What You Should Know About Teaching ESL Learners.

  ESL Learners are sweeping across the country and are no longer just confined to large cities and border towns, These students are being introduced to more remote and uncommon areas every day and teachers are asking "What is the best way to help this student?" Of course, there are many methods that have been tested and utilized by other educators for years but there is always that one student who is the exception to the "ideal" stereotypical learner. So teachers take to discussion boards, educational websites, Teachers Pay Teachers and every other thinkable resource to do their best to reach these students.

 Throughout this post, I will explore the ideas that I find most interesting and think would be most useful with ESL students such as:
     -Inclusion techniques.
     - Activites for use with ESL learners.
     - Teaching a second language through common use instead of direct instruction.
 
   Most of the research I have read emphasizes the use of direct communication and keeping open lines of communication open with the ESL students. Making them feel like a part of the classroom and like a priority in your eyes will make them more comfortable and less isolated from the rest of the classroom. Another common idea is keeping things simple with keywords and precise vocabulary as well as including visual cues.

   Along with these practices, teachers need to frequently review and summarize the lessons with their students to ensure that there is a clear understanding of the lesson at hand. Although I have never worked with ESL students personally I do believe that I would focus most on making them feel like they have more similarities with their classmates than not. I would like to take all of these accommodations and incorporate them into commonalities that this student would share with their peers in order to make them feel more at home. The idea of having an ESL student would also allow for the English speaking students to get a glance into a new language maybe incorporating it into our classroom.
 
  The idea that language is learned through use rather than direct instruction is an idea that I find interesting and quite true from my minimal experience with ESL students. This idea accompanies idea that children do as they see and not always as they are told. We see children that emulate their parents, peers, and teachers every day and this situation is no different. Activities including body language and the use of verbal skills such as inflection seem to b the most useful in areas dealing with any students that struggle with reading. By incorporating strong readers along with ESL and those who may struggle with reading and comprehension the use of these skills allows for a clearer understanding of the vocabulary and situation being described. The best activity I think that would embody these skills would be readers theater.
 
  Although I am still learning how to work with ESL students and I think I have gained a better understanding of how to work with them I am sure that when I am met with this task I will feel uncertain if I am doing my best.So my question today is what are your favorite techniques to use with ESL students and how can I improve upon my plans?

                                                          Image from Teachhub.com