Struggles of Foreign Students in Learning English
A large number of students, whose first language is not English, learners especially in American countries are confronted with the challenge of meeting the expectations of the country in which where they are livingthey are studying. Requirements such as state tests and language tests have to be passed in order to keep up with their English-speaking peers and meet the demands of having a good command of English. Hence, it is also a big challenge for educational institutions to help these English language learners adapt to school and daily life. The number of these learners has increased significantly over the past years and continues to grow (Colombo).
Teaching the English language to foreign students cancould be overwhelming. Aside from teaching the fundamental skills, uplifting their morale and keeping their motivation alive are also great responsibilities. Nevertheless, success is still possible by applying effective teaching strategies and acknowledging the different learning styles of students.
In her article Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, Andrea Spillett shares the concept of English Language Development (ELD). It is a system of instructions designed to teach English to native speakers of other languages. It introducesd the technique of total immersion whereby students are educated in a manner similar to how they learned their native language. One method used is to engageing them in natural and regular interactions with English speakers in natural settings. ELD is conducted using five proficiency levels and four domains. It focuses on four skill areas, namely function, form, fluency, and vocabulary (Spillett).
These strategies are truly beneficial to English language learners, particularly because each of them has a different proficiency level, motivational style, and areas of struggle. It is great to know that despite the hindrances, learning the English language and incorporating it into their daily lives isare still attainable.
The things that were changed mostly pertained to sentence structure. I noticed that the very first sentence was originally confusing. I had used the term “English learners” which could be mistaken for a description of students who speak English. I changed it to say “students whose first language is not English” so that it was clear that the students I’m referring to are those who do not already know English. The rest of the changes were done so that my verb tenses agreed. I noticed that sometimes I used the past tense and the present tense in the same paragraph. I also changed one of the sentences so that it was clear that I was trying to say that non-English speakers should be immersed in natural settings outside of school, meaning settings in which they would encounter English speakers on a normal day-to-day basis.
Works Cited
Colombo, Hayleigh. Chalkbeat. 16 July 2015. <http://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/in/2015/07/16/the-basics-of-english-language-learning-schools-struggle-to-adapt/#.V288zzUnfjU>.
Spillett, Andrea. Teachers. 2016. <http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/strategies-teaching-english-language-learners>.
