Lamentations of an ESL Teacher

by Erin Brown

As an ESL teacher at a school with an intensive ENL program, I work very closely with LEP (Limited English Proficient) students. We laugh together, we cry together, and in between, we learn English. My classroom is a safe-haven for these students because outside my room can be an educational nightmare for them due to cultural differences and untrained personnel.

Legal Matters

In Indiana, few teachers have had to teach LEP students until recently. Because of this lack of previous exposure to LEP students, many teachers are unaware of the legal issues surrounding instruction and, unfortunately, many are unwittingly breaking the law.

In 1974, the Supreme Court ruled in Lau vs. Nichols that treating students with different needs (in this case, language needs) in the same way as other students is not equal treatment. Simply providing language minority students with the same materials, classroom, and teacher as English-speaking students is not providing them equal educational opportunities. Because of their lack of English language abilities, they are unable to learn or have access to the information in the curriculum, if teachers do not make accommodations.

Accommodations

To provide equal access to education for language minority students, teachers need to modify their mode of instruction and assessment. These accommodations should be based on the student’s level of English proficiency. Many teachers are not making these modifications because they lack awareness, training, ability, or time.

Many resources are now available that provide teachers with information about the students, the different proficiency levels, and various accommodations for lessons and assessments. Jo Gusman, a former LEP student and bilingual education teacher, underscores the importance of teacher awareness by asking teachers to imagine Charlie Brown’s teacher. How can you reach and teach students if all students hear is, “Wah-wah-wah, wah-wah-wah-wah.”

A further bonus is that as teachers modify their lessons and assessments, they will find that the suggested accommodations for ELL students, in fact, benefit all of the students in the class, regardless of their native language.

Empathy

Apart from language-related issues, language minority students have many other challenges and adjustments. Immigrant students often are separated from their childhood homes, families, and friends. They live in a culture they don’t understand. They often encounter racism inside and outside of school. And there is often great economic stress requiring high school students to work long hours outside of school.

These students arrive in the United States full of hope and excitement seeking the American Dream. And as each day passes, I see that hope and excitement turn into sadness, anger and disappointment because of what they perceive as a hostile environment. One thing that can be done to address this crisis is to train the teachers who instruct these students in their legal obligations, but also to raise their consciousnesses to appreciate the emotional and psychological needs of their students.

Sources:

Crawford, J. (2008).

Lau vs. Nichols. Retrieved from James Crawford’s Language policy web site & emporium on May 2, 2008 from http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Jwcrawford/lau.htm.

Gusman, Jo (2005).

Practical strategies for accelerating the literacy skills and content learning of your English language learners. Resource handbook. Sacramento, CA: New Horizons in Education, Inc.

Lau v. Nichols,

414 U.S. 563 (1974)

Erin Brown

I was originally certified in Secondary Spanish Education, but then returned to get English certified, so I could teach English as a Second Language (ESL). ESL has interested me since high school. This is my fifth year teaching ESL at Jefferson High School in Lafayette, IN. I really enjoy working with immigrant students and am always amazed by their life stories.

This featured article appeared in Volume 3, Number 4 issue of the Write Connections quarterly newsletter. View other archived newsletters , a topical organization of all newsletters, or sign-up to receive notification when the next newsletters are ready to download.