language skills than expressive. 



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