Making Assumptions about ESL Knowledge

I was tutoring an advanced ESL student today. He's a doctoral student at one of the top universities in the U.S. He asked me to primarily help him with his writing skills. I always focus on the areas my advanced students want to focus on, as opposed to beginning ESL students who need me to guide the directions of our ESL lessons a lot more.

Some small thing came up today about pronunciation. I started talking about the many vowel sounds English has, yet we only have five vowels (sometimes six with the letter "y"). I wrote and said, "a, e, i, o, u." He asked me to repeat the vowels. He said that this was the first time he'd heard a native speaker say the vowels.

I usually try not to make assumptions about what English language learners know or don't know. I'll often ask about something just to make sure. I never thought to ask about something as basic as the vowels. I learned that I still make certain assumptions and need to be even more conscious.

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"Speak Like the Natives"

A couple of days ago, I was chastised by someone who read one of my blog entries. She was "flabbergasted" by the fact that I call myself an "English language tutor." You can read her full Comment and my response here: Expressions for Physical Descriptions (look at the Comments section of the blog entry).

I was reminded of a college professor I had for a Research class in the mid 1980s. He was an older gentleman who had "old-fashioned" ways and ideas. Although it was a Research class (with papers and statistics and such), he would often take the opportunity to tell the class what he felt about the issues of the day.

One class, he went on a tirade about how we should only use the generic "he," "his" and "him" in our research papers. He told us how he felt about the use of "he/she," "s/he," or even "he or she," and other such variations to include the female in our writing. He believed that the masculine pronoun should continue to be used in all cases and that what the "women's libbers" were trying to do to the English language was ridiculous. I have some thoughts that his concerns were not solely about "the English language." He may have had some issues about the changes in the world that were occurring around him.

If one studies the English language (through formal study or merely through observation), one will notice that the English language is changing (maybe even "evolving" in some cases). It is not a static language. If it were static, dictionary writers would not be adding new words every year. Nor would they provide "Usage Notes" (as Longman's does) about the changing language. (See His, Hers or Theirs.

ESL students need to be taught Standard American English (in the U.S.) so that they will succeed in school and work. However, English language learners also need to be taught English as it is spoken and as it is used by native English speakers.

Many of my advanced English students have intensively studied English grammar in their home countries. Many have told me that they did not understand what people were saying and they had trouble making themselves understood when they first came to the U.S. After living in the U.S. for a while, they caught on, but mostly by context. However, they were not able to replicate the English words, expressions, reductions, etc., that they heard.

My students who are professionals are able to do their jobs effectively, but when it comes to making small talk and hanging out with their colleagues, they feel lost. It's as though the native speakers are speaking some other form of English. It is at this point that many English language learners turn to me. They want to "speak like native speakers." They want to fit in. They know formal English. And now they want to learn to speak as their colleagues do.

Yes, it is important to ensure that non-native (and native) English speakers know formal English. However, from my experience, it is also important that English language learners now how to "speak like the natives."

Essay Outline for ESL Students

I'm meeting with an ESL student I met a couple of months ago. At that time, we worked on a Personal Statement for college admission. Today, we're meeting to go over how to write an essay. This particular questions comes up over and over again with my ESL college students. So I decided to make a printout of the Outline I recommend that students follow.

Here it is:

Simple Outline
I. Introduction

II. Point A

III. Point B

IV. Point C

V. Conclusion
Detailed Outline
I. Introduction
     A. What is the paper about (thesis statement)
     B. What are the points that will be covered
     C. Transition sentence to Point A

II. Point A (Topic Sentence)
     A. Sub-point a
     B. Sub-point b
     C. Sub-point c
     D. Point A conclusion and transition to Point B (one sentence)

III. Point B (Topic Sentence)
     A. Sub-point a
     B. Sub-point b
     C. Sub-point c
     D. Point B conclusion and transition to Point C (one sentence)

IV. Point C (Topic Sentence)
     A. Sub-point a
     B. Sub-point b
     C. Sub-point c
     D. Point C conclusion and (possible) transition to Conclusion

V. Conclusion (different types are possible)
     A. Summary of Points (and/or)
     B. Your recommendation

Of course, this outline will probably require an explanation for the writing student, as it is a guideline and will have to be adjusted according to the type of paper the student is writing. It's easier to explain this to your ESL writing student in person.
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Stressing the Outline for ESL Writing

Several of my adult ESL students want to improve their writing skills for college courses. Most are very advanced English language learners, although some have only intermediate writing skills. Working with intermediate students to improve their writing skills can take quite a while because of all the potential English grammar errors (and word choice, syntax, etc.).

When working with these students, not only do all of the above components of English have to be addressed, but also how to structure a paper. I've mentioned before that much of what I teach about how to structure a college paper, I learned in high school. It's solid advice.

As I work with one particular student who is very advanced (she started studying in the U.S. at the beginning of high school), I'm finding that I have to stress the outline part of the writing process to help her to become a better writer. It's tempting to rush this process, but it's really essential.

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Teaching English Writing Skills

Some of my adult ESL students are university students. Often, the number one priority for these students is improving their writing skills. They are no longer taking ESL courses, but are taking non-ESL courses and are expected to perform/write as native English speakers.

I find that I use the information I learned in high school (a long time ago!) about writing a paper. The same info I learned in my English courses is still the classic way to write a paper (Introduction, Body, Conclusion, topic sentences, etc.).

For ESL students who are working on their writing, I have them write something between classes and send it to me before class. It often takes quite a while to review the paper on my own time. I'm not only looking for structure, but also for grammar tenses, prepositions, etc.

Working with the student during our regular lessons to review the writing assignment often runs over our scheduled time. I try to keep this in mind when I give the writing assignment. I find that two pages are about the maximum I can cover with my ESL students in an hour-and-a-half lesson. And that's assuming there aren't too many student questions!

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"Small Talks" and ESL Learners

One of the most common errors I hear my adult ESL students make is referring to small talk as "small talks," with an "s". Small talk never takes an "s" at the end. It's already a plural (compound) noun.

This is probably the easiest thing that I can offer my ESL students about small talk. I can also offer some basic topics for small talk (weather, traffic, food, sports, etc.). For more advanced ESL learners, the topic can get a little more complicated.

After English language learners master the simple small talk topics, they often want to go beyond the basics. I feel that this is often where cultural differences and even political correctness can come into play.

Thanks to my previous lengthy work and life experiences, helping students to maneuver the topic of small talk through these more complex pathways is one of the things that I feel I'm able to offer my students.

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ESL Students and Political Correctness

As a private ESL tutor of adults, I feel that it's part of my responsibility to my students to answer questions and offer suggestions related to culturally appropriate expressions and terminology. This includes "political correctness." These things aren't usually part of my formal lesson plans. I just address them when they come up.

Politically correct expressions were part of one of my ESL lessons today with one of my advanced ESL students. We were specifically looking at the word "chick" when referring to girls and women. The first step here was to discuss what "politically correct" means and its abbreviation "P.C." We then talked about literal and slang definitions of the word "chick"; and we talked about the context in which my student heard this word being used.

When I have a particularly advanced ESL student, I may spend some time going over the history or background of a particular term or expression or word. The trick here is to remember that most of my students want to improve their speaking skills, so I have to not do too much of the talking!

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English for Love or Money

I've had a lot of young adult ESL students in the past few years. Many have been working towards advanced degrees in business. I've had a good number of CPAs and aspiring CPAs and other business majors. I ask them about how they came to their career decisions. Most have very logical reasons, primarily around making money and creating a good life for their future families.

I'm currently working with a PhD student. She's working on a PhD in business. She used to work as a CPA in Korea. Now she wants to become a professor. She's in her early 30s. She told me today about how she really did not like being a CPA. She didn't care for the business world, but she didn't really feel there were any alternatives.

I think that for people from many countries outside of the U.S., there seems to be fewer options. I think that Americans are becoming more comfortable with non-money making alternatives for careers, and are desiring more to be "happy" in other ways. Maybe that will be one of our future exports.

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Write it Like a Native English Speaker

I worked with one of my ESL students today on her writing. She didn't really make too many mistakes in her writing samples, but she wanted to "write like a native speaker."

I think that there are certain things that many native speakers will say, generally, the same way. However, depending on what is being said, there is great variation in the way that native English speakers speak and write.

If the way an ESL learner says something is not wrong or awkward, I try to encourage them to have more faith in the way they are communicating. Of course, this is something that is more likely to happen with more advanced ESL learners.

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Comment on "How English is Really Spoken"

A couple of days ago, I wrote How English is Really Spoken. Steve, from www.eslspider.com and www.healthyexpat.com submitted a comment about his experiences. I’m not sure if people have a chance to read the Comments, so I wanted to post Steve’s comment more prominently.

“I think every ESL instructor faces the same situation. There is textbook English and there is real world English. You can tell the students what you know to be the truth, often it is best for them to come to a truth on their own. The way I deal with this is to simply play a scene from some English movie which is popular with the students at the time. Provide a copy of the script if possible, simply Google for it and print off a copy for each of the students. Perhaps they can write the script as they hear it. Then show the official copy. In this way they can hear and see the real world English, I then show a scene from some Shakespeare movie (recent famous actor is best). So, I ask....which is English? Let them talk it out and vote on the outcome.

It is the same in any language I know of, textbook v real world. Once they can relate it to their own language, they can see it is the same with English.

Another suggestion, take a popular English song and have the students in class write out the lyrics as they hear them. Then produce the actual lyrics, which is correct? Are the lyrics textbook English? I doubt it. Deal with slang, regionalism, mention that you cannot sometimes understand someone from another country speaking English. I mention some of the most beautiful pronunciation and vocabulary is in fact spoken by people from African countries. Most students in Japan found this hard to believe. Some students think real English is spoken by only this or that nation or people, which is wrong. Part of being in the ESL business is to break down the untruths, to open your student's eyes and ears. Let them know they are speakers of English, they will be understood.

Keep grinding away,
Steve”

Thanks, Steve, for the comment.

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How English is Really Spoken

One of the challenges I occasionally have with advanced ESL students is that they disagree with me about how the English language is used. There's a difference between the correct, formal English language and how the language is actually used by native speakers. This is one of the reason's that many EFL positions will prefer and even require native English speakers, as opposed to non-native speakers who may even have an advanced English degree.

English language learners who study in their home countries are often exceptional when it comes to grammar skills. This is why it makes it a bit of a challenge for them when they try to communicate with native English speakers. And it makes it a challenge during some of my tutoring sessions. I have to develop enough trust with students so that they know I'm not leading them astray, and that people really do speak without using proper grammar sometimes, even highly educated people.

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The Best ESL Dictionary

Many ESL students start with a bilingual dictionary. Starting with a bilingual dictionary is probably essential for beginning and even intermediate learners of English as a Second Language, especially when they are doing homework or studying English on their own. However, for advanced level ESL students, an English-only dictionary is absolutely essential to master the language.

The problem with many English dictionaries is that they either provide too many definitions (including definitions that are no longer used), in which case the ESL learner may not be able to figure out the best definition, or they are too small and don’t provide enough definitions.

The best English dictionary that I’ve found for English learners is Longman Advanced American Dictionary. Although this isn’t specifically a “best ESL dictionary,” it is the best dictionary I’ve found for second language learners because it provides definitions that are commonly used today. It provides sentences as examples for many words. It tells you when a word is commonly mistaken with another word. It provides lists of spoken phrases, lists many phrasal verbs with definitions, and it has a lot of grammar usage notes to help ESL students with word choice. There’s a separate section with “Language Notes” on prepositions, adjectives, idioms, modal verbs, phrasal verbs, articles, and more.

I believe this English dictionary is a “must-have” for advanced-level English learners and I recommend it to all of my students. Every student I’ve recommended this dictionary to has spoken highly of it.

Longman publishes several dictionaries. Be sure to get the one with the exact title above. It comes with a CD-ROM. You can get it in hardcover or paperback.

Student Needs Assessment

A Student Needs Assessment (aka Student Needs Analysis) is essential when you are teaching students one-to-one. Completing this process gives you a beginning roadmap to follow for the first couple of lessons with your new student. You'll learn more about the student's needs as you spend time with your student.

I work with adults only. The majority of my students are advanced ESL students, so they are able to tell me the areas they would like to focus on. That doesn't mean I slack off in doing the Needs Assessment. Sometimes the student may not be able to articulate the precise areas they need to improve. They just know that they want to improve their listening skills, for example, but they don't that the problem they are having is identifying reductions commonly used by native English speakers.

I always set up a free first meeting with a potential new student. This allows me to do an English skills Needs Analysis and it also gives the student and me an opportunity to decide if we would like to work together. This meeting takes between an hour and an hour-and-a-half. Of course, for beginning English level students, it takes a lot less time.

Personal Pronouns and the Present Perfect

I met with two students today. One is an advanced ESL learner. I've been working with her for about a year. Much of the grammar we work on is review. Our major focus is conversation skills, accent reduction and pronunciation (mostly medical terms, as she is a Registered Nurse). I noticed some difficulty with Personal Pronouns, so we are reviewing them by using Azar's Understanding and Using English Grammar, chapter 8, "Pronouns." My student had some problems with the first exercise (mostly an assessment tool). We proceeded with Section 8-1, Personal Pronouns. This section provides a chart with subject pronouns, object pronouns, possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives. We also practiced identifying antecedents.

I remember having difficulty, myself, with pronouns when I studied Spanish. Memorization of each of the pronouns is necessary. This can be accomplished through written exercises (and sometimes has to be, otherwise, some students try to avoid using pronouns in spoken English) and verbal drills.

The second English language learner I tutored today is at a high beginner level. It's been 10 years since she studied English in high school in Korea. We've been working together for a couple of months. Today's lesson included the Present Perfect. I used Murphy's Basic Grammar in Use, unit 16, "Have you ever...?" I also introduced some new vocabulary phrases dealing with restaurants ("Do you take plastic?" "I'd like a doggy bag," etc.). Homework is to create a dialog between a diner and a server. (I developed this lesson plan a couple of years ago when I was studying for my TESOL certificate.)