english barrier students
students who need help in english will have challenges that need to be addressed.
I require mine to speak English in class as much as humanly possible. In addition to providing practice speaking English, speaking another language around others alienates them and does not encourage teamwork and making new friends.
I've had several ESL students who would smile or giggle while talking to each other in another language, leading staff and students to wonder if cheating or gossip was happening right in front of their faces, which leads to mistrusting them, disliking them even if the conversation was completely innocent.
Hi Guy,
I can certainly see working with ESL students as a challenge, if you do not know their language, and they only speak in their language.
Patricia Scales
One of the conciderations with ESL students is that they often are discussing the class content, but amongst each other, so as to clarify is their language what the instructor has said. The issue is when the instructor does not realize when one has given the other some false information. I require them to repeat in English, so we can
a. clarify and
b. all learn certain vocab in their language.
Hi Lizette,
I fully understand! It is amazing that in some cultures that people are taught not to look at you. In our culture eye contact is very important. It can be a big adjustment for the students and instructor alike with the culture differences.
Patricia Scales
I deal a lot with students with English as their second lanuage. It is amazing that not only is it a second language it is also a second culture. In some culture it is not acceptible to look at the instructor and others it is ok to "cheat".
But in all I have found them to be more motivated to learn and few cheat. It is harder and takes longer for them to learn but with encouragement and recognition they will do well.
Hi Katie,
I understand. I do not deal with students very much at all who uses English as their second language, but I certainly understand the challenges for both the student and the instructor.
Patricia Scales
I could not agree more. I have several students who use English as their second language. It is a communication problem not only in delivering course material, but also in understanding what they are struggling with. I also found that since I do not speak their language, I have a difficult time determining if they are cheating. That is horrible to say, but it is true. We need to find a way to cross the gap for those who do not speak English as a first language so we can ready them for the skills they must perform.
Agreed. I would like to see MaxKnowledge covers different approaches on this topic.
