Overview

Background
The project involves revision and production of a simulation created by Roberta Vann and other members of the Our Kids Lead Team for ELLs in 2005-2006. Katie Richardson Bruna and other team members developed the debriefing. The original simulation, entitled “Life in a second language,” was part of  a professional development program for 600 pre or in-service Iowa teachers at “Our Kids,” a state sponsored in-service educational program presented August 2006 in Scheman on the Iowa State campus.

Goal
The goal of the simulation is to enable participants to 1) experience key emotions connected with interacting in educational settings in a new culture and language, 2) reflect on useful coping strategies, and 3)  draw implications for themselves and for fellow workers as both Iowan citizens interacting with newcomers and as educators who work with English language learners and their parents.

Setting, Tasks, and Follow-up
The setting for the simulation is “Polyopolis,” a fictional land  where many languages and cultures come together. Partipants are assigned membership in “families” and given identities based on the lives of families who come to live in Midwestern cities. This information includes backgrounds and income.  Participants are given several realistic tasks to accomplish in 2 “days,” 45 minutes in real time, most of which involve negotiating school-related situations, all in the languages of the native-speakers, which typically include Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, Persian, etc., e.g. a mixture of languages that guarantee that all participants will be linguistically and culturally challenged. Realia such as actual forms in the native languages, currency, stamps, and appropriate signage are provided. Following the simulation, participants take part in structured discussions in small groups (approximately 12-15 persons) for 30 – 40 minutes.

Set-up
The room for the simulation requires approximately 19 tables set up around the circumference of the room with 2-3 chairs at each place. In the corner of the room one center  “the school”  needs approximately 20 chairs.

Staff
The simulation requires native speakers of other languages (ideally those represented in Iowa) who are trained in the rules of the simulation. For 175 participants we used 35 staff members.

LSL Simulation Main page