Lisa

he case of Mach Nha concerns an English language learning student from Vietnam. The case centers around Mach Nha’s fourth grade teacher Mr. Patrick. Other individuals involved with this case are the school principal, and the other students in the fourth grade class.

The time and place of the case takes place is not identified. According to 2010 census data, California has the largest Vietnamese population in the United States, thirty-eight percent. The school is crowded. With Mach Nha in his class, Mr. Patrick has 33 students. Currently, the average number of students in a fourth through eighth grade class in California is not supposed to exceed the greater of 29.9 or the district’s average number of students per teacher in 1964. The main issue in the case is how Mr. Patrick will assess Mach Nha’s English and help her assimilate into his class. Mr. Patrick does not have a plan in place to assess a non-English speaking student. He also does not currently have a culturally responsive environment for non-English speaking students.

Mach Nah is currently in a silent language acquisition period where she is watching and observing the actions of her teacher and classmates. She is well behaved and polite. Mach Nha appears to be fluent in Vietnamese and is able to read and communicate in her primary language. Mach Nah wants to make friends and has already made a nonverbal connection with another student in the class, Gina.

Mr. Patrick feels overwhelmed and underprepared to teach an EL student. He has taken time to look at Mach Nah’s past report card but since the report is from Vietnam, it offers little relevant information. He only tried to have one brief conversation with Mach Nah and does not have a good understa...

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...is an important factor in helping Mach Nah learn English. The class environment is key to helping a student quickly apply their first language skills to learning English. The disadvantage of this is that some students do not like to go beyond their comfort zones and may not be willing to make an effort to include a new classmate in their group.

The information gathered from student records, from parents, and through the initial assessment will help identify what type of ESL program would be most appropriate for the Mach Nah. Through implementation of these solutions and careful monitoring of her level of understanding during classroom instruction (TPE 2: Monitoring Student Learning during instruction), Mach Nah should have a supportive environment at school to help her develop the linguistic and cultural skills necessary to be successful in the United States.