Is There A Social Struggle For ESL Students? by Amelia Provenzano

Common Struggles that ESL Students Face

ameliaprovenzano13 — 2024-10-28 23:48:49 UTC

There are a number of obstacles that ESL students have to face during their time in school. Some of these are cultural differences, lack of confidence, social integration, and so much more.

Bullying

ameliaprovenzano13 — 2024-10-28 23:52:49 UTC

Unfortunately ESL students are bullied in school and often seen as easy targets. This is because their cultural differences and language barriers are mimicked and made fun of, causing these students to question themselves and their heritage. Helping to prevent bullying amongst the ESL students can be tough, but it is important that we try because ESL students are just as important.

Cultural Differences

ameliaprovenzano13 — 2024-10-28 23:58:30 UTC

It is incredibly important that we, as teachers, understand that we are teaching many different students with many different types of cultures. It is also important to remember that things that may seem culturally appropriate to us, are not culturally appropriate to others. In the text, Cultural Challenges and Recommendations for Working With ELLs, they give examples of how there are cultural differences between some of our nonverbal listening and comprehension cues.

Lack of Confidence

ameliaprovenzano13 — 2024-10-29 00:03:18 UTC

ESL students lack confidence in and out of the classroom, because of their language barriers. Most commonly, there is a verbal hesitation when being spoken to because they are trying to figure out what to say and how to say it, and by the time they do figure it out, most teachers and peers have already moved onto the next person, due to a lack of patience. It is a teachers job to give that confidence to the student, so they can be active members in and out of the classroom.

Social Integration

ameliaprovenzano13 — 2024-10-29 00:08:03 UTC

For many ESL students, it can be hard to make friends outside of their culture because of the language barrier, but these students from Franklin Community High School show how it is possible. While still a struggle for most, with the right person social integration can be easy.

Language Barriers

ameliaprovenzano13 — 2024-10-29 00:11:52 UTC

Pronunciation and speaking clearly is big obstacles for ESL students to overcome. The way we pronounce words and speak in a clear tone can be hard for someone who is learning English for the first time. Fortunately, when we create a supportive and safe classroom, we can help foster ESL learners to be able to pronounce words correct and speak clearly.

Parental Involvement

ameliaprovenzano13 — 2024-10-29 00:16:53 UTC

It is very important for ESL students' parents to be involved in their academic journey. Most of the time you do not see it though because of the language barriers. This can be a vital point in an ESL student being social integrated into their school and can also have a high impact on their academic career.

Keeping Up in the Classroom

ameliaprovenzano13 — 2024-10-29 00:22:39 UTC

It it hard of ESL students to keep up in the classroom because they are trying to learn a second language while also being taught completely new topics. This can make it hard for these students to even be in social interactions with their peers.

Interaction With A Native Speaker

ameliaprovenzano13 — 2024-10-29 00:27:41 UTC

The most common struggle for ESL students who are learning English is that they do not have enough time to learn it. While yes they are sitting in a classroom listening to their teacher talk in English, that doesn't necessarily mean they are teaching English. This website give some helpful tips to how and ESL student can get that learning time that they need.

Making Friends

ameliaprovenzano13 — 2024-10-29 00:31:14 UTC

ESL students not making friends is usually chopped up to the fact that their is something in their culture that is preventing them from talking to people outside their culture, but it is possible that the problem is the way we are teaching them the English language. This website give some insight to ways we can make making friends and easier process for ESL students.

Reflection

ameliaprovenzano13 — 2024-10-29 00:42:49 UTC