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Teaching students who have English as a Second Language (ESL) or who are English Language Learners (ELL) is challenging, yet very rewarding. As a teacher you must learn to constantly adapt to your students needs. Often, this involves dealing with a variety of teaching challenges in the classroom. As reaching every student is of utmost importance to us, we came up with the idea of creating a BLOG to provide Guidance and Resources for those Teachers and Parents who are looking for Solutions, Strategies, Recommendations and ways of actively engaging ESL/ELL students

We are a group of student teachers from Niagara University that are passionate about teaching. We strongly believe that with the right resources and support, we can "Reach Every Student".

Another purpose of this Blog is to reach out to ESL and ELL students, to help them boost their self-confidence and help them find materials to assist with their learning.

We will be updating this blog on a regular basis and would appreciate any comments, suggestions or questions you may have under our individual posts.



Kind regards,

Svetlana, Piera, Susan, Joanna and Evelyn











 

Students May Feel Lost And Fall Behind...What To Do?

 

Sometimes ESL students may feel lost and/or unprepared for their classes and fall behind with their school work. There are many reasons that this can happen, such as culture shock. It can be very overwhelming and scary for a student to join a new classroom, especially when they are an ESL student and there is a possibility of a language barrier. Although, most often the reason is because there is not enough support available to meet the wide variety of the students needs.

ESL students come from different backgrounds, come to Canada at different times and have varied English language skill sets andhave different prior school experiences. In fact, some of these students could have no prior school experience at all. For these reasons each student requires different accommodations andlevels of support. Unfortunately, a reality with ESL students today is that they have a higher dropout rate and do not always reach their academic potential. With that said, the following are some solutions that you can incorporate into your classroom to help include your ESL students and enhance their learning experience:



Establish effective classroom structure: This will help students to adjust, because they will know what to expect on a day to day basis.



Use clear directions: It is important to be clear and direct with ESL students, less is sometimes more.



Communicate with students on an individual basis:Individual communication is usually less intimating for ESLstudents. Additionally, you are able to evaluate their languageabilities and get better idea of what kind of assistance they require.



Provide modified expectations and assessments: If possible provide ESL students modified expectations and assessments based on their individual abilities.



Use visual aids whenever possible: Some visual aids can helpto enhance verbal communication.



Communicate with parents: It is important to try to maintain clear and open communication with parents and try to work together as a team.




BE PATIENT AND KEEP AN OPEN MIND!!

 

 

 

Popular Movies and Tv Shows to use when teaching ESL students

Movies and television shows can be an effective tool for teaching and learning English if used properly.

Here are two excellent sites that offer ideas how to use videos in teaching and learning English.

First one is The Engish Learner Movie Guide and the other one The ESL Video allows you to easily create a quiz for just about any online video out there. Plus, it has a bunch of videos and quizzes that have already been posted

Animated Tales of the World from HBO is an excellent series of folktales from all over the world. It is great for teaching geography, history, and writing

Some strategies for teaching ESL students in your classroom

 

 

 

 

Speak So That Students Understand

One of the problems discovered in classrooms with ESL students is that ESL students are often bored, inattentive and unmotivated. The root causes of this problem are societal as the students are going through the adjustment period or process. All newcomer families experience a certain period of adjustment. Children of all ages will be adjusting in different ways and at different rates.

The Pedagogical root will include prior experiences in English. Even though some students may have developed English skills before their arrival, they may be reluctant to display those skills in a school setting. Another pedagogical factor is previous schooling - ESL and ELLs will vary widely in their initial comfort with the curriculum and culture of their new school environment, based on previous personal experiences with school.  

There is also an attitudinal cause, such as personality factors and motivational factors. Students will learn a language more easily if they identify with others who regularly use the new language, and if their identity is not threatened by negative social relations or feelings of intimidation within the new setting.

 

Implications stemming from these situations will include students losing interest when they do not know what is going on in the classroom and by being distracted doing other things. There are many reasons to keep in mind to why your students are unmotivated or inattentive. Very often students simply cannot understand texts or directions given to them.English language learners are more likely to participate orally in a class and take a positive approach to language learning when they are supported by teachers and peers who are sensitive to their needs as this will increase their self confidence.Here are some suggestions for creating a supportive language learning environment

 

• Keep the needs of English Language Learners in mind when addressing the class
• Use simple vocabulary to introduce new concepts
• Speak clearly and pause often
• Say the same thing in different ways
• Avoid or explain idiomatic expressions such as "run that by me again"
• Use images and objects to illustrate content
• Use gestures and body language to supplement words
• Print key words and instructions on the board while saying them aloud
• Use overheads and charts where appropriate
• Check frequently for comprehension to ensure that students understand
• Give students who are thinking in two languages sufficient time to process any questions you ask
• Have bilingual dictionaries available in many languages to help learning process

These are just few ideas to keep in mind in your classroom.

 

Prepared for you by Svetlana

 

 

 

 

 

When Personalities Between ESL And Native Speaking Students Clash

Not every student in an ESL classroom will become best of friends. Interpersonal conflict, an inconsistency between one’s personal needs and the needs of another is inevitable in every stage of life, and the manner in which students' approach conflict resolution has profound influence on their relationships with peers and their psychological well-being. Both of these social and psychological factors influence the learning environment and feelings of security for students in schools.

Communication is a fundamental factor of resolving conflict. Without the necessary tools, a student influent in English may approach resolution in an alternate manner by competing, accommodating for another, or avoiding the conflict altogether. In many cases, the conflict remains unresolved, and over time, the unresolved interpersonal issues can have a negative impact on both the individual and the learning environment.

Teaching tolerance and appreciation involves helping students develop appropriate social perceptions and interactions with others and learn how to work for desirable social change. ESL students believe that teachers can help them overcome the challenges they face in interacting with Native Speaking (NS) students; they suggest the following strategies:

• provide accommodations

• remove time pressure—extra may help NSs to empower ESLs

• have small group discussions instead of presentations in front of the whole class

• adopt inclusive processes for grouping students

• place people who don’t know each other in groups

• do not force students to pick groups

• include both ESLs and NSs in groups

• check in with ESLs—give one-to-one time









Prepared by: Piera Nardi

 

 

Adjusting In A New Classroom

 

One of the major problems that ESL students face is difficulty adjusting to the new classroom environment. Some ESL students will feel a sense of dislocation or trauma upon leaving their homeland and arriving in a foreign land. ESL students arrive from different countries around the world and are at various stages in their education. Some students may have received formal education in their home countries, and some students may have had limited or inconsistent access to schooling. Even if students have had prior instruction in English, they may still have difficulty in learning in Ontario classrooms.



Teachers should collaborate with ESL or ELD experts to plan effective programs that will facilitate English Language. Some recommendations for ESL students are support programs such as English as a Second Language (ESL) and English Literacy Development (ELD).



ESL students are recommended to interact with proficient speakers of English in classrooms on a regular basis.



In order to help ESL students feel comfortable in classroom settings, the following adaptations should be considered in lessons and instructional programs.

1. · Modification of some or all of the subject expectations so that they are challenging but attainable for the learner at his or her present level of English proficiency.
2. · Use of a variety of instructional strategies (e.g., extensive use of visual cues, graphic organizers, scaffolding; previewing of textbooks, pre-teaching of key vocabulary; peer tutoring);
3. · Use of a variety of learning resources (e.g., visual material, simplified text, bilingual dictionaries, and materials that reflect cultural diversity);
4. · Use of assessment accommodations (e.g., granting of extra time, oral interviews, demonstrations or visual representations, tasks requiring completion of graphic organizers or closed sentences instead of essay questions and other assessment tasks that depend heavily on proficiency in English).

Prepared for you by Evelyn  

What to do when students persistently use their first language in class??

One of the most common problems that ESL teachers face in the classroom is the persistent use of a student’s first language or mother tongue.






The root causes of this problem are societal, as some ESL students feel a sense of embarrassment or self-consciousness when speaking English and do not want to be made fun of or laughed at. There are also pedagogical root causes as others are unfamiliar with the vocabulary and “code switch” because they feel that speaking/learning English is just too hard. They may be tired or frustrated that day and just give up and resort to the language they are most comfortable with, while others revert to their mother tongue because of an attitudinal root cause. This can be because the student is in a power struggle with the teacher and is trying to keep the teacher from knowing what they are saying.

The implications stemming from these problems/current situations is that not speaking English prevents the social integration of the student and therefore the student's comfort level in the classroom. The student may feel isolated and this will have a definite negative effect on the student's progress and motivation. Their learning and reading will be delayed and will snowball into the student making less and less of an effort to use English until it eventually leads to the reverting back into the full use of their first language.





To promote the use of English only in the classroom, teachers should encourage students to use English and ONLY English only in the classrooms.



This can be done in a number of ways:






Strategies/Recommendations:






-establish clear and set rules for speaking English in the classroom

-penalize students for speaking a language other than English (for eg. by having them sing an English song, can be done standing or sitting at their desk)

-move closer when asking a question, such as “what did you say?”

-speak slowly/loudly/clearly/pronounce all letters/syllables in a word clearly, use pauses (eg. ice-cream = i, ss, pause k, reea, mmm)

-simplify vocabulary/sentence structure

-put up a word wall with pictures with frequently used words/phrases

-record the lesson so that ESL students can listen to the lesson more than once and become familiar with vocabulary specific to certain subjects

-as you speak, write down key words on the board (chalkboard/smartboard) so that ESL students will be able to associate the word visually and phonetically

-plan activities where ESL students are placed in small groups of two or three with English-speaking students so that they will be more likely to participate

-read aloud stories and ask the ESL student to summarize what was read

-use pictures, charts and timelines to make the material more “ESL friendly”

-keep a vocabulary/glossary book for each subject for the student

-begin with easier sentences and activities to allow ESL students to experience early successes to help build confidence

-set short term language goals that are attainable (eg. one week)

-simplify vocabulary and recycle new words through repetition

-give clear, explicit instructions, combine instructions with numbers and words they are familiar with so that they can follow the logical sequence of instructions

-allow sufficient response time (Be Patient!)

-make frequent use of a variety of concrete and visual supports (eg. graphic organizers)

--adapt programs to enable students to be successful. (Differentiated learning) This may include modifications to some of the curriculum expectations and/or accommodations which might include the use of bilingual dictionaries or extra time for completing tests. Feeling of success will motivate students to strive for a higher levels of learning

-use many non-verbal cues (such as facial expressions, miming with hands/feet/body)

-seat them near classmates who will provide support and language modeling

-provide positive feedback for their efforts

-brainstorm with the class ways in which all students can make the classroom a welcoming place for the ESL student

-demonstrate/model ways that all students in the class can be helpful to the ESL students






Fun Ways Of Engaging ESL Students:






-use music (play same song in English and song of first language of ESL student, many English songs are translated into other languages)



- use toys, math manipulatives, pictures, charts, flashcards, key visuals, posters, and banners.

-demonstrate procedures and provide related hands-on activities.

-have them make story maps using drawings as well as sentences to break down a story into small chunks/easier to comprehend

- provide key visuals to support themes, and to help bring language to life

(e.g., from magazines, newspapers, posters, flyers, the Internet)

- give ESL students classroom jobs to perform, to assist with socialization and orientation (e.g., distributing classroom materials, monitoring attendance, going on errands)

- find out what the student’s interests are and use this information to create related assignments to engage them and to encourage the use of English.

- encourage participation in extracurricular activities as increased opportunities for language acquisition

- allow students to demonstrate their understanding of a concept in alternative ways (e.g. demonstration, drama, pictures)

-use real objects to teach vocabulary (e.g. articles of clothing, leaves and acorns, fruits and vegetables)

-learn and use words and phrases from the student’s first language to clarify instructions and key concepts

-design lessons and activities and choose resources that take into account students’ background knowledge and experiences (eg. use different cultural versions of same stories such as North American version of Cinderella and Egyptian Cinderella.

-encourage students to share information about their own first language and culture and experience immigrating to a new country to raise awareness for all (could be done through using a program such as “Bit Strips” so students can make their own comic





**On a final note, classrooms need to feel comfortable and safe in order for any student to learn, especially an ESL student. This can only be achieved through the patience, empathy and support of not only the teacher but their fellow students as well.

Prepared for you by Susan.