Teachers should always interact with their student’s parents and build a strong relationship built upon effective communication and trust. For a general education teacher, this is most likely very easy to do. For an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, this can be increasingly difficult due to language barriers and cultural differences. How then, would an ESL teacher achieve a strong relationship built upon the principle of trust and effective communication? First, and foremost, an ESL teacher must have a positive attitude when they are working with their students and their families. ESL teachers need to always look at the bright-side of every situation regarding their students. For example, if one of their students is only able to grasp one main concept from one lesson the whole entire school day, they should be happy with the student. Although it may only be one important concept, that ESL teacher was still able to get across to their student in some way and even though it was little progress, it was still progress. Progress is one of the biggest goals and focus in an ESL classroom. By having a positive attitude, the ESL teacher is fostering a nurturing, warm, safe environment where each student feels comfortable and eager to learn. Having a positive attitude is important when communicating with students and their families, but there is more that an ESL teacher must do when they reach out to the parents and families of their ESL students. ESL teachers to
In order to help those non-native people to be successful in the United Sates, there should have some kind of programs to help them to learn English effectively, but also to maintain their native language. Bilingual Education and ESL programs are systems that developed since the mid 1900s in the United States to reach the goal of helping non-native people with the language. There has been the argument of whether these programs are effective and necessary to maintain to help the non-native speakers. Therefore, it is important to find a way to secure the Bilingual Education and ESL programs are helpful to non-native people to learn English and maintain their native language. According to the overall practice of these programs in the
All these strategies gives all students an equal opportunity to practice English, participation and involvement. ELLs students when it’s time to read or participate in class they may be reluctant to speak because of their lack of proficiency in English or feel uncomfortable in an environment where they have to share their ideas. ESL teachers must provide a positive and supportive environment that offers significant influence on student comfort level, success and participation that requiring ELLs to use the language in front of class without force them
For teachers, I believe they are lacking in having efficient data, practices, and resources. These three categories play an essential role in educating, evaluating, and caring for ELL students. Communication is a huge factor when it comes to instruction in the classroom. In the past research has shown poor communication between teachers, students and families. Schools often lack in providing differentiated methods and tools to teach ELL students. Schools in the past have failed to offer the correct assessments that were needed in order to diagnose each student's needs and measure their individualized learning standards. Educators can easily become frustrated because there is such a wide range of English learners. This means academic levels are different and the educators have not received the proper training or instructions on how to correctly educate ELL students.
I propose to you a case study on a pre-kindergarten English language learning student through qualitative research. My goal was to find out if he faces any problems with regards to his behavior, academic progress and attitudes towards his teachers, classmates and parents. His name is David and just recently came to the United States from Russia about two years ago. He has a complicated time understanding what goes on in his environment because of the language barrier. The one positive aspect for David is that my assistant in the class is Russian as well. Even though he has a hardship speaking the English language and understanding his peers, my assistant helps translate words from Russian to English for him and vice versa.
Many parents believe that it is better not to speak English. When this happens the students will not receive the practice that they really need. The student must know their parents’ language it is imperative to the student’s cultural identity and has to maintain a healthy relationship with their family. Parents’ have concerns about using their native language with their children include: learning another language is too difficult it will delay their language development; the child will not be able to master either language; they will not be as proficient as the students who know one language; confusing the two languages will happen; and they will communicate in English with an accent. The school should address these concerns before the school year begins.
Furthermore, Vonderlack-Navarro suggest another beneficial way to support English language learners is to involve parents in the students’ education. Because of the language barriers, education levels, and culture, this goal will not be a stress-free assignment; however, once the parents have “buy-in” and trust the school systems, the goal would be accomplished (Stover,
It is not impossible for schools to involve the parents of their ELL students, they must demonstrate to the parents and students that they are valued members of the school community. There has been considerable amounts of research on the importance and benefits of working closely with the parents of ELL students and how income and social class are strong predictors of how families relate to schools. For example, low income or non-English speaking parents may leave big decisions regarding school up to the teachers because of their expertise and the parents potential lack of. In a study
Bilingualism and home language can be encouraged by the educator to ensure that the student learns successfully. As an ELL student it can be a challenge to learn a new language, this is why educators should allow students to use their first language to promote a meaningful connection with the second language that is being learned. At home it is quite evident that ELL students communicate using their primary language, therefore at school it is a complete turnaround. Educators, at this point can promote literacy skills in which the native language is used, but then transferred into skills that are valuable to learn English. The home language use in effect influences English learning in maintenance of cognitive aspects in bilingualism by the ELL students (Academic Writing Tips, 2011). For example, encouraging collaboration and peer groups of students of the same academic level, but of various cultures, will promote the student to use their language sparingly, but also become familiar with the second language. ELL students have to have the confidence and courage to learn a second language and develop the literacy skills that are involved in learning, this is when parental and community resources should be available to incorporate English acquisition skills.
It is important as a teacher to make sure that they communicate with English Language Learners parents. ELL parents may have a difficult time becoming involved in their student’s academics because they might not know the English language as well. As a teacher, I will want to help the ELL parents as much as possible. I will inform the parents that I am here to help them in any way possible. And that I have found some very helpful community resources that aid in English acquisition and serve immigrant families that may be able to help them out. There might be a lot of questions that the ELL parents might have that as a teacher I will not know the answer, this is when the community resource can help them out. It was mentioned that when someone
When trying to communicate diversity issues with parents about certain needs in your class for their child may be difficult. Especially, when trying to communicate among parents of ELL (English language learners) and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students. Some of the difficulties you may run into are language barriers, misunderstanding of dialect, offensive gestures, and even frustration. As teachers when need to keep a cool head on our shoulders and approach this situation with a positive attitude, a plan, and a great expectation of the outcome.
(Miller, 2003 & Roffey, 2002 as cited by Porter, 2008). There are different strategies teachers can use to maintain effective communication with parents and build strong relationships once they have made communication. Keeping a parents trust is important in maintaining open lines of communication so they can discuss concerns relating to the child and solve issues promptly. Teachers can gain parents confidence by always respecting confidentiality and avoiding rumours. If a parent finds out that their child’s teacher breached confidentiality or is a known gossip, parents will find it difficult to confide in them with an issue regarding their child, particularly if it is of a personal nature. Parents are also more likely to approach their child’s teacher if they know they can discuss issues and reach a mutual agreement (Bender, 2005). Teacher-parent communication is all about showing trust and comfort with each other. Frequent communication between these two parties creates less tension, when an issue arises, allowing a constructive discussion to take place and reaching an agreement sooner without hostility.
The article Principles and Practices of Sociocultural Assessment: Foundations for Effective Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms, is written to inform the readers about different types of practices that teachers can take into action when working with ESL students. In this article, it mentions how different principals help to accommodate the ESL students. One of the principals that was mentioned was is that learning is social. In the article, it was mentioned that learning is social because it helps students to understand and use interaction with others to share meaning in a social setting (Smith, Teemant, & Pinnegar, 2004, P. 39). In the article, another principal that helps ESL students is that teaching is assisting. The meaning
CONTEXT Katie, aged 15, is a highly motivated student from a family with a strong educational background, currently living and studying in a British-style International School in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam, and is a member of the increasing group of globally-mobile students. Katie can be solidly placed into the “entering phrase” of the transition from Taiwanese national to immigrant in a Western society, where she “has decided to become part of the new community, but is still figuring out what that means” (Hayden 2006:53) at the age of thirteen. She is an example of what has recently been identified as a common occurrence for international school students, children going through a “sojourner adjustment” (McKillop-Ostrom 2000), as can
To be an ESL student in the regular classroom is not easy for the students and the teachers. Researchers agree that most of the time, the high school and middle school teachers are less prepared to receive this type of students in their classroom (DelliCarpini). In regular classroom is difficult for the teachers to think they have different type of the students in the classroom. ESL students do not like to ask a lot of questions even they are not understanding what the teachers say.
I believe successful teachers develop a strong partnership with students’ parents. Having clear communication with parents can play a significant role in a child’s education. It is also the best way to avoid misunderstandings from the beginning of