Learning Matters
News tips about education from Indiana University
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 12, 2007
Teachers who have ESL (English as a second language) students in their classrooms have an obligation to make sure that the ESL students understand what he or she is teaching. Jenny Conner, assistant clinical professor in the Indiana University School of Education at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said teachers want to ensure there is "comprehensible input" when working with ESL students. For instance, if a native English speaker who knows very little Chinese listens to a Chinese radio station, he or she would never learn the Chinese language because the input he or she receives is not comprehensible. "There is nothing for you to hold onto, and you can't make sense of any of it. The input, what you're hearing, is completely incomprehensible. In order for students to build their level of proficiency in a language, they have to have something to build on. When a teacher is talking to students, and she has ESL students in the classroom, she has to make sure that what she is teaching is understood by the ESL students." Conner offers these tips:
- Slow and steady. Use a slower rate of speech and make sure you enunciate every word.
- Keep it simple. Use a simple sentence structure and avoid slang.
- Gesture. Students understand more in classrooms with teachers who often use facial expressions and hand gestures that support what they say.
- Get visual. Demonstrate a scientific concept, or create hands-on activities that drive home a new lesson to help ESL students learn better.
- Don't make assumptions. Even within this country, we have a wide range of experiences and prior knowledge. Rather than assume that everyone knows an obscure or even basic reference -- from history to pop culture -- explain what you mean. "When you're working with a child who grew up in Guatemala, they may have no idea who Abraham Lincoln is," Conner said.
- Make clear goals. Each day, go over the lessons the students will learn so everyone knows what will happen and ESL students can prepare for topic changes. Write the day's goals on the blackboard so all students can refer to those content objectives and make sense of what's being taught. Check off lessons as they are completed.
- Get a culture lesson. By knowing the traditions of your students' cultures, you can better understand how they learn. There are issues of cultural sensitivity and different preferences for learning styles in different cultures. In some cultures, asking questions and questioning the teachers is not acceptable. When an ESL student sees their classmates questioning the teacher, they are horrified, Conner said. When students raised in another culture say nothing, the teacher wonders why these kids aren't thinking critically at all, when really they are following their customs.
Conner can be reached at 317-278-7323 or jmconner@iupui.edu.
It's very difficult to make generalizations about homeschooled children. Robert Kunzman, an assistant professor in the Indiana University School of Education in Bloomington, says his research indicates that some homeschooled children will excel and others will struggle. In Indiana, there's little regulation regarding what homeschooled children should be taught. "There's a tremendous amount of variety in terms of what people are doing and why," Kunzman said. From state to state, the regulations vary widely. Studies that have been conducted on homeschooled children are not comprehensive, Kunzman said, because the students participate on a volunteer basis, not a random sample. Many Indiana homeschool parents do not enroll their children with the state, which makes tracking the number of children who are educated at home difficult. There is disagreement in interpretation of state code wording about whether homeschoolers are required to formally enroll, and Kunzman has found that many Indiana parents do not do so. The disadvantage of this, Kunzman notes, is that "we don't have a reliable comprehensive way of knowing how homeschooled students are performing. It may very well be that a good case can be made that a lot of homeschooled students are doing well, but the possibility also exists that some students are being poorly served," Kunzman said. "Knowing which children are being homeschooled, and verifying that they are achieving basic literacy and numeracy, seems a reasonable expectation. At the same time, the state should be very cautious not to overreach in its requirements."
Kunzman can be reached at 812-856-8122 or rkunzman@indiana.edu.
Should homeschooled children be permitted to participate in extracurricular activities in their district's school? Both public school officials and parents who educate their children at home are split on this issue, said Robert Kunzman, an assistant professor in the Indiana University School of Education in Bloomington. Rules vary from district to district on whether homeschooled students can join extracurricular activities like the science club or band. The Indiana High School Athletics Association Inc. has its own rules and won't allow homeschooled children to particulate in sports unless they are enrolled in public school classes. "Often the parents of homeschoolers don't want to get involved at all with public schools because they fear further control and regulation beyond the extracurriculars," Kunzman said. "This issue is part of larger questions about school choice, and the lines between public and private are becoming increasingly complicated and blurred." Kunzman said logistics is one reason schools don't want to allow homeschooled children to participate in activities after school. "Is it fair to let a kid who hasn't been involved in the public schools take a spot in the school play or soccer team? How do they plan for those kids coming? A lot of schools in various parts of the country have certain GPA requirements so how would you make that work with homeschooled kids? Could they get away with potentially not doing that? On the other side of the coin, homeschooler parents say, 'We're paying taxes,' so they should have access to those opportunities and resources," Kunzman said.
Kunzman can be reached at 812-856-8122 or rkunzman@indiana.edu.
