Issues

Nurturing Interested Language Learners

In our lively lead article “Mastering English, Mustering Diversity,” Connie Springer provides us with a wonderful example of an ESL success story. As she points out, the teaching of English as a Second Language has underpinned the Cincinnati Public’s Academy of World Languages (AWL) over twenty of the school’s twenty-five years. At AWL, young international students are being taught English language skills to give them the opportunity of succeeding academically as they progress into American society. What emerges from Connie’s article is an enduring image of dedication on the part of educators who have truly given their professional lives over to teaching and of the resilience of the students themselves who are determined to succeed in their new home against all the odds.
Newspapers provide a rich vein of materials that can be mined by the resourceful ESL teacher. In her article “Read All About It!” Vera Jane Cook suggests practical ways in which a newspaper can be fully utilized as a classroom resource for a variety of language acquisition exercises and projects.
In this and subsequent issues of ESL Magazine, Lesley Lanir will be addressing the issue of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and its potential consequences both for English language learners and their teachers. Lesley kicks off the series with a basic introduction to ADHD that is now considered a lifelong disorder which may result in societal problems. As Lesley points out, after identifying an ADHD pupil, teachers will want to work on restructuring their routine techniques so that learning opportunities are enhanced not only for the student in question but also for the whole class. The aim of this series is to further understanding of the challenges of the ADHD pupil and to enable teachers to make informed decisions in order to promote learning in the classroom.
Creative writing classes are integrated into most mainstream literacy programs. Mary Leighton (“Creating Time for Expressive Activities”) describes how she has developed workshops she first implemented for native English speaking expatriates in Saudi Arabia to include participants who spoke English as an additional language. Mary has found that the relaxed atmosphere of the writing workshop has helped her students express themselves in English and she has been able to adapt some of these activities for use in her regular classes.
In her article “Engaging ESL Students in Group Projects,” Donna McVey explains how shared tasking can benefit students in the ESL classroom by teaching students how to work together towards a common goal, giving them the opportunity to learn from each other, and, in the process, creating a “team spirit.”
Taking up the theme of writing, Valerie Sartor (“Overcoming Writing Hurdles”) describes how the process of learning to write can be compared to acquiring skills in a new sport. Many ESL students find that although their spoken English is relatively easy to acquire, they become frustrated by their apparent lack of ability to write easily and well in English. Valerie offers advice on how the challenges of writing can be surmounted by students so that such tasks become a source of pleasure rather than eliciting boredom and even fear.