ESL/ESOL Articles

Both tutors and students (and maybe their parents) may wonder how to actually see student progress. In the case of English or ESL, there are subtle and indirect signs, but seldom anything stark or quantifiable. Therefore, I have to pay careful attention to notice when a student has actually "learned" something, such as new vocabulary, sentence structure, or how to read a complex article. Yet the signs are there.

Here are a few examples. One student who I helped with writing first showed me some essays written for various classes, which were frankly failing papers in my estimation. They were full of sentence errors, mechanical errors (spelling and punctuation), and generally failed to make a strong point. I helped her by showing her the types of errors, and having her make corrections and do other practice exercises in her weak points. At the end, I asked her to produce a new paper from scratch, and with essentially no help from me, she produced a decently-written three-page essay on her university experience. This was progress.

In another case, a student also working on writing had serious errors with her sentence structure, as a non-native speaker. I've worked with her to show and explain the basic rules, and give her practice. Now she is making far fewer errors, and is able to analyze and catch some of her own mistakes. This is another kind of progress.

Sometimes, a student may feel frustrated and not see any obvious improvement, any leaps of skills. But ask your tutor, who should be paying careful attention, and hopefully he/she can show you some clear examples of where your work has improved. Tutors, do the same: show your students examples of progress you observe whenever possible. Help them see how they have learned a particular skill or concept. Your students will appreciate you for it.

Sometimes, it is essential to provide students with additional perspectives, besides the tutor's. As I tutor more and more, I realize that even with the one-on-one benefits of tutoring, there is a need for interaction with other students. However, the problem is, there are no other students to provide this feedback when you are tutoring a student. I have found that creating relationships with other students is a remarkable enhancement to the tutoring experience.

I have used Pen Pals to meet this need. There are a variety of websites that offer pen pals for different purposes. If I am tutoring a student in Social Studies, Geography or History, a Pen Pal is an amazing resource for FREE and REAL information about the study topics. This is usually an exciting concept that is well-received by the student because they thrive with interactions with others and they think it's amazing to connect with people like them all around the world! Using the right resources for this is essential, so I suggest that tutors spend some time locating the right program for their needs. Usually, those that are dedicated to teachers offer the most security and less potential for spam and unwanted leaks of information to the Web. Additionally, these sites allow the tutor more access to hand-picking the pen pals for their needs. The greatest benefit for this type of tutoring lesson is the ability to focus on the writing skills of the student while not needing to create writing assignments for the sake of writing! This makes the students more likely to give their effort to their tasks AND it allows the tutor to challenge the student to become eloquent in their writing efforts because it is directed at a "friend". I encourage tutors to give this a try in Foreign Languages, Writing, History and Social Studies, ESOL... actually, the possibilities are endless! I'd love to know how YOU are using Pen Pals in your tutoring!

I spent the 2008-09 school year teaching in Almaty, Kazakhstan. My family had traveled a bit when I was young, so I enjoy traveling. I did not give much thought to being instantly illiterate. When I lived in Japan all the signs were in "Romanji" and hiragana. Romanji means 'roman letters'. I used the romanji to learn the hiragana.

In Kazakhstan, which was under Soviet control for many years, the Cyrillic alphabet is used. I could not speak or read anything. It was a very strange thing. I cannot remember not being able to read. After my initial panic, I tried looking for ways to figure out the words. "Cafe" was easy...almost the same as in English. The week I left, I read the destination on a public bus! I did not even try. It was just there! It had taken 10 months for the new alphabet to start sinking in.

Experiencing illiteracy has given me a renewed desire to help others improve their English skills. A little help from others improved my reading and speaking skills slowly and surely. Most of the time it was fun to learn new words and phrases. When I really needed something, my lack of language was frustrating. I was angry with myself for not learning faster.

I’m very glad I spent the year in Kazakhstan. It’s a lovely country.

The English language abounds with homophones, words which share the same sounds, but have different meanings and, especially, spellings. There are also near homophones. These can be confusing to writer and reader alike. Most of the time the context tells the reader which word is intended, but sometimes it may mislead the reader. Therefore, it is important to properly spell the word you are using to clarify your meaning. The wrong choice among homophonic spellings may not only confuse your readers, it can make them stumble in reading your material. And it can make a poor impression when a good impression counts. Examples of this are resumes, cover letters and reports.

So how do we keep homophones straight? We may memorize many sets of homophones. But many of us have trouble just remembering what amounts to another list. I suggest using mnemonics. A mnemonic is a device which aids memory. What I am suggesting is mnemonic sentences or phrases which use the homophones in a set together in the same context. Just bringing them together reminds us that there are different spellings of same-sounding words which carry different meanings. I will give a few examples. You may create others to assist you in your writing.

Homophones: there, their, they're
They're over there with their luggage.

Near Homophones: weather, whether
I wonder whether the weather will be rainy or sunny.

Homophones: to, too, two
You have to mail two letters to Mr. Jones too.

Homophones: accept, except
They will accept all of these except that one.

Homophones: affect, effect, effect
This decision will affect every one of us adversely. The effect is unacceptable. Please do not effect this policy.

Homophones can be on the humorous side:
Tutu taught English as a Second Language (ESL) to immigrants. He was teaching Phan and Thu [pronounced "TOO"]. Phan learned fast, and soon moved from Level One to Level Two. One day Tutu's ESL supervisor came to him and asked, "Phan is almost through Level Two. When will we get Thu to Two too, Tutu?"

I taught English to Spanish speaking students in Puerto Rico. It was very challenging. I sang and played games with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders. The students who where interested in learning did well and later on the could go to a private school where the classes were all in English, since the main language in Puerto Rico is Spanish.

For 12 years I taught family Consumer Science to 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th grade and pre-vocational students. They learned the basics in cooking, sewing, crafts, and ceramics. The students boys and girls sewed an easy piece of garment, pillow and other thing they could do.