In the last few months, I've received quite a few emails from troubled teachers who have become frustrated by their efforts to teach their adult ESL students' English. They wanted to know why their students weren't participating, and what teachers needed to do to gain their students' general interest in order to create some momentum.
Create Strong Trusting Impressions The First Day of Classes
As with any group of new students, the first day of classes can determine a lot of outcomes - both positive and negative. this is your one chance to make a strong impression on your ESL students, that he or she will want to learn English. Of course, their purpose for learning English will vary depending on the status of English in their respective countries and their needs for learning it. In the United States for example, the social expectation is for students to learn English for professional and practical purposes so they can thrive in the US and not worry about having to go back to their home countries, where there is little professional opportunities.
In other countries like Israel, where English is taught in an EFL setting, (English as a foreign language) learners may not feel the immediacy and urgency to spend inordinate amounts of time into learning English - they may just need it as a language exemption to get into college. But still, it is up to the teachers to give their adult language learners the tools they need for success.
To build trust experiences from the start, you'll need to get these students "on your side' by showing them that you genuinely care to know who they are as individuals, their backgrounds and previous experiences. Consider the three main areas which has a strong role in their language learning:
- their cultural and world knowledge
- previous language learning (both formal and informal)
- their level of maturity
The third category can be completed by simple observation as you get to know the students, they other two will require some written responses which you can gather in a survey or questionnaire.
Share Life "Outsider" Stories to Gain Trust and Prevent Discipline Problems
The best way to "win" students on your side and prevent discipline problems from happening is to tell your stories of an "outsider". Think about it - your students may be so preoccupied with other things that maybe they don't think they will succeed in English. Maybe their feelings of being an Outsider to the language learning experience or immigrant experience that is pulling them away from taking steps to completing their success.
In any new class, I tell my students about my experiences emigrating to Israel and how I continually felt like an outsider and foreign for the 17 years that I lived there. I speak to their emotions and feelings in a "language" that deeply speaks to them. I share with them how I learned slowly over time, to feel more comfortable speaking Hebrew even though I felt uncomfortable. Immediately, the students' faces soften and I feel as if I have become a part of their "tribe."
Now, I'm not suggesting that you emigrate to another country in order to have some stories to tell. But think of those stories that have an "outsider" quality to it where you were able to find a sense of a connection. This is an important theme that is universal to all students, but particularly to English language learners, who constantly feel like outsiders looking "in."
Anthropologists have researched narrative as a non-rational element; yet when it comes to telling stories in the classroom, one can't describe the level of reference and how it affects students and teachers emotionally and brings teachers and students together.
This article is only part of a presentation regularly offered by Dorit Sasson as part of her in-service training programs for teachers of English language learners. For more information about speaking engagements and in-service, contact Dorit Sasson at sassondorit@gmail.com or visit the Teachers' Diversity Coach, at http://www.DoritSasson.com and click on the "speaking" page.
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