The MALP model

MALP (Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm) is a culturally responsive instructional model for struggling language learners that was initially developed by Helaine Marshall.  It and has been refined and promoted by Marshall and her colleague and co-author Dr. Andrea DeCapua specifically for the purpose of addressing the needs of SLIFE.  The terms SLIFE and MALP are closely associated in the literature and in various presentations made by DeCapua and Marshall.

You can find a lot of information about MALP at the Students with Limited or Interrupted Education wiki, particularly in the Articles on MALP section.  You can also visit the MALP Education Online website where you will find information on publications and training related to MALP.

Here is a brief introduction:

SLIFE generally come into our school systems with a different learning paradigm from the one presumed by our North American education system.  This difference can be summed up as follows:

Aspects of Learning	SLIFE	Education System
Conditions	immediate relevance interconnectedness	future relevance independence
Processes	shared responsibility oral transmission	individual accountability written word
Activities	pragmatic task	academic task

(adapted from DeCapua & Marshall, 2009)

DeCapua and Marshall (2009, 2011, 2013) suggest that in such situations, we need to adopt an instructional model which combines elements from both paradigms.  Under this mutually adaptive learning paradigm (MALP) the teacher would:

1. Accept SLIFE learning conditions (immediate relevance, interconnectedness)
2. Combine processes from SLIFE (shared responsibility, oral transmission) and North American (individual accountability, written word) educational paradigms
3. Focus on activities from our North American education system (academic tasks) with familiar language and content.

In Breaking New Ground: Teaching Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education in Secondary Schools (2011), DeCapua and Marshall offer a checklist of 6 points to guide planning for lessons in a MALP instructional model.  These points are:

A. Accept the conditions for learning:
  A1. I am making this lesson/project immediately relevant to my students.
  A2. I am helping students develop and maintain interconnectedness.

B. Combine Processes for Learning:
  B1. I am incorporating both shared responsibility and individual accountability.
  B2. I am scaffolding the written word through oral interaction.

C. Focus on New Activities for Learning:
  C1. I am focusing on tasks requiring academic ways of thinking.
  C2. I am making these tasks accessible to my students with familiar language and content.

Through their books, articles, and presentations, DeCapua have offered a number of different examples of lessons and activities which exemplify these points.  You can find many of those examples in the wiki mentioned above.  They also offer training opportunities and mentoring in this method through their website, http://malpeducation.com/.

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References:

DeCapua, A. & Marshall. H. W. (2013). Making the transition to classroom success: Culturally responsive teaching for struggling language learners. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

DeCapua, A. & Marshall. H. W. (2011). Breaking new ground: Teaching English learners with limited or interrupted formal education in US secondary schools. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

DeCapua, A., & Marshall, H., (2010). Serving ELLs with limited or interrupted education: Intervention that works. TESOL Journal 1(1), 49-70.

DeCapua, Smathers & Tang, University of Michigan Press, (2009). Meeting the needs of students with limited or interrupted schooling. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Marshall, H. W. (1998). A mutually adaptive learning paradigm (MALP) for Hmong students. Cultural Circles, 3, 134-141.