Acoustics
“Much of the education that takes place in K-12 classrooms relies on oral communication. Children, who primarily learn through listening, need a learning environment in which they can fully hear and understand the teacher’s instructions, particularly children with learning disabilities, hearing loss or those learning in a second language”
(“Classroom acoustics,” n.d.).
(“Classroom acoustics,” n.d.).
The acoustics of the classroom are an important element to consider when supporting ELL students in the mainstream environment. Sound can play an important role in ELL students attention and success in the classroom. Through conscious effort in designing the classroom for speech and hearing, teachers can focus on teaching and students are not missing out on hearing important information (Inc. OWP/P Architects, VS Furniture, & Bruce Mau Design, 2010). Noisy classrooms can lead to distracted disengaged students, which can have a negative impact on students memory, attention, and language acquisition.
How often does noise distract you in your everyday life? Whether it be a constant level of noise that impairs you from focusing in any given situation, or bursts of noise that result in lost chunks of information, this common problem affects us in our daily activities at school, the workplace, or evern casual conversations with friends. According to Bullard (2014), although much of the noise can come from outside sources, the major source of noise comes from the children themselves, which results in noise levels in the classrooms typically high enough to interfere with speech development, understanding of language, and letter/number recognition. Due to the fact that much of the noise in the classroom comes from the students themselves, and it is not as simple as just shutting the door or having students work silently, it is important to take steps in your classroom to help absorb the sound and allow students to continue working while be able to hear lessons and instructions from their teacher.
Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (2016) state that:
These acoustic-related factors are even more important for ELL students, who may already be struggling to understand, and have a lower capacity to fill in gaps with their prior understandings in English. So what can you do to support ELL students in your classroom? Take some precautions to reduce noise levels! You can reduce noise by adding:
Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (Classroom acoustics, 2016) state that:
These acoustic-related factors are even more important for ELL students, who may already be struggling to understand, and have a lower capacity to fill in gaps with their prior understandings in English. So what can you do to support ELL students in your classroom? Take some precautions to reduce noise levels! You can reduce noise by adding:
Using these sound absorbing materials will ensure that ELL students do not miss out on any important information communicated in the classroom, and will give them the best chance to succeed in a mainstream classroom.
How often does noise distract you in your everyday life? Whether it be a constant level of noise that impairs you from focusing in any given situation, or bursts of noise that result in lost chunks of information, this common problem affects us in our daily activities at school, the workplace, or evern casual conversations with friends. According to Bullard (2014), although much of the noise can come from outside sources, the major source of noise comes from the children themselves, which results in noise levels in the classrooms typically high enough to interfere with speech development, understanding of language, and letter/number recognition. Due to the fact that much of the noise in the classroom comes from the students themselves, and it is not as simple as just shutting the door or having students work silently, it is important to take steps in your classroom to help absorb the sound and allow students to continue working while be able to hear lessons and instructions from their teacher.
Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (2016) state that:
- The average grade 1 student does not understand 1 in 6 words due to excessive background noise and poor acoustics in Canadian classrooms.
- Grade 1 children require a speech-to-noise ratio of 15.5 dB in order to achieve 95% speech intelligibility.
- Less than 10% of Canadian Grade 1 classrooms tested had an ideal speech-to-noise ratio (key to understanding speech). This means that 90% of our Grade 1 students are not hearing all of their teachers' words.
- Young children, whose auditory centres of the brain are not yet fully developed, require better signal quality than adults to understand speech well. They don't have the language knowledge or life experience to 'fill in the blanks' when they don't hear a word or only hear part of it.
These acoustic-related factors are even more important for ELL students, who may already be struggling to understand, and have a lower capacity to fill in gaps with their prior understandings in English. So what can you do to support ELL students in your classroom? Take some precautions to reduce noise levels! You can reduce noise by adding:
Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (Classroom acoustics, 2016) state that:
- The average grade 1 student does not understand 1 in 6 words due to excessive background noise and poor acoustics in Canadian classrooms.
- Grade 1 children require a speech-to-noise ratio of 15.5 dB in order to achieve 95% speech intelligibility.
- Less than 10% of Canadian Grade 1 classrooms tested had an ideal speech-to-noise ratio (key to understanding speech). This means that 90% of our Grade 1 students are not hearing all of their teachers' words.
- Young children, whose auditory centres of the brain are not yet fully developed, require better signal quality than adults to understand speech well. They don't have the language knowledge or life experience to 'fill in the blanks' when they don't hear a word or only hear part of it.
These acoustic-related factors are even more important for ELL students, who may already be struggling to understand, and have a lower capacity to fill in gaps with their prior understandings in English. So what can you do to support ELL students in your classroom? Take some precautions to reduce noise levels! You can reduce noise by adding:
- an area rug or small rugs in various areas of the classroom, (E. Kottler, J. Kottler, & Street, 2007)
- soft elements such as big cushions, pillows, bean bag chairs, (E. Kottler, J. Kottler, & Street, 2007)
- long soft curtains, (E. Kottler, J. Kottler, & Street, 2007)
- wall mounted cork board, (E. Kottler, J. Kottler, & Street, 2007)
- and break up large rooms into smaller sections creating quiet spaces. (E. Kottler, J. Kottler, & Street, 2007)
Using these sound absorbing materials will ensure that ELL students do not miss out on any important information communicated in the classroom, and will give them the best chance to succeed in a mainstream classroom.
References
Bullard, J. (2014). Creating environments for learning birth to age eight (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.
Classroom acoustics. (n.d.). SAC: Speach-Language & Audiology Canada. Retrieved from http://www.sac-oac.ca/sac-work/classroom-acoustics
Inc. OWP/P Architects, VS Furniture, & Bruce Mau Design. (2010). The third teacher. New York: NY: Abrams.
Kottler, E., Kottler, J. A., & Street, C. (2007). English language learners in your classroom: Strategies that work. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Bullard, J. (2014). Creating environments for learning birth to age eight (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.
Classroom acoustics. (n.d.). SAC: Speach-Language & Audiology Canada. Retrieved from http://www.sac-oac.ca/sac-work/classroom-acoustics
Inc. OWP/P Architects, VS Furniture, & Bruce Mau Design. (2010). The third teacher. New York: NY: Abrams.
Kottler, E., Kottler, J. A., & Street, C. (2007). English language learners in your classroom: Strategies that work. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.