First Reflection (Week of 1-24-11)

This semester, after having worked with the beginners in the ESL class, I wanted to get some experience working with the advanced students. After my first couple of classes working with the students that have placed themselves in the advanced group, I have learned that it isn't necessarily any easier working with the more proficient English speakers than the less proficient English speakers.

One of the bumps in the road that I have encountered is the difference in formal education that each student has received. While reviewing some of the material that they covered last semester, I found out that only a couple of them knew what I meant when I said something about a verb in the past tense. I definitely don't think that students need to know every single metalinguistic term, but I feel like it is important for them to know certain basic ones. As a minimum, I think that students should learn the lexical categories of noun, verb, adjective, and adverb. I also think that they should know what typical form is required for verbs in the past, present, progressive, and future tenses. There are more terms which may be necessary as students get more advanced, but I really don't know if I should expect students to learn these terms because the majority of ESL students are not in these classes to continue into formal education, but to improve their communication skills in the English-speaking community. This is definitely something that I am going to have to keep in mind, because I need to understand the goals that students have for themselves and not project onto them what I think that their goal(s) should be.

Another stumbling block that I have encountered at all levels is translation. I thought that this would be less of an issue with the more advanced students, but clearly I was wrong. Within the three hours that I spent working with the advanced students this past week, there were at least a half dozen times that I would be interrupted while I was attempting to explain a word or concept. These interruptions were one of the other students, who obviously already understood the concept, explaining it in their native language. As of late, I am finding myself more and more in the camp of “those who think that L2 instruction should be in the L2.” This is an area of some debate, even within my own mind, and something that I will continue to think about as this semester and my learning continue.