If getting information across in a multi-modal kind of way trying to address the Prescribed Learning Outcomes (PLOs) is not complex enough, try doing so with your students having no idea what you are saying to them.

Apart from useful instructions that teach students to read, write, and function, it is important to build trust, belongingness, and inquiry based environment for ELL students to thrive in their learning.

Here are 7 things a teacher must know to help improve the overall teaching and learning experience.

1. You can move a bear from its cave in a day, but you can’t change its habit overnight. 

Apart from finding out where your students come from, try to find out their linguistic abilities in their native language. It is a great indicator of their overall language skills, in which is transferable. Finding out about basic family routines will enhance your judgement on understanding your students, if problems were to arise.

Rebellious and inattentive behaviours may arise if the student experiences a poor sleeping or dietary life style outside of school. My experience with children tells me that most children will do what is the best for themselves, so a good enough reason will be able to convince even the toughest egg to crack.

2. Time is changing, and our student demographics grow with it

In the 1999 guideline, I understood that a major perspective on immigrants is that they were mostly refugees or survivors of different catastrophe – natural, political or economic crisis.

Even though Canada is still, considered a safe haven in comparison to most of the countries around the worlds in terms of living qualities, more and more immigrants have come to Canada by choice instead of escape. In fact, I have personally questioned several parents who moved from China to Vancouver in the past 4 years. I find that the only thing that keeps them here in Vancouver is their children’s upbringing, and that they, the parents, would be financially more secured if they returned to the home country.

Since the reason for immigration has partially changed in intention, this should impact how the guideline addresses the perspective on how students might view the whole additional language learning process. There were four stages of second language acquisition that a student may go through according to the 1999 guideline – the honeymoon phrase, homesickness, rebellious and compromise.

3. Risk is relative to return, so encourage students to challenge the idea of failure.

Nothing can stunt a person from adaptation and growth more than fear of failure. Most ELL students come from educations where competition is used to weed out between the ‘valuable’ and ‘non-competent’ individuals for society to dispose of. As a result, it is often that students from these background, I think, either develop a strong sense of accomplishment driven ego and avoid failure at all cost. The behaviour as a result of those two behaviours is like a deer jumping in front of a vehicle and freeze under panic instead of reacting logically to the situation.

There is no doubt that any ELL students would feel nervousness when asked to be put on the spot for vocalizing something they might be wrong in. However, language is a skill that could only be honed through daily practice and purposeful application. Those who carry a strong fear of failure often miss out on opportunities to practice in front of the crowd leaving them more vulnerable to potentially fail when their radical counterparts are taking the lead.

4. Remember the days during your practicums, and always go back to it.

It is a painstaking to come up with plans for individual lessons, but it’s even harder to do so for individual students. However, no matter how comfortable it feels to fall into a routine of being an experienced teacher, never lose the respect for education. Remember that as teachers, you and I are forever bound to be learners for the rest of our lives. Growth is only possible with challenges, and those students with language barriers will be our major challenge for the short time that you have with them. It is important to develop a healthy habit of daily student assessment and plan development.

5. ELL Program should be within your pedagogy adaptation.

The highest level of ELL program is geared towards secondary students for university writing purpose. I would then assume that the highest level in ELL would challenge many native English speakers. Keep in mind that fluent speakers do no equate to fluent writers. It is important for all teachers to incorporate ELL adaptation approach within their teachings to truly exercise daily life English. After all, even students with English as Native tongue still practice English with simple sentences, and then later learn to write essay compositions.

6. To build strong teamwork and non-hostile environment, it is important for clear instructions not just for the ELL students. 

Non-native English speakers could gain anxiety from being excluded in the conversation of other group partners. The key in this point is to avoid ambiguity in modelling the instruction to the tasks on hand, so that even without supervision or help the ELL students will be able to recall the necessary key actions to eventually figure out the instructions.

Actually, clear instructions should be given even to non-ELL designation students, shouldn’t it?

7. Help design writing exercises that involves learning vocabulary and writing short paragraphs. 

The studies of executive functioning have concluded that children with better E.F. abilities will have better impulse control as well as short-term memory accessibility towards tasks at hands. Similar to playing piano, or fundamental sport drills, a certain level of short-term memory to motor responses are required to perform these tasks well. Students with the privilege to develop such discipline will outperform comprehensively and academically than their classmates who have less E.F. abilities.

By learning new vocabulary, it is easily forgotten because over repetition will develop strain on the convergence of short-term memories to long-term memories. However, when the vocabulary can be used for immediate application that pushes the students to exert effort and creativity, better results will formulate.