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the teaching of English to speakers of other languages who live in a country where English is an official or important language.

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Students may be silent because they are translating in their heads.

Students may not understand body language such as "thumbs up".

Hispanic students may not maintain eye contact as this is seen as a sign of disrespect in their culture.

Students may depend upon gestures to aid in understanding and teachers would do well to try and be consistent when gesturing.

Students may have come from an economically depressed environment and may therefor have very little experience in a formal classroom setting.

Social skills may be more advanced than academic skills.

Writing may mimic the home language and reflect native sentence structure.

Students, especially those from Haiti, may be more used to learning by rote.

Audio visual materials and computers maybe very unfamiliar.

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When working with ESL students there are a few good strategies to keep in mind for the classroom.

One strategy is understanding the students culture and try to bond with the student over wanting to know more about their culture. When you get to know your students on a personal level, you create that trust with the student.

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Another idea or strategy for the classroom to help ESL students could be speak slowly and be patient. When a ESL student is learning English having patience's is a huge thing. Learning a new language can be frustrating and also scary when almost everyone around is speaking a language you do not understand.

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Prioritize " Productive language" in the classroom with ESL students. Productive language requires speaking and writing which makes the student produce language output. The more practice the student can get with writing and speaking English the hope is the faster they can learn the new language.

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Visual aids can really help the student have something to look at when they are not understanding what they need to do in the classroom because of the language barrier. The teacher can place the visual aids around the classroom that way all students that need them have access to them.

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Group work in a classroom is another good idea to have the students do. Group work can provide the ESL students a chance to work along side their other peers and practice their English in a lower risk setting. They also get a chance to build a relationship with their peers as well.

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When coming to a new country it can be scary for not only the children but the parents as well. The teacher can create a welcoming space in the classroom for families of ESL students. The teacher can have books that are about their culture or objects from their cultures around the classroom.

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Building a relationship with the families of your ESL student is a very important step of getting the parents engaged in the students school life. The more trust you create with the family the more they will be wanting to work with you in helping the student in the classroom.

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THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX! When it comes to families of different backgrounds you will need to find other ways you wouldn't normally communicate with like you do you English speaking families. Maybe have an event night that the ESL families can participate in planning that deals with the different cultures of the students in the classroom. That could give the ESL families a chance to let the others see how the live or where the come from.