When during the summer of 2012 I started a
new job as a teacher’s assistant in the English department at Medgar Evers
College, I was excited for this new opportunity and challenge. My responsibilities included providing
individual and small group tutoring and teaching reading and writing workshops
to help students prepare for the CUNY reading and writing assessment
exams.
Once the summer session ended, I was asked
to continue in my new position and thus my career in adult education
began. I took pleasure in this new path,
helping students as best as I am able. In
my classes have always been immigrant students from various countries, who
speak various tongues. These students,
on average, work harder than their peers.
They are always present at the tutoring center and stay after class for
more direction. Yet, they struggle the
most to understand the subject. Many,
even a few who were in remedial English when I started this job three years ago,
remain in remedial courses today as they are not able to meet the English
literacy standards needed to move on to credit-bearing courses.
The topic of teaching adult English
language learners (ELLs) is interesting to me because as a prospective teacher,
I will have many ELLs in my classroom. I
want to know how to best serve them. And
although an English language learner as well, I have never grappled with the
English language; I do not identify with my students’ struggle. Nevertheless, I identify with their desires
for a better life through education. I
immigrated to the United States as a child and brought with me a love of
learning, gifted to me by my father, which steadily progressed over the
years. I credit my English proficiency
not only on having settled in the United States at a young age but mostly on having
led a lifestyle of reading. This has motivated
me to continually advise my English language learners to also adopt a lifestyle
of reading. Though some have taken my
advice, I recognize that a sudden interest in reading will not yield the level
of English proficiency necessary for college success during a 14-week
semester. Therefore, I want to learn the
best teaching methods to utilize to teach these students.
Statement of the Problem
While there exists a myriad of studies on
young English language learners, which characterizes their unique traits, lists
their needs and provides theoretical framework for instruction, when it comes
to adult learners of English, research is lacking (Mathews-Aydinli
2008). Furthermore, these
students enter the classroom with an already low-literacy level in their home languages,
which makes it more difficult for them to acquire literacy in a new language. This, along with various life issues, often
leads this population drop out of school at an exorbitant rate (Lee and Sheared
2002).
English language learners come in many
different shapes and sizes from various lands, backgrounds and
circumstances. Some are in the United
States on temporary F1 Visas and once having acquired a level of English proficiency,
continue their education in their home countries. Some are refugees. Some do not possess residency papers and are
in the United States illegally. Some are
green card holders and others have become naturalized American citizens. It is also important to note that some
English language learners are born in the United States but because they spoke
languages other than English prior to entering school, they were placed in ESL
courses where they learned English. I
was unable to find research on the linguistic particularities of these learners
once they reach adulthood.
What all adult ELLs have in common is a
desire and a need for better English proficiency. But because there exists such much diversity
among them, it is often difficult to conclude what qualifies as good practice.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this research was to
discover the best pedagogical recommendations currently available for
implementation by instructors of adult ESL. This study also sought to
discover appropriate methods for the different literacy levels of these
learners.
Research Questions
The primary question of this research was:
what are the best pedagogical strategies to instruct adult ELLs. To be able to respond to their particular
needs, it is important to understand their unique characteristics. Therefore, this research also sought to
discover the exceptional challenges faced by this group of leaners.
Methodology
To answer my questions, I assembled
several articles on this subject. I then
provide summaries of each article, focusing on the suggested instructional
methodologies. Then, I go on to impart
my reactions and interpretations.
Literature
Review
In
her article “Overlooked and Understudied? A Survey of Current Trends in
Research on Adult English Language Learners,” Julie Mathews-Aydinli states that not enough research has been
conducted on adult English Language Learners enrolled in not-for-credit English
courses. She goes on to say that the
existing research is often lacking “a theoretical base and thus remains
disconnected from each other” (199), making it challenging to ascertain the
exceptional characteristics and needs of adult ELLs. Therefore, creating curricula and pedagogical
approaches specific for this group of learners is challenging. This is an issue as many of these students
drop out of their English courses at an extremely high rate. Fortunately, she goes on to say,
dissertations on this group have been on the rise. As this continues, it will hopefully lead to
an increase in published works as well.
The
Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) acknowledges
the need for improved pedagogical practices to meet the needs of adult
ELLS. In their 2001 article
“CCCC Statement on Second-Language Writing and Writers,” the writers recognize
that the number of ELLs in the classroom is growing; therefore, administrators
should take bold steps in creating programs that will set adult ELLs on the
path to success. The writers urge
administrators to recognize that language acquisition for ELLs is a
“time-consuming process that will continue through students’ academic career
and beyond” (669). Therefore, programs
created must see to the entire academic success of these students. Administrators must first be certain that
their instructors are well trained. They
must then provide continuing professional development and resource materials to
their instructors so they can remain well-informed with new and current
perspectives on the teaching of adult ELLs.
ELLs should be placed in writing courses based
on their writing assessment scores and neither due to their speaking abilities
nor their cultural backgrounds.
Assessment exams should be free of writing prompts that contain cultural
references lest the ELL student is not familiar with them. Students should be evaluated through several
domains. Further, students should be
given a variety of writing prompts to select from in order to be confident
about their abilities to fulfill the writing instructions. Classes should be small, with no more than 15
students to facilitate individual attention.
When
students exit the ESL classroom, CCCC advocates that they continue to be
supported as scoring out of ESL courses does not mean that these students are
then completely proficient and need no more language support. Instead of enrolling in regular freshman
composition courses, there should be special writing courses tailored to ELLs
which will then be used to fulfill the writing requirement. Furthermore, instead of being required to
take a foreign language class, former ESL students should be required to enroll
in yet another writing course tailored to their needs. This course should take the place of the
foreign language requirement.
The CCCC suggests that graduate
programs that are preparing writing teachers must also include ESL training. ELLs are found in regular composition
classroom with mainstream students. It
is therefore important that instructors are well-prepared.
Though
the research may be scant, there does exist several theories on the best
teaching practices for adult ELLs. The
authors of the 2002 article, “Socialization and Immigrant Students’ Learning in
Adult Education Programs” start by declaring that not much has been written on
the differences in culture, language and learning types among adult immigrant
students. The go on to say that the
“literature that addresses the impact of formal and informal socialization on
immigrants and second language learners is even more limited” (27). This article was written for instructors of adult
ESL in order to provide them solid recommendations to successfully meet the
needs of adult immigrant learners. To
begin to seek appropriate instructional strategies for adult ELLs, however,
they believe it is important to first know the narratives of these students. As such, Ming-Yeh Lee and Vanessa Sheared in
provide a brief lesson on the history of immigrants in the United States.
The
authors recognize that the American promise of a better life was never intended
for people of color or for those whose first language is not English. The first immigration laws in the United States,
enacted in 1790, provided citizenship rights to free whites only. Later, several acts forbade Chinese and
Japanese immigrants from not only entering the United States but those already in
the country were not allowed citizenship rights.
In
the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries several acculturation
programs were established to strip immigrants of their ethical identities so
they could become more Americanized. The
purpose of adult ESL courses at the time were not to simply teach English but
were intended to indoctrinate their students.
These manipulative agendas were eliminated after World War II.
Because
they came to the United States from different lands and for different reasons,
those immigrants came from varying educational and socioeconomic
conditions. Those that were more
educated and wealthy were able to transition more easily into the American
culture. For their counterparts,
government aid and intervention were greatly needed.
Lee
and Sheared believe that different cultural backgrounds of immigrant students
affect their learning. Cultural models,
which the authors define as “the system of cultural knowledge, values, beliefs,
and behavior norms acquired by people belonging to a particular cultural group”
(30) refers to the actions taken by different groups and how they construct
meaning. It is important to keep in mind
that particular cultural models may not necessarily wholly apply to each member
of any given group. However, being aware
that cultural models exist can provide instructors with better understanding of
how “formal and informal socialization affect one’s learning preference,
interaction, and expectations in an adult classroom setting” (30). Instructors must keep in mind that these
models can contrast those in an American classroom which can cause immigrant learners
to experience cultural discontinuity or culture shock.
Cultural discontinuity “often causes
[students] to feel marginalized, confused and isolated” (30) which can in turn
negatively affect their views of themselves as students in an American
classroom and negatively impact their academic performance. Discomfort in the classroom, the authors
believe, is one reason why immigrant and minority students tend to drop out of
school at an alarming rate. They add
that it is not this cultural incongruence alone that causes students to quit
but how instructors handle the cultural gap.
The authors stress the importance of
understanding voluntary vs involuntary immigrants but do not offer in depth
definitions of these terms. They label
involuntary those who immigrated to the United States through slavery,
colonization and conquests (31), implying that involuntary immigrants are
people of color. But they do not offer
in depth descriptions about people of color who immigrate to the United States
today. Further, they imply that
voluntary immigrants are white and are therefore better able to assimilate into
American culture. They do not account
for white immigrants who come from eastern European countries and speak
languages other than English as either voluntary or involuntary.
Lee
and Sheared share that instructors must create an inclusive environment for
their adult ELLs. They go on to provide
several suggestions as to how this can be accomplished. First, instructors must include topics which
are not only of the interests of their students but essential to their
quotidian lives. They must then
recognize the importance of an inclusive curriculum which embraces stories and
texts representing the various cultural backgrounds of the students in the
classroom and tell of their historical narratives. Enacting these elements enables all of the
students to “began to understand how Euro-centered discourse has presented distorted
stories about themselves as well as others” (32). An inclusive curriculum allows students to
learn about each other’s cultures and dispel any stereotypes.
To create an atmosphere of community
in the class room, instructors must generate activities that encourage
participation such as having students form panels, discuss and brainstorm
ideas, role play, and generate photo sharing activities. These, the authors contend, can allow
students to share their personal histories with each other.
This topic of inclusion is of
importance to the authors particularly for Lee, who as an adult ELL,
understands the feeling of exclusion in the classroom. She discloses that during the first semester
of her doctoral studies while working in a group, one student impatiently
expressed her frustration about Lee’s constant silence. The outburst of Lee’s group mate was followed
by a brief silence then the discussion went on.
However for Lee, this was a pivotal moment. She comes from a culture where students are
generally silent in the classroom as a sign of respect. She had thought that she had assimilated well
enough in American culture only to realize at that moment she had not. This led her to feel ostracized in her
environment.
While
different cultures have different classroom etiquette, many also have different
models of literacy which affect how students from those cultures learn English
in an American setting. The authors of
the 2008 article, “Working with Adult English Language Learners with Limited
Literacy: Research, Practice, and Professional Development,” Miriam Burt, Joy
Kreeft Peyton, and Kirsten Schaetzel, announce that the literacy levels of the
native languages of almost half of adult learners studying English are between
beginner to high beginner. Because most
ELLs come to the United States having had very basic or no formal education in
their homelands, the challenge of educating these students is great.
The demographics of these learners is
wide as they come from different countries, speak different languages, are
employed in various occupations and have been living in the United States for
different amounts of time. Having
provided statistical information on different literacy levels, the authors
focus their paper on three types of ESLs, preliterate learners, whose “native
language has no written form or is in the process of developing a written form
(e.g., many American indigenous, African, Australian, and Pacific languages),”
non-literate learners, who “have no access to literacy instruction” and
semiliterate learners who have had “limited access to literacy instruction” (1). For these groups of learners, the researchers
recommend practices that build on vocabulary.
To do this, they recommend that teachers first discover the interests of
their students and include those in their curricula. Instructors must build on the schemata and
the experiences of their students by selecting reading passages and graphics
relating to topics familiar to the learners and references that are related to
their daily lives. Activities should
place a high emphasis on vocabulary building and instructors must encourage
familial involvement in literacy activities.
Because
teaching this population of Ells is a challenging task, the writers suggests
that instructors must participate in continual professional development
workshops. They should take specialized
courses and join a community of practitioners for continual pedagogical
development.
For those adult
students enrolled in English courses, being proficient in the language is not
enough. Having a high level of education
is necessary in order to achieve a lifestyle free of economic constraints. Though without English proficiency, pursuing
education is at best difficult. In their
2009 article,
“Assessing the Literacy Skills of Adult Immigrants and Adult English Language
Learners,” researchers Heide Spruck Wrigley, Jing Chen, Sheida White, and Jaleh
Soroui state that “English fluency along with twelve years of education can
result in a 76 percent increase in earnings” (6). They go on to say that those who are fluent
in English but have less than eight years of education only see only a four
percent income increase. The most
troubling data the researchers report is that the language skills and specific
needs of this group of learners are not well known, echoing
Mathews-Aydinli.
For those learners past the semiliterate level, the 2009 article, “Best
Practices for Teaching the ‘Whole’ Adult ESL Learner,” by David Schwarzer,
makes the claim that when it comes to second language acquisition, the
productive skills, speaking and writing, were viewed as more important than the
receptive skills, listening and reading.
He goes on to say that now, it is now being recognized that all four
aspects are necessary and must be integrated during instruction.
Schwarzer writes that it is important that instructors teach grammar to
facilitate understanding during conversation.
However, much of his
article is focused on vocabulary building strategies. He believes that having a wide vocabulary is
the first step in achieving proficient skills as a speaker of a second
language.
Schwarzer offers various methods instructors can utilize to enrich the
vocabularies of their students. One
method Schwarzer suggests is including television programs in the
curriculum. Television, Schwarzer writes,
offers many opportunities for incidental vocabulary learning. Teachers should encourage their students to
watch shows which will also teach them about the American culture. There should be class discussions about these
shows to encourage oral production of language.
Schwarzer identifies reading as a good way to build vocabulary. He suggests that instructors have their
students read much and read widely. The
reading materials must be challenging, slightly above the current proficiencies
of students. They must be of interests to the students and of significance to
their daily lives. This way, students
will not only be more inclined to read the materials but also have more to
contribute to class discussions.
The
lives of adult ESL students are constantly changing. Their responsibilities as parents and
caretakers sometimes lead them to change jobs and to relocate. Depending on these external factors, their
enthusiasms about wanting to learn English often change as well. Therefore, Schwarzer suggests, it is
important that instructors of adult ESL understand what motivates their
students. He goes on to say that there
are two types of motivation, “‘integrative motivation’ (willingness to learn a
new language in order to become part of a particular speaking community) and
‘instrumental motivation’ (willingness to learn a new language to accomplish
immediate goals and needs)” (27). Once
instructors are aware of the integrative and instrumental motivations of their
students, they can include these in their lessons. For example, when instructors know that their
students want to learn how to understand their utility bills, or are having
difficulty finding jobs and apartments, they can teach lessons on understanding
the different parts of utility bills or on analyzing the classifieds. This approach is important as it can help
keep the students’ desire to learn English from waning.
It is
important that instructors create an environment of community in their
classrooms. Doing so encourages students
to utilize their newly learned skills through interaction. Instructors should form small groups and
pairs among their students where they can practice paraphrasing, questioning,
drawing conclusion, constructing meaning, all skills needed for effective
communication.
Schwarzer believes that teaching the whole adult ESL learner means
viewing students as spouses, parents, church attendees, employees and so
on. This allows instructors to recognize
their students as “accomplishments, responsibilities, relationships, personal histories
and hopes” (28). He goes on to say that
this approach allows the instructor and the learner to be more likely to view
language as whole rather than chunks, studying it in contexts rather than in
isolated pieces such as studying grammar alone.
Instructors will assign whole texts, chapters and passages rather than
individualized words, isolated sentences or paragraphs.
The
author goes on to reiterate, with the aforementioned researchers, the
importance of instruction that is meaningful.
Class lessons must be immediately serviceable to the lives of
learners. Instructors must permit
learners to share their cultures with the classroom while learning about the
American culture. Furthermore,
instructors must communicate to their students that language learning is
progressive and it takes time.
Evaluating language learning should take place through various
assessment methods and not simply standardized tests.
Instructors must recognize that their students are adults and
communicate to them the value of their opinions and points of view. As such, students must be allowed to choose
learning and discussion topics, having been provided with several learning
materials from which to select.
Instructors must encourage their students to ask questions, about the television
programming they watch and from the texts they read, then work on finding the
answers to these questions. Schwarzer
urges instructors to “build” the classroom along with their students, by
inviting them to bring materials from home such as furniture, storage units,
pictures and anything else that would make the classroom feel like home to
students.
Adult
ESL students are often well-educated in their own countries; many were even
practicing professionals in various fields.
Therefore, instructors must take advantage of the various know-hows of
their students by calling on them to share their knowledge through assignments
requiring that they prepare presentations in which they share their former
professions with their classmates. This
will allow them to not only practice their newly learned language skills but
also to acquire new vocabulary.
Having
a clear and consistent class routine with consistent procedures yields to
student independence. These procedures
should be explicitly written on classroom bulletin boards and can include the
learning goals for the day and the different activities done during class. Routines not only help learners to depend on
themselves but also to be more motivated about learning.
Fieldtrips, Schwarzer contends, provide real opportunities for students
to learn about the American culture and acquire incidental vocabulary. Trips need not be to expensive and
extravagant locations, but can be to museums, the public library and even the
supermarket and hospitals. Schwarzer
urges instructors to keep in mind that while these locations may seem common
place, they may be unfamiliar to their students. Furthermore, instructors should take
advantage of the various texts available within these locations, such as pamphlets
and brochures, to encourage literacy.
In
the 2009 article “Journaling in an Adult ESL Literacy Program” by Clarena Larrotta, the author shares her
experience implementing dialogue journals in her ESL classrooms. Dialogue journals are simply notebooks
used by instructors and learners as a means of communication. The
journal communication between instructor and students takes place on a weekly
basis. Journals are not evaluated for
grammar or mechanics encouraging, students to write freely without worrying if
they “sound right.”
Larrotta explains how she implements this technique as a framework for
other instructors. She starts the
dialogue by writing an introductory letter to her students and ending with two
questions to which her students must respond.
She allows the students to take the letters home, write their responses and
two questions then return the letters to her the following class. In the students’ notebooks, she replies to
their responses and questions and this practice continues for the remainder of
the term. As she does not correct
grammar in their journals, in her responses, Larrotta models proper sentence
construction and grammar.
Larrotta along with her students decide on rules such the types of
questions appropriate to pose after each response. She implements guided practice by tackling
the mechanical issues she notices in her students’ journals during
classwork. Lastly, she evaluates the
journals along with the learners by having them write what they enjoy about the
dialogue journal approach and what do not enjoy. Generally, students have reported finding
pleasure in reading Larrotta’s responses and in being able to write
freely. However, at times, some report
that they would like it if she corrected their papers. While intended to help learners, dialogue
journals also tend to be a pleasant activity for instructors as reading their
students’ writings allows instructors to get to know their students better and
assess their learning.
Dialogue journals are successful, Larrotta contends, because they allow
learners to write about matters important to them. Topics her students have written about include
immigration, employment and general concerns about life in the United States. These topics allow for wide discourse between
learner and student and often lead to new topics. As they write about their families, their
goals and their ambitions, Larrotta does so as well as she wants her students
to view her as a participant and not just their instructor.
Larrotta
shares that she believes in constant interaction between instructor and learner
to promote learning and the dialogue journals have allowed her the opportunity
to do so. She has learned a lot about
herself as an instructor and that has affected her teaching. For instance, she realized that she was too
controlling as an instructor, being the one to solely decide conversation
topics with no input from students.
These journals have not offered opportunity for growth for students
only, but they have taught Larrotta to improve her teaching and better serve
her students.
On the practice of dialogue
journals, Richard A. Orem agrees with Larrotta
and echos her belief that they offer much to instructors and their students. In his 2001 article “Journal
Writing in Adult ESL: Improving Practice through Reflective Writing,”
Orem maintains that dialogue journals should not be graded but that teachers
should respond in a way that models
standard written English. Orem, however
believes that instructors can communicate to their students how well they are
applying their learning in their journals.
Further, when instructors notice mechanical errors in their students’
journals, teachers can use it as an opportunity to bring these errors to
students’ attention and for further instruction.
Orem warns instructors to be aware that students may write about
sensitive life issues in their journals.
As such, instructors must assure their students that their entries will
be kept confidential and in turn must express sensitivity when students write
about difficult or deeply personal topics.
He goes on to say that, whenever possible, instructors can use these
journals to inform their students about appropriate available resources.
Orem further believes that dialogue journals should
be kept among teachers of adult ESL. He
reports that keeping a teaching journal has allowed him many opportunities for
self-reflection which has improved his pedagogical practice and in turn has positively
influenced his teaching. For instance,
his journaling taught him that he has judged his students as a whole and not
taken into consideration their individual learning styles. That realization has
forced him to differentiate his teaching and reach more students.
Orem recognizes that for instructors, keeping
dialogue journals is an involved task.
However, he maintains the rewards are great, particularly for part time
ESL teachers who work in contexts such as libraries, church basements and
community centers. They often lack the
opportunity to interact with their peers.
Therefore, learning from other practitioners does not happen as
frequently as it should. For them, Orem
suggests that program directors urge their teachers to keep a collective
journal for the purpose of improving each other’s practice.
He
suggests that teachers select topics for discussion which can include teaching
strategies, student responses or interactions between teachers and
students. They should write their
observations immediately following their classes and make these notes available
to other teachers in the writing group for instant response. Teachers should then meet weekly to discuss their
journal entries and responses. Because
teachers are often isolated from each other, Orem suggests that virtual
discussion boards be utilized.
At
the time her article was written Kristin Lems had been an ESL instructor of
adults for over 20 years. In that time,
she had taught ELLs of all levels in different contexts. She asserts that including music in the ESL
classroom has yielded positive results for students and for her. In her 2005 article, “Music Works: Music for Adult English Language Learners,”
Lems starts out by admitting that there has not been much research on the
effects of music and language learning and “even less with a focus on adults” (14). However, of the ones that are available, she
goes on to provide brief synopses of their findings.
Lems
reports on a study that found that in the human brain, dominant aspects of
music and language are located in close proximity. She reports that in a French language
immersion program that took place in Canada, musical concepts and patterns were
included daily in the students’ scholarly programs. At the end of the study, those students in
the language and music program outperformed their peers who studied the
language with no music component. The
students exhibited much more interest in school activities in general.
Lems
contends that the most efficient music for increased language production is pop
music because these songs contain frequently occurring vocabulary. Pop music encourages students to continually
practice newly learned vocabulary, even when they are away from the classroom,
by encouraging students to sing these songs to themselves repeatedly.
An
important aspect of including music in the ESL classroom is that it allows
groups of diverse ELL students who might be lacking in vocabulary to share
their cultures with one another. Having
students share their different cultures with their peers in the class is
beneficial as it allows various myths to be dispelled.
A
benefit of music is it can help students learn and practice proper English
pronunciation. By examining song parts,
word parts, instructors can have students identify when letters sound different
then they should such as the letter ‘t’
in city.
Music
can be used to encourage writing. Lems discloses
that when she teaches higher level beginner students, she teaches them the song
“El Condor Pasa” which in the lyrics there is a line that says “I’d rather be a
sparrow than a snail” (Simon, Milchburth, and Robles, 2003). She then asks her students to write their own
sentences using the construction: “I’d
rather be __________ than _____________” (18).
Further
writing activities include asking students to write about their favorite songs
by first providing background information and sharing why the songs are
meaningful to them. Students then must
bring the song/music to class to share with their classmates. She has further assigned students comparative
biographical writing assignments about two or more of their favorite artists,
presenting their findings using Venn diagrams.
Reading song lyrics allows students
to improve their reading comprehension, build vocabulary and to better
understand the American culture. Lems
ends her article with a call to action that more ESL programs include music in
their curricula.
When
it comes to exams, strategy that can help adult ELLs perform better and
eliminate possible test anxiety is allowing them extra time to complete their
exams. The authors, Eleni Pappamihiel,
Takayuki Nishimata and Florin Mihai report in their article, “Timed Writing and
Adult English-Language Learners: An Investigation of First Language Use in
Invention Strategies,” that learners enrolled in ESL courses should be allowed
supplemental time to complete tasks.
While some programs do not impose time restrictions at all for ELLs,
when these adult learners score out of ESL courses, the accommodations of extra
time or no time restriction is removed.
It is important, the researchers believe, that though they may no longer
need specialized ESL courses, that these accommodations remain as that English
is not their first language remains a factor.
Data
analysis
A recurrent theme provided by the authors
was the importance of community in the ESL classroom. This communicates that without a sense of
community, adult learners will feel isolated and devalued and will not be encouraged
to continue their learning. Another
suggestion prevalent in the articles is having students work in groups to
practice their newly learned skills.
While this is great advice, the authors neglect to specify that groups
should be heterogeneous. To discourage
students from working with their friends or other students from the same or
similar backgrounds, instructors should be the ones to form the groups. These groups can be permanent or instructors
can put their students in new heterogeneous groups in the middle of the
term. This way, students can come into
contact with the most cultures outside of their own in the classroom.
I found Schwarzer’s suggestion that
instructors take students to field trips to be worthy of implementing. While he recommends common places like the
library and the supermarket, I argue that having students visit touristic areas
and landmarks is of value as well. These
locations encourage students to encounter terms and vocabulary that they would
likely not come across while introducing them to their new culture in a new
way. While reading about the Statue of
Liberty, for example, might introduce students to new information, visiting the
Statue of Liberty will make the information meaningful and allow students to
hold on to newly learned facts longer.
What was missing in the research is how
computers in the ELL classroom can affect learning. It is my belief that many instructors are not
computer savvy therefore do not utilize them when teaching. However, computers can add greatly to the ELL
classroom by modeling writing and proper orthography. Computers can enhance the practice of
dialogue journals. Instructors can
create discussion boards which would allow all students to participate in the
discussion of a given subject. Lastly,
having students use computers will allow them to learn an important skill which
can be valuable to them later in the workforce
Conclusions
and Implications
I found many of the suggestions that the
articles offered to be fascinating as they were new to me. While reading these articles, I pictured
myself as an ESL teacher, putting into practice these various
recommendations. I believe that many of
these suggestions, such as having students work in groups and allowing them to
voice their opinions, can and should be used in many different classrooms, not
just adult ESL classrooms.
I was surprised to find out that research
in this field is lacking. However, that
there exist many certificate and graduate programs for adult ESL instruction,
makes me optimistic that research in this area is growing. This will lead to more published works for
teachers and prospective teachers.
Works Cited
"CAELA
Network: Resources: CAELA Network Briefs: Reflective Practice in the
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