Intercultural Proficiency And Language Teaching

In the case of ELLs their culture and identity are considered constraining factors with respect to academic challenges, but scholars feel that these are due to non-recognition of native cultural dynamics (Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1995). However, if these aspects are utilized it can contribute to a better learning experience in terms of language and other academic areas. The native cultural background and its linkage has the capacity to motivate and ignite interest in ELLs and it can provide the platform which would facilitate learning new skills and academic content. Research has also shown that measures to improve language skills of ELLs often neglect the interconnected dimensions of the culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) student biography. In particular, understanding the sociocultural, linguistic, academic, and cognitive dimensions of ELLs is helpful for educators in order to attain higher standards of language proficiency and academic success (Perez and Holmes 2010). For instance, a teacher reflects on her personal experience in these words:

With the United States demographics changing rapidly, school systems are flooded with students from other countries. According to state and national guidelines, these students do not have the language skills necessary to be successful in general education classrooms. Teachers often face the dilemma of how to effectively reach these students. Traditional methods or strategies do not fully reach these students, so teachers question themselves as teachers or question the student’s intellectual ability. This frequently causes misconceptions about teaching ELL students. Knowing how a new language is acquired helps many teachers build success quickly, making learning and teaching

After coming to the US, the lack of opportunities to communicate with native English speakers hinders many international students from establishing a meaningful relationship with native English speakers (Bertram et al., 2014; Kim & Egan, 2011; Zhai, 2004). The language barrier not only impedes their ability to communicate with their American peers and teachers, and also crushes their confidence and self-esteem when they find that their earlier training in English language and achievements in TOEFL/GRE do not help them to resolve practical issues that arise in a classroom environment (Baba and Hosoda, 2014; Kim & Egan, 2011; Wang, 2012). Although most graduates may have encountered the vocabulary of their specialty, they may be still baffled by the

For all immigrants and refugees, language is an important tool in their new society for economic and social progress. To help non-English speaking immigrants in their road to success, English as a second language (ESL), became inseparable program for almost every colleges and universities in America. Increasing number of immigrants and refugees, from non-English speaking nations, requires more and more studies to identify challenges that these students encounter in their ESL education. Native language and culture of these newcomers were fixed subjects for studies and researches for many years. According to Niranji, Pathirage, Morrow, Walpitage and Skolits (2014) “international students often face several challenges due to cultural differences as well as psychological issues during the transitions”. Learning a new language is not a simple process; it is a complex procedure of development and transition which includes learning/adopting another culture and connecting with new society.

In order for effective intercultural communication to occur one must be aware of the different aspects of communication. These can include but are not limited to language usage, types of non-verbal

As communicative competence becomes a more focused goal for classrooms across the U.S., student progress in developing higher levels of proficiency becomes increasingly important. In order to prepare students adequately for the work force as well as post-secondary education, students need a long sequence of well-articulated language learning that begins in elementary school. If students are expected to be ready to use their languages for professional purposes upon entering the work force, they need to leave the K-12 educational system with an Advanced level of proficiency and the post-secondary world at the Superior level. Meeting these levels of proficiency requires that students begin early and continue in an extended sequence of language

Freeman and Freeman (2003) addressed the different types of ELLs and the differences in language experiences related to cultural background. The first two types of students have both recently arrived from another country; however, one has experienced adequate formal schooling in their native language, and one has experienced limited formal schooling. The ELL student with adequate formal schooling in the native language may find it easier to acquire the English language due to a strong foundation in their first language or native language, while the ELL student with inadequate schooling in their native language may struggle with acquiring the English language. A third type of ELL is one exposed to two languages, which may have caused a lack of academic literacy in either language (Freeman & Freeman, 2003). Finally, there is the long-term ELL, although exposed to English-speaking classes for more than five years, requires ongoing language support. The long-term ELL may have literacy skills that are below grade level using their first language as well. As indicated by the diverse groups, teachers should understand that the label of ELL does not indicate homogeneity within the group. “Teachers should never assume that students who share the same language will observe the same cultural practices or understand the same types of

English Language Learners (ELL) constituted 9.5% of the students in the United States in the school year 2012-2013. That is equivalent to 4.4 million students and the number seems to be growing. These statistics call for special training for educators in the United States so they can tackle any problem due to language barriers. It is important for teachers to understand the difference between Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) to better understand and instruct english language learners.

Communicative language teaching (CLT) is based on the idea that language is but a mean for communication, and so its primary goal is to achieve, what is called, communicative competence. For CLT, a good language learner is one who can communicate well in a real life situation that which involves a lot of strategies to keep a meaningful conversation and to avoid any communication gap. Unlike the audio-lingual method, which originally originated from behaviorism, CLT did not have any psychological background. Thus, all that CLT material developers and syllabus designers had was the broad theory that students learn best by doing. It was all based on the general assumption that the “learners’ communicative competence develops automatically through their active participation

International students/scholars are facing many challenges when they arrive in the United States. Several major barriers that they face include: 1) Language barriers: Most newly arrived international students/scholars have difficulty in communicating effectively with native English speakers (McClure, 2007; Araujo, 2011; Andrade, 2006). Several factors may contribute to this situation. First, the students who learned English in another accent (e.g. British English) may have trouble following the native American English speakers. Second, native English speakers speak too fast for them. Third, misunderstanding between international students/scholars and the native English speakers may result from missing social context during conversations. Fourth, international students/scholars have trouble understanding slangs and idioms when the meaning is not obvious. Fifth, the lack of opportunities to communicate with the native English speakers hinders many international students/scholars from establishing a meaningful relationship with native English speakers; 2) Academic barriers: Differences in teaching philosophies and theories may result in a teaching style that is very different from the students’ homes. For example, group discussion might be brand new for some students. The students who have trouble in participating in class as actively as the domestic students may struggle to adapt to the different learning style (Marsh & Hau, 2004; Andrade, 2006; Trilokeka & Rasmi, 2011; Zhou,

Due to the ESOL population rapidly increasing within the public school population, teachers will encounter children speaking a home language other than English in nearly every classroom and we, as teachers must be adequately prepared to assist them in reaching their fullest potential. “Many students today struggle to meet high academic standards, but ELLs have the added complexity of having to learn and use high-level academic English as they study challenging content in a new language (Echevarria, 2008).” English Language Learners come from diverse backgrounds and enter our classrooms speaking numerous languages. In order to become well prepared to educate these students, the following domains must be concentrated on: Culture (Cross-Cultural Communications), Language and Literacy (Applied Linguistics), Methods of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), ESOL Curriculum and Materials Development, and Assessment (ESOL Testing and Evaluation). Putting these topics at the forefront is sure to assist all English Language Learners in reaching academic success.

A fundamental goal of learning a foreign language is to communicate. Today, the need of interacting in English effectively, is increasing. This is needed to be able to interact with both native and non-native speakers. A reason can be the diversity in populations which is growing because of migration and many adult learners study English because they need it in workplace settings, where they communicate with English-speaking colleagues or just for English environment. These learners would benefit from a wide repertoire of the learning language to communicate meaningfully.

It has been proven through research that young learners benefit from participating in both informal and formal talk throughout the school day. The aim of teaching a second language is to assist the young learner to speak fluently and communicate effectively in a second language.

Having in mind the topic of this article, Nihat (2008) explains the importance of acquiring communicative competences inside the classrooms as an important fact of English Language Teaching. He stated that more than grammatical rules and structures, students should know how to use their second language, in order to

The World Languages curriculum consists of four Essential standards, including “Interpersonal”, “Interpretive”, “Presentational”, and “Culture” which are delivered in one semester. In regards to the last strand, the students are required to build an understanding of the practices, perspectives and products of different cultures and societies. Likewise, the students is required to compare their own culture and the target culture.. It is expected to teach and prepare our student to compete in a global society and help them to expand their knowledge of the world. This knowledge implies to teach concepts that are obviously very diverse and complex and require an extra effort from students and teachers. To complicate things, most of our students lack the