Ms. Jen's Pedagogical Perspectives

According to the US department of Education, there were ca. 5,400,000 English as a Second Language (ESL) students in the US alone in 2006.  This number is rapidly increasing; ESL or LEP (Limited English Proficiency) students are the US’s fastest growing population and are projected to make up 25% of students by 2025.

With the number of ESL students in our public schools rapidly increasing, the education of ESL students is no longer the sole responsibility of ESL trained instructors.  All teachers of all content areas are responsible for educating students with limited English proficiency.  However, too many teachers do not know how to respond to ESL students in their classrooms and are, therefore, not reaching this group of students.

Because of my background in linguistics and ESL I am often approached by mainstream classroom teachers with the question: “What do I do with ESL students in my classroom? I’m trained in math, social studies, science, art, etc. How am I suppose to teach English too?”  There are so many factors at play when it comes to instructing ESL students in mainstream classrooms that it is difficult to answer this question on the spot.  This is why I have compiled a list of strategies to assist non-ESL trained teachers who have ESL students in their content classes.

• Speak slowly and clearly.
• Repeat important words and information.
• Label objects and concepts in the classroom frequently.
• Have available dictionaries designed specially for English language learners.
• Allow ESL students to learn and explore ideas in their native language first, then translate them to English.
• Show validation of ESL students by taking time to learn about their home cultures and incorporating it into content.
• Take the initiative to correctly pronounce students’ names.
• Extend time for completing assignments and responding to prompts.
• Avoid using idioms and colloquialisms (if used, take time to explain them).
• Gesture and point to what is being referred to.
• Teach students to read text and directions more than once.
• Provide specific models, including hands-on experiences.
• Use visuals during instruction: pictures, illustrations, graphs, videos, and real objects when they are available.
• Frequently demonstrate what you mean by modeling, instead of just describing it.
• Make students feel like they belong and have a role/responsibility in the classroom by creating community.
• Think aloud to model the sequence of doing tasks.
• Use cooperative learning groups; let ESL students work with English-proficient partners and/or students who speak the same native language.
• Let students illustrate responses occasionally instead of writing them, or illustrate to supplement their writing
• Provide differentiated instruction by providing more than one format of assessment.
• Give quick feedback on their word use, if a student says, “This correct paper?” say in affirmation, “Yes, that is the correct paper. Thank you.”
• Spend time building background knowledge and reviewing before lessons so students have an equal chance to attach new learning to what they already know.
• Stay focused on how well ESL students are reaching their learning goals, not how they are doing in relation to other students.
• Provide ELL students with response stems, such as, “One thing that I learned was … ” or “How do you say … ?”

There are many professional development opportunities available in the area of ESL, which I highly encourage teachers of all content areas to seek.  Below I have listed ESL resources I have found to be useful, and used to generate the list of strategies above.

Best of luck to each of you in your teaching endeavors. Please, feel free to contact me with any questions you may have regarding ESL students in the mainstream classroom.

Suggested resources:

• “Emancipating the English Language Learner” by Rick Wormeli
• Colorín Colorado Webcasts
• “English as a Second Language Learners: A Guide for Classroom Teachers” by the British Columbia Ministry of Education’s Special Programs Branch