Today I had an experience that really made me explicitly think about what it means to be an ESL teacher. I started working with the Volunteer English Tutoring Program at Michigan State and met the person I will be tutoring for this semester. In reality, I won't actually be tutoring; the person I'm working with just wanted a conversation partner so they can improve their English. Even though it's not academic work, it really gives me some insight into the challenges that I could potentially face as an ESL teacher working with second language learners.
He's from Taiwan, which is a country that I have very little cultural or political knowledge about. As he told me, coming to the United States was like coming to a place turned upside down - everything is different: cultural norms, food, the environment, and most importantly, the language. So, I am trying to help him deal with that transition, especially through giving him practice with the language. This session made me conscious of many things I do when speaking and communication that could either create an obstacle or help in learning a second language.
For one thing, I tried to use visual cues like hand gestures or indicating objects whenever I could to help get across my point in what I was saying. I spoke slower, trying to give him time to process everything. He needed pauses sometimes to rethink things, and if needed I would rephrase what I had said. I tried to think through my word choice as I was going, so that I didn't throw out too many things at once. Sometimes though, I feel like I overwhelmed him with what I was saying. In the future, I want to work on being clearer in my pronunciation and ideas, and take breaks between what I'm saying. I was surprised by how difficult it is to actually modify your speech so that you're providing good input at an appropriate level.
I think this will be a very good experience for me. It gives me a chance to see one language learner's perspective close up; later on, if I work in an ESL classroom setting, hopefully I can use what I learn from this opportunity to apply it to each student. I'm excited to see what I can learn from this, and to see the changes in his speech across the semester. By the way, I would really recommend this to anyone else looking to get more experience with language learners; let me know if you want more information!
Sarah Miller
Love this! Thanks for sharing, Sarah! I absolutely agree with what you said here about finding it difficult to provide ESL learners with modified input. There are so many things that we do unconsciously when we speak that can make it difficult for ESL learners to understand. Very excited for you and the experiences you'll be having with this ESL convo partner. Looking forward to hearing more about it throughout the semester! :)
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