Photo by Fabian on Unsplash.com
Student survey on ESL
Photo by CDC on Unsplash.com
Students were asked to take a survey about their ESL experience in school to find what was/wasn’t helpful in understanding of where teachers lack and can improve in ESL to support multilingual students and require ESL courses for upcoming teachers. Here are some of the results:
“How long were you in an ESL program?”
- 1-2 years (blue)
- 3-5 years (pink)
- 5+ years (turquoise)
What did you find most helpful/beneficial in the ESL classes?
Students stated that they felt most supported when teachers were attentive and patient, going at their pace, but still making time for all students and building a safe class community where they all felt seen and had their own goals.
“It was comforting that other people looked like me and I was in a space like home, of course ESL is like that but it was nice. I found it helpful that we played games and didn’t feel unseen.”
– Ashley Acevedo Huey
“It was beneficial to be around other kids who look different(not white) and were immigrants just like me. My regular classes were full of mostly white people who didn't represent diverse cultures.”
– Sammar Sadat
“I found it the most helpful when I got the extra help in learning how to decode words. Sounding out the words mainly coming from a Spanish speaking family. Not to mention the one on one with the teachers and being able to learn at my own pace.”
– anonymous
“I had a great teacher who cared for her students. Classroom community was built through different activities, such as pizza and fun craft days. My teacher set high expectations of respect, kindness, and academic performance for all of us. She celebrated all of our successes.”
– Jacqueline Gonzalez-Torres
What was the most challenging part in ESL? What do you think your teacher (ESL or general classroom teacher) could've done to make your learning experience better?
Students stated that ESL lacked in having a steady pace & accommodating to the student's needs for their level of English. Students struggled returning to their general class and catching up when they were pulled out for ESL and felt lost when their teachers didn’t support or seem to put extra effort into them. There is the thought that any immigrant or newcomer needs to be put into an ESL class, but it is always up to the parents if they want to put their child in this program, as stated by the test students have to take to see if they need any extra services. Again, this can vary depending on the state and school district, such as how their testing is, how their ESL program is shaped, and what ESL curriculum they use to best fit the students. Colorín Colorado is a great resource that explains ELL programs and has support for teachers and students.
Students also stated that when their teacher didn’t have any prior knowledge or practice with newcomer students, they felt alone and left behind to figure things out themselves; on top of being “different” from everyone else, it could be challenging to communicate and make friends. When teachers embrace their students and educate themselves and all students about cultural and diverse backgrounds, everyone feels represented and can support one another better. Students will feel safe and comfortable asking for help and embracing their differences. It's always great to see teachers explain to their students how some may not know English now, but they are trying, and we can support them, and how cool it is to speak more than one language! Embrace translanguaging.
“The course content was either too advanced or too easy. ESL is better suited to working one on one with people at their level instead of generalizing for a large group at people at different levels. Also often times the teachers were monolingual, I think it would be helpful for the teachers to speak or understand at least some of their student’s native language.”
– anonymous
“I enjoyed my ESL program in elementary school. I looked forward to going to the class everyday because of my friends and ESL teacher. However, my brother's first ESL teacher was awful because she got easily frustrated when the ELs didn't understand. She sighed all the time (like she didn't like her job or her students).”
– Jacqueline Gonzalez-Torres
“I wouldn't say I had any personally from the ESL program, but coming back to class after I got pulled out of class to go to ESL would be hard since my general teacher did not have the back ground knowledge to teach newcomers or Spanish speaking students. I would be confused and would receive a worksheet oppose to the activity they would be doing in class.”
– anonymous
“They kept in the program way too long. In an ideal world they would have integrated me intro "regular" classes one year back. There was this weird expectation that because I was an immigrant, NEEDED to be in ESL classes.”
– Sammer Sadat
“I wish my ESL teacher and general education teacher would have made me feel proud of being multilingual. For some time, I felt shame that my first language wasn't English. Yes, we could speak Spanish in class, but the focus was always mastering English. If my teachers would have offered more multilingual books or highlighted the benefits of speaking more than one language, maybe I wouldn't have experienced a shame phase.”
– Jacqueline Gonzalez-Torres
“Have teachers/mentors that reflect the students and be able to relate to them. Work with students individually at their level.”
– anonymous
“Perhaps had more background knowledge on how to make their students feel connected to the curriculum and making connections with everyone. Not to mention knowing how to scaffold the material so everyone can be part of the learning.”
– anonymous
The extra support that would have helped
- Communication is key
- Learning to scaffold, small extra efforts to support students like visuals, adding labels, or translating
- One-on-one time or small group
- Staying organized and timely in lessons
- Build a community: group projects, listening sessions, table talks
- Grammar practice
- Use of music
“I would’ve liked if I got to practice with my peers, what I mean is if I got to practice my English with peers I would have gotten better. Or if teachers who spoke English would’ve tried to accommodate for me.”
– Ashley Acevedo Huey
“Me: Multilingual books to keep my Spanish skills and improve my English skills at the same time My brother: a pacing that wasn't too rushed so he actually had time to achieve success before moving on to the next topic.”
– Jacqueline Gonzalez-Torres
“group projects to gain courage and talk to new people”
– Eduardo Perez
“English has hard grammar so I think more practices with that would’ve helped.”
– Ashley Acevedo Huey
“More activities to improve my listening”
– anonymous
Lastly, I asked students if they think requiring teachers (of all grades and concentrations) to take an Intro to Teaching ESL would be beneficial and could help in their journey of learning English.
Do you think an Intro to Teaching ESL credit class should be a requirement for future teachers? If so, why?
“YES. You will always have kids from different backgrounds, it is important to have that knowledge and open mind that kids will struggle and learn in many different ways.”
– Ashley Acevedo Huey
“Yes, the needs for ESL students are different than native English speaking students and training in the area could improve and support teachers.”
– anonymous
“Absolutely, it should be required. Our classrooms have become very linguistically and culturally diverse. Intro to ESL teaches teacher candidates scaffolds to better support ELs and all students. It also gives them a better understanding about what ELs experience and how new language acquisition works.”
– Jacqueline Gonzalez-Torres
“Yes, because it is uncertain whenever a teacher is going to have an EL students and they need to learn how to teach them best fit if they are not knowing the language spoken.”
– anonymous
“I do think it should be required due to no matter what district you work at their might always be a newcomer who may not know the language you speak. Does not mention Spanish only it can be any other language or dialect. Therefore knowing how to communicate with your students is very important and therefore having some training is better then no training or having some idea of what ESL is made of and about.”
– anonymous
“YES! because it gives teachers a perspective to teaching students who are not raised dominantly in the US.”
– Sammer Sadat
“For international students ABSOLUTELY. Not every country follows MLA plus grammar and such are of great importance.”
– Eduardo Perez
“Yes, I had a few teachers that were not understanding at all of my challenges as a non-English speaker and they were very rude to me.”
– anonymous
Links to support ELLs and teachers about these topics:
- Using technology
- The "Can Do" Approach
- Music and Language Learning
- 5 Organization Ideas for your ESL Classroom
If you are a student who was in ESL during school and would like to share your experience, you can add your response to the survey here so I can update and continue to provide more information on ESL resources. Thank you!
