English Language Learning
The purpose of the Oasis International School - Kuala Lumpur’s English Language Learning (ELL) Program is to provide exemplary English language instruction and to nurture linguistic development for our students whose first language is a language other than English to equip them to succeed academically and socially in an English-instruction environment.
The OIS ELL Program is committed to building confidence and competence, while offering a strong foundation in the English language as students navigate through the challenges of learning and participating in an academic environment. Since English is the primary language of instruction at our school, the ELL program supports students’ English language development and seeks to follow research and evidence-based best practices in acquiring the English language.
The English Language Learning (ELL) Program supports the student’s grade-level education with pull-out instruction and collaboration with content and homeroom teachers. The program focuses on developing basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP). The ELL programs uses WIDA (World Class Instructional Design and Assessment) to give us information about what the individual student can do. This information is used in entrance procedures, used to determine proficiency and progress, and aids in determining eligibility of graduation out of the ELL program.
Our curriculum is guided by WIDA’s English Language Development Standards and ACTFL Standards. At our school, we also value collaboration between the ELL teachers and students’ homeroom/content teachers so that both language and content standards are met. This is done in order to have all students access the curriculum of our school and this can also accelerate academic language development. Teachers at our school are also given professional learning opportunities to learn about the implementation of best practices in teaching English learners. All of our teachers at OIS are language teachers.
In order to best meet the needs of our students, students are grouped by level (according to WIDA scores). The ELL department is developing a curriculum that is tailored to the needs of the students at that particular level.
OIS is a WIDA Focus School
OIS has recently been recognized as a WIDA Focus School. WIDA is an instrumental tool in our ELL curriculum and in conducting admissions assessments.
WIDA International School Consortium
Our school is a member of the WIDA (World Class Instructional Design and Assessment) International Consortium. Membership to WIDA allows our school to access tools and training that will best support our ELL students. Our teachers have received both online and in-person training in WIDA and are familiar with how the assessment works and how WIDA tools can inform the processes and lesson planning and execution, one of the areas being scaffolding for assessments and assignments.