Does anyone have advice for working with ESL students?

2019-08-13T15:54:06-04:00

I started graduate school at the beginning of July, and I start working as a GTA next week. My department chair has assigned me to the English as a Second Language branch of our English Department, and I will assist foreign students in obtaining a working grasp of the English language so as to facilitate them entering into their college programs in the future. There are numerous educators on RallyPoint, and I would like to pick your brains: what is your experience with teaching ESL students (at any level), and what advice would you have for me? Thank you all in advance.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 13 at 2019 5:07 PM

2019-08-13T17:07:50-04:00

English is one of the hardest languages for a non-native speaker to learn.

Even as ESL students get a better grasp of the language, don’t expect them to inherently grasp nuance and humor and regional sayings, etc. Heck, take a backswamp kid from louisiana and put him in a room with a kid upper Michigan.....hilarity will ensue. And they’re native speakers.

When we learn foreign languages, we’re generally taught formal versions. ESL students are generally taught the same. Their base understandings of English are formal and grammatically correct. If they don’t have previous exposure, they might not realize that ‘pop’, ‘soda’, ‘coke’, and ‘soft drink’ all mean the same thing, depending on where you’re at in the US.

When helping them, try to put aside any regional sayings or pronunciations and explain the topic correctly. For example, a teacher from Boston would have to explain, “look, I know my accent is ridiculous, but it’s pronounced ‘caR’, not ‘caHH’.” Even explaining and helping understand the differences in accents will be huge in their development. We all sound different. We take for granted that we can generally point out what region people are from based on their accents or phrases/sayings. As ESL students progress, their fluency will be helped by being able to differentiate those regional distinctions.

I’ve taught ESL and gained foreign proficiencies as an adult. Those are just a few tips; I hope they help. It’s certainly a challenge, but worth the effort. Best of luck.

Response by PO2 Angela Wesley made Aug 14 at 2019 10:52 AM

2019-08-14T10:52:29-04:00

I volunteered last year at my church teaching ESL. And i used the white board. I wrote. They wrote. And the class said they learned more when I taught verse the year prior.
Good luck!!!

Response by CSM Arthur La Rue made Aug 15 at 2019 9:08 PM

2019-08-15T21:08:23-04:00

I am a product of TTT. I’m in my 16th year of teaching English: Honors, Gifted, Regular, SPED, and ESL. Remember, you’re teaching kids, not labels. They all want to learn: all of them. Three years ago, I got a new 9th grader right out of Vietnam. He spoke not one word of English. Rosetta Stone was all I could think to do. My principal allowed him to take an iPad home so the family could also benefit from Rosetta Stone. I bumped into that student over these past weeks. He’s working at Olive Garden, and his English is awesome! Oh, please don’t use the term “foreign” language. “World” language works just fine.

Response by CSM Arthur La Rue made Aug 23 at 2020 9:56 AM

2020-08-23T09:56:03-04:00

I’ve learned that Best Practice tools work for ALL learners, so use what you’re learning for them all. Remember too that an ELL ( ESL is outdated) students simply need a bit more time to translate and process. Don’t confuse language barriers for intelligence or interest lags.

Response by Cadet CPL Ryleigh Heaney made Apr 13 at 2022 11:34 AM

2022-04-13T11:34:11-04:00

Here are some things that I've found to be helpful. Break up group work when possible. I've had the best luck getting my ESL students involved in class discussions when they are paired with just one or two other students, rather than the entire class. It seems like they feel less pressure to speak when there are fewer people watching and listening. Check-in with individual students frequently. Sometimes, it's hard to gauge how well your ESL students understand what you're saying in class. If you can tell that they're not following along, pull them aside after class and ask if they need additional help. Make use of technology. There are lots of different programs aimed at helping ESL learners pick up English quickly. You might want to try using a few of these tools during your lessons. ESL is a broad topic and I have seen number of essays about it at https://norfolkhomelearning.com/examples/ website I recommend every student of ESL to read essay example about their topic and then decide to hire a writer for their own essays.

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