Preparing Mainstream Teachers For English Language Learners Essay

With the rising number of English Language Learners in American classrooms, general “mainstream” teachers will undoubtedly teach a student who is not proficient in English and therefore unable to access the academic curriculum. These mainstream teachers are expected to teach academic content while simultaneously developing ELL students’ English language. For these reasons, preparing effective teachers for this complex classroom and policy environment is critical and the role of teacher education programs is very important. As I was reading the article, Preparing Mainstream Teachers for English- Language Learners by Ester J. de Jong and Candance A. Harper, I was constantly recalling my own experience as ELL, my capabilities and my oral skills

Teachers who were completely not aware of ELL needs. They were simply lacking understanding of what it means to acquire new language and stages that they have to go through to do so. Since I found no support in my teachers, I used different strategies to either make sense out of what I just heard or to cover up that I did not get that. One of the strategies that I used to “survive” was using different techniques to communicate efficiently. Close listening and extreme focus on the teachers was one of them. Another was making assumptions, recalling my background knowledge, and applying it to what I just heard trying to make sense out of it. One strategy that I used for a really long time was being quiet and giving an oral feedback only if I really had to. I can also relate to what you said about presenting in class. That was a nightmare for me, as I had to practice for hours before my actual presentation. All of my professors assumed that since I communicated verbally with them, I could also follow up on academic language. Well, I could not and as consequences, I had a lot of work at home to make up and many moments when I was ready to give