A SURVEY THAT SHOWS TEACHERS ADJUSTMENTS TO CURRICULUM AND LESSON IDEAS WHEN ESL STUDENTS ARE MIXED WITH REGULAR STUDENTS IN A CLASSROOM. Senior Exit Project New Visions Education By: Ivana Corrado

Purpose of this Study  See the difference between an ESL teacher and a regular classroom teacher.  What works best when dealing with these student’s in two different environments that could damage or benefit their learning.  The methods that they used to help these individuals be the best they can be and to succeed in learning.

Over View  The best methods that teachers enjoy using in their classroom to help ESL students adapt easily in either a Regular or ESL classroom.

Thesis Statement Teachers will make adjustments to Curriculum and Lessons when ESL students are mixed with regular students in a classroom.

Background Research  There are many ELL (English language learners) that are enrolled in U.S public schools today.  Student’s that are put in ELL classes speak a variety of languages and come from diverse, social, cultural, and economic backgrounds.  It’s difficult for teachers to not only make lessons for regular students but also ESL students. The criteria is very different and it might be very helpful to just have ESL students have their own classroom so everyone is at the same learning level.

“ It seems that the more diverse our schools become, the greater the pressure becomes to homogenize the curriculum and instruction. For ELL’s, this pressure has meant fewer opportunities to learn in bilingual and English as a second language classrooms. For teachers, increased diversity has meant a stronger push to teach English quickly and place ESL students in mainstream classrooms”. (Flynn,2006) Cont.

Percentages  Between 1979 and 2003, the overall number of school age children between (5-17) increased by 19 percent. The number of children who spoke a language other than English at home increased by 161 percent of those, the number who spoke English with difficult grew up to 124 percent. (Kathy, 2006)  (Parkway, 1998) has researched approximately 38 percent of public school students were considered part of a minority group during 1999, an increase from 16 percent from African American and Latino students accounted for 16.5 and 16.2 percent of the public school enrollment, an increase of 2 and 10 percent from The percentage of student from other racial or ethnic groups also increased from 1 percent in 1972 to 6 percent.

(Reid, 1987), has demonstrated that learners have three basic perceptual learning channels which are Auditory learning, Kinesthetic learning, and Tactile learning”.

Learning Preferences  Kinesthetic Learning - Experimental Learning - Going to Labs  Auditory Learning - Listening to Lectures - Listening to Audio Tapes - Listening to Stories  Tactile Learning - Hands on Learning - Group Work - Dealing with Projects

Learning Preference Cont.  “The results of this study showed ESL students strongly preferred kinesthetic and tactile learning styles”.(Reid, 1987)  “Students who had been in the U.S more than 3 years were significantly more auditory in their learning style preferences than those students who had been in the U.S for shorter periods of time.” (Reid, 1987)  “Most ESL students strongly preferred kinesthetic learning as a major learning style. However, Japanese speakers were significantly less kinesthetic than Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Thai speakers.” (Reid, 1987)  “The strength of most ESL student preference means for kinesthetic learning (total physical involvement in learning) has implications for both teachers and students in intensive English language programs”. (Read, 1987)

Methods - Use Real Objects - Speak with a constant tone - Songs are great to use - Exaggerate word endings - Use repetition - Letting them look for answers - Use labels in the room to identify items - Select simple stories at first - Use pictures - Videos - Teach in small, separate groups ( This will allow a non- English speaking child to take his time to understand you and ask questions without feeling the intimidation of a large class setting.  They should concentrate on the most important aspects of language first, such as successful communication with others.  Try not to correct minor errors because it will discourage the child, especially in the beginning stages of learning English.  Teachers need to maintain a positive and encouraging attitude.  Try to establish different methods of communication with the Childs parents, even if you don’t speak the same language. Teachers should consider:They need to make sure:

International Teachers  “ In recent years, however, an increasing number of our international students have chosen to stay in the US to teach ESL in local primary and secondary schools. This is partly in response to critical shortage of ESL teachers in US schools but, also because of the belief that teaching experience in a Western, English- Speaking county ( for example, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, US) makes the non-native teachers more marketable as English teachers back home”. (Shin, 2007)

Methodology

Setting of the Study Plan - Distributed 10 survey’s ( 5 to ESL students and 5 to Regular Teachers) - Handed or mailed these survey’s in a suburban district and to a range of High school and Elementary Teachers. - It was anonymous and confidential. - Teachers had the option to mail it back to my home address which was addressed on the envelope or give it to me in person. The Survey Questions 1) What methods do you use when teaching ESL students? 2) What are some specific activities that you have prepared to help the learning of ESL students? 3) Do you see an improvement and growth in accomplishing work with ESL students from the beginning of the year to the end of the year? 4) How many ESL students did you have? 5 years ago? 3 years ago? 1 year ago?

“ Tactile word games, content area material, room decorations” ESL Teacher “ I use as many “authentic” materials as possible, and collaboration with other students” Regular Classroom Teacher What are some specific activities that you have prepared to help the learning of ESL students?

Results/Charts

Chart 1 Two ESL teacher voted that the best learning tool is Tactile. One Regular Classroom Teacher said Auditory Learning. Another Regular Classroom Teacher stated that their favorite was Kinesthetic Learning.

Chart 2  5 Years Ago -15  3 Years Ago- 3  1 Year Ago- 3  5 Years Ago- 16  3 Years Ago- 10  1 Year Ago- 7 High school Reg. TeacherESL High School Teacher

Discussion

Conclusion  This shows me the best learning preference is Tactile Learning because it benefits ESL students and it should be used more in a regular classroom environment. Further Investigation  In regular classrooms, there is a decreasing amount of ESL students so there should be more research to see what is the problem and how it can be handled. Should there be just a class for ESL students to learn in and then branch out into mainstream classrooms? Limitations  Only received four surveys back. 2 from ESL teachers, 2 from Regular Teachers

References  Flynn, A.(2006). Classroom Instruction that works with English language learners: Virginia.  Parkway, M. (1998). Becoming a Teacher. New York.  Reid, J. (1987). The Learning Style Preferences of ESL students. The Journal, 21(1),  Shin, L (2007). Preparing non-native English-speaking ESL teacher. Teacher Development, 12,