6. In a bilingual class for young second language learners, the teacher utilizes both direct instruction and exposure without instruction strategies to help students build on their conventional as well as their emerging language skills (Araujo, 2002, p. 236). In direct instruction, the teacher is focused on cultivating the students' ability to match the sounds to the letters, decoding words and improving their vocabulary. Typically, she uses phonics to teach students about specific sounds by naming objects that have the same letters/sounds. Using picture cards, the teacher first asks the students to name the object in their first language. Then, she provides the English equivalent to the word in the first language and emphasizes the beginning sound in English. Students are then asked to come up with words that begin with the same sounds that are listed on the blackboard. The teacher and the students practice reading the words on the blackboard. When the students encounter difficulties, the teacher will guide them by breaking down the word into individual sounds and blending them together. Phonics worksheets that require students to connect words that start or end with the same sounds are also used to supplement the learning (Araujo, 2002, p. 240).
Even though educators had formerly believed that the mastery of basic language skills is required before secondary language learners can move on to complex learning such as language comprehension and writing, research studies in the last decade have shown that second language learners should be exposed to stories and writing opportunities to develop their emerging language skills (Fitzgerald & Noblit, 1999). By using stories and encouraging students to discuss them, the teacher can help students to implement various strategies to figure out the meanings of unfamiliar words. Such strategies include relating the words to the pictures and connecting the stories to the students' e...