Teachers in every subject face difficult issues on a day-to-day basis: classroom management, learning retention, and individual learning and communication styles, to name a few.
While every classroom is different and comes with its own challenges, some issues are uniquely prevalent in ESL classes. Here are six recurring concerns, common to ESL teachers, as well as effective ways you can respond to each one:
Students Speaking Their Native Language More Than English
An issue common to ESL teachers and classrooms is students resorting to their native language when practicing English. It is understandable: Learning a new language takes patience and concentration. Although students might be consulting with a peer in their native language to better understand something discussed in class, it is also one way to privately dialog with their peers about something else entirely.
One way to encourage students to use English exclusively in the classroom is to make it a game or a graded assignment for older children. Reward students who go through an entire class period without using their native tongue with either a prize or a daily grade or score.
Students Avoiding Participation in Class
Sometimes the issue is not students talking too much, but rather not talking at all. Practicing another language can be embarrassing for students, and many times they will simply refuse or wait until they are alone to practice.
Problems like these can be addressed in the early weeks of the semester by showing children that they are valuable to the classroom and by creating a safe place for them to make mistakes. Encourage your students. Remind them that only by overcoming those challenges will they be able to master the language and gain confidence in themselves.
Students Being Too Dependent on the Teacher
Students who constantly ask for help and say, “I just can’t do it!” may have become too reliant on the teacher’s help. Issues of dependence can continue through the student’s education and affect their confidence and learning ability in the long run.
Teachers must empower their students to feel confident in their own abilities and strengthen their feelings of independence. Start by assessing the student on material you know they have already mastered. When they answer correctly, continue with increasingly difficult questions. Eventually, you will find they are investigating and thinking critically on their own.
Students Not Understanding What to Do
Students will not always tell you when there is a misunderstanding. They may believe that they are the only ones lagging behind. However, most of the time, there is more than one lost or struggling student.
Before giving an assignment in class or as homework, make sure the instructions are clear by explaining them a number of different ways. Talk about it, provide written instruction about it, and use images, gestures and other visuals to clarify.
Students Not Doing Homework
Students avoid doing their homework because they are unmotivated, discouraged, or they simply do not understand it. If the majority of your students avoid homework, then try another strategy.
One reason students fail to do their homework is because the amount they are assigned seems overwhelming. Try giving homework that requires less time but is assigned daily. You might find their language proficiency increasing due to their consistent, daily practice instead of practicing for a long period of time only once a week.
Students Teasing One Another
Because practicing English makes students feel vulnerable, some might try to deflect that uncomfortable feeling by putting others down or laughing at another student’s accent.
It is important that you address these issues at the beginning of the school year or session to send a clear message: In your classroom, bullying will not be tolerated. Everyone has an accent, and no accent is better or worse than any other.
Texas A&M International University offers a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction with a Specialization in Bilingual Education that specifically trains and equips ESL teachers to address problems like these.
Learn more about the TAMIU Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction with a Specialization in Bilingual Education online program.
Sources:
Owlcation: Teaching ESL: 10 Common Problems in the Classroom
Busy Teacher: 7 Most Common ESL Problems and How to Solve Them
