Lesson Nine: Instructional Novelties and Their Place in the Public School System

     As a requirement of the Secondary Education Minor + Foreign Language Major at UALR, I must also become ESL certified.  In my first course of ESL, or English as a Second Language, I share the classroom with many students wishing to become ESL certified.  I speak for myself—although I feel it would be safe to assume this for the rest of the class—when I say that my view of ESL and ESL programs was entirely inaccurate before this course.  I thought that, with my certification, I would be qualified to teach a student—who may not speak English—who had been mainstreamed into an all-English-speaking classroom environment.  While this is indeed true, I had no idea that other ESL programs existed.  Along with textbook readings, the film “Profile of Effective Teaching in a Multilingual Classroom” opened my eyes to another form of English language development:  a classroom-wide language learning environment.

     Ms. Liten-Tejada, the teacher of the classroom in the video, is in charge of something truly magical.  Imagine:  one classroom, around ten students, about as many different ethnicities and native languages, and all of the students communicating!  Through various teaching strategies, Ms. Liten-Tejada teaches the students in her class English, regardless of their language and educational background.  From basic things such as speaking more slowly and simplifying directions, to the effective implication of visual cues and group-based activities, the teacher involves every student in the learning process.

     Another benefit to the class-wide approach to teaching ESL is the ability to teach one idea from many angles.  Study after study confirms that when content is taught in a foreign language, and a foreign language is taught around content, both language and content are retained better.  Ms. Liten-Tejada is not only able to teach an idea across disciplines—e.g., the art of Egypt and the history of the pharaohs—but is also able to solidify language usage among the students.  This approach is a surefire way to ensure that the material that is to be covered is learned, while the language is actively retained.

     In my future classroom, I hope to be as skilled an ESL teacher as Ms. Liten-Tejada.  Maybe, if my fortune is good, I will get the opportunity to lead such a rewarding classroom like hers.  Maybe, I will help to renovate the currently-flawed ESL programs in school districts nationwide.  Maybe, because of me, a student will go forth possessing the skills necessary to succeed. 

     Even if those skills are as basic as speaking English.