Blog
Simple questions to ask English Language Learners in Week 1
In conversation, it is often helpful to show other people that we understand what they are trying to say. A smile, a nod of the head, and eye contact are encouraging to others at work and at home. Frowning, shaking one’s head no, or looking away while others are speaking will discourage others from trying. In our ESL classes, we want to encourage each other as we learn and make “good mistakes.”
Gestures matter – in conversation and in ESL class. I often ask ESL students to practice smiling at others, nodding encouragingly, and giving eye contact. Here are some simple questions that I suggest teachers, administrators, and students ask during the first week of class:
1. Why do you want to learn English?
2. Where do you use English now?
3. How will better English conversation skills help you at school?
4. How will improved English conversation skills help you at work?
5. How can you use English speaking skills in your daily life?
6. How do you feel when you speak English now? Why?
7. Where do you plan to speak English in two years? Why?
Getting English Language Learners to answer these simple questions will give instructors a chance to evaluate skills, learn about the background and ambitions of ESL students, and focus student attention on the task at hand. English students need more opportunities to practice and improve their speaking skills in our classrooms.
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.compellingconversations.com
It was an Earthquake, not a Lifequake! We’re lucky!
As CNN and the other global news organizations rushed to tell the world, a 5.4 earthquake hit Los Angeles yesterday. The earth shook, people got scared, and fears of “the big one” entered the minds of millions. The shaking lasted for almost a minute, many pictures fell from walls and books left their shelves.
Yet nobody was killed, no bridges fell, and very few injuries were reported. This hometown earthquake was, in many ways, a non-event.
It was an earthquake, not a lifequake! We’re lucky!
A lifequake, as slang experts and blog readers know, is an event that suddenly changes your life. Being hit by a falling building, injured in a car accident, getting diagnosed with a terrible illness, or losing a job is a lifequake. The 5.4 earthquake spooked many Los Angeles residents, but it was only an earthquake. It wasn’t a lifequake.
Let’s hope that the next earthquake is just as harmless – and lifequakes stay far away!
————————————————————————————————–
P.S. Yesterday’s earthquake reminds Los Angeles residents to prepare for emergencies. Adult schools usually have a mandated lesson on this life skill, but IEP and EFL students could benefit from reviewing safety procedures too.
PPS. The sound “ake” appears in many words in English.
Bake cake fake lake
make take wake shake
quake earthquake milkshake lifequake
Conversation tip #12: Nice truck!
Sometimes a simple comment leads to a delightful conversation.
Today I noticed a very, very old truck parked on the street while walking my dog.
“She’s as old as I am,” replied the owner from his frontyard. He soon came to the sidewalk. “Made in 1931.”
Although I’m hardly a car guy, we proceeded to have a rather detailed and informative conversation about Ford, Model AA, and vocational education. That ancient truck, donated to a local veterans group, still runs. The local adult education high school will help train mechanics on it – and restore it. Cool.
I have an old 1981 Volvo with 249,000 – and the antique truck owner, Deano, has several Toyotas with over 300,000. We both find something wonderful with quality cars built to last – unlike so many models today.
Deano, by the way, is a former high school teacher who volunteers at the local Veterans Administration (VA) hospital. You can’t help but respect a man who helps soldiers and veterans recover from war wounds – visible and invisible.
Friendly and folksy, I instantly felt comfortable with him and traded a few teachers’ tales. We shared a few frustrations with standardized tests too. We will, I suspect, have other fine conversations in the future.
A casual comment, “nice truck”, lead to a satisfying exchange. with a neighbor. That’s my conversation tip #12: make a sincere comment about a situation and be curious about your neighbors. You never know what you will learn!
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com
How do you close your last class in a satisfying, summer ESL program?
Class bookends, both beginnings and endings, deserve special attention. This truism becomes more important in short term summer English programs where ESL students have traveled thousands of miles to study English.
As so often, I tend to learn by stumbling. Yet, over the years, I’ve developed a rather effective last class ESL lecture around a simple theme: Make Change Your Friend.
The lesson begins with a review of changes in their own lives over the last 10 years, and small personal chit-chats with each student. I tend to focus, just a bit, on the present perfect as they write 5 questions to ask their conversation partner and classmates. Most students are in college, but a few are working professionals a bit older. Studying – and living in – Southern California has usually been a very pleasant experience. Looking back on the last day seems natural. The mood tends to be a bit downbeat as students realize that the month has flown by very quickly. We have shared many laughs together.
By zooming out a bit more, we shift the conversation to changes – social, economic, or cultural – in our native countries over the last 10 years. The students usually provide a wide range of examples. Sometimes we also indicate how we would like our countries and cultures to change.
We soon shift to technological changes – and students share their experiences with different technologies. Of course, technology continues to improve – providing an optimistic twist. Computers are faster, video editing easier, and cell phones better. The evidence for material progress seems overwhelming.
Taking this theme a bit further, I note how the many uses of medical technology. People can live longer, new hearts installed, even limbs restored. From implants to cosmetic surgery, medical devices are changing our experience as humans. Are humans changing too? We live in fantastic times – unlike any previous generation.
I proceed to review themes from previous class readings and discussions from healthy relationships and elections to changes in human reproduction and evolving definitions of marriage. With a nod toward the great science fiction film Blade Runner, I ask “what makes humans human?” Let’s be humane as long as we human, as a Roman stoic philosopher advised.
Finally, quoting former President Clinton, I urge them to embrace change. “Make change your friend,” advised Clinton to worried Americans in 1992 during his campaign. Change continues to accelerate. You can’t stop it. Make it your friend. Find a wave that you want to ride, and catch it. Make change your friend.
Then, students write down three ways they can make change their friend. It’s a positive, look forward conclusion to a short English program. Soon class ends, students snap pictures with digital cameras, and exchange emails.
We make change our friend – even if the change is ending a wonderful, educational vacation. Students say goodbye to their American Language Center friends at UCLA Extension, and bravely face the future. Their English teachers feel satisfied – and bittersweet. It’s been fun.
The journey of life continues. Make change your friend.
Teaching English Language Learners: What Seems to Work in American Public Schools
Do English language learners, or English as a Second language students, learn better in sheltered programs? Should students receive some instruction in their native language – and if so, for how long? Are there clear differences to effectively write and speak fluently?
Teaching Language Learners: What the Research Does – and Does Not – Say , a 19- page article published in American Educator attempts to summarize current studies, detail the differences between studies, and introduce a more nuanced language to a very passionate debate. Claude Goldenberg, the author, writes in a clear, accessible style – and explains various bureaucratic jargon as he goes reviews the material. This article, written for American public education teachers in a union publication, deserves a large readership.
The article made numerous important points, including:
– the rapid growth of English Language Learners (ELL) students in public schools;
– a majority of ELL students are actually born in the United States (Why????);
– smaller class sizes matter;
– some intensive instruction in the primary language, for an unknown duration, helps improve target language abilities in writing;
– huge debate continues over best practices over duration and purpose of primary language instruction;
– teaching English language learners from countries with low literacy than teaching students who bring strong academic skills in their native language (shock, shock!)
– written skills remain far below national standards, especially in high school;
– oral skills often lack written skills in ESL/ELL students;
– students have difficulty moving from intermediate oral skills to achieving actual fluency;
– standard tests seldom test oral skills, leading to speaking skills being somewhat neglected in ESL/ELL classrooms.
Personally, I found the first two pages a bit annoying with its predictable complaints implying the impossibility of a second grader, particularly an ELL second grader, learning everything that is expected by state mandates. Yet when Goldenberg moved beyond the predictable “union” frame “our impossible job” and actually starting summarizing two major meta-studies of ELL practices, he provided a balanced, informative, and level-headed article filled with illuminating details.
As an adult educator, I also thought the article made a powerful argument for a huge expansion and deepening of adult education programs if a solid majority of ELL students are actually born in the United States. Why should millions of children born and raised in the United States be unable to speak English? If you believe that speaking English helps students live in the United States and language and culture are related, then this article provides a litany of troubling details about the state of ELL instruction and public education programs in general.
I strongly urge ELL and ESL instructors to read the long, ambitious, and satisfying article. It may become a seminal work in MA programs for ESL teachers, especially for people working in American public schools. http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/summer08/goldenberg.pdf
This sometimes ugly debate over language policy will probably heat up as McCain and Obama attempt to make distinctions in their immigration and education policies. Perhaps this article will help clarify the complicated issues that go beyond bumpersticker solutions.
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
