Encouraging Young ESL Students in the USA

Return to: Akitsu Koyama

Course Overview

Purpose

This course will provide participants with a better understanding of English as a Second Language or English as a New Language students in the U.S.A. and find a way to motivate and support those students. The ENL/ESL students who first came to the U.S.A. will face many changes in their lifestyle and the way of communication dramatically. The first year in the U.S.A. is particularly difficult and it is important for them to have someone to help and encourage not only their English developments but also their motivation and efforts for their school life. This course will provide educators as well as students’ parents/guardians a way to help and encourage ESL students to support those students.

Assessment of Learner Needs

The lack of understanding diversity in education is crucial whereas racial, ethics, and linguistic diversity is increasing among U.S. Students (Diaz, Pelletier, & Provenzo, 2006). When non-English-speaking students come to the U.S. for the first time, they will face many changes in their lifestyle and the way of communication. As their first concern may be the English developments, not all of ESL/ENL can have support from ESL certificate teachers. It is a critical situation that those ESL/ENL have difficulty in learning and communicating at school without any understanding or support from teachers and parents/guardian. This mini-course will focus on the need to address those ESL/ENL students with appropriate understanding and effective support from classroom teachers and their parents/guardians to support and motivate their learning.

Performance Objectives

General Outcomes:

Participants will learn the importance of the support for ESL/ENL students who come to the U.S. for the first time and are having many difficulties in their everyday school life. By understanding ESL/ENL students’ difficulties and problems in American schools, participants will gain the skills needed to support and motivate ESL/ENL students at schools.

Specific Outcomes:

• Given information on ENL/ESL students, participants will be able to identify the major problems of those students.

• Given examples of ENL/ESL students, participants will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the support for the major student’ difficulty.

• Given examples of ENL/ESL students, participants will be able to clarify common misconceptions and myth of those students.

• Given examples of support for ENL/ESL students, participants will be able to design their own assistants for those students.

---

Click on the units below to begin

---

Unit 1: Understand ENL/ESL Students

This mini-course includes the following lessons. Click the title of a unit to go to its page.

Lesson 1: What is the common problem of ENL/ESL Students?

• The participants will be able to identify at least three major common problems of ENL/ESL students

Lesson 2: How important for ENL/ESL Students to have someone who understands them?

• The participants will be able to define the importance of the support from educators and parents/guardians for ENL/ESL students.

Lesson 3: Do you know any misconceptions of ENL/ESL Students?

• The participants will be able to clarify at least three common misconceptions and myths of those students which prevents understand the difficulties of ENL/ESL students.

Unit 2: Design your support for ENL/ESL Students

• The participants will be able to identify the main difficulty and problems of ENL/ESL students to design your assistant for those students.

• The participants will be able to find at least two means to support ENL/ESL students to design your assistant for those students.

• The participants will be able to evaluate their means to support ENL/ESL students to have better support for those students.

Unit 3: xxx

Brief Overview

Extended Resources

Dias, C. F. (2009). Multicultural Education. In Encyclopedia of the Social and Cultural Foundations of Education (pp. 518-527).