Office Chat: English as a Second Language

I am fascinated every time I visit the office of one of the professors here at the University of Mary Washington College of Graduate and Professional Studies. The topics have been important and the discussions absorbing. Here Patricia Reynolds brings to the venue her many years of research, experience, and caring about second language learners and their success.

As Ms. Reynolds explains, Northern Virginia in an incredibly interesting place with a wonderfully diverse population. However, this cultural and linguistic diversity does present some challenges for the local school systems and to those students and their families for which English is not the primary language. To add to the challenge, second language learners participate as all students in the statewide standards-based testing – not to mention the social and family issues present with those second language learners experiencing extreme poverty or under the stress of a tenuous immigration status.

Note: My apologies to the viewer and to Professor Reynolds for the poor quality of the video. However, Ms. Reynolds has such obvious concern for both subject and student that is too valuable to discard.

Many ESL adult learners are now in colleges and universities and some are enrolled in online courses and programs. These “Generation 1.5″ learners continue to need support even though many have graduated after successful high careers in secondary schools right here in the United States. Reynolds suggest that one of the first actions that we can take to assist these students is to examine our syllabus. Just as in the Office Chat about Differentiated Instruction with Laurie Abeel, these students also have individual learning styles and their instruction should incorporate variety in order to allow for individual strengths.

In the case of ESL adult online students, the strength may not be in written language. So take a look at your syllabus – does a primary portion of the grade depend on a written paper? In some cases, it may be appropriate to offer an alternative method by which the student can demonstrate their mastery of the course content. The online environment presents many opportunities for the instructor and student to work together to find a medium in which the student is able certify their understanding – a video, performance, graphic composition, chart, diagram, concept map, etc., are all possibilities in which language is not the central vehicle for communication. Of course conditions vary and what is appropriate and acceptable in one case may not fit at all in another. It is up to the instructor and student to work through together. But as Reynolds explains, this is not a case of the student being unintelligent, the central point here is that the student may be struggling to communicate in a manner that is not natural to them.

References:

Dubarry, M.., and Alvez de Lima, D. (2003). Notes on Generation 1.5. http://faculty.deanza.edu/alvesdelimadiana/stories/storyReader$438.

Harklau, L. (2003). Generation 1.5 students and college writing. http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-4/writing.htm.

Purdue Online Writing Lab. English as a Second Language (ESL) Resources, Handouts and Exercises. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/index.html.

Purdue Online Writing lab. ESL Teacher Resources. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/586/01/.