Exchanges / "From the Classroom" / G. Cho & D. DeCastro-Ambrosetti, print version

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Walking a Mile in Their Shoes:
Transforming Teachers' Beliefs about English Language Learners

Grace Cho
Debra DeCastro-Ambrosetti

California State University, Fullerton

In California, educators at all levels face the challenge of meeting the needs of English Language Learners (ELLs), whose English proficiency levels and academic needs vary. Recent scholarly literature demonstrates that the public has little knowledge of the natural language acquisition process. Unaware of widely accepted general principles of language acquisition, many wrongly believe that children learn languages quickly and easily; that the more time students spend immersed in a second language setting, the quicker they learn the language; and that there is no difference between social (e.g., conversational language) and academic language (e.g., formal language used in academic settings). Based on our professional experiences in training teachers, we would add to this list yet another misconception held by many teachers: the belief that language-learning issues are irrelevant to content-area teachers.

Through our experiences of working with those who teach a student population that is becoming increasingly diverse both linguistically and culturally, we have identified two major issues. Many teachers feel frustrated by their inability to meet the needs of ELLs; we believe that these frustrations are based on their misconceptions associated with the language-learning process. Consequences of these misconceptions may include frustration for the ELLs and teachers, poor classroom performance, and miscommunication between teachers and ELLs. The difficulties associated with the teaching of ELLs are not discipline specific, but apply to everyone involved in the education of students. These educational concerns can be addressed through effective teaching approaches and methods, as well as instructional strategies to help ELLs to conceptualize and understand the instruction and to promote their active class participation.

To address the frustrations and concerns expressed by teachers of ELLs, and to better understand and illustrate the learning experiences that ELLs encounter, we, as educators, created an assignment to be used in one of our courses in the Cross-Cultural Language Academic Development (CLAD) certificate program. The CLAD program is situated at the post-baccalaureate level and is designed for both credentialed and pre-service teachers wishing to develop expertise in meeting the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse students. The main objective of the course is to introduce key concepts, issues, and terms concerning the teaching of content-area courses to language minority students in seventh to twelfth grade classes. The course consists of a basic introduction to recent research in language learning theories, an overview of teaching approaches and methods, and instructional strategies for helping ELLs.

We wanted to reveal some of the misconceptions teachers have by engaging them in a first-hand experience. These misconceptions became evident through ongoing class discussions. While reading their exams and reflective responses, it became clear to us that the teachers grasped the concepts of language learning theory and practice, but they still lacked an understanding of the ELLs' psychosocial and emotional needs. Therefore, we created an active learning assignment for the teachers in which they would experience a "day in the life" of an ELL. By engaging them in a first-hand experience, we hoped that the teachers would gain empathy and understanding for the psychosocial and emotional needs of ELLs. This project was designed to use television and self-reflection to educate teachers about the strategies and learning processes that ELLs employ daily in classrooms. We wanted teachers to view a foreign-language program that involved human interaction (e.g., soap operas, situation comedies, dramas, etc.) with the intention that they themselves would experience the emotional barriers of being a second-language learner. This would most effectively mirror ELLs' everyday classroom experiences.

Teachers were instructed to select a television program in a foreign language in which they were not fluent; the program could not be a foreign film, a sporting event, news, or a program with English subtitles because these programs would be too easy to figure out and lack human interaction.

Procedure:

Teachers were asked to watch two cumulative hours of the same program, preferably a 1/2-hour program such as a soap opera, drama, or other program with plots and human interaction.
They were asked to keep detailed learning journals with the following for each television session:
- a detailed description of the program action;
- an identification of strategies (e.g., verbal, visual, graphic, and behavioral cues) they used for making sense of what was going on in the program, with specific examples from the program;
- a description of reactions, including feelings and emotions, about the experience of watching a non-English program; and
- a description of what they learned from this activity about how they might teach and assist ELLs.
Teachers were asked to present their findings to the group for peer-evaluation and to submit their journals for instructor-evaluation.

We utilized qualitative research methods to analyze the students' work. The following themes were derived from students' learning journals:

Language learning has to be meaningful to the learners; interesting and relevant topics must be incorporated;
Non-verbal, contextual clues such as body language and other visuals are important to language learning;
Language learning occurs best through meaningful use and interaction process; Culture is embedded in language learning;
Academic and social language is different;
Language development issues are hidden within content teaching; therefore, teachers need to be aware of related issues and accommodate students accordingly;
A positive learning environment is a must;
Language learning is a long-term process.

As a result of completing the assignment, the participants came to understand that exposure to a language does not necessarily lead to its acquisition. Through their active participation in this assignment, the students in our course recognized that as teachers, regardless of their discipline, they play a key role in assisting students in English language development. They also realized that the teaching of ELLs is not the sole responsibility of language teachers, but that they too have a responsibility for developing the language skills of ELLs as well as teaching them content knowledge. In addition, perhaps most significantly, the participants developed empathy and understanding toward ELLs' experiences and instructional needs. Through this active learning assignment, the teachers not only shed their misconceptions about language acquisition, but also developed better strategies for educating ELLs.

Embedded within the assignment were the general principles of language acquisition, as this was one of the course objectives. We addressed the misconceptions our students had about the language learning process. According to Krashen (1982), language is best acquired when the input is comprehensible (i.e., meaningful, interesting, little beyond current level) and when the learning environment is positive. Through this assignment, teachers actively engaged in their own language learning process and realized their own misconceptions about the principles of language acquisition. In addition, they became more aware of the importance of developing teaching strategies to serve the learning needs of ELLs.

The participants' initial reactions to this assignment ranged from feelings of frustration to confusion and discouragement. However, by the conclusion of the project, their attitudes evolved. They wrote in their learning journals that their participation in this assignment proved to be valuable, rewarding, and positive. Without the active-learning assignment, they said, they would not have understood the intimate experience of being an ELL. It allowed them valuable insight into the difficulties faced everyday by ELLs. Teachers also stated that in order to complete the assignment, they needed to enact the language principles and strategies learned in class. They appreciated the opportunity to put theory into practice.

Instead of lecturing to the teachers, we engaged them in constructivist learning, therefore enabling them to gain knowledge through active participation and reflective practice. This assignment may be modified and applied to complement other disciplines as well.

Walking a Mile in Their Shoes: Transforming Teachers' Beliefs about English Language Learners

Grace Cho Debra DeCastro-Ambrosetti

California State University, Fullerton

Procedure:

Suggested Readings and References:

Walking a Mile in Their Shoes:
Transforming Teachers' Beliefs about English Language Learners

Grace Cho
Debra DeCastro-Ambrosetti