The Role of the Teacher in Teaching ESL Students

Teachers play an important role in the success of ESL students.

Teaching ESL students adds another component to the already difficult profession of teaching. Students entering a classroom with English as their second language also face a multitude of challenges in their everyday life; these challenges are often magnified in an academic environment because of their limited vocabularies. The role of the teacher in an ESL classroom is to work each day to help the students not only learn English, but also give the knowledge and skills necessary to cope in their every day lives.

Teaching for Understanding

Providing ESL students with a classroom environment that they can learn in is the first priority of an ESL teacher. An effective educator teaches to all of the different language levels in the room; from beginner to advanced. The language used in lessons should be only slightly beyond what the students are comfortable with to provide them with the opportunity to acquire not only new vocabulary, but knowledge. Repeating important words, phrases and concepts often is also important in an ESL classroom. ESL teachers should also not assume that students are learning and check for student understanding throughout the lesson.

Language Rich Environment

Students must be fully immersed in the English language. Teachers assist in the immersion by providing students with a classroom environment that has a variety of visually and mentally stimulating materials. A language rich environment in a social studies room has several books on social studies, bright bold world maps and photographs of important places or monuments. While a language rich environment for an English classroom has pictures and biographies of important literary figures, a wall with visuals of important vocabulary words and a portion of the room devoted to grammar with books and activities.

Cultural Pride

Although the first priority of ESL teachers is to teach students English, it is also extremely important to nurture pride in each student's ethnic and cultural background. Learning the new culture is important, but maintaining their own cultural identities is equally important. Continuing to speak, read and write in their native language is essential in helping students' continued acquisition of the English language. This is because knowing the patterns of a native language gives ESL learners the foundation to learn the patterns of another language.

Building Self-Esteem

School is a traumatizing experience for many ESL students. Each day these students are tasked with learning a new language and culture. Students who may normally be outgoing and boisterous, can become withdrawn and shy because they are afraid of being made fun of or not understood. Effective ESL teachers provide their students with a safe classroom environment where they can take risks with their new language without being ridiculed by their peers or teacher.

Collaboration

ESL teachers who collaborate with their peers are more instrumental in creating students' success. Creating lesson plans that cross over multiple subjects help students learn more effectively because they will be exposed to the same vocabulary and concepts in several classes. Teachers can also work with parents to encourage them to discuss the concepts learned at school in their native language, which ultimately helps students retain all of the new information that they are taking in every day.

References

• Everything ESL.net: ESL Teacher's Role in Intercultural Communication
• A Guide to Learning English: Make it Comprehensible
• A Guide to Learning English: Classroom Guidelines
• A Guide to Learning English: What teachers should know about English Vocabulary
• A Guide to Learning English: Second Language Acquisition essential information

Resources

• American TESOL Institute