Learning from Experience:
The Native Language Literacy Screening Device

Deborah Mercier-Cuenca
Salem Harbor Community Development Corp.
Salem, MA

The Native Language Literacy Screening Device (NLLSD) is great.
I first used it several months ago with students who were already enrolled in my Native Language Literacy class. At that time, the class worked on their reading and writing in Spanish, with math and science of course also being taught in Spanish. On the NLLSD form it asks students very broadly to write about their families, why they want to study English and something about their lives. This gives the students the opportunity to write about anything.

Most of the more advanced students expressed their desire and immediate need to learn English for a variety of reasons: employment so that they can better provide for their family; to help their children with their school work; and to be more independent in their daily tasks by relying less on translators.
The students were getting impatient with waiting to enter ESOL classes. They were tired and bored with reading and writing exclusively in Spanish. They wanted to learn, for example, practical phrases they could use on a daily basis. This made perfect sense to me but up until that point I felt pretty committed by our former program design to give instruction exclusively in Spanish. But after a good 90% of the students expressed such interest in wanting to learn English, via the Native Language Literacy Screening Device, I decided to ignore my fears and heed my students’ wishes. Thus, to answer the question “How have I used the NLLSD?”
I have used it to inform instruction and through this decision I have empowered my students.

I have used it for on-going assessment and just a week ago I used it again for on-going and initial assessment (the latter obviously for my newer students). I like the device because I can glean information about my students that I would not necessarily have had or learned otherwise. I would not necessarily have concentrated my focus on written questions about their families or why they wanted to learn English or what they liked to do in their spare time. The last essay they are asked to write has and will continue to inform instruction. It has helped me to better understand their specific family issues, and to be more sensitive to the students’ desire to learn English.

One student who recently completed the NLLSD spoke only of her love for Bingo and the friends with whom she plays (she had an endless list of names). That was a real eye opener for me. She is always talking about how important it is to speak and understand English but since she cannot join the workforce, her needs are a bit different — perhaps. We will now start playing alphabet (and the traditional) Bingo again on a more frequent basis to meet her needs.

The students unanimously agree that this new idea of giving some instruction in English and some in Spanish is working. They are pleased that I was in a position to truly listen to them. Their attendance has improved since I started giving them instruction in English and they are becoming more responsible about calling and/or stopping by when they cannot make it to class.
The essay component of the device also helped me see their grammar deficiencies and strengths in their native Spanish. My being fluent in their language has and will continue to enable me to inform instruction. I also enjoyed reading the four pages that preceded the tool. The information was useful; it talks about how to use the instrument and what information you can conclude from the results of the NLLSD.

The Native Language Literacy Screening Device is available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Portuguese and Tigrinya. It is available through the New York State Education Department. Attn: Dr. Patricia Mooney Gonzalez, Office of Workforce Preparation and Continuing Education, Room 307 EB, West Wing, Albany, New York 12234.

Originally published in Adventures in Assessment, Volume 9 (December 1996),
SABES/World Education, Boston, MA, Copyright 1996.

Funding support for the publication of this document on the Web provided in part by the Ohio State Literacy Resource Center as part of the LINCS Assessment Special Collection.