ESL Student Placement

How do I respond to content-area teachers and administrators who place ESL students in particular classes and/or evaluate their writing based primarily (possibly solely) on punctuation, spelling, and grammar issues such as verb tense formation, improper use of prepositions, and the “the/an/a” errors present in their writing?

These errors are especially noticeable – negatively so – in the American academic culture and educational system. Some of these errors, spelling and punctuation particularly, can be addressed with remediation and contextual practice. However, other errors, such as verb tense formation, the improper use of prepositions, and “the/an/a”, are indicators of where the student is in the English language acquisition process. Some of these errors, prepositions and articles (the, an, a) in particular, will take years of “being surrounded by English” for the ESL student to master, because there are a multitude of specific words and situations that require different uses, not one or two basic rules of use.

Research shows English second language learners, regardless of their first language, learn English in the same basic, sequential order (Dulay & Burt, 1974 and Dulay, Burt, and Krashen, 1982). It is unrealistic and defeating for both teachers and ESL students to expect ESL students to master an English language element nowhere near their current place in the acquisition order.

So, where does this leave you, the ESL teacher, with the content-area teachers and administrators? Explain to them the Order of Acquisition and where you think the affected ESL student is in the process currently. Have them focus their evaluation primarily on the meaning expressed in the writing. Do the language errors significantly interrupt the overall meaning of the student's work, or are the ideas clearly understood? Are the ideas correctly and logically organized? Has the student met the criteria of the given assignment's needed content? Does the student correctly form the grammar and structure for his/her current place in the Order of Acquisition or not? Certainly, some of the assignment evaluation should focus on grammar and spelling. Otherwise, ESL students will not see the importance of addressing these needs. However, the majority of any grade should be first with the meaning and content expressed and second with the grammar and structure of the work.

Explain this sequence of learning English and the evaluation process to the ESL students, as well. Let them know where they are in the process. Expose them to the English structures of the next level of the sequence. Look for evidence in follow-up writing of mastery. Inform the content-area teachers of these advances.

And, what is the Order of Acquisition? Well, it is NOT an exhaustive checklist of every English language element used. It IS a grouping of some of the major English language elements used in the progression in which they are mastered.

•  The first group of English concepts mastered includes nouns as subjects, nouns as objects, and the word order of simple statements.

•  The second group includes the singular (is) and plural (are) of the verb “to be” in the present tense, these same words used as helping verbs, as well as the “-ing” ending for the present continuous/progressive verb tense.

•  The third group includes the irregular simple past tense (“went” instead of “goed”), the possessive (‘s), adding the “-s” for he/she/it (“he goes” instead of “he go”), the conditional auxiliary verb (would), and the “-es” ending for plural words.

•  The fourth and final group includes the perfect verb tense auxiliary (have) and the past participle used in a variety of tenses (-en).

What do I do with a multi-level class that I cannot restructure into single levels? How can I determine individual skill needs and address them at all levels?

Given a small number of ESL students or other program limitations due to spacing and budget, multi-level classes often result. Here are some ways to make allowances for a great variety of skill levels that are all together in the same class.

Use any assessment tools available to you through your school or without any tools available, use some informal ways to get a basic sense of each student's strengths and weaknesses in each English language area: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and grammar. Some informal methods for determining skill level include the following:

•  Interviewing a student with five or six questions about his/her life and schedule or some other topic of special interest to him/her for listening, speaking, and vocabulary skills.

•  Reading a short story (2 paragraphs at most) 3 times out loud for the class and having students answer related comprehension questions you give them for listening skills.

•  Giving students a short story to read (newspaper article, magazine article, etc. that is less than a page long) and having students answer related comprehension questions you give them for reading and writing skills.

•  Assigning students to write a short essay about themselves and their life experience or some other topic of special interest to him/her for writing and grammar skills.

Remember that this is an open-ended, flexible process. You and your students are just getting started, so you most likely will be readjusting skill level assignments for a while until you're more familiar with your students in general. Your initial need, however, is to have a starting point to organize different learning activities and match ESL students needing reinforcement in these areas. Ideas for organizing learning activities can include the following:

•  Have different small group activities/assignments based on skills. So, for a predominately speaking activity a good speaker might be in a different group than for a predominately writing activity if he/she is weaker.

•  Have the stronger students matched with the weaker students in an activity. Helping the others will help the stronger students (even if they don't like it).

•  Have the stronger students decide if the results of an activity are correct or need further revision. This gives them a chance to use more advanced skills, yet involves the other students, too.