ESL students either migrate to Australia or are temporary residents in Australia. People would migrate to Australia as returning residents, family members, permanent residents, citizens, refugees, and asylum seekers. Temporary residents would be visitors, diplomats, business professionals, workers and students. All children from the age of five have to attend school in Australia if they are in Australia for more than six months and if their parents have either migrated or are temporary residents in Australia.
An ESL student faces several obstacles to learning that are related to complete or partial unawareness of the English language, a thick accent that makes it difficult for others to understand, influence of the primary language on the use and usage of the English language, cultural differences, lack of knowledge, disrupted study, lack of study space, one or both parents lacking fluent communication skills in English, different curriculum, different teaching styles, comprehension of different English dialects and accents, etc. In extreme cases, the ESL student might be traumatised by the changes and face psychological and emotional scarring.
“Historically, Australian policy has focused on assimilation, resulting in the loss of many languages and cultural practices. However, in the early years of the new millennium society has come to view the increasing diversity more positively, and has tried to include and adapt to the changes and influences from other cultures.” (Hill, Susan., 2010, p. 341.) It is this assimilation that has enabled ESL students to feel comfortable in their learning environment. However, there are impacts in various areas when there’s an increase in ESL students in the school.
The impacts of ESL students’ presence in the school are as follows:
- ESL Students: Most often they are the most affected by the changes as stated earlier. This could result in lowered learning skills and long-term impacts on personal development.
- Other Students: Sometimes, other students might find it difficult to understand or relate to students of a different cultural as well as language background. This would result in misunderstanding and resentment too.
- Teachers: The presence of an ESL student in the classroom requires the teacher to prepare and change the lesson plan to make leeway for slower learning. Most “teachers are not ready to integrate these students into the mainstream classroom.” (Clair, Nancy., 1995, pp. 189.) It was found that “given demographic trends and the limits of pre-service teacher preparation programs regarding ESL students, mainstream classroom teachers will continue to share in the education of ESL students without adequate preparation.” (Clair, Nancy., 1995, pp. 190.)
- School: The presence of ELT students in a school will influence the performance results in NAPLAN and www.myschool.edu.au. Also, there will be infrastructural changes such as language labs, literary resources, etc, and requirement for teacher resources so as to enable improvement in learning of the ESL students.
Irrespective of whether ESL students can or can not communicate fluently in English, there are two things that I believe are their expectations. These are best stated by Beare and Sir Ken Robinson. Beare says through the words of a young girl - Angelica, “…I will admire you for being able to look forward with me and to help me define what I need to learn”. (Beare., 2001, p. 11.) Sir Ken Robinson in the Youtube video on ‘Do schools kill creativity?’ says, “What are we educating them for?”
How many of us are looking forward and seeing a better future for the ESL students? We need to see a future that is far from the sound of violence, poverty and competitiveness that these students have left behind in their countries. I believe that all ESL students decide to move to Australia because they or their parents believe that life in Australia will give them that one chance to prove themselves; a chance to make a difference in their own as well as in the lives of others.
It has to be noted that ESL students do not follow the same ‘Learning Blocks’ as First Language Speakers when it comes to learning the language. Most First Language Speakers would have followed the following steps in learning a language:
Infancy – early cries, ‘visual conversations’, telegraphic speech
Early childhood – three word sentences, grammar development
Middle Childhood – increasing vocabulary, meta-linguistics awareness
Adolescence – more complex language use, abstract thinking reflected in language
(Bentley, Ian., 2010)
This can be figuratively shown using language blocks as follows:
Keeping this in mind, it is imperative that we equip ourselves like Socrates ‘to educate’ and not to teach/train these students. Socrates asked questions rather than gave answers. Peter Brougham says “Education is the kindling of a flame.” (Brougham, Peter., n.d.) This is based on the ‘Constructivist Approach’ to learning as this is more conducive to learning than the ‘Transmissive Approach’ which is more teacher-centered than learner/student-centered.
The ‘Constructivist Approach’ allows for open-ended questions, longer wait period for students to answer the questions, an obvious interest in the students answers, an opportunity for students to justify or elaborate their answers, a delay in judgement by accepting all answers neutrally, flexible methodology for students to arrive at answers, excellent feedback methodology for students, an emphasis on reasons and principles of understanding, encouragement of students to work out ‘what’ to do on the spot, and minimal copying and transcribing. (Baird, Ed., JR, Northfield, JR. p. 74.)
It is important for teachers to determine the learning requirements and styles of students before creating lesson plans. There are various ways in which students learn and these can best be explained using Benjamin S. Bloom’s taxonomy. Bloom’s taxonomy helps as a planning tool to determine whether there is an eclectic mix of learning skills in the lessons. Students move from a lower order of thinking to a higher order of thinking. So, a student who is capable of ‘Applying’ what he/she has learnt has mastered the lower order skills of ‘Analysing’, ‘Evaluating’ and ‘Creating’. It’s possible to create activities and learning opportunities that will work on ESL students moving from lower order skills to higher order skills as in the revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001, pp. 67-68.)
Another theory that can be used to improve educating ESL students is Howard Gardner’s ‘Multiple Intelligence’ theory that states that students have a mix of learning styles. The various learning styles are as follows: verbal/linguistic, visual-spatial, musical, inter-personal, intra-personal, bodily-kinaesthetic, logical/mathematical, naturalist intelligence and existential intelligence. (Gardner, Howard., 2005, pp. 7-8.) It is possible to nurture and strengthen these intelligences so that students can improve their learning styles and also to ignore or weaken these intelligences so that students do not improve.
Howard Gardner, however, says that, “Multiple intelligences should not in and of itself be an educational goal. Educational goals need to reflect one’s own values, and these can never come simply or directly from a scientific theory.” (Gardner, Howard., 2003, p. 9.) There’s a veritable smorgasbord of theories available to teachers to read and use in improving their educational methodologies. However, all this will fall flat, if it does not take into account the requirements or learning styles of the students.
Having figured out the various styles in which ESL students might learn, it is important to figure out what the curriculum has to be. The curriculum needs to move from learning the basics of English language to proficiency in using the language to communicate. The curriculum has to be based on an assessment for determining language level amongst the ESL students. I have found it useful to move from ‘the known to the unknown’ always. I have used this methodology while training ESL students in India. I have got them to communicate about their lives, their immediate environment, family and friends and then moved them into more complex topics that require stating an opinion about current affairs, news, etc. Though the topics of discussion have been eclectic, the methodology of learning has always been based on moving from ‘Receptive Skills’ to ‘Productive Skills’ on a daily basis.
My methodology of teaching is as follows. The daily routine starts with an introductory ‘Lead In’ activity that gives students an idea/clue of what the day’s lesson is all about. Based on this clue/hint, there is the ‘Reading/Listening for Gist’ activity that focuses on a broad over-view of the topic. The next ‘Reading/Listening for Specifics’ activity focuses on the appropriate area of learning for that particular day. The learning acquired is then assessed on a daily basis through ‘Post reading/listening tasks’ that will be based on ‘Productive Skills’. The assessment results will help the teacher to either scale up or scale down the next day’s activities.
Based on the curriculum, I have found it useful to change the learning environment also. I have realised that the best lesson plans are defeated if the learning environment is not conducive to learning. Most often, I make sure that ESL students have access to all learning materials and that everyone can see me when they are seated. Another important fact that I exercise is to keep my talk-time less and ensure that students have enough and more opportunities to talk amongst themselves. I have found it productive to use several interaction forms such as ‘individual work’, ‘pair work’ and ‘group work’. This ensures that ESL students and First Language Speakers have ample opportunities to practise their communication skills with each other. This ensures that there are opportunities for positive feedback too.
I believe that time will ensure that these ESL students will gain fluency in the English language. It is important that as a TESOL teacher, I should at all times and in all ways provide an environment of learning that is positive and encouraging. This industry is such that one may or may never see the positive impacts that one has on one’s students. The same thing can be said for negative impacts too. The hard work that one puts into lesson plans, curriculum development, assessment methodologies and self-development training may or may not see the productive impacts. This is because most students never return to meet their primary school teacher to tell him/her what they have achieved over the years. But if I can make a difference in a student’s life, then I will do all it takes in my power to ensure that I have the tools to make that difference.
