Find Friends

Writing can be hard, even for me a native English speaker and ESL teacher. But once ESL students become comfortable with writing in English, it is important to introduce some common structures in English writing.

 Traditionally in English, an essay states the main idea in the first paragraph and each paragraph that follows supports the main idea. While this rigid structure is not always followed, students should understand that normally they should structure their writing in that manner. 

ESL teachers, especially native English speakers, may not consider teaching essay organization, but some cultures value other essay structures. There is a great video clip about a nonnative English speaker, Pablo Zapata, and his problems with the very direct manner of English essay writing.

Some students may have a hard time transitioning to this style of writing, but once their language is intelligible, it is a necessity. English readers have certain expectations about how writing should be organized, especially in academics.  As teachers, we should give our students the skills to meet readers' expectations.

I live in Portland, Oregon and at the university in my town, like most US university, exchange students need to take the TOEFL exam before they can take classes. And they need to get a high score, a score of 197 or higher. The TOEFL exam has three parts: reading, writing and listening.   

In my ESL class, students learn to read, write, and listen to English. But I wonder, do my students know enough to pass the TOEFL exam?  At Portland State University, students need to get 197 points on the computer-based TOEFL test before they can go to school there. I always wonder, if I am teaching my students enough. The only way to know if my students are going to do well on the TOEFL is to work on their reading, writing and listening skills and practice answering questions like those on the TOEFL exam.

For some students, the best thing to do is to take a TOEFL prep class. I have never taught one of those, but maybe some other English teachers on English, Baby! have.

 All I know is that the TOEFL test is hard and that it takes a lot of practice to get a good score on the TOEFL. Can any teachers give me some help on preparing my students? I think a good place to start would be to get a TOEFL practice exam and have the students do it. 

On English, baby! we sell practice exams written by the real TOEFL test writers. The exams are just like the actual test. So students can take the practice test and see if their score is high enough to study at Portland State University. 

It is a well known fact that ESL and EFL students cannot learn English in an overly emotional environment. In essence, students' emotions stop them from learning. Learning another languge requires so much of an individual that there just isn't enough energy or brain power to process new language and overwhelming emotions, like fear and sadness.

But what about the ESL teacher? Being an ESL teacher is  an emotional job. For me, there are only so many emotions I can deal with and still be an effective teacher. Students often come to me with their problems. As their ESL teacher, I am supposed to help them learn the language and transition into a new society. But, sometimes there just isn't enough of me. Lately, my own personal troubles have stopped me from being the best teacher and the best support system for my students. 

 I guess, I would love some advise from experienced teachers. Or maybe there just isn't a solution. Maybe you can't be a great teacher, if you are too emotionally invested. Just like students who can't learn, teachers can't teach when their feelings aren't under control.  How do you control your emotions?

Sure, sometimes ESL classes are scary and uncomfortable. Students are worried about making mistakes and teachers are forced to be the language police. Still, teachers and students can be friends and the ESL classroom can be a really fun and entertaining place -- a place where friends meet.

I really try to make my students feel comfortable. I don't force them to do too many things and I try hard to keep the class exciting. But how do you know if students are comfortable?

Well, this week my students showed me, how much they love the class, their fellow students and ME. I was so surprised. Yesterday, on Valentine's Day, two of the students got gifts for everyone. We all got balloons , candles, picture frames, candy, chocolate and a personal card. I was so impressed that they got everyone presents.  

Both students were from Mexico. I found out the in Mexico Valentine's day is celebrated on the same day (February 14th), but it is called "Dia del Amor y la Amistad." That translates to "Day of Love and Friendship."

On the "Day of Love and Friendship," my two students from Mexico celebrated the friendships they have in class. They wanted to show their friends how much they loved them. I was just so happy to included as one of their friends. I felt so lucky!  And I was excited that they had made friends in the ESL class. 

 I wonder how teachers can encourage friendships in class. Do you have any ideas? I often have students work together, but what else is important to developing a safe and friendly ESL classroom atmosphere?

Are they learning? It sometimes seems like students aren't learning. Or even worse that they are simply forgetting everything that they learned. It is important to remember that language learning is not linear.  

Students create a complex interlanguage, while learning English. An interlanguage is a mental construct-- a language that only exists in the learner's head. The interlangauge may be similar in ways to a student's native languages (L1) and the target language  (L2), but it is in many ways different. The diagram below from www.ncela.gwu.edu/pubs/jeilms/vol14/duran.htm illustrates how interlanguage is similar and different from the student's native and target language. In the diagram  Language A and L1=native language and Language B and L2=English

Many language educators may be very aware of interlanguage. Students' interlanguage is individual and may follow completely different rules than their native language or English. Interlanguage rules are also more fluid and dynamic than normal language rules. Students' perception of how past tense is made, for example, may be ever changing and developing. 

This happened in my English class. The students "learned" simple past several months ago. They successfully completed two tests on the subject and used simple past correctly in classroom discussions, but NO ONE remembers it now. Sure they know some irregular verbs, but they don't know how to ask questions or negate sentences. 

Before I or any other teacher get too frustrated, we need to remember that language learning is not a simple progression from knowing one language to knowing a second language. Students are going to be constantly adjusting their interlanguage rules and sometimes that will make them perform more accurately and other times it will make them perform less accurate. 

How can we as teachers overcome the frustration of learners' mistakes?

I think, we need to remember that they are creating a complex interlanguage. And their interlangauge will become more and more like English, but it takes time.  And it is not linear!