THE ENGLISH-AS-A-SECOND-LANGUAGE STUDENT

Professors Nancy S. Lay and Gladys Carro

What kinds of learning needs do ESL students bring to the classroom?
Among the second-language learners that come into our classrooms, there are different kinds of ESL students. The students who are born in the U.S. or came to this country at an early age and are a product of our public schools often are fluent orally, but have difficulties in writing and reading. They may speak with some interferences from their first language or dialect. Another group is the foreign-educated adults with some knowledge of English. They are graduates of secondary schools in their native country and frequently have good reading and writing abilities. The third group are international students with limited knowledge of English. Many of these students are literate in their own language. There may, however, be a small number of non-native speakers who are not literate in their own language.

Needs
1. Linguistic - The typical ESL class students have been in this country five years or less. However, the ESL Department feels there are some second-language students that have lived here for more than five or six years, but who still have second language needs. We believe that these students could also benefit from ESL classes, since our teachers are trained to work with them. However, these students, especially if they have been here awhile and are fluent in oral skills, feel that they are "better off" than students who are shy and who do not speak that much in the classroom. This is more of a psychological problem for them.

One of the biggest problems facing ESL students is note-taking from lectures and textbooks because of their inability to synthesize and paraphrase information quickly. It takes time for them to decode and encode a language that is not their own. On the other hand, some of them might be good in the written language, but fall short in the spoken language. Allow them some time before moving on.

Another problem is reading comprehension and vocabulary. Many of the textbooks are written on a reading level far higher than that attained by many ESL students. Thus, reading becomes slow and checking the dictionary for every word they do not know takes time and
interrupts the comprehensibility of the texts. Many of them do not have the habit of reading a lot in English. They do not make connections from what they learn in one class with what they learn in another and they do not make connections from what they learned in the past with the present. For some students, poor self-image and low self-esteem contribute to the whole learning experience.

2. Cultural - ESL students tend to remain silent unless called upon. Many of them will not respond to a question unless they are encouraged and given time to answer. They are afraid to lose face in front of their peers. Until they are sure of the answers, many times they do not volunteer. Many expressions in the English language require an American cultural background to understand, for example, "Achilles' heel." ESL students may not know the connection between the expression and the original use of it.

What are some of the strategies that teachers can employ to assist ESL students?
There is no one way to help ESL students. However, we know that the more we know about our students and where they come from, the better we can help them.

Teaching

• Avoid long lectures. If you have to lecture, cut it into smaller units and review each section before moving on to the next section. The point here is: Did my students comprehend what I was saying?
• Use natural conventional language. Do not take anything for granted.
• Focus on the students' strengths, rather than weaknesses, at first. Work from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Let students bring in their experiences and connect those experiences to what is being taught.
• Have a glossary of new words or key words in the chapter and go over the list with them before discussing the chapter.
• Listen more to your students.
• Try to provide as many examples as possible; rephrase your statements in simple language. Do not expect ESL students to understand your question the first time.
• When dealing with students' written work, try to make constructive remarks so that the student can use your remarks to learn something about the language.
• Allow ESL students to respond orally before they do a written assignment. This way you are sure that they understood the assignment. Many times ESL students think they understand the assignment when in fact they do not and, worst of all, they do not ask questions. It is a good teaching strategy to ask them to rephrase the assignment to each other to make sure everything is clear.
• Use collaborative learning or small group work. Explain to your students why you are using a certain methodology. Many ESL students come from traditional educational systems and, for them, the only way to learn is from the instructor, who "knows all." For collaborative learning and group work to be successful, one has to prepare ahead of time the tasks and goals to be achieved. These tasks have to be clearly instructed; if not, then the work group becomes a waste of time.
• Some students are shy about participating in class. Call on them. Help them prepare for the next time. This way they will fell more confident. When ESL students do not speak up, many instructors think that they do not have any ideas. This is not true!
• Write assignments on the board. Do not give assignments orally. Try to be patient and supportive and express interest in their experiences, language, and culture; do not be judgmental. Be aware of body language.

• For many ESL students, seeking advisement is a sign of losing face. One has to explain to them what advisement entails, and that it is not a negative thing. Seek out students who need help and talk to them privately.